Seventh Week of Easter

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Monday, 25 May 2020 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the words of the Scripture through which we are told of the revelations of God’s love and truth to us all, to remind us during this season of Easter how we are always blessed to have God Who dearly loves each and every one of us without exception. God has blessed us with such a great love for each and every moments of our lives, and even more importantly, He has saved us and gave us the reassurance of eternal life and glory through Him.

In our first reading today, we heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit that was given by St. Paul to some of the people who have believed in the Lord and yet they had not yet received the baptism into the faith according to the teachings of the Church. In that occasion, the people who have believed in God and accepted Him as their Lord and Saviour received the Holy Spirit by the laying of the hands by the Apostle, completing their journey of initiation into the faith.

This was a time at the very early days and beginnings of the Church, when there had not been much of an established framework and structure of the Church and Christian hierarchy yet. That was a time when the faith rapidly spread all across the Mediterranean world and beyond, brought by the Apostles and their fellow missionaries, those who have been sent out and empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the truth of God to the many people of many nations.

But there were those like Apollos, although courageous and very charismatic, yet he had not had full and proper understanding of the Christian faith. It was likely Apollos who had revealed his then partial understanding of the Christian faith to the people in Ephesus earlier on. Apollos would later on receive help from some among the faithful who taught him more about the Christian faith, and Apollos went on with ever greater commitment to his ministry than before.

Thanks to the combined efforts of all these faithful servants of God, many became believers and came to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour and God. They trusted in the Lord and despite the trials and challenges they had to encounter, they placed their hope with God, as per what we have heard in our Gospel passage today, entrusting themselves to the One Who had overcome the world and has shown them the path to eternal life and glory through Him.

All of us have therefore received our faith through them, passed down to us through countless generations of brave and courageous predecessors, missionaries and all those who have heard and known of the Lord’s love, and show that same love in their own actions, words and deeds, convincing one another to remain faithful in this loving and compassionate God. And today, we have even more of these good examples and inspirations of our faith to follow.

St. Bede the Venerable, a renowned early English saint, was one of the most famous saints of the Middle Ages, and he was known for his extensive works and dedication to Christian learning, history and knowledge. He wrote many great works and wonderful tomes that were revolutionary for his time and were widely read many years afterwards. His piety and devotion to God was also well-known, and his works inspired many generations of Christian intellectuals and saints in the years after his life.

Meanwhile, Pope St. Gregory VII was one of the great Popes of the Middle Ages, who was a great reformer of the Church and the faith, well-known especially for his crucial role in the Investiture Controversy or the conflict between the Church and the secular authority of the Holy Roman Empire and its Emperor. At that time, the tension and conflict between the Pope and the supreme secular authority in Christendom, that is the Holy Roman Emperor was peaking, and the Emperor claimed the rights to appoint the bishops and leaders of the Church in his realm.

But Pope St. Gregory VII stood up against the Emperor and his many supporters, and he opposed the efforts of those who wanted to put the Church under their authority and power. He also was instrumental in reforming the Church and the corrupt and immoral practices of the Church at the time, purifying the institution of priesthood and restoring the discipline of the clergy among many other reforms he made. He encountered various opposition and difficulties, but that did not stop him from doing his best and dedicating himself to serve God.

And lastly, St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi was a Carmelite nun and mystic, who had devoted herself to God from a very young age, and was renowned for her great faith and commitment, joining the religious life and received from God visions that what made her well-known as a pious and devoted servant of God. She dedicated herself to God to the very last moments of her life, and her dedication inspired many others to be faithful.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard from the wonderful story and testimonies of these faithful saints, now, are we all more convinced to lead a life more attuned to God? Are we more willing to commit ourselves to God from now on? God has given us all these wonderful people throughout the ages who dedicated themselves to Him and therefore brought so many people including we ourselves to Him and to salvation in Him. It is now our turn to commit ourselves for the good of the Church and all people.

May the Lord help us and give us the strength and courage to live faithfully, with ever more devotion, with each and every passing moments, that we may dedicate ourselves much as the Apostles had, and as St. Bede the Venerable, Pope St. Gregory VII and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, and innumerable other saints had done with theirs. May the Lord bless us all, now and always in our every good works. Amen.

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Monday, 25 May 2020 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 16 : 29-33

At that time, the disciples said to Jesus, “Now You are speaking plainly and not in veiled language! Now we see that You know all things, even before we question You. Because of this we believe that You came from God.”

Jesus answered them, “You say that you believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave Me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with Me. I have told you all this, so that in Me you may have peace. You will have trouble in the world; but courage! I have overcome the world.”

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Monday, 25 May 2020 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 67 : 2-3, 4-5ac, 6-7ab

Arise, o God, scatter Your enemies; let Your foes flee before You. As smoke is blown by the wind, so blow them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish before You.

But let the righteous be glad and exult before God; let them sing to God and shout for joy. Sing to God, sing praises to His Name; the Lord is His Name. Rejoice in His presence.

Father of orphans and Protector of widows – such is our God is His holy dwelling. He gives shelter to the homeless, sets the prisoners free.

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Monday, 25 May 2020 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 19 : 1-8

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul travelled through the interior of the country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples whom he asked, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They answered, “We have not even heard that anyone may receive the Holy Spirit.” Paul then asked, “What kind of baptism have you received?” And they answered, “The baptism of John.”

Paul then explained, “John’s baptism was for conversion, but he himself said they should believe in the One Who was to come, and that One is Jesus.” Upon hearing this, they were baptised in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Then Paul laid his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came down upon them; and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. There were about twelve of them in all.

Paul went into the synagogue and for three months he preached and discussed there boldly, trying to convince them about the Kingdom of God.

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Sunday, 24 May 2020 : Seventh Sunday of Easter, World Communications Sunday and World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, Feast of Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshen (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday after the Solemnity of the Ascension, which is the seventh Sunday in the season of Easter, we celebrate the occasion of World Communications Sunday, and as we celebrate this day, I would like to focus our attention on the topic of communication, especially how we communicate as Christians, first of all in how we communicate with our God, and also how we communicate with our fellow brothers and sisters, our fellow men.

In our Scripture passages today, all of us heard how the Apostles were strengthened by what they have witnessed in the Ascension as described in the Acts of the Apostles, and in our second reading from the Epistle of St. Peter, we heard the Apostle encouraging the faithful people of God to remain steadfast in their faith amidst persecution and challenges that they faced, and said that they ought to remain strong in their struggle of the faith, as they endured the sufferings for the glory of the Lord.

This is one form of communication, the communication through written means, which the Apostles and their fellow disciples made use to strengthen the faith of the Christian faithful. The Acts of the Apostles was written by St. Luke the Evangelist, while St. Peter wrote the Epistle in our second reading today. Those words were meant to encourage the faithful by showing them all that they would always be guided by God and would not be abandoned, and linking to the occurrence of the Ascension, we are all also reminded that while God has ascended into His heavenly Glory, but He did not leave us all alone.

On the contrary, the Lord has promised to remain with all of His followers and faithful ones, as He showed on many occasions and which were recorded in the various parts of the Acts of the Apostles. Some of the Apostles like St. Peter and St. Paul were freed from their troubles, on particular occasions when both were imprisoned, and God sent an Angel to free St. Peter from his chains, and a great earthquake destroyed the prison in which St. Paul was in and rescued him from his imprisonment.

All of these and many other testimonies of faith, when recorded and passed on in the Books and manuscripts that after approximately three centuries were codified into the final and approved Scriptures as we know it, together with the Books of the Jewish Torah and the sayings of the prophets served as a great foundation of faith for many among the faithful, as the source of their faith and belief, as the inspiration and encouragement for them as the reminders for God’s words and promises for His people.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have received this same truth that the Apostles have received through these ways that our faith had been communicated to us. And we have to thank all those who have done their best to write the Books of the Scriptures, inspired by the Holy Spirit, as well as those who have been involved in the long process in the vetting and deciding which books ought to be part of the official canon of the Scripture, as there were many books that were not written with accurate faith, some others were even heretical and filled with aberrations and mistakes.

That was why we have to appreciate the efforts of our predecessors in faith, beginning from the time of the Apostles, those who laboured hard to preach about the Lord and His salvation, those who laboured to compile the writings of the Apostles and the Church fathers. This is because on top of the Scriptures mentioned earlier, our Church has another very important pillar and this pillar is the Apostolic Tradition of the Church, the teachings of the early Church fathers, who have various ways of communicating the faith to the people, be it written or verbal.

And of course we also have to thank all those who have been involved in the propagation of the faith, all the priests and bishops, all the missionaries and those involved in the teaching of the faith, catechists, all those who have made the faith available to us, to Christians throughout the ages. Without their hard work and dedication, so many more people would not have known about God and so many more souls would have been lost to damnation, and that could have very well include us all.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, now having heard of all these, we should remind ourselves that we as part of the Universal Church are also therefore responsible and are part of the Church’s effort to reach out and evangelise to the world. Of course there are all those who have dedicated themselves to this particular mission of communicating the faith to the whole world, especially those who are ordained as priests, the deacons and the bishops, as well as those who dedicated themselves as Christian educators and catechists. But that does not mean then that we can sit back and enjoy, and ignore our responsibility in reaching out through effective and genuine communication.

We do not need to do great and marvellous actions or deeds, or preach using big and difficult words. On the contrary, it is our small actions that matter, our daily lives and our daily actions, how we live our lives and also how we interact with one another, both within our Christian communities, within our families, and also with our friends and acquaintances. If we have not been practicing our faith, leading a life filled with sin and disobedience against God, how can we then persuade or convince others to believe in God too? Would we not be hypocrites who say one thing and yet act in a different manner?

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, I also want us to go deeper into the second emphasis of today’s readings, in our Gospel, where we heard the Lord Jesus praying to His Father in heaven, praying for the sake of His disciples, part of which we have heard in our Gospel passage this Sunday. As we all should know, prayer is a form of communication between us and God, and being a form of communication, between us and someone Whom we should love dearly, then it should be genuine and intimate.

What do I mean by that, brothers and sisters in Christ? That means just as we have to communicate regularly with our loved ones, our friends, our family members and relatives, our spouses and others dear to us, then above all these, we must have the same genuine communication with God, and the best way to do this is through prayer. And prayer being a form of communication is a two-way interaction between us and God, a very important fact that some of us may easily overlook and forget.

If we think that prayer is useless, or that it is boring, then perhaps we may want to relook into what our prayer life is like and also how we conduct our prayers. Maybe we have not been praying right and we have had misconceptions about what prayer is in reality. Prayer is not a quick solution for our problems, unlike what some among us may think, and prayer is not about asking God to solve our problems in the way we want it solved, or worse still, it is not something that gives us the right to demand God to act for us.

It is alright for us to deliver our petitions to God through our prayers, as after all, a child often has some things and requests to be asked of his parent, and we ourselves often have things we would like our counterpart in the conversation, be it our friends, or family or relatives, do for our sake. But we must not treat prayer as something we can exploit God as a wonderworker to solve all of our issues and matters. We must instead form a genuine and strong relationship with God.

If we are not sure how to do that, let us all look at the examples showed by Christ Himself, as He prayed to His heavenly Father, as the Son, representing all of us mankind as our High Priest, lifting up the prayers of the faithful to God. He thanked God and blessed His Name for all He had done, and then He asked through prayers, blessings and strength not for Himself, but rather for His own disciples, that all of His disciples might be strengthened in their faith and be able to endure challenges and trials they would come to face.

And that is what prayer should be, brothers and sisters, that it should be free from selfishness, desire and pride. Prayer is a form of the connection we make with God because we love Him and want to spend precious time with Him. And in prayer, we also need to listen, to listen to the words of God speaking to us in the depth of our hearts. For if we say that prayer is a two-way communication, then we should be able to listen just as God is listening to us. By establishing a healthier and better relationship with God, we will be better able to lead a more Christian way of life.

And as a result, if we are gradually able to live better in a more Christian-like manner, surely more and more people will see in us that true Christian behaviour and way of life, and as a result, our very own lives and actions become effective witnesses for Christ’s truth, and a very effective method of communicating our Christian faith to all those who have not yet known Christ. Often times, we do not need to talk loudly or speak eloquently to convince others. Rather, it is by our action that we can draw more people to be closer to God and to reveal His truth to them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, today we are all challenged to deepen once again our relationship with God and seek to renew our prayer life, that if once our prayer life have not been effective and active, then we should pray from now on with the desire to listen to God and to know His will, just as we also speak our hearts and our minds before Him. We are challenged to be better communicators in our communication and relationship with God, and thereafter, our communication and relationship with our fellow brothers and sisters as well.

And today, we also happen to celebrate the Feast of Mary, Our Lady the Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshan, and a Day therefore for Universal Prayer for our fellow brethren of the Church in China. On this day, let us all keep in mind our suffering brothers and sisters in Christ in China, who have suffered and endured various forms of persecutions and challenges in the past many years and decades. We pray for all of them and hope that God will help them all, through the intercession of His Blessed Mother, the Help of all Christians.

Let us all unite our prayers and intentions therefore, and from now on, as one united Church, be ever more united and vibrant in how we pray, in how we desire to seek the Lord and love Him, and also in our love and compassionate care for our fellow brethren, especially to those who need our help, those who are oppressed and are facing difficulties, such as our brethren of the Church in China among many others out there as well. May God be with them and help them, and may He help us all and guide us all in our own journey as well. Amen.

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Sunday, 24 May 2020 : Seventh Sunday of Easter, World Communications Sunday and World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, Feast of Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshen (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 17 : 1-11a

At that time, after Jesus said all that He had said to His disciples, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come! Give glory to Your Son, that the Son may give glory to You. You have given Him power over all humanity, so that He may give eternal life to all those You entrusted to Him. For this is eternal life : to know You, the only true God, and the One You sent, Jesus Christ.”

“I have glorified You on earth and finished the work that You gave Me to do. Now, Father, give Me, in Your presence, the same glory I had with You before the world began. I have made Your Name known to those You gave Me from the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they kept Your word. And now they know that whatever You entrusted to Me, is indeed from You.”

“I have given them the teaching I received from You, and they received it, and know in truth that I came from You; and they believe that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those who belong to You, and whom You have given to Me. Indeed all I have is Yours and all You have is Mine; and now they are My glory.”

“I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I come to You.”

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Sunday, 24 May 2020 : Seventh Sunday of Easter, World Communications Sunday and World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, Feast of Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshen (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Peter 4 : 13-16

Instead, you should be glad to share in the sufferings of Christ because, on the day His Glory is revealed, you will also fully rejoice. You are fortunate if you are insulted because of the Name of Christ, for the Spirit of glory rests on you.

I suppose that none of you should suffer for being a murderer, a thief, a criminal or an informer; but if anyone suffers on account of being a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace; rather let this Name bring glory to God.

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Sunday, 24 May 2020 : Seventh Sunday of Easter, World Communications Sunday and World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, Feast of Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshen (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 26 : 1, 4, 7-8a

The Lord is my Light and my Salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the Rampart of my life; I will not be afraid.

One thing I ask of the Lord, one thing I seek – that I may dwell in His house all the days of my life, to gaze at His jewel and to visit His sanctuary.

Hear my voice when I call, o Lord, have mercy on me and answer. My heart says to You, “I seek Your face, o Lord.”

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Sunday, 24 May 2020 : Seventh Sunday of Easter, World Communications Sunday and World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, Feast of Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshen (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 1 : 12-14

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olives, which is a fifteen minute walk away. On entering the city they went to the room upstairs where they were staying. Present there were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, son of Alpheus; Simon the Zealot and Judas son of James.

All of these, together, gave themselves to constant prayer. With them were some women, and also Mary, the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.

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Sunday, 4 June 2017 : Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday all of us celebrate the great Solemnity of the Pentecost Sunday, the day when it was told that the Holy Spirit of God came down from heaven, and descended upon each and every one of the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord. And filled with the Holy Spirit, they went forth out of their hiding place, and openly proclaimed the truth of God and His Good News.

That is why, this occasion is a very important one in the history of the Church, for indeed, it is not an exaggeration to say that today we mark the time of the beginning and birthday of the Church. For before the Pentecost, if we read through the Gospels and the first part of the Acts of the Apostles, all the disciples of the Lord met in hiding places, hidden from view, because they feared the oppression by the Jewish authorities. But after the Pentecost, all of them courageously set forth, to do what the Lord had commanded them to do.

And on that day, three thousand people were also made new disciples of the Lord, by the baptism which the Apostles administered to them, whose hearts have been touched by the Holy Spirit of God. It was from that moment, that the Church began to grow and flourish, with more and more people turning to the Lord day after day, the sign of the work of the Holy Spirit, as the Scripture says, ‘Send for Your Spirit, o Lord, and renew the face of the earth.’

Indeed, as the passage said, the descent and bestowal of the Holy Spirit from God transformed the disciples of the Lord so completely that all who saw and heard them must have been completely amazed. Here were people who had once hidden themselves and ran away from the Lord, abandoning Him when He was arrested during His Passion, and yet, after the Holy Spirit was given to them, they were willing to even shed their blood and lay down their lives for the sake of the Lord.

They have devoted their whole lives thereafter to serve the Lord, preaching the Good News with zeal and commitment, even though they were mostly uneducated and illiterate. Yet, the Holy Spirit guided them and gave them the wisdom and knowledge, such that even the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were amazed by their great wisdom and by the authority with which they preached about the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the same Holy Spirit which God had given to them, had been passed on through generations after generations of the disciples of the Lord, through His Church, as it grew and developed, and more and more people came to know of the Lord and followed Him. The Holy Spirit does its work through the Church, and it gave courage and strength to many followers of the Lord in times of difficulty and challenges, and comfort in times of sorrow and sadness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Holy Spirit is often portrayed either as a white dove, or tongues of flame, as in the Gospels, the moment when Jesus our Lord was baptised, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descended as a Dove over Jesus, as the Father spoke to all about His Son, His Beloved One. And then, at the time of the Pentecost, the tongues of flame, the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles and inflamed their hearts with zeal, just as the Lord Jesus inflamed the hearts of the two disciples who were on their way to Emmaus.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of life, which God has given to give a new life to His people, a new and blessed life, as seen by the prophet Ezekiel. In the Pentecost Vigil readings, one of them spoke about the vision which the prophet Ezekiel saw of a vast valley filled with dry bones, which the breath of God filled them with new life, and the bones became new people, a vast throng of the people of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we all receive the Holy Spirit, we shall receive this new life from God, a new life that is no longer bound and chained by sin, but one that is free, as the life of those who have lived in the Spirit. We are no longer people of the flesh, living by the desires of our flesh and bodily existence, but instead, we have become people of the Spirit of God.

And the Holy Spirit, as our faith and the Church taught us, has seven gifts which It has bestowed us, the gift of wisdom, the gift of understanding, the gift of counsel, the gift of fortitude, the gift of knowledge, the gift of piety and the gift of the fear of the Lord. These are the gifts which had been given to us, as the Holy Spirit descended upon us who have been received the Sacrament of Baptism, and reaffirmed in us through the Sacrament of Confirmation.

However, these gifts are just like seeds sowed in the field, which will not germinate, blossom or bear fruits if they are not taken care of properly. That is also what the Lord Jesus spoke of in His parable of the sower, when He spoke of how the seeds of faith are sowed, but only in a fertile and good soil, that they will grow properly and bear rich fruits, in many multiples, hundredfolds and more from what have been sowed.

In the same manner, without proper action, all of the gifts which the Holy Spirit has given us will not materialise if we do not do anything, worse still if we do what is contrary to what the Lord had taught and told us to do. That is what the Lord mentioned as the fate of all those seeds which fell away from the fertile soil, be it that temptations choke away the faith we have, or that we become ignorant of the truth which the Lord Himself brought us.

Therefore, it is important that all of us Christians understand fully what it means to become a Christian, that is as those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, as our Lord, Master and Saviour. And it is important for us that we do as Christians ought to do, or else, we will scandalise our Lord, our faith and His Church. And then instead of bearing good fruits of the Holy Spirit, we will only bring about condemnation upon ourselves.

How do we then lead our lives? It is by looking at the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit and have them as our inspiration. First of all, we must have the gift of wisdom, the wisdom to discern the things good from bad, to choose what is right from what is wrong, and of course, secondly, the understanding that if we do what is right and just in the sight of the Lord, we will never falter and fall into damnation, for it is by doing what is wrong and evil that have brought us further away from God and His salvation.

Third of all, we need to have the gift of counsel, and nurture it, and what does it mean? It means that now that we have the wisdom and understanding of what is right and wrong, what is just and wicked, now we need to be examples for others and encourage others to do what is right and just, and avoid all sorts of wickedness and evil in our respective lives. We must give good counsel and guidance to each other, and help one another to avoid the temptations and false promises of the devil, which he designed to bring us to destruction.

And then, fourth, we must have the gift of fortitude, the ability to remain strong amidst the temptations and challenges that we are sure to face in the midst of staying faithful to God. There will be pressure and persuasion for us to divert ourselves from the way towards the Lord. However, if we remain firmly faithful to the Lord, we will not be disappointed, for God Himself will bless us and give us His eternal grace.

There will be persecutions and difficulties, but which one do we want to choose, brethren? A temporary false happiness that result in an eternity of damnation and suffering, or a temporary suffering and pain that lead into an eternity of true joy and happiness with God? That is why fifth of all, the gift of knowledge is important, that we know what lies ahead of us. We have to know what the Lord wants us to do with our lives, and what He is leading us to, that is the path towards salvation.

And sixth of all, the gift of piety and the last, the gift of the fear of the Lord is important, for it is indeed easy for us to lose our way in life, and lose focus on what we are to do in this life, but if we remember first of all, that the Lord is our Master, and the One Whom we ought to love for His love and kindness, and yet at the same time, fear because of His anger against our sins and wickedness, then we will definitely think twice before we are to commit any sorts of actions that bring about sin into our hearts.

And last of all, in all these gifts, the greatest gift the Holy Spirit has given us all, is the gift of love. For it is the love of God that had made everything possible, that He has given us life and created us, from nothingness He made us all, because He loves each and every one of us and cares for us wholeheartedly. He gave us His Spirit so that we may have life in us, and not just any life, but true life that He blessed and made perfect.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we rejoice today in remembrance of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Church, let us all remember that the same Holy Spirit has been given to each and every one of us, with all the gifts and blessings that has been granted to us. It is now then time for us to do whatever we can, through our righteous and just actions in life, to provide the best conditions for ourselves, so that the fruits of the Holy Spirit may be brought up from us, and we may be bountiful in graces before the Lord.

May the Holy Spirit be with us, inflame our hearts with zeal, love and devotion, so that we may grow to love the Lord with ever greater effort and commitment. May the Holy Spirit give us the courage to continue our good works, in loving and caring for our fellow brethren, and may the Holy Spirit transform us all completely as what had happened to the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord, that we who were once timid and ignorant of our faith, may now become brave and courageous workers of the faith.

May God bless us all, brothers and sisters in Christ, and may He continue to watch over us and keep us in His love at all times. Let us all be the modern day Apostles and disciples of the Lord, bearing His light and salvation to more people of all the nations, by our actions and by our deeds. Come, Holy Spirit, come and inflame us with Your light. Amen.