revelation of truth

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Monday, 20 May 2024 : 7th 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, as we begin once again the second part of the Ordinary Time during this current liturgical year after the completion of the Easter season, we celebrate together as one whole Church the Feast of Mary, Our Lady, the Mother of the Church, or Mater Ecclesiae. On this day we remember the role which Mary, the Mother of God played in bringing together the Church of God through her Son, as well as her presence during the time when the Church of God was born, which happened on Good Friday, and how the Lord entrusted her to us, and vice versa, us to her, for her be our Mother and we to be her children. Mary was then also present at the moment when the Church was revealed to the world, and began its evangelising mission, which happened at the Pentecost.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis detailing to us the moments right after mankind had fallen into sin at the beginning of Creation by disobeying God’s will and disregarding His warning not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve chose to eat from the fruits of that tree and they fell into sin as they did not listen to the Lord and chose to believe in the false lies of Satan and his temptations instead. But at that same time, as the Lord told them that they would have to wander off in the world and to suffer the consequences of their sins, He also reaffirmed that He still loved them all despite of their many sins and wickedness, and He revealed that one day, salvation would come to us all through a Woman, who would crush the machinations and the power of Satan, the great enemy who had brought about our downfall.

This revelation is a prediction of the role which Mary, the Woman mentioned by the Lord would play in the history and path of our salvation. Through Mary, who accepted her role entrusted to her by God to be the Mother of God, the Son of God incarnate in the flesh through her, and through Mary therefore the salvation of God had been made manifest in the world to us all, by the will of God the Father and through the power of the Holy Spirit. And as God later went on to establish His Church, it can be said that all these were made possible by Mary’s role in accepting the mission entrusted to her by the Lord, by embracing the Lord’s mission with faith and commitment, entrusting herself to her Lord and Master, and in committing herself thoroughly to this same mission.

In the alternative first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus had ascended into Heaven but before that of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, where the Lord’s disciples were mentioned, the Twelve Apostles and the other disciples, and Mary, the Mother of Our Lord was also mentioned there being part of the group, praying together and gathering as one people, united in purpose and awaiting the coming of the Holy Advocate or Helper, that is the Holy Spirit. Mary being present at that moment signified her closeness and participation in the affairs of the early Church, being the Mother of the Lord and also the Mother of all the believers and the holy people of God. She cannot be separated from the Church as she herself is part of that Church and she truly occupies a very prominent place in it.

At the time of the Pentecost, Apostolic traditions state that Mary was present with all the other disciples, and the Holy Spirit descended on all of them. Mary, being full of grace and having the Holy Spirit worked through her before in the Incarnation of the Lord, the Holy Spirit that came upon Mary and all the disciples symbolises this presence of the Holy Spirit that has made the love of God manifest in this world, manifesting His Church to the whole world. And Mary being there as a rather central figure at the moment of Pentecost signified her closeness to the Church and her being the Mother of the Church, guiding all the faithful people of God, her own beloved children to her Son, Our Lord and Saviour of all.

The Pentecost itself is often misunderstood as the ‘Birthday of the Church’, while according to the Church fathers and Apostolic tradition, as written in the Catechism of the Catholic Church was ‘born’ and established from the side of the Lord, from the outpouring of the Blood and water that came from the Lord’s Body, lay broken and crushed on Good Friday, at the end of His Passion, His suffering and death. Through His earlier institution of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and the Ministerial Priesthood at the Last Supper, and through His completion of the perfect offering and sacrifice of the New and Eternal Passover, the New and Eternal Covenant, Christ has formed the Church that is His Body, uniting all of the believers with Himself.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard then of the account of the events during the culmination and height of the Passion of the Lord, on Good Friday, when the Lord Jesus lay dying on His Cross at Calvary, the birthday of the Church as mentioned actually happened on Good Friday itself, at that moment when the Lord gave His life for our salvation, and when He also entrusted all of us to His beloved Mother so that she can be our Mother, and we all can be her children. By this important symbolic act therefore, the Lord established His Church, which He entrusted to His Apostles and first of all also to His Mother Mary, who became the Mother of the Church, to be the loving Mother to love and care for all of us in the Church of God.

That is why today we all rejoice ever so greatly and wonderfully for our loving Mother, Mary, our Mother and the Mother of the Church. We give thanks for the great examples and inspirations which our loving Mother has shown us in being ever faithful and committed to her mission and calling, and in all that she had ever done for us all, in always praying and interceding for us by the side of her beloved Son in Heaven. Mary has repeatedly intervened and helped many of us throughout time and history, making appearances in various places, such as Lourdes, Fatima, among others, through which she has inspired and helped even more people, more of her beloved children in finding their way towards salvation in her Son, Our Lord and Saviour.

Having constantly witnessed and experienced the great maternal love which Mary, the Mother of the Church has to all of us, parts of the same Body of Christ, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, all of us whom Mary has considered to be her own beloved ones, let us all therefore strive to follow her good examples and her faith in God, and also show the same love which she has shown us, in first of all loving her Son, Our Lord and God with all of our hearts and with all of our might, as well as loving our fellow brothers and sisters with all sincerity and genuine desire to care for one another, to be loving just as the Lord and His blessed Mother, who is also our Mother, have loved us. May the Lord continue to bless us all and may His loving Mother, the Mother of the Church, continue to help and guide us all in God’s Church, so that in our every efforts, good works and endeavours, we will continue to glorify God by our lives and proclaim His truth to more and more people. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 May 2024 : Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we celebrate this most joyful occasion of the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday, we recall the fullness of joy and great celebrations that we have done in the past glorious and most joyful fifty days of Easter since that of Easter Vigil. Pentecost celebrates the coming and descent of the Holy Spirit from God upon His Church, to all the disciples and followers of Christ. On that day, the Lord fulfilled His promises to His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit, Whom He called as the Helper or the Advocate, to lead and guide the path of the Church and all the faithful, strengthening them in their journey of faith, empowering them to be courageous and to be able to persevere despite the trials and challenges that they may have to face.

This important day and celebration is a reminder for all of us that through the coming and descent of the Holy Spirit to all of us, we have received once again the grace of God that had been separated from us due to our sins and wickedness, and through the Holy Spirit, God had shown that He is always ever present with His Church and faithful ones, having guided us all throughout these past two millennia of history, from the very beginning of the Church and up to this very day, through all the challenges and trials facing the Church and all the Christian faithful. The Holy Spirit had guided the Church fathers and leaders in walking down the path of the Lord, that while at times the Church and many among the faithful had fallen into the wrong paths, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, eventually the Church is moving ahead again in the right path.

Many people often wrongly associate Pentecost with the so-called ‘Birthday of the Church’ and it does not help that in some places, popular practices related to this birthday celebration of the Church are commonplace. The Church according to the Church fathers and Apostolic tradition, as written in the Catechism of the Catholic Church was ‘born’ and established from the side of the Lord, from the outpouring of the Blood and water that came from the Lord’s Body, lay broken and crushed on Good Friday, at the end of His Passion, His suffering and death. Through His earlier institution of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and the Ministerial Priesthood at the Last Supper, and through His completion of the perfect offering and sacrifice of the New and Eternal Passover, the New and Eternal Covenant, Christ has formed the Church that is His Body, uniting all of the believers with Himself.

What the Pentecost is more accurately associated with is the moment when the Church is ‘revealed’ to the world, with an analogy and comparison similar to that of Christmas and Epiphany. While Christmas marks the moment when the Lord Jesus, Our Saviour was born into this world, it is at Epiphany that He is revealed and manifested to the whole world through the representation of the Three Magi or the Three Wise Men. Thus, the Church that is born on Good Friday and the Paschal Triduum, was also revealed to the whole world at the moment of the Pentecost, at the time when there was a very major shift in the attitude of the Apostles and disciples of the Lord, who began to actively proclaim the Word of God and His Good News to everyone when previously they had been hiding in fear.

This was what we have heard in our first reading today, detailing to us what happened on the day of the first Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon all the Apostles and disciples who were hiding in fear from the Jewish authorities who had threatened everyone that taught in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and who had put in place efforts to silence the disciples of the Lord. They were fearful because the Lord was no longer physically with them, having ascended into Heaven just ten days earlier, but with the arrival and descent of the Holy Spirit, and as they were inflamed and strengthened by the fire of the Holy Spirit, their hearts were encouraged and they received the strength, the wisdom and the power to go forth and to proclaim the Good News of God with great fervour and courage as we have heard.

And through their efforts, many people who were then gathered in Jerusalem for the Festival of Pentecost, coming from the different regions and countries of the world, many of whom were Jews who were living in the diaspora, came to hear of the Lord Jesus, as many of them might not have heard or known about Him before. Those people came to be touched by the message of God’s truth and His Good News that the Apostles told them in their various languages, the gift which the Holy Spirit had brought to them, and about three thousand people accepted the Lord on that day, becoming the earliest members of the Church of God together with those Apostles and disciples of the Lord. The rapid growth of the Church from that day of Pentecost and the changing attitude of the Apostles and disciples of the Lord, empowered by the Holy Spirit made the Church no longer hidden but instead revealed to the whole world, which is what Pentecost is all about.

In our second reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle, either to the Church in Corinth or Galatia, of the gifts and the fruits of the Holy Spirit which God had imparted to all of us who have received this most wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit through the Sacraments of the Church. The Holy Spirit has many gifts, and these, traditionally seven, are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord, all of which are the things which God had bestowed on us all through His Spirit, alongside with various blessings, talents and abilities that allow us to carry out whatever it is that He had entrusted to us all to do with our lives. Each and every one of us have been given and equipped with these various gifts and opportunities so that we may truly live our lives worthily and in accordance to what the Lord has shown and taught us, so that by our exemplary lives, we may indeed be good role models and inspirations for others to follow, and that we may lead others to God’s truth and salvation.

Meanwhile, the fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, all of which are manifestations of the works and the gifts of the Holy Spirit which God had granted to us. All of us are called and expected to do what God had called us to do, and to make good use of the gifts and the opportunities that have been revealed and passed to us all. Like the parable of the talents that the Lord had used in teaching His disciples, all of us as God’s stewards, disciples and servants are expected to make good use of the various things and blessings which God had given to us, so that we may indeed bear rich fruits of the Holy Spirit in our various communities, and be the exemplary role models and the shining beacons of God’s light and truth in our world today.

Lastly, in our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord Jesus giving the Holy Spirit to the disciples, reminding them of what they were supposed to do as His disciples and followers. This gift of the Holy Spirit which the Lord had mentioned and explained on several occasions would eventually came to the fullness and completion with the coming of the Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descending on the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord, the Church of God, giving them the guidance, strength and the peace in their hearts and minds to carry out to the best of their abilities everything which God had entrusted to them to do. Through the Holy Spirit, God had sent forth His disciples and followers to carry out the most important mission which He entrusted to them, His Great Commission, that is to proclaim His Good News and truth, His salvation and love to all the nations, and to make disciples of every people of every nations, baptising them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

As we all reflect upon the messages of God’s truth and love as contained within the Sacred Scriptures and what we have discussed regarding the Holy Spirit and how God has empowered us all with the strength and the new life and opportunities to do His will through the Holy Spirit, let us all therefore allow Him to guide us all and turn away from all sorts of wickedness and evils that had caused us to not be able to follow the Lord wholeheartedly. As one united Church of God, revealed to all on this great Solemnity of Pentecost, let us all continue to carry on the missions entrusted to us, to be ever full of the Holy Spirit and allow the Spirit to guide us in our respective vocations and missions in life, that through us and our faithful living and testimony, our every actions and deeds, we may always be fruitful in all things.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of all the faithful and strengthen us with the warmth of God’s most wonderful love. Come and renew the whole world and all of us mankind, and enkindle in us the great passionate fires of Your love. Come Holy Spirit, come and be with us all, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of God. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 May 2024 : Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 20 : 19-23

At that time, on the evening of the day when Jesus rose from the dead, 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.”

Alternative reading

John 15 : 26-27 and John 16 : 12-15

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “From the Father, I will send you the Spirit of truth. When this Helper has come from the Father, He will be My witness, and you, too, will be My witnesses, for you have been with Me from the beginning. I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now. When He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into the whole truth.”

“For He will not speak of His own authority, but will speak what He hears, and He will tell you about the things which are to come. He will take what is Mine and make it known to you; in doing this, He will glorify Me. All that the Father has is Mine; for this reason, I told you that the Spirit will take what is Mine, and make it known to you.”

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Sunday, 19 May 2024 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this evening as we all gather together on this Great Vigil of the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday at the very end of the glorious season of Easter, we recall the fullness of joy and great celebrations that we have done in the past glorious and most joyful fifty days of Easter since that of Easter Vigil. This celebration of the Pentecost Vigil is truly ancient and has a lot of parallel and similarities to that of Easter Vigil which marks the beginning of the Easter season, as historically, Pentecost ranks as one of the greatest Feasts and Solemnities of the Church in its whole entire liturgical year, second only after Easter itself. While Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday itself marks the commemoration of the glorious and triumphant victory that the Risen Christ, Our Lord had won over evil, sin and death through His Resurrection, Pentecost celebrates the coming and descent of the Holy Spirit from God upon His Church, to all the disciples and followers of Christ.

This celebration of the Vigil of the Pentecost Sunday or Pentecost Vigil is truly steeped in history and tradition, as just like that of Easter Vigil, there are multiple Old Testament readings that are to be read, historically seven just like that of the Easter Vigil. While the readings of the Easter Vigil focused on the history of salvation and how God had finally fulfilled and accomplished everything that He had promised to His people through His prophets, sending His Saviour into this world, the readings of the Pentecost Vigil that we have heard today in their various forms and richness highlighted the role that the Holy Spirit played in the Church, in our lives as Christians and how God had guided us all through the same Holy Spirit. Not only that but just like Easter Vigil when usually the catechumens are baptised and received into the Church, during this Pentecost Vigil, traditionally may also involve initiation of catechumens into the Church.

This important day and celebration is a reminder for all of us that through the coming and descent of the Holy Spirit to all of us, we have received once again the grace of God that had been separated from us due to our sins and wickedness, and through the Holy Spirit, God had shown that He is always ever present with His Church and faithful ones, having guided us all throughout these past two millennia of history, from the very beginning of the Church and up to this very day, through all the challenges and trials facing the Church and all the Christian faithful. The Holy Spirit had guided the Church fathers and leaders in walking down the path of the Lord, that while at times the Church and many among the faithful had fallen into the wrong paths, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, eventually the Church is moving ahead again in the right path.

Many people often wrongly associate Pentecost with the so-called ‘Birthday of the Church’ and it does not help that in some places, popular practices related to this birthday celebration of the Church are commonplace. The Church according to the Church fathers and Apostolic tradition, as written in the Catechism of the Catholic Church was ‘born’ and established from the side of the Lord, from the outpouring of the Blood and water that came from the Lord’s Body, lay broken and crushed on Good Friday, at the end of His Passion, His suffering and death. Through His earlier institution of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and the Ministerial Priesthood at the Last Supper, and through His completion of the perfect offering and sacrifice of the New and Eternal Passover, the New and Eternal Covenant, Christ has formed the Church that is His Body, uniting all of the believers with Himself.

What the Pentecost is more accurately associated with is the moment when the Church is ‘revealed’ to the world, with an analogy and comparison similar to that of Christmas and Epiphany. While Christmas marks the moment when the Lord Jesus, Our Saviour was born into this world, it is at Epiphany that He is revealed and manifested to the whole world through the representation of the Three Magi or the Three Wise Men. Thus, the Church that is born on Good Friday and the Paschal Triduum, was also revealed to the whole world at the moment of the Pentecost, at the time when there was a very major shift in the attitude of the Apostles and disciples of the Lord, who began to actively proclaim the Word of God and His Good News to everyone when previously they had been hiding in fear.

In our Scripture readings this Pentecost Vigil, from the Book of Genesis we heard of the story of the Tower of Babel and how mankind in their hubris and pride tried to build a tower that was so high that it could reach up to Heaven itself, or so they thought. God saw all their wicked plans and ambitions, their pride and evils and confused their languages and speeches. Prior to this moment, everyone was able to understand each other languages and speeches, but after the rebellion of the Tower of Babel, mankind was scattered all over the world, unable to comprehend one another. This was because of the withdrawal of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which was contrasted with the gift of tongues which the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord received on the day of Pentecost, when they speak in tongues and everyone were able to comprehend what the disciples of the Lord were speaking about.

Meanwhile, from another reading from the Old Testament, taken from the Book of Exodus, we heard of the moment when the Lord made His Covenant with His people, the Israelites, at the holy Mountain of God at Sinai. We heard how at that place Moses, who lead the people of Israel gathered all the elders and all the people, and told them of what the Lord wanted to make with them, to establish a Covenant with them anew just as He had done with their ancestors. It was at that moment which the Lord made known His Presence through loud sounds and fire, just as what happened on the day of Pentecost, when the tongues of flames of the Holy Spirit descended upon the Lord’s disciples hidden in the upper room, together with the loud sound just like that at Mount Sinai.

Not only that, but it was during this moment at Mount Sinai when the Israelites themselves also rebelled against God, by making a golden calf idol and worshipping it, which resulted in them being punished, with three thousand people being condemned and killed for their rebellion. This is contrasted to what we heard from the account of the events of the Pentecost, as the works of the Lord’s disciples proclaiming God’s Good News and salvation touched the hearts and minds of so many people that three thousand people chose to be baptised and become part of the Church of God, as a clear parallel and antithesis of what happened back at Mount Sinai, again just like the Tower of Babel story, showing how the Lord through His Holy Spirit had restored to the world and to us mankind the order and sanctity that had been lost through our rebellion against God and sin.

In another Old Testament reading from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we then heard of the story of the valley filled with vast number of dry bones, which represented the rebellion of mankind and their sins, particularly the Israelites, whom by the time of the prophet Ezekiel had committed a great number of sins and mistakes, and had suffered the consequences of those sins and faults. Sin lead to destruction and death, and that was what the vision of the valley of dry bones showed to the prophet Ezekiel and all of us. But through the Spirit of God, referring to the Holy Spirit, which in the Nicene Creed we refer to as the Lord, the Giver of Life, proceeding from the Father and Son to us all, just as at the moment of Creation, when God created all things from nothingness, God restored life to all those dry bones and Ezekiel saw a huge nation of all the peoples assembled, referring to the restoration of God’s people into the state of grace before their downfall into sin.

And this is what the Holy Spirit has done to us, as we recall this great gift from God, the gift of the Holy Spirit that He has given to His Church, to fill us all with His love and wisdom, to restore unto us the life, grace and unity with God which we have lost through our rebelliousness and sins. St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Rome in our second reading passage today spoke about the Holy Spirit that we have received, which gave us a foretaste of things that is to come. This means that through the gift of the Holy Spirit, all of us have received the gift of new life and existence which happened and is possible because of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, guiding and strengthening us in each and every moments of our existence.

The Holy Spirit has shown us the path towards the Lord, and as the Lord Jesus Himself made it clear to us through our Gospel passage today, that the Presence of the Holy Spirit in us is like that of a life-giving water and spring welling up in us, filling us with God’s grace and love, empowering and strengthening us in the manner how the Lord’s disciples and followers have been guided and strengthened by the same Holy Spirit throughout all the things that they had done, in proclaiming the Lord’s Good News and salvation to the people of all the nations. They have joyfully borne the responsibilities and the commitments to be the bearers of God’s truth, and by the wisdom imparted to them through the Spirit of God, they therefore bore rich fruits of the Holy Spirit and resulted in many great conversions and many souls embracing God’s saving grace.

As we all reflect upon the messages of God’s truth and love as contained within the Sacred Scriptures and what we have discussed regarding the Holy Spirit and how God has empowered us all with the strength and the new life and opportunities to do His will through the Holy Spirit, let us all therefore allow Him to guide us all and turn away from all sorts of wickedness and evils that had caused us to not be able to follow the Lord wholeheartedly. As one united Church of God, revealed to all on this great Solemnity of Pentecost, let us all continue to carry on the missions entrusted to us, to be ever full of the Holy Spirit and allow the Spirit to guide us in our respective vocations and missions in life, that through us and our faithful living and testimony, our every actions and deeds, we may always be fruitful in all things.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of all the faithful and strengthen us with the warmth of God’s most wonderful love. Come and renew the whole world and all of us mankind, and enkindle in us the great passionate fires of Your love. Come Holy Spirit, come and be with us all, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of God. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 May 2024 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 7 : 37-39

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

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

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Sunday, 19 May 2024 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Romans 8 : 22-27

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

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

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

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Saturday, 18 May 2024 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of Pope St. John I, Pope and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we gather together as one united and holy people of God at the eve of the end of the glorious and most joyful season of Easter which will come to its conclusion tomorrow with the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday. Today, the readings from the Sacred Scriptures remind us all of the continuing works that each and every one of us as Christians have been entrusted with. All of us as the people whom God had called and chosen, we are all given the respective talents, gifts, blessings and all the things which can help us in our path, in leading lives that are truly worthy of God, in doing our best so that we may inspire others to follow in the path of righteousness and in God’s grace. We must always be the ones to bring forth the light and Good News of God’s salvation to our world today, which is still enshrouded in darkness of sin and evil.

In our first reading today, we heard of the last part of the ministry of the Apostle St. Paul who finally arrived in Rome after a long and arduous journey that we would know and remember if we have read the earlier parts of the Acts of the Apostles. This was the last of all of St. Paul’s missionary journeys, which he undertook to follow God’s guidance and will, to proclaim the Word of God and His salvation to the people of Rome, which was then the capital of the great and mighty Roman Empire. St. Paul therefore braved through the many dangers and challenges that he had to face as he embarked on this journey towards the Eternal City, as Rome has been commonly known by, to proclaim the Lord to everyone, and to establish the foundations of the Church there together with the other missionaries, like St. Peter, who was the first Bishop of Rome.

We heard how the Lord was with St. Paul and his mission and despite him having been technically under arrest of the earlier charges put against him, as he awaited his appeal to the Roman Emperor, he was actually given a lot of freedom to come and go as he pleased, as he continued his ministry and works among the people of Rome, to both the Jews and the Gentiles or non-Jewish people alike, many of whom became believers in Christ, embracing the love of God and His salvation which He has revealed through His Son and His Apostles. St. Paul continued to commit himself thoroughly to fulfil whatever the Lord had entrusted to him to do in proclaiming His Good News, all the way to the end of his life in martyrdom, as Apostolic traditions put St. Paul as being martyred in Rome during the great persecution of Christians by the Emperor Nero.

Then, in our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel of St. John, we heard of the conversation between the Lord Jesus and His disciples, in which the Lord told His disciples at the Last Supper when they were all discussing about His words and what He had revealed to them, firstly about the one who would betray Him, referring to Judas Iscariot, whom at the time no one would have expected to betray the Lord. Then, they also spoke about the disciple whom the Lord loved, referring to St. John the Apostle himself, the writer of this Gospel. As was common and expected, there was a kind of rivalry and jealousy existing between the disciples, as they all definitely tried to get more favour in the eyes of the Lord, and St. John in particular was one who was a target of the other disciples.

That was because in another occasion in the Gospels, we heard how St. John and St. James, together with their mother came before the Lord, and the mother asked the Lord Jesus for special favours for her sons, to sit by His left and right sides, an act which was met by an immediate unhappiness and discord among the Lord’s disciples. At that time, some if not many among the Lord’s followers did follow Him hoping that He would be the Messiah to restore the Kingdom of Israel, and they likely hoped to gain benefits and honour, glory and power for themselves in the event that the Lord accomplished His works and missions. But they failed to understand that this was not what the Lord intended to do, and as the Lord Himself pointed out to everyone, that it was not their business to know or understand if the disciple beloved by the Lord, St. John the Apostle would not die before he was to see His coming.

Those words indeed came to be true as Apostolic traditions again showed that St. John the Apostle was the only one among all the Apostles who did not suffer martyrdom, and St. John would also see the Lord’s salvation through visions at the Island of Patmos, which he then recorded in his Book of Apocalypse or Revelations. All the other Apostles including that of St. Paul eventually met their end through martyrdom, giving their lives after various kinds of sufferings and persecutions to glorify God. They did not give up on their faith in God, and they continued to labour hard for God and for the people they had been entrusted with. However, this did not mean that St. John did not suffer for his faith and commitment to God. Being the last among the Apostles to survive, he endured many decades of hardships and challenges, persecutions and exiles, including to the Island of Patmos mentioned earlier. In a sense, he was also a martyr, as he endured ‘white martyrdom’ not by shedding his blood but by enduring great sufferings for the Lord’s sake throughout his ministry.

Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of a great Church father and devoted man of God, whose faith and commitment to God can be a great inspiration and strength for all of us. Pope St. John I was one of the early leaders and Popes of the Church, who was known especially for his courage and dedication to God in standing up against even the powerful secular power and bureaucracy, eventually martyred for his faith in God and for his commitment to his mission, just as his many predecessors before him. He was elected as Pope during a rather turbulent time for the Church especially in Rome, due to the clashes between the secular rulers of Italy, then under the Ostrogothic Kingdom, led by its Arian heretic rulers and the Roman Emperors in Constantinople.

Pope St. John I was torn between protecting the orthodoxy of the Christian teachings and faith which the Arian Ostrogothic rulers did not adhere to, and protecting the well-being and the safety of the many people and clergy under his care in Rome and its associated territories. He went on a mission to the Imperial capital in Constantinople to try to mediate the situation and was well received by the Emperor who tried to help the Pope as best as he could do. However upon his return to Rome, Pope St. John I was arrested by the Ostrogothic King, Theodoric the Great who was suspicious at the Pope of having possibly colluded and plotted against him and his kingdom with the Roman Emperor. Thus, Pope St. John I was imprisoned and eventually died in prison from maltreatment and neglect, as a martyr of the faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord wants to remind us all today through all these passages of the Sacred Scriptures and from the life and examples of Pope St. John I, holy Pope and Martyr of the Church, that each and every one of us must be always ready and committed to follow whatever the Lord had called us to do, and to do His will, to proclaim Him, His truth, His Good News and love to everyone, despite the challenges, hardships and trials that we may have to encounter in our paths. We must always remember that God is always by our side and He will continue to provide for our efforts and works in our journey of faith, and while we may have to suffer, but we are suffering together with Him.

Let us all therefore continue to do God’s will and strive to be the most faithful disciples and followers, to be His shining beacons of light and truth in our communities and respective societies today. Even though the season of Easter is coming to an end, let us always remember this does not mean that our responsibilities and commitments as Christians, as an Easter people blessed by the Risen Lord come to an end. Instead, as we continue to carry on living our lives each day, we should continue to commit ourselves each day with ever greater zeal and love for God in all things, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 17 May 2024 : 7th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the commitments that are demanded upon us all as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people in what we have been called to do, to be the genuine and worthy bearers of God’s truth and love, His teachings and Good News. All of us are reminded to follow the Lord and to love Him wholeheartedly at all times, which is what we have been expected to do, as those whom God had called and chosen. All of us as Christians should always be ready to proclaim Him, Our Lord and Saviour in all things, to do what He has commanded us to do and to bring forth His light and salvation to the whole world through our every actions, words, interactions and deeds.

In our first reading today, we heard of the discussion between King Agrippa, the Herodian ruler of the region of Judea and that of Festus, the Roman governor who was responsible for the region of Judea and its surroundings, about that of St. Paul the Apostle, who had been incarcerated in Jerusalem ever since he arrived there and faced the Sanhedrin or the Jewish High Council. He had also been put on trial by the earlier Roman governor Felix, who received the complaints against St. Paul from the Jewish leaders, and at that time, to fulfil what the Lord had entrusted to him and the mission which he was to be sent to, the last one of his life, St. Paul chose to appeal his case to the Roman Emperor in Rome, as a privilege of him being a Roman citizen.

Thus, St. Paul was awaiting for the moment when he would be brought to Rome to appeal to the Emperor and to complete his trial there. In that meantime, as mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, he had encounters with King Agrippa and his wife, Berenice, as well as with the Roman governor himself, and the Jewish elders and leaders tried to pursue their case against St. Paul, but St. Paul stood his ground firmly and gave very compelling arguments against those who falsely accused him of blasphemy and any other wrongdoings which he did not do. It was also mentioned that the conflicts and disagreements were seen then as internal divisions and disagreements within the Jewish community, as Christianity was then still viewed as a sect within Judaism.

St. Paul could very well have chosen an easier way and not to have to deal with all those difficult things and challenges that he had to endure as part of his ministry, enduring persecutions and prisons, one after another. But he remained steadfast in faith, entrusted everything to the Lord, believing that He would lead him to the right path, and that He would provide for His Church in the best way possible. And if he and the other disciples had to suffer, it has indeed been expected as part of their faith in the Lord, and as part of the mission which had been entrusted to them. The Lord Himself had told His disciples that they might have to suffer rejection and persecution just as He Himself had been rejected and persecuted by the world.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus after His Resurrection, as He was meeting with His disciples in Galilee, had a time to converse privately with St. Peter the Apostle, His chief disciple, to whom He had entrusted His Church as His Vicar. In this occasion, the Lord asked St. Peter three times, ‘Peter, do you love Me?’, to which St. Peter responded empathically with his profession of love, and as the Lord kept on repeating this same question, we heard how St. Peter was touched and felt the guilt in him as this was a clear reference and parallel to his own threefold denial of the Lord earlier on at the beginning of His Passion, when St. Peter denied knowing the Lord not just once, but three times. This was in fact the confirmation that the Lord had indeed forgiven St. Peter for his thrice denial, which St. Peter himself made with his thrice declaration of his undying love for his Lord and Master.

St. Peter according to the Gospel accounts was very ashamed and regretful over that event, and he was struck with great shame and anguish after he had committed the deed then, when he heard the cock crew after his third denial just as the Lord Himself had predicted it. However, unlike Judas Iscariot, who had betrayed the Lord to the chief priests and then shortly after took his own life out of despair and guilt, St. Peter remained faithful to the Lord and loved Him despite his own shortcomings and failures. Judas Iscariot chose to abandon hope and did not trust in the Lord’s providence and mercy, allowing Satan to lead him down the wrong path, and then he refused God’s love and mercy to the very end. On the other hand, St. Peter was truly repentant over his sins and failures, and he sought the Lord for His forgiveness and mercy.

That is why the Lord chose him, a humble fisherman, a nobody from the Lake of Galilee, a poor and brash, uneducated and illiterate man to be His chief Apostle, and to be His Vicar. God sees inside our hearts and minds in ways that we ourselves may not be able to fully realise. He sought not those whose ambitions and hubris lead them to their downfall through pride, ego and those ambitions and temptations themselves, but rather those who truly love Him wholeheartedly as St. Peter had done. St. Peter truly loved the Lord, not just in mere words as he had said it again and again to the Lord, but he also showed it through his actions and commitments, in his later many decades of hard work and contributions, efforts and leadership of the Church, as the one to whom God had entrusted His entire Church, His entire flock to. St. Peter himself was not perfect, and he was just as flawed as each and every one of us are. Yet, what matters is that, he allowed the Lord to lead and guide, to strengthen and encourage him amidst the many challenges and trials that he had to face.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded that to be a disciple of Christ, we often need to be fully and wholeheartedly committed to His cause, and there may also be many challenges, trials and obstacles in our path. But as long as we continue to commit ourselves to Him, the Lord will be always by our side and we must always have faith and trust in Him that in everything we do, we will always be strengthened, guided and empowered by His loving hands and guidance. Like St. Peter and St. Paul who have dedicated themselves fully to God’s path, and allowed themselves to be led by their faith in their actions, to endure even the worst of sufferings for our sake, let us all also allow God to lead and guide us in our path so that in everything that we say and do, we will continue to glorify Him and that we will always be ever more faithful to Him, in each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us all and be with us all, His beloved Church, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 16 May 2024 : 7th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard from the readings of the Sacred Scriptures reminding all of us that we must always remain united in purpose, faith and commitment in our whole lives, in all the things that we say and do in the Lord, our God and Master. We must not allow ourselves to be swayed and tempted to the wrong paths because of the many temptations present all around us in this world, or else we may find it easy to lose ourselves amidst all the distractions and temptations which may lead us astray from the path towards righteousness and salvation in God. This is what the Scriptures have been reminding us all today, that is to remain firmly rooted in our faith in the Lord.

In our first reading today, we heard from the account in the Acts of the Apostles detailing to us about the moment when St. Paul the Apostle faced the whole assembly of the Sanhedrin or the Jewish High Council in Jerusalem, who had been making lots of complaints and pressured the Roman authorities about the works and activities which St. Paul had done in teaching and proclaiming the Risen Lord Jesus and all of His truth to the many people, both to the Jews and the Gentiles or non-Jewish people alike. This was one of the several things which made St. Paul to be hated by many among the Sanhedrin, who worked hard to prevent further spread of the teachings of the Lord, with little success or progress. Instead, the Church kept on growing faster and more quickly even when they were persecuted.

At that time, the Sanhedrin was also composed of two main, very influential groups within the Jewish community, namely the Sadducees and the Pharisees, who dominated the political and religious landscape of the people of God at the time. The former, the Sadducees were those who were composed on the richer and more influential elites, the caste of the high priests which were selected from among them, the nobles and aristocrats within the Jewish community, as well as the rich and powerful merchants. Their great influence and power, coming from their control over the Temple and the commerce in the region made their position to be very powerful, and they clashed with St. Paul and the teachings of Christ over the belief in the Resurrection, in the other spiritual matters and the afterlife, which the Sadducees tend not to believe in, as they were people who were very much attached to the world, and they did not believe in the life beyond this world, a world where they thrived and excelled because of their power, wealth and influence.

They saw the Lord Jesus as a great threat to their status, power and influence, and the works which the Apostles including that of St. Paul had done in his many missionary journeys and works, all those things were seen by the Sadducees as threats to them, and therefore, they wanted to stop whatever that St. Paul had done, just as they had attempted to stop the Lord by persecuting, arresting and crucifying Him. Obviously none of them were successful, and the Church kept on growing rapidly, as more and more people came to believe in the Lord, listening to the words of the missionaries of the Lord, and being inspired by their great and loving examples, through which God’s love has been made manifest and real to them all. The Lord was also with them, with His Church and His disciples, and that was why they were all very successful despite the challenges facing them.

On the other hand, the Pharisees represent the religious and intellectual elite, all the experts on the Law and the Scriptures, the ones who were very concerned about the preservation of the Law and the Jewish ways of life, unlike the Sadducees who were more influenced by the Hellenic or Greek culture. The Pharisees also believed in a more egalitarian view of the participation of the people in worship, and not one that is dominated by the priestly caste, which quite a number among the Sadducees belonged to. They were in opposition to the Lord and His teachings, His ways and workings, and also those done by His Apostles and other disciples because of the disagreements in the manner how the Law should be observed, practiced and enforced. This had also led to bitter experiences and disagreements as recorded throughout the Gospels and the New Testament, like that with the Sadducees.

But we heard how the so-called united disagreement and plotting against the disciples of the Lord like St. Paul quickly disintegrated the moment St. Paul, ever so wise and astute, guided by the Holy Spirit, uttered before the whole Sanhedrin that he believed in the Resurrection and believed like how a Pharisee was, just as he himself was a Pharisee in his youth. We heard how the whole assembly ended up tearing apart and being divided, focusing on their own strife and disagreements with each other. Essentially this showed how God was not with the efforts and works of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, in trying to destroy and crush the early Christian Church and the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who did not have the Lord’s guidance and help, would see their efforts flounder and fail against those whom God had guided and strengthened, as what happened proved this point really well.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. John in which the continuation of the Lord’s prayers for His disciples and followers have been told to us. The Lord prayed for guidance, strength, wisdom and empowerment for all those who have answered and heeded His call, and that they all may remain united, one and strong together as a community of believers, the Church, the Body of Christ, amidst all the challenges and persecutions that they would be facing throughout all the time. The Lord prayed that they all may be One just as He and the Father are One, to be united in love and purpose with Him, and not be divided like those Pharisees and Sadducees in the Sanhedrin. All these showed just how much He truly cared for His Church and for all of His disciples and followers in the Church. He has always been with us throughout the whole entire journey, guiding and helping us, providing us with whatever we need in our path.

The Lord continued to help and guide His Church, and despite the many sufferings that His servants endured, including that of St. Paul himself, they all gladly did them and committed themselves because of their faith and trust in Him, and they knew that God was with them, by their side, protecting and providing for them at all times. They gave their all to serve the Lord and to do His will, entrusting their lives and missions to Him. That was how the Church kept on growing in strength, despite all the challenges and hardships that they were facing throughout all the time. This is why we are all reminded that we too should always continue to carry out the Lord’s works and all the things which God had entrusted to us to do in whatever circumstances and calling that He has presented to us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore renew our commitment to serve the Lord ever more faithfully with every moments we have in our lives. Let us all continue to do our best to live our lives worthily as Christians in all of our actions, words and deeds, so that by our lives, by our faithful and inspirational examples throughout life, like that of St. Paul and the other Apostles and disciples of the Lord, we will continue to inspire and help others all around us to come ever closer to God, and to remain united to Him and with Him, and not be divided because of our worldly desires and ambitions. May God be with His Church, and bless all of us in our every good efforts, works and endeavours. Amen.

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Wednesday, 15 May 2024 : 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 all reminded that we must always live our lives well and worthily as God’s holy and chosen people, as Christians, those whom God had blessed and embraced to be His own adopted children. This is because all of us are ourselves expected to be good and worthy role models for everyone around us, through our exemplary lives, actions and deeds. We must be always genuine in our every actions, words and deeds, living our whole existence to glorify the Lord and to proclaim His truth and love at all times. We must strive to be full of God’s love and truth, to abandon all sorts of wickedness and evils in our hearts and minds, so that we may truly serve Him wholeheartedly as His disciples and followers in our world today.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles about the moment when St. Paul the Apostle was saying his farewell to the Church elders and the other members of the faithful in the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor, in what is today part of Turkey. At that time, St. Paul was on his way to Jerusalem, as he was about to embark on his last missionary journey. The Lord had called upon St. Paul to follow Him and to do His will, as He was sending him to go to Rome, the then capital of the mighty Roman Empire that ruled over much of the Mediterranean region including the whole area of the Holy Land. St. Paul the Apostle definitely had the choice of not continuing with his mission or take refuge in one of the more stable Christian communities in the region, where friendly local Christian population might have made the rest of his mission and works relatively comfortable.

Yet, he chose to obey the Lord, follow Him and strengthen those elders and leaders of the faithful with his own example, obedience and commitment to God. Those elders had been entrusted with the leadership and guardianship over the people of God, and it was their good and worthy leadership which could lead to a great difference between the salvation or damnation of many of the souls of the people. St. Paul told those elders to remain firmly rooted and connected to God, to shepherd the flock of the Lord’s faithful worthily and according to what He had asked them all to do, and not to give in to the temptations of worldly glory and ambitions, or any sorts of attachment to our ego, desires and the attachment to the pleasures of this world.

St. Paul also warned the elders of how some might arise and lead the faithful into disarray and confusion as they did not work for the Lord but for the evil one and for their own selfish desires and ambitions. This warning would indeed come true and was truly prophetic given just how quickly after the Church had been established, even during the time of great persecutions, there quickly sprung many false teachers and leaders who did not profess the same faith and teachings as those that the Apostles had preserved in the Church as the deposit of the faith. Those false leaders and guides caused a lot of confusion and trouble in the Church, misleading the people of God and bringing about divisions that break the unity of the Body of Christ in schisms and heresies.

This reminder by St. Paul to the faithful and their leaders before he departed for his final mission still rings true even to this day. It is an important reminder and not just only to our Christian leaders and community figures but in fact also to each and every one of us as disciples and followers of Christ. This means that all of us must always strive to live our lives wholly committed and focused on the Lord, and we should always be ever vigilant not to allow ourselves to be tempted and swayed into the wrong and wicked paths because we allowed the evil one and the temptations of power, glory, ambition and desire present all around us to mislead us down the path of wickedness away from the Lord, His grace and salvation. Each and every one of us by our lives are also called and expected to show genuine and worthy Christian living and way of life, and not just those of our leaders only.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the continuation of the Lord Jesus’ prayer to His heavenly Father for His disciples and followers, which He made shortly before He were to begin His Passion, His suffering and death. He asked His Father to bless, guide and protect those whom He had called and chosen from the world so that they may be strengthened and empowered, that they may remain united and strong amidst all the challenges and trials, all the temptations, pressures and coercions which might exist all around them. He asked His Father to consecrate all of the disciples in the truth, to guide and help them with the wisdom and the strength, the knowledge and understanding needed for them to fully appreciate their Christian faith and truth, which He would bestow upon them through the Holy Spirit.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect upon these words from the Sacred Scriptures, let us all continue to strive to keep the focus of our lives and existence in the Lord, to put Him at the very heart and the forefront of our daily living and actions, in all of the words and deeds we commit, and in every interactions we made so that by our exemplary living and our good and worthy actions, words and deeds, we will be good and shining role models of our Christian life and faith for everyone around us. Each and every one of us must always bear witness to the Lord and to His truth, teachings and love, or else, we may in fact even scandalise Him and His Holy Name if in case our actions, words and deeds are contrary to what we believe in and what the Lord Himself had taught us. Then in that case, we will be held fully accountable for our actions, just as those heretics and false leaders likely had faced their just consequences from God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all henceforth renew our commitment to live our lives ever more faithfully to the Lord, to listen to Him and to obey His will at all times, and to become ever closer and more connected to Him through our prayerful life and through our greater love, commitment and devotion to Him. Let us all continue to glorify Him by our exemplary lives and be the good and worthy role models and inspirations for one another, both for our fellow Christians and also for all those others who have not yet known the Lord and His salvation, His truth and love, that through us, they may come to know Him and believe in Him as well. May the Lord bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.