Wednesday

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Wednesday, 1 May 2024 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 15 : 1-6

Some persons who had come from Judea to Antioch were teaching the brothers in this way, “Unless you are circumcised according to the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Because of this there was trouble, and Paul and Barnabas had fierce arguments with them. For Paul told the people to remain as they were when they became believers. Finally those who had come from Jerusalem suggested that Paul and Barnabas and some others go up to Jerusalem to discuss the matter with the Apostles and elders.

They were sent on their way by the Church. As they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria they reported how the non-Jews had turned to God, and there was great joy among all the brothers and sisters. On their arrival in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the Church, the Apostles and the elders, to whom they told all that God had done through them.

Some believers, however, who belonged to the party of the Pharisees, stood up and said that non-Jewish men must be circumcised and instructed to keep the law of Moses. So the Apostles and elders met together to consider the matter.

Alternative reading (Mass of St. Joseph)

Genesis 1 : 26 – Genesis 2 : 3

God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, to Our likeness. Let them rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over the wild animals, and over all creeping things that crawl along the ground.” So God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, over every living creature that moves on the ground.” God said, “I have given you every seed bearing plants which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree that bears fruit with seed. It will be for your food. To every wild animal, to every bird of the sky, to everything that creeps along the ground, to everything that has the breath of life, I give every green plant for food.” So it was.

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. There was evening and there was morning : the sixth day. That was the way the sky and earth were created and all their vast array. By the seventh day the work God had done was completed, and He rested on the seventh day from all the work He had done. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on that day He rested from all the work He had done in His creation.

Alternative reading (Mass of St. Joseph)

Colossians 3 : 14-15, 17, 23-24

Above all, clothe yourselves with love which binds everything together in perfect harmony. May the peace of Christ overflow in your hearts; for this end you were called to be one body. And be thankful. And whatever you do or say, do it in the Name of Jesus, the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly, working for the Lord, and not for humans. You well know, that the Lord will reward you with the inheritance. You are servants, but your Lord is Christ.

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Wednesday, 24 April 2024 : 4th 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 all of us are reminded through the words of the Sacred Scriptures of our calling as Christians, that is as all those who have accepted and embraced the Lord’s call, and have faith in Him, to be truly committed to the missions and the vocation which the Lord had entrusted to each and every one of us, in every unique ministries and contributions that each one of us can give to help in the mission of the Church. God has entrusted to all of us the fate of our fellow brothers and sisters, many of whom had not yet known Him, and many of whom were still under the sway and power of sin, living in the darkness of sin and evil, not being aware of the Light, Hope and truth that God alone can bring into our midst. That is why we have to be the good and faithful bearers of Christ’s Light in our world today.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles in which the works of the Apostles and the other disciples in spreading the faith in the Lord were narrated and told to us, and we continue to hear how the Church kept on growing and the faith kept on spreading despite the challenges and persecutions that they faced along the way. The efforts made by the Apostles especially by those of St. Paul and St. Barnabas were crucial in extending the reach of the Church and welcoming many more converts from among the non-Jewish community, or the Gentiles. Their efforts and works among the Greeks and others led to many embracing the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Master, leaving behind their old pagan idols and ways.

The Apostles entrusted the mission of the conversion and evangelisation of the Gentiles to those of St. Paul and St. Barnabas, as well as their companions, and this was the foundation of the many missionary journeys that St. Paul would undertake for the spreading of the Good News of the Gospel. St. Paul went to many places, guided by the Holy Spirit, to proclaim the Risen Lord and managed to gain many new believers, who were convinced of the truth of Christ and who were also inspired by the great examples shown by the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord, the early Christians who lived in great harmony and love for one another, showing the love of God manifested in their actions, words and deeds, in all of their interactions.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples and all the other people who were following Him regarding what He had been telling them, and how He is truly the Son of God Incarnate, referring to God as His own Father, the Father Who is in Heaven. This was something that was taboo and forbidden among the Jewish people and tradition at that time, as God was seen as Almighty and incomparable, one and without equal, and for One like Jesus to claim to be the Son of God and calling God as His Father was akin to proclaiming blasphemy against God. However, this was because those who thought this way refused to accept the fact that there can be new revelation that was not found in the books of the Law or the Prophets. It was precisely what the Lord did, in revealing to everyone the fullness of God’s truth.

In truth, the Lord was telling everyone that God’s promises had indeed come into this world, and all had been perfectly fulfilled and manifested in Himself, in the Son and Word of God incarnate in the flesh as the Son of Man, through Whom God’s will had been made clear to us and by Whose Presence the love of God had been made tangible and approachable by us. Through His Son, the Lord has made His salvation and love manifested and real before us, and He showed it all to us through the Passion of our Lord and Saviour, as He suffered most grievously and endured a most painful death on the Cross, all for the sake of our salvation. Through Him, we have seen the Light and Hope of the Lord and we are all called to follow Him, embracing His salvation and love, as we are all expected to do as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, a great servant of God and one whose life and examples can serve as good inspiration for each and every one of us to follow, so that in looking upon what this man of God had done, we can then be more inspired and strengthened in our own efforts to glorify the Lord. St. Fidelis was born in what is today part of Germany and grew up to be an academic, learning about law and philosophy, becoming a lawyer and teacher of philosophy at the institute of his study. Eventually, disillusioned by the wickedness of worldly living and the corrupt nature of his work as a lawyer and the immoral behaviours of the other lawyers of his time made St. Fidelis to join his brother as a Capuchin religious.

St. Fidelis therefore became a priest and began his ministry in the time when the Church and Christendom was greatly ravager and affected by the blight of the Protestant reformation, where many people have fallen sway into the path of heresy and falsehoods. Through his works, St. Fidelis was successful in converting quite a few of the Calvinists in the region and this led to hostile reaction from the other Calvinists who began to threaten St. Fidelis. However St. Fidelis was not deterred or became fearful over those threats, and he began to prepare himself for martyrdom should it come to pass for him. It happened therefore on one day when a group of Calvinist soldiers and agitators went up against St. Fidelis, and when they failed to force him to renounce his true Christian faith, he was martyred at that place. The courage and faith of St. Fidelis nevertheless remained strong and became inspiration for many others, and some of his persecutors were even converted to the true faith.

Through the inspiration of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, his courage and dedication to God, may the Lord continue to help and guide us all in our journey so that by everything that He has provided unto us, we may continue to persevere in our journey and trials of faith, throughout all these moments in life. Let us all commit ourselves ever more thoroughly and courageously to be the worthy disciples and followers of Our Lord and God. May the Lord continue to bless us in our good efforts and endeavours, all for His greater glory, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 24 April 2024 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

John 12 : 44-50

At that time, yet Jesus had said, and even cried out, “Whoever believes in Me, believes not in Me, but in Him Who sent Me. And whoever sees Me, sees Him Who sent Me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in Me may not remain in darkness.”

“If anyone hears My words and does not keep them, I am not the One to condemn him; for I have come, not to condemn the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects Me, and does not receive My word, already has a judge : the very word I have spoken will condemn him on the last day.”

“For I have not spoken on My own authority; the Father, Who sent Me, has instructed Me in what to say and how to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life, and that is why the message I give, I give as the Father instructed Me.”

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Wednesday, 24 April 2024 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 66 : 2-3, 5, 6 and 8

May God be gracious and bless us, may He let His face shine upon us, that Your way be known on earth and Your salvation among the nations.

May the countries be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples with justice and guide the nations of the world.

May the people praise You, o God, may all the peoples praise You! May God bless us and be revered, to the very ends of the earth.

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Wednesday, 24 April 2024 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Acts 12 : 24 – Acts 13 : 5a

Meanwhile the word of God was increasing and spreading. Barnabas and Saul carried out their mission and then came back to Jerusalem, taking with them John also called Mark.

There were at Antioch – in the Church which was there – prophets and teachers : Barnabas, Symeon known as Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod, and Saul.

On one occasion while they were celebrating the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul to do the work for which I have called them.” So, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

These then, sent by the Holy Spirit, went down the port of Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus. Upon their arrival in Salamis they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogue.

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Wednesday, 17 April 2024 : 3rd 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 Scriptures, we are all reminded again that as we rejoice and celebrate Our Lord’s glorious Resurrection this season and time of Easter, we must always keep our focus in the Lord and trust in Him, regardless of whatever trials, challenges and hardships that we may have to encounter in our journey of faith and life as Christians. Our holy predecessors have shown us both the sufferings that they had to endure amidst their faithful lives of service to God, and at the same time, also the dedication and actions which they had undertaken in living their lives and missions throughout their lives, in fulfilling what the Lord had entrusted to each and every one of them. We should do well to heed their examples and learn from them.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the moment after the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the very first martyr of the Church, which story we heard for the past few days. At that time, persecutions and hardships began to build up against the early Christian community and faithful, led by a particular Saul of Tarsus, a young Pharisee and member of the Jewish community who was overzealous and misled in his efforts and drive to destroy the Church and the Christian faith. We heard how this young man persecuted the early Christians with often brutal and wicked methods, seeking the destruction of lives of Christians, and all those suspected of having sympathy or belief in the Risen Lord. They were persecuted by the actions of Saul, who made it really difficult for all those Christian believers. This is the same person who would later on be known as Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, prior to his conversion.

But at the same time, in the same passage we heard how the disciples of the Lord still continued their works and mission regardless. St. Philip, one of the Twelve Apostles went to the region of Samaria, proclaiming the Good News of God and His salvation, performing miracles and wonders, which resulted in continuous growth of the Church and the community of believers in various places despite the trials and challenges facing the Church at that time. The Lord was with His Church and those who were faithful to Him, guiding and strengthening them with His guidance and Holy Spirit. Through this, the Lord had helped the Apostles and the other disciples in showing the truth and revelation about His salvation to many more people.

It is an important reminder for all of us that we should not allow ourselves to be swayed or dissuaded by the many temptations and hardships we may face amidst our journey of faith and life as Christians. The Lord will always be by our side and He will always give us the guidance and strength so that whatever difficulties and hardships we face, we may be able to endure them, and like those Apostles, the other disciples such as St. Stephen, even in suffering and martyrdom, they would glorify the Lord by their lives and examples. As such, through them, we may hopefully be more encouraged to live our lives ever more worthily in the manner that Our Lord Himself and His disciples and followers themselves have shown us. Through us and our works, we can bring God’s salvation to more and more people.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard the continuation of the moment when the Lord told the assembled people of the truth of Himself as the Bread of Life, the One Who has brought new life and existence to everyone in this world by His coming, His entry into this world. This was also a foreshadowing and revelation of what He Himself would experience in the midst of fulfilling and completing the plans which the Lord had prepared for our salvation. Through His Crucifixion, His suffering of the Cross and His sacrifice, as He allowed Himself to be emptied of all glory and power, and was subjected to the ultimate punishment and humiliation, He has made Himself available to everyone, by the giving and sharing of His Most Precious Body, as well as His Most Precious Blood, shared to us through the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist in the Church, through the Holy Mass.

This is why all of us as Christians truly believe in the Real Presence of God in the Holy Eucharist, of the Lord Himself Who has given us all His Body to eat and His Blood to drink, and just as the Lord has told all the people there, that all who partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, the Bread of Life, they shall live forever, and shall receive the fullness of God’s grace at the appointed time. This is what we are assured of, brothers and sisters in Christ, as long as we receive Him, in His Body and Blood, worthily and properly, we shall receive the fullness of God’s grace, love and blessings, as He comes into us, dwelling within us, and through Him we shall be strengthened and empowered to do all the things which He had entrusted to us, like how the Apostles and the many other disciples of the Lord had continued carrying out His missions faithfully.

However, we must also be wary, as if we do not receive Him worthily, then we shall be judged by that, and this happens if we do not treat our own bodies, our souls and our whole beings, the Temples of God’s Holy Presence, His dwelling place and the Temple of the Holy Spirit with proper respect and honour that they deserve. This is why we are all reminded that we should distance ourselves from the corruptions of worldly desires, greed and ambitions, all the vile things and wickedness present all around us, which can lead us into our downfall, if we allow them to corrupt and turn us away from the path of the Lord. We should always focus our attention and gaze always upon the Lord, through Whom we shall receive justification and liberation from all the darkness and the stranglehold of sin and evil. Regardless of the trials and challenges that we may have to face, we should always keep our focus on the Lord, as always.

May the Risen Lord be with us always, and may He continue to strengthen and guide us in our journey of faith and life, so that by His blessings and power, we may continue the good works which the Apostles and disciples of the Lord, and His whole Church throughout time and history had done, for the benefit and salvation of countless souls. Let us all be the good role models and inspirations for one another, in helping everyone to come ever closer to the light of God, His truth and grace, by our exemplary living, our every words, actions and deeds that are filled with true faith and dedication to the Lord. May He continue to bless our Easter journey and our struggles, in showing His truth and light to the world. Amen.

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Wednesday, 17 April 2024 : 3rd Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 6 : 35-40

At that time, Jesus said to the people, “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in Me shall never be thirsty. Nevertheless, as I said, you refuse to believe, even when you have seen. Yet all those whom the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me, I shall not turn away. For I have come from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of the One Who sent Me.”

“And the will of Him Who sent Me is that I lose nothing of what He has given Me, but instead that I raise it up on the last day. This is the will of the Father, that whoever sees the Son and believes in Him shall live eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

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Wednesday, 17 April 2024 : 3rd Week of Easter (Psalm)

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.

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Wednesday, 17 April 2024 : 3rd Week of Easter (First Reading)

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.

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Wednesday, 10 April 2024 : 2nd Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us listened to the words of the Lord from the Sacred Scriptures in which we are all reminded of our responsibilities and missions in life as Christians to be the ones to proclaim the truth of Our Lord’s Resurrection, His truth and salvation for all the people. Each and every one of us as Christians must always remember our calling and mission, to proclaim the Risen Lord in all opportunities and in every moments that the Lord Himself had presented to us. We are reminded of the light and hope, the renewal and reconciliation that Our Lord’s Passion, His suffering and death, and then His glorious Resurrection from the dead had brought us, which we celebrate joyfully throughout this time and season of Easter.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the moment when the Apostles were arrested while they were performing their ministry, their work and preaching at the Temple of God in Jerusalem. It was done by the Temple officials and authorities who opposed the works of the Lord and His disciples, refusing to believe and listen to Him and His truth. Those were the same ones who persecuted the Lord and handed Him over to the Romans to be condemned to death and crucified. They also tried to spread misinformations regarding the Resurrection of the Lord by saying that His disciples had gone to steal His Body from the tomb, in the desperate effort trying to silence the truth of the Lord’s Resurrection. We also heard the Sadducees, those influential members of the Jewish community who did not believe in spiritual matters and resurrection of the dead, tried hard to go against the truth about the Lord’s Resurrection.

However with the guidance and strength given to them by the Lord through the Holy Spirit, the disciples of the Lord refused to be silent or to be intimidated to keep quiet about what they themselves had experienced and witnessed. They still went forth and proclaimed boldly to the people about the Risen Lord, not fearing the persecutions, hardships and oppressions that they had to endure in the midst of their ministry and missions, and they went forth courageously, revealing the truth of God to everyone, and even when they were imprisoned for their activities as we have heard from the Acts of the Apostles, they remained faithful and trusting in God, and God was with them, delivering them out of their troubles, miraculously bringing them out of the prison, and they continued to preach about the Lord yet again before the people.

Through what we have heard in our first reading today, we are all shown what it truly means for us to be faithful to God, to be committed to His cause and to embrace everything which He has entrusted to us, all the truth and all the revelations that He has passed to us through His Church. Like what the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord had experienced, often it might mean that we may also have to face trials and difficulties amidst living our lives faithfully as Christians. We cannot be idle or ignorant of our calling as those whom God had called and chosen, and we should continue to stand up for our faith and to live our lives worthily as best as we are able to do so. We should continue to devote our time, effort and attention to follow the Lord and His will, as the disciples had done.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the continuation of the passage from the Gospel of St. John detailing for us the conversation between the Lord Jesus and one Nicodemus, a Pharisee who believed in the Lord Jesus, His teachings and the truth that He has brought into this world. Nicodemus came secretly at night to avoid being seen with the Lord as it would have created an uproar and trouble with the rest of the Pharisees, many of whom had rejected the Lord and refused to listen or believe in His teachings. But Nicodemus believed in Jesus and wanted to know more about what He had been teaching and revealing to the people of God, and hence, this was when the Lord revealed God’s great plan, sending His own Son to this world, in Jesus Himself, to save everyone.

Through those famous words, ‘For 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.’, the Lord wanted us all to know that God’s love for each and every one of us is so great and has always endured despite our rebelliousness and unwillingness to adhere to His path, as He continued to give us time and opportunities, again and again, so that we may find our path back towards Him, and be reconciled with Him. And then, as the Lord continued with, ‘God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world. Instead, through Him the world is to be saved.’, He wanted everyone to know that through the coming of His Son into our midst, the salvation of the whole world was nigh, and He would do it all through His ultimate and most loving sacrifice on the Cross.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are all reminded through the passage from the Gospel about what the Lord had done for us through His Son, Our Risen Lord and Saviour, and from the earlier first reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we are therefore reminded and called that as Christians, as the Lord’s own disciples and followers, each and every one of us should do well to proclaim His truth, His love, His Resurrection and everything that God has done for us, for the sake of our salvation and liberation from the tyranny of sin and death. We are the ones who have been entrusted with these respective missions and vocations in life, proclaiming His Good News by our own lives, which should indeed be full of righteousness and virtues, as we do what the Lord had commanded us to do.

Let us all be not afraid to stand up for our faith in the Risen Lord, brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us all proclaim the truth of God faithfully at all times, by living our every way of lives with faith, in our every actions, words and deeds throughout all circumstances and in every places and occasions. May the Risen Lord continue to guide us and be with us always in our every struggles, commitments and efforts throughout each and every moments of our lives. Amen.