Friday

by

Friday, 23 May 2025 : 5th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 15 : 12-17

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “This is My commandment : Love one another as I have loved you! There is no greater love than this, to give one’s life for one’s friends; and you are My friends, if you do what I command you.”

“I shall not call You servants any more, because servants do not know what their master is about. Instead I have called you friends, since I have made known to you everything I learnt from My Father.”

“You did not choose Me; it was I Who chose you and sent you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. And everything you ask the Father in My Name, He will give you. This is My command, that you love one another.”

by

Friday, 23 May 2025 : 5th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 56 : 8-9, 10-12

My heart is steadfast, o God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing and make music. Awake, my soul, awake, o harp and lyre! I will wake the dawn.

I will give thanks to You, o Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praise to You among the nations. For Your love reaches to the heavens, and Your faithfulness, to the clouds.

Be exalted, o God, above the heavens! Let Your Glory be over all the earth!

by

Friday, 23 May 2025 : 5th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 15 : 22-31

Then the Apostles and elders together with the whole Church decided to choose representatives from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. These were Judas, known as Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers. They took with them the following letter :

“Greetings from the Apostles and elders, your brothers, to the believers of non-Jewish birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We have heard that some persons from among us have worried you with their discussions and troubled your peace of mind. They were not appointed by us.”

“But now, it has seemed right to us in an assembly, to choose representatives and to send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. We send you then Judas and Silas who themselves will give you these instructions by word of mouth.”

“We, with the Holy Spirit, have decided not to put any other burden on you except what is necessary : You are to abstain from blood from the meat of strangled animals and from prohibited marriages. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

After saying goodbye, the messengers went to Antioch, where they assembled the community and handed them the letter. When they read the news, all were delighted with the encouragement it gave them.

by

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.

by

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.”

by

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!

by

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.”

by

Friday, 9 May 2025 : 3rd Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that even in the greatest darkness and in the worst of hardships, if we put our faith and trust in the Lord, then we shall be strengthened and rescued from all of our troubles. And for the Lord there is truly nothing impossible or beyond belief, as the Scripture passages today had presented to us, firstly with the story of the conversion of Saul the Pharisee, who embraced the Lord as his Saviour and Master, something that seemed to be impossible given how passionate Saul was in persecuting the early Christians, and then from our Gospel passage today where the Lord spoke the truth about His present of His own Most Precious Body and Blood to the people, that He, as the Bread of Life, would share His own Flesh and Blood as real food and drink for the people to share.

In our first reading today, we heard from the continuation of the Acts of the Apostles where it was told that Saul the Pharisee, the overzealous persecutor and great enemy of the Church and the earliest Christians wanted to eradicate the Christians further, striking even beyond the land of Judea and Galilee, seeking permission to arrest and persecute the Christians in Damascus in Syria beyond the land of the Israelites. But what transpired there was beyond his imaginations or desires, as he encountered the Lord Jesus Himself on the way to Damascus, and after that encounter, where the Lord asked Saul why he persecuted Him and His Church, and became blinded, eventually through one named Ananias, a faithful disciple of the Lord, Saul was converted to the true faith in God, turning from a great enemy of the Church into one of its greatest defenders.

Such a conversion was truly remarkable and was indeed very unbelievable because Saul was truly a very ardent believer of the ways and teachings of the Pharisees, many among whom were hostile and critical of the teachings and works of Jesus. Saul in particular was also rather violent and harsh in his actions and methods in striking against the early Christian converts especially among the Jewish people, and he had a role in the martyrdom of St. Stephen as well, the first martyr of the Church. That he would make a complete turnaround and becoming one of the Church’s and the Lord’s greatest defenders is no less than mindboggling and completely baffling to many, so much so that Ananias himself could not believe it at first when the Lord asked him to help this man Saul and heal him from his blindness, so that he could become His faithful disciple.

Yet, that was what had happened, and the Lord did touch the heart of Saul, turning him over completely into a new life blessed by His grace, erasing all the past hatred and misunderstandings of His truth and Good News. Through the gift of baptism, the empowerment by the Holy Spirit, Saul, who would then take on the new name Paul to signify his conversion, became a great and most ardent defender of the Lord and the Christian faith, and becoming one of its greatest missionaries, as the Apostle to the Gentiles. He wrote many Epistles to the various communities of the Church in the many places that he had visited, just as he has also went on several missionary journeys to proclaim the Lord and His salvation to more and more people, especially to the Gentiles, or the non-Jewish people.

We can see from this example how the Lord performed His work in such a marvellous and wonderful way, beyond our imagination, that even things that seemed to be impossible have become possible for Him. After all, we must not forget that the Lord our God is the Almighty and All-Powerful God, and how can we say that something is impossible for Him? Everything that is within His will, and all things are possible for Him, and the conversion of St. Paul is just one of the many wonderful things that He had done, from something seemingly impossible into a great and wonderful boon for the Church of God. Then, this is also linked to what we have heard in our Gospel passage in the continuation of the discourse on the Bread of Life as we have heard it in these past few days.

For in that occasion mentioned in today’s Gospel passage, the Lord clearly presented His Body and Blood to the people as real food and drink for them to partake and share, and hearing all these, many of the people became disgusted and appalled, as they thought that it must have been crazy and even blasphemy for the Lord Jesus to mention sharing His own Body and Blood for them to eat and drink in such a way, and also claiming to be the Bread of Life, the Heavenly Bread that had come down from Heaven itself. That was why as mentioned, many of the Lord’s disciples stopped following Him after this event, and many left Him disappointed and disgusted at Him. It was left to just the Twelve, who have always been by His side, and perhaps some other disciples. When the Lord asked them if they would also go too, St. Peter represented them in saying that they still believed in Him, as the Holy One of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this discourse on the Bread of Life, and then even more importantly on the Real Presence in the Eucharist, in the gift of the Most Precious Body and Blood of the Lord that had been made real and tangible before us in the transformation of the bread and wine at the Holy Mass, or also known as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we are reminded of one of the most central and most important core tenet of our Christian faith, that is the belief in the dogma of Transubstantiation, that we believe the Lord Himself is truly present in the Eucharist, that while the appearance of bread and wine remained the same, but in its reality, essence and everything else, the bread and wine consecrated by the power of the Holy Spirit through the hands of the celebrant in the Holy Mass had indeed become the Body and Blood of the Lord Himself.

Let us all therefore renew our faith and trust in the Lord, in He Who makes things impossible into something possible, by His own Almighty power and will. Let us all put our trust in Him, allowing the Lord to lead us all in our lives, so that if we continue to follow His path, we will truly be able to find our way to Him, and to the true happiness, satisfaction and eternal life that He has promised to all of us, all who have shared and partaken of the great heavenly banquet of His own Body and Blood, the Bread of Life that has come down from Heaven. May the Lord be with us always, and bless us all in our every good works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

by

Friday, 9 May 2025 : 3rd Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 6 : 52-59

At that time, the Jews were arguing among themselves, “How can this Man give us flesh to eat?” So Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you. The one who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood lives eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

“My Flesh is really food, and My Blood is truly drink. Those who eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, lives in Me, and I in them. Just as the Father, Who is life, sent Me, and I have life from the Father, so whoever eats Me will have life from Me. This is the Bread which came from heaven; not like that of your ancestors, who ate and later died. Those who eat this Bread will live forever.”

Jesus spoke in this way in Capernaum when He taught them in the synagogue.

by

Friday, 9 May 2025 : 3rd Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 116 : 1, 2

Alleluia! Praise the Lord, all you nations; all you peoples, praise Him.

How great is His love for us! His faithfulness lasts forever.