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Tuesday, 25 April 2017 : Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate together the feast of one of the four great writers of the Holy Gospels, the accounts of the life and the works of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Mark was one of the Evangelists, those whose accounts had been deemed by the Church and the by the Apostles and their successors to be true and free of error version of the life of the Lord.

St. Mark, like St. Luke, was not one of the Apostles of the Lord, unlike St. Matthew and St. John, both of whom also wrote their own Gospels. But all four of them were those who were very close to the Lord and had extensive knowledge of what happened during the time of Jesus and His life on earth, from His birth and His years of life, to the time of His ministry and eventually suffering and death on the cross. And they also witnessed the resurrection of the Lord and all other things He had done.

On this day, let us all place our attention to what the Lord had helped to assemble through His Church, a set of witnesses and proofs which His servants had gathered and kept for many centuries and ages, the passages from the history of the Lord’s salvation, and also through the traditions passed down from generations to generations, which we now know as the Bible or the Holy Scriptures.

In the Gospel today, the Lord Jesus gave His disciples one last and important command before He ascended into His heavenly glory. He commanded them to go forth to all the nations, to peoples from all the four corners of the world, to travel to the furthest and uttermost distant land to preach the Good News and the truth of God to all, so that all may come to be reconciled with God, and may seek to be baptised and sealed by the sacrament of baptism in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

That was why the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord went to faraway lands, to all parts of the Roman Empire and also to the land of the Persians, to India and beyond, carrying with them the testimonies of the faith as they had received from the Lord, and which the Holy Spirit affirmed in them, by the divine wisdom granted and provided to them. They laboured hard and showed the Lord’s teachings through their actions, and converted many people to the faith.

The Evangelists like St. Mark also did their part in fulfilling the will of God, by writing down upon the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of the account of the life and the works of Jesus, noting down all that He had done in the midst of the people, as attested and witnessed by all those to whom the Lord had shown His deeds and taught His ways. In that way, the venerable testimonies of the faith and traditions will not be forgotten, as they were written and recorded in the Gospels and the Scriptures.

Now, let us heed what we heard from St. Peter in his first Epistle, our first reading today. In his Epistle, St. Peter spoke of the need for us all to be ever vigilant, against the assaults from the devil, our great enemy, who is always ever ready to strike at us whenever we are unprepared and not ready, and whenever he sees an opportunity to bring us down, just as he struck down our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, by the means of false promises, lies and sweet temptations.

The devil has many allies in this world, all of whom are evil spirits, or those affected by the evil spirits, who are then working together trying to claim our souls from the Lord, by bringing us to our downfall, by causing us to sin before God and men alike. This is what St. Peter warned all the people to whom he was writing to, and that is what all of us need to heed and pay attention to as well.

Therefore, how do we then prepare ourselves? How do we then remain vigilant? It is something that surely all of us will be asking. First of all, we must be committed in our faith, and we cannot be lukewarm in living our faith. Our actions must reflect what we believe, and our faith in God must be the foundation and reason for our actions in life, or else we will end up being easily shaken when temptation and challenges come on our way.

We have to know what our faith is about, and the best way to do it is to read what the holy saints and Evangelists had written in the Scriptures and in the Holy Gospels. Let us ask ourselves, brothers and sisters in Christ, whether our answers to the following questions are yes or no. For it is important that we must reflect on how we have lived our faith life thus far.

Have we spent at least some time each day to read the words of the Lord, the history of our salvation, and trying to understand just how much the Lord loves each and every one of us by reading the Scriptures? Have we spent some time amidst our busy life schedules and worldly commitments to take a step back, and remember about the Lord? Have we spent more hours worrying about what to do tomorrow, about what we are to gain tomorrow, than remembering the Lord and knowing just how fortunate it is that we can continue living each and every day by the grace of God?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us need to become stronger in our faith, and the best way to begin is by familiarising ourselves with the word of God found in the Scriptures, particularly in the Gospels where the account of how the Lord gave us His salvation through Christ had been written for our sake. Now that we have access to the truth, should we now then go and actually spend time reading the word of God?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, may all of us draw more closely to the Lord, and deepen our relationship with Him. May all of us grow stronger in our faith, and in all the things we say and do, let us all reflect the faith which we have in the Lord, and let us act in the same way as what the Apostles and the saints of the past had done before us. May God bless us all. St. Mark the Evangelist, holy and devoted saint of God, pray for us. Amen.

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Monday, 24 April 2017 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the readings from the Holy Scriptures telling us first about the chains and fetters that bound the nations, the peoples, their rulers and their kings, which had become obstacles in the path of their acceptance of the Lord, His truth and His teachings. People had conspired against the Lord and His Messiah, plotting against the good works which He had done in this world.

And thus, that was why there were so much opposition against Jesus, against His works and all that He had taught to the people. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law always constantly sought to undermine the good works of Jesus at almost every available opportunity, even to the point of setting up traps hoping that He would fall into the trap, and therefore they would be able to accuse Him of wrongdoing.

The chief priests and the elders of the people also opposed Jesus, because they feared that Jesus had become too great an influence, providing an alternative voice for the people to follow, a new authority that rivalled the power and authority of the chief priests and the elders, or the Sanhedrin. They would not want this ‘Upstart’ to take over their roles and duties, and they did not want Jesus to outshine them in the eyes of the community.

Hence, they did all they could in order to seek fault with Jesus, oppressing Him and making Him an outcast in the society. Even though He had performed all sorts of miracles as foretold by the prophets and the messengers of God, marking Him as the One Whom God had promised to be the Messiah or the Saviour of the world, but many of the people refused to believe in Him, exactly because of the chains and fetters that prevented them from doing so.

And what were these fetters and chains? I was speaking in figurative terms, brothers and sisters, that these things which held back those who opposed the truth and the good works of Christ and His disciples, were the sins of man, the pride present in our hearts, the greed, desire and cravings we have for the many sorts of enjoyable and tempting things in this world, be it pleasures of the flesh and the body, be it money and material possessions, or even fame and renown among others.

Many had hardened their hearts against the Lord because of these, and as a result, when He came, showing them His truth, not only by words but also through miraculous and wondrous deeds, they still stubbornly refused to listen to the Lord, Who also wanted to call them to repentance and salvation. Remember, brethren, that Jesus offered His life as a sacrifice for all of us, all of us sinners without exception. He died even for His enemies and those who cried out for His death.

And that was why in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles today, we heard how St. Peter and the other Apostles of the Lord showed the people what they needed to do in order to become true disciples of the Lord. First of all, they need to leave behind their past way of life, their sins, their prejudices, their hard-heartedness, their arrogance, their hatred and anger, as well as any other things that had become the various obstacles preventing man from truly being able to reach out to the Lord.

They prayed for the Holy Spirit to come upon the people, and upon receiving the Holy Spirit with an open mind and heart, the people of God received courage and new hope. They have been transformed by the Lord and became new people, new men and women, abandoning behind their past ways of life, and embracing their newfound faith in God. This is in fact, what the Lord Jesus spoke about when He told the faithful Pharisee, Nicodemus, when he came to meet Him in secret at night, about the need for the people to be reborn in the Spirit.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are therefore called to a genuine conversion and change in our lives. If we have not abandoned and rejected sin and all sorts of wickedness which we have used to do in life, then now it is the best time for us to do so. We have to always keep in mind that God loves each and every one of us, even though we are sinners, but He does not love or condone our sins. Sin is abhorrent to Him and is in fact what caused us to be sundered from the fullness of His grace and love.

Today let us all look at the examples of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, the holy saint whose feast we are celebrating. He was a Capuchin friar and priest, who was a renowned figure in the Counter-Reformation era. At that time, many people had been misled by the confusion and by the falsehoods of the ‘reformation’, which led to the people falling away from the path towards the Lord’s salvation, living their lives in sin and in debauchery, even for those who are within the Church of God.

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen was a very important figure who helped countless souls finding their way back to the Lord and helped to reconcile many people, both within and outside the Church to return to the grace of God. He preached to many people and taught them the truth about God, encouraging them to repent from their sins. He was renowned for his personal humility and zeal, and many flocked to him to confess their sins before God.

There were great opposition against St. Fidelis, just as there were opposition against Jesus and His disciples. There were people who were not pleased that St. Fidelis had managed to gain numerous converts and still many more people who were coming to seek forgiveness and reconciliation with the Lord through His Church. His life was threatened and challenges were made against him, and yet, St. Fidelis placed everything in the hands of God and entrusted everything to Him.

The courage and the commitment with which St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen had lived his life in faith should become a source of great inspiration for all of us Christians. We should also walk in his footsteps, and from now on, promise the Lord our God that we will remain true to Him, and abandoning our past way of sinfulness and wickedness, we will turn ourselves wholeheartedly towards Him and will obey Him in all of His will and commandments.

May the Lord bless each and every one of us, and may He strengthen in us our faith, so that in all the things we say and do, in every breath we take, we will always proclaim the glory of God by our actions and deeds, and through us, more people may come to see the truth of God and be saved as well. May the Lord be with us, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 23 April 2017 : Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us celebrate together the Second Sunday of Easter, also known in the recent years as the Divine Mercy Sunday, based on the popular devotion to the Divine Mercy by the Polish nun and visionary St. Faustina Kowalska. Today therefore, we remember and glorify the great mercy of God, His most merciful heart, through which He has shown His desire to forgive us sinners from our sins.

We mankind have sinned from the time when we first entered into this world, from the time of our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, whom God created and placed in the beautiful garden of Eden, intended to live in bliss and joy for eternity. And yet, we have disobeyed the Lord and did what was abhorrent in His sight, and thus, we had to endure the fate of suffering and pain in this world, and also death had come to rule over us. All of us would have perished in the end. But God did not intend this to happen to us, as He wanted to show us all His mercy.

And how does God show His mercy to all of us, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is none other than by the generous giving of His only Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the ultimate symbol of God’s love and mercy. Remember that in the famous verse from the Gospel of St. John, Jesus said to Nicodemus, that “God so loved the world, that He sent into the world His only Son, that through Him, all will not perish but find eternal life and redemption.”

Jesus had come into this world bearing His truth and His love. The love and mercy of God had been made manifest through Christ and all that He had done. He had shown mercy on sinners and all those who had once been sundered from God’s love, calling them to repentance and forgiveness. He had turned sinners like tax collectors and prostitutes, criminals and delinquents into the path of the Lord’s salvation. He showed them that there is hope beyond the darkness of their sins.

For He has done the ultimate act of love, by His willing and loving sacrifice on the cross. During the Holy Week, which had just passed on not long ago, we remembered the memory of the Lord’s Passion and suffering, how He endured the last week of His earthly life in Jerusalem, and eventually giving Himself up for the sake of the salvation of all mankind, God’s people, by laying down His life on the cross, for our sake, and for the absolution of our sins.

But if Christ had remained dead, then there would have been no proof of God’s mercy. For then He would just be like any other men who have died because of their sins. It was His glorious resurrection from the dead which made God’s mercy available for all of us, as He proved that death does not have the final say to us, and by His resurrection from the dead, He showed us all that there is hope in life through Him.

Yet we often acted as St. Thomas the Apostle had done. We knew how St. Thomas often had doubts in his heart about the Lord, and he also doubted that Jesus had risen from the dead. He did not want to believe before he was able to prove it himself, by seeing for himself that the Lord is risen, and physically present in his presence, that he was able to tangibly sense and recognise His presence, by putting his fingers into the wounds on the hands, feet and the side of the Lord’s Body.

We often try to find excuses and justification for our way of life, by acting in the same manner as St. Thomas had done. We are too easily swayed by our senses, by what we see, what we hear and what we feel around us. And that is how we ended up falling into sin. We sin because we are not careful enough with how we live our lives, as we are tempted by the temptations of this world, be it the temptation of desire, of pride, of recognition, of wealth, possessions, fame and many others.

We are easily tempted, and we are prone to fall into sin again and again. Yet, that is what our crosses in life are. We must persevere and remain true and faithful to God to the very end. Remember how Christ bore His heavy cross for our sake, and despite falling three times, He always stood up again. This is a reminder for us that, even when we fall into sin, we must not let despair to take over us, but we must keep instead the strong hope for our salvation, by keeping our focus on the Lord, and having the strong conviction not to commit sin again in our respective lives.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, we will surely encounter moments of weakness and doubt as St. Thomas had encountered, but we cannot give up, for what is at stake is none other than the fate of our souls. Do we want to give up to sin, and therefore endure forever the eternal damnation that is the just reward for all those who have not turned away from sin and perished? Or do we rather repent and turn away from those sins, as best as we can, and therefore enter into God’s merciful love and grace?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is where it is important for each one of us Christians to show God’s mercy to one another, to promote His everlasting mercy for each one of us. But we must be careful lest we end up promoting false mercy, which God does not show to us sinners. God is indeed merciful and forgiving, and He is willing to wipe away our sins, but all of these depend on whether we ourselves want to be forgiven.

Yes, this is the reality, which all of us must carefully keep in mind. We must not and cannot offer false mercy, by allowing sinners to continue to live in sin and say to them that God understands their sinful actions, as if He condoned such actions and sins. We have to keep in mind that God despises sins and wickedness, just as much as He is loving and kind towards us. He loves each and every one of us, and desires us to be forgiven, but He does not condone our sins.

God loves sinners, but not sin. This is the reality about God’s mercy. We as Christians have received the promise of God’s salvation, but we must remain vigilant and ready, lest we fall again into sin. It is said in the Gospels, that if the righteous falls into sin, then he or she shall perish, because of the sin committed. And similarly, if a sinner turns away from sin and do what is righteous and just in the eyes of God, the sinner will be saved because of the righteousness he or she had committed.

That means, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have a lot of work ahead of us. We need to show real mercy in our actions and interactions with others, especially with those who have lapsed away from God’s grace. We must not judge them in a way that we are ourselves also sinners, and if we judge them in this manner, then we too will be liable to be judged in the same way.

Rather, what we all need to do is to welcome them, and help them, to turn away from their sinful ways, just as we ourselves must keep ourselves from doing what is sinful in the sight of God and men alike. We must follow what the Lord said to the woman condemned for adultery, that is to ‘sin no more’. Jesus did not condemn the woman, but what we often forget is that, He also asked her to abandon her sinful ways, and turn herself completely to the way of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we remember God’s most Divine Mercy on this Sunday, let us all therefore, first of all, remember how we are sinners and how we have sinned in various ways in our life, be it venial or small sin, or serious sin. And thus, let us all make the commitment to reject all of our sinful past way of life, and seek to be changed by the grace of God, opening ourselves to receive God’s forgiveness. Let us help one another to attain this forgiveness, by encouraging one another to lead a righteous life in accordance to God’s will.

May the Lord, Whose most Divine Mercy wants us to be forgiven and to be reconciled to Him, grant us the strength to persevere through the temptations and challenges in this life, so that we may always be able to resist the temptation and pressure to sin, that by turning our back to sin and sinning no more, we may be worthy to enter into the heavenly inheritance which the Lord has promised to all those who are faithful to Him. O Most Divine Mercy, have mercy on us all sinners. Amen.

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Saturday, 22 April 2017 : Saturday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are all reminded again by the Scripture passage on the mission which the Lord our God had entrusted to us at the time when He had risen from the dead. All of us are in fact called to proclaim the Good News of the Lord to all, and not to remain in unbelief and fear that we would be persecuted or rejected if we are to do such good works for the sake of the Lord.

At the time of the Apostles, as we all heard in the Acts of the Apostles, the chief priests and the elders of the people were all trying very hard to stop the works of the Apostles by various means, including arresting them, coercing them and forcing them to stop teaching in the Name of the Lord. They used various means in order to prevent the teachings of the Lord from spreading any further, but without avail. For the Lord was with His servants and His people, and the truth of Christ continued to spread unabated.

The disciples of the Lord were mostly uneducated people, and yet we heard how they spoke with conviction, wisdom and strength, filled with courage and genuine intellect, surprising all those who have heard them, all who attempted to silence them and prevent the spreading of the Lord’s Good News. That was because the Lord was with them, and the Holy Spirit gave them the courage, strength and wisdom to do so.

The chief priests and elders stubbornly opposed the Lord’s good works because they were hindered by their own human intellect, their wisdom and their ways, which to them were their treasures in life. They allowed their pride to come in the way between them and their acceptance of God’s truth. As a result, even though they had seen so many miraculous deeds which Jesus had performed during His ministry, throughout all those times when they harassed Him and made His works difficult, they refused to believe, because they had hardened their hearts.

They opposed the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord, harassing them and attacking them in the same manner just as they had harassed the Lord. They wanted to silence them and stop them from declaring God’s truth, but they would not have it that way. They placed their trust in the Holy Spirit which had been granted to them. They resisted the demands of the chief priests and elders, and spoke out about Christ regardless, even in the face of punishment and persecution.

This is the spirit and commitment which all of us Christians also ought to have in our respective lives. We must not be lukewarm in our faith, and we cannot be ignorant and lacking in action in living through our faith. Our faith must be one that is genuine and true, so that everyone who sees us and hears us may truly recognise the presence and the work of God inside each and every one of us.

This is the true spirit and joy of Easter that each and every one of us should have. We should be glad that the Lord had done such great things for us, giving us hope beyond all other hope, when we were in despair and engulfed with darkness. He has brought us all out of that darkness, and show us the path to His salvation. It is only right that we should share that light which we have received, with one another, with all those who are still living in darkness and in the state of sin.

Let us all show by our conviction and commitment to live out this life we have filled with zeal and devotion to God, through prayer, through faith, through charity and love, especially for the sick and the dying, to those who have no one to comfort them, to even our enemies and all those who have persecuted us. Remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, that even Jesus our Lord forgave His enemies and condemners from the cross.

Let us bring the light of Christ to one another, by our upright and just actions, and by our showing of care and concern to each other, so that many more people will come to believe in us, just as many believed in the words and actions of the Apostles and the saints, who have reflected the glory of the Risen Lord in their lives. Let us all become the beautiful windows through which the truth and glory of our Lord Jesus may be seen by all of mankind, that all will come to God through us and our works. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 21 April 2017 : Friday within Easter Octave, Memorial of St. Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard how the Lord appeared to His disciples by the lake of Galilee, where the disciples had been fishing for day and night without any success. Then, He asked them to follow His instructions, and they obeyed Him, and immediately, they caught so many fishes, that the boat almost sank. And immediately, St. Peter and then the other Apostles recognised Jesus as He was.

In today’s Gospel passage, we saw the fulfilment of what the Lord Himself had spoken to the Apostles when He called them at the same spot, calling His first Apostles from among humble fishermen plying their trade on the lakeside. He called them to leave their nets and livelihood behind, that they would no longer be fishermen catching fishes at the lake, but would become fishers of men. That was the symbolism of the miracle which Jesus performed at that time.

The Church is often portrayed as a boat, helmed by the saints and the martyrs. The Apostles were the ones whom the Lord had entrusted with the foundation of His Church. And they were the workers who ensured that the boat was guided properly and thus was capable of gathering as many fishes as possible into the boat. The fishes represent the people of God, those to whom the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord had been sent to.

In the beginning, when the Lord called them, the disciples followed the Lord, Who asked them to put the net out into the deep waters, and as a result netted plenty of fishes, which was actually a symbolism of what they would be doing as God’s disciples and messengers of His will. God sent His Apostles and disciples to places they would not normally go, to the distant and foreign lands, so that they might be able to preach the Good News and the words of God in those places.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, had the Apostles not done what they had done in preaching the Good News amidst the difficulties and challenges that they faced, and despite all the opposition and lack of faith they encountered, even from the powerful such as the Sadducees and the Pharisees, then many people would not have come to believe in the Lord and His salvation.

There would have been many people who lingered on in the darkness, lacking hope for salvation, because no one had come to them bearing the truth which the Lord had brought with Him into this world. That is why, it is important for us to be courageous in living our faith, so that we may follow in the footsteps of the holy Apostles and martyrs, all those who have listened to the truth of God, and then passed them on to all those who have yet to hear of God’s Good News.

Let us all be inspired by the examples of St. Anselm, the holy bishop and renowned saint, a Doctor of the Church, who lived in the Medieval era Britain, known also as St. Anselm of Canterbury. He was a devout and holy servant of God, who dedicated much of his life in service to God. He strengthened the faith in many of the people entrusted to him as his flock. He stood up for the rights of the Church when it was under threat by the secular government trying to impinge upon the works of salvation and mercy that the Church took up.

St. Anselm was a holy and devout, and yet humble and dedicated man, who committed his life to bring the people of God closer to Him, by helping them to overcome the temptation and falsehoods of the devil as they lived their lives. He was not afraid even to oppose the kings and their followers, especially when they went wayward and abandoned the righteousness that they ought to have done.

He opposed the attempts by the kings and their noble supporters in trying to impose control over the Church and the spiritual matters of the faithful. He courageously stood up for his faith, even to the point of having endured exile and persecution, and yet he never gave up. This is the same kind of commitment and faith which all of us will need to have in our lives, the same devotion and passion to live out our faith as the saints and martyrs of the Lord had once done.

Let us all renew our commitment, and spend our time to help bring the truth of God, not just by words, but also through our actions and deeds. How do we do so? It is by embodying our faith through all and everything that we do, that we can convince others that the Lord’s truth is the one for them. How can we convince others if we ourselves do not practice what we believe in?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all commit ourselves to a life of honesty, of justice, of righteousness, and of goodness, so that we will truly become a people worthy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us all be joyful this Easter season, by being filled with Easter joy and spirit, that we may always be willing and desiring to help our brethren, all those who are still living in ignorance of the Lord and in the darkness, so that everyone may be saved. Let us all follow in the footsteps of the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord, bringing God’s salvation to all as fishers of men. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 20 April 2017 : Thursday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this occasion, all of us heard about the doubt and the lack of faith which were evident from the two readings from the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel which we have just listened to. We heard how the Apostle St. Peter spoke to the Jewish people and all those who witnessed the amazing wonders of God, having healed the man born paralysed, who then could walk again and praising God.

In the Gospel we heard how the disciples of the Lord, the Eleven Apostles were stunned when Jesus suddenly appeared to them in their midst, through the locked doors, even though earlier on they had seen and heard from one another, from Mary Magdalene and other witnesses on the empty tomb of Jesus and His missing Body. They were still unable to believe that Jesus had not remained dead, but lived again, risen from the dead as He Himself had foretold.

In all these examples which we have heard, we saw just how often times, we mankind can be stubborn in many things, including in trying to understand things in our own way. We often try to rationalise things before we believe and put our trust and faith in something. This is nothing wrong, as indeed it is important for us to be able to truly understand and know the details about something which we want to believe in, or else we will be easily led to falsehoods and lies.

However, there are indeed certain things that are beyond the realm of our normal and usual human understanding and comprehension. There are many who doubted because they were not capable of putting into reason what they had heard about the resurrection of the Lord, and thought that it was impossible for someone from death to return into life.

Yet, there were many witnesses of what Jesus had done in His life and ministry in this world, all the healing miracles He had done, and even when He raised Lazarus up from the dead. There were many people who witnessed this and believed in the Lord. And indeed, Jesus also appeared to many people who had seen Him after His resurrection from the dead, and could testify to the truth of the resurrection, and all the miraculous deeds which His Apostles and disciples had done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let me now ask all of you. How did we receive our faith? How is it that we are now believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? Is it just by mere fact or coincidence that we are believing in God now? Certainly, for many of us our answer would be that we received our faith from the instruction of our parents and relatives, all of whom had received their own instruction of the faith from their own parents and relatives, and affirmed with the teachings passed down through the Church.

And for all of those who have been baptised as adults, we also received our faith through our friends and through all those who have inspired us and called us to receive the Lord. And we have been affirmed by the faith that was passed down to us through careful instruction in the faith through the Church, by our catechists and guides, who helped us to grow in the faith. We all went through Catholic education, be it in schools or in our parishes and churches, and we grew together in the faith because of that.

That is how we came to believe in God, because we treasure and keep that same faith which our predecessors had received, all the way to the time of the Apostles, who themselves had seen the glory of the Risen Lord. And they also certainly did not have any reason to lie or to make any falsehoods, for they even were ready to lay down their lives defending that faith they had in the Lord. That was why there were so many martyrs in the days of the early Church, when the faithful were oppressed and persecuted just because they believed in the Lord Jesus.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now it comes to the difficult part for all of us. All of us now need to also pass on this faith which we have in us to our next generation, and also to all others who have yet to hear of the Lord and His goodness. It is not an easy task, and challenges will be upon us. And at the same time, we must also fully embody our faith through our own words, deeds and actions. If we do not act as what we have believed in, no one will believe in us.

In fact, if we act contrary to what the Lord had taught us and shown us through His disciples, we are actually bringing scandal to our faith and to the Lord Himself. Therefore, let us all today pray together as the whole Church, that each and every one of us may live our Easter joy through our own lives, by our loving actions and by sharing our love and happiness with one another, especially to those who had no one to love them.

May the Lord help us and strengthen us in our faith, so that in everything we do, we will always do them in good faith to the Lord, and that through everything we say and do, we will always declare the glory of God to all the people, and thus help to gather together all the scattered people of the Lord, and come together to embrace His mercy and love. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 19 April 2017 : Wednesday within Easter Octave, Twelfth Anniversary of the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI, Vicar of Christ, Bishop of Rome, Supreme Pontiff and Leader of the Universal Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded again of the frailties of our humanity, how the man who was crippled since his birth begged at the Temple for people to give him some money and allowances to allow him to come by his daily expenses. We heard about how he approached the two Apostles, St. Peter and St. John as they made their way into the Temple, hoping that they would be able to provide him with some money or food.

In the Gospel today, we heard another account, of how Jesus our Lord appeared just right after His resurrection from the dead to two of His disciples who were walking to the village of Emmaus outside of Jerusalem. The two disciples were busy discussing of all the events that had just happened in the previous week, and how Jesus was arrested, condemned to death, and died on the cross, while Jesus Himself walked alongside them, without them realising Who He was.

What we all saw here are two disabilities, one of the body and the other of the spirit and the mind. But each one of them were afflicted in one way or another, and the Lord showed mercy on them, bringing healing upon them. Through His Apostles, He brought healing upon the man who was unable to walk, and make him to overcome his physical limitations.

And to the two disciples who had been unable to recognise Jesus was inflamed in their hearts by the words and the teachings which Jesus placed in their hearts and minds. He awakened hope in their hearts, as they were initially doubtful and lacking faith in the resurrection of the Lord, despite having heard from the Apostles that Jesus had risen from the dead.

This is what the Lord had done for us, that by bringing His light and hope into the world, He had brought about healing and joy to all those who have lived for long in the darkness, to all those who despair and were without hope, to those who were afflicted, be it in their physical body and flesh, or in their minds, hearts and souls. God brought with Him this Easter joy, which all of us ought not only to rejoice together and enjoy, but also to emulate and to apply to our own lives.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that all of us ought to be courageous in our faith, and in all that we do, in all of our words and actions. We must follow in the example of the Apostles, who in their deeds proclaimed the glory of Christ and revealed to all His truth. In our actions, we must be gentle and be loving towards our brethren, showing mercy and compassion to our enemies, to all those who are sorrowful and unloved as the Apostles had done on the man paralysed from birth.

And in our words, we must also bring about hope and enlightenment to our brethren, especially to all those who have not known of the love of God. We must be like Jesus our Lord Who placed hope and encouragement in the hearts of the two disciples who were walking to Emmaus. We must therefore not slander against others, tell gossip or lies to one another, and we must not hurt others by our words, as well as our actions.

Otherwise, if we are not doing what the Lord had told us to do, and did what is opposite of what He wants us to do, we scandalise our faith, and in fact not just our faith, but the Lord Himself. And that is indeed a great sin for us to make, before God and before our fellow men. Not only that we have failed to do as expected from us, but we even drive people away from the salvation in God, because our actions deter them from coming closer to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect on this as we continue to progress through the Easter season. Let us all be inspired by the examples of our predecessors in faith, and devote ourselves anew with zeal and commitment, to love and serve the Lord our God, through our loving commitment and service to our brethren around us, especially all those who are in need of our love and attention. May God bless us all and our endeavours. Amen.

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Tuesday, 18 April 2017 : Tuesday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard how Jesus comforted Mary Magdalene, who wept when she saw that the Body of her Lord missing from the tomb. She thought that someone had stolen the Body and thus she despaired. To her, the Lord was the One Who had saved her, as it was told by the tradition of our faith that Mary Magdalene was the prostitute who was forgiven by the Lord, and out of whom seven demons were exorcised out.

To her, the loss of her Lord and Master, as she followed Him all the way even to His Passion, suffering and death on the cross, must have been devastating. It was like light itself had been snuffed out and darkness had come to reign over ourselves. It was like when hope itself had been sundered and hidden away from us, and therefore, we despair as Mary Magdalene had despaired.

She was so deep in her anguish and sorrow that she was not able to recognise the Lord Jesus Who appeared before her, and she thought that He was a gardener, and asked Him if He knew where the Body of the Lord had been taken to. But the Lord revealed Himself to her, and Mary Magdalene was so joyful at the sight of her Lord and Saviour, that she shouted with joy, ‘Rabboni!’

This is the joy that Easter brings to all of us. It is a great joy that surpassed the darkness and the despair that had once covered us. The light of Christ has shone through the veil of darkness, and shine in our midst. He has brought us a new hope, that by seeing Him, we all knew that He had conquered death, and death no longer have any power over us, if we cling on to Christ, Who has risen from the dead.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, as we continue to progress through the season of Easter, let us all reflect on the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and what it means to each and every one of us. How do we celebrate Easter, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we treating is just like any other festivities and celebrations? Are we celebrating it by our traditions and habits such as looking for Easter eggs, or dressing up like Easter bunnies, or by our usual Easter luncheon or dinner, or any other forms of merrymaking and parties?

That is not how we should celebrate Easter. Rather, we should find the true joy of Easter like that of Mary Magdalene. For her, there was no greater joy than seeing her salvation in front of her at Easter, seeing Jesus risen in glory from the dead, and from what was once despair and hopelessness having been transformed into hope and courage. She had been saved from the darkness and brought into the light, and for that, she had rejoiced.

Therefore, for each and every one of us, we should also find our joy in the Lord, by realising that all of us sinners, who have deserved death and damnation, have been rescued from that fate by our Lord, Who have triumphed over death, and showed us that death will not have the final say over us, so long as we believe in Him, and walk in His path.

Let us all therefore endeavour together, to live an upright Christian life with joy and commitment to live our lives with faith, that in all of our words, deeds and actions, we will always be true to our faith and all of us can be considered to be worthy of the Lord and His salvation. May His Easter joy be upon us, and may we all draw ever closer to Him and to His love. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 17 April 2017 : Monday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we enter the blessed and holy season of Easter, all of us are called to the joy and the bliss of living in the knowledge, knowing that Christ our Lord had died for us and then rose again in glory, for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is central to our faith, and without the resurrection, then our faith would have been meaningless and empty, since we all then would have believed in a Man Who died and that was all.

But as we all know, we believe in the Son of God Who died for our sake, and Who was buried in the tomb, for in His humanity, He had laid down His divinity and allowed Himself to suffer and die for our sake, and therefore, we all have hope, and that hope came about because Christ rose from the dead, breaking forever the chains of death, showing all of us that death will not have the final say over us, just as it did not have the final say and authority over Jesus, our Risen Lord and Saviour.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore we all now have that hope, the hope that the Lord will bring us to His eternal glory and salvation, no longer bound by the chains of sin, because we have believed in Him, the Lord of life and death, and wholeheartedly placed our trust in Him. Yet, as we can see, in the Gospel passage today, that there were still those people who refused to believe in God and in His truth, as the Pharisees and the chief priests had done.

They had not believed in the Lord’s resurrection from the dead, just as they refused to believe in Him when He was still walking about them and teaching in their midst. They had hardened their hearts and no matter what happened, God’s truth had been sundered from their hearts and minds. That was why they persisted in opposing the Lord by spreading lies and misinformation that the disciples of Jesus had come and stolen the Body of Jesus while the guards were asleep, in order to discredit the resurrection of the Lord.

There were those who believed in the untruth, and there were those who were swayed to persecute all those who believed in the resurrection. And yet, the disciples of the Lord did not remain quiet for long. Initially, they were indeed afraid of the oppression of the Jewish leaders and elders, who had made it forbidden to teach and preach in the Name of Jesus the Lord and Messiah. However, the Holy Spirit that God granted to all of His faithful ones had given a new courage in their hearts, a new joy, the great and true joy of Easter, that no fear or evil could overcome.

That was why in the first reading, the Apostle St. Peter, in accordance to the Acts of the Apostles spoke to the multitudes of people gathered in Jerusalem, preaching witness and truth about the Lord Who came to redeem His people, Who had died because of their sins, and yet, rose again in glory in accordance with what had been foretold in the Scriptures by the prophets and the messengers of God.

He spoke courageously to the people, who heard from his witness of how the Lord Jesus had delivered them all by His death and His resurrection from the dead, as the perfect fulfilment of God’s promise and plans, the truth which the chief priests and the elders refused to believe in. They were warned not to teach in the Name of the Lord, and yet, braving through opposition and challenges, they preached about Him regardless, calling many people to repentance and to baptism in the Name of the Lord.

And thus was how the Church of God was established, by the witnesses of the Lord who bravely preached His truth to the people who had not yet known of God and His ways. Had the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord preferred to remain in safety and hid within the comfort of their homes and obeyed the commands of the chief priests and the elders, they would not have spoken out about the Lord Jesus as they had done, and consequently, countless souls would not have been saved. All would have perished, not having heard the word of God’s salvation.

This brings us all to the reality of our participation in the Church today, brothers and sisters in Christ. Each and every one of us as Christians are called to be light of the world just as our Lord Jesus Christ is the Light of the world. We reflect and shine together with the beauty and brightness of God’s light, through which many people will see the light of God through us. By our actions and deeds, by our courageous acts, all done in the Name of the Lord, we shall help many more on their way towards God and His salvation.

May the Lord bless us all, and may He strengthen each and every one of us in our faith, so that we may become ever more faithful and worthy disciples of His, enlightened with the Light of Christ and bearing upon ourselves the great and true joy of Easter. May the Lord be with us all. Amen.

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(Holy Week) Sunday, 16 April 2017 : Easter Sunday of the Lord’s Resurrection, Easter Vigil and Easter Day (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Alleluia! The Lord is risen! He is indeed risen from the dead, and darkness has been dispelled, and sin has lost its sting, for death no longer hold any dominion over all those who believe in the Risen Lord, our Saviour and Master. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we rejoice greatly because of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who was indeed witnessed and proved to be triumphant against death, that not even the gates of hell were able to hold Him back.

We have gone through the entire celebrations of the Holy Week, beginning with Jesus our Lord’s triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, in order to begin His Passion and complete the mission for which He had been sent into this world, for the salvation of all mankind. We have gone through how the Lord had His Last Supper with His disciples, giving His own Precious Body and Blood to them, establishing a new Covenant which will never be broken again, for on the next day, He took up the cross and died for the sake of all mankind, sealing the new Covenant with His Blood.

But all of these would have been meaningless, and our faith would indeed be nothing if Jesus just died on the cross, and then stayed dead. What made our faith so remarkable is that we believed in the One Who had suffered and died for our sake, and yet, on the third day counting from the day of His death, He reappeared in this world in glory, no longer dead, but filled with life, as the Risen Lord and Triumphant Saviour.

Without Easter, our whole faith and belief would be meaningless, and without the resurrection from the dead, all that we believe in and all that we do are without any purpose. For if Jesus died on the cross and stayed dead, what good would that do for us? Does not other men and women also encounter death at the end of their life on earth, and then death claimed us? But Jesus had shown us that death will not have the final say over us.

All of us mankind, whom God had created out of His great love for us were never meant to perish and die. We were all created to share the love which God had in Himself. He created us so that we can love Him and He can love us, and by sharing together the love we have, we may live forever in bliss and harmony, instead of suffering and die. But because we have disobeyed God and sinned against Him, then because of those sins we have received our just punishment, and sin took hold over us and had dominion over us.

Yes, sin enslaved each and every one of us ever since our first forefathers disobeyed the Lord and His will. Sin chained us and death dominated over us, just as much as the people of Israel was enslaved by the Egyptians and came under the domination of the Pharaohs, the king of Egypt. And we suffered grievously, just as the people of Israel had once suffered from persecution and oppression. Yet, while the Pharaoh and the Egyptians could only inflict bodily and physical harm over the Israelites, sin is an even more dangerous as it inflicts harm on our souls.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, during the Easter Vigil, we heard the long series of readings, seven in total, from the Old Testament, revealing to all of us throughout history, just how God had endeavoured to bring His people back to Him, that is all of us, by His wonderful works and grace. We heard how He had again and again brought respite and help for His people, and promised that He would bring them salvation and liberation, through the Messiah or Saviour He told them about, the One Who would save all of them from their sins.

We heard how God also brought His people out of the land of Egypt, walking through the Red Sea, which He opened before them, so that they could walk through them on dry land. He crushed their enemies, their oppressors, the Egyptians and their chariots. That was the old Passover. Now, we all no longer celebrate the old Passover but a new one, which God had brought upon all of mankind, through Easter.

For all of us who have received our baptism, we have been washed with the holy water in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, of Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. We have passed through the water just as the Israelites have walked through the Red Sea by the grace of God. And if we looked back a bit, we remembered how the Israelites were saved from a great disaster and catastrophe, by the blood of the lamb they slaughtered, and put as a mark on their houses, and we remember now, how Christ our Lord, the Lamb of God had been sacrificed for our sake.

Through baptism, all of us have received a share in the death of Christ, and we have become partakers in His salvation and in His loving works. Through baptism, we have received the reassurance and the promise that will never, ever be broken, the promise of life everlasting with God, in grace and eternal joy. And just as Christ had died and then rose again in glory, defeating death, therefore all of us who believe will also triumph together against death and evil, and rose in glory as our Lord had risen.

This is the true meaning of Easter, and why we rejoice so greatly in this season. It is a joy so great that it is truly indescribable. We should indeed be joyful and be thankful of God’s great love for us, that He was willing to do so much for our sake, and on our behalf, just so that all of us may be saved. This is our Easter joy, far surpassing even the joy of the Israelites when they were rescued from the tyranny and slavery of Egypt.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, what are we all then ought to do from now on, even as we share together this Easter joy? We now need to truly be children of the Light that we are, and act as those whom God had chosen from the world to be His disciples. And how do we do this? It is by abandoning our past way of life, our sins and our wickedness. In Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday Masses we celebrate, we all make our renewal of the baptismal promises, for all those who had been baptised, and a new vow of baptism for those who are just baptised.

Through these vows and promises, we all renewed our commitment to reject Satan and all of his wicked lies. We are all called to abandon those sinfulness, and embrace a new life blessed by God. Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is what all of us Christians need to do, as all those whom God had blessed and called to be His sons and daughters. Yes, by baptism we have been adopted as God’s own children, and therefore, as God is good and just, all of us are called to righteousness too.

Let us all love one another, giving our love, care and concern, especially to all those who have no one else to love them, those who are homeless, those who are ostracised and dejected, all those who are sorrowful and in pain and suffering, all those who are persecuted and troubled. Let us bring love and comfort to these brethren of ours, and help them to see that despite all of their sorrows and difficulties, God will always be with them, through us.

May the Lord awaken in us all a strong faith and heart filled with love in this Easter season and beyond. May the love and joy of Easter continue to burn strongly in our hearts, as we continue to go on with our lives. May the Lord empower us all to become His good disciples, persevering day by day to live out our faith with zeal and through real and genuine actions, to be worthy people and disciples of the Lord, our Risen Lord. Let us all be witnesses of His resurrection and of His love for each and every one of us, and make disciples of all the nations! God bless us all and our endeavours. Amen.