Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the need for all of us to continue living our lives faithfully as Christians at all times, in carrying out the will of God and in doing what we can to proclaim His truth and Good News in all possible opportunities that God has provided to us, following the good examples that the Apostles and many other saints and holy people of God, our holy predecessors had done. Each one of us have been called and sent to do whatever the Lord has willed for us to do, in our respective various areas of responsibility, and in whichever places and communities that God has desired us to be, all according to His will. We are called to love everyone around us just as how God has loved us, especially those dearest and most beloved to us.

In our first reading today, we heard of the ministry of St. Paul the Apostle who had come to Rome at the end of his long travel from Jerusalem and after enduring a shipwreck that brought him to the island of Malta and gave him the opportunity to evangelise to the people there. St. Paul went to Rome upon answering God’s call, as He told St. Paul of everything that he would do for His glory, in fulfilling His wishes, that St. Paul ought to proclaim the Good News to the faithful at the very heart and centre of the Roman Empire. The Lord has sent St. Paul to perform His good works among His people, and through the Apostle, He laid the firm foundation of His Church, strengthened by the faith and the dedication of His Apostles like St. Paul, St. Peter and others.

As we heard in our Gospel passage today, we listened to the conversation between the Lord Jesus and His disciples, in which St. Peter asked the Lord about the saying that one of them, the youngest among them, St. John the Apostle, to whom the Lord had entrusted His own mother Mary, would not die till the day the Lord comes again. The Lord then told St. Peter that if He wanted St. John or anyone to live till the day He comes, that is His decision and His prerogative alone, and everything will indeed happen as He desires it to be. In a way, this would be fulfilled as St. John was the one to whom the Lord showed the heavenly and otherworldly vision of the end of time, which he recorded and wrote in the Book of Revelations. Through his works, we have been strengthened and encouraged, being reminded that God is always there for us.

Thus, in a way, St. John indeed did not die before he saw the coming of the Lord, as in his visions, St. John did indeed see the triumphant Second Coming of the Lord, and wrote about it in his Book so that all of us, the faithful people of God may remain firm in our faith and know what is coming ahead for us. All of us are reminded that each and every one of us as God’s followers are called to carry on with our mission, in our respective areas of responsibility and calling, in our own communities and in wherever the Lord has called and sent us to, just like how He has called and sent His Apostles. Each and every one of us are members and parts of the same Church of God, and hence, we are part of the ever growing efforts and works of the Church to reach out to more and more souls out there.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, at the penultimate day of the season of Easter, with the Solemnity of the Pentecost Sunday happening just tomorrow, all of us are therefore reminded that we are all part of the Church’s important evangelising mission and works, in reaching out to all those who are still not yet aware of the Lord, His truth and Good News, and everything that He has done for us. All of us are parts of this missionary work, the same mission which He Himself has entrusted and commanded to His disciples, that is to go forth to all the people of all the nations, and to baptise them all in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Through this mission and work entrusted to each one of us, we can do so much more to expand further the reach of the Church and the salvation for many.

All of us are strengthened and encouraged with the hope that the Lord has given us, and through the Holy Spirit that He has bestowed upon us, His Church. Through the guidance and strength that we have been provided with, we have gone truly very far in our journey of faith and work, and we have already grown ever stronger in our efforts and works to glorify Him and in doing whatever it is that the Lord has taught us to do. And each of our actions and contributions do matter, and we should not be disheartened if we think that we have not done a lot for the Lord. After all, each and every one of our actions are part of the greater works of the Church, and we must realise that no one can do all those great works all by themselves. All of us have to help and assist each other, and help one another in fulfilling what the Lord has called us all to do, and strengthen one another that we may always be firm in our faith and dedication.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence renew our commitment and desire to serve and follow the Lord, to do His will and to proclaim His Good News just as the Apostles and our other holy predecessors had done in the past. All of us have been given the various talents, abilities and gifts in order to do God’s will and to carry out our missions in life. Each and every one of us should do whatever we can so that we may inspire more and more souls to come closer towards God and His grace and love. We must also realise that eachh one of us are capable of doing just so many great and wonderful things if we put our heart into our efforts, and do whatever we can to obey the Lord and His commandments, and to do what we can to serve the Lord at all times.

May the Lord through His Holy Spirit continue to guide and strengthen us in our journey, empowering and walking with us throughout all the way. May He continue to give us the inspiration to keep going on in our respective efforts and works, in glorifying the Lord by our lives and examples as always. And let us all pray for the strength and perseverance so that we may always be faithful in this journey, altogether towards God. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the joy by which we should live our lives as Christians, and how we should proclaim the Lord with great joy, in our every day moments and lives, in our every actions and activities, in how we interact with others all around us. All of us are reminded to live our lives with great faith and dedication, following the examples of the Apostles and the many other disciples of the Lord, the holy missionaries and all those who have given their lives to the service of God, in proclaiming His truth and Good News, just as we have heard these from our Scripture passages today, the story of great deeds of evangelisation and missionary works, which we ourselves ought to be inspired to continue in our own way.

In our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of the story of the missionary works of a particular Jewish Christian preacher named Apollos or St. Apollos, who was a contemporary of St. Paul and the other Apostles and early Church missionaries. He was a Jewish Christian convert from Alexandria, and according to the Acts of the Apostles and other New Testament sources, he was likely one of the disciples or followers of St. John the Baptist, as it was mentioned how he knew only of the baptism of John and the teachings of St. John the Baptist. But what was unique about St. Apollos was his great zeal and charism, his eloquence and oratorical skills which was very empowering and brought many people, especially those in the Jewish diaspora community, to become Christian believers. After two disciples of the Lord, Priscilla and Aquila spoke to Apollos regarding the revelation of the Christian truth which Apollos had not yet received, St. Apollos continued his labours therefore with even greater zeal and success.

In this case we have seen how God did His wonderful works through various means and people, even those who have not been properly instructed as what happened with the preaching of the famous and charismatic St. Apollos. And at the same time, we also see the hands of the Lord being with His Church, as He sent the necessary guidance to help His servants to be properly instructed, strengthened and encouraged in the true ways of the faith, as how the faithful guided St. Apollos and other missionaries, and as the Apostles were encouraging and supporting each other. They had their fair share of disagreements and frictions as is expected of the Church built upon various people with differing backgrounds and perspectives, but all these did not stop them from doing their best to work together and overcoming their differences.

The Lord was with His disciples, His servants and all those who have answered His call to be the ones to bear witness to His truth and Good News. God did not leave them alone but provided them with the guidance of His Holy Spirit, which He stirred in the hearts of those who have dedicated themselves for the good and service of the Church. Through all of these God had made lots of good and wonderful works to be accomplished in different manner by His various servants, calling countless people to return to Him, extending the works of His salvation to many of those who have not yet known or recognised Him, and turned the hearts and minds of many among those who have once been opposed to Him. This is how God had indeed been with His Church throughout all this time.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples, telling them how one day the whole truth would be revealed to them, and how at that time, prior to His Passion, death and resurrection, He was still speaking in veiled languages, and how many among the disciples did not really understand or appreciate what He was trying to tell them. But He reassured them that everything would be revealed in due time, and indeed, the Lord revealed all to them, the truth that He spoke of and delivered to our midst, and the Holy Spirit has been sent to us, invigorating and strengthening us, while revealing the fullness of truth that God has been willing to share with us. Through the wisdom of God and the zeal that the Lord has placed in us via the Holy Spirit, all of us have been called and reminded to follow the Lord our God in each and every moments of our lives.

And the Lord Jesus reassured us all that everything we have asked in His Name, we shall receive from God, and we shall not be found wanting because God Himself will be by our side, providing for us at every step of our journey and life. This of course does not mean that we will not encounter difficulties and challenges in our path, and it does not mean that we will have it easy, but with the Lord by our side, providing for us, and by us having trust and faith in Him, we will eventually find our way through all those trials, challenges and difficulties, with God’s help and providence. We have to do our best as well, striving to do as best as possible in everything we do, while persevering with faith and trust that God will always be there with us through the struggles and difficulties.

All of us should be inspired by the examples presented by our predecessors in faith, that is all those who have embraced the Lord’s call and responded positively to His call, in living their lives well in accordance to the way of the Lord and in doing what they could in order to proclaim the Good News of God. We should look upon these examples in order to help and lead us down the right path, and as inspiration to help us to do what we can in our own way, in whatever capacity that the Lord has given us, through whatever graces and blessings that we have received. Each one of us as the disciples and followers of the Lord all share the same mission and responsibility, to bring forth God’s truth and Good News to all the people of all the nations so that more and more may come to believe in God and be saved through Him.

May the Lord be with us always therefore and may His Name be glorified, by each and every one of our actions, words and deeds. May He bless our every efforts and endeavours, guiding us all to walk ever more faithfully in His Presence, so that by our every actions, efforts and contributions, our every good works will be blessed by God and we will always be strengthened and encouraged to do God’s will at all times. May all of us continue to be truly genuine and devoted in our lives and actions as Christians, now and always. Amen.