Monday, 26 May 2014 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 15 : 26 – John 16 : 4a

From the Father, I will send you the Spirit of truth. When this Helper has come from the Father, He will be My witness, and you, too, will be My witnesses, for you have been with Me from the beginning.

I tell you all this to keep you from stumbling and falling away. They will put you out of the synagogue. Still more, the hour is coming, when anyone who kills you will claim to be serving God; they will do this, because they have not known the Father or Me.

I tell you all these now so that, when the time comes, you may remember that I told you.

Monday, 26 May 2014 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

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.

Sunday, 25 May 2014 : Sixth Sunday of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 14 : 15-21

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.

Friday, 10 January 2014 : Friday after the Epiphany (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we see the power and authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and Saviour of the world. Jesus needs no fame or human praise, because in Him lies all the glory and all praise, as the Lord of all. He sought not popularity or human praise, by doing His miracles, but He did them because of His love for us all, for all mankind.

Yes, brethren, in the past few days we have heard from the Scriptures how Jesus fed the multitudes of more than five thousand men not counting women and children, and how Jesus healed the sick, the lepers and those with illness, restoring them to full health and show the love that God has for them all. He did these to show mankind that He cared for them, and wanting them to be perfectly cured of their maladies, most important of which, is the malady of the soul.

Yes, sin, the malady of the soul. Sin tainted mankind with impurity and unworthiness, which separated us from God. Sin made us unable to comprehend God’s love for us. And it is sin that our Lord came down to us, in order to correct and address this problem, this darkness that prevented us from seeing and living in the Light of God.

The Lord had no need of advertisement to promote Himself, for the Holy Spirit testified for Him, and the people could see that He is One with authority and power. It is clear enough that no one is like Him, and He is not a mere man or a mere prophet of God, for He is the Son of God Most High endowed with power, and with the authority over all diseases and illnesses, as well as over all the forces of this world.

Yet many people continued to refuse to believe in Him or doubt in His presence. They put their trust more in human and worldly powers rather than in the Lord. The devil is hard at work everyday to convince the people that his way is better and more appealing than that of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

And yet, the path of the evil one is death and destruction, while the path of the Lord is life and true joy. Only in the Lord can we find the source of life, just as St. John the Evangelist told us in his letter. True life and hope for life is not in us if we do not believe in God and His Son, or put our trust in Him, the Lord of life. Jesus made it plainly enough throughout His teachings.

Jesus repeated the words eternal life very often in His ministry, and a lot of His teachings revolved on, and focused on the fact that whoever believes in Him and has Him in themselves, shall not suffer death or the consequences of death, but will gain the eternal reward of life with God. He did not make this promise lightly, for He truly imparted to all of us, as He had promised, with His own Body and Blood, sacrificed for our sake and offered freely to us.

Yes, those of us who receive the Lord in the Most Holy Eucharist and believe in Him wholeheartedly, is assured of life in God. Brethren in Christ, it is important that while we live in this world, that we do not get too engrossed with the world and forget what the Lord had asked of us. Yes, because believing in God is not merely just making promises or empty proclamation of the faith. If we believe in God, we must show it concretely through our actions, words and deeds.

Therefore brethren, let us now truly profess our faith in the Lord, that we show Him true faith and dedication, not just in words but also in action. Let the Lord see that we are truly His faithful and loving children, and that we reject the lies of the evil one. May the Lord therefore, then bless us with the abundance of blessings and graces, that in Him, we may find the joy of eternal life in true happiness. God bless us all. Amen.

Sunday, 26 May 2013 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Trinity Sunday (Gospel Reading)

John 16 : 12-15

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.