Wednesday

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Wednesday, 23 April 2014 : Wednesday within Easter Octave (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard of what happened to the two disciples on their way to the village of Emmaus, when they met the Risen Christ along the way. The two disciples met Jesus who then went on to change their hopelessness and despair into hope, and eventually to faith and understanding about the nature of Christ and His resurrection.

Once again, as we continue to progress through this Easter season, we are made aware of the truth about Christ and the nature of His mission of which He came with into this world. Easter is about the celebration of life, and the celebration of the liberation of mankind from their previous hopelessness and despair into the realm of hope.

The disciples on their way to Emmaus, arguing about the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the paralytic man begging at the gate of the Temple both represent our old lives, the ones that were filled with uncertainty, fear, helplessness and despair. Then, the Lord came to them and also through the disciples, the Good News and proclamation of the salvation of the Lord changed those who received the Word and believed in Him.

That was essentially what happened to the disciples walking towards Emmaus and to the paralytic man. They were changed and transformed when the Lord touched their lives and their hearts. Their infirmities, the afflictions of their body, heart and soul were healed and they were made anew in God. They received courage and healing, that is the healing of their sorrow and sadness, exchanged for joy and happiness.

Our attitude should also be like that of the paralytic man after he was healed by Peter and John through the authority given to them by Christ, as well as the two disciples who ran with joy and amazement from Emmaus back to Jerusalem to inform the other disciples of Jesus of the proof that He who died for us, is risen from the dead in glory, and that this is true.

We as children of God and members of His Church, having been liberated from sin through our baptism and having experienced the fruits of His resurrection, should be like them, changing our hearts and attitudes of apathy and laxity with ones that are filled with great love for God and zeal to spread His truth. We should rejoice like that of the paralytic man, of having been lifted up from death into life, and from a life in darkness into a life in the light of God.

As Christians, we have our mission granted to us through the Apostles and the other disciples of Christ, that is to spread the Good News to all the peoples of all nations, and this Good News is none other than, that the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God, who is with God, and who is the Word of God, having came down to us to be our Saviour, died for our sins, and by being the only sacrifice worthy to erase our sins, He rose from the dead in glory, that He became the light of hope to all the nations, conquering death and sin in a total and complete victory.

This is the hard truth of our faith, and we should not be discouraged to proclaim it to all, not just by word, but also through our deeds and actions. We must have the spirit and courage of the two disciples who went all the way back from Emmaus to Jerusalem, their hearts filled with excitement having seen the Risen Lord, to proclaim this Good News to others.

Let us all in this Easter season first rejoice for the gift and joy of life that we have enjoyed, and for the gift of new life that God had given us through sacred baptism, when we are sealed in His Name to embark on a new life towards holiness and perfection in God. Let us remember this on this Easter, to keep our lives always holy and worthy of God, and of course, as mentioned, to share this joy and the knowledge of the truth of God with all peoples, that they too may believe and be saved together with us.

May God bless us this Easter and bring us the abundance of graces that we may always be faithful to His will and continue to bring goodness and light to this increasingly darkened world. God be our light. Amen.

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Wednesday, 23 April 2014 : Wednesday within Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 24 : 13-35

That same day, two followers of Jesus were going to Emmaus, a village seven miles from Jerusalem, and they talked about what had happened. While they were talking and arguing about what had happened, Jesus came up and walked with them, but their eyes were not able to recognise Him.

He asked, “What is it you are talking about?” The two stood still, looking sad. Then the one named Cleophas answered, “Why, it seems you are the only traveller to Jerusalem who does not know what has happened there these past few days.” And He asked, “What is it?”

They replied, “It is about Jesus of Nazareth. He was a Prophet, you know, mighty in word and deed before God and the people. But the chief priests and our rulers sentenced Him to death. They handed Him over to be crucified. We had hoped that He would redeem Israel. It is now the third day since all this took place.”

“It is also true that some women of our group have disturbed us. When they went to the tomb at dawn, they did not find His Body; and they came and told us that they had had a vision of angels who said that Jesus was alive. Some of our people went to the tomb and found everything just as the women had said, but they did not find a body in the tomb.”

He said to them, “How dull you are, how slow of understanding! Is the message of the prophets too difficult for you to understand? Is it not written that the Christ should suffer all this, and then enter His glory?” Then starting with Moses, and going through the prophets, He explained to them everything in the Scriptures concerning Himself.

As they drew near the village they were heading for, Jesus made as if to go farther. But they prevailed upon Him, “Stay with us, for night comes quickly. The day is now almost over.” So He went in to stay with them. When they were at table, He took the bread, said a blessing, broke it, and gave each a piece.

Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised Him; but He vanished out of their sight. And they said to one another, “Were not our hearts filled with ardent yearning when He was talking to us on the road and explaining the Scriptures?”

They immediately set out and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and their companions gathered together. They were greeted by these words : “Yes, it is true, the Lord is risen! He has appeared to Simon!” Then the two told what had happened on the road to Emmaus, and how Jesus had made Himself known, when He broke bread with them.

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Wednesday, 23 April 2014 : Wednesday within Easter Octave (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 104 : 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His Name; make known His works among the nations. Sing to Him, sing His praise, proclaim all His wondrous deeds.

Glory is His holy Name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always.

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.

He remembers His covenant forever, His promise to a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the promise He swore to Isaac.

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Wednesday, 23 April 2014 : Wednesday within Easter Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 3 : 1-10

Once when Peter and John were going up to the Temple at three in the afternoon, the hour for prayer, a man crippled from birth was being carried in. Every day they would bring him and put him at the temple gate called “Beautiful”; there he begged from those who entered the Temple.

When he saw Peter and John on their way into the Temple, he asked for alms. Then Peter with John at his side looked straight at him and said, “Look at us.” So he looked at them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I have I give you : In the Name of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, walk!”

Then he took the beggar by his right hand and helped him up. At once his feet and ankles became firm, and jumping up he stood on his feet and began to walk. And he went with them into the Temple walking and leaping and praising God.

All the people saw him walking and praising God; they recognised him as the one who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and they were all astonished and amazed at what had happened to him.

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Wednesday, 16 April 2014 : Wednesday of Holy Week (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

The Lord is our help, brothers and sisters in Christ, and when we are in the greatest predicaments and darkness, it is the Lord who is our only hope and our salvation. He was the very One who gave Himself to us, for our sake, so that we may live in His light and not die in the darkness.

The Lord is our help and our hope, and in Him alone lies our salvation, for the Holy One of God sacrificed Himself for the unworthy ones, that is all of us. We are all unworthy for our sins and our disobedience, and yet He who loves us continue without cease to help us and guide us to Himself, offering without cease His unfailing love.

And yet, who are the ones that rejected and spurned this love and opportunity? It is all of us, every time we sin, and every time we walk away thinking that we know better about things, and following the ways of the devil instead of looking towards the Lord our guide. We are like Judas who was tempted by money and the allures of the world, and hence we tend to fall, just as Judas had fallen.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, just as I had mentioned, we must not blame Judas or anyone else for betraying Christ, for we ourselves have betrayed the Lord many, many times, every single time that we sinned before Him. God continued without cease to offer His help for us, and He continued without cease to love us and show His mercy on us, even as we continue in our indignant and unrepentant behaviour.

So how should we act then? We should start by imitating what the Lord had done Himself, by imitating the Christ who in His humility, is always obedient to the will of God the Father, accepting even His own death, the death on the cross. We have to learn to get rid of our ego, of our own selves, and surrender ourselves totally to God and His love.

In that way our life will be more attuned to the way of the Lord and we can walk more closely along the way of God. Brethren, we should not fall to the same trap that Judas had walked into, the trap and allure of money, the temptation and allure of the evil one. He fell because he did not remain true to God, even though he was so close to Him, but he failed to understand the way of Jesus and follow Him with all of his heart.

As we approach the holiest moments of our year, and to prepare to celebrate this sacred time, let us all fortify ourselves against the evil that is in our hearts, and be ready to reject him and all of his false promises during this Easter celebration, when we in great joy proclaim the glory of our Risen Lord and Saviour.

May we remain faithful in God, remain in His love, grace and favour, forever and be filled always with His Spirit, that we may always remain faithful. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 16 April 2014 : Wednesday of Holy Week (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 26 : 14-25

Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “How much will you give me if I hand Him over to you?” They promised to give him thirty pieces of silver, and from then on, he kept looking for the best way to hand Jesus over to them.

On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare the Passover meal for You?” Jesus answered, “Go into the city, to the house of a certain man, and tell him, “The Master says : My hour is near and I will celebrate the Passover with My disciples in your house.”

The disciples did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover meal. When it was evening, Jesus sat at table with the Twelve. While they were eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you : one of you will betray Me.” They were deeply distressed, and they asked Him, one after the other, “You do not mean me, do You, Lord?”

He answered, “The one who dips his bread with Me will betray Me. The Son of Man is going as the Scriptures say He will. But alas for that one who betrays the Son of Man : better for him not to have been born.”

Judas who was betraying Him, also asked, “You do not mean me, Master, do You?” Jesus replied, “You have said it.”

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Wednesday, 16 April 2014 : Wednesday of Holy Week (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 68 : 8-10, 21bcd-22, 31 and 33-34

Since I am held in contempt for Your sake, and shame has covered My face. I have become a stranger to My kindred, an alien to My mother’s sons. Zeal for Your house consumes Me as fire and those who insult You insult Me as well.

I looked for sympathy and there was none, for comforters and there was no one. They gave Me poison for food and vinegar to drink.

I will praise the Name of God in song; I will glorify Him with thanksgiving. Let the lowly witness this and be glad. You who seek God, may your hearts be revived. For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise those in captivity.

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Wednesday, 16 April 2014 : Wednesday of Holy Week (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 50 : 4-9a

The Lord YHVH has taught Me, so I speak as His disciple and I know how to sustain the weary. Morning after morning He wakes Me up to hear, to listen like a disciple.

The Lord YHVH has opened My ear. I have not rebelled, nor have I withdrawn. I offered My back to those who strike Me, My cheeks to those who pulled My beard; neither did I shield My face from blows, spittle and disgrace.

I have not despaired, for the Lord YHVH comes to My help. So, like a flint I set My face, knowing that I will not be disgraced. He who avenges Me is near. Who then will accuse Me? Let us confront each other. Who is now My accuser? Let Him approach.

If the Lord YHVH is My help, who will condemn Me?

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Wednesday, 9 April 2014 : 5th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we go closer and closer to the time of celebration of the Holy Week, and as we continue to immerse ourselves in the dynamics of Lent, we need to make a clear and conscious choice on our part, that we resolve to be with God and be faithful to Him, or to reject Him and to follow instead, the devil and his ways of the world.

The three companions of Daniel, that is Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they are all presented with the choice to serve either God their Lord, or the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar and worship him and the statue he had built for himself. And they proved their faith for the Lord, choosing to be burned in the big furnace rather than giving up their faith and worship the king’s statue.

They dedicated themselves to God even though they know that they will suffer from disobeying the king’s order and even knowing the punishment that they would have to suffer for such disobedience. Yet, in doing that they remain true to God and to His will, and as we saw, God did not want His servants to suffer, and therefore, He protected them from the wrath of the flames in the furnace.

We cannot be servants to two masters, as another parable of Jesus has told us, that for example, we cannot be servants of both God and money. In today’s Gospel the people claimed that they were the children of Abraham by the right of descendant, and yet what they did in their words and deeds clearly did not reflect that they were worthy of being the children of Abraham.

For Abraham obeyed the Lord without condition and with the fullness of devotion and giving of his heart. He did not even shy from giving up his own son, the very one long promised by God, to be sacrificed on the Mount of Moria, and for that kind of devotion, he was praised and rewarded by God. Abraham was faithful, in the same way as the three companions of Daniel had been, and they showed that faith in God cannot be one that is arbitrary, but must be something that is concrete and done in complete and full dedication.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we cannot be like the people of Israel who rejected Jesus by claiming that they were the children of Abraham, in trying to justify their wickedness. They thought that being the children of Abraham, they were ensured and guaranteed of salvation, but they were wrong. In fact Abraham would have been ashamed that these people were born from his blood, and being his descendants.

Thus, like the three companions of Daniel, we too must make a firm and conscious choice, especially as we go on in this life, and during this perfect opportunity of Lent, to change our ways if we have erred and strayed away from God’s path. Let us make that concrete choice and action, to seek the Lord and ask Him for His mercy, surrendering ourselves totally to Him, and promise Him and dedicate our whole lives to Him, forsaking all the falsehoods of the devil and the temporal pleasures of this world.

Let us instead seek the Lord and the true happiness that only He can give. Let us be with Him and be in His grace forevermore. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 9 April 2014 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 8 : 31-42

Jesus went on to say to the Jews who believed in Him, “You will be My true disciples, if you keep My word. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

They answered Him, “We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves of anyone. What do You mean by saying : You will be free?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave. But the slave does not stay in the house forever; the son stays forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be really free.”

“I know that you are the descendants of Abraham; yet you want to kill Me because My word finds no place in you. For My part, I speak of what I have seen in My Father’s presence, but you do what you have learnt from your father.”

They answered Him, “Our father is Abraham.” Then Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do as Abraham did. But now you want to kill Me, the One who tells you the truth – the truth that I have learnt from God. That is not what Abraham did; what you are doing are the works of your father.”

The Jews said to Him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one Father, God.” Jesus replied, “If God were your Father you would love Me, for I came forth from God, and I am here. And I did not come by My own decision, but it was He Himself who sent Me.”