St. Anselmus

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Tuesday, 21 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we continue on the celebration of Easter with the readings that showed us first, the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the first of the martyrs of the Faith, who was stoned to death by the Council of the elders after he testified the truth and spoke the truth about Christ, and chided them for their lack of faith and for having rejected the Lord.

And in the Gospel, we heard how Jesus also similarly chided the people for looking at earthly things and to satisfy their own human desires, after the feeding of the five thousand people. Instead, He told them all to seek the true Bread that gives life and came from heaven. And that Bread is none other than Jesus Himself. Jesus has given Himself to us, His Body to eat and Blood to drink, that we all who share in them, receive eternal life through them.

This is the fact that is so difficult to be understood by the people, many of whom refused to believe that Christ is the Saviour of the world. Many of them rejected Him and refused to listen to His teachings, even though what He taught them is truth spoken like a great light that pierces the greatest darkness. They refused to do so, most likely because they refused to acknowledge their weaknesses and frailty. This is just as how Jesus put it, that those who live in darkness fear the light because that light would reveal whatever wickedness that they had committed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are called to question ourselves and our faith in God. Have we been able to overcome our numerous obstacles in knowing and becoming closer to our Lord? Have we been able to live a life that is truly filled with faith and devotion to God? Or have we rather succumbed to the worldly temptations and pleasures and thus drew further away from God?

One thing we have to realise is that none of us is perfect, and all of us make mistakes at one point in our lives. We cannot think that once we have the taint of sin in us, then we are finished. Our Lord has His mercy and love always pointed at us, and He always seeks to bring us into salvation in Him. That was why He sent us Jesus His Son, so that through Him, we may be saved.

And on the other hand, we should also not think that we can get away with our sins, that God does not care about our sinfulness and iniquities, or that we can always ask Him for mercy again and again. This is the attitude which many of us have at the moment, and this is an attitude that is certainly not good and something that we do not want to have with us.

We have to be proactive in our faith and in our life. We must always seek the heavenly inheritance which God promised all those who remain faithful to Him. It is often that we always seek for things that are vain and worldly in nature. We have this strong tendency to find refuge in the world, to find satisfaction in things like wealth, money, worldly fame and pleasures of the flesh, human approval and influence, and many other things.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this holy Easter season, we are all reminded that all those things do not bring us true and lasting joy but a mere passing moment of joy that is of this world. Let us ask ourselves, that whether the things of this world have allowed us to feel satisfied or instead wanting to have more and more. It is part of our human nature, never to be easily satisfied with what we have. We always seek more and more and wanting for more and more.

Therefore, let us today renew our commitment to the Lord and commit ourselves to a life emptied of greed and desire of the world, but instead be filled with the genuine and sincere desire for the Lord. Today we celebrate the feast of St. Anselm, a great Bishop and later appointed Doctor of the Church, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the eleventh century.

St. Anselm was a great reformer and visionary, who brought about much changes to the Church and to the flock and community which was entrusted to his care. He brought the Church out of the dependance of the world and bring about its independence from the authority and the meddling of the worldly authorities, submitting it to God alone. He had had many enemies, including the king of England himself, and went into exile more than once, but his dedication remained strong.

He led the reforms to purify the Church and banned sinful practices such as simony and priests bowing down to the will of nobles and kings, as well as the breaking of the sacred vow of celibacy in the priestly orders. Through all these, St. Anselm showed us that we must not bow down to the demands of the world and to succumb to our desires is the sure path to damnation.

Therefore, inspired by his examples, let us go forth in faith and renew our faith to the Lord. Let us do more good deeds according to our faith and help each other to grow ever stronger in our faith and devotion towards the Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 21 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 6 : 30-35

At that time, the people said to Jesus, “Show us miraculous signs, that we may see and believe You. What sign do You perform? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert; as Scripture says : They were given bread from heaven to eat.”

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. The bread God gives is the One who comes from heaven and gives His life to the world.” And they said to Him, “Give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in Me shall never be thirsty.”

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Tuesday, 21 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 30 : 3cd-4, 6ab and 7b-8a, 17 and 21ab

Be a rock of refuge for me, a fortress for my safety. For You are my rock and my stronghold, lead me for Your Name’s sake.

Into Your hands I commend my spirit; You have redeemed me. But I put all my trust in the Lord. I will rejoice and be glad in Your love.

Make Your face shine upon Your servant; save me in Your love. In the shelter of Your presence You hide them from human wiles; You keep them in Your dwelling.

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Tuesday, 21 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 7 : 51 – Acts 8 : 1a

Stephen said to the Council, “But you are a stubborn people, you hardened your hearts and closed your ears. You have always resisted the Holy Spirit just as your fathers did. Was there a prophet whom your ancestors did not persecute? They killed those who announced the coming of the Just One whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the Law through the angels but did not fulfill it.”

When they heard this reproach, they were enraged and they gnashed their teeth against Stephen. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus at God’s right hand, so he declared : “I see the heavens open and the Son of Man at the right hand of God.”

But they shouted and covered their ears with their hands and rushed together upon him. They brought him out of the city and stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen prayed saying : “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and said in a loud voice : “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he died.

Saul was there, approving his murder. This was the beginning of a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem.