holy missionaries

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Thursday, 21 May 2026 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Christopher Magallanes, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we are all called to listen to the words of the Lord contained within the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that those who remain in the Lord and hold steadfastly to His truth will always be strong and steady amidst all the challenges that they may face, and with God by our side, ever constantly providing for us and for our needs, we will be triumphant in the end, overcoming all of our struggles and hardships, and through His guidance to us all, to His beloved Church and people, we will never falter, and we will continue to be united in God, our one and only True Lord and Master. Meanwhile as history has shown it, those who seek their own worldly ambitions and desires would end up being divided and scattered, and sadly, this has happened to the Church itself, and why divisions remained in the Church and the world up to the present day.

In our first reading today, taken from the continuation of the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of the moment when St. Paul was in Jerusalem to be present in the hearing before the assembly of the Jewish High Council or also known as the Sanhedrin, composed of all the most influential members of the Jewish community, both the Pharisees and the Sadducees and other elites within the community. Many among them were bitterly opposed against St. Paul and all that he had presented and taught, all the truth and witness that he has brought to the many people, both Jews and Gentiles alike, on the Saviour, Jesus Christ, teachings about Whom the members of the Sanhedrin and the chief priests tried so hard to silence and prevent from spreading, but no matter what they did, the Apostles and the other missionaries like St. Paul continued to work hard to proclaim the Lord in all of their missions.

That was why they were so fiercely against St. Paul who had been spearheading the efforts and missions of evangelisation in many communities, especially amongst the Gentiles but also among the Jewish diaspora communities. And while he encountered quite a lot of welcome from many of those, he also faced quite significant opposition from the Jewish communities in some places, the tensions and frictions which eventually led to him being persecuted and harassed by the many Jewish authorities, leading to them lodging an accusation and complaint against St. Paul, who therefore went to Jerusalem to face up against those accusations and complaints, standing up courageously and firmly for his faith in the Lord and for everything which he had proclaimed and worked for.

We heard how then the Pharisees and Sadducees were quickly divided once St. Paul incited them with the statement that he himself was a young Pharisee once and he believed in the resurrection. In order to understand the reason for this great strife and the riot that happened afterwards, we must first understand just how bitterly divided the Jewish community at that time, with the Pharisees and the Sadducees as two of the most influential groups within the Jewish community. The Pharisees represented the intellectual elite of the community, all the learned scholars and many of them were experts of the Law, who were very much strict and rigid in their interpretation and application of the Law, but they also represent the segment of the community that were very much spiritual, believing in the resurrection of the dead and in the spiritual beings like Angels.

Meanwhile, the Sadducees represent the rich and the powerful members of the community, including that of the caste or group forming those known as the chief priests and those elected to be the High Priests, the ones running the Temple of Jerusalem and the rest of the priestly caste. Ironically, while they were the ones who were entrusted with the running of the Temple, but their connections with many worldly matters and pursuits, their entanglements with power actually ended up causing them to be the ones that placed much of their lives’ focus and emphasis on worldly matters and refusing to believe in outworldly matters like the resurrection and life after death. That was likely because they were so focused on the life in this world that they did not want to put any focus on what happened afterwards.

And the divisions that arose and had by then become crystallised between the two groups that they were always treating each other with distrust, perhaps with equal enmity like those that also existed then between the Jews and the Samaritans. Each of them thought that they were the right ones, and that the ideas of the other ones were wrong. While St. Paul was being pitted against both of these groups, both of which were united in their hatred and opposition against him and the Christian faith, he therefore wisely used their divisions against them, and immediately as we all have heard, the two groups’ unity dissolved into their old enmity and bickering, fighting one another and ending up in great quarrel against one another, revealing just how weak their arguments against what the truth of God had been representing.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we continue to hear from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist in which the Lord Jesus prayed for His disciples and followers, asking the Lord God, His heavenly Father to protect and take care of them, as the Son was about to be handed over to His enemies and persecutors just before He embarked on His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross. He reassured them all that He would be with them regardless of the challenges that they would face, and that through God’s grace and guidance, they would all be united and strengthened amidst the trials, challenges and difficulties that they might be facing in their faith and journey. This is therefore a reminder for all of us so that we will continue to have trust and faith in the Lord at all times and never to lose hope in Him, because He is always with us.

Today, we remember the great examples set by the faithful servants of God, St. Christopher Magallanes and his companions in faith and martyrdom, as they dedicated themselves to the works of the Lord and in defending their faith against those who sought to force them to abandon and betray their Lord and Master. St. Christopher Magallanes was a priest who ministered to the people of God and carried on his works in Mexico during the time of great persecution against the Christian faith at the turn of the twentieth century, against the Church, and especially against the clergy, priests and religious at a time of great suffering and sorrow for the Church. It was truly a very difficult time to be a Christian, and even more so to be a member of the clergy, actively being oppressed and made to endure various laws that threatened the very existence of the Church in Mexico.

At that time, the Mexican government was very hostile against the Church and its clergy, as well as to any expression of Christian faith and the faithful. Many of the clergy and the laity had to suffer a lot of persecution, being arrested and tortured, because of the government’s opposition against the Church, and the antipathy and disagreements they held over the missionaries and servants of God like St. Christopher Magallanes and many others, both the clergy and laity alike, many of whom were arrested and put in prison, and many were eventually martyred for remaining firmly true to their faith. But many among these martyrs continued being inspiration for many others who were persecuted and their examples of courageous faith strengthened those who were suffering as well.

St. Christopher Magallanes himself was arrested and accused of helping the rebellion of the government, which was a false charge, and he was eventually sentenced to death, enduring martyrdom for his love for God. Many others shared his fate, dying from the persecution of the Church and the faithful which lasted for more than a decade and resulting in the destruction of many of the Church’s structures and the deaths of countless people to the persecution by the authorities. That however did not dampen the spirit and courage of many among the faithful who welcomed suffering and martyrdom in remaining faithful to God, becoming great inspiration even for us today.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all do our best to serve the Lord faithfully, commit ourselves to the great works entrusted to us by God. May God empower us to walk with faith and to be great role models and faithful witnesses in the same manner that St. Christopher Magallanes and his companions in faith and martyrdom had inspired us all. May all of us continue to put our faith and trust in the Lord, believing that He will always provide for us in our time of need, and He will give us the necessary wisdom and strength to carry on the journey.  May God bless us all, now and forevermore, and bring us all ever closer to His throne of grace. Amen.

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Thursday, 21 May 2026 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Christopher Magallanes, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

John 17 : 20-26

At that time, Jesus prayed to God His Father, “I pray not only for these, but also for those who through their word will believe in Me. May they all be one, as You Father are in Me and I am in You. May they be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.”

“I have given them the glory You have given Me, that they may be one as We are One : I in them and You in Me. Thus they shall reach perfection in unity; and the world shall know that You have sent Me, and that I have loved them, just as You loved Me.”

“Father, since You have given them to Me, I want them to be with Me where I am, and see the glory You gave Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You, and these have known that You have sent Me.”

“As I revealed Your Name to them, so will I continue to reveal it, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and also may be in them.”

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Thursday, 21 May 2026 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Christopher Magallanes, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 15 : 1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

Keep me safe, o God, for in You I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “O Lord, my inheritance and my cup, my chosen portion – hold secure my lot.”

I bless the Lord Who counsels me; even at night my inmost self instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; for with Him at my right hand, I will never be shaken.

My heart, therefore, exults, my soul rejoices; my body too will rest assured. For You will not abandon my soul to the grave, nor will You suffer Your Holy One to see decay in the land of the dead.

You will show me the path of life, in Your presence the fullness of joy, at Your right hand happiness forever.

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Thursday, 21 May 2026 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Christopher Magallanes, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Acts 22 : 30 and Acts 23 : 6-11

The next day the commander wanted to know for certain the charges the Jews were making against Paul. So he released him from prison and called together the High Priest and the whole Council; and they brought Paul down and made him stand before them.

Paul knew that part of the Council were Sadducees and others Pharisees; so he spoke out in the Council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee. It is for the hope of the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial here.”

At these words, an argument broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the whole assembly was divided. For the Sadducees claim that there is neither resurrection, nor Angels nor spirits, while the Pharisees acknowledge all these things.

Then the shouting grew louder, and some teachers of the Law of the Pharisee party protested, “We find nothing wrong with this man. Maybe a spirit or an Angel has spoken to him.” With this the argument became so violent that the commander feared that Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He therefore ordered the soldiers to go down and rescue him from their midst and take him back to the fortress.

That night the Lord stood by Paul and said, “Courage! As you have borne witness to Me here in Jerusalem, so must you do in Rome.”

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Monday, 6 October 2025 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bruno, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Jonah 1 : 1 – Jonah 2 : 1, 11

The word of YHVH came to Jonah, son of Amittai, “Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach against it, because I have known its wickedness.”

But Jonah decided to flee from YHVH and go to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, found a ship bound for Tarshish, and paid the fare. Then he boarded it and went into the hold of the ship, journeying with them to Tarshish, far away from YHVH.

YHVH stirred up a storm wind on the sea, so there was a sea tempest, which threatened to destroy the ship. The sailors took fright, and each cried out to his own god. To lighten the ship, they threw its cargo into the sea. Meanwhile Jonah had gone into the hold of the ship, where he lay fast asleep. The captain came upon him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God. Perhaps He will be mindful of us and will not allow us to die here.”

The sailors said to each other, “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this disaster.” So they dod, and the lot fell on Jonah. They questioned him, “So you are responsible for this evil that has come upon us? Tell us where you are from. What is your country, your nationality?” And Jonah told them his story, “I am a Hebrew and I worship YHVH, God of heaven Who made the sea and the land…”

As they knew that he was fleeing from YHVH, the sailors were seized with great fear and said to him, “What a terrible thing have you done! What shall we do with you now, to make the sea calm down?” The sea was growing more and more agitated.

He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. It will quiet down, for I know it is because of me that this storm has come.” The sailors, however, still did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea had grown much rougher than before. Then they called on YHVH, “O YHVH, do not let us perish for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. For You, YHVH, have done this as You have thought right.”

They took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm again. At this the men were seized with great fear of YHVH. They offered a sacrifice to YHVH and made vows to Him. YHVH provided a large fish which swallowed Jonah. He remained in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. Then YHVH gave His command to the fish, and it belched out Jonah onto dry land.

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Tuesday, 11 June 2024 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 10 : 7-13

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Go, and proclaim this message : The kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons. Freely have you received, freely give. Do not carry any gold or silver or money in your purses. Do not take a travelling bag, or an extra shirt, or sandals, or a walking stick : workers deserve to be compensated.”

“When you come to a town or a village, look for a worthy person, and stay there until you leave. When you enter the house, wish it peace. If the people are worthy people, your peace will rest on them; if they are not worthy people, your blessing will come back to you.”

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Tuesday, 11 June 2024 : 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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Friday, 3 November 2023 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all called to do what is right and just in all of our actions, works and deeds. All of us as God’s beloved and holy people are expected and called to do God’s will in each and every moments of our lives, to be exemplary and inspirational to others all around us so that we may indeed bear the truth, love and the Good News of God to many others, who have seen and witnessed our works and lives, and embraced God because of what they have experienced through their interactions and encounter with each and every one of us. And all of these are indeed crucial because these actions and right direction in life will help us in how we may truly be good role models and be truly faithful as Christians in all things, and not merely in name only.

In our first reading today, we heard from the continuation of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, in which the Apostle spoke about the examples of faith which he himself showed, in his persistence to spread the Good News and the truth of God through the efforts and works which he had done, in persisting to do the will of God despite the opposition and all the hardships that he had constantly faced and encountered even from his own people, the Jewish people. Back then, the Jewish authorities, the members of the Sanhedrin, composed of many Sadducees and Pharisees, the elites among the people of God, had mostly opposed the Lord Jesus and His teachings, and persecuted His disciples and followers. Many of the early Christians had to face great persecution and sufferings because of their faith in God.

St. Paul himself was a member of the Pharisees and was in his youth, a very overzealous person, who hunted and persecuted the earliest members of the Church, the early Christians, and made them to suffer very greatly just as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. He was misled by the wrong understanding and interpretation of the Law, and also the misunderstanding and prejudice against Christ and His teachings, which the Pharisees in particular refused to accept because they held on firmly to their version of the Law, while the Sadducees on the other hand was also opposed to because of their firm refusal to believe in supernatural and spiritual aspects of the faith like that of the belief in the Resurrection, the afterlife and the concept of Angels and spirits. In either case, both of these prominent groups of the Jewish leaders and people were opposed to the Lord and to the Christian faith.

But St. Paul saw the errors of his ways, and after having personally encountered the Lord Himself on the way to Damascus, in his zealous persecution of Christians, St. Paul had a thorough and complete change of heart and mind, that he was no longer a persecutor of Christians, and then, at the same time, he was also renewed and reborn into the true path that the Lord has shown him. St. Paul became a new champion and defender of the Christian faith, and henceforth became a great Apostle, spreading the words of God’s truth and also the Good News through his evangelising missions and actions, in his dedication to serve the Lord through various ministries among the many communities of the early Church, and in his numerous letters and Epistles to help clarify the many aspects of the faith to those who have just embraced the Lord.

St. Paul as we heard in our first reading today did not shun his Jewish heritage and origins, and in fact, he praised the Jewish people that he belonged to, as the people whom God had first chosen and called to be His own, and how He had made His Covenant with all of them, with Abraham and his descendants. By mentioning this fact, St. Paul wanted to highlight that ultimately, everyone are called to be God’s disciples and followers, to be part of His flock, embracing His path and truth, and there should not be distinction based on whether one is a Jew or not, as ultimately, what matters is one’s faith and dedication to God, in the manner that He Himself has shown us all, as we heard in our Gospel passage today, in the account of the confrontation and the encounter that the Lord had against the Pharisees in one of His many works and ministries.

In that occasion, the Lord Jesus went to eat in the house of a leading and important Pharisee, and the other Pharisees as mentioned were watching His every moves and actions. There was a man who was suffering from an illness, and based on what we have experienced in the other parts of the Scriptures, it might not be a stretch to suggest and conclude that the person had been brought there in order to test the Lord, that day being the Sabbath day as well, out of all days. The Sabbath day was a day sacred to the Lord and according to the Law of God given to His people through Moses, the people ought not to be working on that day, and instead focus their attention on the Lord and to worship Him. The Pharisees interpreted this most strictly, and were opposed to the Lord Who often carried out His healing and works on the day of the Sabbath.

Thus, in that same occasion again, the Lord asked the Pharisees who were present blatantly, whether it was lawful or not to heal an afflicted person, that is to do a good and virtuous deed on the day of the Sabbath, and He spoke of it with such an authority that the Pharisees assembled there could not refute or respond to Him at all, using examples of how even the Pharisees would do something to help their flock that got into trouble on the Sabbath day, and the Lord healed the suffering man regardless, showing all those bigoted leaders and influential members of the people, the folly of their stubborn upholding of their mistaken and overzealous beliefs, in merely obeying the letter of the Law but not understanding and appreciating its true nature and purpose. Thus, the Lord wanted us all to know that to be His disciples and followers, we have to follow His examples, in loving God and our fellow brothers and sisters, and not merely blind followers obeying rites and empty letters of the Law.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Martin de Porres, a great and virtuous man of God, a holy servant and follower of Christ, who had dedicated himself and his life to the Lord, though his works, his commitments and actions. He is a humble and simple man, and yet, in his simplicity and great faith, he has shown us all how to truly be good and faithful disciples of the Lord, in doing our best to follow the Lord’s commandments, in obeying His will and doing His Law. St. Martin de Porres has shown his love both to the Lord and towards his fellow brothers and sisters, and hence, he has been doing what the Lord had commanded and told us all to do, and his virtues become for us a shining beacon of his faith, righteousness and justice amidst the darkness of this world and all the temptations and corruptions of sin.

St. Martin de Porres was born in Lima, in what is now Peru, and then part of the Spanish dominions in the New World, the Americas. He was born of a mixed ancestry, of Spanish and natives, being an illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed slave of mixed African and native descent. He grew up in poverty, like many others like him at that time, and eventually, he wanted to join the Dominicans, only to be stopped by the law of the time which forbid those who has similar background as him from joining as full members of the Dominican Order. Instead, he became a third order member of the Dominicans, and he performed various works and actions in supporting the Dominicans and also in other charitable actions, particularly towards the poor, whose sufferings he understood very well, having been born, lived and dwelled in poverty and amongst the poor.

St. Martin de Porres was renowned for his great piety and faith, and for his loving outreach to the poor all around the community he was living and ministering in, faithfully doing whatever the Lord had commanded and told him to do through his part in the Dominican Order as a religious brother. He devoted much of his time before the Blessed Sacrament, in which he had a great devotion and also among the poor as mentioned. He did not even hesitate to help those who were sick and suffering, and showed everyone around him the true compassionate and loving face of God, shown clearly through his exemplary virtues and compassion. He obeyed the Lord perfectly and continued to do what he could to serve God till his death. He continued to inspire countless others even long after his death.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore devote ourselves, our time and attention to serve the Lord, our loving God and Father, our Creator and Master, in following the footsteps of the saints, especially that of St. Martin de Porres. Let us all be exemplary in our every way of life, in our love towards God and also our charity and care towards the poor and the less fortunate all around us. Let us all be truly faithful to God, not just merely in words alone, but also through real action and commitment towards God, in all of the love we show one another. May God be with us all and may He bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 3 November 2023 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Luke 14 : 1-6

At that time, on one Sabbath Jesus had gone to eat a meal in the house of a leading Pharisee, and He was carefully watched.

In front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy; so Jesus asked the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”

But no one answered. Jesus then took the man, healed him, and sent him away. And He said to them, “If your lamb or your ox falls into a well on a Sabbath day, who among you does not hurry to pull it out?” And they could not answer.

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Friday, 3 November 2023 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Psalm 147 : 12-13, 14-15, 19-20

Exalt YHVH, o Jerusalem; praise your God, o Zion! For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your children within you.

He grants peace on your borders and feeds you with the finest grain. He sends His command to the earth and swiftly runs His word.

It is He, Who tells Jacob His words; His laws and decrees, to Israel. This, He has not done for other nations, so His laws remain unknown to them. Alleluia!