Monday

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Monday, 27 April 2015 : 4th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 10 : 1-10

At that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “Truly, I say to you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. But the shepherd of the sheep enters by the gate. The keeper opens the gate to him and the sheep hear his voice; he calls each of his sheep by name and leads them out.”

“When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but rather they will run away from him, because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.”

Jesus used this comparison, but they did not understand what He was saying to them. So Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, I am the gate of the sheep. All who came were thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not hear them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through Me will be saved; he will go in and out freely and find food.”

“The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life, life in all its fullness.”

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Monday, 27 April 2015 : 4th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 41 : 2-3 and Psalm 42 : 3, 4

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for You, o God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I go and see the face of God?

Send forth Your light and Your truth; let them be my guide, let them take me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You reside.

Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my gladness and delight. I will praise You with the lyre and harp, o God, my God.

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Monday, 27 April 2015 : 4th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 11 : 1-8

News came to the Apostles and the brothers and sisters in Judea that even foreigners had received the Word of God. So, when Peter went up to Jerusalem, these Jewish believers began to argue with him, “You went to the home of uncircumcised people and ate with them!”

So Peter began to give them the facts as they had happened, “I was at prayer in the city of Joppa when, in a trance, I saw a vision. Something like a large sheet came down from the sky and drew near to me, landing on the ground by its four corners. As I stared at it, I saw four-legged creatures of the earth, wild beasts and reptiles, and birds of the sky.”

“Then I heard a voice saying to me : ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat!’ I replied, ‘Certainly not, Lord! No common or unclean creature has ever entered my mouth.'”

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Monday, 20 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the message is clear, from the Sacred Scriptures that we have heard. Seek not what is earthly and worldly, but instead search for things that will bring us to heaven and its glory. Therefore, we are reminded not to be bought over by all the temptations which Satan and his allies had placed around us in this world, but find the way to the Lord, to be truly reunited with Him in love.

Our true goal in life is for us to lead an upright and just life, filled with obedience to the Lord and love for Him. We should seek to follow the Lord and walk in the way which He had shown us through Jesus, His Son. We should not be distracted by the many concerns of the world, fear and desire which often lead our hearts and attentions away from the Lord.

The people of Israel at the time of the Exodus often disobeyed the Lord and complained against Him, walking in the path of sin and worshipping pagan idols, because they did not have their heart completely for the Lord. They were divided and distracted by the desires of their heart. That was why they made such disobedient comments such as regretting why the Lord had brought them out of Egypt when they had much to eat there, and they felt that they were dying of hunger in the desert.

Their minds were clouded by the inability to resist the temptations of their stomachs and the weakness of their bodies. They chose the pleasures of the world rather than to listen to the Lord and His urgings, which He made through Moses His servant. They disobeyed Him, and as a result, many of them met ignominable end in death. We have to remember that it was our ancestors’ desire for knowledge of good and evil that had led them to sin. And it was thus the same desire for worldly things, gluttony and lust, as well as greed which had led them to their undoing.

The people who debated with St. Stephen and later accused him of blaspheming against God could not accept this truth about themselves, that they had been tainted with human desires, ego and pride, and having been unable to overcome St. Stephen in wisdom and knowledge, they gave in to their pride, and jealousy built up in their heart, to the point that they used all those to strike back at God’s faithful servant.

They sought human approval and worldly glory and fame, as many other people also do. We can also ask ourselves, if we too have been trapped in such a situation. Surely most of us if not all have been at one point of time or another, seek such worldly satisfaction and fulfillment, at the cost of heavenly approval. We crave for human recognition, praise by others and fame. All these feed our ego and pride, and made us even more susceptible for more temptations in the future, and we fall deeper into sin.

We have to heed what Jesus had told the people today, brothers and sisters in Christ. To seek not food that is perishable, but seek that which leads to eternal life. St. Stephen might not have spoken in a way that endeared him to the people, and certainly not to the chief priests and the elders, but he spoke the truth, and he did not hesitate to preach the truth of Christ to others around him.

This is what we have to do as well, that is to be courageous in our faith, and to devote ourselves fully to the Lord and to His cause. We cannot be half hearted in this. We also have to resist our pride, our ego, our desires and all the temptations which Satan had placed on our path. In doing these, we will become better disciples of our Lord and we will walk righteously in His presence.

May this Easter be a time of great renewal, of our faith and ourselves, that we may become ever closer to the Lord and be more faithful in all of our actions, so that the Lord who sees it all, will bless us and welcome us into His heavenly kingdom and give us the inheritance that we deserve. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 20 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 6 : 22-29

At that time, after Jesus fed the five thousand, on the next day, the people who had stayed on the other side, realised that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with His disciples; but rather, the disciples had gone away alone.

Bigger boats from Tiberias came near the place where all these people had eaten the bread. When they saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

When they found Him on the other side of the lake, they asked Him, “Master, when did you come here?” Jesus answered, “Truly, I say to you, you look for Me, not because of the signs which you have seen, but because you ate bread and were satisfied.”

“Work then, not for perishable food, but for the lasting food which gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give it to you, for He is the One on whom the Father has put His mark.”

Then the Jews asked Him, “What shall we do? What are the works that God wants us to do?” And Jesus answered them, “The work God wants is this : that you believe in the One whom God has sent.”

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Monday, 20 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 118 : 23-24, 26-27, 29-30

Although princes conspire against me, Your servant will observe Your decrees. Your laws are my delight, my counselors who uphold me.

When I explained my ways, You responded; instruct me then in Your precepts. Explain to me all Your ordinances, and I will meditate on Your wondrous deeds.

Keep me away from deceitful paths; be gracious and teach me Your law. I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart upon Your laws.

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Monday, 20 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 6 : 8-15

Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Some persons then came forward, who belonged to the so called Synagogue of Freedmen from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia. They argued with Stephen but they could not match the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

As they were unable to face the truth, they bribed some men to say, “We heard him speak against Moses and against God.” So they stirred up the people, the elders and the teachers of the Law; they took him by surprise, seized him and brought him before the Council.

Then they produced false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against our Holy Place and the Law. We even heard him say that Jesus the Nazarean will destroy our Holy Place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us.” And all who sat in the Council fixed their eyes on him, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel.

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Monday, 13 April 2015 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of Pope St. Martin I, Pope and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how Nicodemus, one of the upright and righteous Pharisee, who believed in Jesus, came to Him and asked Him about the truth which Christ had brought into the world, which truly intrigued him and made him to reevaluate all of his ways in the world. And in that occasion as well, Jesus made it clear what we need to do in order to be able to attain the fullness of salvation.

In the phrase often used in this Easter season, which is part of the Preface itself, before the most solemn moment when the bread and wine are transformed into the Real Body and Blood of our Lord, that is, “By dying He destroyed our death, and by rising from the dead, He restored our life.” In this we can see how Christ our Lord, the Saviour of the world had freely given up Himself, so that by sharing our humanity, in His triumphant victory against death, He also may bring us all from the snares of death.

And by His resurrection, He has proved to us that death has lost its sting, and that is life and hope beyond the darkness of death. If we put our trust on the Lord, then we have no need to fear or worry, for our Lord Himself had even conquered death and sin, and broke free forever the bonds that once shackled us and doomed us. What indeed is there to fear if we trust in the Lord?

The problem lies in the inability of many of us mankind to resist the poison of fear and doubt in our hearts. Fear made us to do things irrationally and without due concern for others. It makes us selfish and act in self-preservation, that is to put our own interests and needs above that of others. While this is sometimes necessary, but it often becomes a source of suffering for others, as we often may not hesitate to take up actions that bring about discomfort and disadvantage for others around us.

The elders, the Pharisees, the chief priests and all who opposed Jesus and His good works did so because of the same fear, and the same worldly concerns. They feared that they would lose their prestigious position in the society, the fame and praise they received because of their esteemed position. It is just like how we act when we feel jealous of someone, because that person is seemingly better than us. We try our best to bring about the other’s downfall.

Today we celebrate the feast of Pope St. Martin I, the Vicar of Christ and Martyr of the Faith, who was embroiled in a bitter struggle with the Emperor of the Roman Empire, who albeit being a Christian, but he espoused and supported the cause of heretics. These heretics championed ideas contrary to the faith, and these came about because of their inability to resist worldly temptations.

Pope St. Martin I adamantly refused to give in to the heretics and to the Emperor as well. He refused to allow any nonsense and any influences of the devil to harm the souls of the faithful, the Church entrusted by God to his care and leadership. As a result, he was persecuted, and later abducted, tortured and eventually martyred for the cause of the Faith. He died a full life, having defended the faith which was so precious to him and saved countless souls from damnation.

All these came about because they did not put their trust in God, and they rather placed their trust only in themselves. This brought them to their doom, and it will be the same for us, unless we wake up to the reality of how dangerous our souls are close to condemnation if we continue to walk in the same path. That is what God wants us to realise, that unless we truly change our ways totally and commit ourselves to a new life in God, we are always still in danger of hell.

By our baptism, we have shared in the death and resurrection of our Lord, and by receiving His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, we also share in our Lord together as one people, sharing the inheritance and the grace which He had promised all those who believe in Him. But without genuine sincerity and commitment in our faith, we cannot go far. Our faith is not one that is passive or dead, but instead, it is one of action and real devotion.

Thus, we have to be reborn again, not in physical terms, but in terms of our spirituality, our heart and our soul, that while we once lived according to the manners of the world, we now change ourselves, so that while we were once selfish, we now care more for others around us and devote ourselves sincerely in faith, loving both our Lord and our fellow men. God be with us all, and may He guide us always on our path. Amen.

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Monday, 13 April 2015 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of Pope St. Martin I, Pope and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

John 3 : 1-8

Among the Pharisees there was a ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus. He came to Jesus by night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God to teach us, for no one can perform miraculous signs like Yours unless God is with him.”

Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again from above.” Nicodemus said, “How can there be rebirth for a grown man? Who could go back to his mother’s womb and be born again?”

Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you : No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Because of this, do not be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again from above.'”

“The wind blows where it pleases and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

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Monday, 13 April 2015 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of Pope St. Martin I, Pope and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 2 : 1-3, 4-6, 7-9

Why do the nations conspire? Why do the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth brace themselves and the rulers together take their stand against the Lord and His Anointed. They say, “Let us break their bonds! Let us cast away their chains!”

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord looks at them in derision. Then in anger He speaks to them, terrifying them in the fury of His wrath : “Behold the King I have installed, in Zion, upon My holy hill!”

I will proclaim the decree of the Lord. He said to Me, “You are My Son. This day I have begotten You. Ask of Me and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall rule them with iron sceptre and shatter them as a potter’s vase.”