Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 88 : 2-3, 21-22, 25 and 27
I will sing forever, o Lord, of Your love and proclaim Your faithfulness from age to age. I will declare how steadfast is Your love, how firm Your faithfulness.
I have found David My servant, and with My holy oil I have anointed him. My hand will be ever with him and My arm will sustain.
My faithfulness and love will be with him, and by My help he will be strong. He will call on Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.’
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 13 : 13-25
From Paphos, Paul and his companions set sail and came to Perga in Pamphylia. There John left them and returned to Jerusalem, while they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they entered the synagogue and sat down. After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent this message to them, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the assembly, please speak up.”
So Paul arose, motioned to them for silence and began, “Fellow Israelites and also all you who fear God, listen. The God of our people Israel chose our ancestors, and after He had made them increase during their stay in Egypt, He led them out by powerful deeds.”
“For forty years He fed them in the desert, and after He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took four hundred and fifty years. After that, he gave them Judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king and God gave them Saul, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, and he was king for forty years.”
“After that time, God removed him and raised up David as king, to whom He bore witness saying : ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all I want him to do.’ It is from the descendants of David that God has now raised up the promised Saviour of Israel, Jesus.”
“Before He appeared, John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel. As John was ending his life’s work, he said : ‘I am not what you think I am, for after me another One is coming Whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.'”
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture speaking about the conversion of the Ethiopian official, who heard the truth about Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world, touched in his heart, and therefore, asked to be baptised by St. Philip the Apostle, who explained the meaning of the Word to him.
In the Gospel today, then we heard about Jesus Who spoke to the people who followed Him, after He had fed them with bread, at the breaking of the five loaves and two fishes, that more than five thousand men, and many more women and children were filled to satisfaction with much food to spare. Many of the people followed Jesus because He fed them with food, and this was a reminder of the manna which God Himself gave to the Israelites as they journeyed through the desert to the Promised Land.
But Jesus showed the people that all the bread that they have received, and all the manna, even as bread from heaven that their ancestors had received and ate, all of these were not true fulfilment for them. All these physical nourishment and food satisfy the body and give strength to mankind, but they did not give true life to them. Instead, Jesus revealed that He Himself is the true Bread from Heaven, through which God bestowed on the world the fullness of life.
It is through Christ, and the generous giving of His own Flesh and Blood, which Jesus our Lord offered freely for the salvation of our souls, that all of us mankind have received the promise of salvation and the hope of eternal life. For He is the Divine Word of God, through which God had willed the whole creation into being, as the Book of Genesis told it, how God created the whole universe by just willing it into being through His Word.
And the same Word of God became incarnate into Man, taking up the humble flesh and blood of mankind, to walk amongst us and be one like us in Jesus Christ. And He has come into this world bearing the truth of God, and all who listened and believed in Him became His disciples. In the same manner, the Word of God, the truth of Jesus Christ had been delivered by St. Philip to the official of the Ethiopian Queen, and the Word dwelled in the heart of the official, and sealed by the sacrament of baptism, he was saved.
That was what had happened to all of us Christians as well. We have received the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, His ways and teachings, by the teachings and the traditions of our faith passed down to us through the Church, via our priests and bishops, who faithfully kept the same teachings that the Lord had passed onto His Apostles and disciples, the same truth and teachings as St. Philip preached to the Ethiopian official.
But even more than all these, we all have received the very Body and Blood of our Lord Himself, in the Most Holy Eucharist, the greatest and most precious of all God’s gifts for us. At the Last Supper He had with His disciples, He broke the bread just as He had done when He fed the five thousand men and more, but He did something even more extraordinary at that supper. He gave them the bread, that had been transformed into His own Body, and the wine, which had been transformed into His own Blood.
Yes, this is what all of us believe, that the Lord has given us His own Body and Blood as the perfect spiritual food, the true Bread of Heaven, and the Bread of Life as He had mentioned. The bread and the wine that we use in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass may seem to appear as bread and wine, but in reality, in essence and all, the bread and wine had been completely transformed in reality and substance into the Most Precious Body and Blood, the very Holy Presence of our Lord Himself.
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, now that we realise how God is living in us, dwelling in us, let us all reflect this reality and think of what we can do from now on in order to worthily be able to follow the Lord as His disciples, as those upon whom He had shown His favour and love. Let us remember that God has loved us so much, that He was willing to give it all for our sake, even to die on the cross for us, and to bear the burden of our sins.
What is it then that all of us must do? It is by remembering what the Apostle St. Philip had done, in revealing the truth of God and teaching it to the Ethiopian official. In our time today, there are still many people who have not yet known about God, or indeed they knew about Him, but they distanced themselves from Him, because they did not know Him, or worse still, they knew Him, but kept themselves away from Him because of the actions of Christians that scandalised God and made people to refuse to believe in Him.
Therefore, in all of our actions, in everything that we say and do, we must make sure that we truly live a Christian life, in all we act, so that by showing our mercy to the poor and the sick, by showing our love, care and concern for those who are rejected by others, to those who have been unloved, we may inspire more people to believe in God, not because of what we have said or taught them alone, but also through our own actions in life.
May the Lord empower all of us to become ever better disciples of His, and give us the strength and perseverance to walk in His ways, and become a people worthy of the Lord and His love. May the Lord bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 6 : 44-51
At that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “No one can come to Me unless he is drawn by the Father Who sent Me; and I will raise Him up on the last day. It has been written in the Prophets : They shall all be taught by God. So whoever listens and learns from the Father comes to Me.”
“For no one has seen the Father except the One Who comes from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Though your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, they died. But here you have the Bread which comes from heaven, so that you may eat of it, and not die.”
“I am the Living Bread which as come from heaven; whoever eats of this Bread will live forever. The Bread I shall give is My flesh, and I will give it for the life of the world.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 65 : 8-9, 16-17, 20
Praise our God, o nations, let the sound of His praise be heard, for He has preserved us among the living and kept our feet from stumbling.
All you who fear God, come and listen; let me tell you what He has done. I cried aloud to Him, extolling Him with my tongue.
May God be blessed! He has not rejected my prayer; nor withheld His love from me.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 8 : 26-40
An Angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south towards the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert road.” So he set out and it happened that an Ethiopian was passing along that way. He was an official in charge of the treasury of the queen of the Ethiopians; he had come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was on his way home. He was sitting in his carriage and reading the prophet Isaiah.
The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and catch up with that carriage.” So Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah; and he asked, “Do you really understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian replied, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” He then invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.
This was the passage of Scripture he was reading : He was led like a sheep to be slaughtered; like a lamb that is dumb before the shearer, He did not open His mouth. He was humbled and deprived of His rights. Who can speak of His descendants? For He was uprooted from the earth.
The official asked Philip, “Tell me, please, does the prophet speak of himself or of Someone else?” Then Philip began to tell him the Good News of Jesus, using this text of Scripture as his starting point. As they travelled down the road they came to a place where there was some water. Then the Ethiopian official said, “Look, here is water; what is to keep me from being baptised?”
And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Then he ordered the carriage to stop; both Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water and Philip baptised him. When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The Ethiopian saw him no more, but he continued on his way full of joy.
Philip found himself at Azotus, and he went about announcing the Good News in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us must have heard in the Scriptures, particularly in the Acts of the Apostles, how the Apostle St. Peter and the other disciples of the Lord had been oppressed by the chief priests, the elders and all those who did not wish to see the Christian faith flourishing among the people of God. We saw how the rulers and the powerful were against the works of Christ and His followers.
And we witnessed how St. Peter and the other Apostles courageously defended their faith, even to the point of making a stern rebuke at the chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin ruling Council. They courageously said that they would rather obey the will of God and follow Him rather than obey the orders and the will of man. Essentially they were saying that they would not bend to the will of the Pharisees, the elders and the chief priests who were trying to silence them and stop them from carrying out the good works they have done in the Name of the Lord.
The attitude of the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord shows us that we always have a choice in this world. Yes, a choice to obey either the wishes of the Lord, or to obey the wishes of this world. It is just as the Lord said in another occasion, as written in the Gospels, that one cannot serve two masters, he or she will either love one and despise the other, or vice versa. Man cannot serve both God and money. And similarly, it is often that obeying the Lord means disobeying the norms and ways of this world.
Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? Particularly in today’s world, and which was also true in the past, this world and our society are filled with many corruptions, many temptations, of power and influence, of desires for wealth and worldly possessions, the wickedness of the pleasures of the flesh, and many other things that had caused us mankind to be distracted on our path seeking the Lord, and ended up causing many to fall into sin and towards condemnation.
We are all given a choice, to choose between the way of the Lord and the way of wickedness. We have been given free will by the Lord to choose between righteousness and evil, between selfishness and selflessness, between hatred and love, between the love and desire for money and faith, between the light of the world, that is our Lord Jesus Christ, and the darkness of ignorance of the Lord.
The devil has worked very hard in order to persuade, coax and even force mankind to go to the path towards their downfall, so that they will share in the fate which the devil knew he will have to endure. He sought our downfall and damnation, and hence, he tried his best to make the path of wickedness and evil to be as attractive as possible, to be as easy and lucrative as possible. And thus, many had fallen into the trap he set for us.
But the Lord has not abandoned us to the devil and his devices. He had always loved us and remembered us, especially when we are besieged and are troubled by the forces of our enemies. He does not abandon us, but gives us His assistance and company, and He had sent the Holy Spirit to the Apostles and the disciples, giving them the wisdom, strength and power in order to continue the mission which He had given them, that is the conversion of all mankind to the cause of the Lord.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are the successors to the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord. We are all the ones to whom God had entrusted the same mission He had given His Apostles and His Church. As Christians, all of us are responsible for the works which the Church of God are doing, spreading the Good News of God and the truth about His salvation.
There will indeed be opposition against us just as the Apostles had encountered opposition. And just as the saints and the holy disciples of the Lord had to even lay down their lives in holy martyrdom, the opposition against us may be difficult for us to overcome or to persevere through. But we must not give up, or else, not only that we fall into the sin which we had wanted to avoid, we will also cause others to fall.
Let us all realise that through our actions, words and deeds, we can help bring many more of our brethren towards God and His salvation. By being faithful in all the things we say and do, even amidst opposition and challenges from the society around us, even from among those whom we know, we can help one another on our way to the eternal life promised to us by the Lord.
May the Lord help us all, and bless all of our endeavours, so that in all the things we say and do, we will always be ever faithful to Him, and we will inspire many others to do the same as well. May God be with us all. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 3 : 31-36
At that time, John the Baptist said, “He Who comes from above is above all; he who comes from the earth belongs to the earth, and his words belong to the earth. He Who comes from heaven speaks of the things He has seen and heard; He bears witness to these things, but no one accepts His testimony. Whoever does receive His testimony acknowledges the truthfulness of God.”
“The One sent by God speaks God’s words, and gives the Spirit unstintingly. The Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything into His hands. Whoever believes in the Son lives with eternal life; but he who will not believe in the Son will never know life, and always faces the justice of God.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 33 : 2 and 9, 17-18, 19-20
I will bless the Lord all my days; His praise will be ever on my lips. Oh, see and taste the goodness of the Lord! Blessed is the one who finds shelter in Him!
But His face is set against the wicked to destroy their memory from the earth. The Lord hears the cry of the righteous and rescues them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the distraught. Many are the troubles of the just, but the Lord delivers them from all.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 5 : 27-33
So the High Priest and his supporters brought the Apostles in and made them stand before the Council and the High Priest questioned them, “We gave you strict orders not to preach such a Saviour; but you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend charging us with the killing of this Man.”
To this Peter and the Apostles replied, “Better for us to obey God rather than any human authority! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus Whom you killed by hanging Him on a wooden post. God set Him at His right hand as Leader and Saviour, to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses to all these things, as well as the Holy Spirit Whom God has given to those who obey Him.
When the Council heard this, they became very angry and wanted to kill them.
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