Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 26 : 1, 4, 13-14
YHVH is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? YHVH is the rampart of my life; I will not be afraid.
One thing I ask of YHVH, one thing I seek – that I may dwell in His house all the days of my life, to gaze at His jewel and to visit His Sanctuary.
I hope, I am sure, that I will see the goodness of YHVH in the land of the living. Trust in YHVH, be strong and courageous. Yes, put your hope in YHVH!
Liturgical Colour : White
Romans 14 : 7-12
In fact, none of us lives for himself, nor dies for himself. If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. Either in life or in death, we belong to the Lord; It was for this purpose that Christ both died and came to life again, to be Lord, both of the living and of the dead.
Then you, why do you criticise your brother or sister? And you, why do you despise them? For we will all appear at the tribunal of God. It is written : I swear by Myself – Word of the Lord – every knee will bend before Me, and every tongue shall give glory to God. So each of us will account for himself before God.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of two great saints of God, who are two of the great Apostles, members of the Twelve Apostles, namely St. Simon and St. Jude, who refers to St. Simon the Zealot as well as St. Jude Thaddeus, the latter not to be confused with the traitor Judas Iscariot. Both of them followed the Lord throughout His ministry, dedicating themselves to His cause and in the end, shedding their blood and giving their lives to the glory of God.
St. Simon the Apostle was as mentioned, a zealot or a religious fanatic who was converted and called to follow the Lord Jesus. As a zealot, previously he was involved in the revolutionary efforts from the fanatical members of the Jewish community who were fighting against the oppressors of the Jewish state in Judea and Galilee, namely the Romans and their client rulers, the Herodians and their supporters. The zealots were known for carrying out attacks against the government establishments and for their guerrilla efforts.
And it was from the ranks of those zealots that the words of the Lord Jesus came to touch St. Simon, who was convinced to follow Him and to give himself to the cause of the Lord instead of the misguided efforts of the zealots. Initially, perhaps St. Simon also thought, like many other Jewish people and zealots did, that the Lord Jesus was the long awaited Messiah Who was expected to lead the Israelites, the people of God, against their enemies, and lead them to freedom, crushing the Romans and all their oppressors.
St. Simon however, remained firmly faithful and committed to the Lord, even after many of the other disciples left Him, and when the Lord was betrayed and made to suffer, persecuted and forced to bear His Cross, and finally died a most humiliating and painful death on that same Cross, this former zealot turned disciple of the Lord remained, and continued to serve Him, receiving the Holy Spirit together with the other Apostles and disciples, and went on to do His works, evangelising and travelling to many places to proclaim the truth of God.
Meanwhile, St. Jude Thaddeus, also known as St. Judas Thaddeus, sometimes associated with one of the relatives of the Lord, also known as Jude, was also one of the close followers of the Lord, who followed Him throughout His ministry, and then dedicated himself to the works and the missions entrusted to him by the Lord. And while, like St. Simon, little was known about St. Jude in the early days of his role as an Apostle and follower of Christ, what Church traditions and history held was that both of them went to faraway places, evangelising to the people who have not yet heard about the Lord and His salvation.
It was told that St. Simon and St. Jude often travelled together in their works of evangelisation and mission, preaching the word of God to the people of Persia, Armenia, and other areas like North Africa and Asia Minor. They worked hard to speak the truth of God to the people, many of whom were receptive and were willing to believe in God, and yet, there were also many others who refused to believe in the Lord and persecuted them and the other servants of God.
St. Simon was martyred together with St. Jude in the most well-preserved history of the Church, in which both Apostles were persecuted, tortured and finally put to death for their evangelising works among the pagans. In the end, regardless of their origins, they all embraced God’s calling and mission, and dedicated themselves to serve the Lord, following Him to where He led them, and gave themselves, even their own lives for the sake of the glory of God, and for the salvation of mankind.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect today on the lives and works of these two great Apostles, St. Simon and St. Jude, let us all discern carefully what we should do with our own lives, as those who profess the Christian faith and are therefore disciples and followers of Christ. Let us all consider carefully how we are to live our lives from now on, and reflect upon the examples of the Apostles to guide us and to help set us on the right path in life.
May the Lord protect us and guide us in our journey of faith through life, and may He empower all of us to follow in the footsteps of His glorious Apostles, especially St. Simon and St. Jude, whose memory we venerate today, and whose examples we want to emulate. May God be with us always and may He bless us in our every good works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Luke 6 : 12-19
At that time, Jesus went out into the hills to pray, spending the whole night in prayer with God. When day came, He called His disciples to Him, and chose Twelve of them, whom He called ‘Apostles’ : Simon, whom He named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alpheus and Simon called the Zealot; Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who would be the traitor.
Coming down the hill with them, Jesus stood in an open plain. Many of His disciples were there, and a large crowd of people, who had come from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem, and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon. They gathered to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases. And people troubled by unclean spirits were cured.
The entire crowd tried to touch Him, because of the power that went out from Him and healed them all.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 18 : 2-3, 4-5
The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Day talks it over with day; night hands on the knowledge to night.
No speech, no words, no voice is heard – but the call goes on, throughout the universe, the message is felt to the ends of the earth.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Ephesians 2 : 19-22
Now, you are no longer strangers or guests, but fellow citizens of the holy people : you are of the household of God. You are the house, whose foundations are the Apostles and prophets, and whose cornerstone is Christ Jesus. In Him, the whole structure is joined together, and rises, to be a holy Temple, in the Lord.
In Him, you, too, are being built, to become the spiritual Sanctuary of God.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord, we are reminded yet again by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Rome, of the dangers of sin and how sin once reigned over us before Christ redeemed and freed us from its dominion. And he also exhorted all the faithful to walk in the path of God and no longer submit themselves to the power and temptations of sin, for if they were to follow the way of sin, then they would suffer its consequences and perish.
St. Paul reminded them and therefore all of us that we who have been called and chosen to follow Christ, and have been baptised as Christians are all called to remain true to their faith and reject the temptations to sin. This is because as Christians, we have become God’s chosen people, whom He gathered from all the nations to embrace fully the truth and the light that He has brought into our midst. All of us should carry ourselves with true and genuine faith and be examples and inspiration for one another.
Contextually, St. Paul mentioned these things in his Epistle as many of the faithful people of God, especially among the recent converts who still lived in the similar way as they were before their conversion, as if their conversion meant nothing at all. Of course it was also a challenging and difficult time to be a follower of Christ, especially for the converts from among the Gentiles or the non-Jewish populations, as this often meant that those who chose Christ had to go against the wishes of their families or their communities.
This was exactly what the Lord meant in our Gospel passage today, when He presented to them the plain truth of what His coming into this world truly means. Many at that time, including Christ’s own disciples thought that the Messiah would come as a conquering King and Lord over all, Who would end all sufferings and usher in a time and era of great and everlasting peace, where everyone would rejoice and be happy, free from all sorrows and enjoying the bounty of God’s blessings, as the prophets proclaimed.
That will indeed come in due time, at the end of time as the Lord Himself has promised all of us. However, His first coming into this world brought into our midst the truth and the light of His salvation that would not have been well received by all those who reject the light and truth of God, and preferring to remain in the darkness and in the comfort of their sinful state. And that is why the Lord said that His coming into this world and His truth would lead to much suffering and divisions among His people.
That is because the world has a fundamentally different sets of values, and the devil and his allies have always ever sought to continue to distract us and trying to lead us away from God. They had done all they could to cause divisions and bitterness to exist within families and communities because some among their members chose to listen to the Lord and to obey Him rather than to obey the path of evil. Many martyrs and other saints suffered because of this, when they had to make a choice between following God and being acceptable and tolerated by their families, relatives and communities.
Yet, this is not a reason why we should not follow the Lord or to turn away from Him. On the contrary, having known this and realised this truth, it should serve as an important reminder for each one of us to keep strong our faith in God and to hold on to His truth as is expected of us. We should do our best to lead a life that is worthy of God, and commit ourselves each day and every moments, to do His will and to walk ever faithfully in His path so that our lives and examples may become sources of inspiration for so many more out there, our fellow brothers and sisters, many of whom have not even yet known the Lord.
Today, let us all renew our commitment to the Lord, and that is to be faithful in our Christian living so that we may always be righteous and virtuous as the children of our heavenly Father, so that by our every deeds and actions, our words and interactions, even the smallest and least significant among them, we may bring forth God’s light and truth to this darkened world. Challenges and sufferings will come our way, but we must never be afraid or fearful, for God will always stand by us, and He will always provide us throughout our respective journey in faith.
May the Lord continue to bless us and strengthen us, and may He give us all the courage to live our lives with faith from now on. May God bless us all and our every good works and endeavours, now and always, forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 12 : 49-53
At that time, Jesus said to the people, “I have come to bring fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what anguish I feel until it is finished! Do you think that I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on, in one house five will be divided : three against two, and two against three.”
“They will be divided, father against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 1 : 1-2, 3, 4 and 6
Blessed is the man who does not go where the wicked gather, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit where the scoffers sit! Instead, he finds delight in the Law of YHVH and meditates day and night on His commandments.
He is like a tree beside a brook producing its fruit in due season, its leaves never withering. Everything he does is a success.
But it is different with the wicked. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. For YHVH knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Romans 6 : 19-23
You see, that I speak in a very human way, taking into account that you are not fully mature. There was a time, when you let your members be slaves of impurity and disorder, walking in the way of sin; convert them, now, into servants of righteousness, to the point of becoming holy.
When you were slaves of sin, you did not feel under obligation to righteousness, but what were the fruits of those actions, of which you are now ashamed? Such things bring death. Now, however, you have been freed from sin and serve God. You are bearing fruit, and growing in holiness, and the result will be life everlasting.
So, on one side is sin : its reward, death; on the other side, is God : He gives us, by grace, life everlasting, in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
