holy apostles

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Monday, 12 October 2015 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 1 : 1-7

From Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, an Apostle called and set apart for God’s Good News, the very promises He foretold through His prophets in the sacred Scriptures, regarding His Son, who was born in the flesh a descendant of David, and has been recognised as the Son of God endowed with Power, upon rising from the dead through the Holy Spirit.

Through Him, Jesus Christ, our Lord, and for the sake of His Name, we received grace and mission in all the nations, for them to accept the faith. All of you, the elected of Christ, are part of them, you, the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy : May God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, give you grace and peace.

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Wednesday, 7 October 2015 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of our Lady of the Rosary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 1 : 12-14

Then the disciples of Jesus returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olives, which is a fifteen minute walk away. On entering the city they went to the room upstairs where they were staying.

Present there were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, son of Alpheus; Simon the Zealot and Judas son of James. All of these together gave themselves to constant prayer. With them were some women and also Mary, the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.

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Saturday, 3 October 2015 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Luke 10 : 17-24

At that time, the seventy-two disciples returned to Jesus full of joy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we called on Your Name.”

Then Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. You see, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the Enemy, so that nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the evil spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.”

At that time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and made them known to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been Your gracious will. I have been given all things by My Father, so that no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”

Then Jesus turned to His disciples and said to them privately, “Fortunate are you to see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings would have liked to see what you see, but did not see it; and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

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Monday, 21 September 2015 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of the Apostle and Evangelist St. Matthew, one of the four great Evangelists who wrote one of the Four Gospels in the Scripture. He was called from a humble and most unlikely of origins, as Levi the tax collector who was reviled by many of his own people and treated as a traitor and a sinner by many.

Yet, Jesus called him out of the obscurity and from a life filled with sin and darkness, and into the light, and from where he became a great source of inspiration and salvation for countless souls for his works and writing, in the holy words of the Gospel that he had written with inspiration given to him by the Holy Spirit, the words placed in his heart and then revealed to the world through his hands.

Through this, we can see that the Lord does not despise or abandon those who have sinned before Him. Indeed, had He done that, then none of us mankind would have deserved to be saved, for all of us are sinners in our ways and in our lives, be it in small or great sin that we have in us. God instead wants to help us and He wants us to be redeemed, and that was why He sent Jesus to us, to reveal to us the healing that we can find in Him.

Today as we heard the calling of Levi, the tax collector, and his glorious transformation into such a great tool in the hand of the Lord, we should all realise that no one was born a saint, and no saint had been predetermined to be one, except those whom the Lord had specifically put aside for His plan of salvation like Mary, the mother of our Lord. Thus, saints themselves were once sinners too, and some of them were even great sinners, notorious and unrepentant, but eventually what made a difference was that they repented and changed their ways.

At the time of Jesus, the common perception was that those who have sinned or lived a life of sin were condemned and beyond hope, while those who considered themselves righteous thought that they were beyond reproach, thus explaining the attitude of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who acted condescendingly against the tax collectors and sinners, and who criticised Jesus for mingling with them and eating with them.

But they themselves were hypocrites, and they were blind to the reality of their own sins. They were unable to realise that they too were sinners and were also subject to punishment and judgment for their iniquities. Yet, through their attitude towards sinners around them and all who needed their help, they have condemned themselves, as instead of extending a helping hand where they could have helped, they misled the people and misused their authority and position to condemn those who need the most help.

Thus, the Lord Jesus was very angry and critical against these people, whose faith in Him is nothing but a charade, a charade of selfishness and self-serving attitudes. Yet, even so, if we remember the time of the crucifixion, we should all remember how Jesus forgave those who have betrayed Him and made Him to suffer such grievous pain on the way of suffering and on the cross. He prayed to His Father, that their sins be not placed on them.

Such wonderful and great is the Lord’s mercy for us, and now the question lies in the fact that, God does not impose on us to accept His mercy and forgiveness. The choice lies in us on whether we choose to accept or reject His mercy. We can either be proud and haughty, be filled with arrogance and thinking that we do not need mercy because we are not in the wrong, or we can be humble and accept the truth and reality about ourselves, that we are sick with sin, wicked and corrupted, and the Lord is willing to help us to get out of our sickness and restore us to full health.

Let us help remind ourselves all the time, that saints were not born but raised, and saints were once also sinners, who importantly at one point of time in their lives, they changed and turned from their wicked ways, and as a result, they were made righteous and are worthy of God’s great grace. May all of us follow in the footsteps of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, turn from our sinful ways, and through our renewed actions in faith, may we all help bring each other closer to the Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 21 September 2015 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 9 : 9-13

At that time, as Jesus moved on from where He cured a paralytic man, He saw a man named Matthew at his seat in the custom house, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And Matthew got up and followed Him.

Now it happened, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners joined Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is it that your Master eats with sinners and tax collectors?”

When Jesus heard this, He said, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. Go and find out what this means : ‘What I want is mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

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Monday, 21 September 2015 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 18 : 2-3, 4-5

The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Day talks it over with day; night hands on the knowledge to night.

No speech, no words, no voice is heard – but the call goes on throughout the universe, the message is felt to the ends of the earth.

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Monday, 21 September 2015 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Ephesians 4 : 1-7, 11-13

Therefore I, the prisoner of Christ, invite you to live the vocation you have received. Be humble, kind, patient and bear with one another in love. Make every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of peace. Let there be one body and one spirit, for God, in calling you, gave the same Spirit to all.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God, the Father of all, who is above all and works through all and is in all. But to each of us divine grace is given according to te measure of Christ’s gift.

As for His gifts, to some He gave to be Apostles, to others prophets, or even evangelists, or pastors and teachers. So He prepared those who belong to Him for the ministry, in order to build up the the Body of Christ, until we are all united in the same faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Thus we shall become the perfect Man, upon reaching maturity and sharing the fullness of Christ.

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Friday, 18 September 2015 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 8 : 1-3

At that time, Jesus walked through towns and countryside, preaching and giving the Good News of the kingdom of God. The Twelve followed Him, and also some women, who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases : Mary called Magdalene, who had been freed of seven demons; Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward; Suzanna, and others who provided for them out of their own funds.

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Friday, 11 September 2015 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Timothy 1 : 1-2, 12-14

From Paul, Apostle of Christ Jesus by a command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy, my true son in the faith. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy and peace.

I give thanks to Christ Jesus, our Lord, who is my strength, who has considered me trustworthy and appointed me to His service, although I had been a blasphemer, a persecutor and a rabid enemy. However He took mercy on me because I did not know what I was doing when I opposed the faith; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, together with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

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Monday, 24 August 2015 : Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we celebrate the feast of one of the Twelve Holy Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, the principal and greatest followers and disciples of our Lord, who were the ones that helped to establish His Church on earth. And today, we celebrate therefore the feast of St. Bartholomew, also known by his other name of Nathaniel.

He was unique among the Twelve Apostles, for the Lord seemed to have a high opinion of him, when He called him to be His follower. He proclaimed to His other disciples, that St. Bartholomew, then known as Nathaniel, was a true and upright man in Israel, and that there are none other like him. Indeed, this is to show that Jesus called His disciples from various origins, from the humblest and the simplest, to the educated, and the righteous as well as the wicked ones.

But when He called the Apostles, Jesus made it clear to them that He did not call them for a life of privilege, and neither that their lives would be an easy one. They would not be called to a life of privilege and prestige, and the Lord made it clear again from time to time, that they would suffer the same persecution, challenges and difficulties that their Master had also experienced.

And indeed, many of the Apostles and the other disciples and followers of our Lord were harassed, rejected, cast out and had their lives made difficult because of what they believed in, and because of what they were preaching to the people so that these people would come to believe in Jesus and be saved. They would be led to torture places, imprisoned, and then most of them were martyred, that is they gave up their earthly life for the sake of the Lord and their faith in Him.

But all these were the prelude to the eternal inheritance and glory which our Lord had promised to all of them. As in the Gospel today, when Nathaniel, St. Bartholomew expressed his doubt at Jesus because He was from Nazareth in Galilee, Jesus spoke of how they would see great things, and they would see the Son of Man, Jesus Himself, glorified and revealed in His majesty.

This indeed they had seen, and they witnessed it, and they therefore preached about what they have witnessed and seen with their own eyes and felt with their own senses, of the Lord who died and rose from the dead in glory, and by His works, all are made whole and saved. And for that there were greatly rewarded. The clue to this is in our first reading from the Book of the Revelation of St. John.

St. John saw the vision of the new and heavenly Jerusalem, the Holy City that comes down from heaven, with all of its incomparable and unparalleled beauty and greatness, and the city has twelve great gates, on which lies twelve stones on which are carved the names of the Twelve Holy Apostles. Indeed, this is the vision of the fulfilment of Christ’s promise to the Apostles, as in His own words, He had said that the Apostles will sit on the twelve thrones to judge the people of God.

The essence of today’s Scripture readings, and what we have to take away with us today is that all of us have a share in the works of the Apostles, and we are their successors, in terms of the mission which God had entrusted them with. His mission for us is to go forth to all the nations, to all the peoples and preach to them, and be witnesses of His resurrection, and be the bearers of the Good News of His salvation.

There will indeed be challenges and difficulties, and our way forward will not be an easy one, but so had the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord met all kinds of resistance and oppositions during their ministry in this world. But we have to remember that God is always with those who keep their faith in Him. If we keep our trust in Him and place our faith in Him, then we truly have nothing to fear at all.

Let us all be ever more dedicated and devoted to our faith in the Lord, and let us all walk in the footsteps of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, committing ourselves ever more to bring forth the Gospel and the Good News to all the peoples, so that all may be saved together in God. May Almighty God bless us in all of our endeavours and shine His light upon us always. Amen.