Thursday

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Thursday, 8 May 2025 : 3rd Week of Easter (First Reading)

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.

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Thursday, 1 May 2025 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark the occasion of the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, the patron saint of all workers and those who labour in this world, which is essentially many among us who toil, labour and work each day to make ends meet and to provide for our families and loved ones. This celebration of St. Joseph the Worker is a response from the Church, instituted by Pope Pius XII exactly seventy years ago in the Year of Our Lord 1955, to mark the occasion of May Day, also known as Labour Day. Back then, communism was ascendant throughout most of the world, a great force of evil and wickedness that caused a lot of hardships for the Christians in many areas. And the labour movement was key to the growth of communist ideology, which the Pope then therefore decided to counter by invoking the patronage of St. Joseph over all the workers.

In our first reading today, we heard from the account of the creation of the world and the universe by the Lord from the Book of Genesis, in which God our Master and Creator made all things to be, and today’s passage focus specifically on the creation of mankind, all of us, who have been created in God’s own image and likeness, to be the ones to share His love and blessings, His grace and compassionate kindness. We have been created as the pinnacle of God’s creation and we have been made such that we may be the ones to take good care of everything which God had created. Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, that account of creation of man reminds us all that all of us share the responsibility of living our lives virtuously and with proper guidance from God, in how we exercise our control and use of the many resources and things that have been entrusted to us in this world.

It is an important reminder for us that in our daily living in this world, in how we carry on our lives, we must always be centred on God and do everything for the greatness of God, in all of our work, our toils, struggles, labours and in everything that we say and do. We must not easily be swayed by the many temptations and desires present all around us which may lead us astray, keeping us away from the Lord and His righteous path. Many among us and our predecessors had been so tempted and attached to the many worldly desires and ambitions all around us such that we seek and desire for them, in the expense of our own connection with God and others, and in many of those occasions in fact, many among us have caused hurt and sufferings to others because of our desires and attachments to our ambitions and pride.

Instead we are all called to reorientate ourselves and our lives, our works and efforts to the Lord. We should do our work, efforts, labours and toils not for our own selfish desires and advantages, for our desire for money, pleasures and all the things which can bring us ever further away from God. We should dedicate ourselves to the Lord instead and strive to do our best such that we always perform each work and actions with God at the centre of our existence and efforts. Our good works and labours should always be fruitful and good for everyone around us, and responsible to this world and creation which God had made for us all. We are the stewards entrusted with God with this world around us, and not just the world itself, but also with one another, our fellow brothers and sisters around us.

Then from our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Matthew in which the people of Nazareth confronting the Lord Jesus when He returned back to His hometown of Nazareth and taught in their synagogue. He proclaimed the words of the Scriptures taken from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, in which the prophecy of the Messiah was contained. In that prophecy, Isaiah spoke of the coming of God’s salvation through the signs and wonders that would accompany the coming of His Messiah or Saviour, and the Lord proclaimed that everything had indeed come true just as the Lord had said it would be, and that He Himself is the Saviour that God had promised to His people, and that very day they heard the words of Isaiah, everything had been fulfilled according to God’s will and plan.

But as we heard, the people of Nazareth grumbled and complained, because to them, Jesus was merely the Son of the village carpenter, the One Whom they thought they had known for many years, and therefore it was impossible for them, in their perception, that Jesus could be the very Messiah that the prophet Isaiah had spoken about, and they also doubted what they had heard about the Wisdom and the many miracles that Jesus had performed, despite having witnessed and heard these themselves, with their own eyes and ears. All these were caused by their own prejudices and biases, their arrogance and expectations. They thought that since carpenter was then a very poorly regarded job, often disregarded and being prejudiced against, as the job for the uneducated and the poor, therefore it was impossible for the Lord Jesus to be Who He said He was, according to their prejudices and ideas.

The Lord wants to show us all therefore that we should not be preoccupied by titles, by prestige or other worldly matters and ideals which often framed how we perceive things around us. As employees, many of us often looked down on ourselves just because we perceive or think that our kind and nature of work is something that is less worthy or ideal, and the same can be said of employers too, that we as employers tend to look down on our own employees and on those whom we deem to be less worthy, inferior and not as good as ours in livelihood and work. Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is not the attitude that any one of us as Christian workers and faithful should be adopting, and we should keep ourselves distant and free from the shackles of these worldly desires and ambitions which can lead us down the wrong path in life.

Therefore, we invoke the patronage of St. Joseph the Worker, the faithful and courageous, virtuous and just St. Joseph, the foster-father of the Lord, a simple and yet great carpenter, the ever hardworking servant of God who lived his life with great virtues and as good role models for all of us, just as he had been great role model and teacher for his foster Son, our Lord Jesus Himself. Let us all follow his good examples, his virtues, faith and dedication to God, so that by our own works, blessed by God, our own willingness to walk the path of our Christian faith with true dedication and commitment to God, we shall come ever closer to the Lord and His Presence, and be worthy one day to share in the eternal inheritance that He has promised to all those who are faithful to Him.

May the Lord, our most wonderful and loving Master continue to bless each and every one of us, and bless us with the strength, courage and perseverance especially when we encounter a lot of hardships and challenges in our lives. May our lives continue to bring glory to God and may He continue to guide us all with the examples like that shown by St. Joseph the Worker, our inspiration and example, in our own commitment to live a truly faithful Christian life, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 1 May 2025 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker (Gospel Reading)

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.”

Alternative reading (Mass of St. Joseph)

Matthew 13 : 54-58

At that time, Jesus went to His hometown and taught the people in their synagogue. They were amazed and said, “Where did He get this wisdom and these special powers? Is He not the carpenter’s Son? Is Mary not His mother and are James, Joseph, Simon and Judas not His brothers? Are not all His sisters living here? How did He get all this?” And so they took offence at Him.

Jesus said to them, “The only place where prophets are not welcome is their hometown and in their own family.” And He did not perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

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Thursday, 1 May 2025 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker (Psalm)

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.

Alternative Psalm (Mass of St. Joseph)

Psalm 89 : 2, 3-4, 12-13, 14 and 16

Before the mountains were formed, before You made the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity – You are God.

You turn humans back to dust, saying, “Return, o mortals!” A thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has passed, or like a watch in the night.

So make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart. How long will You be angry, o Lord? Have mercy on Your servant.

Fill us at daybreak with Your goodness, that we may be glad all our days. Let Your work be seen by Your servants and Your glorious power by their children.

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Thursday, 1 May 2025 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker (First Reading)

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.

Alternative reading (Mass of St. Joseph)

Genesis 1 : 26 – Genesis 2 : 3

God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, to Our likeness. Let them rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over the wild animals, and over all creeping things that crawl along the ground.” So God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, over every living creature that moves on the ground.” God said, “I have given you every seed bearing plants which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree that bears fruit with seed. It will be for your food. To every wild animal, to every bird of the sky, to everything that creeps along the ground, to everything that has the breath of life, I give every green plant for food.” So it was.

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. There was evening and there was morning : the sixth day. That was the way the sky and earth were created and all their vast array. By the seventh day the work God had done was completed, and He rested on the seventh day from all the work He had done. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on that day He rested from all the work He had done in His creation.

Alternative reading (Mass of St. Joseph)

Colossians 3 : 14-15, 17, 23-24

Above all, clothe yourselves with love which binds everything together in perfect harmony. May the peace of Christ overflow in your hearts; for this end you were called to be one body. And be thankful. And whatever you do or say, do it in the Name of Jesus, the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly, working for the Lord, and not for humans. You well know, that the Lord will reward you with the inheritance. You are servants, but your Lord is Christ.

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Thursday, 24 April 2025 : Thursday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in our Scripture readings today we have heard more of the testimony of the Resurrection of the Lord and all the things which the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord had experienced from the time right after the Lord has risen from the dead and how they began their ministry in proclaiming the Risen Lord to the faithful and to all others, including those who have been skeptical and refused to believe in the Lord and His truth. They have all themselves had seen and witnessed the Risen Lord appearing before them, truly risen gloriously in Body and Spirit, and He did not suffer from death, and was not merely a ghost. And it is for this faith that many of them had suffered as they endured the same persecutions and rejections that the Lord Himself had suffered from.

In our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles we heard the courageous and fiery testimony by St. Peter the Apostle before all the assembled people at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple of Jerusalem when those people were amazed by the great deed of the two Apostles who miraculously healed a man crippled from birth that had been begging there for a long time. Most importantly, the two Apostles imparted the healing through the power and authority of the Holy Name of Jesus, the Risen Lord and Saviour of the world. And at that time, the Temple authorities, the chief priests and the members of the Sanhedrin had declared forbidden for anyone to be teaching and spreading in the Name of Jesus, as well as spreading the words about His Resurrection and triumph over death.

In fact, those leaders were busy trying to suppress such news and even attempted to spread untruths and falsehoods by paying off the guards that were guarding the Tomb of the Lord that the disciples had come to steal the Body of the Lord. Amidst all those things, the two Apostles fearlessly stood up for their faith in the Risen Lord before the assembly of all the people gathered, proclaiming to all of them that it was by the power and authority given to them by the Holy and Just One, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world that the crippled man had been healed and made whole again. St. Peter also addressed how everything that happened in the suffering and death of the Lord, His rejection and persecution by the people to whom He had been sent to, all happened in order to fulfil everything that the prophets of God had been prophesying about Him.

Essentially, he told them all of the need for all of the people of God to listen to the Lord Jesus and embrace wholeheartedly all that He has taught and delivered into this world, the truth and Good News which God Himself has wanted us all to have a share in, and for us all to know the depth of His love, ever enduring and ever present towards us. God has not abandoned us all to the darkness and neither has He desired us to be condemned to eternal damnation and therefore lost to Him forever. Instead, He has crafted the perfect remedy for us through His Son, Whom He has sent to our midst, taking up our very own Human flesh and existence, to make His love, ever perfect and wonderful to be truly tangible and reachable by us, making Himself and His forgiveness and compassion to be approachable, and no longer merely a distant concept or imagination.

But many among those who opposed the Lord and His truth held on to their prejudices and biases, their misguided sense of superiority and arrogance, in thinking that they all knew it better than the Lord Himself on the matters of the Law of God, the way how the faith of the people ought to be expressed to God, and in many other issues that the Lord had patiently revealed to the people and taught to them through His words, actions and other deeds that He had performed in their midst. Yet, the Lord continued to engage with them and work with them, trying to reach out to everyone including even those who were most stubborn in resisting His efforts and advances. He has called us all into repentance and to turn away from our sins, from our pride, ego and prejudices, and all the things that can keep us away from Him.

Then, in our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the moment when the Risen Lord appeared to His disciples in Jerusalem right after He had appeared to the two disciples who were making their way to Emmaus. It was at this occasion that the Lord made His appearance for the first time among many of His disciples, the Apostles and others who were with them, after they had earlier on heard about the Resurrection from the holy women who went to the Tomb earlier in the morning. The Lord reassured them all that He was not a ghost or mere spirit, and that He was truly alive, risen from the dead just as He had foretold to them earlier. He ate the food that He asked of them to prove that He was truly there with them as ghosts and spirits cannot eat.

Through this and many other evidences of the Lord’s Resurrection, the disciples of the Lord themselves had witnessed the truth and passed them all down through the Church, as the Sacred Tradition and teachings of the Church that were kept generations after generations, and which kept the Church and the faithful strong and alive even during the harshest years and times of the persecutions, especially during its earlier years. It is inconceivable and very unlikely for so many among the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord to be so committed to their cause, even long after the Lord is no longer among them in this world, if what they had witnessed was not the truth, or if they had not actually witnessed and seen what had happened through the many signs, wonders, and all that occurred during the Resurrection and its aftermath, they would not have been willing to suffer and die for the sake of their faith in God.

Yes, many of the faithful of the early Church suffered greatly from the many persecutions that they encountered in defending their faith in God, and in the truth and Good News that He has revealed and brought unto us through His Son, Who rose from the dead and triumphed over sin and death by that Resurrection. And with this glorious Resurrection from the dead, Christ our Lord has shown us the certain and sure path out of darkness and into the light of God, into the new life that He has promised to each and every one of us, who are faithful and committed to Him. And all of us as Christians, we are all called and reminded today to commit ourselves in the same manner as how our holy predecessors had done so in being good and worthy role models, inspirations and hope for one another, in bearing the light of Christ’s Resurrection in all of us, in each and every aspects of our lives.

May the Risen Lord continue to guide us all in our journey of faith and life, empowering and strengthening us all so that we may truly be full of faith and trust in Him all throughout our lives, and in everything we say and do, in all of our actions, deeds and interactions with one another. Let us all be good and worthy bearers of the Lord’s Good News, His Resurrection and Light, the Hope and Love that He has brought into our midst, through our own exemplary deeds and works, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 24 April 2025 : Thursday within Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 24 : 35-48

Then the two disciples told what had happened on the road to Emmaus, and how Jesus had made Himself known, when He broke bread with them. While they were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood in their midst. (He said to them, “Peace to you.”)

In their panic and fright they thought they were seeing a ghost, but He said to them, “Why are you upset, and how does such an idea cross your minds? Look at My hands and feet, and see that it is I Myself! Touch Me, and see for yourselves, for a ghost has no flesh and bones as I have!” (As He said this, He showed His hands and feet.)

In their joy they did not dare believe, and were still astonished; so He said to them, “Have you anything to eat?” And they gave Him a piece of broiled fish. He took it, and ate it before them. Then Jesus said to them, “Remember the words I spoke to you when I was still with you : Everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

And He said, “So it was written : the Messiah had to suffer, and on the third day rise from the dead. Then repentance and forgiveness in His Name would be proclaimed to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.”

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Thursday, 24 April 2025 : Thursday within Easter Octave (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 8 : 2a and 5, 6-7, 8-9

O Lord, our Lord, how great is Your Name throughout the earth! What is man that You be mindful of him, the Son of Man, that You should care for Him?

Yet You made Him a little lower than the Angels; You crowned Him with glory and honour and gave Him the works of Your hands; You have put all things under His feet.

Sheep and oxen without number and even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and all that swim the paths of the ocean.

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Thursday, 24 April 2025 : Thursday within Easter Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 3 : 11-26

While the once crippled man clung to Peter and John, all the people, struck with astonishment, came running to them in Solomon’s Porch, as it was called. When Peter saw the people, he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us as if it was by some power or holiness of our own that we made this man walk?”

“The God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified His servant Jesus Whom you handed over to death and denied before Pilate, when even Pilate had decided to release Him. You rejected the Holy and Just One, and you insisted that a murderer be released to you. You killed the Master of life, but God raised Him from the dead and we are witnesses to this.”

“It is His Name and faith in His Name, that has healed this man whom you see and recognise. The faith that comes through Jesus has given him wholeness in the presence of all of you. Yet I know that you acted out of ignorance, as did your leaders. God has fulfilled in this way what He had foretold through all the prophets, that His Messiah would suffer.”

“Repent, then, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out and the time of refreshment may come by the mercy of God, when He sends the Messiah appointed for you, Jesus. For He must remain in heaven until the time of the universal restoration which God spoke of long ago through His holy prophets.”

“Moses foretold this when he said : The Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people; you shall listen to Him in all that He says to you. Whoever does not listen to that Prophet is to be cut off from among his people.”

“In fact, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel onward, have announced the events of these days. You are the children of the prophets and heirs of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors when He said to Abraham : All the families of the earth will be blessed through your descendant. It is to you first that God sends His Servant; He raised Him to life to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

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Thursday, 17 April 2025 : Holy Thursday, Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this evening as we begin the celebrations of the Paschal or Easter Triduum, we enter into this most solemn and holy period in the whole entire liturgical year. And this evening marks the start of that three days period or Triduum, beginning with this celebration in memory of the Last Supper which the Lord Jesus had with His disciples, referring to the Passover meal which they had that evening just before the Lord was arrested and began with His Passion journey to the Cross. On this evening we remember how the Lord began this most important part of His ministry, in accomplishing and fulfilling everything that God had promised to His people, to all of us mankind from the very beginning of time, in order to lead us all from the domination and slavery to sin, and out into His salvation and eternal life with Him.

In our first reading this Holy Thursday, we heard from the Book of Exodus the retelling of the account of the very first Passover of the Israelites which they celebrated in the Land of Egypt, the place where they had been enslaved and put under harsh rule of the Egyptians for centuries. God has remembered them all, His beloved and chosen people, and He has not ignored their plight and misery in the land and place of their sufferings and enslavement. He sent to them Moses to be the leader to inspire and strengthen them, and to reveal unto them what He had planned to do with them and how He would lead them all out of Egypt with His mighty hands and deeds, striking the Egyptians and their Pharaoh with the Ten Great Plagues, as punishment for their enslavement of the Israelites and for the Pharaoh’s stubbornness in refusing them to go free.

And this Passover was instructed by God to be celebrated and done by the Israelites leading to the Tenth and the Last of the Ten Great Plagues, which was the death of all the firstborn of the Egyptians, from the firstborn of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the lowest among the Egyptians and even their animals. This plague of death was a response to the continued hardening of heart of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who continued to refuse to relent and let the Israelites to go free to the land of their ancestors. Thus, God asked His people to prepare an unblemished lamb for each of their households, and this lamb was to be kept until the day when the lamb was to be slaughtered and then it was to be roasted for the whole household to partake and eat while they prepared in haste to depart from Egypt to their freedom.

And we heard how the blood of the unblemished Passover lamb was used to mark the houses of the Israelites, placed on their doorposts as a sign to the Angels of Death bringing forth death and destruction to the Egyptians that the houses where the blood of the lamb had been marked on belonged to the people of God, and they would therefore be ‘passed over’ from the death meant for all the others who have not put the lamb’s blood and observed the Passover. This festival of the Passover is the most important celebration and event for the people of Israel as it marks their freedom from the slavery that they had long experienced in Egypt and also their adoption by God to be His beloved and holy people, called and chosen to be His own, and for whom God had exercised His mighty power to lead them into their freedom.

Then from the second reading and the Gospel passage, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Corinth and from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle respectively, we heard the two important events that have been initiated on this Holy Thursday by the Lord for His Church. In that second reading this evening, we heard St. Paul sharing to the faithful about the moment of the Last Supper when the Lord instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, linking to what we have just heard earlier from the first reading on the account of the Passover meal in Egypt. Yes, the Last Supper is indeed the same celebration of the Passover meal, but if we do read through the account of the Passover meal as detailed in the Book of Exodus and in the Jewish traditions, as compared to the Last Supper, curiously there were some very clear differences.

Why is that so? First of all, unlike the Jewish Passover which placed an unblemished lamb at the centre of the celebrations, there was no mention of lamb being used or eaten at the Last Supper. And even if there was indeed lamb being eaten at the Last Supper in the manner that the Jewish Passover had been celebrated, what the Lord did at that Last Supper was something that was different and truly revolutionary, as He prayed over the bread, broke the bread and shared them and the wine with the disciples saying that, “This is My Body, which will be given up for you.” as well as “This is My Blood, which has been poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in the memory of Me.” Through this, the Lord placed Himself at the centre of the New Passover, no longer sealed by the blood of the unblemished lamb, but by the Precious Blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Himself.

This is also supported further by the fact that the celebration of the Passover in the Last Supper was rather too early, as if we recall from the account of the Gospel on the Crucifixion of the Lord, towards the end of the Passion narrative, there was a mention of how the chief priests and Jewish leaders asked that the bodies of the Lord and the two thieves were to be brought down from their crosses as they would then hang on through the sacred day of the Sabbath, and earlier on when the chief priests and the crowd of people gathered before Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea to condemn Jesus, how they did not enter into the praetorium where Pilate governed from, as according to their traditional practice and belief, that would have made them unclean and therefore unworthy and unable to eat the Passover meal.

While the Passover day does not always coincide with the Sabbath day, but evidence from these Scriptural accounts highlighted to us how that very year when the Lord went through His Passion, suffering and Crucifixion, as well as the earlier Last Supper, the Passover that year fell on the Sabbath day, which occurred right after the Lord had been crucified and died on His Cross. Therefore that would have made the day of the Good Friday, the day when the Lord Himself was slain and died, being the day when the Passover lamb was to be slaughtered and prepared for the Passover meal, and its blood collected and used to mark the houses of the faithful. Therefore, that was why the Last Supper being the New Passover happened rather early, because the whole entire New Passover does not end with the Last Supper, but rather merely just the beginning of the whole event that spanned the whole Paschal Triduum.

During the Last Supper, the Lord did not complete the whole celebration of the Passover, as it was also mentioned during this event that He would not drink the cup of the vine again, that is wine until the coming of the Kingdom of God. This refers to the cup of suffering drunk during the Passover celebrations, which the Lord would indeed drink at the height of His Passion on the Cross. And all these would be accomplished as He mentioned at the moment of the Crucifixion, ‘I thirst’ and the soldiers gave the Lord the sour wine to drink with the hyssop, hence completing the sacrifice and offering of the Lamb of God for the sake of our redemption. By His Body broken and Blood outpoured, which we all share tonight and at every celebrations of the Holy Mass, we have received the Lord Himself, the Paschal Lamb, and by sharing in Him, we have been marked as His own, to be spared from the destruction due to sin and death.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, our celebration tonight continues throughout the whole Paschal Triduum, the great New Christian Passover that the Lord has celebrated, beginning with this Holy Thursday events, continuing through His Passion on Good Friday, His suffering and death, and it lasts all the way through the moment of His most glorious triumph, the Glorious Resurrection that He has shown us, in how He has defeated and conquered death itself. That is why there is no celebration of the Holy Mass from tonight until that of Easter Vigil, to commemorate this fact that the whole Paschal Triduum is one overarching Sacrifice that the Lord has offered for us all, the Holy Sacrifice at Calvary which is the same Sacrifice that our priests celebrate during each celebrations of the Mass. And that is why today we commemorate the Institution of both the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and also that of the Ministerial Priesthood.

And regarding that Ministerial Priesthood, it was shown this evening through what we have heard from our Gospel passage from the Gospel of St. John the Apostle in which the Lord’s action in washing the feet of His disciples during the Last Supper was highlighted to us. The Lord showed by example that He came into this world to serve all of us, to love us and to unite us all and our sufferings to Himself, and not to lord it over us and to subjugate us. Instead, He humbly accepted His role as the Saviour of all, and in being the Servant of all the servants of God. He humbled Himself and washed the feet of the disciples, the dirtiest and filthiest part of the human body, to show us all that as His followers and disciples, we must also follow His examples in loving the poorest, the weakest and the most marginalised.

After all, the Lord has loved us all even at our weakest and most unworthy moments, when we are still sinners. If God loves us still despite how defiled and wicked we have been, reaching out to us to show us His most wonderful and patient love, His mercy and compassion towards us, then how can we not love Him in the same manner as well? Our priests and bishops, all those whom God had called and chosen to be His ministers are called to embody this same spirit of service and love in them, and that is why we pray for them earnestly this evening so that the Lord may continue to strengthen and guide them all amidst their ministry and works so that they will continue to be faithful to the Lord regardless of the challenges and trials that they may have to face in their journey and ministry to God’s people and God’s Church.

At the same time, we are also reminded that the Lord’s instruction to His disciples, ‘If I, then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also must wash one another’s feet. I have just given you an example, that as I have done, you also may do.’, therefore, in this Mandatum, or commandment that the Lord has given to us, as Christians, all of us ought to love one another just as God has loved us, and be caring and loving towards everyone around us, particularly those who have been marginalised and ignored by others. We are also challenged to love our brethren around us who may not be on best of terms with us, to our enemies and those who have persecuted us and made our lives difficult. Of course this is easier said than done, but we can gain inspiration from none other than the Lord Himself, Who forgave His enemies and persecutors, and loved all of them nonetheless, dying for them on His Cross for their salvation no less.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue to immerse ourselves in the events and commemorations of this Paschal Triduum, let us all deepen our understanding of what the Lord had done for us, all of His love and kindness towards us. And most importantly, let our focus be centred on the Lord, and on His Passion, on everything that He had done for our sake and for our salvation. May all of us be truly blessed and empowered by God, and may our commemoration of the sacred Paschal Triduum be a truly holy and blessed one. Amen.