Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 65 : 1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a
Shout with joy to God, all you on earth; sing to the glory of His Name; proclaim His glorious praise. Say to God, “How great are Your deeds!”
All the earth bows down to You, making music, in praise of You, singing in honour of Your Name. Come, and see God’s wonders; His deeds, awesome for humans.
He has turned the sea into dry land, and the river was crossed on foot. Let us, therefore, rejoice in Him. He rules by His might forever.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 8 : 1b-8
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. Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the Church. He entered house after house and dragged off men and women, and had them put in jail.
At the same time, those who were scattered went about, preaching the word. Philip went down to a town of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. All the people paid close attention to what Philip said as they listened to him, and saw the miraculous signs that he did. For, in cases of possession, the unclean spirits came out shrieking loudly. Many people who were paralysed or crippled, were healed. So there was great joy in the town.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord contained within the Sacred Scriptures, and as we all continue to progress through this blessed and holy season of Easter, let us all reflect upon what we have just heard and remind one another that our faith in the Risen Lord, in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, is one that may be tested by the opposition and the hardships from the world, as we have ourselves heard from the passages of the Scriptures today. And yet, we must not easily lose hope in God and we must always put our trust in Him, knowing that it is with God alone and in Him that we will have true satisfaction and happiness. God is the one and only sure path out of the darkness that exist around us and through Him we will receive the assurance of lasting comfort and joy with Him.
In our first reading today, we heard from the account from the Acts of the Apostles detailing to us about the moment when the High Priest and all of his fellow chief priests and others who opposed and despised the works of the Lord and His disciples became jealous at the rapid successes achieved by the Apostles, in their many miracles and signs, that despite having been warned and threatened not to proclaim the teachings and the words of the Risen Lord. But those disciples and Apostles of the Lord would not be deterred by the threats and opposition from the Jewish authorities, and they kept on going, doing the work of God wherever and whenever they went, and many people came to believe in the Lord and became His disciples as well.
Back then, at that time, very early in the history of the Church, many people including the Roman authorities considered Christianity as merely another offshoot or school of thought in Judaism, or the Jewish faith in God. There were already three major schools of thought at that time, two of which were prominently mentioned in the Gospels, namely the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Together with the less well-known Essenes, those were the major divisions in how the Jewish people lived their faith, in their different interpretations of the Scriptures and their way of living the Law of God. There were also the Samaritans, whom the Jewish people considered as heretical and pagans, and the same sentiment was also found among the Samaritans themselves against the Jews. Christianity was seen as merely another addition to this diverse landmark of the expressions of the Scriptures of the Israelites.
However, Christianity marked a very major departure from the old Jewish and Israelites Scriptural practices and traditions, by its central belief in Jesus Christ as the Messiah or the Saviour promised by God, Whom they all believed, and which we all still believe to this very day, as the Son of God, Incarnate in the flesh as the Son of Man, and Who had suffered and died on His Cross, to bring about salvation for all mankind, extending the grace of God’s salvation, promise and Covenant to all the people of the whole world, no longer limiting it to the Israelites and their descendants. And the Lord was with His followers and disciples throughout those difficult moments and the times of their persecution and oppression, that despite the challenges and trials they faced, they continued to flourish and grow, surviving and even remaining strong in their faith.
Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the continuation of the interaction between Jesus and Nicodemus from the Gospel of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, where Nicodemus the Pharisee who was interested in knowing more about the Lord and His teachings, was presented by the Lord with the glimpses of the truth that He has been bringing into this world, how He would be the One to be persecuted and oppressed, eventually made to suffer, to be blamed and to die for the sins of the whole world, as the Son of God manifested in the flesh. That was revealed the moment when the Lord Himself said the very famous phrase of ‘Yes, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him may not be lost, but may have eternal life.’ And this phrase is one of the key aspects of our Christian faith, that we believe in the Son of God, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
And God’s love for us is indeed so great that He has given us His own Beloved Son to suffer and die for us, to endure our punishments in our place, because He does not want any one of us to be separated and cast out from His Presence. The Son of God has faced the most bitter and tough sufferings, persecutions and trials in order to lead us all out of the darkness and into the light of God’s grace and salvation. He did all these because He truly loves us all, no matter what mistakes, sins and all sorts of wickedness that we have committed, and such is His great and enduring love for us. Of course He is also calling on us all to repent from those sins and wickedness, and to embrace His righteousness and virtues, to walk down the path of faith that He has shown us all. He wants us to follow Him and to do our best to live our lives as worthy and faithful Christians.
Today we also mark the occasion of the Feast of Pope St. Pius V, a great and holy Pope that had led the Church through period of great difficulty and challenge, and when uncertainties and hardships faced the Church and the faithful people of God much as how it was during the earliest days of the Church as we have heard from the passages of the Scriptures and the experiences of the Apostles. Pope St. Pius V was a member of the Dominican order or the Order of Preachers, and he was well known for his great faith and dedication to God, in his zeal and commitment to root out heresies and corruptions within the Church. As the successor of St. Peter the Apostle, Pope St. Pius V spent a lot of effort stopping the then common practice of nepotism and favouritism in the Church.
And externally, Pope St. Pius V was very fervent in his efforts to combat the heresies of Protestantism and other problems facing the Church, implementing with great vigour the reforms and changes decided in the Ecumenical Council of Trent that was concluded just before his reign as Pope. He was also the instrumental leader behind the establishment of the Holy Alliance in uniting the forces of Christendom against the mighty forces of the Ottoman Turks that were greatly threatening Christendom and its nations. Eventually, by the guidance and Providence of God, and with the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and the saints of God, the forces of Christendom was victorious at the great Battle of Lepanto, during the later part of the reign of Pope St. Pius V, whose devotion to God had indeed brought great changes in the Church and to the world.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the great examples shown by Pope St. Pius V and our many other holy and dedicated predecessors in faith. Let us all do our part as God’s followers and disciples, to be truly faithful in all things so that by our commitment and dedication we may be good role models and inspirations for everyone around us. Let us all be true bearers of our Christian faith and dedicate ourselves ever more wholeheartedly in each and every single moments in our lives, to glorify the Lord ever by our lives and to lead others ever closer to God. May the Lord, our Risen Saviour, continue to be with us and bless our every efforts and endeavours. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 3 : 16-21
At that time, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Yes, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through Him the world is to be saved.”
“Whoever believes in Him will not be condemned. He who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God. This is how the Judgment is made : Light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
“For whoever does wrong hates the light, and does not come to the light, for fear that his deeds will be seen as evil. But whoever lives according to the truth comes into the light, so that it can be clearly seen that his works have been done in God.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 33 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
I will bless the Lord all my days; His praise will be ever on my lips. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the lowly hear and rejoice.
Oh, let us magnify the Lord, together let us glorify His Name! I sought the Lord, and He answered me; from all my fears He delivered me.
They who look to Him are radiant with joy, their faces never clouded with shame. When the poor cry out, the Lord hears and saves them from distress.
The Lord’s Angel encamps and patrols to keep safe those who fear Him. Oh, see and taste the goodness of the Lord! Blessed is the one who finds shelter in Him!
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 5 : 17-26
The High Priest and all his supporters, that is the party of the Sadducees, became very jealous of the Apostles; so they arrested them and had them thrown into the public jail. But an Angel of the Lord opened the door of the prison during the night, brought them out, and said to them, “Go and stand in the Temple court and tell the people the whole of this living message.” Accordingly they entered the Temple at dawn and resumed their teaching.
When the High Priest and his supporters arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin, that is the full Council of the elders of Israel. They sent word to the jail to have the prisoners brought in. But when the Temple guards arrived at the jail, they did not find them inside, so they returned with the news, “We found the prison securely locked and the prison guards at their post outside the gate, but when we opened the gate, we found no one inside.”
Upon hearing these words, the captain of the Temple guard and the high priests were baffled, wondering where all of this would end. Just then someone arrived with the report, “Look, those men whom you put in prison are standing in the Temple, teaching the people.” Then the captain went off with the guards and brought them back, but without any show of force, for fear of being stoned by the people.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord contained within the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the hope that we all ought to have in the Resurrection of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and how He has given us the reassurance and the hope of healing and fulfilment in Him. Our Risen Lord has shown us that He is always with us and He has never abandoned us to the darkness, even in our darkest and most desperate moments. He has always been by our side, never leaving us alone, journeying with us and guiding us, as He had done after He rose gloriously from the dead. He appeared to His Apostles and other disciples, and as we heard today, strengthened the faith and gave courage to the two among them who were on their way to Emmaus, and making them to be truly strong in the faith and belief in the Resurrection and salvation in Him.
In our first reading today taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of the interactions between two of the Lord’s Apostles, namely St. Peter and St. John, who went to the Temple of Jerusalem and saw a man who had been crippled and paralysed from birth. And as we heard the crippled man begged them for money as he had always done, but St. Peter said that they had nothing to give him save that of the healing and the reconciliation which the Risen Lord has provided to him through them. That was how then the crippled man was immediately and miraculously healed from his conditions. This proved to all of us listening to the story and what happened, that what the Lord Jesus had done in His ministry and all, are still being carried out by His Apostles and disciples, to whom He has entrusted His power and authority to forgive sins and to heal many people from their sickness, and to perform many more signs in God’s Name.
Through all those things and the miracles that they had performed, the two Apostles had shown that the Risen Lord and His message is the truth, and whatever the Temple authorities, the chief priests and the other members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council, tried to do in suppressing the news and the words about the Lord’s Resurrection and His truth, were truly in vain, and that they were the ones in the wrong, not the Risen Lord and His ever courageous and committed disciples. The Lord’s death on the Cross was not the end of His works and ministry, and it did not end in the manner of how the chief priests planned it, who desired to pin the blame of rebellion, treason and blasphemy on Him so that the Romans would not end the important privileges that they had given to them.
But the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord would not allow these oppositions and obstacles to slow them down or to prevent them from accomplishing the missions and works which the Lord had entrusted to them, and hence, as what St. Peter and St. John had done, they continued going around, healing in the Name of the Lord, proclaiming His truth and salvation despite the specific and express ban on doing so by the Temple authorities. They did not let fear or uncertainties, pressures or coercions from the authorities to prevent them from doing what the Lord Himself had entrusted to them to do. They carried out their mission faithfully and fearlessly, revealing what God had done for His beloved ones, in bringing unto them the hope through His Resurrection.
In our Gospel passage today, we heard the account of the apparition of the Risen Lord to two of His disciples who were at that time on their way to the village of Emmaus located outside of Jerusalem. It was likely the afternoon of the Day of the Lord’s Resurrection, and the news had begun to spread that the Lord Jesus had risen from the dead after the many things which had happened that week. They were discussing about the Lord’s arrest and condemnation by the elders and the chief priests, how He had been publicly condemned to death by the Romans and was crucified to death. The two disciples were speaking about how they had hoped in the Lord, as was typical of that time, that He would be the Saviour to lead them to freedom from the Romans and the other oppressors, but that hope died with the Lord’s suffering and death on the Cross.
And as we heard, it was at that moment the Risen Lord made His appearance to them, without the two of them realising or understanding it at first. He talked to them and chided them for having little faith in the Lord and in His teachings, even though He Himself had said that He would rise from the dead on the third day, and everything had happened just as He said it would. They still could not comprehend or believe in what the disciples had mentioned about the Resurrection, and therefore it was the Lord Himself Who went to them and guided them throughout the journey, telling them about the Resurrection and everything that He had done for the benefit of all the people of God, in fulfilling all the prophecies of the many prophets and messengers that God had sent among His people to reveal His intentions.
In the end, God opened the eyes of those two disciples after He had encouraged them and inflamed their hearts with the courage and strength of His Word. They realised that they had seen the Risen Lord, and with great courage and determination, as we heard, they rushed back to Jerusalem, becoming yet more witnesses to the great Resurrection of the Lord, proclaiming and revealing the greatness of God to the people. They revealed to us more about the truth of the Resurrection of the Lord, how God had kept His words and showed His love unto us, and in the end, overcoming sin and death for us, gathering us all so that we may find our way to Him and receive the fullness of His love and grace, and sharing in the eternal and new life with Him through this same Resurrection.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore let us all continue to be faithful as the disciples and followers of Our Risen Lord, so that in our every actions, works and deeds, we may always be worthy bearers of His truth and Resurrection, His Good News and salvation to every one of those whom we encounter in our daily lives. Let us all continue to commit ourselves to our Risen Lord in everything that we do, in our every moments and interactions with everyone around us. May all of us be truly Christ-like in all of our actions and way of life so that we may be good role models and inspirations for our fellow brothers and sisters, both Christians and those who have not yet known or believed in God, in our Risen Lord. May He bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 24 : 13-35
At that time, on the same day Jesus rose from the dead, 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 haw 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.
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 in 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.
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.
