purification

by

Thursday, 22 May 2014 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 15 : 7-21

As the discussion became heated, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that from the beginning God chose me among you so that non-Jews could hear the Good News from me and believe. God, who can read hearts, put Himself on their side by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as He did to us. He made no distinction between us and them and cleansed their hearts through faith.”

“So why do you want to put God to the test? Why do you lay on the disciples a burden that neither our ancestors nor we ourselves were able to carry? We believe, indeed, that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.”

The whole assembly kept silent as they listened to Paul and Barnabas tell of all the miraculous signs and wonders that God had done through them among the non-Jews. After they had finished, James spoke up, “Listen to me, brothers. Symeon has just explained how God first showed His care by taking a people for Himself from non-Jewish nations.”

“And the words of the prophets agree with this, for Scripture says, ‘After this I will return and rebuild the booth of David which has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins and set it up again. Then the rest of humanity will look for the Lord, and all the nations will be consecrated to My Name. So says the Lord, who does today what He decided from the beginning.'”

“Because of this, I think that we should not make difficulties for those non-Jews who are turning to God. Let us just tell them not to eat food that is unclean from having been offered to idols; to keep themselves from prohibited marriages; and not to eat the flesh of animals that have been strangled, or any blood. For from the earliest times Moses has been taught in every place, and every Sabbath His laws are recalled.”

by

Tuesday, 20 May 2014 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Bernardine of Siena, Priest (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard how the Apostles continued to carry on the mission they had been entrusted with, and brought the Word of God to many peoples, bringing them closer and closer to the salvation in God. The Apostles and their disciples went to spread the Good News to many people, some of whom accepted them and the message they brought to them, while some were reluctant and doubtful while others rejected them outright.

That what the Apostles were doing, and in their hard toils, they managed to convert many to the faith and in the process. The Apostles went around to many places, around the Eastern Mediterranean seaboard, facing tough challenges in order to evangelise the people. They spread the Good News about the Lord and Christ who has died for us and was risen in glory, and whose peace and love, He wanted to share with all the nations.

Not all the people were receptive to this revelation though, because many would prefer to remain in the darkness of ignorance and sin, die to various reasons, mainly because they cannot part with the goodness and all the pleasures that this world can offer, although by indulging in these they risk corruption with sin and hence damnation.

In this world, it is increasingly becoming more and more commercialised and materialistic, to the point that many pursue their career and work, that they can gain more prosperity and more financial strength, or simply more money. This world offers so much good things to us, that we end up being bought over, and our attitudes and lifestyles change.

We have not been able to keep our faith strong because of all these temptations, which are ever present and keep us separated from the Lord and His love. This world is ever moving towards the tendency to drift away from God and indulge in oneself, that is in pleasures of the flesh and goodness of the world. Gluttony, desire and greed are common problems and weaknesses that mankind has.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Bernardine of Siena, a humble and holy man, who was a priest and a Franciscan missionary, who was well known as the Apostle of Italy during his time, because of his hard works and dedication to eliminate evil and vices in the society that prevented mankind from seeking and be reunited with God.

St. Bernardine of Siena was well-known for his preaching and evangelisation works. He worked hard to spread the Gospel and explain the message of the Good News to the people of God, and calling on them to repent for their sins and unworthy behaviour. He was persuasive and yet rich of love and mercy, and his sermons and exhortations never failed to inspire the people and made many convert to the true faith and keep their lives free from sin.

St. Bernardine of Siena was particularly known for his attack on the excesses of life, where he encouraged the people to cast down and throw away those excesses into a bonfire. In that way, he encouraged the people to turn their back to the excesses and the corruptions promoted by the world, which are not different in form, even in this modern day. Yes, to turn their back on these excesses and impurities and seek the Lord with all of their heart.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, following the example and heeding the call of St. Bernardine of Siena, let us all resolve in changing our ways, that we no longer seek what is vain and corrupting, namely the pleasures of the flesh and the decadent and opulent lifestyle as promoted by the world. Especially for us who live in prosperous and developed countries, it is easy for us to fall into the temptation of possession and material wealth.

Instead, let us resolve to seek the Lord with all of our might, and commit ourselves completely and entirely to Him. How do we do that, brethren? We should be charitable in all of our actions, that in all things, we bring good to others and dedicate ourselves to make better the life of others. Shall we do this, and follow the Lord and St. Bernardine of Siena in their way? Let us cast away the old life of vice and excesses, and embrace the new life based on love.

May God be with us and guide us on our way, and may He bless us ever more with His love, and therefore grant us His light to light our path. Amen.

by

Tuesday, 13 May 2014 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial Feast of our Lady of Fatima (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate a truly wonderful and beautiful feast of the Church, honouring the blessed mother of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that is His mother, Mary, who appeared to three children at a village known as Fatima in Portugal, almost a century ago, in which she revealed much revelations of truth to the children, about the faith and the Church and the constant battles it faces daily against the evil in the world.

The revelations of Fatima had been a very popular topic among many of the faithful, and many speculations about its contents had arisen. But most importantly, the truth is that Mary who appeared to the three children foretold the many events that would happen, and did happen in the course of the last one century since the apparition.

The apparition was seen by the three children, but many tens of thousands of other people saw the miracle of the sun and testified to its truth, through which the Blessed Virgin Mary showed the truth of her message, and the urgency of the contents of such message, in the view of the increasing dangers facing the Church of God and the faithful disciples of the Lord.

Our Lady and mother of our Lord had often appeared to us, to mankind to continue to urge us to return to the loving embrace of her Son, and abandon our past, sinful lives, in exchange of a new life anchored upon God’s love. She appeared to the three children at a time of great difficulty, not just for the Church but also for the entire world and mankind.

The first world war was raging when the three children saw our Lady in Fatima, and her appearance occurred just moments before the downfall of the Christian nation of Russia, the Russian Empire, which was overthrown by the Communist rebels and agitators, ushering in a long period of suffering, death and destruction, which we all are very aware about, the effects of which are still felt today.

The Cold war, and the second world war was all indirectly and directly linked to that event, and also to other sad events that had unfolded during the past one century. And the apparition revealed those sad events to the children, who eventually one of them revealed much of the revelations to the Church. This world indeed had been filled with so much violence and evil for much of the past century, and it is therefore ever more urgent that we heed the call for repentance.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to change our ways if we have dwelt in darkness and engage in wicked behaviours and dealings. We cannot be ignorant and continue with our lives as if nothing has happened. We have to commit ourselves to the way of the Lord and listen to the call of His mother, who, as the greatest among the saints and intercessors, and as the one nearest to her Son’s throne, she is our greatest help in this life’s battle against the corrupting nature of sin and evil.

The Lord Himself said that those who do the will of God, and keep as well as understand His precepts will be blessed. As such, that is what our Lady at Fatima encouraged mankind, that is to give themselves to the Lord and dedicate themselves to Him, and to ask His mother for help and intercession during the time of troubles. We must not be afraid to do so, for the mother of our Lord is loving and merciful, and she wants to help us that we may be saved and be reunited with her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have to be profoundly changed in our ways, that in all the things we say and do, we will always reflect the will and nature of our God, and in that, be blessed in all that we do. Let us heed the call of our beloved mother Mary, who appealed to us to reform our ways that we may shun violence and evil, and embrace instead her Son who showed us love in all its perfection through His sacrifice on the cross.

O, our Lady of Fatima, the mother of our Lord and our mother, help us to change our ways and continue to speak to us, just as you had spoken at Fatima long time ago, that we may understand better, how to become loving children of God, and sin no more but live eternally in His grace. O most loving mother, pray for us sinners. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 7 May 2014 : 3rd Week of Easter (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

This world is hostile against us, not the people, but the systems and the nature of the world itself, for evil is in this world, and evil hates us who are light in the darkness. That is what the devil tried to do when the faithful and the Church was still young, that is to snuff out the light that would banish the darkness away forever, and this was done through lies, persuasion and temptations.

Saul, the young man, zealous or in fact overly zealous as one would say, belonged to the group of the Pharisees, who strictly observed the laws of Moses and the other rules and regulations that had been brought up over the years by the people of God. This strict adherence, in addition to the persistent refusal by most of the chief priests and the elders of Israel to receive the truth of God as revealed by Christ the Messiah, caused someone like Saul to be born.

Yes, the archenemy of the faithful as one would have said it. The scourge of the faithful, the persecutor who brought great sufferings and miseries to those who believed in the truth and kept it alive and true. Saul hunted down hundreds, if not thousands of the people of God, just because they believed in the truth and Saul refused to believe in it, not least until the Lord Himself appeared to him and brought him to a new life of service to the truth.

Saul later would be known as Paul, the great servant of the Lord who would bring the Good News to all the peoples of the world, the Gentiles and pagans in particular, and through them, to us eventually. We all know what happened to Saul, his conversion and later works. And we know that he too, suffer from persecutions, rejections and oppositions to his good works, as he had once done to the people of God before his conversion.

Opposition and challenges is a staple of our lives if we choose to remain faithful to God and be the bearers of His Good News. The world, ruled by the evil one, hates the truth, for the truth of Christ is the key for our redemption and liberation, that we will no longer be in the dominion of death and sin, but instead be free forever in the light and love of God.

But do not fear, brothers and sisters in Christ, as the oppositions that pile up against us should not deter us from continuing our works and missions, but instead serve as a further reminder of how good and wonderful our Lord and God is. Why so? Because remember, in the Gospel today, the Lord Himself assured us all, that He will be by our side, and He will not abandon us to the powers of those who seek our destruction.

Yes, Jesus mentioned that all that the Father had given Him, none He will lose, and that includes all of us. Yes, we have been granted by the Father to Christ, through our baptism, when we, in faith, are sealed to be the possessions of the Lord, in His Most Holy Name. We who have been baptised have received the seal of faith, and the Lord dwells in us since the day of our baptism onwards.

But that does not mean then we can be complacent in our faith. While Christ assured us that those whom the Father had given Him, He would not lose, but if we changed our ways back to our old lives filled with sin, then that is tantamount to us rejecting this gift of the Father to His Son, and therefore, we made ourselves lost, and bereft of the holiness and worthiness of heavenly glory promised to us on the day of our baptism.

Hence, brethren, as we continue to proceed in this life and in this holy season of Easter, let us always constantly remind ourselves to keep our faith living and strong, and not to be worried about challenges and oppositions we may face along the way. Remember that God is always on our side, and ready to help us, if we too play our part and keep a good and faithful attitude in our lives.

May the Lord be with us, protect us, and keep us safe in His everlasting grace and infinite love. God bless us all. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 7 May 2014 : 3rd Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 8 : 1b-8

This was the beginning of a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem. All, except the Apostles, were scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.

Saul meanwhile was trying to destroy the Church; he entered house after house and dragged off men and women and had them put in jail. At the same time those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to a town of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there.

All the people paid close attention to what Philip said as they listened to him and saw the miraculous signs that he did. For in cases of possession, the unclean spirits came out shrieking loudly. Many people who were paralysed or crippled were healed. So there was great joy in that town.

by

Monday, 5 May 2014 : 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.

by

Sunday, 27 April 2014 : 2nd Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, Canonisation of Pope St. John XXIII and Pope St. John Paul II (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 20 : 19-31

On the evening of that day, the first day after the Sabbath, the doors were locked where the disciples were, because of their fear of the Jews. But Jesus came, and stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” Then He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples kept looking at the Lord and were full of joy.

Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.” After saying this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit! Those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; those whose sins you retain, they are retained.”

Thomas, the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he replied, “Until I have seen in His hands the print of the nails, and put my fingers in the mark of the nails and my hand in His side, I will not believe.”

Eight days later, the disciples were inside again and Thomas was with them. Despite the locked doors Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see My hands; stretch out your hand, and put it into My side. Do not be an unbeliever! Believe!”

Thomas then said, “You are my Lord and my God.” Jesus replied, “You believe because you see Me, do you not? Happy are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

There were many other signs that Jesus gave in the presence of His disciples, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Believe, and you will have life through His Name!

by

Thursday, 24 April 2014 : Thursday within Easter Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 3 : 11-26

While the healed paralytic man clung to Peter and John, all the people, struck with astonishment, came running to them to Solomon’s Porch, as it was called.

When Peter saw the people, he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us as if it was by some power or holiness of our own that we made this man walk? The God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified His servant Jesus whom you handed over to death and denied before Pilate, when even Pilate had decided to release Him.”

“You rejected the Holy and Just One, and you insisted that a murderer be released to you. You killed the Master of life, but God raised Him from the dead and we are witnesses to this. It is His Name, and faith in His Name, that has healed this man whom you see and recognise. The faith that comes through Jesus has given him wholeness in the presence of all of you.”

“Yet I know that you acted out of ignorance, as did your leaders. God has fulfilled in this way what He had foretold through all the prophets, that His Messiah would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out and the time of refreshment may come by the mercy of God, when He sends the Messiah appointed for you, Jesus.”

“For He must remain in heaven until the time of the universal restoration which God spoke of long ago through His holy prophets. Moses foretold this when he said : ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people; you shall listen to Him in all that He says to you. Whoever does not listen to that prophet is to be cut off from among his people.'”

“In fact, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel onward, have announced the events of these days. You are the children of the prophets and heirs of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors when He said to Abraham : ‘All the families of the earth will be blessed through your descendant.’ It is to you first that God sends His Servant; He raised Him to life to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

by

Monday, 21 April 2014 : Monday within Easter Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 2 : 14, 22-33

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven and, with a loud voice, addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all foreigners now staying in Jerusalem, listen to what I have to say. Fellow Israelites, listen to what I am going to tell you about Jesus of Nazareth.”

“God accredited Him and through Him did powerful deeds and wonders and signs in your midst, as you well know. You delivered Him to sinners to be crucified and killed, and in this way the purpose of God from all times was fulfilled. But God raised Him to life and released Him from the pain of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in the power of death.”

“David spoke of Him when he said : ‘I saw the Lord before me at all times; He is by my side, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced; my body too will live in hope. Because You will not forsake me in the abode of the dead, nor allow Your Holy One to experience corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life, and Your presence will fill me with joy.'”

“Friends, I do not need to prove that the patriarch David died and was buried; his tomb is with us to this day. But he knew that God had sworn to him that One of his descendants would sit upon his throne and, as he was a prophet, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah. So he said that He would not be left in the region of the dead, nor would His Body experience corruption.”

“This Messiah is Jesus and we are all witnesses that God raised Him to life. He has been exalted at God’s right side and the Father has entrusted the Holy Spirit to Him; this Spirit He has just poured upon us as you now see and hear.”

 

by

Reflections on Easter, the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ : the Easter Message

Alleluia! The Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour and God is risen, Alleluia!

Brothers and sisters in Christ, first I would like to share with all of you the joy of Easter, the blessings of the Risen Lord Jesus, who had died on the cross for us, and Risen in glory, overcoming the powers of death, and showing that death has no final say over all. Today is indeed a day of great joy, as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, that there is hope in all of us mankind.

For we who follow the Lord and His way, have died to our sins and to our past lives, as the Scriptures had mentioned, and then followed the Lord in His resurrection, and we were risen to a new life in Christ, filled with love, hope, and faith. Today is the day when Christ broke the hold of sin and death over all of us, we who had been once enslaved by the powers of sin, ever since our first ancestors disobeyed the will of God and followed their own will into destruction.

Christ is the dawn of new life and new hope, which God has given us as the perfect gift, the gift of Himself, to bring us away from our former lives in darkness and into the new purity that is worthy of God. In His resurrection, Christ washes away the darkness of sin and death and bring with Him a new light that will never be dimmed, and is the light of hope that is the beacon for all of us as we proceed towards the Lord, our final destination.

What is the significance of Easter and the Resurrection of our Lord? If Jesus Christ had just died for us on the cross and remain dead and buried, then we would have no hope at all, and there would be no salvation for us. It is precisely because Christ is the first of all and the first to rise from the dead, then we too have the hope to rise up from the ashes of our death and sinfulness, into a new life of hope in God, one that is filled with the hope of complete reunion and perfection in God.

Christ heralded the end of the long separation between God and His beloved creations, mankind by serving as the crucial and only link between us and God the Father. Through His cross, He had bridged the once uncrossable and impassable chasm existing between us and God. Through His resurrection, our redemption became a reality.

When Christ died, He passed into the realm of the dead, just as all those who were under the power of death. It was there too that countless people from the beginning of time awaited the coming of the Saviour who would release them from the enthrallment and tyranny of Satan and evil, and bring them into a new and eternal life of goodness with God.

This was the harrowing of hell, when Christ broke apart the chains holding those who were dead and righteous in their lives before God, freeing them from the dominion of death, and together with Christ, they went on to new life in God, in eternal bliss and happiness, having been reunited with God through the Resurrection of Jesus.

Such was the joy of the people who had long awaited the salvation that came through Jesus, and such was the joy of the angels and the saints of God when the Lord is Risen and show to the devil his final and utter defeat, the defeat of all his schemes and plotting against God and His beloved ones. This great joy is what we celebrate in Easter, and indeed in every time we come together to celebrate the Mass, that is in essence the celebration of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

This joy is because we celebrate life, the dawn of a new life, one that is no longer marred by sin and evil, but one that is firmly anchored in God and His love. Easter is about life, the celebration and joy for life. That is why we rejoice and give thanks to the Lord for this bright, new life He had granted us through the resurrection of Jesus His Son. Easter is a time for renewal and rejuvenation, when the coldness and bitterness of our past is gone, and replaced with the hope and fresh breeze of new life.

If Christ died without being risen after three days in the realm of the dead, then we would have had no hope, as we know that death would eventually claim us for our sins and trespasses. Instead, we know that because Christ was risen, He triumphed over death and conquered it, so that again, as I had mentioned, death does not have the final say over us.

But Christ did not just do this for us to take advantage on. We also have to accept Him as our Lord and Saviour for us to be able to take part in the salvation that Christ had brought upon us. That is the essence of baptism, which we also celebrate particularly on this holy and great day. We celebrate with those who had finally accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour, and we praise God because more and more are brought to the light of God.

Baptism is in essence the celebration of Easter, because in baptism, our past sinfulness are washed away by the waters of baptism, and we are reborn again in Christ, who by His power makes us to be truly the children of God, and the inheritor of the vast goodness that God had promised us His beloved ones. Through baptism, like Jesus, we died to our old lives and sins, and we welcome a new life, risen together with Christ, a life that is hopefully filled with love, hope and faith in the Risen Lord.

Today we have to recall closely what happened on the day when we were baptised. For many of us, this is perhaps difficult since we are baptised when we were still infants, and therefore we could not recall the experience of our own baptism. For some of us, we are fortunate for we accepted the Lord when we were already at an age when we are able to make conscious decision and decide that we want to take the side of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, when we were baptised, the Lord claimed us as His own, and we were sealed with the seal of the Living God, none other than with the Most Sacred Name of the Holy Trinity. Baptism marked our moment of truth, when Christ who is Risen today brings us with Him to the glory of the new life and resurrection, and we are brought away from our past darkness and sinful lives.

But that does not mean that we should be complacent and leave it at as if we have already been assured the riches of the kingdom of God as our reward. Satan definitely will still try his best to persuade us back to return to his ways and will lure us with great pleasures of the world. Many have fallen along the way, even though they have seen the light of God. This Easter should serve as a reminder for us, that we have to be always vigilant and treasure what we have in the Risen Lord.

Let us help one another, that we may be ever closer to God, and let us reach out to the Lord, who had first reached out to us through Jesus His Son, who suffered for our sins and trespasses, wounded and scourged for our rebelliousness, died for our sake, and went to free those who were in darkness and brought them into the eternal light and peace in God. Let us help one another that all of us will be one in the Risen Lord.

May Almighty God and the Risen Christ, bless us on this wonderful day. Alleluia! Let our song of joy and praise resound throughout the earth, proclaiming our Risen Lord this day to all creations! Amen.