Reflection of the Bible

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Sunday, 15 June 2025 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday, the Sunday after the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday we celebrate together the occasion of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, or also known popularly as the Trinity Sunday. In this Sunday’s celebration we mark one of the most important tenets of our Christian faith, indeed the very core of what we believe as Christians and what distinguishes us from other monotheistic and Abrahamic faiths. This is because we believe in God Who is One and only One, and yet at the same time, as the word ‘Trinity’ highlights to us, He is also Three at the same time. Therefore in our Trinitarian faith and formula of belief, we all believe in the Lord God, Master and Almighty Ruler over all the Universe that is One and yet Three, Three and yet One in nature.

Let us all first look at the readings of the Sacred Scriptures that we have heard on this Sunday before we delve deeper into the discussion on the nature and mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, beginning with what we heard in our first reading this Sunday taken from the Book of Proverbs. In that passage we heard of the prophetic and revealing words of the Lord through the prophets and messengers that He had sent into this world, and in this particular revelation, if we read it through again more carefully, it was actually revealing the relationship between that of the Father and the Son, as in that account from

the Book of Proverbs, we heard everything from the perspective of the Son describing and explaining what the Father is doing in all of His works and how He Himself also has a part in the work of Creation.

We heard how the Son truly existed before the Creation of the world and therefore is not part of Creation and neither He is one of the created beings that are inferior to God, unlike what some heresies had claimed as we will delve more into later on. Instead, the Son has been begotten by the Father before time, and has always existed with Him. And as we listened on, the Son was present at the time of the Creation of the world, because He was indeed there, co-responsible for the work of Creation with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because the Son is also the Logos, the Word of God, which later on became Incarnate into Flesh, becoming Son of Man and known to us as Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour of all. But at the time of Creation, He is the Word by which the Father created all things and made all things to be.

In the Book of Genesis, we heard how the Holy Spirit was present in all the whole universe before it came to be, and the Father declared all things to come to be, through His Word that is the Son, and then gave life and goodness to all things through the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit by which He has given life to our first ancestors, whom He crafted from dust in His own image and likeness. We can see here how the Most Holy Trinity, God Who is One but Three at the same time, in His Three Divine Persons carry out the work of Creation. And that is precisely what we all believe in, brothers and sisters, in the One and only One True God of all, and yet in His Oneness He existed in the Three distinct Divine Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, bound perfectly by love and indivisible from each other.

Then, from our second reading passage this Sunday, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Rome reminding each and every one of us how we have been given great grace from God through the working of the Holy Trinity, with the love of God the Father having been manifested to us and revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ, Who has manifested the perfect love of God for us in the flesh, becoming tangible, accessible and approachable to us. And then, at the same time, we have also received the Holy Spirit just as St. Paul had mentioned, reminding us of the gifts which we have received through this outpouring of the grace of the Holy Spirit, strengthening and empowering us to be faithful and wonderful disciples and followers of the Lord.

Lastly, from our Gospel passage this Sunday taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord speaking to His disciples and reassuring them all of how there were many things that He had taught and revealed to them from the Father, and how there were still many more things that would be revealed to them and reminded to them even though it would not be Him Who would do it for them. This would indeed happen with the coming of the Helper or Advocate that the Lord Jesus Himself promised, the Holy Spirit that would come upon the Church at Pentecost just as we have celebrated it last Sunday with great festivity. Through the Holy Spirit, we receive the fullness of truth from God, proceeding from the Father through the Son to us.

This is what the Church believes in how the Holy Spirit is related to the Father and the Son, in how the Holy Spirit is also Co-Equal and Co-Eternal with God the Father and God the Son, but proceeding to all of us from the Father and through the Son, just precisely as what we have heard in our Gospel passage this Sunday, as the Lord Jesus, the Son of God Himself mentioned that ‘All that the Father has is Mine; because of this, I have just told you that the Spirit will take what is Mine, and make it known to you.’ This clearly showed that the Holy Spirit came upon all of us through the Son, Who has manifested the perfect love of God in the flesh, He Who has reconciled us all with the Father and brought us back in connection with Him, as the great bridge linking us with our Creator. Thus, that was how we all received the Holy Spirit through the Church.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, having reflected and recalled what we have heard in our Scripture passages, let us all then now delve deeper into the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. First of all, the nature of the Most Holy Trinity, Our God Who is both Three and One at the same time, Co-Equal, Co-Eternal and Consubstantial, Indivisible and yet Distinct, all of these have always intrigued many in the Church throughout its whole entire history. From the very beginning of the Church members of the faithful, theologians and teachers of the faith had debated and disagreed many times on the true nature of God, of the Holy Trinity and especially the relationship between each of the members of the Holy Trinity to each other, between God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

In fact, numerous schisms and heresies had been caused by these disagreements and differences in schools of thought, opinions, interpretations and understanding of what constitutes the Holy Trinity and the relationship between the Three Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity. The most famous ones of these include that of Arianism, which claimed and taught its followers that Jesus Christ, the Messiah or Saviour of the world, while is the Son of God, was not Co-Equal and Co-Eternal with God the Father, being instead the first of all of God’s creation, meaning that there was a time when the Son did not exist. But this was refuted by the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, the first of the Ecumenical Councils which declared that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are Co-Equal and Co-Eternal, and the Son and the Father also share the same essence and substance, hence the word ‘consubstantial’ that we mention in the Nicene Creed formulated in that Ecumenical Council.

There were also the heresies of Nestorianism and Monophysitism, which were extremes of the wide spectrum of the beliefs then existing in the early Church regarding the true nature of the Most Holy Trinity particularly regarding the nature of Christ or Christology. Nestorianism alleged that Jesus the Man and the Divine Word of God, the Son of God were two separate and distinct beings and that they have separate will and identity, while on the other extreme, Monophysitism which in fact rose in response to the extreme ideas of Nestorian heresy alleged that the Son of Man and Son of God were united as one Being, indivisible and not having two distinct identities, unlike what we all believe and what the Church had preserved from the time of the Apostles.

We believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Saviour of the world is truly fully God and fully Man at the same time. He is truly both the Son of God and the Son of Man, having two distinct natures, Man and Divine, but united perfectly and indivisibly in the one Person of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. And this same Saviour that had taken up the Cross and saved us all is truly Man, tangible and approachable to us, and at the same time, is also Divine, the Word of God Incarnate, by Whose offering and death He has unlocked for us the gates of Heaven and assuring all of us of eternal salvation and grace. And together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, as One God, Three Divine Persons united perfectly in love, He has shown us this most wonderful love and grace.

How do we then understand the Holy Trinity better, brothers and sisters in Christ? There are in fact many ways that we can use to appreciate better the nature of the Most Holy Trinity, in a more understandable and appreciable way. For example, St. Patrick, the famous missionary and Patron Saint of Ireland was remembered for his symbol of the shamrock, or a three-leaf clover that he used in order to explain the nature of God in the Holy Trinity to the pagans throughout Ireland, that they might come to understand Him better. For if one of the three leaves of the shamrock is taken away, then it is no longer the shamrocks as it is, incomplete and no longer can be properly called a shamrock. Each of the three leaves of the shamrock are also connected to each other and not distinct from each other while at the same time, each of the three leaves can be distinguished clearly from each other. They are therefore representative of the Holy Trinity, Three Divine Persons, but one Godhead, and one God in perfect unity, all Three distinct yet inseparable.

We can also use the example of the burning flame as a way to represent the Holy Trinity in a more understandable way. The burning flame produces heat, which many people for a long time had been using as a way to fend off cold and keep themselves warm. They also provide light to the place and dispel the darkness, so that we can see even in the darkest of nights and in places without any illumination. This light is produced as a result of the reaction between the particles involved in the burning, and lastly, the flame itself, which has a discernible shape, because it is in fact heated air and matter, that when heated produce that hue and shape of the flame. And the relationship between these three components of the flame is one other way I can use to illustrate the relationship between the Three Divine Persons in the Holy Trinity as if any of these properties and parts of the burning flame are missing or are taken out, then it will no longer be a burning flame.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, after we have discussed at length about the Holy Trinity, most importantly, let us have faith in our Triune God and not to be overly concerned about the full truth of what the Holy Trinity is all about. After all, St. Augustine of Hippo was famously told to have encountered the Lord at the seashore disguised as a child who was trying to pour the water from the sea into a hole in the sand. When St. Augustine asked the child and wondering why he was doing such an impossible task, then the child, Who was in fact the Lord Himself in disguise, told St. Augustine that therefore it would be similarly impossible for him to understand the whole nature and mystery of the Holy Trinity. St. Augustine, who was then pondering about the Holy Trinity was so profoundly touched by the experience that he wrote one of his masterpieces, De Trinitate or ‘On the Holy Trinity’.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence continue to put our faith and trust in the Lord our God, Who is One and indivisible in unity and yet existing at the same time as Three distinct Divine Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Let us all therefore continue to be truly faithful and committed in Him and do our best each day to proclaim Him in every opportunities that we have received, and do our part in the ministry of the Church to proclaim His Good News to the world. May the Lord, Triune God, Our Master and King continue to bless our every good efforts, works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 14 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord contained within the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people that we must always ever be genuine in our faith in God and in how we live our lives so that our every actions, words and deeds may truly reflect what we believe in, or else we are no better than hypocrites who claim to believe in this way and yet, practice our lives, show our actions and deeds in a completely different and even contradictory way. All of us must always embody our Christian faith in each and every moments of our lives, and we must never take our faith just as a formality or merely paying lip service to the Lord, or mere externalities. It is important that we have to be truly genuine in our Christian faith at all times.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in Corinth, we heard of the Apostle St. Paul speaking to the faithful people of God there regarding the matter of how Christ, the Lord and Saviour, had indeed died for everyone’s sake, and therefore, all of us members and parts of the Church, just as all those faithful in Corinth to whom St. Paul had addressed his Epistle to, are also partakers in this same New and Eternal Covenant that the Lord had established with us all, His holy and beloved people through His Son, the same Jesus Christ, Who has taken upon Himself the weight, burden and sufferings of the Cross, which is no other than all the weight and burden of all of our sins and wickedness.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have gained great grace and forgiveness from God, the atonement for our many sins and wickedness through what God had done in sending His most Beloved Son to us, Who willingly bore upon Himself and putting it all on His shoulders, the weight of our innumerable sins and evils. He has done do so that we may indeed be freed from them, and that we will not have to suffer the consequences of the sins which we have committed, that is death and destruction. And the Lord did so because He truly loves each one of us genuinely and tenderly, with His generous love, compassion and mercy ever flowing from His Most Sacred Heart, ever bleeding and wounded by our sins, and yet, His infinite compassion, mercy and love have been poured upon us, always.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, as Christians, we must always follow the examples of Our Lord Himself and be inspired by His great, ever wonderful compassionate love for us which He has never stopped giving to us, no matter what. We should therefore also show that same love which we have received generously from God, in our own love for Him and also more importantly, in how we love one another, how we act towards each other, our care and compassion for those whom the Lord had entrusted to us, even to the strangers and acquaintances we meet daily in life, in whichever circumstances and occasions we have encountered and received. We are all challenged and called to be the ones to bear the love of God to everyone around us.

Then, from our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples and followers reminding them that while it was written in the Scriptures that one ought to make good and fulfil what one made in oath and commitment to God, but He told them that they ought not to make such oath and vows as they should not swear by the Lord or by anything in this world and beyond. Yet, this must be understood in the context of what the Lord had in mind when He told the disciples and followers of these words and teachings, as what He actually wanted to tell them is that as His disciples and followers, they must all truly be genuine and sincere in all of their words, actions and deeds, and not to say things or do things that they themselves may not mean or contradict later on.

That means as Christians all of us should always be true in our words, speech, actions, interactions and everything, and we should truly mean every single thing that we say, and not to make empty promises and commitments without honouring them. We are all challenged to be truly honest, loving, caring and compassionate in everything and to everyone. This is why we must always work on ourselves and our care and concern for everyone around us, and we must not allow ourselves to be swayed by our selfishness and desires, all the things that may lead us astray into the wrong paths, and worse still, may cause hurt and harm for those around us, especially to those whom we love and who love us all. This is what we must not do as Christians, as those whom God had called and chosen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have all heard from our Scripture passages today, let us all therefore reflect on what we have heard and consider, discern and think carefully on what we should do in our lives and how we should truly embody our faith in our daily lives. It is indeed important that as Christians, we are all truly practice our faith in the manner that the Lord Himself has shown and taught us, and we should always be ready to commit ourselves to the Lord whenever He calls us to do what is right and just in every moments in our lives. By our faithful action and truthful words, our genuine commitment and love for God and for our fellow brethren around us, that is how we can truly show that we are truly good and faithful Christians.

May the Lord continue to provide us His strength, wisdom and guidance so that in all and everything that we say and do, we will continue to be truly genuine, righteous and worthy of Him, and that we may always be truly faithful to Him in all things. May He also continue to bless us greatly and wonderfully in everything that we do, in our every actions, good deeds and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 13 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all called to reflect upon what we have just heard from the Lord speaking to us through His Word, reminding each and every one of us that as Christians, we are all called to be truly genuine in loving the Lord and His people, our fellow brothers and sisters in the same Lord, to be truly compassionate and kind, full of grace and love of God manifested in us and our actions in daily life. All of us should truly embody what we believe in, and we should not merely just believing outwardly and externally only. Instead, we should be truly genuine in our faith, commitment and dedication to God, and we should be the great examples of how beautiful our Christian faith is in all the things we do.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Corinth, we heard of the reminder from the Apostle to us all that we should not be disheartened should difficulties and challenges come to us and become barriers in our path. Instead, we should continue to trust in the Lord and in His Providence, entrusting ourselves to His loving care and compassion. God has given us all His assurances that we will always be taken care of and that we will never be alone. He has also given us the Holy Spirit to help and guide us all in our journey throughout life. And therefore it is indeed important that we should make good use of what God has granted to us at all times, by using them for good purposes.

Then, from the Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the Lord’s reminders for His disciples and followers, and all of those who were listening to Him, and hence all of us of the dangers of sin and why we must therefore strive to keep ourselves from sin and from the corruptions of this world. In the language that the Lord used in delivering His ideas and teachings, it may indeed bring about discomfort for some of us as He used a rather blatant and direct language, telling all of them that if any parts of their bodies should lead them to sin, then they should discard and cut them off from their bodies. This is actually one very good example why we should not take every words of the Lord and the Scriptures literally without understanding the context behind them.

What the Lord wanted to highlight in using such a language and terms is that sin is something serious and harmful to us, and sin separates us from God and His love, His grace and compassion. Yet at the same time, the mercy of God is so great and boundless, that He is capable of healing us of all those troubles. At the same time, those limbs and parts of our bodies themselves are not to blame for our sins. Rather, it is our desires that had led us to disobey the Lord and therefore leading us into sin and evil. In fact, what God has given to us, our body and all are capable of many great and wonderful things just as they are capable of evil and sin. That is why what we need to do is rather to focus on using them for good things instead of evil.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, a renowned saint and dedicated servant of God who had been born into a wealthy noble family in Portugal, and he was eventually joining the Order of the Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross and was ordained a priest at a rather young age, which then led him on a journey of encounter with several Franciscan friars that inspired him to join their order. St. Anthony of Padua adopted his well-known name from the name of the patron saint of the friary, St. Anthony the Great. He went to various places like Morocco and then Italy in pursuit of his vocation and mission, and in Italy, in one well known occasion, when the Dominicans and the Franciscans in the town of Forli could not agree on who to preach in an ordination ceremony, it fell onto St. Anthony of Padua, whose homily moved the heart of the entire audience with his wisdom and eloquence.

St. Anthony worked together with the founder of the Franciscan order, St. Francis of Assisi himself, convincing the latter of the importance of theological and spiritual preparation, studies and all related matters for the Franciscan friars, and he was tasked to take care of this matter henceforth for the friars. And in what happened in Bologna would later inspire the popular tradition and devotion that St. Anthony of Padua is often invoked for his intercession in finding lost items as it was told that a Franciscan novice stole the psalter that belonged to St. Anthony of Padua, and the latter prayed that the book be returned to him, and indeed it happened, as not only that the thief returned the book but he also returned to the order as well.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect upon the words of the Sacred Scriptures and look upon the inspiring life and examples of St. Anthony of Padua, remembering how he dedicated his life in service to the Lord and in his commitment for the betterment of the lives of those who were around him. As Christians, let us all always be full of faith in the Lord, full of hope and trust in Him, and then also full of love firstly of the Lord but also full of the same love for our fellow brothers and sisters as well. Our love and care for one another, just as our strong and enduring faith in the Lord are hallmarks of our Christian faith, and it is what we are all challenged to do in each and every moments of our lives.

May the Lord continue to strengthen our faith in Him, giving us the courage and inspiration to remain firm in our path as we walk and journey together towards Him, and to remain holy and worthy of Him at all times, distancing ourselves from sin. Let us all continue to encourage one another that we may always strengthen each other and support our fellow brethren around us as much as we are able to, that all of us may find the path towards the Lord and remain fully committed to Him at all times despite the many challenges in life. May God bless our every good efforts, works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 12 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for each and every one of us as Christians to be truly loving, forgiving and compassionate in the manner that the Lord Himself had done to us, in what He has presented to us in love and compassion at all times. Each and every one of us as Christians must always continue to live our lives faithfully in the Lord in the manner that He has shown and taught us all these while, either directly in His ministry and actions, or through what He has inspired the Church and all of us via the Holy Spirit. It is important that we have to embody what we believe in and be sincere in our faith or else we may not be true disciples and followers of God.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Corinth, we heard about the Apostle reminding the faithful there in Corinth about the truth, revelations and graces which they have all received from the Lord, the revelation on how they all can become true and committed disciples and followers of the Lord, in living their lives in the right manner and not to be distracted by the many path of worldliness and temptations which had kept many from truly being able to follow the Lord. This is what each and every one of us are being constantly reminded of as well so that in our every actions, words and deeds we will always be worthy of the Lord, showing true faith and dedication to Him in all things.

St. Paul also made reference to those who followed the Law of Moses, referring to the Law of God which had been revealed and passed down to the people of God through Moses at the time of the Exodus, telling the Christian faithful in Corinth how those people had remained in being veiled from the fullness of God’s truth. We must understand the context and circumstances of how these words were spoken by St. Paul or else we might end up having the wrong idea why he mentioned this about those who followed the old ways that is the way of the ‘Law of Moses’. In truth, what he was referring is the way how the Law of God had been interpreted and handed down the generations from Moses down to their time, many centuries later, which had resulted in a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions.

That is because especially regarding the actions and behaviours of many among the Jewish elders at that time, such as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, those who had been entrusted with the guardianship and care of the Law of God. However, they had lapsed from such a duty and they enforced a very hardline and strict approach on the Law, so much so that they ended up causing a lot of hardships and inconveniences on many of the people whom they had imposed the Law upon, including all the precepts and details, consisting of over six hundred and thirteen rules and regulations, not including all the additional details, complex rituals and requirements, restrictions and many other things that had led to many people finding it difficult to obey and fulfil the whole breadth and depth of the commandments of the Law of God.

Then, our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the Lord Jesus teaching His disciples and followers about what it truly means to be those who have faith in Him and believe in Him. He told all of them that they all ought to be more faithful and knowing of the Law more than that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, related precisely to what we have heard from our first reading passage today. We are reminded just as the disciples had been by the Lord that all of us should not be hypocrites in our faith and we should not behave in the same manner as those Pharisees and teachers of the Law who made it difficult for others to follow the Lord and yet they themselves did not obey faithfully.

Instead, as the Lord Himself often criticised the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law for, many among them showed their piety and practices to be praised and glorified by others, and they also sought the best of places, looking down on all those whom they deemed to be less than worthy than them. As such, the Lord was warning all of His disciples and also all of us that we should not follow in their examples, and instead, we should always put our faith in the Lord and trust in Him. All of us should seek to learn to love God and love our fellow brethren most sincerely and genuinely, because as the Lord Himself has taught and shown His disciples that the whole entire Law can be summarised into this, and the Law was indeed meant to teach us how to love, loving God and our fellow brethren alike. Obeying the Law should not be an empty and self-glorifying practice that exclude others and even cause harm and discomfort on those around us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all continue therefore to show love and compassion in all of our actions, words and deeds, in our every interactions and dealings with each other. Let us all truly show our Christian faith by our love and compassion, as it is indeed said that it is by our love that everyone will know that we are Christians, something that distinguishes us from the world and all others who have not believed in the Lord in the manner that we have done. That is why we have to continue to love one another generously and sincerely, and to practice our faith in the manner that we have been taught and shown by the Lord all these while through His Church. We should always be sincere in our love and care, compassion and kindness to one another.

May the Lord continue to guide us all in our lives so that in each and every moments, in everything that we say and do, we will continue to follow Him faithfully and glorify Him by our lives, now and always, in all things and in all circumstances in our lives. Amen.

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Wednesday, 11 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the church celebrates the Feast of St. Barnabas, one of the Apostles of the Lord, and while he was not counted among the Twelve Apostles, the twelve chief disciples of the Lord, but nonetheless, he was one of the very important people involved in the work of evangelisation and ministry in the early Church. He was one of the companions of St. Paul the Apostle in the ministry especially towards the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people, to whom they both had been sent to by the Twelve Apostles and the Church. And in their various works, St. Barnabas and St. Paul had indeed achieved great successes much as they had also encountered significant challenges and trials in their journey and works.

And yet, they trusted fully in the Lord and devoted themselves completely to Him, trusting in His Providence, guidance and help in ministering to the faithful people of God, and in glorifying God and proclaiming Him to all those whom they encountered in their journeys. As we heard in our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of how Christian community was being established in Antioch, which at that time was one of the largest cities of the Roman Empire, and the largest one in that region. Christian missionaries that went there helped to establish the Church, including that of St. Barnabas himself, who discovered the group of believers in that place, even among the Gentiles, the Greeks and others of the local populace on top of the Jewish converts to Christianity.

Antioch also historically held an important significance in the development of the Christian faith as it was there that those who believed in the Lord were first known publicly and commonly as ‘Christians’, or in the original Greek perhaps Christianos, meaning those who believed in the Christ, which was the equivalent term in Greek for the Hebrew Messiah or Meshiach, which meant Saviour. It certainly marked the believers of the Lord as a distinct group as compared to the Jewish believers, those who followed the ancient Law of Moses. Earlier on, Christianity was considered as merely just another sect of Judaism, like those Pharisees and Sadducees, as well as the Essenes among others, but gradually, the practices and ways of the early Christians began to diverge more and more from their Jewish roots.

What was especially important, was the fact that the early Christians accepted those who came from the non-Jewish background, the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and other locals who were not so receptive of the Jewish customs and practices. While earlier on in the history of the Church there had been some, especially the converts from among the Pharisees, who wanted to enforce the strict Jewish customs, practices and rites on all the Christian believers, including those from the Gentiles background, but St. Barnabas was among those, together with St. Paul who were adamantly against such an imposition and action, as that would have led to great difficulties in evangelisation and ministry among the Gentiles, which cultures often saw Jewish practices as weird, barbaric and uncultured.

Thus, it was St. Barnabas among others as mentioned in the first reading today, that were sent to evangelise among the faithful in Antioch, after the Apostles had already decided that such an imposition of Jewish customs, laws and practices were unlawful and improper. The Christian population in Antioch grew rapidly and more and more came to become believers in the Lord. The Apostles like St. Barnabas and the other missionaries were carrying out what the Lord had commanded them all to do just as we have heard in our Gospel passage today, as they all went forth as missionaries, proclaiming the Good News and truth of God faithfully and courageously, entrusting themselves to the Lord and doing their best to touch the hearts and minds of the people whom they had visited and encountered in their journey.

Eventually, St. Barnabas would continue on serving the Lord in various missions and works, and according to Apostolic traditions and history, he was martyred in Syria where he was proclaiming the Good News of God, as some Jewish people that came there, envious and jealous of his great successes in gaining many converts from among the Jews and the Gentiles alike, persecuted him when they were disputing with him in the local synagogue, dragged him out of the place and then stoned him to death, much as how St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church had also been martyred earlier on. Despite this, the many great works and efforts which St. Barnabas had done for the greater glory of God had endured, and many were converted because of his hard work.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all recall the works and life of St. Barnabas, Holy Apostle and servant of God, let us all therefore reflect on our own lives as Christians, as those whom God has called and chosen to be His own holy and beloved people. Let us all be true and genuine disciples of the Lord in doing our best to glorify the Lord by our lives, in all that we do in each and every moments, even in the smallest things we do. We do not have to do great and wonderful things as what the Apostles and the disciples had done, but more importantly, we should be always be sincere in following the Lord at all times, in doing His will and in encouraging one another to carry on living our lives each day with greater determination and courage as faithful and committed children of God.

May the Lord continue to guide and bless each and every one of us so that by our commitment and dedication to Him, following the good inspiration and examples of St. Barnabas the Apostle, we may continue to glorify Him through our actions and deeds, in everything that we say and do, for His greater glory. May the Lord continue to bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours, and may He strengthen us all with the resolve and the desire to proclaim His Good News and truth at all times, through our own exemplary lives and faith as Christians, in our own respective communities and areas of life. Amen.

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Tuesday, 10 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the need for all of us to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, that is we are all called to be the ones to bring God’s light, truth and hope, His love and grace into our world today, so that in each and every moments of our lives, in our every interactions and works, in all of our commitment to Him, in our everyday life even in the smallest of things. We should always be ready to put into place our efforts and works, our contributions and all that we say and do so that they may truly bring forth the light and truth of Christ into this world, to make a difference in the lives of many of those whom we have touched and encountered.

In our first reading today, we heard from the second letter of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in Corinth, in which St. Paul told the people that they all preached and proclaimed the truth of God, the One Who has brought to them all the promises and reassurances that He has spoken and given to them, and which He would indeed faithfully fulfil and complete, and all those who have ministered to them including St. Paul himself, and all the others like St. Timothy, St. Silvanus and others, all were working for the greater glory of God and doing God’s will in all that they had done, empowered, guided and strengthened by the Holy Spirit. All of them had been sent so that through them they would truly do great deeds for the Lord’s sake, glorifying His Name by their actions, through the gifts and graces that they had received.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the famous parable of the light of the world and the salt of the earth that the Lord Himself had spoken to His disciples. In this parable we heard the Lord telling the disciples and all His followers that they should all be like light of the world and salt of the earth, highlighting that if light is hidden then it serves no purpose, and if salt is to lose its taste, then it shall also lose its meaning and use as well. For all of us today living in a world where light and salt are truly abundant and are commonplace everywhere we may not realise their importance in the day to day life in our communities, but in the context of how these two commodities are truly important now and even more so in the past, understanding these can give us better appreciation of what the Lord truly meant in His parable.

First of all, regarding light, we live in a world where light is truly abundant especially at night time, where lots of artificial lights powered by electricity are everywhere. Many of us live in a world full of lights from daytime to night time, and even late at night sometimes we cannot get away from light all around us. And in a world full of technology in our smartphones, computers, televisions and other digital gadgets, we are truly inundated with light such that the significance and importance of light as the Lord mentioned it can easily be misunderstood and overlooked. Why is that so? This is because back in the past, light is something that is absent for most of the night time, after the Sun had set, and except for the light of the Moon and the stars, there was usually darkness everywhere around.

Most people at that time would not have been able to afford candles and other sources of light like fire, and they preciously kept whatever sources of light and heat that they could gather and maintain, such that in the past, fire and light were seen by various civilisations and cultures as being very important and crucial for their survival, and hence, they were treasured and even worshipped, with temples of fire being kept and raised in different civilisations like the Romans and the Persians among others. Darkness is something that people feared, and with darkness usually came danger from predators and other threats, uncertainties and other problems, which light was supposed to keep at bay. Hence, for light to be hidden from view made totally no sense in the context of that time.

Then, regarding salt, we all know that salt gives flavour to the food, as otherwise, if there is no salt added at all to the food, it would be bland and tasteless. But salt is not merely just something to provide flavour to the food, and in the ancient past, its importance was even greater than it is today, as salt is essential for the preservation of many types of food in the period and time before the rise of modern refrigeration and preservation methods. With salt, food became flavourful and many kinds of food could be prevented from spoiling through the addition of salt which kept the food from turning bad. That is why salt was especially important in the past, and in some countries such as Imperial China, salt was one of the major commodities that was heavily controlled and taxed by the government.

Now, as we all have seen from these examples and insights that I have presented to all of us here, we can see how light and salt were truly very important and even crucial commodities at the time of the Lord and His ministry two millennia ago. More importantly, as the Lord used these to explain His words and using a parable to highlight His intentions, we should be reminded like those disciples back then, that each and every one of us ought to be truly ‘light of the world’ and ‘salt of the earth’, which indeed mean that we must always be full of faith, in all the things that we say and do, in every moments, doing our best to glorify the Lord by our lives, by each and every things that we do, in showing the light of Christ, His hope and love to everyone.

May the Lord continue to help, strengthen and guide us all in our journey in life henceforth, and may He continue to give us the courage and the power to do our best in each and every moments of our lives, that by our dedication and commitment to Him, we may always lead more and more people towards God, and we may always be joyful in following the Lord at all times, in doing all that He has called and commanded us to do. May God bless our every efforts and endeavours, our every good works and all, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 9 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady, Mother of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today on the day after Pentecost Sunday, the beginning of the second half of the Ordinary Time of this current liturgical year, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady, Mary, the Mother of the Church, or also known in her Latin title as ‘Mater Ecclesiae’. On this day we recall Mary’s important role as the Mother of the Church and our Mother, as the Mother of all the faithful, because the faithful themselves form that visible Body of the Church, the Body of Christ. And through Mary, the Church has been made manifest, in her instrumental role in the earliest days of the Church, when the Christian faith was still in its infancy. It was Mary’s faith and steadfastness which allowed the Church to remain united and strong against all those who sought to destroy it.

For Mary was always there throughout the times after the Resurrection just as she has always been there throughout the time of her Son’s Passion, patiently following Him even though seeing Him in great suffering and persecution must have pained her Immaculate Heart greatly. And yet, she remained faithful and committed, patient in her perseverance and endurance, and followed Him all the way to the Cross. The Church also teaches that the moment of the Lord’s Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross marks the very occasion and moment when the Church itself was born into the world, when the Lord instituted His Church, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, which according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, was born from the side of the Lord, from the wounds of His Body, from the Precious Blood outpoured from His broken Precious Body.

Therefore, Mary, the Mother of God and of Our Saviour, having been there at the moment of her Son’s suffering and death, which we have heard in our Gospel passage today from the Gospel of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, is truly indeed the Mother of the Church, witnessing through every events, and most significantly because the Lord Himself has entrusted her to all of us, and at the same time also entrusting all of us to her as well, in a reciprocal manner. This was done as the Lord entrusted His beloved Mother Mary to His beloved disciple St. John from His Cross just before He was about to accomplish perfectly His sacrifice and die for all of our sins. He gave His mother to all of us so that we can be loved by her in the same way that Mary had loved her Son, and we too may love her as well, as our Mother.

Mary herself is both the Mother of the Church and also a part of the same Church, as the Church of God consists of all those who believe in the Lord, which Mary is also a part therefore of. But why she is truly very special and revered so in her many important roles, most important of all as the Mother of God is due to her great and ever enduring faith by which she obeyed God’s will so perfectly and allowed Him to make use of her life for His purpose and plans, that she has indeed become for us all the perfect example of faith and obedience, as the greatest of all the saints, and as the New Eve, the Woman through whom the Lord would restore all things to Himself, by her willing acceptance of the part that she was to play in the history of salvation.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis the account of the moment when mankind first fell into sin, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when Satan managed to tempt them to eat of the fruits of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. At that time, Satan tempted our first ancestors with the temptations of knowledge and power, which was enticing enough with the sweet words and lies which promised to man that they would become just like God, to know all things good and evil and to be like Him. In contrast after their disobedience and sins had come into light, they ended up blaming each other and Satan for having tricked them into eating of the forbidden fruits and therefore disobeying and sinning against God.

Therefore if the first Eve, the first woman led all mankind into sin by her willing disobedience against God and embracing of sin, then Mary as the New Eve has shown us the example of true faith and commitment in God, leading us all towards God. By her total commitment and trust in the Lord, her willing acceptance of the role that she has played in the story of our salvation, Mary has shown us all the example of faith and obedience, which all of us should also be following in our own lives as well. And as our Mother and the Mother of the Church, Mary is indeed the figure that we all can turn towards especially during difficult and challenging moments in life. If we seek her help and intercession, Mary will surely be there for us, ever ready to intercede and pray for us all, her beloved children.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore remind ourselves that we have this most wonderful Mother in Mary, our loving Mother and the Mother of the Church. Let us all ask her to intercede for us and for the whole Universal Church. Through Mary, our Mother we can find the surest and straightest path to Our Lord and Saviour, and as one Church we should strive to emulate her example and faith to live a most wholesome and faithful Christian living as well, in our every moments in life, within our every words, actions and deeds, in our every interactions with one another so that we truly will show this faith we have within us to everyone whom we encounter in life and in all the opportunities that God has provided to us.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, our Mother and the Mother of the Church, please pray for us all sinners and intercede on behalf of God’s Church, all of us the faithful and holy people of God. Please help us in our journey towards your beloved Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Our Master and King. May you, beloved Mother, continue to help and guide us in our journey towards His loving mercy and embrace, and assist us in our respective journeys and struggles in life. May the Lord be with us all and may He bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday marks the very last day of this joyful and glorious Easter season, the fiftieth day since Easter Sunday, when we mark the Day of Our Lord’s glorious Resurrection from the dead. This Sunday is the Pentecost Sunday, with the word Pentecost meaning ‘fifty’ dating from the ancient Jewish and Israelite tradition of celebrating the Festival of the Pentecost, fifty days after 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. This is why we celebrate this fiftieth day of Easter marking the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Church as a very significant event.

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 our first reading this Sunday, we heard of the account of what had happened at the moment of that Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and disciples, strengthening and rejuvenating them all with hope and great courage, overcoming all their doubts, fears and all the things that had kept them in hiding from all those who sought to persecute and oppress them with threats and harm. They went forth joyfully in carrying out everything that the Lord had commanded them all to do, to proclaim Him and His Good News to all the people of all the nations. The Lord has reassured them of the Holy Spirit that He would send to them to remind them of everything that He had taught them and to strengthen them in their labours, and that was exactly what He had done for them.

Through the Holy Spirit, God had strengthened the hearts of the disciples, and gave them the wisdom and knowledge of languages and tongues, through which they had proclaimed courageously the Good News and truth of God to all those people who were assembled in Jerusalem at that time for the Festival of the Pentecost. It was symbolic reversal of what had happened in the past with the Tower of Babel, which if we recalled was the moment when God confused the language of mankind when they all came in pride and arrogance in trying to become like God themselves. Through the Holy Spirit, God brought back the unity that was lost to us mankind, gathering us all from the nations, regardless of our languages, races and origins, all called to become the same children and holy people of God.

Then, from our second reading, taken from the Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul the Apostle spoke to the faithful people of God in Rome referring to the Holy Spirit that has been given to all of the faithful, calling on all of them to holiness and to live their lives in accordance to the way of the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It is a reminder that all of us as Christians should also always strive to live in the manner that is worthy of the Lord, following His examples and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit at all times, keeping ourselves away from the wickedness of the world and from all the sins and darkness present all around us. By the Holy Spirit that we have received from the Lord, we should be encouraged and strengthened in our faith so that we can continue to persevere and be strong despite the challenges and trials that we may have to face and endure in life.

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 that all of us should keep His commandments, the Law of God, which is love, loving God and loving one another, and 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 (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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Saturday, 7 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded of the need for us to continue to trust in the Lord and to journey faithfully with Him, carrying out our actions with great faith and commitment, in doing God’s will and in proclaiming His truth and Good News in our respective communities today. All of us have received this commandment from the Lord and we have been entrusted with this important mission as those whom He has called and chosen, and placed in this world, so that by our actions and works, many more may come to know the Lord and more may be called to the Lord’s Presence and receive the grace and salvation from Him, which He has reassured to all of us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the story of the time when St. Paul was in Rome, at the end of his many missionary journeys. Chronologically, this happened approximately three decades after the Lord’s Passion, death and Resurrection, after St. Paul had spent many years and decades in the service of the Lord, going on four missionary journeys of extended period in visiting many places, cities and towns throughout the Mediterranean region, just as the other Apostles went to the many other regions and places, proclaiming the Good News of the Lord and establishing the Church of God, the various faithful Christian communities in the places that they had visited and laboured in.

And as we heard from that account in the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul had a rather good and smooth time in Rome, after a rather arduous journey from Jerusalem to Rome, if we are to read the earlier part of the Acts of the Apostles. It was indeed God’s grace and Providence, by which He allowed St. Paul to minister to the faithful in Rome and to strengthen them, establishing together with St. Peter, who as the first Bishop of Rome was also likely ministering there in Rome as well. St. Paul had a good few years or so in ministering to the people of God and to proclaim the Good News before the time of tribulation that would end with his martyrdom, at the event known as the Great Fire of Rome, in the Year of Our Lord 64, when the Emperor Nero who was widely thought to start the fire, blamed the fire to the Christians of Rome, and hence launched an intense persecution of Christians, where many including St. Paul, were martyred.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the conversation between the Risen Lord and His disciples after His Resurrection, after the Lord had entrusted His flock to St. Peter, with renewed commitment and dedication that the latter had shown as we heard in our Gospel passage yesterday. And St. Peter asked about the disciple whom Jesus loved, which referred to St. John, the same author of this Gospel, which among the disciples were well-known to be the Lord’s favourite. This conversation did show that while the Apostles and disciples of the Lord had experienced great transformation by their interaction and knowledge of the Risen Lord, but they were ultimately still human like us, with their flaws and all.

Why is that so? That is because just like earlier on in the Lord’s ministry, when we heard from the other parts of the Gospels, of the frequent bickering and disagreements between the Lord’s disciples, who were feuding and arguing among themselves on who among them were the better ones and the more worthy ones, seeking to be the ones who were more favoured and closer to the Lord, thus even the Church and the disciples after the Resurrection of the Lord, and even later on after the Pentecost, the Descent and Arrival of the Holy Spirit, were still filled with flawed humans, which while strengthened by the Lord and the Holy Spirit, were still susceptible to sin, to jealousy and other forms of human and worldly emotions and desires.

That is why all of us as Christians are being reminded of this so that we may not end up being divided against each other, and that we are reminded that after all, everything that we have in this life, all those are meant to glorify God and not to seek our own personal ambitions and goals. We should not seek for personal glory and other things which may lead us astray in how we live our lives in this world. Instead, as Christians, we should always be focused on the Lord and maintain our commitment to Him in all things. Like the Apostles, the courageous St. Paul, who dedicated his whole life to the service of God after his conversion, tirelessly going forth to proclaim the Good News and introducing Him to many people he encountered, we too should have this zealous missionary spirit in our own lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are about to celebrate the end of this joyful and glorious Easter season tomorrow with the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday, let us remind ourselves firstly that the joy of Easter and our mission should not be limited to this season and time, but that we should in fact continue to go forth most joyfully in proclaiming the Risen Lord to more and more people throughout all the time we have been given. And let us all also entrust ourselves to the Lord and to the guidance of the Holy Spirit that had been imparted and entrusted to us all through God’s Church. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to guide us through His Wisdom, courage and strength, so that in our every words, actions and interactions, we will always bring glory to God and proclaim Him at all times.

May the Risen Lord continue to guide us all in our respective lives, ministry and missions, in whatever capacities and circumstances that He has placed us in, so that in our every actions, works, words, interactions and more, we will always be worthy bearers of His truth and Good News, and be the ones to proclaim Him ever more joyfully in our world today, amongst all those whom the Lord had placed in our lives, all those whom we have met and encountered daily in our workplaces and elsewhere. May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.