witness

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(Easter Sunday) Sunday, 31 March 2013 : Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Week, Easter Octave (First Reading)

Acts 10 : 34a, 37-43

Peter then spoke to them, “No doubt you have heard of the event that occured throughout the whole country of the Jews, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism John preached. You know how God anointed Jesus the Nazarean with Holy Spirit and power.

He went about doing good and healing all who were under the devil’s power, because God was with Him; we are witnesses of all that He did throughout the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem itself. Yet they put Him to death by hanging Him on a wooden cross.

But God raised Him to life on the third day and let Him manifest Himself, not to all the people, but to the witnesses that were chosen beforehand by God – to us who ate and drank with Him after His resurrection from death. And He commanded us to preach to the people and to bear witness that He is the One appointed by God to judge the living and the dead.

All the prophets say of Him, that everyone who believes in Him has forgiveness of sins through His Name.

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Monday, 18 March 2013 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor (Scripture Reflection)

Jesus taught us today that we need to become true witnesses and witnesses that are faithful and obsessed with the truth, just as He is truthful, the perfect witness with God the Father, who brought witness to the truth He taught while He was in this world, dispelling lies and all the evils that had ravaged our world since the beginning of time.

It is not easy to remain truthful, since our world itself is full of lies and deceit that is of the devil. He spreads lies and falsehoods so that we will be divided among ourselves, among fellow brothers and sisters in faith. This will weaken us in our struggle to fight against evil, and also reduce our resolve to life this life as God wants us, that is a life filled with love, truth, and faith in Christ.

Instead, indeed, many of us succumbed to the temptations of the world, and temporal pleasures, especially that of the flesh. This was what had happened to the two elders appointed over the people of Israel, given authority and responsibility, but failed in their given ministry, all due to the failure to restrain themselves and let themselves to be taken in by worldly temptation. Indeed, as we can see what unfolds for them in the end, they had given up the true happiness in heaven, as righteous and just servants of the Lord, for moments of temporary and unguarded lust, to seek the faithful wife, Susanna.

They have abandoned their duty and their ministry in search of what the devil offers for them, through lust and disobedience, they almost brought an innocent soul in the eyes of God, into condemnation to death. This is because they acted not as a witness based on love for justice and for the truth of God, but they acted as witness out of lies, and human selfishness, of self preservation and of greed and lust.

Because they wanted to gain the noble woman, which they failed, and in their minds, their lust turned into hatred and deceitful plot to destroy that woman before it can destroy them. It is as if they want to approach sinful actions, but they never realised the effects of those acts until they had already committed the acts.

Instead of humbling themselves before God and asking for forgiveness, they instead misused their power and the authority given to them as witnesses to persecute the weak and attempted to remove evidences against them. This is what the Lord wants us to avoid, so that we will not be witnesses of falsehoods and lies, but rather follow in the example of Christ, who taught the truth to the people of Israel, with God as His witness.

Today, we also celebrate the feast of a great saint of the early Church, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who was a distinguished theologian of the early Church, and he was very pious and zealous in defending the truth on his ministry, which his opponents constantly attacked with falsehoods in order to remove him from his position as Bishop of Jerusalem. He defended the faithful as a strong witness for the truth that Christ had brought into this world, and stood firm against false teachings of the heretics at that time, Arians, Monophysites, and many other false witnesses of the Lord.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, have we done our part in proclaiming the Gospel of our Lord? To be His witnesses in this world? That no one can say like the Pharisees did, that asking and questioning the Lord’s power through need of witness, which they themselves, blinded by those same human weaknesses and faults that had blinded the two elders at the judgment of Susanna.

Let us strive to love one another, and to be truthful and honest in all dealings that we make, so that we reflect the truth of our God, Jesus Christ, who came to bring the true witness of the love of God, as we have read in the Gospels. That we may also be able to follow the examples of St. Cyril of Jerusalem in being true witness of the truth, and stood firm against any form of falsehoods and lies about the Lord and our faith. May God bless us all. Amen.

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My oath of obedience to our new Pope, Pope Francis. God bless our Pope!

God, the Lord of the Universe, who through Jesus Christ Your Son, has brought salvation upon this world. Hear me now I pray, with Your holy angels and holy saints as witness before Your Holy throne in Heaven.

I promise and offer my full and unconditional obedience on Franciscus, our Pope Francis, whom through the Holy Spirit You have inspired the Cardinals to elect, as the one to continue the mission of Peter, Your Apostle, upon whom You entrusted the keys to Your Kingdom, and upon whom You built Your very own Church, that is Your Most Precious Body, in union with all who believes in You, now led by Francis, as one indivisible union, the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

I call upon the angels and the saints as witness on this promise, and I ask them too to pray for our Holy Father, that he will be strengthened in his new ministry, not just as the Bishop of Rome, but also the Successor of St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, as the leader of the Universal Church, all over the world.

May he be strengthened in faith, hope, and love, and exercise great charity as his namesake St. Francis of Assisi had done, and at the same time, profess to defend the Sacred Tradition of the Holy Apostles, and the orthodox Catholic faith, as it is, unchanging, since the beginning, now, and ever shall be, forever and ever! Amen!

On this Holy Gospel I make solemn my oath and promise, and I hope that not only that I will remain faithful to it, but also help our dear Holy Father, Pope Francis, in his mission to evangelise the Word of God to all corners of this world, through whatever means I can, including this humble blog of mine.

Ad multos annos, Papa Franciscus! Pontifex maximus et Beati Petri Apostolorum Principis succesori, Episcopus Romanus.

Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam, et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum. Quodcumque ligaveris super terram, erit ligatum et in cælis, et quodcumque solveris super terram, erit solutum et in cælis.

(You are Peter, and on this Rock, I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against It, and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on this earth, it will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loosen on this earth, it will be loosened in heaven).

 

+Peter Canisius Michael David Kang

(Ut Omnes Unum Sint, ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam – That they all may be One, for the greater glory of God)

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Monday, 18 March 2013 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor (Gospel Reading)

John 8 : 12-20

Jesus spoke to them again : “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have light and life.” The Pharisees replied, “Now You are speaking on Your own behalf, Your testimony is worthless..”

Then Jesus said, “Even though I bear witness to Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I have come from and where I am going. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; as for Me, I don’t judge anyone. But if I had to judge, My judgment would be valid for I am not alone : the Father who sent Me is with Me. In your Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid; so I am bearing witness to Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness to Me.”

They asked Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You don’t know Me or My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father as well.” Jesus said these things when He was teaching in the Temple area, in the place where they received the offerings. No one arrested Him because His hour had not yet come.

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Thursday, 14 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

John 5 : 31-47

If I bore witness to Myself, My testimony would be worthless. But Another One is bearing witness to Me, and I know that His testimony is true when He bears witness to Me. John also bore witness to the truth when you sent messengers to Him, but I do not seek such human testimony; I recall this for you, so that you may be saved.

John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were willing to enjoy his light. But I have greater evidence than that of John – the works which the Father entrusted to Me to carry out.

The very works I do bear witness : the Father has sent Me. Thus He who bears witness to Me is the Father who sent Me. You have never heard His voice and have never seen His likeness; therefore as long as you do not believe His Messenger, His word is not in you.

You search in the Scriptures, thinking that in them you will find life; yet Scripture bears witness to Me. But you refuse to come to Me, that you may live. I am not seeking human praise; but I have known that love of God is not within you, for I have come in My Father’s Name and you do not accept Me. If another comes in his own name, you will accept him.

As long as you seek praise from one another, instead of seeking the glory which comes from the only God, how can you believe? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. Moses himself, in whom you placed your hope, accuses you. If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?