Monday

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Monday, 29 May 2017 : 7th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 19 : 1-8

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul travelled through the interior of the country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples whom he asked, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They answered, “We have not even heard that anyone may receive the Holy Spirit.” Paul then asked, “What kind of baptism have you received?” And they answered, “The baptism of John.”

Paul then explained, “John’s baptism was for conversion, but he himself said they should believe in the One Who was to come, and that One is Jesus.” Upon hearing this, they were baptised in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Then Paul laid his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came down upon them; and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. There were about twelve of them in all.

Paul went into the synagogue and for three months he preached and discussed there boldly, trying to convince them about the Kingdom of God.

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Monday, 22 May 2017 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we are all reminded that as Christians, all of us must remain united with the Lord, and we cannot be separated from Him in our faith. We must remain truly and firmly rooted in Him, the One and only True Vine, out of which all truth and graces come from. If we are separated from Him, we shall perish.

That is the fundamental truth which all of us Christians must be aware of, that we have to cling to the truth which the Lord had revealed to us, and He has established a vessel through which all of these can be done, namely through the Church He had founded upon the foundation of the Apostle St. Peter and with the assistance of the other Apostles and disciples of the Lord.

It is through the Church that God had done many of His wonderful works in this world, even though He no longer physically walks among us in this world as He had done at the time when He was still with His Apostles and disciples prior to His Ascension into heaven. Yet, God Who ascended in glory to heaven never left behind His Church and His people, and He is always ever with them through good times and bad times alike.

And as Jesus mentioned in the Gospel today, the world needs to know about our Lord Jesus, about the love which He had shown His Father, our Father and Creator. For Jesus is the Son of God, Who had assumed the flesh of mankind, that by sharing in our humanity, He might show all of us the meaning of true faith and devotion to God, the meaning of perfect obedience and submission to the will of God.

That is the mission which Jesus our Lord had given to His Apostles and disciples, as He entrusted it to them before He ascended in His glory to heaven. This is the primary mission of the Church, the salvation of all souls, that all may be freed from the darkness of their sins and wickedness, and come into the light of the Lord. It is important for us to remember this as we are all parts of the Church, and as the members of God’s Church we have our responsibilities and obligations.

We cannot overlook or ignore this obligation, as without us, then who will be the ones to bear forth the word of God and tell the world of His salvation? It was because of the Apostles and their dedication to their given mission, which had brought about the birth and the growth of the Church. They have laboured hard for the propagation of the Good News of God’s salvation, and many had been saved through them.

In the same manner, many of the holy saints and devout servants of God throughout the ages and history have dedicated themselves, their lives and their efforts in the good works of the Lord, bringing salvation upon many souls, not least of all, the saint whose memory we remember today, namely St. Rita of Cascia. St. Rita of Cascia was a holy religious, an Italian widower, who was renowned for her great piety in life.

And she was also a devoted wife and mother, who was known to persuade her husband to get rid of his violent and abusive lifestyle, often getting into conflict with rival families and groups. Unfortunately, it ended with him being murdered by his enemies, leaving St. Rita of Cascia a widow and her children without a father. During those turbulent times, where rivalry and vengeance were common, St. Rita of Cascia strongly dissuaded her children from seeking vengeance.

As it was inevitable that her children would end up committing sins by the blood feud and vengeance that her larger family plotted, it was told that St. Rita of Cascia begged in her prayers before the Lord, that her sons should be spared the fate of eternal damnation, by calling them up to heaven early. It was told that, precisely that was what the Lord granted to her, by their death through dysentery in the same year.

After that, she joined the monastery, but the nuns feared her husband’s families’ feuding that would affect the community. As a result, she was allowed to join on a condition that she should help to resolve the bloody feud among the noble families. St. Rita of Cascia managed to do just that, through her hard work she made it possible for the feuding families and nobles to be reconciled with each other and ceased all forms of hostilities.

The examples of St. Rita of Cascia, her great piety and devotion to the Lord, her exemplary lifestyle and commitment to her faith should be inspiration to all of us. All of us should be more and more inspired to follow in her footsteps, in how we ought to live our faith life, and therefore, fulfilling our obligations as the members of the Church, as I mentioned earlier in this homily, to bring the people of God closer to God, and get them out of the darkness and into the light, through our actions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all pray that the Lord will give us strength, courage and commitment, so that we will be able to follow in the footsteps of the Apostles, the holy saints and martyrs, especially the holy woman, St. Rita of Cascia, so that by our good works and deeds, we may bring more and more souls towards the salvation in God. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 22 May 2017 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
John 15 : 26 – John 16 : 4a

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “From now on the Helper, the Holy Spirit Whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I have told you.”

“Peace be with you! I give you My peace; not as the world gives peace do I give it to you. Do not be troubled; do not be afraid. You heard Me say, ‘I am going away, but I am coming to you.’ If you loved Me, you would be glad that I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.”

“I have told you this now before it takes place, so that when it does happen you may believe. It is very little what I may still tell you, for the prince of this world is at hand, although there is nothing in Me that he can claim. But see, the world must know that I love the Father, and that I do what the Father has taught Me to do. Come now, let us go.”

“I am the True Vine and My Father is the Vinegrower. If any of My branches does not bear fruit, He breaks it off; and He prunes every branch that does bear fruit, that it may bear even more fruit. You are already made clean by the word I have spoken to you. Live in Me as I live in you.”

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Monday, 22 May 2017 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 149 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b

Alleluia! Sing to the Lord a new song, sing His praise in the assembly of His saints! Let Israel rejoice in his Maker, let the people of Zion glory in their King!

Let them dance to praise of His Name and make music for Him with harp and timbrel. For the Lord delights in His people; He crowns the lowly with victory.

The saints will exult in triumph; even at night on their couches. Let the praise of God be on their lips; this is the glory of all His saints. Alleluia!

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Monday, 22 May 2017 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 16 : 11-15

So we put out to sea from Troas and sailed straight across to Samothrace Island, and the next day to Neapolis. From there we went inland to Philippi, the leading city of the district of Macedonia, and a Roman colony. We spent some days in that city.

On the sabbath we went outside the city gate to the bank of the river where we thought the Jews would gather to pray. We sat down and began speaking to the women who were gathering there. One of them was a God-fearing woman named Lydia from Thyatira City, a dealer in purple cloth.

As she listened, the Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. After she had been baptised together with her household, she invited us to her house, “If you think I am faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us to accept her invitation.

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Monday, 15 May 2017 : 5th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Scriptures an interesting set of readings, which remind us all of who we are, and how we ought to live our lives as Christians. In the first reading, we heard how the pagan Greeks to whom St. Paul and St. Barnabas were preaching the faith, mistook their intentions and teachings, and thought of the two Apostles as their own pagan gods who came to the world in their presence.

The people treated St. Paul and St. Barnabas like as if they were their gods who assumed the flesh of mankind. They brought animal sacrifices to them and offered these sacrifices before them, as they thought of these two as either emissaries of their pagan Greek gods or the gods themselves. But St. Paul and St. Barnabas became very angry when they saw all these happening before them, and in their anguish, they tore their garments and told the people of their mistakes.

Then in the Gospel today, we heard the conversation between Jesus our Lord and His disciples, in which St. Judas Thaddeus asked why Jesus revealed Himself to them and not to the whole world. And Jesus replied them saying, that if they do not listen to the word of God and obey His will, then they will have no part in Him. Those who listen to the word of God and obey God’s will, will do as the Lord had asked of them. And this is what we need to pay attention to, very closely.

What do all these things mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? What are their significance for us? These are in fact reminders for us not to fall into the temptations of worldly power, of worldly influence and human greed, which are all the things that commonly became obstacles on the journey of men towards righteousness and justification in God’s presence.

Let us reflect on our own lives, and on how we mankind have lived our lives in the past, our shared history of humanity. We mankind are easily tempted with power, wealth, fame, human glory and praise, and all other worldly things, and that is exactly what we must be wary of. Imagine if other people were to praise us, adore us, and glorify us right in front of us. Certainly many of us will fall to the temptations and become proud of ourselves. Our ego will take over our rational mind.

That is how we mankind think, the way of the world. But that is not how the Lord wants it to be. His ways are different from the world’s ways, and His norms are completely opposite of what the world’s norms are. That is why when He was hailed and wanted to be made a king by the people who saw His great and miraculous deeds, He actually hid Himself away and retreated away from the people, who have misunderstood and mistook His true intentions.

In the same manner, the Apostles St. Paul and St. Barnabas had also rejected human desires for pride and ego, when the people worshipped them as if they were their Greek gods. They stood firmly by their faith, and even with indignation, they told off the people who had mistaken them for their gods. In this, as the Lord had said in the Gospel today, they had obeyed not the whim of their human desires, but the will of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us ask ourselves, that in our own respective lives, have we encountered such a situation, that we have to choose between listening to our human desires or to obey the will of God? We have certainly faced that kind of situation before, and let us remember what we have done. Have we listened to the whim of our desires, to the temptations that Satan had placed in our path? Or have we instead tried to obey the Lord, our God, in His ways, even though that often bring us to difficult situations?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue to progress through this season of Easter, let us all renew our faith and commitment to the Lord, and awaken in us the desire to serve Him with all of our heart and with all of our strength. May the Lord give us the strength to persevere faithfully in this life we have on earth. May God be with us all, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 15 May 2017 : 5th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
John 14 : 21-26

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Whoever keeps My commandments is the one who loves Me. If he loves Me, he will also be loved by My Father; I too shall love him and show Myself clearly to him.”

Judas – not Judas Iscariot – asked Jesus, “Lord, how can it be that You will show Yourself clearly to us and not to the world!” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word and My Father will love him; and We will come to him and make a room in his home.”

“But if anyone does not love Me, he will not keep My words; and these words that you hear are not Mine, but the Father’s Who sent Me. I told you all this while I was still with you. From now on the Helper, the Holy Spirit Whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I have told you.”

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Monday, 15 May 2017 : 5th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 113B : 1-2, 3-4, 15-16

Not to us, o Lord, not to us, but to Your Name be the glory, for the sake of Your love and faithfulness. Why should the pagans say, “Where is their God?”

There in heaven is our God; whatever He wishes, He does. Not so the hand-made idols, crafted in silver and gold.

May you be blessed by the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. Heaven belongs to the Lord, but the earth He has given to humans.

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Monday, 15 May 2017 : 5th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 14 : 5-18

A move was made by pagans and Jews, together with their leaders, to harm the Apostles and to stone them. But Paul and Barnabas learnt of this and fled to Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside, where they continued preaching the Good News.

Paul and Barnabas spent a fairly long time at Lystra. There was a crippled man in Lystra who had never been able to stand or walk. One day, as he was listening to the preaching, Paul looked intently at him and saw that he had the faith to be saved. So he spoke to him in a loud voice, “In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command you to stand up on your feet!” And the man stood up and began to walk around.

When the people saw what Paul had done, they cried out in the language of Lycaonia, “The gods have come to us in human likeness!” They named Barnabas Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, since he was the chief speaker. Even the priest of the Temple of Zeus, which stood outside the town, brought oxen and garlands to the gate; together with the people, he wanted to offer sacrifice to them.

When Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their garment to show their indignation and rushed into the crowd, shouting, “Friends, why are you doing this? We are human beings with the same weakness you have and we are now telling you to turn away from these useless things to the living God Who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and all that is in them.”

“In past generations He allowed each nation to go its own way, though He never stopped making Himself known; for He is continually doing good, giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, providing you with food and filling your hearts with gladness.”

Even these words could hardly keep the crowd from offering sacrifice to them.

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Monday, 8 May 2017 : 4th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, following the celebrations yesterday of the Good Shepherd Sunday, the fourth Sunday in the season of Easter, today’s Gospel continue speaking about the Lord as our Good Shepherd, as the One Who cares for us and loves us so tenderly, that He is a loving Shepherd to us, desiring nothing else but our redemption and reconciliation with Him.

He has chosen us all His beloved people, by calling us to Himself, like a shepherd calling upon his sheep to gather to him. A shepherd knows all of his sheep, and it is often that each of them has a way to identify each one of them, by their appearances, by marks, or by assigning names to them. In that way, he would know if any of them are not around or are lost from him.

The sheep know their shepherd, and they will only follow him. If another person is to come and call them, they will not follow the stranger. Yet, it is possible indeed for the sheep to be led astray at times, and they become lost. In this, we see the reality about ourselves, how all of us, each of whom belonging to the Lord’s own flock, as He is our Shepherd, can be lost to Him through sin.

The devil has lured us all through his lies and falsehoods, empty and sweet words, filled with false promises, which however sound very alluring and attractive to us. Just as when he tempted our ancestors, Adam and Eve, who got attracted to his lies, and therefore disobeyed God and sinned. And ever since then, Satan, the devil, has worked busily day and night, all the time, trying to lure us away from God’s salvation.

This therefore bring us to the need to realise the fact that in this world, there are still many lost sheep out there, the people who have been separated from God and the rest of His flock. There are still a lot of people who have not yet known the love of God, and are still either ignorant or unaware of His love, His ways and His teachings. And there are many people who have lived in a state of sin, doing things that disobey the will of God, and therefore causing them to be separated further and further from God.

That was what happened at the time of Jesus and His Apostles as well. At that time, the revelation of the truth of God was limited mostly to the Jewish people, the descendants of the people of God, whom He had chosen from among the children of Abraham. However, there were numerous other peoples, originating from various other nations, cultures, races and languages, who have not yet believed in God, and indeed had not yet heard of His salvation.

And because the Lord loves every single one of us mankind, without any exception, for He is our loving God and Creator, and because as our Shepherd, He is the Lord and Master over all of us, even the greatest of sinners, therefore, He does not want any of us to be lost to Him. And as such, He calls everyone to Him, to turn themselves away from their sinfulness, and find their way to Him.

But such is the difficulty of accomplishing the task, that it requires all of our combined efforts in order to make sure that this can succeed. For what is at stake is none other than, and nothing less than the fate of the souls of mankind, the souls of our own brothers and sisters. And the Apostles and disciples had been given the commandment to spread the Good News and the truth to the whole world, that the light of Christ may come to all the peoples, of all races, languages, and origins.

And we are their successors, continuing the good works they had started. We must not falter in our efforts to evangelise, not just by mere words and proclamations, but more importantly, also through action, just as the Lord, our Good Shepherd has shown us His love by dying on the cross for us. We too, therefore, should become shepherds for one another, helping each other on our way to the Lord.

Let us all keep ourselves faithful and true to the faith we have in God. Let us help guide each other on the way of the faith, so that none of us will be lost to the temptations of the devil, but will remain true in faith in all the things we say and do, in our whole lives. May God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.