Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 115 : 12-13, 14-15, 16-17
How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the Name of the Lord.
I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people. It is painful to the Lord to see the death of His faithful.
O Lord, I am Your servant, truly Your servant, Your handmaid’s son. You have freed me from my bonds. I will offer You a thanksgiving sacrifice; I will call on the Name of the Lord.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 2 : 14, 22-33
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven and, with a loud voice, addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all foreigners now staying in Jerusalem, listen to what I have to say. Fellow Israelites, listen to what I am going to tell you about Jesus of Nazareth. God accredited Him and through Him did powerful deeds and wonders and signs in your midst, as you well know.”
“You delivered Him to sinners to be crucified and killed, and in this way the purpose of God from all times was fulfilled. But God raised Him to life and released Him from the pain of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in the power of death.”
“David spoke of Him when he said : ‘I saw the Lord before me at all times; He is by my side, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced; my body too will live in hope. Because You will not forsake me in the abode of the dead, nor allow Your Holy One to experience corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life, and Your presence will fill me with joy.'”
“Friends, I do not need to prove that the patriarch David died and was buried; his tomb is with us to this day. But he knew that God had sworn to him that One of his descendants would sit upon his throne and, as he was a prophet, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah. So he said that He would not be left in the region of the dead, nor would His Body experience corruption.”
“This Messiah is Jesus and we are all witnesses that God raised Him to life. He has been exalted at God’s right side and the Father has entrusted the Holy Spirit to Him; this Spirit He has just poured upon us as you now see and hear.”
Liturgical Colour : White
The Lord loves all those that belong to Him, and He cares deeply for all of them. Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why with the Lord on our side, we should not fear, for God will guide our way and protect us from harm, as He had done with His Apostles who spread His Good News to the people.
God’s tender mercy and love for us is indeed so great, that in His willingness to save all of us, as we all know from the well-known passage taken from John 3 : 16 as we read in the Gospel today that the Lord so loved the world that He gave us His only Son, that all who believe in Him may not die, but receive life eternal through Him. That is the complete truth about God’s love and dedication for us all His creations.
Jesus indeed came into the world to liberate it from the darkness that had veiled the eyes of the people for a long time, and He came so that the Law can be explained in its fullness, and its purpose revealed, that is first to bring glory to God, and secondly, to bring mankind and all the people of God back into the loving embrace of their Lord and Father.
Jesus did not condemn anyone for their sinfulness and unworthiness, and He instead proclaimed forgiveness for all those who were willing to repent with true sincerity and turned their backs against their past, sinful lives. He did not judge them unless they themselves had refused to listen and accept His presence and teachings in the first place, as what the Pharisees had done with great impunity and stubbornnness.
Jesus our Lord sought out the sinners and the downtrodden, the so-called least and lowest in the societal hierarchy, that is those rejected by the people, marginalised and ostracised. He sought them out with love, that He might bring God’s love and forgiveness to them, and through this, many believed in Him and were profoundly changed, bringing them closer towards salvation.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, that in essence, is the Christian love that all of us should aspire towards, and which we should follow, sharing our love, care and attention especially to those who are marginalised and rejected, whose rights are trampled against, and who are treated unjustly. These people need our help, and if our Lord and God did not hesitate to come and save us all, His people, then we too should not be hesitant to help our brethren in need, in whatever way we can.
There will be many who will be against our good works and our charitable acts, just as many had opposed the Lord when He was in the world and exercised His power to bring light to many. There are many people who still remain in darkness, and sadly, that many prefer to remain in darkness rather than to be welcomed into the light, and this resulted in the opposition that we may face as we go about doing what we are doing.
But do not be disheartened, brothers and sisters, and do not fear, for we have to always remember that the Lord is on our side, and He will guide us and protect us on our way, and He will not abandon us to those who seek our destruction. The Lord loves all peoples, and especially those who had given themselves to His cause and walk in His ways.
Today we celebrate the feast of a saintly Pope, the leader of the Universal Church, that is Pope St. Pius V, who was renowned for his leadership of the Church during a time of division and troubles, when the Church of God was assailed from within and without, and when the Church was truly in dire straits, and the fate of the many souls of the people of God were in true danger.
For Pope St. Pius V lived during a time of particularly difficult era for the Church and Christendom in general, when the powerful Ottoman Empire, the heathen-led unbelievers, assailed the very heart of Christendom, and had risen to be a very powerful, all-conquering and mighty empire with an enormous force of arms. Pope St. Pius V lived at the height of the tumult created by Protestant reformations, when misguided people of God turned their backs against the orthodox and true faith of their fathers in the Church.
Today we celebrate the life and examples of this Pope, who reigned as the leader of the Universal Church and the guide of the barque of St. Peter at this difficult time. Pope St. Pius V and his examples were truly legendary and great, and his sainthood cannot be separated from the fact that he managed to keep the Church and the faithful united strongly together amidst the difficulties and the various forces opposed to the people of the Lord.
He led the efforts to fight back the enemies of the faithful by forming a Holy League composed of those who pledged themselves to the Lord to fight for the people of God and in the end won an astounding and total victory at the Battle of Lepanto, which Pope St. Pius V attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Mother of our Saviour, which day of battle he dedicated to be the feast of our Lady of Victory, now known as the feast of our Lady of the Rosary.
Pope St. Pius V also solidified the Church and the faithful by completing with great faith the reforms of the Council of Trent, designed to purify the faith of all human errors and sinfulness, and changing the Church of God for the better while condemning all the erroneous judgments made by the heretical Protestants who cared more for themselves and for worldly glories rather than the glory of God.
Pope St. Pius V is someone whose dedication to the Lord and His Church we should emulate, in our own lives, that we may be dedicated to the Lord as well, that in all of our actions, we may reflect that we are truly the children of Christ, and the followers and disciples of Christ, proclaiming the love and forgiveness of God wherever we go.
May Almighty God be with us, guide our steps and strengthen us as we embark on this journey of life, that, following the footsteps of Pope St. Pius V we may do good to others and be faithful and dedicated servants of our Lord, defending the orthodox and true faith, keeping it pure from any worldly taint of sin and human desires, that we may be in the end, worthy of His presence and glory. God bless us all. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to proceed through the celebration of the Easter Octave, let us all continue to remind ourselves that we who have been baptised in the Name of our Lord, have a great duty on our shoulders, as I have mentioned, that is to be the bearer of the Good News and proclaim the news of salvation in our God to all the peoples of all nations.
That Good News is that Jesus, who is Lord, has died for all of us, so that our sins may be cleansed from us and we all be redeemed in holiness, but that is not all, as Mary Magdalene herself witnessed, that the Lord who was dead and buried in a tomb, had risen in glory and majesty, to be the first of all to rise from the dead, and therefore broke the dominion of death over all of us.
Just as the people who believed in Peter’s testimony had allowed themselves to be baptised in the Name of the Lord and hence were welcomed into the family of God, being accepted as children of the same God, we too had done the same and we now share with them the gift of faith and salvation in the Lord through the sacred waters of baptism.
Baptism had given us all a new slate, that is a fresh beginning of a new life. This life is one that is no longer tainted with sin and darkness, and instead what we have is a new opportunity for us to glorify and honour God with our lives and actions. We have been made anew through the death and resurrection of Christ, and we are called to be like Peter and the Apostles, who courageously gave their testimony on the Risen Lord.
Many of us were like Mary Magdalene, who wept in sorrow thinking that the Lord had died and gone forever, and thus shorn of all hope. And even more of us these days act as if we do not even care what the Lord had done for us, being entirely apathetic to His great love. This is because in our hearts we do not have the firmness and courage of faith that we need, if we are to be truly faithful in God.
In today’s world, where everything is presented as facts and hard truths, and in consideration of the knowledge that is freely flowing around from people to people through various means, chiefly through the ubiquitous internet, it is increasingly harder for many and many people to believe in the presence of God, much less His resurrection from the dead. Many nowadays even have the courage to dismiss our faith in God as mere fairy tale and lies.
This, is nothing different from the lies and the scheming of the chief priests and the elders of Israel of Jesus’ time. Despite the truth that was presented to them, with all of the undeniable and concrete evidence, they still rejected the Lord and in their jealousy, they hindered the good works of the Lord for, ironically, their own salvation. They refused to see the truth, and worse, they persecuted those who worked hard to spread the truth of God.
The same thing is occurring today, as those who refused to believe in the Lord and in His marvellous works often ridiculed our faith and even in some instances, persecute those of us who resolved to keep our faith alive, strong and real. That is why, in this world full of confusion and darkness, it is ever more important for us to keep our faith strong in God, that we will be firm in our faith and be shining lights for others to see and follow.
We have been called this Easter, to spread the light of the Risen Christ to all the peoples of all nations. Let us all become modern day apostles and disciples of the Lord, and be faithful messengers of His words and will. Let us not be discouraged by all the oppositions and the ridicule that we will certainly face for standing up for Christ and His truth.
May this Easter be a blessed one for each one of us, as we continue to proclaim His Good News and preach the Risen Lord to all who may hear it and be saved. God be with us all, always, now and forever. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Exodus 14 : 15 – Exodus 15 : 1
YHVH said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. You will raise your staff and stretch your hand over the sea and divide it to let the Israelites go dryfoot through the sea. I will so harden the minds of the Egyptians that they will follow you. And I will have glory at the expense of Pharaoh, his army, his chariots and horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am YHVH when I gain glory for Myself at the cost of Pharaoh and his army!”
The Angel of God who had gone ahead of the Israelites now placed himself behind them. The pillar of cloud changed its position from the front to the rear, between the camps of the Israelites and the Egyptians. For one army the cloud provided light, for the other darkness so that throughout the night the armies drew no closer to each other.
Moses stretched his hand over the sea and YHVH made a strong east wind blow all night and dry up the sea. The waters divided and the sons of Israel went on dry ground through the middle of the sea, with the waters forming a wall to their right and to their left. The Egyptians followed them and all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and horsemen moved forward in the middle of the sea.
It happened that in the morning watch, YHVH in the pillar of cloud and fire, looked towards the Egyptian camp and threw it into confusion. He so clogged their chariot wheels that they could hardly move. Then the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites for YHVH is fighting for them against Egypt.”
Then YHVH said to Moses, “Stretch your hand over the sea and let the waters come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and horsemen.” Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. At daybreak the sea returned to its place. As the Egyptians tried to flee, YHVH swept them into the sea.
The waters flowed back and engulfed the chariots and horsemen of the whole army of Pharaoh that had followed Israel into the sea. Not one of them escaped. As for the Israelites they went forward on dry ground in the middle of the sea, the waters forming a wall on their right and their left.
On that day YHVH delivered Israel from the power of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore. They understood what wonders YHVH had done for them against Egypt, and the people feared YHVH. They believed in YHVH and in Moses, His servant.
Then Moses and the people sang this song to YHVH : “I will sing to YHVH, the Glorious One, horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.”
Liturgical Colour : White
1 Corinthians 11 : 23-26
This is the tradition of the Lord that I received and that in my turn I have handed on to you; the Lord Jesus, on the night that He was delivered up, took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it, saying, “This is My Body which is broken for you; do this in memory of Me.”
In the same manner, taking the cup after the supper, He said, “This chalice is the new Covenant in My Blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of Me.” So, then, whenever you eat of this bread and drink from this chalice, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord until He comes.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Ezekiel 37 : 21-28
You will then say to them : Thus says YHVH : I am about to withdraw the Israelites from where they were among the nations, I shall gather them from all around and bring them back to their land. I shall make them into one people on the mountains of Israel and one king is to be king of them all. They will no longer form two nations or be two separate kingdoms, nor will they defile themselves again with their idols, their detestable practices and their sins.
I shall free them from the guilt of their treachery; I shall cleanse them and they will be for Me a people and I shall be God for them. My servant David will reign over them, one shepherd for all. They will live according to My laws and follow and practice My decrees. They will settle in the land I gave to My servant Jacob where their ancestors lived. There they will live forever, their children and their children’s children. David My servant will be their prince forever.
I shall establish a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I shall settle them and they will increase and I shall put My sanctuary in their midst forever. I shall make My home at their side; I shall be their God and they will be My people. Then the nations will know that I am YHVH who makes Israel holy, having My sanctuary among them forever.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the people of God did not accept the Lord Himself who came down from on high to be with us. They thought of themselves as being better and greater than God, doubting Him and did not believe in Him when He came and rejecting His teachings, preferring to trust in their own beliefs.
They closed their hearts and themselves from the Lord because they allowed their fear and human emotions and desires to manipulate them, change them, and sequester them from the love of God. As a result, they see the coming of the Christ, that is Jesus, as a rival, challenge, and danger that must be removed at any cost, rather than as an opportunity to herald the coming of God’s kingdom into the world.
And this concerns in fact not just the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Jesus’s time, but also all of us, brothers and sisters in Christ. We ourselves have often placed ourselves as obstacles in the way of the Lord and His salvation, not just for ourselves but also for those around us. We have often followed our own desires, our own ego and will rather than listening to God and obeying His will.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us use this opportunity to reflect on our own life and on our own course of action. Have we been like those who plotted against the Lord just because He came to them and spoke the truth? Or have we accepted Him and listened to Him because of that truth? The truth is often not beautiful or appealing to us, simply because and plainly because we are sinners, and we have committed things that are wicked in the eyes of God and men.
We usually do not like it when things do not go our way or follow what we desired. We complain, we grumble, and we throw tantrum when this happens because we think only about ourselves, and we are only concerned about ourselves. That is why, we in our pride and our arrogance think that we are the masters of the things that we do, and we will never give in, to achieve what we want.
Today we commemorate the feast of St. Isidore, a bishop of late Roman era Hispania, modern day Spain, in Seville. As the bishop and influential leader of the people, both secular and religious, he emphasized on the spiritual renewal of the people and the casting away of the ways of the old, that is the way of wickedness. He worked hard to preach the Gospel and the Good News of the Lord with truth.
St. Isidore helped to convert the people and the kings of his land, the Visigothic kings of Spain, to the true way of the Lord, leaving their heathen and mistaken path of the Arians, who rejected the Lord and His fullness for human ideas and human glories. St. Isidore guided them towards the way of the Lord and guided them to be true followers of God’s will.
The example of St. Isidore showed us how mankind are still often trapped in their own sense of self-righteousness and glory, that they refuse to listen to and look up towards the truth, especially the truth that is in the Lord. Mankind prefer to stay on their pride and refuse to budge even against the Lord and His urging. He sent us Jesus to remind us of the truth, and to take off the veil of pride that covers our eyes.
We have to learn to listen and trust in the Lord, for He knows better than us, and He knows the way to salvation, which we cannot reach on our own, less still by our own power alone. That is why we really should cast away our pride and sharpen the edge of our humility, that we may truly become loving children and followers of the Lord in our actions and our deeds.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we all have a choice to make. We can choose to follow the path of pride, that is to give in to our emotions and fears, to be like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, or to cast away that pride and arrogance, and follow the Lord with all of our hearts, just as St. Isidore and many other great saints had done in the past.
The choice is ours, brethren, and let us therefore today pray, that the Lord may guide us all, and help us to walk together in His light, that we may dwell no longer in the darkness of our pride and stubbornness, but in the light of God’s presence. God be with us all. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Hosea 5 : 15 – Hosea 6 : 6
Then I will go away and return to My place until they admit their guilt and come back to Me, for in their anguish they will earnestly seek Me.
Come, let us return to YHVH. He who shattered us to pieces, will heal us as well; He has struck us down, but He will bind up our wounds. Two days later He will bring us back to life; on the third day, He will raise us up, and we shall live in His presence.
Let us strive to know YHVH. His coming is as certain as the dawn; His judgment will burst forth like the light; He will come to us as showers come, like spring rain that waters the earth.
O Ephraim, what shall I do with you? O Judah, how shall I deal with you? This love of yours is like morning mist, like morning dew that quickly disappears. This is why I smote you through the prophets, and have slain you by the words of My mouth.
For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice; it is knowledge of God, not burnt offerings.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 137 : 1-2a, 2bc-3, 7c-8
I thank You, o Lord, with all my heart, for You have heard the word of my lips. I sing Your praise in the presence of the gods. I bow down towards Your holy Temple and give thanks to Your Name.
For Your love and faithfulness, for Your word which exceeds everything. You answered me when I called; You restored my soul and made me strong.
With outstretched arm, You save me from the wrath of my foes, with Your right hand You deliver me. How the Lord cares for me! Your kindness, o Lord, endures forever. Forsake not the work of Your hands.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 