Fourth Sunday of Easter

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Sunday, 3 May 2020 : Fourth Sunday of Easter, Vocation Sunday, Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, the fourth Sunday in the season of Easter we are approximately halfway through the season of Easter, and on this day we also celebrate the Good Shepherd Sunday or Vocation Sunday as today’s Gospel is solely dedicated to the reading of the Good Shepherd from the Gospel of St. John. The Lord Himself is our Good Shepherd, the One Who has guided us all, the flock of the Lord, into the path that He has prepared for us.

And it is also a celebration of the Vocation Sunday because the Lord has also called some among us to follow Him to be shepherds in His image, to be shepherds like the Good Shepherd Himself. The shepherds are our priests, our bishops and all those who are called to serve the Lord to reach out to the people out there who need guidance, help and assistance. They are called to follow the examples of the Good Shepherd Himself in giving themselves to the people, the flock of the Lord.

That is why on this day traditionally priests, especially in the Diocese of Rome, are ordained to the priesthood. It is indeed symbolic of how all priests and therefore bishops are by extension, the shepherds of the Lord’s flock, given the responsibilities to take care of all these souls and all who may be struggling through their lives. That is why on this day, on Vocation Sunday, we pray firstly for our priests, for all of our bishops and all those who have given themselves through sacred ordination to be shepherds of the faithful, that God may strengthen and inspire them to be more like Himself, the Good Shepherd.

But we must also not forget to pray for vocations to the priesthood itself, as without new vocations to the priesthood, of the courageous and faithful men who want to give their lives in the service of God, then we will not have these courageous and faithful priests or even bishops in the end. That is why it is very important that on this day we also spend some time to pray for the vocation to priesthood that there will be bountiful harvest of vocations, that there will be many more holy priests, bishops and servants of God in the many more years to come.

Of course then we must also pray for all those who are discerning their calling to priesthood, for God has indeed called those whom He deems to be worthy and whom He has chosen from among the peoples and the nations. There are many people who are still not sure whether they want to pursue that calling to the sacred priesthood, while some others are still facing challenges and opposition from their families, relatives and from the communities, as well as facing many temptations that keep them away from their vocations in life.

Indeed, it is not easy for those who have been called by God to the sacred priesthood and to consider the life dedicated and consecrated to God. Often they will have to abandon the many comforts and achievements, the glories and the good things in life, in order to serve the Lord and His people with all their strength and might. There will be plenty of challenges for them all and many will be tempted to give up on their vocations, just as how we have heard sad stories even among the priests who had given up their calling and priesthood ministry.

And we also know of how some small minority of priests, very small minority in fact, had ended up in very high publicity for all sorts of wrong reasons, as they betrayed the responsibilities and also the trust and opportunities given to them. These were those priests who have been convicted and also suspected of improper behaviours and conduct, of various kinds of misconducts that are improper and have been strongly condemned by the Church. These were false shepherds who have not walked in the path of the Good Shepherd, but instead, allowed themselves to be tempted by the sins of this world.

Nonetheless, although the vast majority of the priests and bishops had been faithful and perhaps even more than just faithful, but also fully dedicated to the mission entrusted to them and their respective calling, they had certainly been affected by those who have been deviant and misguided, aberrant and irresponsible in the exercise of their ministry and in creating various scandals of the Church and the faith that affected the credibility and reputation of our most sacred priesthood and holy orders.

That is why today, all of us have to focus our attention and give our prayers for the benefit of all of our priests and bishops, our seminarians studying in various seminaries and preparation courses, as well as all the men called by God and are discerning the call to priesthood, all of them in their various stages of their vocation journey. And even more importantly, they also need our support, the support of the whole Church community. It is sad to note how in the reality of our Church life today, gossips and attacks against the priests are quite common in our community, and also various actions which showed our lack of appreciation and support for the important roles that our men in holy orders are doing.

As long as we hinder vocations within our own community, and even more so within our own families and relatives, we are not doing what we should be doing as Christians. I am sure that many among us will say that we must support vocations to priesthood and even participate actively in the prayers for vocations and other efforts, and yet, it was a sad reality when some of the same people wanted only others to be embracing their calling to the priesthood, and when one of their own family members want to follow this path, they oppose these with much hostility and bitterness.

This is therefore a reminder that we all need to unite our efforts together with sincere and genuine faith, and not with empty words and meaningless actions. In fact, although indeed we put a lot of focus today on the vocation to the holy orders and the sacred priesthood, that the priests and bishops carry on the same mission that has been entrusted to them from the time of the Apostles, but we must also not forget that all of us as Christians, by our common baptism, have also received the same mission and also partake in the same effort and work of the Church.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that we cannot say and think that just because the priests, bishops and all in holy orders and priesthood had been charged and entrusted with those important works as shepherds then all the rest of us can then just slack and enjoy ourselves and our lives. All of us are also called to different vocations in life, and vocation does not just mean the vocation to priesthood, but rather it means the calling for each and every one of us to live our lives in the manner as Christian-like as possible in our own various occupations and sectors of life.

That is why while some had been called to the priesthood, many others had been called instead to a married life and existence, and to give glory to God and to be shining beacons of the light and truth of God in our world today. If each and every one of us play our part and do what we can to support one another, then definitely the paths that our priests and all those in holy orders had to go through will be significantly easier, since they will then be travelling through them and enduring them together with all the whole Church rather than by themselves.

And I have also mentioned how several ‘bad seeds’ among the clergy had caused great scandal and damage to the Church. But let us not then forget that if any one of the laity or indeed any members of the Church were to commit sin or lead a sinful life, then it will be scandalous and cause damage to the Church and the faithful as bad as the scandals and damages caused by those errant and unfaithful members of the clergy.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us therefore on this Vocation or Good Shepherd Sunday pray for one another, first of all of course for all of our priests and all in the holy orders, but then also pray for ourselves and for each other that we may truly be able to find meaning in our respective vocations in life, and for those among us who are still discerning the path to our vocations, may the Lord help us and guide us to our true vocations, whatever they may be, and allow us to give our best to fulfil our vocations as best as we are able to do so.

May the Lord, our Good Shepherd, continue to be with His Church and with all of us His people, that we may truly be more united in purpose, that in everything we do, we may contribute meaningfully and positively to the works and efforts of the Church and to God’s greater glory. May God bless us all and our many good endeavours and works, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 3 May 2020 : Fourth Sunday of Easter, Vocation Sunday, Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 10 : 1-10

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly, I say to you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. But the shepherd of the sheep enters by the gate. The keeper opens the gate to him and the sheep hear his voice; he calls each of his sheep by name and leads them out.”

“When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but rather they will run away from him, because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this comparison, but they did not understand what He was saying to them.

So Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, I am the Gate of the sheep. All who came were thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not hear them. I am the Gate. Whoever enters through Me will be saved; he will go in and out freely and find food. The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life, life in all its fullness.”

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Sunday, 3 May 2020 : Fourth Sunday of Easter, Vocation Sunday, Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Peter 2 : 20b-25

But if you endure punishment when you have done well, that is a grace before God. This is your calling : remember Christ Who suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you may follow in His way. He did no wrong and there was no deceit in His mouth. He did not return insult for insult and, when suffering, He did not curse but put Himself in the hands of God Who judges justly.

He went to the cross bearing our sins on His own Body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live an upright life. For by His wounds you have been healed. You were like stray sheep, but you have come back to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

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Sunday, 3 May 2020 : Fourth Sunday of Easter, Vocation Sunday, Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 22 : 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.

He guides me through the right paths for His Name’s sake. Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are beside me : Your rod and Your staff comfort me.

You spread a table before me in the presence of my foes. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.

Goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life. I shall dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

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Sunday, 3 May 2020 : Fourth Sunday of Easter, Vocation Sunday, Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 2 : 14a, 36-41

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven and, with a loud voice, addressed them, “Let Israel then know for sure that God has made Lord and Christ this Jesus Whom you crucified.” When they heard this, they were deeply troubled. And they asked Peter and the other Apostles, “What shall we do, brothers?”

Peter answered : “Each of you must repent and be baptised in the Name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise of God was made to you and your children, and to all those from afar whom our God may call.”

With many other words Peter gave the message and appealed to them saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who accepted his word were baptised; some three thousand persons were added to their numbers that day.

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Saturday, 28 April 2018 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr and St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the truth as revealed by the Lord, and which we have heard through the Church, having been passed down through the Apostles, and from the Apostles to their successors. And we call ourselves as Christians, because we believe in the message of truth which Christ, Our Lord Jesus Christ, delivered into this world.

Unfortunately, as we can see in both the Acts of the Apostles and in the Gospel today, there were many of those who were skeptical and who refused to believe in the truth that Christ had brought into this world, and this included initially even the Apostles themselves. They failed to believe at first, how He is truly the Son of God and the Saviour of the world.

They failed to see this truth at first, even though the Lord Jesus had stated it plainly from the beginning to them, and even though they have directly experienced and witnessed God’s miraculous works through Jesus, as no one else had ever done before. They saw how He had turned water into wine, healed and opened the eyes of the blind, loosened the tongues of the mute and opening the ears of the deaf, feeding five thousand and four thousand men and more with just a few loaves of bread and fishes.

And then, they saw how He even raised people who have been dead back into life. He raised Lazarus from the dead after four days, and all who saw these miracles were astonished. Yet, equally many of those who had seen these miracles, were also the ones who would later on condemn the Lord Jesus to death, death on the cross when they were instigated by the Pharisees and the elders of the people.

In the Acts of the Apostles, as St. Paul and St. Barnabas went around many cities and towns in the Eastern Mediterranean area, they preached about the Lord, the Saviour of this world. Many of the Gentiles, or the non-Jewish people, mostly Greek and some Romans, believed in their teachings and came to convert to the Christian faith. Some of the Jews also believed in them, and they enthusiastically welcomed them and asked them to preach to them.

However, there were many of those who refused to believe, some among the Gentiles because they saw the efforts of the Apostles as an affront to their traditional pagan gods and way of life. While there were quite a few among the Jews who believed in the lies spread by the elders about the disciples having stolen the body of Jesus and therefore spoke lies about the resurrection of the Lord.

Thus, they persecuted the Apostles and rejected their message, chasing them out of their town. Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? Why with all the challenges and difficulties that the Lord and His disciples had faced throughout their work? These were all caused by our stubbornness, mankind’s pride and hardened hearts. The enemies of the Lord had many reasons to oppose Him.

They wanted to preserve their earthly influence, status and authority, and they saw the Lord as a great threat to all that they have accumulated for their own benefit. Now, these were the same things which faced the followers of the Lord, whose memory we remember today. St. Peter Chanel, missionary to the Oceanian islands of Wallis and Futuna, and St. Louis Marie de Montfort, founder of the Montfortians.

St. Peter Chanel was a missionary who went to the islands to evangelise to the people living there, who have not yet heard of the Lord and His truth, much like St. Paul and St. Barnabas who went to faraway places in the past. Many came to believe in the Lord through St. Peter Chanel’s works, and even the son of the king of the island came to believe, and asked to be baptised as a Christian.

The king was furious and did whatever he could to prevent that from happening. When that failed, he sent his son-in-law to murder St. Peter Chanel, and thus, eventually this courageous servant of God was martyred. Yet, his martyrdom proved to be fruitful in the end, as eventually, most of the people embraced the Christian faith, and even his murderer converted to the faith as well and repented his sin.

Meanwhile, St. Louis Marie de Montfort was renowned for his effort at preaching and evangelisation, as well as commitment to the Catholic education of youths. Yet, he did not have it all easy during his ministry, as he had his share of opponents, who disagreed with him and refused to listen to him. He was assaulted and even poisoned before, all for his hard work in preaching the truth of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what each one of us must realise is that God will always His enemies and all those who disagree with Him. And definitely, these will also be against us if we are faithful to the Lord and His ways. But are we going to side with those who oppose the Lord? Or are we going to stand up for our faith as St. Paul had done? The choice is ours to make.

Let us all pray therefore, asking the Lord for faith, that we may truly be able to believe in Him wholeheartedly, and not be swayed by the falsehoods of this world, or by the sweet lies of Satan and his tempters. Let us all pray also for strength and courage, and guidance of the Holy Spirit, that we may follow faithfully in the footsteps of the Holy Apostles, in their courage and outspokenness, in preaching the truth and standing up for their faith.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to guide us in our journey of faith, that we may always draw closer to Him, day after day, and receive from Him the gift of eternal life. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 28 April 2018 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr and St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

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, 28 April 2018 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr and St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

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, 28 April 2018 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr and St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

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, 27 April 2018 : 4th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the continuation of St. Paul’s testimony before the Jewish community in a synagogue, which was recorded in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. In that testimony of faith, St. Paul mentioned how God had continued to show His love and mercy to His people, sending help after help to them through time, culminating in the coming of the Messiah, Who was promised to them.

But many of the people refused to acknowledge Him or to accept Him as their Lord and Saviour. Indeed, there were many of those who plotted to have Him destroyed and viewed Him as a threat to their own position and authority within the society. These included the Pharisees and many among the priests and the elders of the people. In the end, not only that they refused to believe in the Lord, but they arrested Him, levied false charges against Him and crucified Him.

Yet, having known all that would have happened to Him, the Lord Jesus continued on regardless with His mission, and He faced the challenges and oppositions courageously, knowing that by His obedience and by His commitment, He would save the people of God, and rescue them from their sins. That He would also do, even to all those who have wronged Him and rejected Him.

That was why, if we remember, the Lord Jesus, as He laid crucified on the cross at Calvary, prayed even for His very enemies and persecutors, asking His heavenly Father not to take into account what they had done on that day, for ‘they did not know what they were doing’. He forgave them, even after all that they had done, fulfilling what He Himself had taught His disciples, to forgive their enemies and to pray for those who have persecuted them.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, what is the significance of these things to ourselves? How can these be relevant to us? Indeed, it is important that in order to appreciate and fully understand what we have heard today, that we reflect on our own lives and actions thus far. And let us all ask ourselves this question, how have we lived our lives as Christians all these while? Have we truly believed in the Lord as we should have?

The reality is that, for many of us, we have not been living a true Christian lifestyle, as we often put our own worldly desires and concerns ahead of our obligations and responsibilities as Christians. We often forget about God and we only remember Him whenever we are in need of something, a favour from Him, and once we get what we wanted, we often quickly turn away from God and forget Him yet again.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why many of us are at the moment, merely Christians by formality only, as we do not truly embody our Christian faith in our actions and in our dealing with one another. Rather, we are like the Pharisees and the elders who rejected the Lord, doubting Him and turning their hearts from Him. We spurned His love because we love ourselves too much, and we are too engrossed in our own concerns that we forget how much God has loved us.

How often do we pray to the Lord? And how many of us always think that we do not have the time for Him? That is because God did not occupy a place of greatest honour in our hearts, as we all really should have done. When we are so self-centred and thinking only about ourselves, then it is easy for Satan to enter into our hearts and tempt us with all sorts of things that will prevent us from realising God’s presence and love in our lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is not the way that we must be taking in our lives. No, definitely it cannot be the path we walk through. Let us all remember that God must be the centre and the focus of our lives, as without God, truly we are nothing, and our existence mean nothing. Remember, that we have initially been doomed to an eternity of suffering and annihilation because of our sins, but God chose to allow us to escape that fate, because He loves us all.

Let us all from now on, devote ourselves anew to our God, remembering just how much He loved us all, to the point of accepting death, death on the cross, for our sake. And just as He has risen into glory, He wants us all to share in His glory as well, through our faith in Him, and by the virtue of our baptism and by our genuine and honest Christian life, that we may be saved.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He strengthen our faith within us, that we will grow ever more devout and more committed as Christians, day after day. May the Lord bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.