Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 46 : 2-3, 6-7, 8-9
Clap your hands, all you peoples; acclaim God with shouts of joy. For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared; He is a great King all over the earth.
God ascends amid joyful shouts, the Lord amid trumpet blasts. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
God is King of all the earth; sing to Him a hymn of praise. For God now rules over the nations, God reigns from His holy throne.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 1 : 1-11
In the first part of my work, Theophilus, I wrote of all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when He ascended to heaven. But first He had instructed through the Holy Spirit, the Apostles He had chosen. After His passion, He presented Himself to them, giving many signs that He was alive, over a period of forty days He appeared to them and taught them concerning the kingdom of God.
Once when He had been eating with them, He told them, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the fulfilment of the Father’s promise about which I have spoken to you : John baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit within a few days.”
When they had come together, they asked Him, “Is it now that You will restore the Kingdom of Israel?” And He answered, “It is not for you to know the time and the steps that the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the earth.”
After Jesus said this, He was taken up before their eyes and a cloud hid Him from their sight. While they were still looking up to heaven where He went, suddenly, two men dressed in white stood beside them, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up at the sky? This Jesus Who has been taken from you into heaven, will return in the same way as you have seen Him go there.”
Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the truth which God has revealed to us through His Apostles and through the Holy Spirit by Whom He willingly taught us about Himself and all that He wants us to know, this same truth which He has passed on to the Apostles to His Church. He revealed all these to us because He wants us to put our trust in Him and turn away from our sinful ways so that we may be worthy of Him and be forgiven from our many sins and faults.
In our first reading today, we heard the accounts of St. Paul and his visit to Athens, in what is now Greece. Athens was a truly great and magnificent city, which influence and prestige was even more remarkable at the time of St. Paul. Although it was no longer as dominant and great as it was a few centuries earlier when it dominated much of Greece and the Aegean and Mediterranean region, Athens was still a great city and a major centre of learning and philosophy, having been renowned for its many thinkers and philosophers, such as Plato, Socrates, Aristotle among others.
And Athens was also one of the main centres of Greek pagan beliefs, as one of its main cultural centre. At that time, when St. Paul visited Athens, it was truly a pagan city, with statues and idols of the Greco-Roman gods everywhere, and with most of its people believing strongly in their beliefs. It is with this context that St. Paul stood up in Areopagus, in the main venue where Athenians and others would come to discuss and debate matters as they had done so for centuries. He spoke courageously about the Lord, the One and only True God in that occasion.
St. Paul revealed before all the people that God was indeed truly the One true God, Who created all things and Who made all things happen. The Greco-Roman belief worshipped nature and its wonders, with gods corresponding to different parts of the natural world, such as the well known Zeus or Jupiter as the king of the gods and the ruler of the skies, of thunder and lightning, and Poseidon or Neptune as the god of the seas and horses, Hades or Pluto as the god of the dead and the underworld, Hera or Juno as the queen of the gods and the goddess of the family, Demeter or Ceres as the goddess of agriculture, and many others, too many to be discussed here.
And all these things, according to St. Paul, was not real gods as they were mankind’s representation of the natural world, of wonders and things that they could not comprehend and did not know. But all those things, be it the sun, the moon, the thunder, storms, and even death, all these are nothing more than just objects created by God. Hence, St. Paul pointed out to the Athenians that as they kept on wondering and debating on the truth of life, and worship those pagan gods and idols, there is the One true God Who would reveal to them the truth.
St. Paul therefore revealed that salvation has come from the Lord, Who sent His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, as the Divine Word Incarnate, appearing in the flesh, as the true manifestation of divinity, revealing His truth to all. And that is why everyone has been called to the same truth, to know God Whom the Athenians ascribed as to the unknown God. St. Paul was making the Lord known to all those people who had not yet known Him. And we then heard the response from the people, many of whom made fun of him and refused to listen to the truth. Yet, there were some who were intrigued and interested by what St. Paul had said, and wanted him to speak to them more about the Lord.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord sent St. Paul to be one of His ministers in revealing the truth to His people, just as the other Apostles also went to various places to speak about the truth of God and the message of His salvation. St. Paul followed the Lord’s commands guided by the same Holy Spirit that the Lord promised His disciples as mentioned in our Gospel passage today. The Lord also gave us all the same Holy Spirit, and do you know that the same mission He has entrusted to His Apostles back then still apply to us as well? We are all called to continue the good works that the Apostles had begun.
In this present day world, all of us are called to be witnesses of the Lord in our respective communities, to reveal Him among all those whom we encounter in life through our own exemplary life and actions. By our commitment and dedication, we have a lot of potential and opportunities to reach out to many more people and let them know about the Lord and His truth, as what St. Paul had done in Athens and in various other places, revealing the truth about God with great courage. Are we able and willing to commit ourselves to follow in his footsteps, brothers and sisters in Christ?
Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, who were martyrs of the faith during the time of the early Roman Empire, who were either soldiers who converted to the faith and then martyred for courageously standing by their faith, or as servants of the niece of the Roman Emperor, who herself was a convert to the Christian faith. During the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian at that time, Christians went through a period of harsh persecution, and many including St. Nereus and St. Achilleus were martyred, both of them by beheading.
Then today we also mark the feast of St. Pancras, another martyr of the faith who was only a young boy at the time when he was martyred. Born to Roman citizens in the region of Phrygia in Asia Minor, his parents passed on early and he was taken care of by a relative. And then during the great persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperor Diocletian, as everyone were forced to offer sacrifices to the pagan gods, St. Pancras resisted and refused to do as ordered with determination. The Emperor, impressed with the young man’s determination, attempted to persuade him with wealth and power, but these were refused and thus St. Pancras was martyred.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard the inspiring lives of those faithful saints, our holy predecessors, then we should ask ourselves, what are we doing then in proclaiming the truth of God? Have we been genuine in our faith and have we dedicated ourselves to the Lord and His ways, even if we have to suffer persecution and trials for our commitment? If we have not lived our lives in the way we should according to our faith, then perhaps we should keep what we have heard in today’s Scripture passages in mind, as we discern how each and every one of us as Christians can live our lives more faithfully and be good role models and examples for those around us.
Let us all be inspired by St. Paul, the other saints and martyrs, especially St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, and St. Pancras. Let us seek the Lord with renewed vigour and be genuine disciples of His, following Him wholeheartedly and truly living our lives as He has taught and shown us how we should live our lives. May God be with us always and may He guide us in our journey of faith. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)
John 16 : 12-15
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now. When He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into the whole truth. He has nothing to say of Himself, but He will speak of what He hears, and He will tell you of the things to come.”
“He will take what is Mine and make it known to you; in doing this, He will glorify Me. All that the Father has is Mine; because of this, I have just told you that the Spirit will take what is Mine, and make it known to you.”
Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 148 : 1-2, 11-12, 13, 14
Alleluia! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him in the heavenly heights. Praise Him, all His Angels; praise Him, all His heavenly hosts.
Kings of the earth and nations, princes and all rulers of the world, young men and maidens, old and young together.
Let them praise the Name of the Lord. For His Name alone is exalted; His majesty is above earth and heaven.
He has given His people glory; He has a praise to His faithful, to Israel, the people close to Him. Alleluia.
Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)
Acts 17 : 15, 22 – Acts 18 : 1
Paul was taken as far as Athens by his escort, who then returned to Beroea with instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible. Then Paul stood up in the Areopagus hall and said, “Athenian citizens, I note that in every way you are very religious. As I walked around looking at your shrines, I even discovered an altar with this inscription : To an unknown God. Now, what you worship as unknown, I intend to make known to you.”
“God, Who made the world and all that is in it, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, being as He is Lord of heaven and earth. Nor does His worship depend on anything made by human hands, as if He were in need. Rather it is He Who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone.”
“From one stock He created the whole human race to live throughout all the earth, and He fixed the time and the boundaries of each nation. He wanted them to seek Him by themselves, even if it were only by groping for Him, succeed in finding Him. Yet He is not far from any one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being, as some of your poets have said : for we too are His offspring.”
“If we are indeed God’s offspring, we ought not to think of divinity as something like a statue of gold or silver or stone, a product of human art and imagination. But now God prefers to overlook this time of ignorance and He calls on all people to change their ways. He has already set a day on which He will judge the world with justice through a Man He has appointed. And, so that all may believe it, He has just given a sign by raising this Man from the dead.”
When they heard Paul speak of a resurrection from death, some made fun of him, while others said, “We must hear you on this topic some other time.” At that point Paul left. But a few did join him, and believed. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus court, a woman named Damaris, and some others. After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all reminded of the stubbornness of the world and its people in refusing to follow the Lord and believe in Him, despite all that the Lord had done for our sake, and despite all the guidance and patience with which He has given to us, in sending us prophets and messengers, leaders and guides to help us find our way. Instead of listening to Him, many of us and our predecessors persecuted His holy ones, His messengers and prophets, and made it difficult for them to carry out their mission.
It is what we heard in our first reading today in the Acts of the Apostles, the account of what happened when St. Paul and his companion, Silas was met with trouble in the city of Philippi in Greece, where the slave owners of the city rose up against them and got them to be arrested and thrown into prison. If you are wondering why is it that the slave owners rose up against the two servants of God, it was likely because both of them had such a great success in the city that the slave owners feared that the Christian faith would gain such a foothold there that the slaves would rise up against their owners.
That is because unlike the other pagan religions and beliefs, the Christian faith advocated justice and equality to all, that all are equally beloved by God, whether they are Jews, Greeks, Romans or people of any other origins or nationalities, and God does not distinguish between the rich and the poor, or the strong and the weak, and definitely neither whether they are free or enslaved. This is something that was against the social norms at the time, and was against the norms of slavery that was very common during that time throughout the Roman Empire.
That was the time when slaves were running large part of the economy, through their work in various segments of the community, treated with disdain and disregard, manipulated, exploited and humiliated, considered and deemed as less than human beings by many, shunned and rejected despite all that they had done for the greater community. Hence, the Christian message of love and hope certainly has a great hold on those people who have been marginalised and treated unequally, and this was something feared by those slave owners.
This is why St. Paul and Silas faced such difficulty, persecution and trouble, that they had to endure prison and suffering for the sake of the Lord. The greed and fears of man led to the refusal of those slave owners from listening to God’s truth and from obeying His laws and commandments. The Lord has patiently sought them, but many hardened their hearts and minds, refusing to accept that truth and the love which God’s servants had been bringing upon them. Yet, He still reached out to them and called on them to turn away from their sins and repent from their past mistakes.
The Lord mentioned in the Gospel passage today how the sin of the world is disbelief, the lack of faith in Him and the lack of trust, and often the inability to free oneself from the temptations of worldly pleasures, the allures of glory and power, the attraction of human desires and pride. And this is shown in the account of what happened to St. Paul and Silas. But yet, even through that suffering, as we heard, something good still came up, as when God rescued His servants, by causing a great earthquake to shatter the prison and free them, not only that He freed His disciples, but through that, more souls were saved, when the jailor and his whole family became believers through the efforts of St. Paul.
Through what we have heard, we have indeed seen a very symbolic occurrence, when the Lord freed His people, St. Paul and Silas from the prison and from their chains, while the jailor and his whole family, accepting the Lord as their Saviour, they have been released and freed from the chains and bondage of their sins. Ironically, it was those slave owners and slave masters who remained bonded to their sins due to their stubborn refusal to listen to the Lord and His truth.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard all of these things today, we are all reminded that in our own lives, we also should not be like those who have hardened their hearts and minds against the Lord. We have to reflect on our own lives and deeds, on our actions and interactions with one another, on whether we have been truly faithful to the Lord, or whether we have closed ourselves and rejected God, even if we do not actually realise it. These days, there are many people who are faithful in the Lord in name only, and not truly genuine in committing themselves to Him.
How do we know that we are truly faithful to God? It is when we allow God to lead us down the path, and to show us the way forward. Yet, are willing to spend the time and effort to get to know Him more and to listen to Him when He calls on us to follow Him? As long as we allow Him to enter into our hearts and are open to Him, then the path forward will remain open for us, and like the jailor, we too may turn away from our sins, and be saved together with all of our holy predecessors who have gone before us.
Today, we are all reminded to cooperate with the Lord, and learn to resist the temptations of the world, that we may remain faithful and that we may walk with Him courageously, guided through the gift of His Holy Spirit. We have been given the strength and courage through the Holy Spirit, and therefore are called to bear rich fruits in life by living our lives full of love for God and for our fellow brothers and sisters, and doing our best at every possible opportunities, to glorify the Lord through our lives. We should not allow sin and the temptations to sin to chain us and keep us in bondage.
May the Lord be with us always, and may He help lead us all to be free from the chains of temptations and sin, and may He lead us all to His light and truth, and may He also inspire each and every one of us to be the good witnesses of our faith, at all times. Let us all seek the Lord with all of our strength, with all of our heart, and let us all glorify His Name by our lives, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 16 : 5-11
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “But now I am going to the One Who sent Me, and none of you asks Me where I am going; instead you are overcome with grief, because of what I have said.”
“Believe Me, it is better for you that I go away, because as long as I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go away, it is to send Him to you, and when He comes, He will vindicate the truth before a sinful world; and He will vindicate the paths of righteousness and justice.”
“What is the world’s sin, in regard to Me? Disbelief. What is the path of righteousness? It is the path I walk, by which I go to the Father; and you shall see Me no more. What is the path of justice? It is the path on which the prince of this world will always stand condemned.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 137 : 1-2a, 2bcd-3, 7c-8
I thank You, o Lord with all my heart, for You have heard the word of my lips. I sing Your praise in the presence of the gods. I bow down towards Your holy Temple and give thanks to Your Name.
For Your love and faithfulness, for Your word which exceeds everything. You answered me when I called; You restored my soul and made me strong.
You save me from the wrath of my foes, with Your right hand You deliver me. How the Lord cares for me! Your kindness, o Lord, endures forever. Forsake not the work of Your hands.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 16 : 22-34
So the slave owners of Philippi set the crowd against Paul and Silas and the officials tore the clothes of them and ordered them to be flogged. And after inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to guard them safely. Upon receiving these instructions, he threw them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly a severe earthquake shook the place, rocking the prison to its foundations. Immediately all the doors flew open and the chains of all the prisoners fell off.
The jailer woke up to see the prison gates wide open. Thinking that the prisoners had escaped, he drew his sword to kill himself, but Paul shouted to him, “Do not harm yourself! We are all still here.” The jailer asked for a light, then rushed in, and fell at the feet of Paul and Silas. After he had secured the other prisoners, he led them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you and your household will be saved.” Then they spoke the word of God to him and to all his household. Even at that hour of the night, the jailer took care of them and washed their wounds; and he and his whole household were baptised at once. He led them to his house, spread a meal before them and joyfully celebrated with his whole household his newfound faith in God.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 