Weekday Mass

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Tuesday, 28 April 2026 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr, and St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Priest (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 Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the call and responsibilities that each and every one of us have as Christians in proclaiming the truth of God to more and more people around us, to all those who have not yet heard of Him and those who have yet to know Him. All of us are called to be the bearers of God’s truth and love to the world, through our every words, actions and deeds. All of us ought to proclaim our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord, and everything that He had done for us, in bringing us all out of the darkness and into the light, in saving us all from the threat of eternal damnation and death by freeing us from our sins. As Christians, each and every one of us are called and reminded to be good and faithful missionaries through our lives and our good examples.

In our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of the continuing growth of the early Church, as there were more and more people who came to believe in the Lord and became believers, were baptised and welcomed into the community of the Christian faithful. It was told how the Apostles sent St. Barnabas to Antioch upon hearing of the vibrant and rapid growth of Christians in those regions, and despite the many challenges, trials, persecutions and hardships that they faced, it was said that the Lord was with His disciples and faithful ones, as He guided and strengthened them, protected and provided them throughout their journey of faith and life. The Apostles through St. Barnabas ministered to the Christian faithful, spreading the Good News of God and proclaiming His truth, calling on many to turn towards the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

The Lord has shown us all His faithfulness and love through this, and through many more examples, as He was with them all through even the most difficult and challenging moments, as a Good Shepherd guiding His beloved sheep in His flock, as we heard in our Gospel passage today. He cared for them, for their needs and provided for them, guarded and protected them, and gave them the love and attention, leading them from the darkness of this world into the true Light of His glory and truth. All of us are reminded that Christ is truly our Good Shepherd, the most loving Lord and God Who has showered and shown us His most generous love and attention, Who knows each and every one of us very well, and Who wants all of us to follow Him and become members of His flock, as Christians, those whom the people of Antioch called as such because of their belief in the Risen Christ.

Now, all of us are reminded today if we have lived our lives as the Lord has taught us to do, and whether we have committed our time and effort to glorify Him by our lives. As Christians, we are all those who have committed ourselves to the Risen Lord, Whom we have taken as our Lord, Master and Saviour. However, if we spend some time to look deep into ourselves and our way of life, very soon we may realise that it was often that we did not act in the way that the Lord has called and expected us to do, and on the contrary, we often acted in ways that were contrary to His teachings and truth. Many of us failed to embrace His path wholeheartedly and not only that, but often through our wayward actions and way of life, we turned people away from the Lord and His Church, because our actions, words and deeds, our way of life were abhorrent and against what our faith truly is.

That is why today all of us are reminded that as Christians all of us must first of all do what the Lord has commanded and taught us to do, to be devoted and committed to Him in all things. Each and every one of us have been given the gifts, grace and blessings, the opportunities and the abilities to carry out our respective parts in doing the work of God, to be faithful and committed in our lives as Christians. All of us should do our best and strive to be good role models, inspirations and examples to one another in our faith and way of life. For we have to realise that it is by our works and deeds, by our words and interactions with others that we may let the world know of the truth and the identity of Our Lord and Saviour, the One Whom we ought to be proclaiming about. But too often we allowed ourselves to be tempted by various temptations, and chose to walk the path of wickedness and evil instead.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore today, all of us are also reminded of more good examples of our holy predecessors to follow, in the two saints whose feasts we celebrate. St. Peter Chanel and St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort are two great servants of God who have dedicated themselves to the service of God, in proclaiming His truth and Good News to many of their fellow brethren. St. Peter Chanel was a renowned missionary, who ministered to the people in many mission areas, which led him to Futuna in distant part of the vast Pacific Ocean region. There he ministered to the people who had not yet known about Christ and evangelised to them, preaching about the Risen Lord to the people of Futuna, which eventually led to the desire for the local king’s son to be baptised, which led to the martyrdom of this good servant of God, persecuted and murdered for his faith and efforts.

Meanwhile, St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort was the inspiration and founder behind the many Montfortian organisations present today, known for his dedication and passion for his ministry, in taking care of the needs the less privileged, the poor and the sick, and in the countless hours and efforts that he spent in taking care of them, both physically and spiritually. He was also known for his efforts in the Catholic education, caring for the needs of young boys and girls to be properly educated, establishing schools and institutions in order to allow this to happen. Through all these works, St. Louis Marie brought quite a lot of people from the brink of darkness and destruction back into God’s Light, and helped them to find the path to salvation. We too should be inspired by his great examples to bring more and more people ever closer to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by their good examples, and do whatever we can as Christians, in order to do God’s will and to proclaim His truth and Good News to more and more of those whom we encounter in our daily living. Let our lives and actions, our words and interactions be good and exemplary, worthy and bring inspiration to others who witness our works and interacted with us, that they too may be moved and driven to follow the Lord and to believe in Him as we had done in our own lives. May God be with us always, and be with His Church in our every endeavours and efforts to proclaim Him, the one and only Saviour of all. Amen.

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Monday, 27 April 2026 : 4th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded to put our trust in the Lord instead of in our own prejudices and flawed way of understanding the will of God, and not to blindly just follow the teachings and ways of the Church without properly understanding them, appreciating its context and how they ought to be applied to each and every one of our unique circumstances. We must understand that first of all God’s love for us is universal, most generous and beautiful above all things, and we must realise that God also does not play favourites, as all of us are equally dear and beloved to Him. That is why we must keep this in mind in how we interact with each other and in how we should never think that we are better or more qualified than anyone else.

In our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of the time when St. Peter the Apostle came to address the assembly of the faithful in Jerusalem, where the Jewish believers argued with him regarding how he had gone to visit the house of a Gentile and had meal with them in their house. First of all, we must understand the context of this interaction and why those Jewish believers said such words to St. Peter. Those Jewish believers very likely referred to the early Christian believers that belonged to the group known as the Pharisees and their supporters, some of whom were empathetic to the Christian teachings and were willing to embrace Christ as the Lord and Saviour as opposed to the majority who refused to accept Jesus’ claim as the Messiah.

However, those Jewish believers unfortunately also brought with them their own prejudices and ideals, as they had very strong belief that they, as the direct descendants of the people of God living in the kingdom of Judah, as the members of the Twelve Tribes of the Israelites, were superior as the chosen people of God over all the other people and races, all those non-Jewish people collectively referred to at that time as the Gentiles, which means essentially as strangers and even as foreigners. It is not that the Jewish people consider that the Gentiles could not be saved, but they were very prejudiced against them, and for a Gentile to be saved, they essentially had to follow all the laws and tenets of the Jewish Law and customs, practices and everything that effectively turn them into another Jew.

But St. Peter shared his experiences in the household of Cornelius, whose whole household believed in the Lord and in His message of truth, and showed great faith in God not even found among many of the Jews themselves. And earlier on before that, St. Peter himself received a vision from God before he visited Cornelius’ house, as he hesitated for exactly the same reason given earlier by the Jewish believers. As a Jew himself, St. Peter was hesitant to visit the house of a Gentile as that would have made him, according to Jewish tradition and beliefs, unclean and hence sinful. But God revealed to St. Peter in the vision, a great multitude of animals considered unclean and hence not to be eaten, asking him to eat those animals.

And when St. Peter refused to eat those because they were considered unclean, the Lord told him not just once, but three times that what He had deemed to be clean, St. Peter should not consider to be unclean and not to eat them because of whatever rules and norms were put in place beforehand. This is one of the evidences and revelations which the Lord gave to St. Peter, convincing him and through him, many others of the faithful that His love is meant for everyone and none of His people should ever be biased, prejudiced and judgmental against anyone simply because they did not subscribe or conform to the practices and customs of the Jewish people, and it was exactly what St. Peter shared with those Jewish believers, telling them of the strong and genuine faith that the Gentiles had in the Lord.

He also shared with them how the Lord has sent His Holy Spirit to be with everyone, as he himself had witnessed, regardless whether they were Jews or Gentiles. This is the proof that every one of us should put our faith and trust in the Lord, and allow Him to lead and guide us all, instead of being blinded by prejudice, bias and feelings of superiority over others, which is in fact a kind of pride and arrogance, which unfortunately many of those Jewish believers and the other Pharisees tended to have in them. It is a reminder hence for all of us that we should develop faith that is truly organic, genuine and based on proper understanding and appreciation of God’s Law, His nature and the nature of our faith and existence rather than blindly obeying and rigidly applying the teachings of the Church as many had done even in our present day world today.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, the famous account of the Lord describing Himself as the Good Shepherd, and how all of His sheep, that is representing each and every one of us, knows Him just as He knows all of us. This is a reminder for all of us that God loves every one of us despite our differences, just as the various sheep may have lots of varieties and differences, and not even those sheep that has been lost from Him, He would ever abandon or leave behind. And linking to what we have heard in our first reading passage today, on the matter of inclusivity and trusting in God rather than in traditions, customs and rigid understanding and application of the Scriptures and God’s Law, we are reminded therefore as the Lord said that He is the ‘Gate of the sheep’ while others are the thieves and false shepherds seeking to steal the sheep.

This is a reminder for all of us to not trust blindly in the teachings of the Church, but understand and appreciate them from genuine appreciation and understanding of what the Lord has always intended, as He Himself constantly reminded His disciples, of His ever generous, infinite and unconditional love for all of us, calling on each and every one of us regardless of our background and origins, to come towards Him, embracing His ever generous love, compassion and kindness, while remembering our calling to show that same love to all those around us, our brothers and sisters, especially those whom God had placed in our lives to love us, and to be loved by us. Let our actions, our words and deeds be always filled with the love of God, which we show it to those around us as best as we are able to, following the very examples of our own Good Shepherd, Lord and Master Himself.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all gather together to reflect on these words of the Sacred Scriptures therefore, let us all hence continue to strive to follow our loving God in all that He has shown us, in everything which He has taught and revealed to us through His most beloved Son, so that we may truly understand His love and His intentions, living our lives in the most genuine and faithful manner, not depending on blind obedience or following of the tenets of our faith, but rather through deep understanding and appreciation of what the Lord has revealed to us. May the Lord our most loving God and Father, our ever compassionate Master continue to bless us all in our every actions, in guiding us throughout even the most challenging moments of our lives. May God be with each and every one of us, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 26 April 2026 : Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday and Vocation Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday, the Fourth Sunday in the season of Easter, the Church celebrates together the occasion known as the Good Shepherd Sunday, or also known as Vocation Sunday, due to the readings today, which highlighted the Lord as our Good Shepherd, and all of us being the sheep of His flock. The Lord is indeed our Good Shepherd, as the One Who has come into our midst, embracing us all with His most generous love and compassion, to gather all of us into His one flock so that none of us will be lost again to damnation because of our many sins and wickedness. As our Good Shepherd, the Lord has always loved each and every one of us, and we are reminded today of this great love that He has always given us, even when we have constantly disobeyed Him and disregarded His love and kindness.

In our first reading this Sunday, all of us heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the works of the Apostles and disciples of the Lord led by St. Peter the Apostle in their first ever evangelising mission as the Church, right on the day of the Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended down upon the disciples of the Lord gathered in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit strengthened and invigorated the Lord’s disciples, all of whom had been hiding before that in fear of persecution and oppression by the chief priests and all those who opposed the Lord and His teachings. They went forth out from their hiding places and began to proclaim about the Risen Lord, the Crucified Messiah, through Whom everyone had received the sure hope and assurance of eternal life because of everything that He had done, in obeying perfectly the will of His heavenly Father, and in offering Himself as the perfect and worthy offering for the salvation of everyone’s souls.

Those Apostles and disciples of the Lord spoke courageously, without fear and with determination, reaching out to all the people who were then assembled in Jerusalem for the Pentecost, explaining about the Lord and His teachings to them, and thanks to the great courage and the wisdom that the Lord had passed to them, as we heard in our first reading today, a total of three thousand people at least gave themselves to be baptised and henceforth became the earliest members of the Christian Church, together with the Lord’s Apostles and disciples. This was why Pentecost Sunday is also celebrated as the ‘birthday’ of the Church as it was on that day, that the Church began to manifest itself to the whole world, as the tangible Body of Christ, the Communion of all those who believe in God and follow Him wholeheartedly, belonging to this same community, and this same flock that the Lord has assembled.

The Apostles and the other disciples were indeed shepherds, called and chosen, and made to be shepherds in the image of the Good Shepherd, the Lord Himself. They were called to follow in the examples of the Good Shepherd, in caring for the well-being of the Lord’s flock, all of the sheep that has been lost and scattered away from the Shepherd and His flock. Those three thousand who were baptised that day at Pentecost were the lost sheep that had been found, and had been led to return to the one flock of the Lord. This is what we are all reminded of this day, of the Church which we are part of, being the flock of the Lord and all of us His beloved sheep, whom He had called and gathered from among the nations, through His servants, His disciples and their successors, especially all those who have been appointed as shepherds responsible in taking care of the sheep of the Lord’s flock.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard then of the reading which gave this Sunday its name, as the Good Shepherd Sunday. We heard the Lord telling the people about the sheep in a flock and their shepherd. He told them about how the shepherd knew his sheep and vice versa, and the sheep will not respond to a robber or thief. This means that all those who have kept their faith and belonged to the Lord, they will not respond to the falsehoods and the wayward things of this world, and they will only respond to the Lord, their one and only Shepherd. The Lord also told the people and His disciples that He is the Gate of the sheep, and therefore the only way for one to enter into the flock is through Him and not through others. This in fact is a revelation and premonition of what He Himself would do as our Good Shepherd, in enduring the sufferings of the world so that by His suffering and death, He might rescue us from our own destruction.

This is related to another passage regarding the Good Shepherd which the Lord Himself told His disciples, in which He said that ‘The Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep’ and this is a reminder that all of us, the sheep of the Lord’s flock, has been gathered by Him from all over the whole world, called by Him and He has willingly embraced us with His great love because all of us are precious to Him, without exception. All of us have been separated from the Lord because of our disobedience which led us into sin, and because of sin, we have been sundered from God and His love and grace. Yet, our Lord, as our Good Shepherd cares for each one of us, and to that extent, He went all the way to look out for us, finding us amongst the dark crannies and nooks of this world, especially those among us who have been ostracised and rejected, cast aside and lost in the darkest corners and parts of the world.

He went forth looking for all of His lost sheep, and went between us and the Enemy, who have waited and was ever ready to strike us down through our sins and wickedness, dragging us with him into the eternal darkness and damnation. Our Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Good Shepherd therefore suffered for us, just as St. Peter had mentioned in one of his Epistles that we heard as our second reading today. We are reminded of everything that the Lord had experienced and endured because of His love for us and His desire to see us freed and liberated from the bondage and tyranny of sin and death. He took up His Cross, was tortured and endured the worst of humiliations and punishments, all so that we do not have to suffer all those punishments due for our own mistakes and faults, and through His wounds and pain, we have been healed of our own wounds and stripes.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we focus our attention on the Lord, our Good Shepherd this Sunday, on everything that He has done for us, remembering the sacrifice and the hardships that He had gone through in order to reach out to us and find us, His lost sheep, let us all therefore do our part as members of the Christian faithful, the flock of the Lord, first of all to remain truly faithful to our Lord, to His Law and commandments. Though all of us have been saved and brought together by the Lord into His Church, to become part of His flock, but it does not mean that we can be idle and ignorant of our calling as Christians to be missionary and evangelising in our lives, and to always be vigilant and careful in our lives so that we do not end up falling again and again into the path of sin.

That is because although we have indeed become part of the Church and become a member of God’s flock, but as long as we still remain in this world, we are still susceptible to the temptations and pressures to commit sin against God. The devil is still busy trying to lure us away from the Lord, through his various temptations and efforts, through various means such that we end up falling deeper and deeper into the wrong paths. That is why, all of us are reminded to keep our faith in the Lord strongly and resist the many temptations and coercions all around us, trying to lead us astray and pull us away from the salvation in God through His Church, His one flock of the faithful. That is why, as we recall our identity as Christians, each one of us are reminded that we have to do our part in maintaining the unity in the Church, in doing the will of God and in living our lives worthily of the Lord.

Each and every one of us should also help and take part in the works of the Church, and pray for all those whom God had called to be shepherds like Him, those whom He has entrusted with the daily care of His flock, namely our priests, bishops and all others who have been entrusted with the role of shepherds in our community. That is why this Sunday is also known as the Vocation Sunday, in reminding us in particular of those who have been called especially to the vocation of priesthood and dedicated themselves fully to the Lord, to the care of the Church and the Lord’s flock. Being a priest requires not just a lot of dedication and efforts, but also a great perseverance and courage, and the constant ability to resist the many temptations and things that are always threatening to pull them away from their path.

The devil, our great Enemy and all those who seek our destruction know this all too well, and that is why, the harder they have tried, are trying and will try to destroy our shepherds. That is because if they strike at the shepherd, and manage to destroy the shepherd, the sheep may end up getting scattered and lost, and it is then easier for the enemies of the faithful to strike at them and leading us into our downfall with them. On the other hand, if we remain strong in our solidarity and support for our priests and all the shepherds that the Lord had given us, then as one strong and committed body of disciples and followers of the Lord, there will barely be any means or avenue for those wicked ones to come and strike at us. Our Pope, bishops and priests all need our support and prayers, as their roles as our shepherds and guides are truly a very challenging one.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, first of all we pray for more vocations among us all for those who are called to the priesthood, that those who have been called may grow more discerning to consider and discern carefully the Lord’s calling for them. However, not only that, we also pray for those whose family members and relatives have been called as well, as it is often that the biggest obstacles to the vocation of priesthood and also consecrated life, is the opposition from our family members and those who are close to us. Let us all pray that each one of us can understand better what it means for each and every one of us to have our own vocations in life, and that some among us can indeed be called to serve the Lord in the way of being priests and religious, dedicating their lives wholly to the Lord and to the service of the people of God.

But let us also not forget that each and every one of us amongst the laity, all of us also have our own responsibilities and obligations as members of the Church, and it does not mean that the laity is any less important than the members of the clergy. Each and every parts of the Church are important as without the laity or those in the presbyterate, the works of the Church cannot be fully completed and carried out. All of us have our own calling and vocation in life, and that is why, although we focus our attention and prayer to support our priests and those who have dedicated their lives to the Lord, at the same time we cannot ignore or put aside the role that the laity has in the works and mission of the Church. This Vocation Sunday is a reminder for all of us to embrace our various respective vocations and mission in life, not restricted only to those defined by the Church in doing what the Lord has uniquely called on us to do with the gifts and blessings that He has granted us.

May the Risen Lord, Our Good Shepherd and guide, continue to be with us and guide us all, strengthen and encourage us with the power and strength needed for us to endure through the challenges and trials that we may have to face amidst our lives as Christians in this world today. Let us all be good role models for one another, and be good sources of inspiration that through our role model and examples, many more people may come to believe in the Lord through us. Let us all do our part, in our respective vocations and callings in life, to glorify the Lord by our lives, in each and every one of our works and dealings. Amen.

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Saturday, 25 April 2026 : Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this day all of us celebrate the great Feast of one of the Four Evangelists, namely St. Mark the Evangelist, one of the writers of the Four Holy Gospels. According to Apostolic tradition, St. Mark was one of the disciples of the Lord, counted among the Seventy Disciples that the Lord sent forth to perform His work and ministry among the people, preceding His own coming and works. St. Mark followed the Lord with the other disciples and likely experienced many of the things that the Apostles had experienced themselves, in encountering the Risen Lord and in journeying together with the Apostles in their early missionary works. St. Mark was of course most well-known for his efforts in compiling together the accounts and the details of the Lord’s ministry as told and revealed by the Apostles, and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote his Gospel, directed in particular to the Gentiles.

St. Mark would accompany the Apostles like St. Peter, St. Paul and others in their missionary work, according to the Acts of the Apostles and other Church and Apostolic tradition and histories. He assisted their ministry and evangelising work, and was eventually made a bishop, in becoming one of the successors of the Apostles. He went to Egypt, to the great city of Alexandria, and there he helped to establish a strong and flourishing Christian community, becoming the very first Bishop of Alexandria. He would become the first in the long line of the Bishops and eventually Patriarchs of Alexandria, one of the most senior leader throughout all Christendom. All of those faithful bishops and patriarchs traced their ministry and work back to St. Mark the Evangelist. This faithful servant of God dedicated himself and the rest of his life and work to glorify the Lord and becoming a most faithful and dedicated shepherd to his flock.

Through his efforts and works, the Church in Alexandria grew rapidly and wonderfully, already primed for that due to its large Jewish diaspora community and history of harmony and integration with the non-Jewish people or the Gentiles. From this, the Church’s efforts and works in reaching out to more and more of the people of God proliferated and grew rapidly, as many Christians, missionaries and others spread all throughout the Roman Empire and beyond, planting the seeds of the Christian faith in numerous areas and increasing the already rapidly growing rate of the early Christian Church and communities. Through the dedication showed by St. Mark and also the other disciples and missionaries, the Church continued to grow and to proliferate in its reach and size, and despite the many challenges, trials and persecutions it faced, it kept on growing, encouraged by the courage and the bravery of the Apostles and their successors, including St. Mark himself.

With regards to St. Mark, according to the Apostolic tradition, he was martyred during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero after many years of ministry and work for the greater glory of God. It was at about that same time, that the first of the very intense persecution by the Roman state and institutions were assembled against the Christian Church and all the faithful, directed by the Emperor Nero who blamed the Christians for many things, especially that of the Great Fire of Rome, which ironically, according to historical evidences, was in fact done by Nero himself. It was a time when many of the leaders of the Church endured great sufferings and martyrdom together with many among the Christian faithful, and this included St. Mark himself. Yet, despite that, the courage and dedication which St. Mark and the other dedicated servants of God had shown continued to inspire many even long after they had gone.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard in our Scripture passages today, from the Epistle of St. Peter and from the Gospel of St. Mark itself, we heard the calling and the reminder for all of us the Christian faithful of the duty, obligation and calling that we have as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord, such that in all that we say and do, in our every words, actions and deeds, we should always do what is right and just before the Lord, and be humble and obedient to the will of God. We should let the Lord lead and guide us in our path, and allow His Wisdom and the Holy Spirit to guide our steps, and to encourage and strengthen us so that we do not end up falling into the traps and downfall due to our sins and inability to resist the temptations to sin. All of us should our best to strive to be faithful and to obey the Lord’s will, to do His Law and commandments even amidst the trials and challenges that may face us in our journey of life as Christians.

As we ourselves have heard from the Gospel reading passage today, the Lord Himself has said that He will always be by His disciples and all those who are faithful to Him. He has given us all various gifts, talents and opportunities, and we ought to use all of these for the good of the Church and for the people of God. The choice is really up to us whether we want to follow the Lord and to be faithful to Him, or whether we choose to follow our own steps and path, in doing whatever catches our desires and whim. The question is, what is our Christian faith is to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? Is it just about going to Church on Sundays and attend the Mass and that is all? And some of us did not even attend the Holy Mass at all, preferring to make excuses and find ways to skip our obligations as Christians when we were perfectly capable of doing what we have been asked to do.

If that is what had actually happened to us and our lives, then we really should be ashamed, brothers and sisters in Christ. And when I said ashamed, I really mean it, as we should really see again the way how the early Church fathers, the Apostles, and those courageous missionaries and servants of God, like St. Mark the Evangelist had lived their lives most virtuously, striving to do what the Lord their God has asked and commanded them to do. They gave so much for the Lord and for His people, dedicating time and effort, and even suffered and died, and even gave their lives for the sake of the Lord. How about us then? Have we endured suffering and trials for the sake of the Lord? Or do we rather flee and abandon the Lord whenever things are not favourable to us, and come seeking Him only when we have need of Him, or when we want Him to do something for us?

That is what we should spend some time reflecting on this day, as we rejoice together on this Feast day of St. Mark the Evangelist. Let us all follow in his footsteps and in the good examples and inspiration that he and the many other disciples of the Lord, the faithful missionaries, holy men and women of God have given us. May the Risen Lord, our God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, continue guiding and strengthening us, so that all of us may come ever closer to the Holy Presence of God, and become ever more worthy and righteous in our way of life. May God bless us all, our every good works and efforts, our every ministry and interactions so that we may truly become great and wonderful beacons of His light and truth. St. Mark the Evangelist, Holy Servant of God, devoted to the end, pray for us all sinners. Amen.

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Friday, 24 April 2026 : 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 Scriptures, each and every one of us are reminded that as Christians we have been called and chosen from this world to follow what the Lord Himself has revealed to all of us through His Church and through the Good News contained in the Scriptures. Each and every one of us have been made partakers of the New and Eternal Covenant that the Lord Himself had established with us through His Son, by His Passion, suffering and death on the Cross, and by His Resurrection from the dead. All of us as Christians have confessed our faith in all of these truths, and we have been called to listen to these same truths and commit ourselves to proclaim the Good News to others.

As we heard from our Gospel passage today, we proclaim the same truth that the Lord Jesus Himself has revealed to all of the people He was speaking to, as He continued His discourse on Him being the ‘Bread of Life’ and the ‘Living Bread’ Who has come down from Heaven. The Lord told them all these not long after He had fed the multitudes of thousands of men and many thousands of women and children with the miraculous multiplication of loaves of bread and fishes. He told them all these because many of those people were seeking for Him because they were happy and satisfied as they were all well fed and received sustenance, but they were still lacking true and genuine faith in Him.

This means that many of them were still seeking Him for other motives and reasons that are not truly sincere, and many likely were trying to satisfy their own worldly needs and even greed. Hence, the Lord told them all that what He would give them, is that of the perfect gift surpassing what they had received earlier on, that is none other than the gift of His own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood, to be sacrificed, offered and broken for them, just in the manner that He had blessed, broken and shared with them all the bread and the fishes from the earlier miracle. But this time, what the people would receive, is not merely just bread and is something surpassing even the bread of the Angels, the manna, that the Israelites ate in the past.

The Lord essentially foretold what He Himself would do for the sake of everyone whom He loved and cared about. He foretold His own suffering and death on the Cross, and His gift of His own Precious Body and Blood for everyone. At the Last Supper, just before the Lord was about to enter into His Passion or suffering, He gathered all of His disciples and had the Passover meal with them, at which time He instituted the Most Holy Eucharist, the bread and wine which He blessed and then shared with His disciples, as the gift of His own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood. All those were completed as He took His Cross and suffered on His Cross, and as the Lamb of God laid dying on the Cross, what the disciples had partaken, have indeed been the Lord’s own Body and Blood.

This is what our Christian faith is all about, as we believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour, and He has come into our midst as the perfect manifestation of God’s love and ever enduring compassion and mercy for us. The Lord has willingly chosen to embrace us with His perfect love, enduring the worst and most bitter of sufferings, rejections, humiliations and trials, so that by His suffering, pain, wounds and eventually death, He might free and deliver us from the tyranny and domination of our sins. By His perfect obedience, as the Son of Man and Son of God, He has shown us all the path to eternal life and salvation, and reminding us that sin is borne out of our disobedience against God and His will. And by His offering and sacrifice as our Paschal Lamb, He has offered the only worthy sacrifice and offering for all of the multitudes of our sins.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have been called and chosen by God to be His disciples and followers, and we have also received the grace of knowing and understanding His truth, just as He had done to one of His greatest enemies, as we heard in our first reading today, namely that of Saul, the young Pharisee. Saul, who would later on be known as St. Paul the Apostle, was a young and fanatical member of the Pharisee who persecuted many early Christians, launching a great hunt and campaign to destroy the Church and the holy people of God, causing untold miseries and sufferings, as many of the early Christians were arrested, persecuted and even martyred due to the works of Saul.

But God called that same young man, and called him to the path of salvation and truth, as He revealed just how wayward and misled his path had been to Saul himself. Saul was converted, and through baptism, he became a new man, and dedicated himself to serve the Lord from then onwards. From someone who had often caused misery and suffering amongst the people of God, greatly feared and was a great sinner, the Lord had turned him into one of his greatest champions and defenders, into a holy and devout man that dedicated his whole life to the proclaiming and spread of the Good News of the Lord, enduring untold sufferings, pains, rejections, humiliations just as the Lord Himself had suffered all those.

Today we also celebrate the memory of one of the holy and 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, his efforts to proclaim the Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist just as we heard the Lord Himself clearly saying about this same fact to the people and to His disciples in our Gospel today, and how he and many other saints and martyrs, from the days of the Apostles to this very day, have dedicated themselves to proclaim the same truth and Good News, we are all hence 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 therefore be good role models and examples ourselves to one another, to all those whom we encounter in life, so that by our every words, actions and deeds, and most of all throuhgh our sincere and loving devotion to God, our sincere and genuine belief in His Real Presence in the Eucharist, in our Bread of Life, and also in our generous love for our brothers and sisters, especially to those most beloved and dearest to us, we may indeed show our Christian faith to everyone whom we encounter in each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us always and may He continue to strengthen us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 23 April 2026 : 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 as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are reminded and called to be the bearers of God’s truth, His Good News and revelations to the nations, just as the Apostles and their successors, our many holy predecessors had done before us. We are called to be the evangelising and missionary disciples of the Lord, proclaiming His Good News and truth through our lives, and by our understanding, appreciation, knowledge and immersion in the Law, commandments and truths that the Lord Himself has revealed and taught to us through His Church. As Christians, we are all expected to be good role models and sources of inspiration for one another in faith, so that in our every actions and works, our words and interactions, even to the least significant among these, we truly proclaim our Christian faith to others.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the account of the encounter between St. Philip the Apostle and an Ethiopian official who was returning back to his country from visiting Jerusalem, and St. Philip was sent by the Angel of God to evangelise to the Ethiopian official, ending up in a conversation and discussion between them regarding the passage of the Scriptures that the official had been reading, the curious and peculiar passage from the prophet Isaiah which was in fact referring about the Lord Jesus, His suffering, death and then later on Resurrection. The official must have been perturbed by what he had been reading, and as what others might have experienced as they read that passage from the prophet Isaiah regarding the Suffering Servant or the Suffering Messiah, they might have not understood the significance of that passage.

In truth, as we all ought to know, that passage was referring directly to what the Lord Jesus Himself, as the Messiah or Saviour of all, would have to suffer and endure in the process of fulfilling everything that the Lord our God had intended and planned for us, the plan of our salvation. St. Philip therefore revealed the truth and the Good News to the Ethiopian official, telling him about the Risen Lord and all that He had done and experienced, and how everything that were told by the prophets and the other messengers of the Lord had been fulfilled through Him, how He suffered and endured His Passion for the sake of all mankind, just as the prophet Isaiah had prophesied about that. Yet, St. Philip further revealed that this Suffering Messiah has triumphed and been victorious in the struggle against sin and evil, that by His Resurrection, He broke forever the chains and dominion that sin and death have over us.

That was how then St. Philip convinced the Ethiopian official to become a Christian believer, and the official agreed to be baptised at the water source present nearby, and the moment that he was baptised, St. Philip was taken away by the Angel of God elsewhere, while the Ethiopian official, in his newly baptised joy, returned back to his homeland with great joy and celebration, and was likely the one to begin spreading the Christian faith there. St. Philip on the other hand continued to minister to the people of God and proclaimed the faith and truth of God to more and more of the people, in the various places and communities he visited, causing the Church and the Christian community to grow ever more quickly, despite the many persecutions, challenges, trials and oppositions that Christianity was facing from its many enemies and detractors. The disciples and followers of the Lord dedicated their time and effort to proclaim His Good News to more and more people.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the continuation of the Bread of Life discourse by the Lord Jesus Himself, which we have heard for the past few days, in which the Lord spoke of Himself as the Living Bread or the Bread of Life Who has come down from Heaven. Through Him, all of us who have received and shared in our partaking of the Eucharist, we have received God Himself in the flesh, in His Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood, and consequently, all of us who have received Him, have already received the Lord Himself dwelling in our amidst, among us and within us. We have become the Temples of His Holy Presence, and He has extended to us the most perfect form of unity and the most tangible link between us and His heavenly Father, our most loving God and Creator. For He is the perfect manifestation of God and His love in the flesh, such that man is no longer separated from God by our sins.

Linking to our first reading passage today, in which we heard of the baptism of the Ethiopian official, through that act of baptism and acceptance by the Ethiopian official of the truth that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who has died on the Cross and Risen fromt the dead, is his Lord and Saviour, that Ethiopian official had become part of the Church, just like all of us. Through our own baptism, whether we were baptised as infants or as teenagers or as adults, or even those of us who got baptised in the old age, or at the doors of death, all of us have become partakers and sharers in the New and Eternal Covenant that the Lord Himself has sealed with us and for us. Through baptism we have been made parts and sharers of the Lord’s missions and works in His Church, and all of us are members of His Body, the one united Communion of all the faithful.

Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of two great and holy servants of God, whose lives, examples and actions can indeed serve as inspiration and examples for all of us. St. George was a Roman military officer that went through martyrdom for the sake of his faith, renowned for his courage and commitment to the Lord, while St. Adalbert was a bishop and martyr who was known for his commitment to his faith and to the missionary works in the region now known as Czech Republic and the surrounding regions. Both of them dedicated themselves to follow the Lord in all things and to do His will, enduring difficulties and challenges, suffering and eventually martyrdom, giving up even their own lives for the glory of God in the midst of their obedience to God’s call and mission.

St. George, also known as St. George of Lydda, was renowned in Church tradition as a Roman soldier, but little was known beyond the fact that he lived and endured his martyrdom during the time of the Diocletianic persecution, the last great wave of persecutions against Christians in the Roman Empire about three centuries after the birth of Christ. According to tradition, he was arrested and tortured for his Christian faith, just like many others who were martyred during the same intense persecution. He was martyred by decapitation, but his legacy remained and endured for long, to this day, as a great symbol of courage and chivalry, and for his legendary slaying of a dragon. Many people and military institutions have St. George as their patron.

Meanwhile, St. Adalbert, also known as St. Adalbert of Prague was born in the region of Prague in today’s Czech Republic during the time when the lands then known as Bohemia had not long embraced the Christian faith. St. Adalbert eventually joined the priesthood and then became the Bishop of Prague at a rather young age succeeding his predecessor who died, and he became a courageous bishop and leader of his flock, against the often difficult political and social condition at the time, where rival families and groups bickered and struggled for power and glory, which St. Adalbert endured and struggled through. Then, later on, St. Adalbert chose to go forth in missionary work to the then still pagan land of Prussia, where he had some success, but facing great opposition from many of the pagans, he was eventually martyred by a pagan mob in the land of his mission.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect on our calling as the bearers of the Good News and truth of God, as those who truly believe in the truth of Our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ, the Living Bread Who came down from Heaven. Let us all be genuine Christians in being joyful and dedicated in our willingness to proclaim the Lord and His truth in the midst of our various communities and places, inspired by the good examples of our predecessors like St. George and St. Adalbert, doing whatever we can so that we may indeed bear forth the light of God’s truth to more and more people. All of us as parts of God’s Church have the same responsibilities and duties in being good role models and inspirations in faith that our every words, actions and deeds, our every interactions and works may become the inspiration and help for many others, such that many more will come to believe in God through us and our good works.

May the Risen Lord, our God and Saviour Jesus Christ continue to be with us and guide us always, and may He continue to empower and strengthen us so that we may persevere faithfully and continue to commit ourselves to His path, much as how our early Christian predecessors had done, in their missionary and evangelising zeal. May God be with His Church always, and bless its every works and good efforts. Amen.

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Wednesday, 22 April 2026 : 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, each and every one of us are reminded again today that as Christians all of us are always facing hardships, trials and struggles, challenges and difficulties amidst the lives and the journey that we embark on in this world. However, we must not easily lose hope an we must remain firm in our faith in the Lord, because it is in Him alone we can find the hope, strength and consolation, as well as the assurance of eternal life and true joy and glory. We must always strengthen our faith and trust in the Lord, wholeheartedly believing that He, our Lord and Saviour, the Bread of Life, has the power to help us and to raise us up with Him, and that He will always be with us, never abandoning us even in our darkest and most difficult moments.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the persecutions and hardships faced by the earliest Christian community and the Church, in how the faithful were persecuted, arrested and encountered a lot of opposition and challenges especially from the Jewish community and the leaders, namely the members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council. One of the seven Deacons appointed by the Apostles to serve the Church had been put to death by the mob, as St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, spoke courageously in the defence of the Christian faith and truth, amidst all the falsehoods and false testimony of the people whom they had bribed and employed to accuse St. Stephen wrongly of crimes and misdeeds against the Lord and against God’s people. St. Stephen defended his faith courageously, but he was stoned to death by the crowd.

As we then heard from that same passage, we heard of the beginning of a time of persecution against Christians, which the Sanhedrin treated as a wayward sect and misguided people, led astray by the False Messiah, Whom they believed to be Jesus Christ, the Man Whom they had arrested, handed over to the Romans, and condemned to death because of His supposed blasphemous acts against the Jewish Law and traditions. This was in fact due to the stubbornness of many of the members of the Sanhedrin, who belonged to the group of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, as well as the Sadducees, each of whom had gripes and issues in opposing the works and teachngs of the Lord. Each one of them had in truth been mistaken and misguided in their way of observing the Law of God and in their way of life, but they adamantly and stubbornly believed that their beliefs were the right ones.

Those misconceptions and prideful attitude was the reason why many of them hardened their hearts and minds, refusing to believe in the Lord and in His truth despite having witnessed, seen, heard and experienced many of His miracles and words of great Wisdom, unparalleled and unprecedented. Some of them even associated what the Lord had done with the work of the demons, and accused Him of colluding with the demons, or in blasphemy against God. All of those attitudes and misunderstandings, stubbornness and attachment to worldly glory, power and desire ultimately prevented many from among the ranks of the Sanhedrin from coming to believe in the Lord. As we then heard about Saul, the future St. Paul, who was a young Pharisee filled with great and fiery zeal, in persecuting, arresting and torturing the followers of the Lord, the same kind of attitude, prejudices and wickedness was shown in the actions of the young Saul.

Yet, despite all the hardships and challenges faced by the followers of the Lord, most of them remained firm in their faith and endured faithfully the sufferings that they had faced. The Lord has also kept them in His providence and protection, leading them through their difficult times and sending them encouragement and strength to persevere through those challenges. He Himself has foretold all these to His disciples and followers, warning all of them that if the world had opposed, persecuted and treated Him as such, then His disciples and followers must also be prepared that they would be treated in a similar way as well. But He assured them that He would give them guidance and strength, and through the Holy Spirit that He sent to His Church, despite the trials and challenges that His followers had to face, but the Church still thrived and grew rapidly throughout those early years. Not only that, but even Saul himself was converted, and called to become one of the Lord’s greatest servants, as St. Paul the Apostle later in his life.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the continuation of the discourse of the Bread of Life by the Lord Jesus to the assembled people, as He highlighted to them, how He is the Bread of Life Who has come down from Heaven, which was in truth a premonition and advanced revelation of what He would do for the sake of everyone, for the salvation of the whole world. As the Bread of Life, He would be broken down and given up for everyone to partake, much as how earlier on He had fed the multitudes of thousands of people who had no food with the multiplication of loaves. This time, He would feed them with His own Body, the Most Precious Body offered, broken and given to all of His people, and His own Most Precious Blood, also offered and outpoured for the salvation of the whole world, for all the people of God. He spoke to them revealing all of this truth, which the disciples likely would not have realised until everything had happened as the Lord Himself foretold it.

Through this sharing of His Most Precious Body and Blood, the Lord instituted the Eucharist to us, and bringing us together through His sacrifice, suffering and death on the Cross, and ultimately His Resurrection, into the Communion of the faithful, uniting all of us into His Body, the Body of Christ, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. That is why the Eucharist we receive, which we believe is truly the Real Presence of the Lord in His Most Precious Body and Blood, is called Holy Communion, and only those who have lived and shared faithfully the full teachings of our Christian faith can partake in this most sacred gift that the Lord has granted to all of us. Through this Communion, uniting all of us in the Church, both those in this world, all of us, and all those who had gone before us, the Lord has shown us that He has always been with us, and He never abandoned us at all, even in our darkest moments and challenging times.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are reminded of this fact today, and as we continue progressing through this most holy and blessed season of Easter, let us all therefore do our part as the Christian faithful, the members of God’s own Body, the Church of God, to be evangelising and missionary disciples, righteous and good, faithful and just in all of our works, actions and deeds. Let us all be good role models and examples of our faith in our every words and actions, as well as in all of our interactions with one another. May the Risen Lord, Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, continue to bless and guide us all, and strengthen us so that we may persevere faithfully and continue to commit ourselves to His path, much as how our early Christian predecessors had done. May God be with His Church always, and bless its every works and good efforts. Amen.

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Tuesday, 21 April 2026 : 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 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. We are reminded that every time we receive Him in the Eucharist at the celebrations of the Holy Mass and elsewhere, we are strengthen by His Real Presence within us, with the gift of grace and love.

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. There were many of those who were opposed to the Lord and His teachings, and which was why they persecuted and condemned Him to death in the first place.

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. And therefore, just as they had persecuted the Lord, they also ended up persecuting St. Stephen and all those who have spoken up in His Name, proclaimed His truth and teachings courageously against the opposition of the Jewish authorities and the chief priests.

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. Through the Incarnation of the Son of God in the flesh, God Himself has come and dwelled among us all, reaching out to us, seeking us all to love all of us most wonderfully and generously as He has always intended for us.

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 because of their pride and ego, which were holding them back from believing. They either could not accept the fact that what the Lord spoke about was the truth, or that they thought they knew it better.

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. We are the ones to continue bearing the truth and love of Christ our Lord into this world, manifesting all these through our own lives and actions.

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. And today we have a good role model and source of inspiration to follow in St. Anselm.

St. Anselm, whose feast day we celebrate today, also known as St. Anselm of Canterbury was a great and dedicated servant of God, who committed himself to the ministry and the calling that he had been entrusted with. The Lord has called him to be His servant, becoming eventually a monk and abbot, and then after years of faithful work and ministry, he was appointed a bishop and was sent to minister the faithful as shepherd, which during his time of leadership and ministry, had become a great centre of learning and many were touched by his dedication and efforts. St. Anselm eventually was sent to England, to become the Archbishop of Canterbury, as the leader of all the faithful in all of England. He faced great trials and challenges throughout his ministry, and even went through exile during his work, having to endure persecution and rejection from his enemies. Yet he continued to dedicate himself and kept on going in his works and ministry regardless, entrusting himself to the Lord wholeheartedly.

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, 20 April 2026 : 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, all of us are reminded of our calling as Christians to be the disciples and followers of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Risen Messiah, and to proclaim His Resurrection, His truth and love to all the people of all the nations. We are also reminded that in doing our mission and calling, in our ministry and life as Christians, there may be hurdles, trials and obstacles facing us, and yet we have to stay strong and devout in faith, and we should not lose faith and hope because the Lord is and has always, and will always ever be with us, journeying with us by our side. All of us are reminded that we all should stay by the Lord and remain truly faithful to Him, and to trust always in His guidance and providence for us. We must believe in Him and follow Him, even if things in life go against us, and that is what we are being reminded this day.

In our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of the moment when St. Stephen, one of the first seven holy Deacons of the Church, appointed to assist in the works and mission of the Church, was confronted by those who opposed the Lord and His teachings, as they debated about the things which St. Stephen has been proclaiming and teaching to the people, regarding the truth and the Good News of the Lord, as well as His Resurrection from the dead. St. Stephen spoke with great wisdom, courage and strength despite all the challenges and the plotting against him. His opponents even bribed people to give false testimonies and accusations against St. Stephen, twisting the truth and the words that the Lord Himself has spoken, accusing St. Stephen for spreading the teachings of the Lord Jesus among the people.

Those people were trying hard to drive the sentiments of the assembly and the members of the Sanhedrin to go against St. Stephen, with efforts and attempts to discredit the servant of God and to persecute him. However, no matter whatever accusations and falsehoods they tried to blame on him, St. Stephen, empowered, strengthened and guided by the Holy Spirit, full of the Wisdom of God, broke through all of their arguments and wicked falsehoods, and he refuted all of their nonsense arguments and lies. As mentioned in the first reading passage today, St. Stephen’s face appeared before all the assembled people like as if the face of an Angel, a manifestation of the great strength, power and Wisdom that the Lord has bestowed upon Him through the Holy Spirit. As mentioned, this was one proof of how the Lord never abandoned His faithful ones in their hour of need.

Then in our Gospel Reading, we heard of the people who have been fed by the Lord in the well-known miracle of the feeding of the five thousand men and many thousands of others, who sought for the Lord and wanted to find out more from Him. The Lord told them how they sought Him for ulterior motives, as they were happy that they were fed and taken care of, and yet they have not yet had strong and genuine faith in them. This was because they sought for benefits and gains for themselves in their following and adherence to the Lord. But true faith requires total commitment and trust in the Lord, even amidst challenges and trials, oppression and tribulation, struggles and difficulties, just like how St. Stephen who faced such struggles and hardships and yet remained true to his commitment. Otherwise, we may find it really difficult to resist the temptations of sin in our daily living.

That is why we have to grow in faith and trust in the Lord, and we have to remain firmly rooted in Him. We have to endure the trials and tribulation, challenges and hardships that may come our way, or else, like how the disciples initially reacted upon seeing their Lord and Master being betrayed and arrested, they lost heart and abandoned Him, all fleeing to safeguard their own lives and to take care of their own well-being. Their faith back then were not strong enough and they were still driven by their own personal desires and wishes rather than true and genuine faith in the Lord, and hence, when persecutions came their way, their faith wavered and they chose to flee and abandon the Lord instead of persevering in faith. This is a reminder then that we should not waver in our faith, and continue to endure the challenges and trials, and help one another in doing so.

As we continue to progress through this season of Easter, let us all be good role models and live our lives faithfully each day, living as faithful Christians, as joyful Easter people, a people of the Resurrection, a people of faith and devotion to God. Let us all inspire our fellow brothers and sisters, particularly all those who are still struggling with their faith, and those enduring a lot of trials and challenges in being Christians in their respective communities and places. All of us can be sources of great inspiration for them and for one another just as the Apostles and the many other disciples of the Lord, the Church fathers and also the innumerable saints and martyrs, our holy predecessors had shown us. We should remain firm in our faith and put our trust in the Lord as they all had done.

That is why we should always strive to live our lives worthily in the Lord, doing our very best to be great examples and role models in everything that we say and do, in showing genuine love for one another just as the Lord Himself has loved us all first so patiently and generously. Each and every one of us are called to follow the examples of Christ and our holy predecessors in everything that they have done, in all that they had shown in love, in leading us all down the same path towards the salvation in God and fullness of grace in Him. That is why we ourselves should be good role models and inspirations for everyone around us, in doing what we can at all times to show all these love through our every words, actions and deeds.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us therefore by the examples showed by the faithful servants of God, the many saints and martyrs who have gone before us, especially that of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church. Let us all be inspired by their trust and faith in the Lord, and their humility and willingness to allow the Lord to lead them in the right path, as they carried out their ministry faithfully. Let us all be inspired and strengthened by them, be courageous and strong in our faith. May our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ, be with us all and may He bless us all in our every good endeavours, efforts and works, always. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 April 2026 : Third Sunday of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we enter into the celebration of the Third Sunday of Easter, all of us are reminded yet again of the very reason why we celebrate joyfully during this time and season of Easter. We are reminded that particularly during this time of Easter, all of us should focus our attention on the Risen Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who has won for us such a great victory through His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross, and then through His glorious Resurrection from the dead. Through all of that, Christ our Lord and Saviour has opened for us the pathway to eternal life, the road to eternal glory and true joy with Him. We are no longer separated and sundered from the love and compassion of God, and we have been brought closer once again to God.

In our first reading today, we heard the testimony of faith by St. Peter who proclaimed to all the people assembled in Jerusalem at that time, of the truth regarding Jesus Christ, the One Who had been crucified and put to death, just weeks prior to that time, and which according to the Apostles and the other eyewitnesses, had risen from the dead in glory, and appeared to them, showing them all the fulfilment of God’s promised salvation, and the triumph that He had shown us in our battle against sin and death. St. Peter told all of the people assembled of the Messiah that the Lord has promised His people, and how everything has been fulfilled through this same Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Crucified One. He and the other Apostles and disciples of the Lord went forth courageously, encouraged and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, proclaiming the Risen Lord to all.

Most importantly, this Messiah’s story did not end with His death. Indeed, many of those same people had witnessed how the Lord Jesus was condemned to death and was crucified by the Romans, with the support of the Jewish authorities, who gave Him off to the Romans in the first place. But, the Lord Jesus rose gloriously from the dead, and His Resurrection has proved to be the fulfilment of everything that God has promised to His people, to all of us. For through His Resurrection, the Lord has cast out and destroyed the chains and the dominion of sin and death over all of us, and He has made His sacrifice and death a most worthy offering to His heavenly Father, for the atonement and forgiveness of all of our multitude of sins. The Lord has become the Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of the New and Everlasting Passover and Covenant that God has established with us.

This is what St. Peter himself also testified and spoke of in one of his Epistles, that is our second reading today. The Apostle spoke of how all of us have been saved through the Precious Blood of the Lamb, the Paschal Lamb, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, and saved by the One Who has risen from the dead, and Who raises the dead with Him, to share in the eternal life and inheritance meant for all of us from the very beginning. Through this, all of us are reminded of just how important the Resurrection of the Lord is to our faith and belief in the Lord, for without the Resurrection, then Christ’s death on the Cross would have been meaningless. Without the Resurrection, then it would have been proven that no one could escape the power of death, and yet, the Lord’s glorious Resurrection overcame that. Without the Resurrection, the death of the Lord Jesus would just be the sad and tragic death of a Man condemned to death because of the jealousy and political intrigues within the Jewish community back then.

It was truly the Lord’s Resurrection that made it all possible for us to have hope once again, and to be lifted up out of our despair and the darkness surrounding us. This has happened as we heard in our Gospel passage today, when the Lord appeared to two of His disciples who were travelling on their way to the village of Emmaus, very shortly after the Lord’s Resurrection. Both of those two disciples had been distraught and demoralised by the persecution and the death of the Lord, and despite hearing the words of the women who went to the tomb of the Lord and telling them of the Resurrection, they still could not believe that the One in Whom they had placed their hopes in, would have been crushed and killed in such a way. It was there that the Risen Lord appeared to them, as He came by them on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus. The Lord discussed the passages of the Scriptures with them, particularly the part where it concerned the suffering and the hardships that the Messiah had to suffer, in referring to what had happened to Himself.

And as we heard in that same Gospel passage, the Risen Lord encouraged and strengthened the spirit and the faith of the two disciples as they went on their journey with Him towards Emmaus, before finally revealing Himself to them at the breaking of the bread with them. That was what brought the two disciples to rush back immediately all the way to Jerusalem, to tell all the other disciples of what they had just witnessed about the Risen Lord appearing to them in the flesh. This amongst other evidence of the Resurrection, and the fact of how many of the Apostles and disciples of the Lord were willing to die and suffer for this truth, are more than enough proofs that the Lord Jesus Christ, Our Saviour, has truly risen from the dead, and did not remain in the tomb, in death. Despite the efforts by the members of the Sanhedrin to silence and hide the truth about the Lord’s Resurrection, even to the point of bribing the guards who were at the tomb of the Lord, they failed to contain the continuously and rapidly growing Christian faith and believers.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard from all the Scripture readings today, let us all be reminded that as Christians, that is as members of God’s Church and as those who belong to Him, as His beloved sons and daughters, we have the responsibility and duty to be good role models and inspiration to one another in our way of life and faith. It means that each and every one of us have to lead lives that are in accordance to our faith in the Lord and not to scandalise the Church and the Holy Name of Our Lord by our inappropriate and sinful actions, works and deeds. This is why, all of us are reminded that we all should be Christians in truth and reality, in all things and not just in name or for formality only. Unless we commit ourselves wholeheartedly and completely to the Lord, to His path and His Law and commandments, we may end up being easily distracted and tempted by the many temptations all around us.

This Sunday, as we have entered into the third week of the Easter season, let us all ask ourselves, whether we have truly made good use of the time we had these past two weeks during this joyful season of Easter, or whether we have squandered the time and opportunities presented to us. All of us are reminded that we are all the people whom the Lord had loved and redeemed from sin, and by our common baptism, all of us have been made partakers of the New and Eternal Covenant that He had sealed by His own Most Precious Blood. Therefore, all of us should follow in the examples of our holy predecessors, the Holy Apostles, the innumerable saints and martyrs, who have courageously stood up for their faith and proclaimed their dedication to the Lord, as they endured challenges and trials, one after another, in their ministry and lives. They proclaimed the Risen Lord, His love and truth to the world, through their every actions, words and deeds.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be missionary and evangelising in our every words, actions and deeds as well, and let our every efforts bring more and more people closer towards the Lord, that all those who witness our works and actions, heard our words and experienced our interactions with them, may experience the truth and love of God through us. Let us all inspire our fellow brothers and sisters much as how the Apostles themselves had inspired us with their courage and dedication to God. May all of us continue to carry on living our lives with zeal, with commitment and devotion, full of love for God and for one another, and may each and every one of us be good role models and examples in our Christian faith and living. May the Risen Lord, Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, continue to guide us all and give us the strength and courage to proclaim His truth and Resurrection to the world. Amen.