Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 92 : 1ab, 1c-2, 5
YHVH reigns, robed in majesty; YHVH is girded with strength.
The world now, is firm; it cannot be moved. Your throne stands from long ago, o YHVH; from all eternity You are.
Your decrees can be trusted; holiness dwells in Your House, day after day, without end, o YHVH.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 4 : 32-37
The whole community of believers was one in heart and mind. No one claimed private ownership of any possessions; but rather, they shared all things in common. With great power, the Apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, for all of them were living in an exceptional time of grace.
There was no needy person among them, for those who owned land or houses, sold them and brought the proceeds of the sale. And they laid it at the feet of the Apostles, who distributed it, according to each one’s need. This is what a certain Joseph did. He was a Levite from Cyprus, whom the Apostles called Barnabas, meaning : “The encouraging one.” He sold a field which he owned and handed the money to the Apostles.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us about the courage that St. Peter had in speaking up on the truth about the Lord’s resurrection before the multitudes of people gathered then in Jerusalem for the festival of the Pentecost. St. Peter called on all the people gathered to believe in the Lord and in His truth, the resurrection that He has gone through and the glory with which He had appeared in His triumph over sin and death.
Many people became believers on that day, and they all believed in the Lord and asked to be baptised in the Lord. Over three thousand people responded to God’s call and became the first of the Christian communities, which from then on began to spread beyond Jerusalem and Judea, as the Apostles and many other disciples of the Lord went to various places proclaiming the Good News of salvation and the Risen Lord to the people in those far-off places.
They all proclaimed what they had themselves witnessed, heard and believed, from what Mary Magdalene had seen at the tomb of the Lord when on Easter Sunday, the Lord appeared before her near His empty tomb, showing first to her before to the other disciples how He has risen from the dead as He Himself had said and predicted. It was this faith in the Risen Lord that allowed the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord, together with the strength and the courage of the Holy Spirit that enabled them to persevere in faith and in accomplishing their mission.
There would have otherwise been no reason at all to believe why these group of people would be so willing to suffer and even die in defending what they believed in, and had they believed in something that is a mere lie or untrue, then everything would have quickly fizzled out and the disciples would have been scattered and the movement died out within just short few years. On the contrary, since they believed in the truth, and truth of God no less, they persevered and passed on their faith all the way down to us today.
On this day we are reminded yet again what this joyful and glorious Easter season is all about. It is more than just celebrations and merrymaking just after we have done all of our Lenten observations and all the penances we have done during that period. Rather, just as we recall on Easter day, that we renew our Baptismal promises there and then, and for all those who have just been baptised all the same, each and every one of us as Christians are charged with this responsibility and calling to be God’s true and faithful disciples.
God has called on us all to be His witnesses and to be His bearers of the Good News just as the Apostles had done with their own lives. He has called on us all to bear His Good News and His light and hope to this world darkened with fear and evil that we may truly brighten the lives of many of our fellow brethren and help make their lives to be better. And we now live through these particularly difficult and challenging moments which have caused many to lose their faith and to be filled with despair and fear.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we willing and able to dedicate ourselves to this calling, our Christian calling for us all to live as the disciples of the Lord with all sincerity and devotion? Are we willing and able to dedicate our time, effort and attention to bring God’s light into our respective communities, both in our outreach to our fellow Christian brothers and sisters, as well as to all those who have yet to know God? Are we able to spend the time and effort to reach out to our fellow brethren who are suffering now?
Let us all be the light and hope of the world, reflecting upon ourselves the true light and hope of the Lord, which can dispel much of the darkness that are currently surrounding many of us in this world, from all the troubles, uncertainties and problems we are encountering in the first few months of this year alone. Let us all be good examples of virtue and faith that all who see us and witness our works may truly come to believe in God through us and come to be saved as well together with us.
May God, our Risen Lord and Saviour be with us always, and may He strengthen us in our resolve and give us the courage and strength to live ever more courageously and carry out our missions in life with greater zeal and devotion from now on. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 20 : 11-18
At that time, Mary stood weeping outside the tomb; and as she wept, she bent down to look inside. She saw two Angels in white, sitting where the Body of Jesus had been, one at the head, and the other at the feet. They said, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She answered, “Because they have taken my Lord and I do not know where they have put Him.” As she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not recognise Him. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?”
She thought it was the gardener and answered Him, “Lord, if You have taken Him away, tell me where You have put Him, and I will go and remove Him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned, and said to Him, “Rabboni!” – which means Master. Jesus said to her, “Do not touch Me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and say to them : I am ascending to My Father, Who is your Father, to My God, Who is your God.”
So Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord, and this is what He said to me.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 32 : 4-5, 18-19, 20 and 22
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.
In hope we wait for the Lord for He is our help and our shield. O Lord, let Your love rest upon us, even as our hope rests in You.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 2 : 36-41
Peter said, “Let Israel then know for sure that God has made Lord and Christ this Jesus Whom you crucified.” When they heard this, they were deeply troubled. And they asked Peter and the other Apostles, “What shall we do, brothers?”
Peter answered : “Each of you must repent and be baptised in the Name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise of God was made to you and your children, and to all those from afar whom our God may call.”
With many other words Peter gave the message and appealed to them saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who accepted his word were baptised; some three thousand persons were added to their numbers that day.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we draw closer to the glorious Easter Triduum, we should all be preparing for the celebration of this venerable and great celebration, by spending more time with God, devoting our time to reflect on our lives, doing spiritual exercises and focusing our attention on the Lord and on what He has done in order to bring His salvation to all of us. He has willingly embraced the burden of the Cross and endure all the pain and suffering for our sake, that we may be saved.
In our first reading today taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the Lord speaking to His people about the coming of His Servant by Whom salvation of the world would come. The light of the nations shall come forth from the Saviour sent by God, and all of these brought hope to the people of God then suffering and oppressed, with the northern kingdom of Israel then having been conquered by the Assyrians and its people brought into exile in far-off lands. The southern kingdom of Judah then were also troubled by the Assyrians who once sent a great army to besiege Jerusalem.
God essentially promised to save His people, and all of these were to be fulfilled through Christ, the Son of God, Whom He sent into this world to be its Saviour. And in our Gospel today, we heard the narrative heading towards its climax, as the Lord and His disciples talked about His impending suffering and death, and the Lord speaking openly before all of them how He would be betrayed by one of His own closest confidants, namely Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And He also foretold of St. Peter’s denial of Himself, which would happen when He was arrested.
All of the readings today help us to focus our attention to the upcoming celebrations of the Easter Triduum when we are going to enter into those most important moments in the history of our salvation. We are called to spend this time to reflect on God’s amazing and ever enduring love for us all that He was willing to go through all the challenges and troubles to save us from our distress and troubles. We are called to look towards our Lord and Saviour especially in these dark and difficult times.
We all know how the current global pandemic has been severely affecting many communities and peoples all around the world. Many people have suffered and are still suffering, hundreds of thousands are being hospitalised, tens of thousands had perished from this disease. Many others had lost their jobs and employments, many of them were struggling to make ends meet as they were breadwinners for their respective families. Many are worried how they are going to live through these difficult moments, with all the restrictions and limitations in place.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is exactly where more importantly for us all that we must direct our attention to the Lord, and commit ourselves with greater zeal and faith in God. This is the time for us to remember that no matter how dark and difficult the times may be, but God’s love and providence are even more powerful and are greater than all the sum of our fears and insecurities. We must have faith in God and trust in Him that He will provide for us and will not abandon us to the darkness.
Sadly this is where we know that the devil is very cunning, in trying to heighten our fears and make us distracted from God, by making us feel scared and lonely in this difficult moment, with all the fake news and fear-mongering being everywhere all around us. Because of this, we see all the selfish attitudes of people who are hoarding goods and essential items, which denied those people who really need them of the things necessary for them to sustain themselves.
And many of these attitudes and selfishness are sadly shown by some of us Christians, who placed our own needs and desires above that of the rest, even causing harm and hurt to others just so that we can safeguard our own interests and indulge in our own desires. And this is where we must be always vigilant, that we do not end up falling into temptation like how Judas Iscariot fell into the temptation of quick money and personal benefit, ending up committing a great sin before God and mankind alike. We must make use of this opportunity instead to allow our Christian faith and virtues to shine brightly in the midst of all the darkness.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore make good use of this Holy Week and make it a meaningful time for each and every one of us. May we bear in our lives the spirit of openness and humility, allowing God to be glorified through our actions and our lives, that we may bring the light of Christ and the hope of Easter to our brothers and sisters, to all those who are now suffering and in despair. Let us all bring forth God’s light and dispel the darkness of fear, uncertainty and evil in our midst. Trust in God and put our complete faith in Him, for in Him alone is our sure assistance. May God bless us all, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
John 13 : 21-33, 36-38
At that time, after He said a discourse to His disciples after He washed their feet, Jesus was distressed in Spirit, and said plainly, “Truly, one of you will betray Me.” The disciples then looked at one another, wondering whom He meant. One of the disciples, the one Jesus loved, was reclining near Jesus; so Simon Peter signalled him to ask Jesus whom He meant.
And the disciple, who was reclining near Jesus, asked Him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “I shall dip a piece of bread in the dish, and he to whom I give it, is the one.” So Jesus dipped the bread and gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And as Judas took the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus then said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”
None of the others, reclining at the table, understood why Jesus said this to Judas. As Judas had the common purse, they may have thought that Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or “Give something to the poor.” Judas left as soon as he had eaten the bread. It was night.
When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. God will glorify Him, and He will glorify Him very soon. My children, I am with you for only a little while; you will look for Me, but as I already told the Jews, so now I tell you : where I am going you cannot come.”
Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but afterwards you will.” Peter said, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I am ready to give my life for You.”
“To give your life for Me?” Jesus asked Peter, “Truly I tell you, the cock will not crow, before you have denied Me three times.”
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 70 : 1-2, 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15 and 17
In You, o Lord, I seek refuge; let me not be disgraced. In Your justice help me and deliver me, turn Your ear to me and save me!
Be my Rock of refuge, a Stronghold to give me safety, for You are my Rock and my Fortress. Rescue me, o my God, from the hand of the wicked.
For You, o Lord, have been my Hope, my Trust, o God, from my youth. I have relied on You from birth : from my mother’s womb You brought me forth.
My lips will proclaim Your intervention and tell of Your salvation all day, little though it is what I can understand. You have taught me from my youth and until now I proclaim Your marvels.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Isaiah 49 : 1-6
Listen to me, o islands, pay attention, peoples from distant lands. YHVH called me from my mother’s womb; He pronounced my name before I was born. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword. He hid me in the shadow of His hand. He made me into a polished arrow set apart in His quiver.
He said to me, “You are Israel, my servant, through you I will be known.” “I have laboured in vain,” I thought, “and spent my strength for nothing.” Yet what is due me was in the hand of YHVH, and my reward was with my God. I am important in the sight of YHVH, and my God is my Strength.
And now YHVH has spoken, He Who formed me in the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, to gather Israel to Him. He said : “It is not enough that you be My servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob, to bring back the remnant of Israel. I will make you the light of the nations, that My salvation will reach to the ends of the earth.”
