Saturday

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Saturday, 10 May 2025 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. John of Avila, Priest and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 9 : 31-42

Meanwhile, the Church had peace. It was building up throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria with eyes turned to the Lord and filled with comfort from the Holy Spirit.

As Peter travelled around, he went to visit the saints who lived in Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas who was paralysed, and had been bedridden for eight years. Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed!”

And the man got up at once. All the people living in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. There was a disciple in Joppa named Tabitha, which means Dorcas or Gazelle. She was always doing good works and helping the poor. At that time she fell sick and died. After having washed her body, they laid her in the upstairs room.

As Lydda is near Joppa, the disciples, on hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, “Please come to us without delay.” So Peter went with them. On his arrival they took him upstairs to the room. All the widows crowded around him in tears, showing him the clothes that Dorcas had made while she was with them.

Peter made them them all leave the room and then he knelt down and prayed. Turning to the dead body he said, “Tabitha, stand up.” She opened her eyes, looked at Peter and sat up. Peter gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the saints and widows and presented her to them alive.

This became known throughout all of Joppa and many people believed in the Lord because of it.

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Saturday, 3 May 2025 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates not just one but two of the great Apostles of the Lord, two of the Twelve Apostles that the Lord had chosen to be His principal disciples and followers, the ones who belonged to His inner circle, those whom He had called and chosen to be the ones to continue to lead His works and all that He had entrusted to His Church. They are St. Philip and also St. James, the latter of which should not be confused with St. James the brother of St. John. The St. James that we are celebrating today is also known as St. James the Less, who was mentioned as such likely because of his smaller posture and not because of lesser in importance. Both of these great servants of God dedicated their lives to the Lord and did their best to carry out the missions entrusted to them.

First of all, let us look through our Scripture passages today before we delve into the lives and works of those two great Apostles. In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in the region of Corinth, we heard of the testimony of faith by St. Paul himself who exhorted the people of God to share the faith which they have in God so that many more people may come to believe in Him as well, just as he shared how he himself had received the faith through encounter with the Lord and the other Apostles. Through what we have heard today in this passage from the Epistle to the Corinthians we are reminded that we should always be ready to proclaim our faith wherever we are and to whoever it is that we encounter in life.

Then, from our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. In that account we heard the Lord Jesus interacting with His disciples who listened to Him teaching to them, and that was where St. Philip, whom we celebrate today, asked Him after He said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, for Him to show them the Father. The Lord then told the disciples that whenever they see Him, they had truly seen and known the Father, highlighting the special relationship between Him as the Son and the Heavenly Father. The Lord told them that since He came from the Father, and that He is indeed co-equal and co-eternal, consubstantial with the Father, therefore His Presence in their midst indeed shows the loving Presence of the Father, the Creator Lord Himself.

And this is why the Apostles, having witnessed the Lord Himself, being presented to them in the flesh, approachable and tangible to them, and having listened to the words and teachings of the Lord, the many miracles and signs that He has performed before them, they truly believed and had firm faith in the Lord. This firm and strong faith was what they passed on to the others around them, proclaiming the Risen Lord and His truth and Good News, touching the lives and hearts of many people, calling them to conversion and to follow the Lord wholeheartedly. This faith is what we have ourselves received through the Church, having been passed down to us through the many generations of Christians, many of whom have suffered and faced challenges and difficulties in living their faith in God.

For St. Philip and St. James themselves, they had devoted their lives in ministering to the people of God and to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to more and more people who have not yet heard of the Good News of God. St. Philip went to the region of Syria, Phrygia and Greece together with other Apostles like St. Bartholomew. St. Philip according to one Apostolic tradition was martyred together with St. Bartholomew in the city known as Hierapolis. It was told that through his preaching about the Lord and miracles that he performed, he converted the wife of the city’s pro-consul who was therefore enraged and ordered the Apostles to be arrested, persecuted and eventually martyred by crucifixion. But St. Philip remained firm in his faith to the very end, suffering martyrdom for the glory of God.

Meanwhile, St. James the Apostle, also known as St. James the Less was associated with other St. James the relative of Jesus and St. James, son of Alphaeus. The former was the first Bishop of Jerusalem, ministering to the faithful people of God in Jerusalem and Judea, while the other St. James also took part in missionary activities to the people in various places like that of St. Philip. Eventually, despite the relative lack of detailed evidence and historiography on these Apostles, what is certain is such that those holy servants of God gave their all in serving God, and they suffered persecutions and hardships from all those who hardened their hearts and closed the doors of their minds and hearts against the truth and Good News of God. St. James, like that of St. Philip also faced similar trials and sufferings. But both of them remained strong and courageous amidst the persecutions and kept their faith in the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, as we all reflect upon these words of the Scriptures and upon the lives of the Holy Apostles, St. Philip and St. James, who have dedicated themselves so wonderfully to the Lord and His cause, let us all also follow in their examples in how we ourselves should live faithful and committed lives as Christians, in loving God and in loving those whom we love and everyone else around us. We are the ones to continue the good works that the Apostles had started and there are indeed still a lot of areas where our contributions are important and needed. We must remember that our actions and efforts are part of the larger works and efforts of the Church, and hence we should be active in living our lives faithfully and contributing actively to the good of the Church, to the works of charity and evangelisation, among others.

May the glorious Risen Lord continue to be with us all, His faithful ones just as He has always guided His faithful servants, especially St. Philip and St. James, Holy Apostles, whose lives and works we remember today. May He continue to bless us in our every good works, our deeds and actions so that by our every endeavours, our dedication and commitment to Him, we may truly glorify Him and proclaim Him to our world today. Holy Apostles, St. Philip and St. James, pray for us all always. Amen.

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Saturday, 3 May 2025 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 14 : 6-14

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you know Me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know Him, and you have seen Him.”

Philip asked Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough.” Jesus said to him, “What! I have been with you so long and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever sees Me sees the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?”

“All that I say to you, I do not say of Myself. The Father Who dwells in Me is doing His own work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do. Truly, I say to you, the one who believes in Me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these, for I am going to the Father.”

“Everything you ask in My Name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Indeed, anything you ask, calling upon My Name, I will do.”

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Saturday, 3 May 2025 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 18 : 2-3, 4-5

The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Day talks it over with day; night hands on the knowledge to night.

No speech, no words, no voice is heard – but the call goes on throughout the universe, the message is felt to the ends of the earth.

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Saturday, 3 May 2025 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 Corinthians 15 : 1-8

Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the Good News that I preached to you and which you received and on which you stand firm. By that Gospel you are saved, provided that you hold to it as I preached it. Otherwise, you will have believed in vain.

In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that He was buried; that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. Afterwards He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest.

Then He appeared to James and after that to all the Apostles. And last of all, He appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me.

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Saturday, 26 April 2025 : Saturday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures and as we continue to journey through this blessed and most joyful season of Easter, we are all reminded again of the great love of God manifested to us through His Most Beloved Son, Our Saviour, Who has embraced death itself to save us all mankind from certain destruction due to our many sins and wickedness. Through His loving sacrifice on the Cross at Calvary, and by His selfless giving of Himself, Christ our Risen Lord has shown us all the ultimate love of God and His ever strong desire to be reunited and reconciled with us sinners. By His Resurrection, the Lord showed all of us that nothing can separate us all from His love, not even death itself. And this is something that should restore hope to our hearts and minds.

In our first reading today, we heard of the continuation of the discourse from the Acts of the Apostles in which the Apostle St. Peter and St. John had been defending their actions before the members of the Sanhedrin or the Jewish High Council after the latter arrested them in conjunction to their works at the Temple of Jerusalem, where a crippled man had been healed by them in the Name of Jesus. Those chief priests and other elders among the Sanhedrin had declared that it was forbidden for anyone to teach or to perform any miracles or works in the Name of Jesus Christ, the One Whom they had just condemned and accused falsely of blasphemy and treason, and sent to the Romans to be killed by crucifixion. And yet, not even all those things could stop the Lord, as news came soon of the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, how He was seen by His disciples after He had risen.

And despite their best efforts to keep these things hidden by forbidding the Lord’s disciples from speaking of it and oppressing them harshly with threats and punishments, they could not keep the truth forever. Then, despite the falsehoods they attempted to spread by paying off the guards of the Tomb of Jesus to tell their version of story that the disciples had come to steal the Body of the Lord, and claiming that the Lord had risen, all these were easily dispelled by the two disciples of the Lord performing wonderful miracles in His Name. If the Lord Jesus had indeed been a fraud and if His Resurrection had indeed been a lie, then none of those miracles should have happened, and the works of the Apostles should not have been possible for they were calling upon a False Messiah, if what the chief priests had been saying was true.

On the contrary, the Resurrection and its proofs, the witnesses by so many people who had seen the Risen Lord and also the many signs, miracles and wonders that accompanied those people who have testified for the Resurrection, all pointed to the fact that everything which they had proclaimed and professed have been all true and authentic. And the disciples were strengthened and encouraged by the Lord through the Holy Spirit so that they might be firm enough in their resolve to stand up for their faith and for the truth and beliefs that they uphold, in entrusting themselves to the Lord and His providence. Not even the threats of sufferings and persecutions by the chief priests and the other members of the Sanhedrin could dissuade the Apostles and all the others who have witnessed the Resurrection to remain silent and not to share their joy to others.

Then, in our Gospel reading today taken from the Gospel of St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the account of the occasions when the Risen Lord appeared to His disciples, to St. Mary Magdalene, who was first to bring the news of the Resurrection to the other disciples, and also the other two disciples who met the Risen Lord on their way to the village of Emmaus. All these accounts and evidences summarised what we have listened to in these past few days of the events of the Resurrection of the Lord and how there were truly many witnesses who had seen the Lord after He had risen from the dead, the same ones who had witnessed His death on the Cross. Hence, again, it is a reminder for all of us that what we believe in our faith about the Lord Jesus Who has suffered and died on His Cross, and rose gloriously from the dead is not just a fairytale and myth, but was rather a real and genuine occurrence.

That was how so many of the early Christians in particular were willing to suffer and die in defending their faith, with many of the Lord’s disciples facing persecutions and hardships, trials and oppressions, enduring martyrdom, as how most of the Apostles except for St. John the Apostle were martyred for theirri faith. They would not have been willing to suffer or endure such great tribulations had their faith not been backed up by genuine evidence and experience, and their faith have inspired many others around them who witnessed their great faith, and becoming therefore the ones to strengthen the faith of the next generations of the faithful. And this faith had been transmitted in this manner, again and again, down throughout history and through the generations, one after another, all the way to us living here today in this world.

This is therefore a reminder for all of us that as Christians, each and every one of us are called to be active and faithful missionaries and bearers of our faith to the nations, just as the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord had done, and as how our many predecessors, the holy saints and blesseds had done throughout the whole history of the Church. Just as many of them are our inspirations in life and in what they had done, therefore all of us should also be likewise and similar in the manner how we carry ourselves in our everyday moments. We must not be idle in the living of our faith, in how we live each day in accordance to the Lord’s commandments and precepts, in showing love first and foremost to the Lord, Who should be at the very centre of our lives and existence, and also in loving one another as God Himself has taught us all.

May the Risen Lord continue to bless us always and guide us in everything that we do, so that by each and every one of our commitment, our dedication to serve Him and to proclaim Him in our daily living, we may be good role models, inspirations and the worthy bearers of God’s Light and Good News to the world, and to more and more of those whom God had called and chosen to be His own. Let us all truly be a most joyful and courageous group of missionaries in doing our best each day in living our lives worthily in the Lord as much as we are able to. May God bless our every efforts and good works, and be with us, throughout this journey of faith and life. Amen.

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Saturday, 26 April 2025 : Saturday within Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 16 : 9-15

At that time, after Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary of Magdala, from whom He had driven out seven demons. She went and reported the news to His followers, who were now mourning and weeping. But when they heard that He lived, and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

After this He showed Himself in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. These men also went back and told the others, but they did not believe them. Later Jesus showed Himself to the Eleven while they were at table. He reproached them for their unbelief, and stubbornness, in refusing to believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

Then He told them, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.”

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Saturday, 26 April 2025 : Saturday within Easter Octave (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 117 : 1 and 14-15, 16ab-18, 19-21

Alleluia! Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His loving kindness endures forever. The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. Joyful shouts of victory are heard in the tents of the just : The right hand of the Lord strikes mightily.

The right hand of the Lord is lifted high, the right hand of the Lord strikes mightily! I shall not die, but live to proclaim what the Lord has done. The Lord has stricken me severely, but He has saved me from death.

Open to me the gates of the Just, and let me enter to give thanks. “This is the Lord’s gate, through which the upright enter.” I thank You for having answered me, for having rescued me.

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Saturday, 26 April 2025 : Saturday within Easter Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 4 : 13-21

The Jewish leaders, elders and teachers of the Law were astonished at the boldness of Peter and John, considering that they were uneducated and untrained men. They recognised also, that they had been with Jesus, but, as the man who had been cured stood beside them, they could make no reply.

So they ordered them to leave the council room while they consulted with one another. They asked, “What shall we do with these men? Everyone who lives in Jerusalem knows that a remarkable sign has been given through them, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them never again to speak to anyone in the Name of Jesus.”

So they called them back and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the Name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s eyes for us to obey you rather than God. We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Then the council threatened them once more and let them go. They could find no way of punishing them because of the people who glorified God for what happened.

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Saturday, 12 April 2025 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s Scripture readings, all of us are reminded of what the Lord had most generously done for us all, His beloved people and children. God has not forgotten about us and our sufferings in this world, and He wanted us all to be reconciled fully with Him, just as how He had treated His people, the Israelites, who have sinned and rebelled against Him, and yet, He showed them all His mercy and compassion, gathering all of them from the various corners of the world to be once again reunited with Him. All of us are also reminded that we should not continue to harden our hearts and minds against the Lord because of our pride, ego, ambition and desires, among other things, all of which can lead us down the path of destruction and damnation through sin.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, in which the Lord told His people in exile, scattered throughout many distant lands, in Babylon, Mesopotamia, Egypt and elsewhere of the love and compassion which He had for them, and His reassurances to them on how they would all be reunited and gathered back from the lands of their exile to their homeland, the lands which God had granted to their ancestors, the Israelites in the land of Israel and Judah. The people of Israel had frequently disobeyed the Lord and His commandments, refusing to listen to God and His many prophets sent to them to remind them, and that was why, separated from God’s grace and blessings, they were defeated and conquered by their enemies, humiliated and had to suffer the loss of their homes.

Not only that but they even had to witness and experience the destruction of the Temple of God which King Solomon had established in Jerusalem as the House of God and the focus of the people’s worship of God and community. That destruction and desolation serve as important reminder of the dangers and effects of sin which had separated the people of God from their loving Master and Creator. Fortunately, the Lord is truly full of love and mercy, ever rich and generous in His compassion and in His desire to love His people, that though they were sinners, they were always precious and beloved by God, Who gave all of the people the means and the path to reach out to Him, just as He has outrightly declared His salvation and liberation for all of them, that they would truly be blessed once again.

And this passage from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel is also in fact a prophecy of the Messiah or the Saviour, promising to the people of Israel the coming of God’s salvation which would happen through the House of David, just as God had once promised King David of Israel, His faithful servant. God renewed this promise again, and through Ezekiel, He made it clear that through the allusion of David, the One Whom He would send into this world, none other than His own Begotten Son, would be born into the House of David, and through Him, Our Lord and Saviour, God would gather all of His beloved ones and show unto us all how we can enter into His grace and love, and receive His forgiveness and be reconciled with Him. And we also heard of the promise of the Covenant which God would establish with us all, which all would indeed come true in Christ.

Then, through our Gospel passage today, we heard of the story of the events that transpired at the moment when the Lord was in Jerusalem for the time of the Passover, the moments leading towards the culmination of His mission in this world. It was at that time in which more and more among the Pharisees, chief priests and elders were opposing the Lord and began to call out for the elimination of this great threat to their power, influence and status in the community of the people of God. Many among the Pharisees, who were the intellectual elites of the people of God at the time, had issues and disagreements with the Lord and His teachings because they refused to accept that their way of observing and practicing the Law could have been flawed and mistaken.

And then, among the other influential groups like the Sadducees, to which belonged many of the chief priests and the members of the religious elite of the community, they also had issues and disagreements with the Lord because they did not see eye to eye on many matters and beliefs, and because ultimately, like the Pharisees, many among them were likely jealous at the great influence and the successes which the Lord Jesus had managed to gather during His time of ministry among the people of God and even among the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people. They feared that these would eventually lead to the loss of their prestige, status and influence among God’s people, and also 

That was why in the meeting of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council, many among their members sought to destroy the Lord Jesus, thinking of false accusations to condemn Him and to bring Him to be punished, plotting His destruction, which all happened just shortly before the Lord began the journey of His Passion, leading to His suffering and death on the Cross. And just as we have heard from our first reading today, from the prophet Ezekiel, as we have just discussed, we are reminded of how God fulfilled everything, all of His promises of love and salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ, Son and Heir of David, the One Whom had been sent into our midst in order to save all of us from certain destruction and damnation.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard and reflected from the messages of the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the need for us to turn away from our sins and from all the temptations of worldly glory, pride and ambitions, greed, desires for all sorts of worldly pleasures and attachments, all of which can lead us astray in the path and journey we have towards the Lord. We should not allow these to distract us in our focus on the Lord, but instead we should remind ourselves of the great love and compassion which God has shown us, that He was willing to send unto us His only Begotten Son, to be Man like us, and to suffer and endure the worst punishments and sufferings so that all of us can be saved from certain destruction.

All of us are reminded that we are sinners, imperfect and flawed, and we are indeed easily tempted by the temptations of worldly glory and pleasures. But at the same time, God has shown us the sure path out of this predicament, and through His own Son, He has shown us all His perfect and most wonderful love, which He extends upon us lovingly through the sacrifice and offering that Christ His Son has offered on the Altar of His Cross. By His wounds and hurt, by His sufferings and death, all of us have been shown the path to eternal life and salvation, as through the breaking of His Precious Body and the outpouring of His Precious Blood, God Himself has washed us away from the taint and corruption of our original sins, and led us all to Himself, making the Bridge that leads us all back to our loving Father and Creator.

Therefore, as we are about to enter into the most solemn and important events of Holy Week beginning tomorrow with Palm Sunday, let us all therefore renew our commitment to the Lord and strive to put ourselves wholly in His care and love, trusting in God’s ever wonderful mercy and compassion. Let us all put our focus and attention on all the events that we are going to celebrate in this Palm Sunday so that we will truly be drawn into them and grow ever stronger in our appreciation of everything that our Lord has done for us through His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross. May all of us have a truly holy and blessed Holy Week ahead. Amen.