Friday

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Friday, 22 April 2016 : Fourth 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 anher suddenly flares. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

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Friday, 22 April 2016 : Fourth Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 13 : 26-33

Paul said to the Jews 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 had 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, today I have begotten You.”

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Friday, 15 April 2016 : Third Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the well-known story of how St. Paul, the great Apostle and servant of God was converted from his past life as Saul, the great enemy of the faithful and the nightmare of Christians at that time. St. Paul when he was young, he was a zealous and fanatical Pharisee who strictly obeyed the Law of God, and was inflamed with false zeal against the followers of Christ.

But he led a wrong life, thinking that what he had done was righteous and just, as he thought that he was serving the Lord when he hunted down the disciples and the followers of Christ. But he was mistaken, for in all of those works, he was chasing down the same fault that the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and the elders of the people had done, that is to pursue their earthly matters first before that of the truth.

They refused to believe in Jesus, except for some who were willing to listen, because of their ego and pride, which prevented them from opening their hearts and minds to God, and therefore being able to follow Him. And in this misguided path therefore, St. Paul in his youth as Saul ended up committing great sins against many of the faithful, many of whom suffered grievously under his torture and works.

But God chose him to be an instrument of His salvation to the many nations. And he was called from a great sinner he was, a persecutor of the faithful, to be the champion and defender of the Faith in front of many of the enemies of the Lord, including his former friends, the Pharisees and the elders, and later on in his life, against the pagans who refused to follow the Lord and against the Roman authorities.

In all these, we see how great God’s work was. We see the greatness of His plan and His mysterious ways, which many of us may not be able to fathom, and yet from there came the salvation of the Lord to the many nations of this world. We have to keep in mind, as we remember this story of the conversion of St. Paul, from a great sinner who became a great saint, and as the invaluable tool of God’s work and evangelisation among the people especially among the pagan nations, that we too should do the same.

God did not call the mighty and the powerful, nor the perfect and unblemished to be those upon whom He showed His grace and blessings. In fact all of us should realise just how imperfect we were. We are all sinners, and so does all the saints as well. Even saints were themselves once sinners, and they also committed the same sins that we have committed. But there is one very important thing they did which distinguished them in the end.

And what is that, brethren? It is the ability to seek reparations for one’s own sins and faults. It is the ability to humble oneself and realise the nature of one’s own sins that have prevented that person from truly being able to reach out to God and to attain salvation in Him. God is calling not the perfect, but sinners and delinquents, rebels and disobedient ones, whom He was willing to forgive if they themselves make the effort to be forgiven.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we all ready to follow the path of St. Paul? St. Paul walked the path of repentance, turning his back against all those things, the awful deeds which he had committed against the followers of Christ. Those were grievous sins indeed, but through his actions and works, St. Paul has earned more than redemption for his faults, by totally committing himself to God, and submitting himself to His will.

We too can follow his examples, by practising our faith actively in our own lives. Let us no longer be lukewarm in our faith, but instead let us all be burning flames of faith, of true zeal in God, not brought out of hatred and human desire, but out of love, from the desire to love both our God, and our fellow men, who are our brethren in the same Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 15 April 2016 : Third 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, live 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.

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Friday, 15 April 2016 : Third 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.

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Friday, 15 April 2016 : Third Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 9 : 1-20

Meanwhile Saul considered nothing but violence and death for the disciples of the Lord. He went to the High Priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues of Damascus that would authorise him to arrest and bring to Jerusalem anyone he might find, man or woman, belonging to the Way.

As he travelled along and was approaching Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute Me?” And he asked, “Who are You, Lord?”

The voice replied, “I am Jesus Whom you persecute. Now get up and go into the city; there you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were travelling with him stood there speechless : they had heard the sound, but could see no one. Saul got up from the ground and, opening his eyes, he could not see. They took him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. He was blind and he did not eat or drink for three days.

There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, to whom the Lord called in a vision, “Ananias!” He answered, “Here I am, Lord!” Then the Lord said to him, “Go at once to Straight Street and ask, at the house of Judas, for a man of Tarsus named Saul. You will find him praying, for he has just seen in a vision that a man named Ananias has come in and placed his hands upon him, to restore his sight.”

Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem, and now he is here with authority from the High Priest to arrest all who call upon Your Name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go! This man is My chosen instrument to bring My Name to the pagan nations and their kings, and the people of Israel as well. I Myself will show him how much he will have to suffer for My Name.”

So Ananias left and went to the house. He laid his hands upon Saul and said, “Saul, my brother, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me to you so that you may receive your sight and be filled with Holy Spirit.” Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he could see; he got up and was baptised. Then he took food and was strengthened.

For several days Saul stayed with the disciples at Damascus, and he soon began to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God.

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Friday, 8 April 2016 : Second Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how the Apostles were spared a terrible punishment due to the intervention of Gamaliel, a renowned teacher of the Law, who spoke to the rest of the Jewish Council at length about how many past uprisings and sects had failed because they came from men and not from God. They were defeated, scattered and faded into oblivion.

And yet, the works of the Apostles and the disciples of Christ came not from men, but from God Himself, as the continuation of the good works of Christ our Lord and Saviour, through Whom God had revealed His truth and salvation to all mankind. And He commanded the Apostles and the disciples to carry forth the Good News to all mankind, in all the four corners of the world, to the furthest ends of the globe.

And in the Gospel, we heard how five thousand men and countless other women and children followed Jesus as they listened to His teachings and as He performed His healing works and miracles among them. And He blessed them, gave them food when they had none, turning the five loaves of bread and two fishes into food enough to feed all of them with much to spare.

We see how popular Jesus was, and how the crowds that followed Him always numbered in the many thousands and more. They followed Him even through difficult moments and times. They followed Him even through hunger and through thirst. And His Apostles and disciples in particular followed Him through even to follow Him on the path of His suffering and death on the cross.

What all these tell us is that, God does not abandon us in our times of distress, and especially for all those who follow Him, who are faithful to Him, and who devote themselves to His cause, He will bless them, care for them and make them great. He will make their works to be successful, as long as these are done for the greater glory of His Name.

But the works of the Apostles and the disciples of our Lord are not yet done. There are still so many things that can be done in order to bring the Good News and the light of our Lord to many people who have yet to hear of these, or those who have fallen wayward on their path to the Lord. There are many things that we can do to help them to return to the true faith, and help them to discover the truth of God for themselves.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we reflect on the works of the Apostles, and the love of God which He had shown to us His beloved people, let us all commit ourselves anew to the works of evangelisation and the works of bringing God’s salvation to many people all over the world. May God help us in our works and in all of our endeavours, just as He has protected all of us all these while.

May the Lord bless us and strengthen us, and may His light shine always on our path, that we may not be lost, but will find our path to eternal life and glory in Him. Amen.

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Friday, 8 April 2016 : Second Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 6 : 1-15

At that time, after Jesus healed a paralytic at the pool of Bethzatha, He went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, near Tiberias, and large crowds followed Him, because of the miraculous signs they saw, when He healed the sick. So He went up into the hills and sat down there with His disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

Then lifting up His eyes, Jesus saw the crowds that were coming to Him, and said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread so that these people may eat?” He said this to test Philip, for He Himself knew what He was going to do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred silver coins would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a piece.”

Then one of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass there, so the people, about five thousand men, sat down.

Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish, and gave them as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten enough, He told His disciples, “Gather up the pieces left over, that nothing may be lost.”

So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with bread, that is, with pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. When the people saw the miracle which Jesus had performed, they said, “This is really the Prophet, the One Who is to come into the world.”

Jesus realised that they would come and take Him by force to make Him King; so He fled to the hills by Himself.

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Friday, 8 April 2016 : Second Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 26 : 1, 4, 13-14

The Lord is my Light and my Salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the rampart of my life; I will not be afraid.

One thing I ask of the Lord, one thing I seek – that I may dwell in His house all the days of my life, to gaze at His jewel and to visit His sanctuary.

I hope, I am sure, that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Trust in the Lord, be strong and courageous. Yes, put your hope in the Lord!

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Friday, 8 April 2016 : Second Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 5 : 34-42

But one of the Council members, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law highly respected by the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin. He ordered the men to be taken outside for a few minutes and then he spoke to the assembly.

“Fellow Israelites, consider well what you intend to do to these men. For some time ago Theudas came forward, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. But he was killed and all his followers were dispersed or disappeared.”

“After him, Judas the Galilean appeared at the time of the census and persuaded many people to follow him. But he too perished and his whole following was scattered. So, in this present case, I advise you to have nothing to do with these men. Leave them alone. If their project or activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. If, on the other hand, it is from God, you will not be able to destroy it and you may indeed find yourselves fighting against God.”

The Council let themselves be persuaded. They called in the Apostles and had them whipped, and ordered them not to speak again of Jesus Saviour. Then they set them free. The Apostles went out from the Council rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of the Name. Day after day, both in the Temple and in people’s homes, they continued to teach and to proclaim that Jesus was the Messiah.