understanding the faith

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Monday, 26 April 2021 : 4th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are all reminded of our Christian obligation and responsibility to be the witnesses of the Good Shepherd, Our Lord, in the midst of our communities, and to be exemplary in our living and faith that we may indeed be good role models and examples in each of our words, actions and deeds, that we truly lead more and more people towards the Lord, to His salvation and grace.

Today we heard the continuation of yesterday’s discourse on Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd, from the Good Shepherd Sunday. The Lord has revealed Himself as the Good Shepherd and presented Himself as the One Who would shepherd the flock of His people, Israel and more. He would not only seek the lost sheep among the Israelites but also from all the rest of mankind, all equally beloved by Him, and all equally treasured, especially the ones who have been lost and separated from Him.

That is why, the Lord gave His all in reaching out to us, as He wants us to be reconciled to God through Him. By incarnating in the flesh, and by dwelling among us, the Saviour both Man and Divine, Christ has become the tangible and approachable expression of God’s love. As I mentioned in yesterday’s homily, we are all the sheep of the Lord’s flock and we belong to Him, yet, it is thanks to Christ that we have found our Shepherd, the One Who leads us to the right paths.

As I mentioned, as sheep we belong to the Lord, but without Christ as our Shepherd, we can lose our way and be trapped in dangerous traps of sin and darkness of this world. That is why it is important that we listen to the Lord as He calls on us, as our Shepherd, calling on us the lost sheep to return to Him. And He sent His servants, the Apostles and their successors, who are our bishops and the priests, to be shepherds in His own mould, that through them many more people and many more souls may be saved.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in our first reading today we heard St. Peter speaking to the assembled faithful and the elders among the Christian community, the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord. St. Peter spoke to them regarding the opposition showed by some among the Jewish converts in the community, who criticised St. Peter and what he had done, as he visited the house of a Gentile or non-Jew, which was abhorred and disliked by those among the Jews who were more conservative in their ways. Those Jewish converts were likely those belonging to this faction, members of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who brought their own old ideology and way of thinking.

However, St. Peter revealed to all those gathered how the Lord wanted them to change their mindset, that they should be willing to listen to the Lord and His true intention and desire to love all of us mankind, all equally beloved by God and not just those of the chosen race of Israel only. Through St. Peter, God made this intention clear as He showed the Apostle in a vision of all sorts of food considered ‘unclean’ by the Jewish laws, which he rejected only for the Lord to tell him that what God has considered as ‘clean’ one must not consider as ‘unclean’.

This is what God meant when He told St. Peter and then the other disciples, of His ever encompassing love and kindness, His compassion and mercy, that He wants to give to all the children of mankind. He is sending His disciples to all the peoples of all the nations, to be His witnesses and to be the bearers of His light and truth to all of them. And He reiterated this in the Gospel passage today, as He spoke that He as the Good Shepherd is sent to lead all of the flock of God’s faithful, and that there are still yet other sheep that is not of this fold, referring to the Gentiles whom He was also calling to seek Him, the Good Shepherd of all, that they may find salvation through Him.

That is why, as Christians all of us are called to be the faithful and loving bearers of God’s love, His light and truth in the midst of our communities in today’s world. We must not allow ourselves to be exclusive and elitist in our outlook of faith, in thinking that we alone are worthy of God’s grace and love, as the Jewish converts who once opposed St. Peter had done. Instead, we should be willing to reach out and to open our hearts and minds to welcome all peoples, of all origins and nationalities, all equally beloved by God, our fellow brothers and sisters in the same Lord, Jesus Christ.

And as Christians we are also called to be exemplary in the way we live our lives with faith. We should be good examples and inspiration for everyone in even the small things we do, so that we too may be ‘shepherds’ and guides for each other. Each and every one of us through our common baptism share in this mission that the Lord has entrusted to us, to make disciples of all the peoples of all the nations, and to baptise all in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Through us, our faithful and exemplary life, and whatever contribution we can make, we are crucial and integral part of the Church’s efforts to reach out to the people of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us therefore seek the Lord with a renewed faith and courage, entrusting ourselves to Him as His Apostles had done, to be like our Good Shepherd and to be faithful shepherds and guides to one another as part of our Christian calling and commitment. Let us all help each other in our journey of faith and support one another, particularly supporting and praying for our priests and all the leaders of the Church that they may always be faithful in their ministry as shepherds appointed in the mould of the one and true Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

May the Lord bless us all and may He give us all the strength to carry on living faithfully each and every days of our lives, that through us God may do ever more wonderful works and deeds in our world. May He remain with us and be with us always. Amen.

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Sunday, 25 April 2021 : Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday and Vocation Sunday, and Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we mark the fourth Sunday in the season of Easter, and which is also known as the Good Shepherd Sunday or the Vocation Sunday. That is because on this Fourth Sunday of Easter the Gospel passage focused on the Lord as the Good Shepherd, referring Himself as that Good Shepherd Who leads the flock of the Lord, all of God’s people to the path of salvation, to gather them all into the embrace of God’s love.

Through today’s Scripture readings, we are reminded of the ever present and ever wonderful God’s love in our midst, the love which God has for each and every one of us. God has Himself become our Shepherd just as He is also our King. But through His identity as the Good Shepherd, it shows that not only He is symbolically represented as the One Who leads the way for us, but also that He cares for each one of us in a very personal way. He is not God that is distant or One Who did not know us.

On the contrary, He knows each and every one of us on a very deep and personal level, as He knows everything about us, through His omniscience. He Who created us also knows everything about us, often even things that we ourselves are perhaps not aware of. He knows us all like a true shepherd knows his sheep well, and a true and good shepherd truly knows them all and dedicates himself to all of the sheep, just as the sheep are also dedicated to the shepherd and stay by his side.

The Lord Jesus used this comparison to a shepherd for various reasons, one of which is that many Israelites at that time make their living as shepherds, herding herds of sheep or goats, or other animals. The Lord often made use of allegories and comparisons to the common trade of the people such as shepherding, fishing, farming and others, through His parables and teachings to help the people to understand better the context and the content of what He was delivering to them.

Then, what we cannot ignore is the fact that the beloved king of Israel, King David himself was a shepherd in his youth, who was recorded as having wrested with a great lion who was harming and threatening the flock that David was taking care of. David placed his life at stake in order to protect his sheep, and managed to win over the lion, saving his sheep. Thus, as the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus He would lay down His life, putting Himself between His sheep and the ‘lion’ of death.

That is in fact a revelation of what the Lord would be doing, in accepting humbly and willingly to be the Sacrifice, bearing His Cross and enduring all of the weight of our sins and the punishments due for all those sins. This is what St. Peter spoke of courageously and passionately before the assembly of the people and their elders, many of whom still refused to believe in Christ. As the Good Shepherd, He willingly received the punishments and die in our stead, that through Him and His selfless sacrifice, He could save us all from certain annihilation.

And lastly, a small detail which we may easily miss from today’s Gospel passage also showed what the Lord intended to do for us. As He spoke of the sheep of His flock, He said that there are also other sheep that are not of this fold, which refers to the Gentiles, or the non-Jewish people. When the Lord spoke this teaching of the Good Shepherd, He was speaking to His disciples and followers, which were mainly and mostly Jewish in origin.

Therefore, this shows that the Lord wants all of His children, all the people He had created to be saved, gathered and rescued from the darkness of the world. He came not only for the descendants of the people of Israel but for all mankind. And that was why after He has risen from the dead, He gave the commandment to His disciples, commissioning them all to go forth and make disciples of all the peoples of all the nations. He has sent His disciples to seek out the lost sheep from the whole world and to gather them back in the Lord’s loving embrace.

This is what St. John spoke of in our second reading passage today from his Epistle, speaking of the great love which the Lord has for each and every one of us, as the children of God. We are so beloved and truly blessed as such, to be called God’s own children. This is in line with what the Lord had told us that as our Shepherd, loving each and every one of us as His sheep, we are truly precious and beloved, and as alluded in another one of the Lord’s parables, the one on the lost sheep, so beloved is the sheep that even if one were to be lost, the shepherd would go and seek out that one lost sheep until it can be found.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore today as we celebrate this occasion of the Good Shepherd Sunday or Vocation Sunday, we are called first of all to remember the love which God, Our Good Shepherd, through His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord, has shown us, that He willingly suffer and die for us, and by His Incarnation in the flesh, He has also entered into our lives and touched us, just as the shepherds come to be physically present in the midst of his flock. He Himself has endeavoured to guide us and to be our focal point in life, that through Him, and that we may truly feel and know His presence among us.

Sheep can be owned and yet without a shepherd. In the same manner thus, the Lord could have chosen to remain distant and act through intermediaries as He had done in the time of the Old Testament. But this is not to be the case, as by being our Good Shepherd, being in our midst and truly present among us, He has restored the bond of unity that was once broken and lost by the disobedience of our ancestors. When our ancestors Adam and Eve were in the Gardens of Eden, God was in their midst and was with them. After their fall into sin, they were cast out and had to endure exile.

As I said, sheep can be owned and yet without a shepherd. The sins of mankind had led them all away from the Lord, indulging in sin and darkness of the world. They have become lost sheep that ran away from their shepherd, lost in the darkness of the world. Are they still owned by the Lord? We sinners, are we still belonging to the Lord? Of course we are, but without the Lord as our Shepherd and Guide, we are lost and we cannot find our way home, unless we seek our Shepherd and Guide, Who is the Lord Himself.

Fortunately, our Lord, the Good Shepherd is looking for us, and He tirelessly seeks us out just as the shepherd in His parable out looking for his sheep. That was why He had put so much effort, reaching out to us throughout time, and then through His Church, as mentioned earlier, how He sent out His disciples, commissioning them to reach out and make disciples of all the peoples of all the nations.

That is why today on this Sunday we are also celebrating the Vocation Sunday. The Lord has called His Apostles to continue His good works, and to be shepherds in the same mould as He is, as the Good Shepherd. They and their successors, the bishops right to the very present day, with all the priests are the shepherds of the faithful flock of the Lord, and they have been called and chosen, and also chose to respond to the call of the Lord, to lead the people of God faithfully and guide them to the Good Shepherd.

That is why this Sunday we ought to pray for all of our priests, who are our spiritual fathers and shepherds, all the bishops and the Pope, as well as those whom God had called into the religious life and priesthood. They have all given themselves to the Lord to be the shepherds following the example of the one true Good Shepherd. They have a lot of work to do and a lot of challenges to be overcome in their ministry and journey as shepherds of the Lord’s faithful, and they need our support and prayers.

We also pray for the many seminarians currently in seminary formation, during the various stages of their seminary life, all those whom God had called and had responded with the genuine desire to follow Him and to be shepherds like Him. And not forgetting also all those who aspire to the priesthood and are discerning on their vocation in life. We also pray for them and give them our support, that they may make the right decision, and commit themselves to whatever the Lord has called them into.

Lastly, for all of us who are members of the laity, it does not mean that we have no calling or vocation in life. God has blessed us with many graces and blessings, with many talents and abilities, and we are all called to contribute in whatever way we can, in our respective fields and capacity, as members of Christian families and communities, to be holy and faithful, to be exemplary in how we live our lives, so that by our own lives and examples, we may also be ‘shepherds’ to one another, and to be role models in inspiring many to follow the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all renew our commitment to the Lord therefore on this Good Shepherd and Vocation Sunday, that each and every one of us as members and parts of the same Body of Christ, the Church, we may do our very best to contribute to the efforts of the Church, in fulfilling our calling to be the Lord’s faithful witnesses, in reaching out to many people of all the nations, in our everyday living so that not only we can encourage and inspire one another to live faithfully and stay close to the Lord’s ways, but we may also inspire others who have not yet known or accepted the Lord, that they too may accept the Lord Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd, as their Lord and Saviour.

May the Lord, our Good Shepherd, be with us always, and may He strengthen each and every one of us, His beloved flock and sheep, that all of us may remain in His love, and will continue to love Him, our most beloved Shepherd and Guide, at all times. May God bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 24 April 2021 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scripture, all of us are reminded that we must always stay firm in the Lord and in our Christian faith, and we should not allow ourselves to be swayed or to be deceived by falsehoods, lest the devil is trying as he has always been, in order to turn us away from God and in trying to persuade and coerce us to embrace the ways of the world, and distance ourselves from the true path.

All of us must realise that being Christians often mean that we have to make the most unconventional of choices and tread the most unlikely of paths, as we follow the Lord and speak faithfully of His truth, and the path going forward is not necessarily going to be easy or smooth for us. This is what the devil will try to capitalise as he will definitely try to persuade and coerce us to follow the easier, more logical and more profitable and fruitful way forward, luring us the path of God’s truth.

In our first reading today, we heard of the works of St. Peter the Apostle as he preached the truth of God in various places like Lydda and Joppa all around the land, strengthening the faith of those who have come to believe in the Lord and calling on many others to embrace the Lord. And it was during that visit to Lydda and Joppa that St. Peter showed just how unconventional and different our Christian faith can be, as he healed the paralytic man Aeneas in Lydda, and brought the faithful woman Tabitha back to life in Joppa.

Such things that happened truly are beyond ordinary comprehension and norms, and could not be explained by any human means or standards. The Lord has given His followers the authority and power to heal the sick and even to raise people from the dead through faith. And this is what we are all called to remember, that we must indeed have faith and trust in the Lord, in His providence and love, in His care and compassion to each and every one of us. We must believe in Him and all that He has done for us.

In our Gospel today, the Lord was abandoned by many of those who followed Him because He spoke to them the reality that He is the One Who would give them all His own Body and Blood, to be broken and shared among them, as the Bread of Life and the Salvation of all, through Whom all would receive the assurance of life eternal. But many would not open their minds to the Lord and few were willing to accept the hard truth, as they refused to accept that One like the Lord could have given them His own Flesh and Blood.

Yet, as we heard from our Gospel today and from those in the previous days, on this discourse of the Bread of Life, the Lord did not mince His words or soften it by euphemisms. Instead, He spoke plainly and clearly, highlighting that it is indeed through Him that God’s salvation would come, and by revealing Himself as the Bread of Life, He was giving them all advance premonition of what He would do at His Passion and death, when He chose willingly to accept suffering and death for the sake of our salvation and liberation from the bondage to the same sin and death.

And that is what the disciples of the Lord were preaching on, and what they were willing to suffer and die for in the mission which God has entrusted to them, following in the footsteps of the Apostles themselves, in the same Lord through which St. Peter had performed wondrous miracles as highlighted in our first reading today. Many saints and martyrs showed us all what it means to be true disciples of the Lord, in their exemplary lives, dedication and faith, in how they generously give of themselves for the glory of the Lord.

Today we celebrate the memory of one of those faithful saints, namely St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen. St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen was a priest who ministered to the faithful in many parts of Switzerland as a Capuchin friar, at the forefront of the Counter-Reformation efforts. St. Fidelis courageously and patiently spoke of the truth of the Lord against the Calvinists who rejected the truth of God, particularly in what the Lord Himself had stated it clearly today, of the Doctrine of Transubstantiation, the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist.

St. Fidelis ministered to the people faithfully and managed to gain a great number of converts, which angered the Calvinists who saw him as a great threat to their community and their misguided faith. As such they plotted against him and tried to find ways to destroy him. St. Fidelis himself according to tradition had known of what would happen to him, and surrendered himself to the Lord, entrusting himself completely into His hands, as Calvinist soldiers struck at him and murdered him when he refused to abandon his true faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard in St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, his faith and dedication to the Lord, and how he and many other saints and martyrs, from the days of the Apostles to this very day, we are all reminded that as members and parts of the Church each and every one of us also have the same share in the calling and mission entrusted to us by God. But are we willing to commit ourselves in the manner that the Apostles, the saints and martyrs, like how St. Fidelis had committed himself and his own life?

Let us all discern carefully therefore how we are to proceed on in this life, going forward knowing that we are all parts of the same Church and have upon us the same mission entrusted to us by God Himself, to be His faithful and courageous witnesses, through our own actions and deeds, by everything we do, even to the smallest things, within our own communities. May all of us be exemplary in our faith and life, that we may inspire more and more to come and to follow the Lord wholeheartedly. Amen.

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Friday, 23 April 2021 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. George, Martyr and St. Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we all listen to the words of the Lord speaking to us about the conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, as he was called by God on the way to Damascus, when as Saul he wanted to bring destruction and death to all the Christians living there with the express permission and authority from the High Priests and the Sanhedrin. Saul was struck by a great light and saw the Lord in a vision, and it was there that he received the truth from God, of the mistakes he had done in pursuing his path.

Saul was touched by God and through His disciple, Ananias, Saul received baptism, the wisdom and truth of God through the Holy Spirit, by which his eyes were opened to the truth and he received the courage to preach the truth, the truth that he had been denying and tried to snuff out by striking against the followers of the Lord. And he spoke therefore of the Lord, the same Crucified Messiah rejected by many among the Jews and by most of the Jewish authorities. He preached the Lord Jesus Christ, Risen from the dead, Who has given His own Body and Blood for us, for our salvation.

The Jewish people refused to accept that the Lord could have given them His own Body and Blood for them to eat and share among them, and many of them left after this occasion, unable to accept the hard truth from the Lord. They all refused to believe in the reality of the Body and Blood of Christ being shed and given to all. Even the disciples were shaken by what they heard at that time, and found it hard to believe too. But after the Lord had indeed shed His Blood and broken His Body on the Cross, for the salvation of all, the disciples finally understood what the Lord meant.

Thus, as they had witnessed all the important events surrounding the moments of the Lord’s Passion, suffering and death, and His glorious Resurrection, the disciples of the Lord went forth strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit to speak about the truth and the salvation of God, through Whom all has received the assurance of new life by partaking in the same Precious Body and Blood, given through the Church in the Holy Eucharist.

It is this same mission then that St. Paul was also called into, as he shed his old life and existence as an ardent enemy of the faithful, leaving behind his old name of Saul and taking up the new name of Paul to indicate his conversion and change. While once he had enjoyed the favour of the Jewish population and the authorities, he willingly left all that behind for the Lord and His truth, labouring hard for many years in various places, having to encounter many challenges and persecutions, almost being killed in some of those occasions.

Yet, it was due to their great courage and dedication that the Church grew and flourished even under the most difficult of circumstances. These disciples of the Lord and their successors and all those whom had been called to be His servants are inspirations to us. And we remember in particular two of them, whose feasts we are celebrating today. St. George, who was a soldier and a renowned martyr remembered all around the world for his exploits and dedication, as well as St. Adalbert, a courageous bishop and missionary who also suffered martyrdom for his actions.

St. George was a member of the Roman military, and a high ranking one at that, as he was a member of the Praetorian Guards, the personal protectors of the Roman Emperors. At that time, the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who was infamous for his harsh and particularly brutal oppression of Christians, was the ruling Emperor, and he decreed that all the Christians throughout the Empire has to abandon their God and offer obedience and worship to the pagan gods and to the Roman Emperor, or else suffer terrible consequences.

And in particular, Emperor Diocletian enforced this on the members of the military and also his Praetorian Guards, of which St. George belonged to. The faithful follower of God refused to do as commanded by the Emperor, and when confronted over his Christian faith and dedication, he chose to suffer and die rather than to abandon his Christian faith or to apostasise and scandalise the faith by offering sacrifices to the Roman gods and to the Emperor. As such, he was executed by decapitation, died a martyr, and yet, his courage in faith inspired countless others throughout time.

Meanwhile, St. Adalbert, also known as St. Adalbert of Prague was the Bishop of Prague and was remembered for his ministry and evangelisation to the pagans, particularly to the Hungarians and to the Prussians, both of whom were still mostly pagan back then. He was also an ardent missionary and dedicated bishop to the Bohemians in Prague and the rest of his diocese that back then was only partly Christianised. St. Adalbert had to face difficulties and challenges from the secular rulers and once had to endure exile as he opposed the actions of the nobles and lords, standing up for the Christian faith in doing so.

Later on, he would go on to more missionary works in Hungary and in the lands of Prussia, in present day northern parts of Poland, where he managed to gain quite a bit of success in converting many to the true faith. Yet, he also encountered challenges from the pagans who refused to believe in him, and with the plotting of some of the pagan priests, St. Adalbert was murdered and died a martyr in the midst of his works of evangelisation. To the very end, he remained firm in his commitment and dedication to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore follow in the examples of these faithful servants of God, all those who have responded to the Lord’s call and embraced Him wholeheartedly as their Lord and Saviour. Let us all ourselves also be inspired to follow in their footsteps and dedicate ourselves from now on to be faithful disciples of the Lord. Let us all do our best in our respective fields and capacity, to be true disciples of the Lord in all of our daily actions throughout life. May God be with us and may He strengthen us all that we may always serve Him, each day, with dedication and faith. Amen.

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Thursday, 22 April 2021 : 3rd Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this day as we continue to listen from the Scriptures we are called to continue to proclaim the Word of God and His truth in our respective communities, in our lives and in our actions. We are all called to proclaim the Lord, our Living Bread, the Bread of Life and the Lamb of God, Who has come into this world to be our Saviour and leading us out of the darkness into the light.

We all proclaim Him as Our Lord and Saviour, as part of our Christian faith, our true belief and dedication, and we proclaim Him as the Light and Hope in the midst of all the darkness in this world, that through Christ and all that He has done for us, He has restored us to a new hope and freed us from the chains of sin and the tyranny of death that had separated us from Him. God’s great love for us had been manifested in Christ and His love, and as such, we His people who know Him, ought to be His good and faithful witnesses in this world, proclaiming Him through our actions and deeds.

Like St. Philip the Apostle, we have received the same Holy Spirit from God, through our baptism, and those of us who have received the Sacrament of Confirmation, we have been further strengthened by the same Spirit, through which God is guiding us to be His faithful witnesses and servants, to lead others and many people to Him. St. Philip ministered in the regions that he went to and met an Ethiopian official, on his way back from Jerusalem, and revealed to him the true identity of the Messiah proclaimed in the Scriptures, which the official happened to be reading.

St. Philip so convinced the Ethiopian official that he was willing to embrace baptism, and gave himself to be baptised by the Apostle. St. Philip has received this very truth and revelation from none other than the Lord Himself, Who in our Gospel passage today, spoke of Himself as the Bread of Life and the Saviour, sent from the Father in heaven into this world, to bring all of mankind to salvation, and to a new life, restoring them to true joy and grace. And unlike the old manna eaten by the Israelites in the past, the Bread of Life, given and offered freely by the Lord Himself, would bring all to life, eternal life in God.

But this truth is not something that is easily believed by many, as the Lord Himself, when He spoke of the truth before all the assembled people, He faced many skepticism and doubts, and many left Him and abandoned Him when He spoke in such terms. Even His disciples told Him that such a truth was truly very hard to take in and to be comprehended. Yet, it is this same truth which St. Philip had spoken of to the Ethiopian official, and the same truth that the Apostles, and so many saints and holy martyrs had toiled and laboured for, all suffering for the sake of the Lord.

Yet, they all rejoiced at the chance to suffer in the Lord, to continue to preach the truth and reach out more and more people despite the opposition, persecution, challenges and trials that they faced. Their exemplary faith and unceasing devotion to the Lord became source of inspiration for many others who followed in their footsteps, their commitment and courage became source of strength for those who also faced the same trials and challenges well after the time of the earliest disciples.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, how about us then? As Christians are we all inspired by the examples showed by our holy and dedicated predecessors? Are we inspired to reach out and be part of the Church’s continued efforts to evangelise and to proclaim the Good News and the truth to the people of God? As we are reminded today through the Scriptures, we are all part of this work of evangelisation, and the responsibility is upon us to be faithful always to the Lord, at all times, and to be exemplary in the way we live our lives in the most Christian way possible.

Otherwise, if our faith is just but in name or formality only, and if our actions show that we are not truly faithful, and are disobedient of the Lord, then it will be a scandal to our faith and a disgrace to the Lord. And we all shall be accountable to all these that we have done at the day of Judgment. Surely this is not what we want or intend to do. But that’s why we are reminded today yet again, during this most blessed time of Easter, to be a true Easter people, filled with the spirit and joy of Easter to proclaim joyfully the Lord, His truth and Resurrection to all. May God be with us always, and may He, our Risen Lord, bless us and our every good efforts and endeavours, always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 21 April 2021 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scripture we are called to reflect on them and think of our calling as Christians in proclaiming the truth of God in the midst of our respective communities, and we are reminded that we are God’s beloved ones, God’s chosen ones, that He has called to be His witnesses towards those who have not yet known Him, to bring forth all those whom God had called to Him.

As Christians, it is our responsibility, our duty and obligation to reach out to our fellow brethren, to those who have not yet known the truth about God. We are all called to reach out to those who are still living in ignorance or in exclusion from God. And we are all called to be God’s faithful witnesses through our lives, by our every words, actions and deeds that we may indeed show what our Christian faith is truly all about. It means that we ourselves have to be genuine in our Christian living and must have true love for God in order to do so.

We are preaching about Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, the Bread of Life, Whom we heard in our Gospel passage today in the continuation of the Bread of Life discourse, revealing more and more about Himself to the people, that He is the Holy One of God, sent into the world to save us all. By the offering, breaking and shedding of His own Most Precious Body and Blood, He would bring the salvation of God to all, and gather everyone to Himself. The Lord loved us so much that He did all this, through His most loving sacrifice on the Cross.

All of us as His followers, as those who believe in Him are those who are charged with the continuation of His works, His most loving ministry, reaching out to everyone in need of His light and truth. All of us God’s followers are called to follow His examples in showing the light of His love to all the peoples, to be walking in the footsteps of the Apostles, like St. Philip who went about in Samaria and other places, speaking the truth of God and who eventually later on, would encounter an official from Ethiopia, whom he evangelised to and managed to convince to be baptised.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we gather together celebrating the continued joy of Easter, let us all remind ourselves of our Christian calling and obligation, to be part of the efforts of the Church to be witnesses of our Lord and His Resurrection, to all the peoples of all the nations. We have been called to be these witnesses, through our own lives and actions, that everyone who sees us, hears us, and witnesses our actions may also come to believe in the Lord through us, and be inspired to follow Him and walk in His path following our own examples.

That is why, today all of us should be inspired by the good examples set by St. Anselm, whose feast day we are celebrating this day. St. Anselm was the Archbishop of Canterbury during the Middle Ages renowned and remembered for his piety, faith and dedication to the mission entrusted to him, in which he helped to steer the Church through difficult and turbulent times, having to endure challenges and even opposition from the kings of England, who wanted to bring the Church under their control. St. Anselm resisted those efforts and helped to keep the Church faithful and true to its missions.

He was remembered for his great piety and faith throughout his as a monk and later on as abbot for many years, before he was chosen to be the Archbishop of Canterbury, the principal Archbishop in England and the leader of the English Church. The king desired control over the Church lands and influences, and therefore came into conflict with St. Anselm and the other prelates. While initially reluctant to take up the position as Archbishop of Canterbury, St. Anselm dedicated himself later on to pursue the reforms of the Church, the works of evangelisation and the freedom of the Church from secular control and influences.

All these brought him many sufferings and trials, having to endure not once but twice exile from England, while he continued to faithfully serve the Lord and His people over all those years of his service as Archbishop and leader of the faithful. He remained firm to his convictions to the end, and his faith and dedication inspired many people in the following centuries right up to this very day. Are we ourselves inspired by the examples and the faith of St. Anselm, brothers and sisters in Christ?

Let us all seek the Lord therefore with a renewed conviction and desire to love Him with all our heart and with all of our strength just as showed by the Apostles, the holy saints and martyrs, especially St. Anselm, whose memory we recall today. Let us all glorify the Lord by our lives and let us be great witnesses of Our Lord in the midst of our families, our communities and among all those whom we encounter each day in life. Amen.

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Tuesday, 20 April 2021 : 3rd Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we heard the words of the Lord in the Scriptures, we are called to put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, the Bread of Life and Son of God, Who has willingly offered Himself and gave Himself for us, to be the sustenance and the providence through which He shared with us the grace of new life blessed and provided for by His love. All of us have been guaranteed a share of this divine grace and love, and what we need to do is to accept Him fully as Our Lord and Saviour.

However, as we heard in our Scripture passages today, this is much easier said than done. There are many who still refuse to believe in the Lord or to embrace Him fully, and there were many who had even persecuted those who believed in the Lord. As we heard in the persecution and martyrdom of St. Stephen in our first reading today taken from the Acts of the Apostles that the Sanhedrin and many of its members who opposed the works of the Apostles condemned St. Stephen to death and stoned him just as they had earlier on condemned the Lord Himself to death.

Even as St. Stephen spoke most eloquently and wonderfully with the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and even as his arguments and words were most convincing and unrefuteable, those who opposed him still hardened their hearts and closed off their mind, blatantly closing off their ears and covering them to shut the words of St. Stephen, charging at him and stoned him to death. Their pride and ego prevented them from seeing the truth of God.

It was a similar attitude showed by the people whom the Lord spoke to in our Gospel passage today. They showed doubt and refusal to believe that the Lord is the Bread of Life when He spoke to them referring to Himself as that. Contextually, the Lord had just fed the multitudes of over five thousand men and thousands of others who were gathered miraculously with only five loaves of bread and two fishes. He revealed Himself as the Bread of Life to pre-empt and show what He would do for the salvation of all.

But the people still doubted and refused to believe that this Man could have fed them, especially with His own Flesh and Body as He mentioned. And in the end, after the events mentioned in today’s Gospel, many of those who followed the Lord initially left Him and abandoned Him. They could not take the hard truth and reality that He has revealed to them, and chose to walk away from that truth. It was no surprise therefore that St. Stephen faced the same issues and problems when he spoke of the same truth to the people gathered against Him.

This is why as Christians, all of us are reminded that it is often our faith will bring us into contradiction and opposition against the world, and what we may face along the way, may indeed be discouraging for us and hard for us to accept. Yet, that is the reality of our Christian faith and what we have been called to do as those who have accepted the Lord Jesus as our Lord, our Master and our Saviour. We are all called to be His faithful disciples, and to be His witnesses in our daily living, that we may, through our words, actions and deeds truly proclaim that the Lord Jesus is the Messiah, the Saviour of the world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we willing and able to follow in the footsteps of the Apostles, the saints and martyrs, like that of St. Stephen who had devoted himself thoroughly to even suffer and die for the Lord’s sake? As Christians, we are yet again reminded that we cannot remain idle in our faith, but instead our faith must be one of giving, the generous giving of ourselves in reaching out to all those who hunger for the truth of God, and as the beacons of the light of God to those who are still living in the darkness, that through the light we bring forth, we may illuminate the path for many on their way to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all pray that God will guide and strengthen us all with faith, and with the courage so that we may embark ever more faithfully and courageously to live our lives at each and every moments as devout and committed Christians, so that as far as possible, our every actions and our very lives will proclaim God’s truth and show that we are truly God’s children, His beloved and chosen people. May the Lord bless us and our many good works, that through us, He may bring His light and salvation to more and even more people, our fellow brothers and sisters. Amen.

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Monday, 19 April 2021 : 3rd Week of Easter, Sixteenth Anniversary of the Papal Election of Pope Benedict XVI as Vicar of Christ, Supreme Pontiff and Bishop of Rome (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are called to renew our faith in God and to recall our calling as Christians to be the faithful witnesses of the Lord’s truth and Resurrection, the bearers of the Gospels and the Good News of God’s salvation in our world today, just as St. Stephen, the holy Deacon and Protomartyr had done it during his own ministry, and how the other holy men and women of God, our predecessors, had done it.

In our first reading today, we heard the discourse on St. Stephen, one of the seven first Deacons of the Church appointed by the Apostles in establishing the Order of Deacons to minister to the needs of the people of God. St. Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit, and passionately carried out his mission, doing the good works for the Lord and His people, as well as preaching the truth of God and the Gospels, and performing wondrous miracles before many.

It was not long that his efforts met tough resistance from the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and the members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council. The same people had attempted to stop the works of the Apostles and restrain them by ordering them not to continue the work in the Name of the Lord Jesus. However, as the works of the Apostles and the other disciples, including that of St. Stephen continued to flourish and grow, the Sanhedrin began to find ways to suppress their works, and what happened to St. Stephen was the result of this.

As St. Stephen went up against his opponents, who publicly challenged him and even those who had been paid to make false testimonies, those who were assembled against him realised that not even those were able to discredit, stop or argue against St. Stephen’s wisdom and power given to him by the Holy Spirit. St. Stephen was there alone in the assembly, as many gathered in opposing him and wanting to stop him and condemn him for his efforts and works. But the Lord gave him the courage to continue to preach the truth, and speaking without fear, even before those who hated and despised him and the Lord.

St. Stephen still in fact patiently ministered to those people who were assembled against him, and he spoke in great detail in the parts after today’s first reading in the Acts of the Apostles regarding God’s plan of salvation and how God had patiently led and guided His people throughout the past with love, and finally gave Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, to be the Saviour of all, that by dying, He has taken up all of mankind’s sins, the sins of those same people assembled against St. Stephen, in order to redeem all of them from their sins and to free them from its chains and bondage of death.

This is the truth that the Lord Himself has also spoken before the people of God as mentioned in our Gospel today when He spoke to the assembled multitudes right after He had fed them all, five thousand men and many thousands more of others, with the miraculous breaking of the bread and the fishes. He spoke of Himself as the One Whom God had sent into the world, and as One Who has given Himself, as the Bread of Life, broken and offered for us, for our salvation.

All of us are witnesses and inheritors of the truth, of God’s amazing love to each and every one of us, His providence and blessings, His ever loving presence in our midst, and all that He has done for us, in loving us and in showing compassion towards us. St. Stephen and the many other saints and martyrs all spoke of this same truth, and many among them suffered and died for this truth. As Christians, we are all called to follow in their footsteps and partake in the effort to reach out to our fellow brethren.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we ready to take up our crosses and follow the Lord wholeheartedly? Are we willing and ready to follow in the footsteps of our holy predecessors, St. Stephen and so many other saints and martyrs, to stand up for the truth and to deliver this same truth to this darkened world? We have all been called to be the beacons of God’s light in this world, and therefore, let us all commit ourselves thoroughly to serve Him, and to be His faithful and good disciples at all times.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He strengthen each and every one of us, in each and every moments of our lives. May He empower all of us to be His true disciples, and may all of us grow ever closer to Him, and also grow in faith and love for Him, always. Amen.

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Sunday, 18 April 2021 : Third Sunday of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday, the third Sunday in the season of Easter, we are all called to speak of God’s salvation that has come down into our midst through Christ, the Son of God, Who has willingly taken up on Himself all of our sins and all of the punishments due for those sins. He has endured all those sufferings, humiliations and trials for our sake, out of love for us. God has planned everything for our salvation, and we have been blessed because of that.

In our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, the Jewish people in Antioch in Pisidia called upon St. Paul to speak to the Jewish diaspora in the synagogue on the Sabbath, to give them encouragement and strength. They were open and willing to listen to what St. Paul was to say to them about the Lord Jesus and His teachings. And thus, St. Paul spoke to them about how God rescued the ancestors of the Israelites from Egypt, how He led them out of the land of Egypt, and brought them to the Promised Land and guided them through the desert against their enemies.

Through this, St. Paul wanted to remind the people of God, the Jewish people of his time and also all of us Christians throughout the generations of the salvation promised by God, the love which He has held for all of us since the very beginning, and which He has faithfully kept as part of the Covenant that He has established with each and every one of us. And God will never abandon us to the darkness, to sin, evil and death, as He has shown how He broke the bonds of slavery from the Israelites by the Egyptians, and which He later on then showed even more wondrously by breaking the chains of sin and death from all of us.

As we heard our Gospel passage today, which was centred on the Resurrection of the Lord, we heard of how He appeared to the assembled disciples just after He appeared to the two disciples who were on their way to the village of Emmaus. At that time, the disciples hid themselves in fear in Jerusalem, because their Lord and Master had just been condemned and crucified to death by the Sanhedrin and the Romans, and they were left leaderless and lost.

When the Lord appeared before them, in all of His Risen glory, the disciples were astonished and stunned, unable to believe all that they had seen. Many would likely have thought that they had seen a ghost, and they were truly scared, as they could not believe that the Lord had truly returned to life, as death was truly something not only feared but also a certainty, from which no one could escape from. This is the fact, even when the disciples themselves had seen on few occasions how the Lord raised Lazarus and some others, including the daughter of a synagogue official from the dead.

Hence, the Lord showed them all that He was truly alive, returned from the dead, not merely a ghost or a spirit. Truly, He was risen from the dead in the Body and Spirit, having overcome death itself and destroyed the bondage of sin. As He ate before all of them, He proved to them all that He has overcome death, as no spirit or ghost could have done so. Eating is something that only the living could have done, and the Risen Lord was truly alive, in all of His risen glory.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is what we believe in, at the very core of our Christian faith, that we call ourselves as Christians because we believe in Jesus Christ, the One Whom God had sent into the world, His own only begotten Son. And through Christ, all of us have received the promise and assurance of eternal life by the Covenant which He has established with us and sealed with His own Precious Blood. We believe that the same Lord Jesus Christ has triumphed over death, and through His death and resurrection, He has shown us the proof of the saving power of God.

The Lord’s suffering, death and resurrection are fulfilment of what the prophets had been speaking about in the previous centuries before His coming. However, many of the ones who were supposed to know about the truth, such as the intellectual and wise Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who were educated about the Law, the Scriptures and the words of the prophets, refused to believe in the truth and opposed the works of the Lord and His efforts, as they viewed Him as a rival to their power and influence within the community.

What prevented them from believing in God, in His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour? It was their pride and desire, their attachment to the privileges, prestige and power they possessed, and their desire for fame and glory, for praise and acknowledgment that they wanted, and they feared to lose all of those things, and they did not want to be parted from the attachments they had to worldly glory and power. As such, these became great obstacles in their path towards believing in God.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are therefore called to live our lives from now on as a true testimony of our faith in Him, learning from the experiences of those who have been held back by their many attachments and distractions in life. We are called to live our lives each day with genuine and sincere faith that in our every actions, words and deeds we shall always live up to what the Lord had called us to do, and embrace fully the path that He has shown us.

If we truly believe in the Lord, then we should indeed make the effort to live our lives according to the way that He has shown us, and dedicate ourselves each day to be true to our respective calling and vocation in life as Christians, as those who believe in Christ and His truth. As St. John made it clear in our second reading today, in the Epistle he wrote to the faithful, that if we truly believe in Him then we ought to walk in His path and be genuine witnesses for the Lord through our lives and actions that become good inspirations for others.

Otherwise, if we do not do so, then we may end up being no better than the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, many of whom outwardly expressed their faith, and yet their faith were rather empty and superficial. Their love and attachments towards their worldly power and fame ruined them and misguided them down the wrong path. That was why the Lord criticised them as hypocrites who were outwardly faithful and yet, as per St. John’s words, were liars as they did not truly have the faith for God in them.

As Christians we are all called to be genuine and true disciples of Our Lord, at all times. And as such, we should truly put our trust and faith in Him, and should not allow fear and doubt to distract us or prevent us from seeking God and doing His will. We have all been entrusted with the most important mission and commandment from the Lord, to be His witnesses in our respective communities, in all of our actions and outreach, in our every interactions with one another.

The Apostles and the disciples have seen the Risen Lord and truly witnessed the truth about His resurrection. They have also received the wisdom and truth through the Holy Spirit that they had been given at Pentecost, which they passed on to their successors and the faithful through the Church. We are inheritors of this truth, and therefore the responsibility is also passed on to us, to be faithful and committed witnesses of our Christian faith and truth, our belief in the Risen Lord and His teachings.

That is why, having received the assurance of freedom and liberation from the bondage of sin and the chains of death, all of us should share the joy of the resurrection with others, by living our lives in a genuine, most Christian manner. For it is by our lives and actions that people shall come to believe in God through us, and not through mere words alone. Worse still if our actions do not compare or even contradict what we say, how can we then expect others to believe in us? We may end up leading people further away from the Lord, and their loss will be weighed down on us on the Day of Judgment.

As we gather together on this Third Sunday of Easter, let us all discern carefully our path forward in life, that we may consider well how we are to live our lives that we may indeed be inspiration and good role models for one another, in testifying for the Christian faith and truth. We cannot be idle or act in manner that is contrary to our faith, as doing so is hypocrisy and we will end up being no better than the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who once had made the same mistakes.

Instead, especially during the dark and difficult times that the world and many of our communities are enduring these past few months and throughout the past one year, due to the terrible impact of the global pandemic and other associated troubles, we should be the beacons of light and hope in our communities, among our families, our relatives and friends, our co-workers and all those whom we encounter in life, even acquaintances and strangers.

That means, when there is despair and darkness in the midst of our communities, we should bring hope and encouragement, and we should show care, concern and love for those who are needy, suffering and are struggling to make ends meet. After all, the Lord’s most important commandments are to love the Lord our God, with all of our hearts and strength, and then also to love our fellow brothers and sisters in the same way that we love God and ourselves.

Are we willing and able to commit ourselves to be charitable, caring and loving, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we willing to make our lives truly worthy of God by our contributions and faithful commitments, no matter how small they may seem to be? We are all called to be a holy people, a people filled with the Easter hope and light, the hope and light brought by the Lord’s Resurrection. If we are not able to show that through our life, then how can we expect others to follow our examples to believe in the Lord and in His Resurrection?

Let us all therefore be the beacons of God’s light in the darkness of our world today, that through our every words, actions and deeds, we may bring the light of God into the midst of our communities, restore the hope to the downtrodden and those who are despairing, filling with love those who have been unloved and abandoned, and bringing therefore more and more people ever closer to God and His salvation. May God, our Risen Lord and Saviour, bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours, for His greater glory. Amen.

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Saturday, 17 April 2021 : 2nd Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us through the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded to put our trust always in the Lord and not to be worried or easily swayed by the many trials and challenges that we may encounter along the journey of our faith. We must not be afraid to follow the Lord and to commit ourselves to Him, and we should look up to Him, entrusting ourselves to Him as we journey through the storms and the trials of life.

In our Gospel passage today, this is what we have heard as the disciples went to the sea of Galilee on a boat while the Lord was not with them, and then later on, as the sea was getting harsh and stormy, they saw the Lord coming up to them walking on the water. The Lord reassured the frightened disciples on the boat who thought that they had seen a ghost, that it was indeed Him Who was walking towards them, and then as the Lord came to them, the disciples and their boat immediately reached their destination.

In this miraculous and wonderful occasion mentioned by the Gospel today, we heard how the Lord came to His disciples and rescued them at their time of need, and at the same time, guided them to where they were to go, leading them to the shore. Through these things that we have heard, we are reminded that God is indeed our strength and guide, our source of encouragement and our compass, the Light that shows us where we are to go, just as He has led His disciples and others to Himself.

Unfortunately, it is very often that we ourselves do not recognise the Lord especially when we are in the midst of challenges, trials and difficulties in life. When we encounter problems and dilemma in life, very often we panicked and became worried, stressed and filled with fear, and not realising that the Lord is in fact by our side, journeying with us and guiding us throughout the journey. Just as the Lord revealed Himself in the storm to the frightened disciples, He wants us all to know that no matter what, He is always with us, even to the worst things we encounter in life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard how the early Church faced difficulties when there was division and disagreement between the Jewish and the non-Jewish or Gentiles among the Lord’s followers, as the latter felt that they had not been equally treated in the distribution of goods, likely because of the prevailing bias against the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people by the Jews among the early Christians, even after they had adopted the Christian faith.

The Apostles, through the wisdom and guidance of the Lord in the Holy Spirit decided to choose seven exemplary men among the faithful, to be the first Seven Deacons of the Church, tasked with the works and distributions of the goods, as well as in assisting the Apostles and the elders in the Church and in managing the faithful people of God. Through the holy and inspired Deacons, the Lord had guided His people through a tumultuous times, and helped them to overcome their differences and be reconciled to each other.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in what we have heard, again we have been reassured of God’s guidance and providence among His people, in His guidance towards those whom He had called and chosen, in those whom He loves and considers as precious. That is why we should not be afraid to do whatever He has commanded us all to do, to be courageous and faithful as Christians, that in everything we say and do, we will always be exemplary in whatever we do, at all times, as great role models and inspiration for one another.

We are all called to be faithful and to be active in our Christian lives and in how we dedicate our daily efforts, for the greater glory of God. Let us all be inspired by the examples of the Apostles, the works of the Holy Deacons, the courage of St. Stephen, who died defending his faith, and the many other saints and martyrs who had gone before us, each of them truly exemplary in their lives. May God be with us all, and may He strengthen us all in our every endeavours and efforts. May the Lord be with us always, and may He give us the necessary capacity and energy to walk in the Lord’s presence, at all times. Amen.