Sixth Week of Easter

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Monday, 18 May 2020 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of Pope St. John I, Pope and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we heard the Good News the Scripture and Gospel passages, we are called to trust in God and to follow Him wherever He leads us to. We are called to be true Christians in our lives and our every words and deeds, so that by all of them, people may truly realise, know and understand that we are God’s beloved ones, and that His love will also be extended to them should they choose to follow us and walk down the same path that we have walked.

In our first reading today taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard how the Apostle St. Paul and his companion travelled to the land of Macedonia in the northern region of Greece following the vision he has received from God, when he heard the call of some people calling them to the Macedonian lands to preach the Good News and proclaim the salvation of God there. St. Paul preached the word of God, and went to find some of the faithful where they usually gathered, and as we heard, managed to gain the trust of a God-fearing woman, Lydia of Thyatira, and also some others.

They heard the words of the Lord and believed, and gave themselves to be baptised by the hands of the Apostles. It was likely that the Apostles preached with such wisdom and great courage, testifying on whatever they had experienced and encountered during their journey that the people were convinced and turned to believe in God. Most importantly, they must have believed because they were convinced by the genuine words and actions of the missionaries of the faith.

The Apostles, the disciples and the early Christian communities lived according to the way that the Lord had shown them, as beacons of light, hope and truth in the midst of the darkness and wickedness rampant all over the world. Especially in the communities at that time which did not know God or follow His ways, steeped in plenty of hedonism and worldly excesses, immoral and selfish behaviours, the truth of God, His Law and love are bright revelation that in the end, were sought by many seeking truth and meaning to their lives.

This is what the Apostles had been called to do, to bring the love of God into the world, to reveal to them the path of truth and the way towards salvation, and as revealed in our Gospel passage today, to proclaim Christ, the True Vine to all the people of all the nations, calling them to be part of the Vine of the Lord, the Church by which all will be saved. And as shown in the Acts of the Apostles, while there were many who rejected the truth of God, there were also those like Lydia and those who were open to the Lord’s truth who chose to accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, to be part of the Vine, that is to follow the Lord, our True Vine means that each and every one of us must draw life and strength from God, as indeed, separated from the True Vine, we shall wither and perish. Many may be wondering how our Christian faith and the Church was able to survive over the past two millennia with all the challenges, trials and troubles we encountered along all those years, but in truth, the answer is really clear, that as long as we are connected and attuned to the True Vine, our Lord, we shall endure and triumph in the end.

Today, all of us are called to reflect on what the Apostles had done, all the efforts of the missionaries in reaching out to the many communities and people who had not yet known God at that time, and did their best to bring God’s truth and salvation to them. They have all sacrificed time and effort to fulfil what they had been called to do, and we will do well to remember their great faith and dedication to God, their commitment to evangelisation and the salvation of many souls.

Now, we are all the successors and inheritors of their many good works, and we are called to dedicate ourselves much as the Apostles and the many faithful servants of God, the saints and martyrs, who had devotion and spent much time and effort to reach out to the ones who have not yet heard of God, His salvation, love and many good works. There are still many things left undone and incomplete in the works of Church, and we are the ones who ought to carry on these missions and shoulder the responsibilities of our Christian calling.

Today, we celebrate the feast of one of these holy predecessors, namely Pope St. John I, a great and courageous leader of the Universal Church and a holy martyr of the Church and the faith. Pope St. John I was the Pope during the turbulent years following the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, and in which time the Arian heresy still had strong influences over some of the barbarian states that took over the rule over parts of the Christendom at that time. Pope St. John I presided over the Church especially in the West, under the reign of the Ostrogoths under King Theodoric the Great, who was a firm Arian in his belief.

King Theodoric charged Pope St. John I with a very difficult task of trying to get concessions for the Arian position and faith with the Roman Emperor in Constantinople, and this was particularly difficult since first of all, Arianism had been condemned as a dangerous heresy, and the relationship between the Ostrogothic Kingdom and the Roman Empire had not been good for the years of Pope St. John I’s Pontificate, and it was getting worse as the religious issues became entangled in the socio-political matters.

Nonetheless, Pope St. John I did his best to accommodate and bridge between both parties, in his role as the Pontifex Maximus or the Supreme Pontiff, in ‘building bridges’ between the communities of the faithful with one another and with God. It is likely that Pope St. John I hoped that by gaining concessions for the Ostrogothic King, eventually the King might be brought to reason and may be more open to accept the true and orthodox Christian faith free from heretical ways and thoughts.

Pope St. John I carried out his mission dutifully and conscientiously despite the challenges he had to endure. He was highly respected by the Emperor and received a grand welcome when he visited the Emperor’s court in Constantinople, the Imperial capital, but he did not manage to get the concessions desired by the Ostrogothic King. As a result, upon his return to Rome, the King arrested the Pope and put him in prison, and it was told that the Pope died a martyr for defending his faith and his Church, remaining true to his mission to the very end.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the examples set by Pope St. John I showed us that even a Pope and leader of the Church also had to endure great sufferings and challenges as part of his ministry and works, in the efforts of evangelisation and the salvation of souls. How can we then ignore our own part and not embrace our own calling to do what the Lord has commanded us to do, that is to proclaim His truth and salvation to all the peoples? Let us reflect on this and discern what we can do with our lives to fulfil our Christian calling and mission.

Let us all turn towards God, our True Vine, the source of all of our lives and our strength, the font of all wisdom and hope that we may remain hopeful even amidst these difficult times we are living through now. All the Apostles and the holy saints and martyrs had put their trust in God and dedicated themselves to Him. They were able to persevere through the challenges and trials because of this trust and faith, which we also now need to have with us. Are we able then to commit ourselves to the Lord with a renewed faith and with zeal?

May the Lord help us and guide us in our journey, and may He strengthen each and every one of us that we may remain steadfast and firm in our conviction to love God and our fellow brothers and sisters in every opportunities in our respective lives. May God bless us all and may He bless our good works and endeavours, now and forevermore, and may Pope St. John I and the holy Apostles, God’s saints and martyrs pray for us sinners. Amen.

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Monday, 18 May 2020 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of Pope St. John I, Pope and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

John 15 : 26 – John 16 : 4a

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “From now on the Helper, the Holy Spirit Whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I have told you.”

“Peace be with you! I give you My peace; not as the world gives peace do I give it to you. Do not be troubled; do not be afraid. You heard Me say, ‘I am going away, but I am coming to you.’ If you loved Me, you would be glad that I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.”

“I have told you this now before it takes place, so that when it does happen you may believe. It is very little what I may still tell you, for the prince of this world is at hand, although there is nothing in Me that he can claim. But see, the world must know that I love the Father, and that I do what the Father has taught Me to do. Come now, let us go.”

“I am the True Vine and My Father is the Vinegrower. If any of My branches does not bear fruit, He breaks it off; and He prunes every branch that does bear fruit, that it may bear even more fruit. You are already made clean by the word I have spoken to you. Live in Me as I live in you.”

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Monday, 18 May 2020 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of Pope St. John I, Pope and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 149 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6a and 9b

Alleluia! Sing to the Lord a new song, sing His praise in the assembly of His saints! Let Israel rejoice in his Maker, let the people of Zion glory in their King!

Let them dance to praise of His Name and make music for Him with harp and timbrel. For the Lord delights in His people; He crowns the lowly with victory.

The saints will exult in triumph; even at night on their couches. Let the praise of God be on their lips; this is the glory of all His saints. Alleluia!

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Monday, 18 May 2020 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of Pope St. John I, Pope and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Acts 16 : 11-15

So we put out to sea from Troas and sailed straight across to Samothrace Island, and the next day to Neapolis. From there we went inland to Philippi, the leading city of the district of Macedonia, and a Roman colony. We spent some days in that city.

On the sabbath we went outside the city gate to the bank of the river where we thought the Jews would gather to pray. We sat down and began speaking to the women who were gathering there. One of them was a God-fearing woman named Lydia from Thyatira City, a dealer in purple cloth.

As she listened, the Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. After she had been baptised together with her household, she invited us to her house, “If you think I am faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us to accept her invitation.

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Sunday, 17 May 2020 : Sixth Sunday of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday is the sixth Sunday in the Season of Easter, as we quickly approach the end of this blessed season and time, with the Solemnity of the Ascension coming up within the week, and the Solemnity of the Pentecost coming very soon as well. On this Sunday therefore our attention is brought to the promise of God’s Holy Spirit that He has made to His disciples and which we have therefore received through the same Apostles and disciples of the Lord, passed down through God’s Church.

In our first reading today taken from the Acts of the Apostles we heard of the work of St. Philip, one of the Twelve Apostles who went to the land and region of Samaria in between Judea and Galilee, and preached there about the truth and salvation in Jesus Christ, and many came to believe in the Lord. And as described, when the Apostles in Jerusalem heard about the conversions of the Samaritans, some of the Apostles, St. Peter and St. John went over there to pray over the newly converted Samaritans and laid their hands on them, giving them the same gift of the Holy Spirit they have received at Pentecost.

The same Holy Spirit has therefore been passed down from the hands of the Apostles to all the faithful people of God, and from the Apostles to their successors, the bishops and priests of the Church who then in turn pass down the same Holy Spirit to the faithful down the many generations since the early days of the Church to this very day. We have received the same Holy Spirit through our Sacrament of Baptism, when we were baptised like that of the Samaritans, in the Name of the Blessed Trinity of Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, and then sealed by the Sacrament of Confirmation.

In our second reading today, from the Epistle of St. Peter, we heard of the Apostle exhorting the faithful to remain true to their faith in God, to keep the tenets of their faith and to be strong amidst the pressure to leave behind their faith and the temptation to abandon their God. The Apostle exhorted the faithful to be genuine in their faith, to be virtuous and righteous in their words, actions and deeds so that all those who slandered and oppressed them would be ashamed and humiliated by their own wickedness and evil.

St. Peter therefore called on all of us as Christians to be active in living up to our faith, to be faithful in all things and deeds that everyone who hear us, witness us and interact with us may know that we are Christians, that we belong to God and are His people, and that we are who we say we are, faithful and dedicated to do the will of God at all times. Otherwise, how can we then call ourselves as Christians? And if we do not sincerely practice our faith, we will end up scandalising it, as others will then then be able to point our faithlessness and lukewarm attitude.

The Lord Jesus put it plainly before all of us in our Gospel passage today, that if we truly love Him, we will keep His commandments and do the will of His Father, and that is to love God with all of our hearts, with all of our might and with all of our efforts and attention. If we truly love God, then we will also love our brothers and sisters, regardless of who they are and how close they are to us, and we will love them through all our actions, caring for them and showing them the same love and compassion that God has shown us all.

This is what is meant for us to be Christians, and to be faithful in our calling as God’s own beloved people. If we are not able to do this, or unwilling to do what the Lord has called us to do, then we cannot call ourselves as Christians. Unfortunately, this is what many among us who call ourselves as Christians are doing in our lives. We carry on our lives treating our Christian faith as merely a formality, just as a badge or name on paper only, and not living with sincere desire and love for God.

Many of us even had to drag ourselves to go to Mass every Sunday, and many more even attended Mass only on Easter and Christmas, and some did not even attend any Mass or faith activities at all! This is the sad state and reality about our faith, which had been happening in the past many years and decades. However, the good news is that in recent years, there had been a surge of hope as more and more Christians, especially the younger generation, began to take their faith much more seriously again. They began to attend the Holy Mass with regularity and genuine desire to know more of the Lord and to love Him.

More and more people are beginning to wake up from their slumber in their faith lives, as they began to take a more active and dedicated approach in their lives to follow the Lord. More and more people begin to seek for God, desire for His love and love Him again with greater sincerity of heart. This is what all of us must embrace too, brothers and sisters in Christ. God has called us to Himself, and He has shown us the path and He has also bestowed upon us the gift of the Holy Spirit to help and guide, to lead us down the path of truth and hope.

Are we willing to follow this path shown to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we willing to live our lives from now on with Christian sincerity and dedication? The choice is ours alone, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we can choose whether we want to continue to be lukewarm with our faith, to be unfaithful and treating our faith as no more than a nuisance and chore, or whether we want to embrace our faith with zeal and sincere commitment, to walk down the path that God has shown us?

In our current time and day, we are still enduring the painful effects of the various tragedies we have been encountering all these past few weeks and months, particularly the still dangerous threat of the coronavirus pandemic. As of today, over four million people had contracted the disease, and while over one and a half million had recovered, but almost three hundred thousand people had lost their lives, and millions more are still hospitalised and some among them fighting for their lives.

And many tens of millions of people if not more are threatened in their income and employment. Many had lost their precious work and many had to endure significant difficulties in searching for new job, while others had to work extra hard because they are in the frontline and healthcare efforts to combat this pandemic. Others had to endure significant pay cuts or suspension in their pay, and thus worry about how they will feed and take care of their loved ones.

Now, what are we going to do then? How do we live our lives as Christians and indeed, genuine Christians during these difficult and dark moments? It is by showing genuine love for our fellow brothers and sisters, to share hope and encouragement with one another, rather than to act selfishly or to stoke hatred for certain groups of people or individuals. We have heard and read of quite a few sad story of how the current crises led to increase in incidents of racism and attacks against certain group of people, certain acts of ostracising and unfair treatments and judgments of our fellow men, among others.

We have also heard how people acted irresponsibly and selfishly, hoarding essential goods and materials, just so that they could save themselves and get what they wanted, but with disregard for the need of others. And it is the sad truth that not few Christians were among those who have committed all these irresponsible, unjust, and indeed, most un-Christian behaviour. And this is therefore a reminder for each and every one of us that we must not adopt this kind of attitude ourselves.

Rather than spreading hatred, injustice and bitterness, we are called and indeed challenged to spread love, justice and compassion instead. When our hearts and minds are tempted to be selfish in our actions, to be angry at other people and to fear for our safety and our livelihood, to despise and to be filled with despair, let us all remember that God is always there for us, by our side, as our Hope and our Strength, as our Anchor in this most uncertain and darkest moment of our lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us bring with us this Hope we have in God, the trust we have in His love and providence, and let us share it with everyone around us. Let us be the beacons of God’s light and hope, brightening the lives of others around us, helping our brothers and sisters to overcome their fears and despair. Let us all be true Christians at all times and bear rich fruits of the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. May the Lord be with us always and bless our every good endeavours. Amen.

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Sunday, 17 May 2020 : Sixth Sunday of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 14 : 15-21

Jesus said to His disciples, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments; and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper to be with you forever, that Spirit of truth Whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He is with you and will be in you.”

“I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you. A little while and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me, because I live and you will also live. On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. Whoever keeps My commandments is the one who loves Me. If he loves Me, he will also be loved by My Father; I too shall love him and show Myself clearly to him.”

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Sunday, 17 May 2020 : Sixth Sunday of Easter (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Peter 3 : 15-18

But bless the Lord Christ in your hearts. Always have an answer ready when you are called upon to account for your hope, but give it simply and with respect. Keep your conscience clear so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your upright, Christian living. Better to suffer for doing good, if it is God’s will, than for doing wrong.

Remember how Christ died, once and for all, for our sins. He, the Just One, died for the unjust in order to lead us to God. In the Body He was put to death, in the Spirit He was raised to life.

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Sunday, 17 May 2020 : Sixth Sunday of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 65 : 1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a, 16 and 20

Shout with joy to God, all you on earth; sing to the glory to His Name; proclaim His glorious praise. Say to God, “How great are Your deeds!”

All the earth bows down to You, making music in praise of You, singing in honour of Your Name. Come and see God’s wonders, His deeds awesome for humans.

He has turned the sea into dry land, and the river was crossed on foot. Let us, therefore, rejoice in Him. He rules by His might forever.

All you who fear God, come and listen; let me tell you what He has done. May God be blessed! He has not rejected my prayer; nor withheld His love from me.

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Sunday, 17 May 2020 : Sixth Sunday of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 8 : 5-8, 14-17

Philip went down to a town of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. All the people paid close attention to what Philip said as they listened to him and saw the miraculous signs that he did. For in cases of possession, the unclean spirits came out shrieking loudly. Many people who were paralysed or crippled were healed. So there was a great joy in that town.

Now, when the Apostles in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. They went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for He had not as yet come down upon any of them since they had only been baptised in the Name of the Lord Jesus. So Peter and John laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

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Saturday, 27 May 2017 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, as we approach the seventh Sunday of the season of Easter, which is also the World Communication Sunday, we speak about the preaching of the Apostles to the people across the Mediterranean, throughout the many cities and towns, spreading the faith in Jesus to all the peoples, by the means of preaching and teaching.

It was by communicating that the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord had become witnesses to His truth and resurrection, to all that He had revealed to them, and to all that He had done for the sake of the whole race of mankind. These faithful servants went forth and told the people who have not yet heard of God’s salvation, and therefore allowing more and more people to come to believe in the Lord and His truth.

They courageously went forth to distant lands, to the places where no one had yet known the Lord and His love, those who were still living in darkness and ignorance, all those who were still living in a state of sin. Without the courage of these Apostles, who taught and preached with zeal, many more souls would have been lost to the Lord, into the damnation in hell.

And that was what the saint whose feast day we celebrate today, had done by devoting his entire life, in order to avoid such a fate for those who have remained in ignorance of the Lord. St. Augustine of Canterbury, the founder of the Church and its architect in the lands of the Anglo-Saxons, now known as England, set forth from Rome, under the orders of the Pope at that time, Pope St. Gregory the Great, going away from his homeland, in order to be a missionary to the people who have not yet received proper guidance in the faith.

At the time, the collapse of the Roman Empire authority in Britain has left the Christian faith over there to fall into decline, as the pagan barbarians invaded, and disestablished much of the foundations of the Church in that area, which had not been strong and extensive to begin with. As a result, St. Augustine of Canterbury went to a region mostly filled with ignorance and lacking in faith in the Lord.

Nonetheless, St. Augustine of Canterbury persevered through the difficult times, and despite the challenges he faced, including opposition from the pagans and the enemies of the Church. St. Augustine of Canterbury patiently preached to the people, calling them to accept the truths as the Lord had revealed to His Church, and therefore for them to accept Him as their Lord and Saviour.

Gradually, St. Augustine of Canterbury managed to reestablish the Church in England, establishing his diocese in Canterbury, and at the same time building crucial infrastructure and foundation for the Church in that region, which eventually flourished and many people came to end up converting to the Christian faith. This is what he had done, for the sake of the Lord and for His people, all of the hard work he had done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, all of us are called to reflect on the actions of St. Augustine of Canterbury, as well as the works of the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord, all of whom had devoted much of their life’s work and energy in order to advance the cause of the Lord, and bring more and more souls back to the Lord’s loving embrace.

All of us should follow their examples, and learn to do the same with our lives. All of us should devote our time and effort to accomplish what the Lord had commanded His Apostles and disciples to do, and which therefore had become the same command that all of us need to obey as well. This is what we need to do, in order to fulfil what the Lord had wanted us to do.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all come ever closer to the Lord, and be ever more committed to Him. May He bless us all and give us the strength to persevere in this life, filled with ever more zeal and love for Him. May God be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.