Pope Leo XIV

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Sunday, 8 June 2025 : Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Romans 8 : 8-17

So, those walking according to the flesh cannot please God. Yet your existence is not in the flesh, but in the spirit, because the Spirit of God is within you. If you did not have the Spirit of Christ, you would not belong to Him.

But Christ is within you; though the body is branded by death as a consequence of sin, the spirit is life and holiness. And if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead is within you, He Who raised Jesus Christ from among the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. Yes, He will do it through His Spirit Who dwells within you.

Then, brothers, let us leave the flesh and no longer live according to it. If not, we will die. Rather, walking in the spirit, let us put to death the body’s deeds, so that we may live. All those who walk in the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God.

Then, no more fear : you did not receive a spirit of slavery, but the spirit that makes you sons and daughters, and every time, we cry, “Abba! (this means Dad!) Father!” the Spirit assures our spirit, that we are sons and daughters of God. If we are children, we are heirs, too. Ours will be the inheritance of God, and we will share it with Christ; for, if we now suffer with Him, we will also share glory with Him.

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Sunday, 8 June 2025 : Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 103 : 1 ab and 24ac, 29bc-30, 31 and 34

Bless the Lord, my soul! Clothed in majesty and splendour; How varied o Lord, are Your works! The earth full of Your creatures.

You take away their breath, they expire and return to dust. When You send forth Your Spirit, they are created, and the face of the earth is renewed.

May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in His works! May my song give Him pleasure, as the Lord gives me delight.

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Sunday, 8 June 2025 : Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Acts 2 : 1-11

When the day of Pentecost came, the disciples of Jesus were all together in one place. And suddenly out of the sky came a sound like a strong rushing wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared tongues as if of fire which parted and came to rest upon each one of them. All were filled with Holy Spirit and began to speak other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

Staying in Jerusalem were religious Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd gathered, all excited because each heard them speaking in his own language. Full of amazement and wonder, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that we hear them in our own native language?”

“Here are Parthians, Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and foreigners who accept Jewish beliefs, Cretians and Arabians; and all of us hear them proclaiming in our own language what God, the Saviour, does.”

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Sunday, 8 June 2025 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in this evening we celebrate the Vigil of the great Solemnity and Feast of Pentecost Sunday, marking the fiftieth day since the celebration of the Day of the Lord’s glorious Resurrection from the dead, that is Easter Sunday. This Solemnity of the Pentecost Sunday, one of the greatest feasts and celebrations of the Church, together with Easter and Christmas had its roots from the ancient Jewish and Israelite Festival of the Pentecost, which means ‘fifty’, marking fifty days from the time of the Passover. And since Easter is truly the New, Christian and Eternal Passover which the Lord Jesus, Our Lord, God and Saviour had sealed and made with all of us, therefore, this Pentecost is the celebration of the renewed Pentecost of the ancient past.

On this Sunday’s celebration, we remember the moment when the Lord’s promised Advocate or Helper, the Holy Third of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, came down upon the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord, marking the moment when the Church was revealed to the whole world. This day of the Pentecost was often mistaken as the ‘birthday of the Church’ as it is understandable that many would have seen it that way. After all, it was the moment when the Church was manifested and became real to the world, as the Apostles and the other disciples, traditionally numbering a hundred and twenty of them all according to Apostolic traditions, went forth from their hiding place to go public and courageously proclaiming the Good News of God, gaining three thousand converts that day, and hence laying the foundation for the visible Body of Christ, the Church.

However, the true birthday of the Church actually happened on the Good Friday according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as the Church of God came forth from the side of the Lord, His pierced side that gave the outpoured Precious Blood and water, coming forth into this world after He has proclaimed it before the disciples, the Church of God, the Body that the Lord Himself has broken and shared with us all, so that by His gift of His Most Precious Body and Blood, all of us become sharers and partakers in the same Eucharist, the Real Presence of Our Lord, and thus becoming united as one Body of Christian believers, and hence, the Church of God. Nevertheless, this does not mean that what happened at Pentecost was less important in any way, as up to the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Church was hidden from the world, hiding in fear and uncertainty.

In this Pentecost Vigil’s many readings, which stemmed from the ancient practice and tradition that Pentecost Vigil in fact mirrored that of Easter Vigil with its multiple readings from the Old Testament, with the most solemn and greatest of solemn celebrations, symbolising the fulfilment of God’s plan of salvation, and also the fulfilment of everything that the Lord Himself has promised, in promising to send the Holy Spirit, the Holy Advocate and Helper to strengthen, guide and encourage all the disciples and the others whom He has called and chosen to be part of His Church, the members of His Body. We heard of the many occurrences and instances in the past when the Holy Spirit had been at work and highlighting to us what the nature of the Holy Spirit is all about, in all of His works among us mankind.

In the first one from the Book of Genesis we heard of the time after the Great Flood, the Flood that had destroyed most of mankind except that of Noah and his immediate family, and we heard how at that time the whole earth still spoke in one same language. And at that time, the people grew proud and haughty in their achievements and abilities, boasting that they could build a tower that reached to the Heaven itself, known as the Tower of Babel, building ever higher and seeking to be like God’s equal. And hence, in their moment of pride and arrogance, they had sinned against God and the Lord then withdrew the gift of His Spirit, the gift of understanding and unity, and hence, bringing about divisions and lack of understanding, as the people became unable to comprehend each other, and henceforth, stopped the project that they had pridefully undertaken.

Then, in the next reading from the Book of Exodus, we heard of the moment when the Israelites were encamped at Mount Sinai, the Mountain of God, at the time when the Lord was to establish a Covenant with all of them through Moses. God called all of His people to Himself, gathering them there and revealing His great glory before all of them, The Lord’s Holy Presence descended on the Mountain itself, and He spoke to them all with the voices that sounded like great thunder and roll of trumpets. And this is a very significant event, when compared to what happened at the actual Pentecost Sunday itself, two millennia ago, together with the earlier reading from the Book of Genesis. For we can see clear parallel and contrast between those events and that of the Coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

First of all, God made His Covenant with His people at Mount Sinai and wanted to establish it with them, and yet, as we all should also know, at that time, after waiting for many days, the Israelites grew restless and chose to act in a manner that displeased the Lord, in making a golden calf idol over themselves and calling it their god who saved them from Egypt. As a result, if we read on, three thousand people were destroyed and punished because of their rebellions and sins afterwards, and we can see the contrast with the three thousand people who accepted the Lord as their Saviour at the time of the Pentecost, where the Covenant of God was affirmed to His people, restoring the unity that was lost between God and us mankind.

Not only that, but the confusion of languages that happened at the Tower of Babel was also reversed as the Apostles and disciples also received the gift of languages and tongues at Pentecost, speaking in various languages understandable to the many people that gathered at that time in Jerusalem, that they all understood the message of God’s truth and Good News through the words spoken by those faithful servants of God. We can see how the Holy Spirit carried out His works, restoring the unity and the wisdom that had been lost to us mankind because of our rebelliousness, our pride and arrogance, our haughtiness and wickedness. Thus, through the Holy Spirit, God restored unto us the grace and the gifts which He has always intended for us from the beginning of time.

From the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, the other one of the Old Testament readings we heard of his vision of a great valley that was filled with vast multitudes of dry bones, which represented the people of God, that had been laid to waste by the darkness of sin and the corruption of evil. But then Ezekiel saw the Spirit of God came from the Lord and then gradually restoring those dry bones, bone by bone, sinew by sinew, flesh by flesh, reconstructing and rejuvenating what was once there, the life that had been lost from them. This highlighted to us what we believe in the Holy Spirit as we always say in the Nicene Creed, ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life.’ And we also heard of God giving us all life and created the whole world by His Spirit, present in all.

Then lastly from the Book of the prophet Joel, we heard of the words of reassurance from the Lord telling the people, all of us that His Spirit will come in due time, to strengthen all of us and to be strong amidst the challenges and trials that we had to face in this world. And His salvation and grace would come upon us all, as He has indeed promised and fulfilled by the sending and arrival of His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, and by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that had come upon us all, His Church. This is also echoed by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, in our second reading this Vigil Mass, which spoke about the coming of the Holy Spirit upon us, which we have all received, and how salvation has been reassured to us and strengthening us with His hope and love, that we may have the courage and strength to fulfil everything that God had entrusted to us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have reflected well upon these words from the Sacred Scriptures and reminded of what the Lord Himself had told His disciples in our Gospel passage today, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me, and let the one who believes in Me drink, for the Scripture says : Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water’, referring to the Holy Spirit that we have all received through Baptism, and which is then further strengthened and confirmed with us with the Sacrament of Confirmation, therefore, let us all as Christians joyfully proclaim the Lord at all times, all of His goodness and graces, through our works and actions, through everything we do, our every interactions with one another, filled ever more wonderfully by the gifts of the Holy Spirit within us, so that we may truly bear rich fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and enkindle in all of us the fire of Your love. Lord, send forth Your Holy Spirit upon us and this world, and renew the face of the earth. May all of us be the loving examples and inspirations to one another, the perfect manifestation of the Love of God and the works of the Holy Spirit in our world today, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 8 June 2025 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 7 : 37-39

At that time, on the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me; and let the one who believes in Me drink, for the Scripture says : Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.”

Jesus was referring to the Spirit, which those who believe in Him were to receive; the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into His glory.

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Sunday, 8 June 2025 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Romans 8 : 22-27

We know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pangs of birth. Not creation alone, but even ourselves, although the Spirit was given to us as a foretaste of what we are to receive, we groan in our innermost being, eagerly awaiting the day when God will give us full rights and rescue our bodies as well.

In hope we already have salvation. But if we saw what we hoped for, there would no longer be hope; how can you hope for what is already seen? So we hope for what we do not see and we will receive it through patient hope. We are weak, but the Spirit comes to help us. How to ask? And what shall we ask for?

We do not know, but the Spirit intercedes for us without words, as if with groans. And He Who sees inner secrets knows the desires of the Spirit, for He asks for the holy ones what is pleasing to God.

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Sunday, 8 June 2025 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 103 : 1-2a, 24 and 35c, 27-28, 29bc-30

Bless the Lord, my soul! Clothed in majesty and splendour; o Lord, my God, how great You are! You are wrapped in light as with a garment.

How varied o Lord, are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all – the earth full of Your creatures. Bless the Lord, my soul!

They all look to You for their food in due time. You give it to them, and they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are filled with good things.

You take away their breath, they expire and return to dust. When You send forth Your Spirit, they are created, and the face of the earth is renewed.

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Sunday, 8 June 2025 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Genesis 11 : 1-9

The whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved from east, they found a plain in the country of Shinar where they settled. They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them in fire.” They used brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. They said also, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top reaching heaven; so that we may become a great people and not be scattered over the face of the earth!”

YHVH came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of man were building, and YHVH said, “They are one people and they have one language. If they carry this through, nothing they decide to do from now on will be impossible. Come! Let Us go down and confuse their language so that they will no longer understand each other.”

So YHVH scattered them over all the earth and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel, because there YHVH confused the language of the whole earth and from there YHVH scattered them over the whole face of the earth.

Alternative reading

Exodus 19 : 3-8a, 16-20b

The Israelites camped there in front of the mountain, but Moses went up to God and YHVH called to him from the mountain, saying, “This is what you are to say and to explain to the Israelites : You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to Myself.”

“Now if you listen to Me and keep My covenant, you shall be My very own possession among all the nations. For all the earth is Mine, but you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” And He added, “This is what you are to say to the people of Israel.”

So Moses went and summoned all the elders of the people and related to them all that YHVH had commanded him to say. All the people responded with one voice, “All that YHVH has said, we will do.”

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning and a dense cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast was heard. All the people in the camp trembled. Moses then made the people leave the camp to meet God and stand at the foot of the mountain.

Mount Sinai was completely covered in smoke because YHVH had come down in fire, and the smoke rose as from a furnace. The whole mountain shook violently, while the blast of the trumpet became louder and louder. Moses spoke and God replied in thunder. When YHVH had come down to the summit of Mount Sinai, God called Moses who went to the summit.

Alternative reading

Ezekiel 37 : 1-14

The hand of YHVH was upon me. He brought me out and led me in spirit to the middle of the valley which was full of bones. He made me walk to and fro among them and I could see there was a great number of them on the ground all along the valley and that they were very dry.

YHVH said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live again?” I said, “Lord YHVH, only You know that.” He then said, “Speak on My behalf concerning these bones; say to them : Dry bones, hear the word of YHVH! YHVH says : I am going to put spirit in you and make you live. I shall put sinews on you and make flesh grow on you; I shall cover you with skin and give you My Spirit, that you may live. And you will know that I am YHVH.”

“I prophesied as I had been commanded and then there was a noise and commotion; the bones joined together. I looked and saw that they had sinews, that flesh was growing on them and that He was covering them with skin. But there was no spirit in them.”

So YHVH said to me, “Speak on My behalf and call on the Spirit, son of man! Say to the Spirit : This is the word of YHVH : Spirit, come from the four winds. Breathe into these dead bones and let them live!” I prophesied as He had commanded me and breath entered them; they came alive, standing on their feet – a great, immense army!

He then said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all Israel. They keep saying : ‘Our bones are dry, hope has gone, it is the end of us.’ So prophesy! Say to them : This is what YHVH says : I am going to open your tombs, I shall bring you out of your tombs, My people, and lead you back to the land of Israel.”

“You will know that I am YHVH, o My people! When I open your graves and bring you out of your graves, when I put My Spirit in you and you live. I shall settle you in your land and you will know that I, YHVH, have done what I said I would do.”

Alternative reading

Joel 3 : 1-5

In the last days, I will pour out My Spirit on every mortal. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even upon My servants and maidens, I will pour out My Spirit on that day.

I will show wonders in the heavens, and on earth blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun will darken and the moon turn to blood, at the approach of the great and dreadful day of God.

Then all who call upon the Name of YHVH will be saved. For on Mount Zion there will be a remnant, as YHVH has said; in Jerusalem some will be saved – those whom YHVH will call.

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Sunday, 1 June 2025 : Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today marks the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, which takes place forty days from the time of the Resurrection of the Lord on Easter Sunday. On this day we remember how the Lord Jesus, after having spent that period of forty days appearing before His disciples and manifesting Himself in His Risen glory, then went on to ascend to Heaven in order to return to where He has come from. And although He has ascended into Heaven, He did not abandon any one of us, His disciples and His Church, as while He is no longer physically present and tangible, but He is always with His Church and followers, and through the Holy Spirit that was sent shortly after the Ascension, the Lord guided His faithful ones in the right path and was with them all.

In our first reading today, we heard of the account from the Acts of the Apostles about the moment of the Ascension itself, where the Lord ascended into Heaven in the view of many of His disciples, and reassured them all of the guidance and providence that they all would receive through the Holy Spirit. The Lord told them all when they asked whether He would restore the Kingdom of Israel, that the hour is not known for them of when the Lord will do all that is intended by Him and how He will do these. The Lord told them all that through the strength and power of the Holy Spirit, they all would be His witnesses to the whole world, to bring forth His Good News and truth to more and more people that they encounter in their lives and respective ministries.

Thus, the Lord entrusted the works of His Church and all that He has initiated and begun to the Apostles and the other disciples, who have witnessed all that He has done and taught to the people, and then from them to all of us, through the many generations of the faithful who have received and passed on the same faith and belief in the Risen Lord. That we believe in this same faith which the Apostles themselves had believed, came from the fact that countless people, our holy and committed predecessors had laboured hard to bring these revelations and truths to us, passing them down through the generations, even when things and conditions were tough and challenging for them, such as through persecutions and trials, oppositions and rejections.

We are all reminded that God’s works, His Providence and grace are far greater than all these challenges and trials, and nothing can prevent the Lord from accomplishing His works and His will, much as how the Church is still standing firm and strong even after so many challenges and hardships, trials and obstacles that have been facing the Church and all the faithful disciples and followers of the Lord. Many of our predecessors had suffered and even perished in martyrdom in the defense of their faith, in their commitment to remain true in their faith in God, as well as their commitment to their mission and love for God, their desire to proclaim the Good News and the truth and hope in the Lord, the One and only True God, our Lord and Master.

From our second reading passage today, taken from the Epistle to the Hebrews, we heard of the words of the author of this Epistle, which many took to be St. Luke the Evangelist, among others, who spoke about the role of the Lord Jesus Who as the High Priest of all the faithful, the One True and Eternal High Priest of all, Who has entered into the Heavenly Sanctuary, and Who has taken upon Himself the most important role of offering on our behalf the most perfect and worthy sacrifice worthy in atonement of all of our many sins, wickedness and evils. He chose willingly and most lovingly to bear upon His own shoulders the heavy weight and burden of the Cross, so that by becoming at the same time, the Paschal Lamb of Sacrifice, by the offering of His own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood, He has given us all the perfect and only means worthy of our salvation.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, the reality and truth is such that Our Lord and Saviour, Who is both our High Priest and the Paschal Lamb of Sacrifice, has offered on our behalf the most perfect and worthy sacrifice and offering in atonement for our many sins, wickedness and evils, such that He has opened for us the gates of Heaven and offer us the sure path to salvation. If we truly believe in Him and put our faith in Him, then we shall indeed experience and receive the fullness of all that He has promised to us, all the love, kindness and grace that He has promised to everyone who believe in Him, out of His infinite love and compassion, His mercy and kindness to us, His beloved people and children. That is why we are reminded today of the great grace which we have received from the Lord, and how Our Lord has always loved us, and even as He ascended into Heaven, He did so in order to prepare the places for us in Heaven.

Then, lastly, from our Gospel passage taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, once again we are briefly reminded of everything that had happened at that time after the Lord’s Resurrection when He went around showing Himself to the disciples and many others who have seen the Risen Lord in person. From what we heard we are reminded that everything that we believe in, the Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven really happened and occurred as how it was happening at that time. This is because of the many witnesses that had seen all that happened and which they testified courageously and fearlessly despite the opposition and obstacles they encountered in their journey and mission as the disciples and followers of Christ.

This is a reminder for all of us as Christians living in our world today that all of us ought to continue doing the great works of the Lord in proclaiming His Good News and truth, and in proclaiming His Resurrection to all. After all, the works of the Lord are still aplenty and have not been fully accomplished yet. Even when the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord had achieved so much and converted so many to the Lord, but there have always been a lot of areas and opportunities still awaiting us to explore and go forth in being missionary and evangelising in our faith, as there are many more out there who have not yet known the Lord, His Good News and truth, His salvation and all that He has offered and assured us all, in the eternal life that He has promised to us through His Passion, death and Resurrection.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all rejoice and greatly celebrate in the Lord’s glorious Ascension into Heaven today, let us all remember that while the Lord has ascended into Heaven, we are never alone, and the Lord Himself is still with us, in each and every moments of our respective journeys in life. That is why we have to trust in the Lord’s Providence and help, and trust in Him to lead and guide us in our respective missions and works so that by our efforts and good works, our commitments to proclaim Him and His truth, we will always be courageous and strengthened with the desire to always glorify Him by our lives, our actions and by our every interactions with those whom we meet and encounter daily in life.

May the Risen Lord, ascended into glory to Heaven, continue to bless us all and our missionary efforts, bless our every good endeavours and works, our interactions with everyone we meet in life, and may He continue to be with His Church and allow us all to go forth ever more courageously to the nations, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 1 June 2025 : Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 24 : 46-53

At that time, Jesus said, “So it was written : the Messiah had to suffer, and on the third day rise from the dead. Then repentance and forgiveness in His Name would be proclaimed to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. And that is why I will send you what My Father promised. So remain in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Jesus led them almost as far as Bethany; then He lifted up His hands and blessed them. And as He blessed them, He withdrew, and was taken to heaven. They worshipped Him, and then returned to Jerusalem full of joy; and they were continually in the Temple, praising God.