holy apostles

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Thursday, 11 June 2020 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Acts 11 : 21b-26 and Acts 13 : 1-3

A great number believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the manifest signs of God’s favour, he rejoiced and urged them all to remain firmly faithful to the Lord; for he, himself, was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. Thus large crowds came to know the Lord.

Then Barnabas went off to Tarsus, to look for Saul; and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year, they had meetings with the Church and instructed many people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

There were at Antioch – in the Church which was there – prophets and teachers : Barnabas, Symeon known as Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod, and Saul. On one occasion, while they were celebrating the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul to do the work for which I have called them.”

So, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

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Thursday, 14 May 2020 : Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of one of the Great Apostles of the Lord, one of the Twelve Apostles, although he was not originally counted as one among the Twelve. This was because St. Matthias the Apostle was chosen by God to replace the traitor, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed the Lord and then unrepentantly killed himself in regret and grief. As a result, in order to complete the number of the Twelve Apostles, St. Matthias, one of the earliest followers of the Lord, was chosen.

St. Matthias then went on to serve the Lord and His Church faithfully, as he went on many missions and travelled to far-off lands, most notably to the land of Ethiopia. He laboured hard to establish the Church and the faith in those places and preached the Good News of the Lord, calling many to conversion and the true faith. And according to the Church tradition and history, the Apostle either died in the city of Sebastopolis in the distant land, or in the city of Jerusalem in his old age, both by martyrdom.

And St. Matthias together with the other Apostles gave their efforts, their works, their dedication and their lives, their whole heart and might to serve God and to follow Him as His disciples, practicing and doing what the Lord Himself had commanded them to do, as described in our Gospel passage today. In that Gospel passage, we heard of the Lord speaking of the true commandments of God, the true meaning of His Law and the true desire of His will. All are centred on the most wonderful love that God has for each and every one of us.

That is why, first and foremost, they all kept their faith in God despite the challenges that they faced, and they were all willing to go the great lengths to serve Him and to carry out His will, all because they knew that God’s love for each and every one of them had been so great, that it was only right that they also loved Him in the same manner, and they loved Him by being faithful and obedient to Him. And out of their love and care for their fellow brothers and sisters, their fellow men, they therefore also reached out to more and more people to bring to them the salvation of God.

And this is also showed through the way they lived their lives, filled with love, compassion and genuine faith for the Lord. The early Christian communities were filled with much love and compassion, where everyone cared for one another, and took care for the other person. Those who had more and were blessed with more than enough shared what they had with those who had less or none, and everyone were well taken care of. This Christian love present within the early Christian communities represent what the Lord has called us all to do with our lives.

Unfortunately, for many of us, we have been swayed and misled by the temptations of life, the many good things and distractions present in our world that we have forgotten or set aside this way of life, and instead we adopt the ways of the world, such that so many among us actually have not been living our lives as faithful Christians. We have allowed greed and desire to cloud our judgments and actions, our pride and hubris to lead us down the path of selfishness and sin.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all called today to discern carefully our lives and what we are to do with them going forward from now. The Lord has called us all to follow Him much as the Apostles had been called. In fact, we are the ones to continue the works of the Apostles, which are still plenty and ongoing. Are we able to walk in the footsteps of St. Matthias and the other Apostles, to dedicate ourselves in the way that they and the other servants of God had devoted themselves?

The Lord has called us and He has blessed us with many gifts, abilities and talents. Are we willing to make good use of them and strive to spend our time and effort, in order to serve the Lord with all of our hearts? It is not easy for us to do so, with all the temptations around us, the pressure and allure to do otherwise, and to conform to the much more common norms and ways of the world. But, if we have faith in God and devote ourselves to Him, then we will find it easier for us to commit to Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all do our best and remind ourselves of God’s commandments, to love Him above all else and then to have the same love for our fellow brothers and sisters, our fellow men. Let us all live our lives as true Christians from now on, and let us all be genuine with our faith and actions, to proclaim God’s love and truth to all the people, not just by words, but also through our action and sincerity. May God bless us all in our every works and endeavours. Amen.

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Thursday, 14 May 2020 : Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 15 : 9-17

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you. Remain in My love! You will remain in My love if you keep My commandments, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.”

“I have told you all this, that My own joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete. 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.”

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Thursday, 14 May 2020 : Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 112 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8

Alleluia! Praise, o servants of YHVH, praise the Name of YHVH! Blessed be the Name of YHVH now and forever!

From eastern lands to the western islands, may the Name of YHVH be praised! YHVH is exalted over the nations; His glory above the heavens.

Who is like YHVH our God, Who sits enthroned on high, but also bends down to see on earth as in heaven?

He lifts up the poor from the dust and the needy from the ash heap. He makes them sit with princes, with rulers of His people.

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Thursday, 14 May 2020 : Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Acts 1 : 15-17, 20-26

It was during this time that Peter stood up in the midst of the community – about one hundred and twenty in all – and he said, “Brothers, it was necessary that the Scriptures referring to Judas be fulfilled. The Holy Spirit had spoken through David about the one who would lead the crowd coming to arrest Jesus. He was one of our number and had been called to share our common ministry.”

“In the Book of Psalms it is written : ‘Let his house become deserted and may no one live in it.’ But it is also written : ‘May another take his office.’ Therefore, we must choose someone from among those who were with us during all the time that the Lord Jesus moved about with us, beginning with John’s baptism until the day when Jesus was taken away from us. One of these has to become, with us, a witness to His resurrection.”

Then they proposed two : Joseph, called Barsabbas, also known as Justus, and Matthias. They prayed : “You know, Lord, what is in the hearts of all. Show us, therefore, which of the two You have chosen to replace Judas in this Apostolic ministry which he deserted to go to the place he deserved.”

Then they drew lots between the two and the choice fell on Matthias who was added to the eleven Apostles.

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Saturday, 25 January 2020 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate a great feast in the Church as we recall the important moment when the Lord called St. Paul, then known as Saul, a young and zealous Pharisee who had once been a great enemy of the Church and the faithful. Saul was very adamant on hunting all the followers of Christ and strove to put them all into prison, and approved even their killing as what has happened to St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church.

Saul was in the midst of this zealous pursuit when he went to Damascus in trying to eradicate all the faithful people of God who had taken refuge and lived there. The fact that Saul was even willing to venture far outside the land of Judah and even Galilee, was a testament to just how persistent he was in trying to destroy the Church and the Christian faith. Or so he thought, as in the end, he never managed to fulfil what he had planned and wanted.

As we heard in our first reading today, when Saul was still on his way to Damascus, God appeared to him in a great vision in which He revealed Himself to Saul as the One Whom he has been persecuting all the while when he was on a misguided rampage and attack against those who followed the Lord. Saul must have certainly been struck by that experience, and he was also struck blind by that vision.

We heard how Saul had to be helped and assisted, as his whole world turned into darkness for three days without being able to do anything at all. But God then sent Ananias to heal Saul, and after Ananias prayed over him, Saul was healed and received baptism in the Name of the Lord. This was a very significant moment in the history of the Church as the one who used to be a great enemy and persecutor of the Church had in a short moment become its greatest defender instead.

Saul had been called by God and had a moment of great revelation which entirely changed his life and direction. What he had once firmly believed in and championed in defending the purity of the Jewish customs, tradition and faith against the then thought to be ‘heretical’ teachings of Jesus Christ, had instead been overturned completely and the truth was revealed to him that in fact Jesus was the One Who had been right all along.

In the end, Saul became a Christian and as we can see throughout most of the Acts of the Apostles, he became a great champion of the Christian faith. He was known as the Apostle to the Gentiles, through his tireless and extensive missionary journeys throughout the Mediterranean and in his visits to the many communities of the faithful at that time. He also wrote and communicated extensively with those communities by letters, many of which are preserved in our New Testament.

Saul took up the name Paul eventually as a very symbolic act of total conversion as he left behind completely his past life as an enemy of Christ and His followers and embarked on a journey of total devotion to God, suffering so many trials and tribulations, rejected by many and were almost stoned to death and killed on more than one occasion, because he served the Lord and did nothing else than to glorify God.

We have heard and known of how remarkable this conversion that had happened to Saul, becoming St. Paul and had a complete turnover in his life, called to serve God from being a great sinner and enemy of the Lord’s faithful. But what is the real significance for us? How does this real life story of the conversion of St. Paul has to do with us? And the answer is that all of us are just like St. Paul in one way or another.

We must all understand that every single one of us are sinners, and God sees us all equally and we are all the same and equal before Him. He is not prejudiced at all with us, regardless whether we have the greater or lesser sins. In the end, sins, no matter how great or small, significant or insignificant, are still sins that we need to be forgiven from by God. And because we are all sinners, we all need God’s healing and mercy, which He will readily extend and give to us.

If God Himself has called Saul, a great sinner and someone who had caused so much suffering and misery in the lives of many of the early Christians, it means that He must have forgiven him completely and did not take his many sins into account after he had had a change of heart and mind. Through baptism, Saul had been reborn into new life that God has called him into, the new Christian life that he dedicated himself, as Paul from then on. Then, all of us too have been called by God to follow the example of St. Paul.

We must not despise or judge anyone just because we think that we are better than them in any way, especially with regards to sin. If a very terrible sinner like Saul could change and be converted, then so can the worst of sinners as long as they are willing to open their hearts and minds to allow God to enter into their lives and transform them as He once did with Saul. And before we judge or be prejudiced against anyone, we should first look at ourselves.

In this Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, all of us are also called by God to reflect on the conversion of this great saint so as to emulate it in our own respective lives. If we have not been faithful to God, if we have forgotten about Him in the midst of our very busy life schedules and works, if we have abandoned Him and preferred something else to Him, not being thankful to Him for all the love and care that He has shown us, and if we have been being angry at Him just because we thought that He did not listen to our prayers, then I am sure that we need this time to contemplate.

I am certain that each and every one of us, being sinner and imperfect, need God’s healing grace and mercy. But we often closed our hearts and minds against Him that we ended up acting as how Saul once acted in the years of his youth, zealous and very energetic but completely misguided and misled by blind faith and blind obedience. In the same manner, we have often acted out of disobedience and we fell into sin because we prefer to follow our own ways and disregard God’s will.

All of that led us to be lost and separated from God. We must realise that there are still lots of temptations and forces out there trying to keep us away from God and His salvation. Are we then able to commit ourselves to the Lord in the same manner as St. Paul has committed his? He has shown us what it truly means by a genuine conversion, that his whole life was changed for the greater glory of God as he lived for the sole purpose of glorifying God from the moment of his conversion.

How about us, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we willing to allow God to transform us as well? Are we able to go through a genuine and wholehearted conversion in life, changing our attitude from now on? If we have been lukewarm in our faith, may we be more faithful from now on and love God more. And if we have been distant from God, let us all strive to be closer to Him and to renew our relationships with Him. If we have been sinful all these while, let us all sin no more and seek to live our lives from now with faith.

May the Lord, through the intercession of His Apostle St. Paul, continue to bless us all and guide us in our respective journeys in life. May He strengthen us all and empower each and every one of us to live ever more faithfully in His presence. May God be with us all, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 25 January 2020 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 16 : 15-18

At that time, Jesus told His disciples, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation. The one who believes and is baptised will be saved; the one who refuses to believe will be condemned.”

“Signs like these will accompany those who have believed : in My Name they will cast out demons and speak new languages; they will pick up snakes, and if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

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Saturday, 25 January 2020 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 116 : 1, 2

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

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

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Saturday, 25 January 2020 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 22 : 3-16

Paul spoke to the Jews in Jerusalem, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here, in this city, where I was educated in the school of Gamaliel, according to the strict observance of our law. And I was dedicated to God’s service, as are all of you today. As for this Way, I persecuted it to the point of death and arrested its followers, both men and women, throwing them into prison.”

“The High Priest and the whole Council of elders can bear witness to this. From them, I received letters for the Jewish brothers in Damascus; and I set out to arrest those who were there, and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. But, as I was travelling along, nearing Damascus, at about noon, a great light from the sky suddenly flashed about me.”

“I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me : ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’ I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me : ‘I am Jesus, the Nazorean, Whom you persecute.’ The men who were with me saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of the One Who was speaking to me. I asked : ‘What shall I do, Lord?’”

“And the Lord replied : ‘Get up and go to Damascus; there, you will be told all that you are destined to do.’ Yet, the brightness of that light had blinded me; and so, I was led by the hand into Damascus by my companions. There, a certain Ananias came to me. He was a devout observer of the law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who were living there.”

“As he stood by me, he said : ‘Brother Saul, recover your sight.’ At that moment, I could see; and I looked at him. He, then, said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know His will, to see the Just One, and to hear the words from His mouth. From now on, you shall be His witness before all the pagan people, and tell them all that you have seen and heard.’”

“‘And now, why delay? Get up and be baptised, and have your sins washed away, by calling upon His Name.’”

Alternative reading

Acts 9 : 1-22

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 the 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. All who heard were astonished and said, “Is this not the one who cast out, in Jerusalem, all those calling upon this Name? Did he not come here, to bring them bound before the chief priests?”

But Saul grew more and more powerful; and he confounded the Jews living in Damascus when he proved that Jesus was the Messiah.

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Monday, 28 October 2019 : Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of not just one but two great Apostles of the Lord, two of the Twelve Apostles, namely St. Simon the Apostle and St. Jude the Apostle. St. Simon the Apostle was also known as Simon the Zealot as he was a zealot before he joined the Lord as one of His disciples. Meanwhile, St. Jude the Apostle was known as Jude Thaddeus, to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot, the traitor.

Both of these Apostles were known for their great dedication in serving the Lord and being faithful witnesses of the Gospel and the truth of God just as the other Apostles had done. St. Simon was often associated and celebrated together with St. Jude and they share the same feast day today because according to tradition, they often travelled together in their missionary journeys and activities.

St. Simon and St. Jude evangelised in the regions of Lebanon, Persia and Armenia, going from places to places to spread the Word of God and calling the people to repentance from sin and salvation through Christ. Many people became believers because of their efforts and they were remembered for their crucial role in sowing the seeds of faith and building the foundations of the Church in the many places they had ministered in.

They also visited and evangelised in many more places across the Mediterranean world, from Libya to Mesopotamia, to parts of Judea, Samaria and others on their own. Eventually, they were martyred in Lebanon, where according to some tradition both were arrested and suffered because of their tireless efforts in building the Church of God, and gave up their lives willingly for their faith in God.

These two Apostles did not have it easy throughout their ministries, as although they reaped many good fruits of their work, but there were equally many if not more occurrences when they had to suffer and face rejection from those who opposed their works and refused to believe in the truth of God. And they had to endure all of these throughout their many years of service to God, but they remained faithful nonetheless.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard of the great and inspiring examples of these two faithful Apostles of the Lord, surely we can also walk in their footsteps and follow their examples through our own faithful and purpose filled lives in serving God. And if we think that are not capable of walking down that path or that we are nothing compared to the Apostles who seemed to be greater than life, then we must remember that God called His Apostles from among the ordinary people just like us.

God has called His Apostles like St. Simon and St. Jude from among the ordinary ones, sinners and unworthy, people from various backgrounds and origins, but with the ultimate result of them being empowered and strengthened by God to do His will. All except for Judas Iscariot followed the Lord to the very end, with all of them except for St. John were eventually martyred for their faith and dedication to God.

The Lord has then also called us all to follow Him and become His disciples. He has called us to be His witnesses in our world today, within our communities and among those whom we know. He is calling us to be the bearers of His truth and His love to the world as the reality is such that the works of the Apostles are still work in progress and there are still many opportunities through which we can serve God.

Are we willing to take up the challenge and the cross which God has once given to His Apostles? Are we able to dedicate ourselves to Him and do our very best to be shining examples of faith among our fellow men? Let us reflect well on this and spend some time to discern our path in life. We do not need to worry that we are not capable or that the task ahead may be too difficult or challenging for us.

Instead, let us all have that courage and trust in God, doing our best in our own small ways, through our regular, daily living, by doing our best in everything we say and do in life that everyone who sees us know that truly we belong to God and then hopefully they too may come to believe in God through us. May God be our guide and our strength, and may His holy Apostles, particularly St. Simon and St. Jude intercede for our sake always. Amen.