Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 26 : 1, 4, 13-14
The Lord is my Light and my Salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the rampart of my life; I will not be afraid.
One thing I ask of the Lord, one thing I seek – that I may dwell in His house all the days of my life, to gaze at His jewel and to visit His sanctuary.
I hope, I am sure, that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Trust in the Lord, be strong and courageous. Yes, put your hope in the Lord!
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 5 : 34-42
But one of the Council members, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law highly respected by the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin. He ordered the men to be taken outside for a few minutes and then he spoke to the assembly.
He said, “Fellow Israelites, consider well what you intend to do to these men. For some time ago Theudas came forward, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. But he was killed and all his followers were dispersed or disappeared. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared at the time of the census and persuaded many people to follow him. But he too perished and his whole following was scattered.”
“So, in this present case, I advise you to have nothing to do with these men. Leave them alone. If their project or activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. If, on the other hand, it is from God, you will not be able to destroy it and you may indeed find yourselves fighting against God.”
The Council let themselves be persuaded. They called in the Apostles and had them whipped, and ordered them not to speak again of Jesus the Saviour. Then they set them free. The Apostles went out from the Council rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of the Name. Day after day, both in the Temple and in people’s homes, they continued to teach and to proclaim that Jesus was the Messiah.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how the Apostles resisted the High Priests and the elders, who commanded that they stopped teaching about Christ and stopped testifying about His resurrection, by the simple words that they would rather obey God and His will rather than to obey any human or worldly authorities. These are brave and courageous words that came from the heart of those whom God had chosen and whom He had empowered with His Holy Spirit.
In today’s Gospel we also heard how St. John the Baptist spoke out his testimony about Christ the Messiah and Lord of all, just before he was arrested, put in prison by Herod and martyred for his faith and righteousness. St. John the Baptist spoke clearly and with passion, the truth about Christ, that whoever believes in Him shall be saved and shall receive their just rewards, and that those who believe in Him shall truly be able to speak up their testimony of the truth.
This means that, all of us who are faithful to God, His people and His disciples, should have that same courage in us, the courage to speak up and to stand up for our faith. This is important if we want to be true disciples of our Lord and not just merely paying lip service or having our faith, just for show. Remember, as I have often mentioned, that our faith is not a passive one, but should be an active and living faith.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is indeed easy to think that we can do this, but we should also know that temptation is plenty and challenges are abound, and if we are not careful, we are likely to be drawn in by those temptations and challenges. We have to remember that this world does not look kindly upon us, as we belong to the Lord and to His truth. This world and all of its forces belong to the darkness, which depended on the lies and the falsehoods of the evil one and his allies.
Satan certainly will not let us go easily, and he will not stay without action seeing us being rescued and saved from harm’s way by our Lord. He will certainly use all that is within his power and dominion in order to sway us back into his influence. This is his temptations, with which he tempts us daily. For example, the temptation of worldly power, of earthly pleasures and the temptation of fame and hubris, the temptation of desire and human greed and many others.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we celebrate in this holy Easter season, all of us have to realise and be awakened to this fact, that every day, a battle is raging for the salvation of our souls. And we must have the courage to overcome our fear and our desires, so that, not only that we can be like the Holy Apostles, St. John the Baptist and all the disciples of Christ in how they lived their faith, but we will also prevent ourselves from falling back into our old way of sin.
It is imperative that we use this opportunity of Easter to reform and change ourselves thoroughly. We rejoice this Easter because of the love and mercy which God had shown us mankind through Jesus Christ His Son, whom He had sent into the world in order to save it. Can we put the effort to make ourselves to be worthy of that mercy which God had shown all of us?
We must break free from our fear, our doubts, uncertainties and all the things which prevent us from revealing our potential as the children of God. We all have been given the rich gifts of the Holy Spirit, in order to testify to the world, and show the world the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We should follow the example of the Holy Apostles, and find courage in ourselves to stand up for our faith. For if we do not stand up for it, then who will?
Let us all commit ourselves to a renewed faith in God, one that is not just mere passivity and silence, but one that is filled with vigour, strength and courage, to carry out the word of God through our concrete and real actions, by the love which we show to our fellow men. God be with us all, and may He bless all of our endeavours. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 3 : 31-36
At that time, John the Baptist said to his disciples, “He who comes from above is above all; he who comes from the earth belongs to the earth, and his words belong to the earth. He who comes from heaven speaks of the things He has seen and heard; He bears witness to these things, but no one accepts His testimony. Whoever does receive His testimony acknowledges the truthfulness of God.”
“The One sent by God speaks God’s words, and gives the Spirit unstintingly. The Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything into His hands. Whoever believes in the Son lives with eternal life; but he who will not believe in the Son will never know life, and always faces the justice of God.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 33 : 2 and 9, 17-18, 19-20
I will bless the Lord all my days; His praise will be ever on my lips. Oh, see and taste the goodness of the Lord! Blessed is the one who finds shelter in Him!
But His face is set against the wicked to destroy their memory from the earth. The Lord hears the cry of the righteous and rescues them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the distraught. Many are the troubles of the just, but the Lord delivers them from all.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 5 : 27-33
So the captain and the guards brought the Apostles in and made them stand before the Council and the High Priest questioned them, “We gave you strict orders not to preach such a Saviour; but you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to charge us with the killing of this Man.” To this Peter and the Apostles replied, “Better for us to obey God rather than any human authority!”
“The God of our ancestors raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging Him on a wooden post. God set Him at His right hand as Leader and Saviour, to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses to all these things, as well as the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
When the Council heard this, they became very angry and wanted to kill them.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how the Apostles of our Lord were delivered from their distress, when they were arrested by the Jewish leaders and the elders of the people. They were freed from prison and brought into deliverance to continue once again to teach the word of God to all the people. And in the Gospel, we heard how Jesus made clear God’s love for us, in the famous phrase of the Gospel of St. John Chapter 3, Verse 16.
That God so loved the world, that is all of us mankind, that He was willing to send His own Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, into this world so that all who witness Him and His life, His death and resurrection and then believe in Him, may be saved and not be lost. For God has decreed that all whom He had gathered upon Himself, He would not lose again, unless if we are the ones who want to be lost ourselves.
The essence of this is that, if we put our trust in the Lord, we shall not be disappointed. We shall have no need to fear for anything, as God will guard us and protect us in His own way. God will shield us from harm and bring us to safety. Such is His love and dedication to all those who have put themselves at His care. After all, He had given Himself and none less, for our salvation by His death on the cross.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is often difficult for us to comprehend the fullness of God’s mercy and love for us. And it is often easy for us to fall into the temptations of this world and to walk down the path of corruption, that is the path of worldliness. And because we trust so much in the things of the world, such as power, fame, prestige, influence and human praise, then we cannot part from these.
We have our fears in this life because of these worldly attachments, and indeed not just attachments, but these had gone further to be addictions. Many times we mankind act in certain ways because we want to preserve ourselves and avoid being harmed in any way. And on the other hand, some of us even acted in a way that bring about harm and pain to others just so that we may preserve ourselves.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be awakened to the truth of Christ, that what we truly need is not all the worldly things that this world often impose on us. We have to be courageous in our life so that we may say no and reject all the falsehoods and the traps which Satan had set on our path. We must be able to overcome all this, and despite the challenge, if only that we can trust in God, then the path will be opened for us.
This Easter is a time for us to realise how much is the love which God had showered us with, the perfect and eternal love which He had shown us through Jesus, whom by His death had broken us free from the bonds of sin and death, and by His resurrection, had promised us the eternal promise of eternal life with Him. It is indeed time for us to change our lives for the better, and become better and more devoted disciples of our Lord.
May our Risen Lord, Almighty God, be with us always and guide us in all the ways of our lives. May He bless us and give us strength to carry out His will in this world, and resist the temptations of Satan, resist all of our fears and worries, for in God we can trust, and He will always be faithful. God bless us all. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 3 : 16-21
At that time, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Yes, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through Him the world is to be saved. Whoever believes in Him will not be condemned. He who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God.”
“This is how the Judgment is made : Light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For whoever does wrong hates the light, and does not come to the light, for fear that his deeds will be seen as evil. But whoever lives according to the truth comes into the light, so that it can be clearly seen that his works have been done in God.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 33 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
I will bless the Lord all my days; His praise will be ever on my lips. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the lowly hear and rejoice.
Oh, let us magnify the Lord, together let us glorify His Name! I sought the Lord, and He answered me; from all my fears He delivered me.
They who look to Him are radiant with joy, their faces never clouded with shame. When the poor cry out, the Lord hears and saves them from distress.
The Lord’s angel encamps and patrols to keep safe those who fear Him. Oh, see and taste the goodness of the Lord! Blessed is the one who finds shelter in Him!
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 5 : 17-26
The High Priest and all his supporters that is the party of the Sadducees, became very jealous of the Apostles; so they arrested them and had them thrown into the public jail. But an angel of the Lord opened the door of the prison during the night, brought them out, and said to them, “Go and stand in the Temple court and tell the people the whole of this living message.” Accordingly they entered the Temple at dawn and resumed their teaching.
When the High Priest and his supporters arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin, that is the full Council of the elders of Israel. They sent word to the jail to have the prisoners brought in. But when the Temple guards arrived at the jail, they did not find them inside, so they returned with the news, “We found the prison securely locked and the prison guards at their post outside the gate, but when we opened the gate, we found no one inside.”
Upon hearing these words, the captain of the Temple guard and the high priests were baffled, wondering where all of this would end. Just then someone arrived with the report, “Look, those men whom you put in prison are standing in the Temple, teaching the people.”
Then the captain went off with the guards and brought them back, but without any show of force, for fear of being stoned by the people.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 