salvation in God

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Wednesday, 21 May 2014 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Christopher Magallanes, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

John 15 : 1-8

I am the true vine and my Father is the vinegrower. If any of My branches does not bear fruit, He breaks it off; and He prunes every branches that does bear fruit, that it may bear even more fruit.

You are already made clean by the word I have spoken to you. Live in Me as I live in you. The branch cannot bear fruit by itself, but has to remain part of the vine; so neither can you, if you do not remain in Me.

I am the vine and you are the branches. As long as you remain in Me and I in you, you bear much fruit; but apart from Me you can do nothing. Whoever does not remain in Me is thrown away, as they do with branches, and they wither. Then they are gathered and thrown into the fire and burned.

If you remain in Me and My words in you, you may ask whatever you want, and it will be given to you. My Father is glorified when you bear much fruit; it is then that you become My disciples.

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

Liturgical Colour : White

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Sunday, 18 May 2014 : Fifth Sunday of Easter (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Peter 2 : 4-9

The Lord is the living stone rejected by people but chosen by God and precious to Him; set yourselves close to Him so that you, too, become living stones built into a spiritual temple, a holy community of priests offering spiritual sacrifices that please God through Jesus Christ.

Scripture says : “See, I lay in Zion a chosen and precious cornerstone; whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” This means honour for you who believed, but for unbelievers also the stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and it is a stone to stumble over, a rock which lays people low.

They stumble over it in rejecting the Word, but the plan of God is fulfilled in this. You are a chosen race, a community of priest-kings, a consecrated nation, a people God has made His own to proclaim His wonders. For He called you from your darkness to His own wonderful light.

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Saturday, 17 May 2014 : 4th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.

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Friday, 16 May 2014 : 4th Week of Easter (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Do not worry, brothers and sisters, and that is the key message of today’s readings. And why? This is because our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God is firmly on our side, and He will not abandon us, especially not to the forces of evil. He will safeguard us, protect us, shield us, and empower us, that we all will be safe at the end of our lives, and death will not be able to claim us, and nor will Satan have any power over us.

Brethren, God had prepared the places for us, which He made known to us through Jesus, He revealed to us that so long as we believe in Him and remain on the path which He had shown us, we will be safe. And what is this way? Jesus, and none other. Remember when Christ said that He is the way the truth and the life? That is because only through Jesus we can reach out to the Father, as He is the bridge between us and the Lord.

Mankind had long been sundered from the Lord due to their rebelliousness and sin, which prevented them from ever being able to reach out to the Lord. If you recall the story of Lazarus the poor and the rich man, told by Jesus, then you will realise that when the rich man died, he begged Abraham and Lazarus to come over to hell to ease his sufferings there, but as mentioned, there exists an immense and uncrossable chasm that exists between the two, that prevented either side from going to the other side.

The same chasm therefore, also exists between us and God, and this chasm is the consequence of our sins. God did not intend for mankind to suffer all these and to bear all the punishments intended for us, for He created us in all perfection, on that day when the first of our ancestors were still pure and unblemished, when they still walked without guilt in the garden of Eden with God.

It was because of the sins of Adam the first man, and his partner and wife, Eve, the first woman, that mankind were sundered away from the Lord and His love. We were cast out of the life in bliss and eternal happiness that God had prepared for us, away from the eternal companionship with God that He had intended for us and for our ancestors.

But, as I have often mentioned, God did not give up on us. That was why He was willing even to send a part of Himself, the Word who is Son, to assume flesh and be one of us, and finally to bring all mankind back to God through His death and glorious resurrection. That is God’s love for us, and He dedicated Himself completely for our sake.

The suffering of Jesus is due to our sins, and He volunteered to take upon our sins and all of their weight, and bear them dutifully as He walked on that path to Calvary, obeying the Father in all that He did. He was lifted up between the heavens and the earth, and on the cross, He offered His life and perfect obedience in exchange for our salvation and the remission of our sins, for those who believe in Him.

In doing so, Christ became the bridge that closes the gap between the Lord and us, but the chasm continue to remain there. For as long as we sin and continue to commit things that are displeasing to God, we will not be able to cross that chasm and reach the Lord. Jesus is the only way through whom we may reach out to the Father.

Yet, it is not just as simple as that, because for us to go to the Lord through Jesus, we must follow Him in all of His ways. We cannot be half-hearted in following Jesus, or as we cross that chasm, we will falter and fall into chasm, and thus into sin and damnation. If we allow even a single laxity in our faith in Jesus our Saviour, we allow sin to make its way back into is and corrupt us once again, separating ourselves once more from the Lord.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray fervently and sincerely, that in all the things we do, we will always follow the Lord with all of our heart, without  turning left or right, and without being influenced by the various temptations and pleasures which Satan had placed on our path. Be courageous to say no to him and ignore all the offers that he made, no matter how attractive they are. Do not let him distract us and make us fall on our way to the Lord.

May the Lord strengthen our faith, that He may make our faith in Jesus stronger, that we will cling closely unto Him and put in Him all of our trust. Let us never again be separated from God, and let us continue to walk faithfully with Him towards the Lord our loving God. Amen.

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Thursday, 15 May 2014 : 4th Week of Easter (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God has planned His coming into this world since a very long time ago. He had revealed His plans to the prophets who proclaimed the Lord’s coming, and yet the people failed to appreciate and understand in its fullness, the message passed down by the prophets of the Lord. In Jesus, all of God’s long awaited promise is fulfilled in its perfection.

The coming of the Lord is intended to be the end of the suffering of mankind in darkness, for through the Lord, a new light has dawned, and that light is not to be put out, and become the source of salvation and inspiration on all the people who sees Him. But not all the people welcomed the Lord when He came, and some of them even rejected Him and closed their hearts to Him when He came to knock at their doors.

Today’s first reading showed us the history of the Lord’s work of salvation, which He had long planned ever since mankind first fall to the temptations of Satan. St. Paul told the people of God the entirety of the history of salvation summarised in short words, but yet still clear enough to show the sincerity of God, and His seriousness to help us to return to His embrace.

God sent His Son to be with us, and to walk among us, so that we may see the Lord in Jesus, and walk in His ways, and therefore, obey the will of God and hence, be in the favour of God and be saved from their afflictions. Jesus is the true and real manifestation of God’s love for us, and the reminder to God’s people how they were saved from their various afflictions and persecutions, as He had done when He liberated them from the bonds of the Egyptians.

The Son of God came to perfect all the laws of the land, which He had revealed through Moses, the Law of God. He made everything clear through His explanations, and on the real and true purpose of the Law, that is love, God’s love for all of His creations, particularly mankind, the most beloved out of all His creatures. He explained with love, how much the Lord wants His children to be reunited and reconciled with Him, and showed them how to do so.

Jesus showed by example, encouraging His disciples to love one another just as He had first loved them. He sought sinners and fornicators, and those looked down upon by the society, gathering them and bringing them back to His loving embrace. He showed God’s love for them through His own love, and brought many of them back to the Lord and redeemed them.

Jesus shows how God’s mercy and love is available to everyone, even to the greatest of sinners and the most unworthy of the faithful. But this requires us to be open to this mercy and love, or otherwise, the Lord’s works will not be able to make a concrete change in us and transform us from creatures of sin into creatures of holiness and hope.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we commit ourselves to the Lord, that in all the things that we do, we do it for the sake of the Lord? Shall we focus all our attentions to the Lord and turn our ways to align with His? May the Lord guide us ever in our path, that in all things we do we may always bring glory to God. May our hearts always be open to the love and mercy of God, that we may ever seek the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness whenever we sin and therefore gain the grace and blessings of the Lord. Amen.

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Wednesday, 14 May 2014 : Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast day of St. Matthias, one of the Twelve Apostles, although originally he was not included among the Twelve, until after Judas Iscariot had betrayed the Lord and committed suicide for his sins against the Holy One of God. Only then that Matthias was selected, as we heard how it went in the first reading today, to replace Judas so that the number of the Apostles will always be full, that is twelve.

There are great symbolisms behind the number twelve chosen by the Lord to be the chief among His disciples and followers, and He set them aside to become His Apostles, to be the ones who led in the evangelisation of the Gospel and the spreading of the Good News to many nations. The number twelve is often associated with the number of the tribes of Israel, the sons of Jacob to whom the Lord had bequeathed the Promised Land long ago after their exodus from the land of Egypt.

The Apostles, if we read the Book of Revelation, are the ones who will judge the people and the tribes of Israel, at the end of time, and Jesus Himself said that they will be the judges of the people of God. They were the chief assistants of the Lord, to whom Jesus even promised that He went ahead of them to prepare the places for them. Such a good life for them, is it not?

But, brethren, you have to look at what they have to face in life, as they proceed on with what they had been entrusted with. They were charged to bring the people of God from many nations and return them to the embrace of God, their loving Father. This was no easy task, and they had enormous challenges in their ministry, facing rejection after rejection, and the open and blatant hostility of the Jewish leaders and priesthood, as well as opposition from various groups of people who refused to listen and believe in the truth.

And eventually they also met their end in various means, through martyrdom and suffering, in different parts of the world, when the people to whom they had dedicated themselves to, turn their back on them, rejecting them, and murdered them, shedding the Apostles’ blood, which in turn became the seed for the faith of more Christians, as inspirations for even more martyrs to rise up and defend their faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is what St. Matthias had been chosen for. It was not an easy task, but he and the other Apostles persevered nonetheless, and  they served as an inspiration for all of us. So how is this relevant to us who live in this modern era, in this modern day world? It is relevant because we are all also charged with the same mission to evangelise the world, to spread the Good News to all men.

And even these days, it does not mean that this work is getting any easier. On the contrary, it is getting more and more difficult, with challenges and oppositions from every possible sources and corners of the world, from both outside the Church and even from within the Church. Being a missionary and a worker of the Lord like the Apostles is not easy, but arguably, it is truly worth doing. Why? Because the Lord takes good care of all those who believe in Him and those who do His will, like the Apostles did.

Let us therefore be encouraged, that we will be faithful and committed to the cause of the Lord, that we may be fruitful in our attempts at evangelisation, and bring more souls closer to the salvation in God. May the Lord protect and guide us on our way, that through the help and intercession of St. Matthias the Apostle, we may become ever better disciples of God. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 11 May 2014 : 4th Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday and World Day of Prayer for Vocations (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Fear not, brothers and sisters in Christ! And be confident in Christ, everyone! Indeed, if we put our trust in the Lord, we have no reason to fear, for God is with us and He is on our side. God is the Good Shepherd who knows all of His sheep and who loves every single one of His sheep equally. He is genuinely concerned about each one of us, and He seeks none other than our reconciliation and reunion with Him.

Yes, the Lord will care for us and take care for us, and He will provide us everything we need, just as He had provided us with plentiful graces all these while. He knows each and every one of us, and thus, He also knows of our needs. He is not like Satan, the one who is the robber and the thief, who came pretending to be someone whom we can follow, who pretended to be our shepherd while he is not.

For Satan has in his disposal all the powers of the world, all of the wealth and riches that he can have and marshall at a whim, and to those of us who falls into his temptations, Satan offered mankind much pleasures of the world and things that help us to keep away from the path God had designed for us. But he does not care for us, for he is the false shepherd. In fact, it pleases him to see us stumble and suffer as a consequence of our waywardness by following him.

God is our true shepherd, because He leads by example. He showed us His love not just by mere sweet words or empty promises, as Satan had done and will continue to do, in his attempt to seduce us to follow his false path. God led by example and showed us concrete care and love, through none other than Jesus Christ, His own Son, whom He sent to us to be with us, and to walk among us, as our Shepherd, to guide us from where we err and from where we are lost.

If we follow Jesus, we can be sure that we will not be lost. If we follow Him with all of our hearts, we can only prosper and be happy. God has prepared all that we need before us, and He set out to bring us back into His flock. Yes, we are His lost sheep, lost in the wilderness and the darkness of this world. If we remember the parable of the shepherd and the lost sheep, we know how much effort the shepherd put in, in order to regain the lost one.

Such was therefore, the same effort which the Lord God our Shepherd put in, to find us and return us back into His loving embrace. Yes, to the point of giving Himself to us, dedicating His works which He made through Jesus, and going all the way to Calvary, enduring all the rejection and oppression just so that we may be saved. Such was His love for us, that He was willing to go through all that trouble for us.

The way to Calvary is the pathway of suffering, when our Lord and Shepherd endured for our sake the punishments. Always remember that whenever we look upon the crucifix, the Shepherd who is so dedicated to us, His sheep, that He laid down His life for us. Remember again, brethren! Jesus did not just make any empty promises or words. He truly meant what He said when He mentioned that a good shepherd laid down his life for his sheep.

Jesus gave Himself for us that we may avoid our fate that is death. If this is likened to sheep in a flock, it is like the sheep being threatened by certain death when wolves prey on them. And this is when the shepherd comes in between the sheep and the wolves, shielding them from harm, and while the shepherd is injured to the point of death, he also routed and killed the wolves, so that no more harm will come to the sheep.

But what is different is that for our case, the shepherd who gave his life for us, and who died for our sins, did not remain dead, but rose from the dead in glory, and in doing so, He became the guide who led us out of the darkness and into the light of new life, just as the shepherd leads the sheep into the eternal spring of life-giving and crystal-clear water. In the green pastures the shepherd let the sheep roam free in joy and happiness. Such is the promise of new life that Christ grant unto us.

Today we rejoice in the Lord who is our Good Shepherd, and who has done so much for us, His sheep. But not only just that, in His place, He had appointed many shepherds to care for us in His stead, as His representatives and the extension of His hands’ works in this world. These shepherds are our priests, bishops, the Cardinals, and eventually the Pope, the vicar of Christ and the chief among Christ’s appointed shepherds.

Today we pray for vocations to this office of shepherds. We pray for more young men, to be motivated to heed the call of the Lord for those who had been called and chosen by God to be His helpers and assistants in guiding and leading His people in the path towards righteousness. We pray for more vocations to arise among our young men today, that they be inspired to follow in the footsteps of the Apostles.

Indeed, it is even more urgent these days, and how true is the saying, that the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. This world has much opportunities for us to do the great works of the Lord, but increasingly, there are fewer and fewer workers of the Lord available to take care of His ever growing flock of sheep and wider pastures.

Less and less men are attracted to this vocation, as they are lured and tempted by the sweet offers of the pleasures of this world, through which Satan intends to do harm to us, by attacking the shepherds of the flock. Without the shepherds, the sheep will be scattered and become easy prey to the works of the devil, the waiting, ever-hungry wolves seeking to devour us, the sheep.

May God therefore awaken in the hearts of many people, and including those among us whom He had chosen to be His shepherds, that we may accept His calling with great humility and dedication, for the sake and the good of our brethren, our fellow men. May God bless us all, and strengthen our faith in Him, empowering us to be His faithful followers. Amen.

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Saturday, 10 May 2014 : 3rd Week of Easter (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Hope in God always, and never falter! For God will always stand by us and protect us, and He will never give up on us no matter what. It may often be difficult to remain faithful and keep the truth that He has revealed to us, because of various reasons.

The people failed to understand Christ and His teachings, because they were unable to comprehend Christ’s hard message, that is real and hard on them, because their minds think not in heavenly terms, but in terms of this world. They based their judgments and beliefs in the logic of this world, and the understanding in their minds.

They put themselves in the completely wrong focus, contending that because to them, Jesus is mere man, like them, it is definitely very gross for Him to say something such as, giving them His own flesh and blood for them to eat. Sadly, this was precisely the same sentiment espoused by so many people who claimed that they belong to the same Christian faith, and yet failed to accept the truth in the Lord, that God gave us His own flesh and blood, which He gave to us through the Eucharist.

Mankind like to think that they are the best, and that their opinions and wisdom are better than everything else, even including divine wisdom and revelations from the Lord. Thus, mankind stumble into the trap of human pride and greed, refusing to believe in the truth. What is this truth? That the Lord is present in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, the bread and wine changed in form and substance to that of the Body and the Blood of Christ, real and present.

Many failed to understand this, particularly those who literally read the Scriptures and failed to comprehend the fullness of the mysteries of God, and end up with having false and inaccurate deductions on the faith and the nature of the Lord itself. Many deduced that the Eucharist and the celebration of the Mass is merely a symbolism rather than real giving of the Lord’s Body and Blood. This erroneous view of the real truth was catastrophic and even until today, this condemns countless souls to perdition and eternal damnation.

The celebration of the Mass, the memorial reenactment of the Lord’s Supper every time we celebrate the Mass is not just a mere memorial, or a mere symbolic gesture or representation. Instead, every Mass is the same sacrifice that Jesus had made at Calvary, when He was crucified between the heaven and the earth, surrendering Himself to the will of the Father and opened Himself to us. He gave us generously His own Body and His Blood, which He offered for our sake, as the perfect sacrifice for the oblation of our sins.

Yes, the Mass is a sacrifice, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, just as Christ offered Himself as the worthy sacrifice, the worthy Lamb of God to be the settlement for our numerous and innumerable sins and faults. His is the only blood worthy to cleanse our sins, something that the old rituals of animal sacrifices at the time of the Temple, could not do.

Again even here, those who refused to believe in the truth were led astray by their own wisdom and arrogance, thinking that they know it all about God. They thought it to be impossible and unthinkable that Christ should be sacrificed again and again at the Mass, every time the bread and wine were transformed into the Real Presence of our Lord. They thought it blasphemous to think that the bread and wine in the Eucharist is the Real Presence, but the truth is that in fact it is blasphemous to think that the bread and wine are not real Body and real Blood of our Saviour.

The Mass is a mystery in itself, that when the priest, endowed with power given to him through the unbroken succession from the Apostles and hence from the Lord Himself, turned the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, this process is mystically linked to the same, one and only sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ almost two thousand years ago on the cross. It is not a reenactment, nor it is just symbolic, but in fact it is truly the real thing, and we all experience the saving power of God’s sacrifice and love.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, hence, it is imperative that we all be true disciples of Christ and be courageous proclaimers of His truth. Do not be afraid to tell the truth to others, particularly to those who believe in the lies of the world and those who prefer to depend only on themselves in faith. Let us be courageous and faithful disciples, spreading the Good News wherever we go. God guide our way and may He bless us always in all our endeavours. Amen.

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Tuesday, 6 May 2014 : 3rd Week of Easter (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Continuing from yesterday’s catechesis, again I have to emphasize, brothers and sisters, that we have to stand firm to the faith, and keep this faith we have in our Lord up and strong. The living God, who gave us His life that we may live, who suffered for our sins that we who believe will not suffer the consequences of our sins, and finally, the One who gave us the promise of eternal life, in all of us who receive Him and His ultimate gifts, which is none other than His own Precious Body and Blood.

Yes, in the Eucharist we receive the very essence of our Lord, which He gave to us as the bread of life and the wine of eternal salvation, that all of us who partake on Him will receive life in us, and as long as we remain bound in faith and truth to Him, we shall live and not die an eternal death, that is the eternal damnation of our souls to hell. In the Eucharist we have the promise of eternal life and eternal providence by our Lord and loving God.

We have to open the doors of our heart wide for Christ to come into our hearts and transform it profoundly, that He may also transform our whole beings, from beings of darkness and apathy into beings of light and love. Allow Christ to come into us, unworthy as we are, that He may help us to root ourselves in the way of truth that we may not fall into the eternal darkness and damnation.

Do not be like those who persistently refused to listen to the Lord, who persecuted Stephen the holy disciple, who persisted in his teachings and testimonies of the living God. Do not be like them who kept their ears shut against the words of truth, and kept their hearts closed against the Lord who ceaselessly tried to knock at the doors, to allow them to open those doors for the Lord to come in.

As Pope St. John Paul II had said, let us not be afraid, but open wide the doors, the doors of our hearts to the Lord. Do not close it and allow the Lord to come into us and transform us into beings of light and love, that we may be found worthy, and not only that, we may also be examples and role models for others who see us and therefore also believe in God. Let us keep our faith in God ever strong and living. We cannot have a static faith, but we must have one that is always based on love.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, remember always that Christ our Lord died for us and gave us His own flesh and blood, which He shed as He walked down that path to the cross, and hung upon the cross unto death. He suffered all those grievous wounds and sufferings for our sake. We are all condemned to die ever since our first ancestors first disobeyed the Lord. And that disobedience turned into sins, which corrupted us severely even until today.

This corruption mars our soul and destroys us even as we speak. However, as I had mentioned, all is not lost because Christ gave His all for us. He brought us from the depth of darkness, lift us up back into the light. And those of us who believes in Him, died to our past and old lives, and then, through the resurrection of our Lord, we also were brought up from the depths into a new life filled with love and the light of God.

We have to walk always in the light, and show our faith in God through all of our words, actions and deeds. Let us all use the opportunities we have to be the bearers of God’s truth that had been revealed to us. Be like Stephen who was courageous and faithful even unto the end. But remember, in charity and mercy, let us also follow his footsteps. Forgive those who persecute us and keep showering them with love.

May the Lord continue to guide us as we walk through this life, that our lives may ever be a reflection of the Lord. May God protect us and shield us from harm, and keep us always in His grace, and brings more souls to Himself. Amen.