Sunday

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Sunday, 25 May 2014 : 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 of 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, 25 May 2014 : 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 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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Sunday, 18 May 2014 : Fifth Sunday of Easter (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, trust in the Lord and do not turn against Him, even when we are in difficulties, doubt or uncertainties. Our Lord and God is faithful and loving to us, and He desired that all of us be reunited to Him in all perfection. At the centre of our faith lies our dedication and commitment to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, through whose sacrifice on the cross, we had been made whole and worthy of the Lord once again.

Today we continue to celebrate the joy of Easter, that joy of new life brought by Jesus and His resurrection from the dead, the joy that overcomes all despair and distress, and a new light that all of us who lived in darkness may see and believe. Ever since Christ died and was risen from the dead, He had brought forth a new era for the world, that is where His Church is present in this world and continuing to do the good works and missions that Christ had initiated.

In today’s first reading we read how the Apostles and the other disciples of Christ faced a problem with the distribution of goods among the faithful, for we have to be mindful that the earliest Christian communities lived in perfect harmony with one another, and as the Scriptures mentioned, they shared their goods and happiness with one another in the community.

The Apostles were the extensions of the Lord’s power and authority in this world, and there were twelve of them in number. If a parallel is to be made to the status of the Church in today’s time, they are the most senior ranking prelates and officials of the Holy Mother Church, with Peter as their leader and the head of the entire Christian communities, as Christ’s vicar in the world.

And just as today’s leaders of the Church, and the Pope, the Apostles had many responsibilities, and arguably even more responsibilities and works than what the Church leaders today have, in addition to the persecution and open opposition against the faith by the Jewish leaders and the Roman authorities, which made things even more difficult for the Church at the time of the Apostles.

Therefore, what we witness today in the readings, is God loving us so much, that He inspired His Apostles to take a course of action that will expand greatly the works and acts of charity and love among His people, by appointing a new class of leaders that were meant for service to the people of God and a service that is based on the foundations of faith and love. They are the deacons, not much different from the deacons that we have today.

The deacons were meant to help with the distribution of goods to the faithful and to serve them with love, as mentioned earlier on, and originally there were seven of them. They were men filled with the Holy Spirit, and we know well of one of them, St. Stephen, the first martyr of the faith, who defended the Lord so eloquently and passionately, that all those who had not hardened their hearts would have listened and believed.

They together with the Apostles, showed to the world the love of God, which was made manifest through Jesus Christ, and it is He whom the Apostles and the disciples were proclaiming about, spreading His Good News to many peoples of many nations, saving many souls in the process, and passing down that Good News through the generations, that more souls might be saved, and indeed their good works are still continuing today, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

Nevertheless, it is indeed sad today, how vocations to the priesthood had declined precipituously, not least because of the moral and spiritual decline in the world, and in a world increasingly beset with materialism and ego-centric mentalities. It is increasingly difficult to find those with the heart and dedication to serve the Lord as the Apostles and the deacons had done. Less and less young men are joining the seminaries simply because this world offers us too much goodness for us to ignore.

Hence, brethren, let us today pray, for more vocations among the faithful, that we may see a resurgence in the number of those who accept the calling of the Lord, that more will join the holy works of grace the Apostles and the deacons had done. May the Lord bless His people and strengthen the faith in them. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 18 May 2014 : Fifth Sunday of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 14 : 1-12

Jesus said, “Do not be troubled! Trust in God and trust in Me! In My Father’s house there are many rooms; otherwise, I would not have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. After I have gone and prepared a place for you, I shall come again and take you to Me, so that where I am, you also may be. Yet you know where I am going.”

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you know Me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know Him, and you have seen Him.”

Philip asked Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough.” Jesus said to him, “What! I have been with you so long and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever sees Me sees the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?”

“All that I say to you, I do not say of Myself. The Father who dwells in Me is doing His own work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do.”

“Truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these, for I am going to the Father.”

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Sunday, 18 May 2014 : Fifth Sunday of Easter (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Peter 2 : 4-9

The Lord is the living stone rejected by people but chosen by God and precious to Him; set yourselves close to Him so that you, too, become living stones built into a spiritual temple, a holy community of priests offering spiritual sacrifices that please God through Jesus Christ.

Scripture says : “See, I lay in Zion a chosen and precious cornerstone; whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” This means honour for you who believed, but for unbelievers also the stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and it is a stone to stumble over, a rock which lays people low.

They stumble over it in rejecting the Word, but the plan of God is fulfilled in this. You are a chosen race, a community of priest-kings, a consecrated nation, a people God has made His own to proclaim His wonders. For He called you from your darkness to His own wonderful light.

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Sunday, 18 May 2014 : Fifth Sunday of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 32 : 1-2, 4-5, 18-19

Rejoice in the Lord, you who are just, praise is fitting for the upright. Give thanks to Him on the harp and lyre, making melody and chanting praises.

For upright is the Lord’s word and worthy of trust is His work. The Lord loves justice and righteousness; the earth is full of His kindness.

But the Lord’s eyes are upon those who fear Him, upon those who trust in His loving-kindness to deliver them from death and preserve them from famine.

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Sunday, 18 May 2014 : Fifth Sunday of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 6 : 1-7

In those days, as the number of disciples grew, the so-called Hellenists complained against the so-called Hebrews, because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. So the Twelve summoned the whole body of disciples together and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God to serve at tables. So, friends, choose from among yourselves seven respected men full of Spirit and wisdom, that we may appoint them to this task. As for us, we shall give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.”

The whole community agreed and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and Holy Spirit; Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenus, and Nicolaus of Antioch who was a proselyte. They presented these men to the Apostles who first prayed over them and then laid hands upon them.

The Word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly and even many priests accepted the faith.

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Sunday, 11 May 2014 : 4th Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday and World Day of Prayer for Vocations (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Fear not, brothers and sisters in Christ! And be confident in Christ, everyone! Indeed, if we put our trust in the Lord, we have no reason to fear, for God is with us and He is on our side. God is the Good Shepherd who knows all of His sheep and who loves every single one of His sheep equally. He is genuinely concerned about each one of us, and He seeks none other than our reconciliation and reunion with Him.

Yes, the Lord will care for us and take care for us, and He will provide us everything we need, just as He had provided us with plentiful graces all these while. He knows each and every one of us, and thus, He also knows of our needs. He is not like Satan, the one who is the robber and the thief, who came pretending to be someone whom we can follow, who pretended to be our shepherd while he is not.

For Satan has in his disposal all the powers of the world, all of the wealth and riches that he can have and marshall at a whim, and to those of us who falls into his temptations, Satan offered mankind much pleasures of the world and things that help us to keep away from the path God had designed for us. But he does not care for us, for he is the false shepherd. In fact, it pleases him to see us stumble and suffer as a consequence of our waywardness by following him.

God is our true shepherd, because He leads by example. He showed us His love not just by mere sweet words or empty promises, as Satan had done and will continue to do, in his attempt to seduce us to follow his false path. God led by example and showed us concrete care and love, through none other than Jesus Christ, His own Son, whom He sent to us to be with us, and to walk among us, as our Shepherd, to guide us from where we err and from where we are lost.

If we follow Jesus, we can be sure that we will not be lost. If we follow Him with all of our hearts, we can only prosper and be happy. God has prepared all that we need before us, and He set out to bring us back into His flock. Yes, we are His lost sheep, lost in the wilderness and the darkness of this world. If we remember the parable of the shepherd and the lost sheep, we know how much effort the shepherd put in, in order to regain the lost one.

Such was therefore, the same effort which the Lord God our Shepherd put in, to find us and return us back into His loving embrace. Yes, to the point of giving Himself to us, dedicating His works which He made through Jesus, and going all the way to Calvary, enduring all the rejection and oppression just so that we may be saved. Such was His love for us, that He was willing to go through all that trouble for us.

The way to Calvary is the pathway of suffering, when our Lord and Shepherd endured for our sake the punishments. Always remember that whenever we look upon the crucifix, the Shepherd who is so dedicated to us, His sheep, that He laid down His life for us. Remember again, brethren! Jesus did not just make any empty promises or words. He truly meant what He said when He mentioned that a good shepherd laid down his life for his sheep.

Jesus gave Himself for us that we may avoid our fate that is death. If this is likened to sheep in a flock, it is like the sheep being threatened by certain death when wolves prey on them. And this is when the shepherd comes in between the sheep and the wolves, shielding them from harm, and while the shepherd is injured to the point of death, he also routed and killed the wolves, so that no more harm will come to the sheep.

But what is different is that for our case, the shepherd who gave his life for us, and who died for our sins, did not remain dead, but rose from the dead in glory, and in doing so, He became the guide who led us out of the darkness and into the light of new life, just as the shepherd leads the sheep into the eternal spring of life-giving and crystal-clear water. In the green pastures the shepherd let the sheep roam free in joy and happiness. Such is the promise of new life that Christ grant unto us.

Today we rejoice in the Lord who is our Good Shepherd, and who has done so much for us, His sheep. But not only just that, in His place, He had appointed many shepherds to care for us in His stead, as His representatives and the extension of His hands’ works in this world. These shepherds are our priests, bishops, the Cardinals, and eventually the Pope, the vicar of Christ and the chief among Christ’s appointed shepherds.

Today we pray for vocations to this office of shepherds. We pray for more young men, to be motivated to heed the call of the Lord for those who had been called and chosen by God to be His helpers and assistants in guiding and leading His people in the path towards righteousness. We pray for more vocations to arise among our young men today, that they be inspired to follow in the footsteps of the Apostles.

Indeed, it is even more urgent these days, and how true is the saying, that the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. This world has much opportunities for us to do the great works of the Lord, but increasingly, there are fewer and fewer workers of the Lord available to take care of His ever growing flock of sheep and wider pastures.

Less and less men are attracted to this vocation, as they are lured and tempted by the sweet offers of the pleasures of this world, through which Satan intends to do harm to us, by attacking the shepherds of the flock. Without the shepherds, the sheep will be scattered and become easy prey to the works of the devil, the waiting, ever-hungry wolves seeking to devour us, the sheep.

May God therefore awaken in the hearts of many people, and including those among us whom He had chosen to be His shepherds, that we may accept His calling with great humility and dedication, for the sake and the good of our brethren, our fellow men. May God bless us all, and strengthen our faith in Him, empowering us to be His faithful followers. Amen.

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Sunday, 11 May 2014 : 4th Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday and World Day of Prayer for Vocations (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 10 : 1-10

Truly, I say to you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. But the shepherd of the sheep enters by the gate. The keeper opens the gate to him and the sheep hear his voice; he calls each of his sheep by name and leads them out.

When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but rather they will run away from him, because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.

Jesus used this comparison, but they did not understand what He was saying to them. So Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, I am the gate of the sheep. All who came were thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not hear them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through Me will be saved; He will go in and out freely and find food.”

“The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life, life in all its fullness.”

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Sunday, 11 May 2014 : 4th Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday and World Day of Prayer for Vocations (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Peter 2 : 20b-25

But if you endure punishment when you have done well, that is a grace before God.

This is your calling : remember Christ who suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you may follow in His way. He did no wrong and there was no deceit in His mouth. He did not return insult for insult and, when suffering, He did not curse but put Himself in the hands of God who judges justly.

He went to the cross bearing our sins on His own body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live an upright life. For by His wounds you have been healed. You were like stray sheep, but you have come back to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.