Tuesday

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Tuesday, 16 April 2013 : 3rd Week of Easter (First Reading)

Acts 7 : 51 – Acts 8 : 1a

But you are a stubborn people, you hardened your hearts and closed your ears. You have always resisted the Holy Spirit just as your fathers did. Was there a prophet whom your ancestors did not persecute? They killed those who announced the coming of the Just One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the Law through the angels but did not fulfill it.

When they heard this reproach, they were enraged and they gnashed their teeth against Stephen. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus at God’s right hand, so he declared : “I see the heavens open and the Son of Man at the right hand of God.”

But they shouted and covered their ears with their hands and rushed together upon him. They brought him out of the city and stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen prayed saying : “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Then he knelt down and said in a loud voice : “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he died.

Saul was there, approving his murder. This was the beginning of a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem. All, except the apostles, were scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria.

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Tuesday, 9 April 2013 : 2nd Week of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as Christ had mentioned to Nicodemus, that all of us have to first believe in the teachings and testimonies of Christ, which we can read and see in the Bible and the Gospels, before we can indeed believe in the mysteries surrounding Christ and the tale of salvation. How can we believe that Christ is divine, and is our Lord, the Son of God, if we do not first believe in the teachings He had given to us through the Apostles, and through them, the Scriptures we are reading today?

Yes, indeed, we have to be born again in Christ, as He also mentioned to Nicodemus even earlier. But be careful, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that we do not fall into the falsehoods of some who assumed that they are better than the Apostles and the holy fathers of our faith, that is the early fathers of the Church, who established the sacred Doctrine and Traditions of the Church, through which the teachings of our Lord and His words are made easier for us to understand through explanations made by these fathers of our faith, and of course with the help of the Apostles and the evangelists who wrote the Gospels and those who witnessed the Lord and His actions firsthand.

For there are those who call themselves ‘Born-again’ ‘Christians’ who allege that all Christians must be ‘born again’ in order to be saved. They allege that there is a need for a kind of baptism, to be ‘immersed’ that people can then be ‘born again’ and therefore be saved. This kind of teaching ran contrary to the teachings of the Church and the holy Apostles, being aberration born out of ignorance and literal self-interpretation of the Holy Gospels and the Bible. For indeed, while it is important to read the Scripture and discern its meaning, we must never do so without any guidance from competent authorities, otherwise we are risking making the wrong interpretations and having the wrong ideas and approach to our faith.

In the first reading, we read how every early Christians share their possessions and their belongings for the good of one another, and in this way, indeed we can see that our faith is not merely personal faith, another facet of faith that the aberrant ‘Christians’ like to stress, that is to be ‘reborn again in Christ and have PERSONAL relationship with Christ that they can be saved’. Yes, indeed, it is important to have such a personal relationship with Christ, that is the closeness we have between ourselves and Christ our Lord, but we have to always remember that our faith that is personal is not enough, for our faith is as much communal as it is personal, and it is the communal faith that we have as a community of believers in the Church that makes our faith in the Lord perfect and complete.

In this sharing too, the early Christians also showed to us the true value of love and communality, that they share with one another their goods and their possessions, and that rid of the endless desires of man to haul in more possessions for themselves, and rid of greed, they truly practice the teachings of Christ to love one another. This is in fact the meaning of true communism, removed from the taints of Karl Marx and his twisted form of communism, and the ideologies espoused by those who followed after him. We must not be confused between this twisted communism and the true communism as practised by the early Christians.

Love one another, take care of your fellow neighbours, and follow our Lord, through His commandments and His teachings. May our lives truly reflect the love that is of God, and let us all share this love that is given to us by the Lord, that all people, especially the unloved ones, can truly experience the love of God, and share with one another the faith we have in Christ, as a community, caring and loving for one another, just as all of us love God even more.

May God grant us a heart of gold, to share what we have to those who do not have, and to those who hunger, both for food, and also more importantly for love, for those starved of love, that all of us, as we work in the love of God, can make this world a better place for everyone. Amen.

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Tuesday, 9 April 2013 : 2nd Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

John 3 : 7b-15

Jesus said, “You must be born again from above. The wind blows where it pleases and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus asked again, “How can this be?” And Jesus answered, “You are a teacher in Israel, and you don’t know these things! Truly I say to you, We speak of what We know and We witness to the things We have seen, but you don’t accept Our testimony. If you don’t believe when I speak of earthly things, what then, when I speak to you of heavenly things? No one has ever gone up to heaven except the One who came from heaven, the Son of Man.”

“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.”

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Tuesday, 9 April 2013 : 2nd Week of Easter (Psalm)

Psalm 92 : 1ab, 1c-2, 5

The Lord reigns, robed in majesty; the Lord is girded with strength.

The world now is firm, it cannot be moved. Your throne stands from long ago, o Lord, from all eternity You are.

Your decrees can be trusted; holiness dwells in Your House, day after day without end, o Lord.

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Tuesday, 9 April 2013 : 2nd Week of Easter (First Reading)

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.

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Tuesday, 2 April 2013 : Tuesday of the Easter Octave (Scripture Reflection)

The Lord Jesus Christ is risen, and He offers to all of us who believe in Him, the gift of the Holy Spirit as St. Peter the Apostle had mentioned. Through Christ, the Holy Spirit descends upon us all. Remember the words of St. John the Baptist at the Jordan, that while he would baptise people with water, the Lord, the Messiah would baptise all with fire and the Holy Spirit. That Messiah is indeed Christ, Risen Lord, our Saviour.

The Lord brought justice to all and He brought salvation to all of us. He is our hope, and He represents the living water, the endless spring through which we can sate our spiritual thirst for God’s love, just as Christ had said to the Samaritan woman. He gave us His Body, the very Precious Body, as our spiritual food too, that just like Elijah, who walked the desert for forty days and nights after receiving the food from the angel, we too can do so in our evangelising mission, and here is a Body and Food greater than that received by Elijah!

Christ was lifted up high between the heavens and the earth on the cross, and this reminds us of the time when Israel walked the desert with Moses, when they rebelled against God and rebelled against His love. God who loves all His children, is also a just God, who hates evil. Thus, He sent the serpents to kill many of the sinful people of Israel, due to their rebellion.

Just as Moses crafted the bronze serpent on the Lord’s instruction, such that when it is lifted up high, all the people who saw it may live, therefore, the same happened, as Christ, whom was lifted up high like the bronze serpent, becomes the new symbol of hope, through whom all mankind who look up towards Him can be saved and gain eternal life.

Through the waters of baptism, we have seen Christ, and we have looked upon Him, and He looked down upon us baptised in Him, that we share with Him now the everlasting life He promised all of us who have faith in Him. But never slacken, as our sight of Christ is often covered by the filth of sin, and by the shaking of our faith.

Just like Mary of Magdalene, who was faithful to our Lord, but whose faith in Him had been shaken by then recent death of Jesus on the cross, that she failed to see that the One speaking to her is none other than Christ Himself, risen from the dead. Therefore, we too can fail to see the Risen Christ, because our faith in Him had been shaken.

Never fear! For the Lord comes to save us all, and if we put our faith firmly in Him, we shall get our heavenly reward in due time. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us strive to put our trust, all of it, in God who is Risen, who died to save us all, and then rise up again to show His triumph against death and sin, that had enslaved us for so long.

Let us be free from the sins and the evils that blind us from seeing the glory of the Risen Christ, and let us pray for one another that all of us will be ever faithful. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 2 April 2013 : Tuesday of the Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

John 20 : 11-18

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 don’t 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.”

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Tuesday, 2 April 2013 : Tuesday of the Easter Octave (Psalm)

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.

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Tuesday, 2 April 2013 : Tuesday of the Easter Octave (First Reading)

Acts 2 : 36-41

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 there thousand persons were added to their number that day.

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Tuesday, 26 March 2013 : Tuesday of Holy Week (Scripture Reflection)

Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God who became Man, is the servant of God mentioned in the book of the prophet Isaiah in our first reading, as the messenger of God, and the labourer of God, who made Israel, scattered over all nations for their disobedience and sins, whole once again, and return them into the the Lord’s fold.

Yet, as the servant of God had mentioned, that He had laboured in vain, because indeed, many of the people in Israel remained deaf and blind to the works of God through Him. Many still rejected God’s servant, just as they had rejected many prophets that God had sent to them across time, since the beginning of Israel to the coming of Christ, God’s servant.

Christ is also to die, just as the people murdered God’s prophet, and so did Christ had to endure the same suffering and death.

However, Christ put His trust entirely in the Lord, God His Father, for He placed a complete trust in Him, as well as out of His great and undying love for all of us, He remained true and faithful to His mission, despite the weight of such a burden and responsibility, that He even wavered at times, greatly distressed in His Spirit.

This is how we can follow the example of Christ. That is to pray, whenever we are faced with great trouble and persecution. Christ prayed at the Garden of Gethsemane prior to His arrest by the temple guards and Judas’ betrayal, so that He would be strengthened for whatever things that are to come.

The lack of prayer and faith is what made Peter betrayed Jesus, just as Judas Iscariot had betrayed Christ for the thirty silver coins he received from the chief priests for his betrayal. Judas had failed his temptation by Satan and allowed Satan to enter into him, to betray the Lord, because he had let himself to falter in his faith, for in fact, he barely has faith for the Lord at all.

For already it was known that from yesterday’s readings, that he appropriated some of the common purse’s money for his own use. He didn’t follow the Lord out of true faith and dedication to God’s mission, but rather as an opportunist, and being a thief he was, he took advantage of the situation, and even betrayed his Master for the sake of money. When he regretted that, it was already too late for him to repent.

For Peter, and also the other disciples, they did have faith in the Lord, but that faith was yet strong enough to endure harsh moments and persecutions. For when the Lord was arrested, and He was brought to the chief priests for trial, the fear that came before all of them, including Peter, prevented their faith in Christ to come forth in them, and instead they cower behind their fears, and their own self-preservation instincts.

That was why Peter denied Jesus three times, all to protect himself, from facing the same fate as that of Christ. He denied Him three times despite having pledged his life to defend Christ just hours before that denial. But Christ saw the true faith that was in Peter, only that it was being shrouded in fear. Once that shroud of fear was removed, the true faith could shine brightly for all to see. That was why Christ forgave Peter through His three questions of love to Peter, and then commended to Him the people of God, to be his as the shepherd, representing Himself as the Chief Shepherd.

Therefore brothers and sisters in Christ, as we approach the Easter Triduum beginning this Thursday, let us pray, that our faith will be strengthened. That we will never again be afraid or be ashamed to stand up for Christ and for the teachings of God and His values. Let us strive to help one another, to strengthen one another in faith, and to bring all God’s people together in love. May God bless our Holy Week celebration, that we will have a fruitful and blessed time. Amen!