Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)
Mark 12 : 35-37
At that time, as Jesus was teaching in the Temple, He said, “The teachers of the Law say that the Messiah is the Son of David. How can that be? For David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, declared : The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies under Your feet!'”
“If David himself calls Him Lord, in what way can He be his Son?” Many people came to Jesus, and listened to Him gladly.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)
Psalm 145 : 1-2, 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10
Alleluia! Praise the Lord, my soul! I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to God while I live.
The Lord is forever faithful; He gives justice to the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free.
The Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord straightens the bent. The Lord loves the virtuous, but He brings to ruin the way of the wicked. The Lord protects the stranger.
He sustains the widow and the orphan. The Lord will reign forever, your God, o Zion, from generation to generation. Alleluia!
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)
Tobit 11 : 5-17
Now Anna was sitting there, scanning the road along which her son should return. She saw Tobias and Raphael coming in the distance and said to the father of Tobias, “Your son is coming with the man who accompanied him.”
While Tobias and Raphael were still going along the road, Raphael said to Tobias, “I am sure that your father will regain his sight. Rub his eyes with the fish gall and when he feels his eyes itching, he will rub them and the film will come away like scales from his eyes. He will regain his sight and see the light.”
Anna ran to meet Tobias and threw her arms around his neck saying, “At last I have seen you again, my child. Now I can die!” And both of them began to cry. Tobit also got up and, stumbling, arrived at the door of the courtyard. Tobias ran to him with the fish gall in his hand. He breathed on his father’s eyes, embraced him and said, “Father, have confidence!”
Then he spread the fish gall on Tobit’s eyes. Tobias waited. When his eyes began to itch, Tobit rubbed them and with both hands scaled off the film from the corners of his eyes. When Tobit saw his son he threw his arms around Tobias’ neck and began to weep. He said, “Blessed be You, o God. Blessed be Your Name forever. Blessed be Your holy Angels. You have punished me, but You have taken pity on me, and now I can see my son, Tobias.”
Tobias was very happy. After entering the house he told his father about the important things that had happened in Media. He told his father about the successful outcome of his journey, how he got his money, and how he married Sara, daughter of Ragouel, who just then was approaching the gates of Nineveh.
Tobit, happy and praising God, went out to meet his daughter-in-law at the gates of Nineveh. All those who saw him walking alone and unaided, were amazed that he could see. Tobit proclaimed to them that God had taken pity on him and cured him. Then he went to Sara and blessed her saying, “Welcome, daughter! May God be blessed for having brought you to us and may your father and mother also be blessed.”
It was a day of great rejoicing for all Tobit’s relatives who lived in Nineveh.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Gospel passage when the Lord Jesus spoke to St. Peter and His Apostles, about the matter of obeying the human laws as created by the rulers of the time, particularly that of the Roman Empire, which collected taxes from all the people who were under its dominion. The matter was whether one should obey such human and civil laws or whether one should obey only the Law of God.
In another separate occasion, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law tried to trap and frame Jesus by using similar example, in order to trap Him with His own words and hopefully to allow them to discredit or arrest Him. They tested Him by asking Him whether one should pay taxes to Caesar, the Roman Emperor or not. In this manner, had the Lord Jesus told them that they must not pay taxes to him, then it would be tantamount to a declaration of rebellion, and the Jewish elders could hand Him over to the Romans citing His desire to defy the will of the Emperor.
On the other hand, had the Lord Jesus told them to pay the taxes to the Roman Emperor, then the elders could also discredit Jesus, for the Roman rule at the time, and particularly the taxes which the Romans imposed on the Jewish people, told to be particularly heavy, was very unpopular. That also explained why the tax collectors were very reviled and hated by the society in general, because the people saw them as traitors to their people and their country.
Thus, if Jesus had told the Pharisees and the people that they should pay taxes to the Emperor, then those enemies of the Lord would then immediately discredit Him and make the people despise and hate Him in the same manner as they hated the tax collectors. But the Lord knew what those people had plotted in their hearts, and He instead gave the perfect answer, which is also a guide for us in how we ourselves as Christians should carry out our lives and responsibilities.
Jesus told them that one should give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God. That was the perfect answer, to which the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had no answer or reply to. That is because, it is indeed true, that all wealth, all worldly possessions, and all gold, silver and the goods of this world belong to this world, and therefore does belong rightly to the rulers of this world. That is why it is perfectly fine to obey such requirements, if they are just and reasonable.
However, it does not mean that we should obey the rules of the world in just about everything. Why is that so? That is because we have to remember that, all of us are obliged to give to God what belongs to God, just as we have to give to the world what belongs to the world. And what is it that we have which belongs to the Lord? It is first and foremost, our life, which is sacred and given to us by the Lord.
Therefore, all of us as Christians must first and foremost, keep all life sacrosanct and holy. When there is threat to the sanctity of life, through such matters as deliberate causing of loss of life, be it murder, or abortion of unborn infants and children, or be it the abuse of children or any other human being, the destruction of the sanctity of marriage and family life, all of us as Christians must be ready to defend what is rightful to God, that what truly belongs to God, belong to Him and not to be taken over by the world.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all do our best to participate actively in our Church life and work, to proclaim to all the truth of God, and give the Lord the best we can of our commitment and devotion. Let us all be inspired by the holy saints who have preceded us, in their commitment and hard work, to ensure that everything that belongs to God, namely all of us, our lives and our souls, will truly belong to the Lord and not snatched away by Satan into damnation.
Let us look at the life of St. Norbert of Xanten, who was a very devout and committed servant of God, a holy bishop thoroughly devoted to his mission as a preacher and a religious, leading an ascetic and pious lifestyle and gathering many more who would also like to lead the same lifestyle. They devoted their lives completely, in prayer and in hard work, and in preaching the good news to the people and leading them in faith to the Lord.
If they were all able to lead such a life devoted to the Lord, all of us should be able to do the same as well. Shall we commit ourselves, brothers and sisters in Christ? Shall we be ever closer to God, in all of our ways? Shall we seek to love Him ever more and do our best to serve Him with love. May the Lord bless us and help us in our good works. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Mark 12 : 13-17
At that time, the chief priests, the teachers of the Law and the elders sent to Jesus some Pharisees with members of Herod’s party, with the purpose of trapping him by his own words. They came and said to Jesus, “Master, we know that You are truthful; You are not influenced by anyone, and Your answers do not vary according to who is listening to You, but You truly teach God’s way. Tell us, is it against the Law to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them or not?”
But Jesus saw through their trick and answered, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a silver coin and let Me see it.” They brought Him one and Jesus asked, “Whose image is this, and whose name?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then Jesus said, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” And they were greatly astonished.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Psalm 111 : 1-2, 7bc-8, 9
Alleluia! Blessed is the one who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commands. His children will be powerful on earth; the upright’s offspring will be blessed.
For his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is confident, he needs not fear, he shall prevail over his foes at the end.
He gives generously to the poor, his merits will last forever and his head will be raised in honour.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Tobit 2 : 9-14
That same night, after I had buried the body, I returned home. I washed myself and went out into the courtyard to sleep against the wall; my face was uncovered because of the heat. I did not see that there were sparrows on the wall of the courtyard and, as my eyes were open, the hot droppings from the sparrows fell into my eyes and formed a white film on my eyes.
I went to find doctors to attend to me for medical treatment but the more ointments they smeared on my eyes, the more blind I became because of the film. Finally I became totally blind. I suffered from blindness for four years. All my brothers were burdened because of me. Ahikar kept me for two years before he departed for Elymiade.
My wife Anna worked hard at a woman’s task, weaving. On the seventh day of the month of March she cut the cloth and delivered it to her employers. They paid her wages and gave her, over and above, a young goat for food. When she returned home the kid began to cry. I said to her, “Where does the little kid come from? Did you steal it? Return it to its owners for we are not allowed to eat anything that is stolen.”
But she said, “It is a gift which has been given to me in addition to my wages.” “I do not believe it. I tell you to return it to its owners.” I was ashamed of her. She replied, “What about your own almsgiving and your good deeds? I have to put up with all this from you.”
Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is the penultimate day of the Easter season, as tomorrow we will together as the whole Church celebrate the great Solemnity of the Pentecost, the birth time of the Church at the time when the Lord sent His Holy Spirit to all of His Apostles and disciples, sending them forth to all the nations and to all the peoples to preach His Good News and truth.
Yet, at the same time, we must also keep in mind, that to become a disciple of the Lord is not something that is very simple or safe. As the reality is that, as disciples of the Lord, there will always be challenges, difficulties, and times when we may feel to be alone amidst all those who are up against us, as what the Apostles and the disciples themselves had experienced.
As we heard in the readings today, the first reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles spoke of the life which St. Paul had in Rome during the last years of his life and ministry, a relatively peaceful time before what was told to be the first major official persecution of the Christian faith by the Roman Empire, when the city of Rome was engulfed in a massive firestorm, and blame quickly were laid on the Christian communities. It was told that St. Paul met his martyrdom by beheading at that time, the year of our Lord sixty-four.
Many Christians became victims of the persecutions, be it by the Jewish authorities, the chief priests and the Pharisees in the earliest days of the Church, or by the opposition and persecutions by the Roman authorities, including the one which I had just mentioned. And there were also resistance by those pagan priests and philosophers, who refused to see their old and traditional pagan worship to be replaced by the Christian faith.
But, at the same time, there were also many people, Jews and Gentiles alike, who were willing to receive the words of truth, and to accept the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. These people were willing to turn away from their past sinful ways, and become Christians, and thus strengthening the foundations of the early Church. Many of them eventually also met persecution, suffering and even martyrdom because of their faith, and also refusal to apostasise from their faith.
If not for their courage, the bravery and devotion of the Apostles, disciples, saints and martyrs who have laboured hard for the sake of the Lord and His Church, many souls would not have been saved, and many would have been lost to damnation in hell. We too, would not have received the faith we now have, if not for the hard work of all those who have passed down the faith to us, just as the Apostles passed down the teachings of the Lord to their successors.
Today, we remember the memory of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions, who were Christian converts in the country now known as Uganda. They became Christians after missionaries came to their area, bearing the word of God’s truth, and they converted to the faith, leaving their pagan and sinful ways behind them. However, this met with a great resistance by the king, who wanted to eradicate all traces of Christianity in his domain.
Therefore, the king ordered the arrest, persecution and also killing of many of the. Christian converts and missionaries, who suffered terribly under the great persecution. Yet, St. Charles Lwanga and many others who had been sentenced to death because of their faith refused to renounce the Lord and their newfound faith. They remained true to their devotion and as a result were executed. St. Charles Lwanga himself met his martyrdom by being burnt alive on a stake.
But their martyrdom inspired many more Christians to persist in their faith, and it was told that many of their persecutors eventually became Christians themselves, and including even the king. Through all these examples, all of us as Christians living in our world today must realise that, first of all, there are a lot of things that we still need to do, in order to bring the testimony of our faith to all those who have not yet known or even have rejected the Lord.
And then, we must remember that when we face difficulties and persecutions from the world, we have to stay firm and resolute amidst those challenges. If we give up or allow ourselves to be distracted by temptations of the world, then our failure to act will cause not just ourselves but also potentially many others to fall as well, and their damnation will be on our own, and we are the ones to be blamed for that.
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all continue to strive to lead a holy and righteous life, by doing what the Lord had taught us to do, and by devoting ourselves completely, heart, body, mind and soul to Him, keeping in mind the zeal and the courage which the Holy Apostles, saints, and martyrs, including St. Charles Lwanga and his companions had shown in their respective lives. May the Lord be with us all, and may He bless all of our works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Red
John 21 : 20-25
At that time, Peter looked back and saw that the disciple Jesus loved was following as well, the one who had reclined close to Jesus at the supper, and had asked Him, “Lord, who is to betray You?”
On seeing him, Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain until Income, does that concern you? Follow Me!” Because of this the rumour spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus had not said to Peter, “He will not die,” but, “Suppose I want him to remain until I come.”
It is this disciple who testifies about the things he has written here, and we know that his testimony is true. But Jesus did many other things; if all were written down, I think the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 10 : 4, 5 and 7
The Lord is in His holy place – our God Whose throne is in heaven. He looks down to earth to observe the race of Adam.
The Lord searches both righteous and wicked. He hates those who delight in violence, for the Lord is righteous; He loves justice. The upright will see His face.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 