Fourth Sunday of Easter

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Saturday, 17 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, and as we continue to progress through this joyful time and season of Easter, we are all reminded of the need for all of us to continue proclaiming and revealing the truth of God to our fellow brothers and sisters around us, as part of our Christian calling and mission, in whatever way and areas that we have been entrusted and called to, in our various vocations in life as parts and members of God’s Church. We must always do the works of the Lord which we have been given, to the best of our abilities so that hopefully through our labours and works, many people may come to the salvation in God through us. As Christians, all of us should be the reflection of God’s light and hope, His hope and compassion, at all times.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles where St. Paul and St. Barnabas were ministering to the people in the region of Pisidia, where St. Paul had earlier on spoken in the local synagogue to the members of the Jewish diaspora community. St. Paul and St. Barnabas reached out to the members of the non-Jewish people or the Gentiles because many among the Jews themselves were unwilling to listen to what they had brought to them, and some of them sided with the Pharisees on their opposition against the ways and teachings of Jesus, that is the Christian faith. But St. Paul and St. Barnabas continued God’s works and chose to minister to the Gentiles, some of whom were willing to accept God’s words and truth, and as we heard, some among the Gentiles believed in God because of this.

Of course as we have also heard, that St. Paul and St. Barnabas did not have it easy, as they had to face opposition from those who were annoyed at their works, from some among the Jewish community and from others that were against their evangelisation mission. And we heard how due to the plotting of their enemies, the ruckus and problems caused, St. Paul and St. Barnabas were forced to leave the region. Yet, their presence and works there were not in vain, as they had indeed managed to plant the seeds of faith among the people, both among the Jews and the Gentiles alike. And this would become the foundation of the Church and the community of the faithful in those areas in the future, as how it had happened in the places where the Apostles had encountered more successes too.

This is a reminder for all of us, once again, that God’s grace and salvation, His favour and blessings are given freely and generously to everyone, regardless whatever background or origins one may have, or whatever race or identity one belongs to. All of us mankind are truly beloved by God, Who has always loved us all from the very beginning, from when He created us, each and every one of us. After all, God did not create us only to destroy us afterwards, because He created us all out of love and also He wants us all to share in His love. Hence, that was why through His Son and through the Apostles and their successors, the Lord has reached out to us in this manner, that is to call us back to His Presence and to live wonderfully in our faith in God.

In our Gospel passage today from the Gospel of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, as we heard the interaction between the Lord and His disciples, with Him telling the disciples of the relationship that He, as the Son, had with His heavenly Father, all of us are reminded of the love of God that had been manifested in our midst through the incarnation of the Son of God in the flesh, Christ Himself Who made God’s love to become tangible, approachable and real before all of us. And the Lord Jesus as the obedient Son has come into this world to carry out everything that the Father had told Him to do, to bring all of the scattered people of God and to gather them all, bringing them once again into God’s Holy Presence and making them to be part of the same one flock of the Lord, the Church of God.

Through His obedience and commitment to His mission, all of us are reminded again today of the love which our God, our most loving Father and Creator has for us all. We are reminded just how loving He has been towards us that He extends His love through His Son so that He can reach out to us, loving us and showing us His compassion, soothing us and reassuring us of His company and presence even in the most difficult moments in our lives. And because of this, we should always strive and endeavour to love God first and foremost in our lives, to obey Him and to do His will at all times. We must not allow ourselves to be swayed easily by the many temptations present all around us, which may distract us from our attention and focus towards God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect upon what we have just heard from our Scripture passages today, reminding ourselves of the important responsibilities and opportunities that God had provided to all of us as Christians, that is as those whom He had called and chosen to be His own, to be the ones He sent into this world so that more and more people may come to know Him, to know of His love and truth. We should embrace what the Lord has entrusted to us and realise that our every efforts and contributions are important, as although our efforts may seem to be small and insignificant, but when all of these are combined together, plus the ripple effect of our good efforts may have, all these will amount to a huge impact on the world and everyone around us.

May the Risen Lord, our Saviour and King, continue to strengthen us all each day and help us so that we may continue to persevere through the many challenges, trials and hardships that we may encounter daily in life so that we do not end up easily giving up our faith in the Lord, and that we will always remain faithful in God no matter what happens. Let us all be good role models and inspirations, examples and guides for each other in faith, in how we live our lives each day and every moment. May God bless us in all of our good efforts, works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 17 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 14 : 7-14

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “If you know Me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know Him, and you have seen Him.”

Philip asked Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough.” Jesus said to him, “What! I have been with you so long and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever sees Me sees the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?”

“All that I say to you, I do not say of Myself. The Father Who dwells in Me is doing His own work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do. Truly, I say to you, the one who believes in Me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these, for I am going to the Father.”

“Everything you ask in My Name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Indeed, anything you ask, calling upon My Name, I will do it.”

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Saturday, 17 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

Sing to YHVH a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

YHVH has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love, nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you, lands, make a joyful noise to YHVH, break into song and sing praise.

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Saturday, 17 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 13 : 44-52

The following Sabbath almost the entire city gathered to listen to Paul, who spoke a fairly long time about the Lord. But the presence of such a crowd made the Jews jealous. So they began to oppose, with insults, whatever Paul said.

Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out firmly, saying, “It was necessary, that God’s word be first proclaimed to you, but since you now reject it, and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we turn to non-Jewish people. For thus we were commanded by the Lord : I have set you as a light to the pagan nations, so that you may bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Those who were not Jews rejoiced, when they heard this, and praised the message of the Lord; and all those, destined for everlasting life, believed in it. Thus the word spread, throughout the whole region. Some of the Jews, however, incited God-fearing women of the upper class, and the leading men of the city, as well, and stirred up an intense persecution against Paul and Barnabas.

Finally, they had them expelled from their region. The Apostles shook the dust from their feet, in protest against this people, and went to Iconium, leaving; the disciples, filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

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Friday, 16 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all listened in our Scripture passages today and as we all continue to progress through this joyful season of Easter, we are constantly being reminded again and again of the important responsibilities that we have as Christians in proclaiming the truth of the Risen Lord, of everything that He has taught and revealed to us. We should always put our trust in the Lord Who has overcome and conquered death itself, and which even false accusations and persecutions could not keep His truth from being revealed and shown to the world. All of us should never turn away from God, Who is indeed our Way, Truth and Life, the path through Whom we can reach the salvation and grace of God. Without His guidance and constant presence in our life, we may end up being lost and trapped in the darkness and temptations all around us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles in which we heard the continuation of the words that St. Paul the Apostle spoke during his time in the city of Antioch in Pisidia in Asia Minor, where he visited the local synagogue and the Jewish diaspora community there. There he spoke to them with the encouraging words highlighting how God had been with His people, showing them all His care and love throughout history, guiding and strengthening them in their journey and never leaving them behind all alone. And St. Paul spoke of how all the promises and the words of the Lord had been perfectly completed and fulfilled through the coming of His Son, His own only Begotten Son, Whom He had sent into the world to be the Saviour of all, just as He had promised.

And in today’s passage, St. Paul spoke of how this same Saviour had been persecuted, rejected and oppressed by the same people that He had been sent to, with the chief priests and the Pharisees all accusing Him of false accusations and blasphemy, eventually leading to Him being handed over to the Romans to be crucified and killed. And yet, St. Paul also testified that the Lord has conquered and overcome death itself, and by taking upon Himself all the burdens of our sins, the punishments and all the things meant for us to suffer, so that by His loving sacrifice, He can bring us all into salvation and the guarantee of new and eternal life with Him. The Apostle courageously spoke up about this before the assembly at the synagogue knowing that some if not many among the Jewish people there were still opposed to the Lord and His teachings.

But St. Paul did not let all those fears and concerns trouble him as he trusted completely and wholeheartedly in the Lord, allowing Him to guide him in his steps, in his words and journey, proclaiming courageously the words of truth and encouragement, the wisdom of God and the Holy Spirit to reveal the knowledge and truth of God to those who have not yet known Him and to all those who were still resisting this truth. St. Paul did all these knowing that his efforts were not in vain, and he did all for the salvation of souls, hoping that at least some among those to whom he had spoken would be willing to listen to the truth and Good News of God’s salvation, and it is this attitude that we should also have in our own lives, in how we should be evangelising and missionary in each and every moments of our lives.

Then from our Gospel passage today, we heard of the account from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist in which the Lord was reassuring His disciples and followers, telling them that as long as they trust in Him and believe in whatever that He had told them, they would not be shaken and they would enjoy the fullness of all of His promises, of eternal life and true happiness with God. This must be understood within the context of how the Lord revealed to them that He would soon suffer persecution and have to leave them for His heavenly place, to prepare for their places in Heaven, and all these would indeed come true with the Passion and suffering of the Lord, betrayed by His own disciple and then after He had died, He would rise from the dead and then ascended in glory into Heaven.

Everything did indeed happen according to what the Lord had said would happen, but of course at the time when the Lord predicted these things, no one would have known what would transpire, and the disciples were understandably confused and unsure, with St. Thomas, the Apostle who was known for his lack of faith and for being very cynical during his days of following Jesus, said cynically on how they would not know where to go if the Lord did not tell them where He was going, as He was being rather mysterious and vague in His words and explanations. But the Lord reassured him and the others, saying that He is indeed the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that there is no other way to the Heavenly Father except that going through Him, and therefore, they all should always trust and follow Him regardless of what they would be facing in their journey.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do our best so that in everything that we do, we will always put our faith and trust in God, doing whatever we can in order to follow Him and do our part in proclaiming His truth and Good News in our world today. Let us all be exemplary in our lives, in each and every moments that we live, so that by our every actions, words and deeds, and through every interactions we carry out to our fellow brothers and sisters, all of us may be truly blessed by God, strengthened and empowered, in doing all the things that we do daily in life, and in our encounters with our fellow brethren around us. We should always be the courageous and worthy bearers of our Christian faith, doing our best to glorify Him by our lives.

May the Risen Lord continue to guide and strengthen us in our journey through life, and may He continue to empower each and every one of us to be His ever courageous and dedicated disciples and followers, in doing our part to proclaim His truth and teachings to the whole world. Let us trust in Him, our Way, our Truth and our Life, so that like St. Paul and the other Apostles and holy saints before us, we may always be faithful and dedicated to the service of God, at all times, for the good and salvation of souls. Amen.

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Friday, 16 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 14 : 1-6

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not be troubled! Trust in God and trust in Me! In My Father’s house there are many rooms; otherwise, I would not have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. After I have gone and prepared a place for you, I shall come again and take you to Me, so that where I am, you also may be. Yet you know the way where I am going.”

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

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Friday, 16 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 2 : 6-7, 8-9, 10-11

“Behold the King I have installed, in Zion, upon My holy hill!” I will proclaim the decree of the Lord. He said to Me : “You are My Son. This day I have begotten You.”

“Ask of Me and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall rule them with iron sceptre and shatter them as a potter’s vase.”

Now therefore, learn wisdom, o kings; be warned, o rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and fall at His feet; lest He be angry and you perish when His anger suddenly flares. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

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Friday, 16 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 13 : 26-33

Paul said to the Jews in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia, “Brothers, children and descendants of Abraham, and you also who fear God, it is to you that this message of salvation has been sent. It is a fact that the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognise Jesus.”

“Yet in condemning Him, they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath but not understood. Even though they found no charge against Him that deserved death, they asked Pilate to have Him executed. And after they have carried out all that had been written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.”

But God raised Him from the dead, and for many days thereafter He showed Himself to those who had come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They have now become His witnesses before the people. We ourselves announce to you this Good News : All that God promised our ancestors, He has fulfilled for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus, according to what is written in the second psalm : You are My Son, this day I have begotten You.”

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Thursday, 15 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us to trust in the Lord wholeheartedly and to remember that as God’s servants and followers, we should always live our lives in fulfilling what He has commanded us to do, in doing what the Lord has taught us, in proclaiming His Good News and truth to all the people of all the nations. Each and every one of us as Christians have been given the mission and the responsibilities to be good and faithful disciples, to be dedicated to one another and to be exemplary in our lives and ways so that everyone may know the Lord and His truth and Good News through our lives and actions.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles in which the works of the Apostles like St. Paul was told to us. St. Paul was speaking in the synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia where he proclaimed the words of encouragement to the people of God, the Jewish community in that place in their synagogue, by going through the history of God’s salvation for His people, and how He has been with all of them throughout history, providing for all of them from the time of the Exodus from Egypt and then afterwards when they were already settled in the land promised to them by God. He continued to show them all His love and all of these were fulfilled completely in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who manifested God’s love in the flesh, making Himself approachable and tangible to us.

St. Paul wanted to share with the Jewish community in that place of the truth and Good News which the Lord had brought into their midst by His coming. He wanted to convince all of them that Jesus was truly the One sent by God, the Messiah long awaited by the world and prophesied by the many prophets throughout history. This is because many among the Jewish community still had not yet believed in the Risen Lord, especially those who sided with the Pharisees and upheld their opposition against the Lord and His ways and teachings. And although St. Paul was chiefly remembered for his missionary works and efforts, as well as focus on evangelising towards the non-Jewish people or the Gentiles, but it did not mean that he neglected ministering to the Jewish people.

This is a reminder for all of us that God’s love and salvation has been meant for everyone, for all of His creation, all mankind, without any exceptions, and no one is truly beyond the reach of God’s love and mercy. That is why we are also reminded of our own respective calling and mission in life to proclaim the Good News and truth of God to more and more people, to everyone whom we encounter daily in life. Each and every one of us have the responsibility to reveal our most loving and compassionate, merciful and kind God to everyone through our own actions, words and deeds in life, through our every interactions and our every moments in life. We have been given the opportunities and more to do what God has entrusted to us, the abilities and all the means through which we can positively impact the lives of others around us, by revealing to them the face of God’s love and truth.

Then from our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the account of the moment when the Lord told His disciples that the servant wasn’t greater than the master, and also at the same time predicting how He would be betrayed by one of His own disciples. Then, He also said about how those who truly know Him also know the Father, the Lord and Master of all. As the Lord said this, it was in fact a reminder to all of His disciples and hence all of us to follow the example of Christ’ obedience in all things, in how He obeyed perfectly the Father’s will, even to the point of suffering betrayal and the worst of sufferings, pains and hardships all so that He could perfectly fulfil everything that God had planned for us, the great love that He has for each one of us.

We are reminded as the servants and followers of God, all of us should always imitate our Lord and Master in all things, and this means that we should always be full of love just as He is Love itself, manifested perfectly in the flesh and in all of His actions. All the love that He has generously shown to us, we should also have in us, and we should love Him first and foremost above all else, and then we should also show that same love to our fellow brothers and sisters as well, loving everyone around us to the best of our abilities. Without love, we are empty and dead in us, and without love, our faith is meaningless and empty. That is why, as Christians, we truly must reflect the light of Christ in us, His love and kindness, His mercy and compassion, just as the Apostles like St. Paul had done, in inspiring everyone that he encountered with the love of Christ.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the works of the Apostles are far from over, and there are still many areas where the efforts of the Church are still needed in this world. There are still many areas where evangelisation and the teachings of the faith are needed, and our contributions, in whatever areas we can contribute and commit are very important, as although each one of our efforts may be small and minute in comparison, but all of these combine together as the efforts of the whole united Church, the Body of Christ into a mighty endeavour and effort for the Lord. We must not neglect our responsibilities as Christians to help lead others towards the Lord, and we have to begin from ourselves, from how we live our own lives as Christians and from how we interact with those around us.

May the Risen Lord continue to be with us and guide us in all of our journey, our sufferings and trials, in everything that we do, so that by our every good efforts and works, we will always continue to be faithful and committed to His cause. Let us all proclaim Him ever more courageously through our own exemplary works and actions in each day, in doing our best for the greater glory of God, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 15 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 13 : 16-20

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly, I say to you, the servant is not greater than his master, nor is the messenger greater than he who sent him. Understand this, and blessed are you, if you put it into practice.”

“I am not speaking of you all, because I know the ones I have chosen, and the Scripture has to be fulfilled that says : The one who shared My table has risen against Me. I tell you this now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may know that I am He.”

“Truly, I say to you, whoever welcomes the one I send, welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me, welcomes the One Who sent Me.”