Word of God

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Thursday, 16 May 2013 : 7th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Psalm 15 : 1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

Keep me safe, o God, for in You I take refuge. I say to the Lord, You are my God. O Lord, my inheritance and my cup, my chosen portion – hold secure my lot.

I bless the Lord who counsels me; even at night my inmost self instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; for with Him at my right hand, I will never be shaken.

My heart, therefore, exults, my soul rejoices; my body too will rest assured. For You will not abandon my soul to the grave, nor will You suffer Your Holy One to see decay in the land of the dead.

You will show me the path of life, in Your presence the fullness of joy, at Your right hand happiness forever.

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Wednesday, 15 May 2013 : 7th Week of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters, all in our most beloved Jesus Christ, our Lord, God remains with us all the time in our lives, if we keep His commandments and His divine love alive within all of us, through our own words, actions, and deeds that reflect and show the greatness of God’s love to those who still live in the darkness of this world.

He feeds us with the food of life, and the drink of life, that is none other than His own Precious Body and Blood, that He gave freely on His sacrifice on the cross in Calvary. He gave us Himself that all of us will be with Him and will have Him within all of us, and be strong and courageous in our daily struggle against the evil one, who hates all that is good and all that belong to the Father.

The struggle against Satan, his fallen angels and all the powers in his employ in this world continues daily, even today, tomorrow, and beyond. If we do not keep a strong faith in God and a strong heart of love, filled with God’s presence, we will falter and go astray in our path and fail to achieve the ultimate goal of our life, that is salvation and reunion with God our Lord.

The flock will be scattered when the devil comes like wolves to attack the sheep, and they will target the shepherd in particular, that they will be destroyed and the sheep scattered, like those sheep without a shepherd to guide them. The wolves however, will also hide behind sheepskin and pretend to be false shepherds, that will try to guide the sheep into trap, into darkness, and into damnation, together with them, who have already been condemned.

For indeed, there are very many false teachings and false prophets in our world today, as well as false idols that mankind increasingly turn their hearts to. They no longer put the Lord as the centre of their life and their attention. They no longer worship God and give Him the thanksgiving and praise due to Him. Instead, they worship the false idols and praise them, in place of the true God.

And the evil one and his ‘wolves’ especially target those who work in the fields of the Lord, namely our priests, bishops, and all who labour in the Name of God. As all of you can easily find in our world today, that there are many attacks daily against all the ministers of God’s Gospels, and those attacks come even from those who believe in Christ, having been seduced into falsehood by the agents of Satan, falling into the temptation of the world.

No, I am not referring to those idols, made of gold or silver, or any imageries, but in fact, these false idols are even far more deadly and dangerous than those, because while those idols are dead and lifeless, but these false new idols are able to corrupt the hearts and soul of mankind, that they shut themselves off from God’s grace and providence.

Money, worldly lusts, and also other forms of temptations readily available in our world today, are major distractions and obstacles in our path. They easily tempted the weak and those who do not keep their faith strong, and ensure that their anchor in God is firm and solid. That is why, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important that all of us keep a strong and healthy prayer life, that in prayer, we keep our line of communications with the Lord firm and undisturbed. Take some moments off our busy daily schedules, and listen to God speaking in our hearts, about His will, and about His truth.

For the truth of God will dispel the falsehoods of the evil one, and it will give us true joy and happiness that only God can give, and which the world cannot give. What God gives us is what can truly bring true joy within our hearts, and bring us into perfection. It is up to us, brothers and sisters, to help one another, and those who still walk in darkness, that all of us will be opened to God’s truth, God’s light, and His divine love.

May God guide us into Himself, and allow us to be reunited with Him in the bliss of heaven, away from the evil one and all the falsehoods he had sprung in this world, all of which have been condemned to eternal damnation. We also pray for our priests, and all those who work hard for the sake of the Lord and the salvation of all mankind, that God will protect them and grant them strength and courage in their ministry. May God grant us everlasting life, forever and ever. Amen.

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Monday, 13 May 2013 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima (Gospel Reading)

John 16 : 29-33

The disciples said to Him, “Now You are speaking plainly and not in veiled language! Now we see that You know all things, even before we question You. Because of this we believe that You came from God.”

Jesus answered them, “You say that you believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave Me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with Me.”

“I have told you all this, so that in Me you may have peace. You will have trouble in the world; but courage! I have overcome the world.”

 

Reading from the Mass of Our Lady of Fatima

 

Luke 11 : 27-28

As Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to Him, “Blessed is the one who gave You birth and nursed You!”

Jesus replied, “Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.”

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Tuesday, 7 May 2013 : 6th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Acts 16 : 22-34

So they set the crowd against them and the officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be flogged. And after inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to guard them safely. Upon receiving these instructions, he threw them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, a severe earthquake shook the place, rocking the prison to its foundations. Immediately all the doors flew open and the chains of all the prisoners fell off.

The jailer woke up to see the prison gates wide open. Thinking that the prisoners had escaped, he drew his sword to kill himself, but Paul shouted to him, “Do not harm yourself! We are all still here.” The jailer asked for a light, then rushed in, and fell at the feet of Paul and Silas. After he had secured the other prisoners, he led them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you and your household will be saved.”

Then they spoke the word of God to him and to all his household. Even at that hour of the night, the jailer took care of them and washed their wounds; and he and his whole household were baptised at once. He led them to his house, spread a meal before them and joyfully celebrated with his whole household his newfound faith in God.

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Monday, 6 May 2013 : 6th Week of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, to be with Christ, and to remain faithful in Him, as His disciples, and as His children, is not easy, and never will be easy. There is bound to be rejection and opposition against Christ, especially by the agents of the evil one, who does not want mankind to be saved, and he wants rather that mankind fall with him into hell, in his jealousy of the Lord.

There will be those who also will hear and follow the Word of God, just as the first reading today has told us, about the devout Jewish lady named Lydia, and her family, who listened to the apostles, and became a believer, and who were baptised and therefore were joined into the number of those who were promised eternal life in God.

That is why we should never give up nor abandon the task that Christ had entrusted us, just as He had entrusted the same task to the apostles, that is to evangelise and bring the Good News to all nations, to the ends of the earth, that all will listen to the Good News, repent, be baptised, in the Name of the Holy Trinity, and therefore gain eternal life in salvation.

As the apostles had shown us, and all the disciples in Christ had shown in the early times of the Church, that preaching the truth of Christ and the Good News would bring about opposition, apathy, and even persecution by those who did not believe, and those who had closed their hearts from the truth that Christ had brought. They had closed their ears and the doors of their hearts to Christ. Nevertheless, they too are the children of God, our brethren.

We must not act n the same way that they had acted on us, that is we should not counter their hatred and opposition with hatred on our own, or any kind of loathing. Rather, let us, through our words, and most importantly our actions, show them, what being the followers of Christ is like, that is filled with love and compassion, that is of the Lord, that they too will eventually learn the truth, and believe.

This is because, for the Lord, nothing is indeed impossible, and even the most hardened enemies of Christ, may eventually repent and become great saints and disciples, with full dedication to the Lord. Remember that many of the greatest saints and holy men in the Church were once great sinners and even fornicators, with all sorts of evil-led life imaginable, but yet they repented, and then became ardent defenders of the faith, and now they enjoyed their great rewards in heaven, and became now, our intercessors before the throne of God.

Even St. Paul himself, the great missionary, the Apostle to the Gentiles, was also once a great enemy of the faithful, a great persecutor, who captured many who believed in Jesus, and subjected them to torture for their faith, and who had once vowed to destroy the Church of God. After his conversion to the faith on the way to Damascus, when the Lord Himself appeared to Paul, he became the greatest champion of the Church, and through him, many people were saved.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us persevere in the mission that God had entrusted to us, that we will become great missionaries like the apostles were, even though we are also great sinners ourselves. Let us keep our faith in God burning strong, and let us keep our sight always in focus towards the Lord. May God grant us strength and courage to be His evangelists and may the light of God be brought to all mankind. Amen.

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Monday, 6 May 2013 : 6th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

John 15 : 26 – John 16 : 4a

From the Father, I will send you the Spirit of truth. When the Helper has come from the Father, He will be My witness, and you, too, will be My witnesses, for you have been with Me from the beginning.

I tell you all this to keep you from stumbling and falling away. They will put you out of the synagogue. Still more, the hour is coming, when anyone who kills you will claim to be serving God; they will do this, because they have not known the Father or Me.

I tell you all these things now so that, when the time comes, you may remember that  I told you.

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Sunday, 5 May 2013 : 6th Sunday of Easter (Gospel Reading)

John 14 : 23-29

Jesus answered Judas, “If anyone loves Me; he will keep My word and My Father will love him; and We will come to Him and make a room in his home. But if anyone does not love Me, he will not keep My words; and these words that you hear are not mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”

“I told you all this while I was still with you. From now on the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I have told you. Peace be with you! I give you My peace; not as the world gives peace do I give it to you.”

“Do not be troubled; do not be afraid. You heard Me say, ‘I am going away, but I am coming to you.’ If you loved Me, you would be glad that I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you this now before it takes place, so that when it does happen, you may believe.”

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Saturday, 4 May 2013 : 5th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

John 15 : 18-21

If the world hates you, remember that the world hated Me before you. This would not be so if you belonged to the world, because the world loves its own. But you are not of the world, since I have chosen you from the world; because of this the world hates you.

Remember what I told you : the servant is not greater than his master; if they persecuted Me, they will persecute you, too. If they kept My word, they will keep yours as well. All this they will do to you for the sake of My Name, because they do not know that One who sent Me.

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Friday, 3 May 2013 : 5th Week of Easter, Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles (Scripture Reflection)

Christ did not die, but He lives. He did not die a death that lasts, since He was risen by God the Father from the land of the dead, as the firstborn from the dead, the first One to rise from death and conquer death itself, to prove that death does not have the final say, and neither Satan, the evil one, has final say over us, and all creation.

For Christ, through His death and then His resurrection, made all creations new, and He rejuvenated all of creation, by the shedding of His Most Precious Body and Blood, which He offered as a perfect and unblemished sacrifice that day on the cross on Calvary. The Lamb of God, the Paschal Lamb, has been sacrificed for us, and has been found worthy, that we too, can be found worthy by God, our Father.

We are the sons and daughters of God, our Father, and therefore we should also be like our Father, who is good and perfect. Yet, sadly, we had been tainted by the evils of sin, by the disobedience of Adam our forefather, and Eve, his wife, being seduced by Satan, the deceiver. But God did not want  us to suffer death and eternal separation from Himself, and He wants us to be once again worthy of Him who is good and perfect.

Christ became the new Adam who renewed mankind’s contract with God, by providing them with a new life through the Spirit, but this time, He completed and made perfect that union between God and mankind, sealed through His own blood, as He is fully man and fully divine, indivisible and one. Christ came so that we can have hope once again, of life in the Spirit. God breathed life into mankind by His Spirit, that is His breath, but mankind squandered that life and made it imperfect by their disobedience.

The Blood of the Lamb that is sacrificed on the cross justifies all those who believe in the One sent by God, that is Christ, once again, and made them whole, just like the days before the fall of mankind. He then was resurrected from the dead and became the living proof and truth of all that He Himself had brought and taught to all those who had listened to Him and His preaching,

Today, we commemorate the feast day of the two apostles of Christ, in both St. Philip and St. James, both of whom became His witnesses to the entire world. They preached the Good News of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, which are indeed Good News, for they brought the long-awaited redemption to all mankind who believes in God and in Christ, His Son.

St. Philip and St. James worked hard to spread the Good News of the Lord to the many peoples of their time, and they converted many to the cause of Christ. Philip once told and explained the Word of God to the emissary of the ruler of Ethiopia, and converted him through the word of God and baptism. They did many other good things, just as Christ Himself had said, that those who belong to God, will do just like what the Lord Himself had done, that is what Christ had done in His short life and ministry in this world.

St. James, who was also called James the Just, became the first leader of the Christians in Jerusalem, becoming its first bishop and was one of the most important leaders of early Christendom with Peter, the leader of all the apostles and disciples.

Both of them endured rejection, persecution, and intense suffering for their service of the Lord, and they ultimately faced death with courage, in their ministry and in their defense of their faith in God. They had done well in this earth, and were rewarded with eternal life with Christ that is their due. Brothers and sisters in Christ, can we follow in their footsteps? The footsteps of the apostles and many other holy men and women who had walked the same path in following the example of Christ in doing God’s commandments and what is good in His eyes?

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us strive to be more like these holy apostles, and follow in their footsteps, to be always courageous in proclaiming the Word of God and the Good News, to our fellow men, and to explain them to our brethren in faith, who are wavering in their faith in God. For in our world today, there is still a great need, if not greater than ever, for evangelisation, to bring light to many in our world, darkened by sin.

May God bless us and strengthen our faith and love, and may His holy apostles and saints pray for us and watch over us. Pray for us, St. Philip and St. James, apostles, that we may be more like you and can dedicate ourselves to Christ our Lord, ever more. Amen.

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Friday, 3 May 2013 : 5th Week of Easter, Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles (Psalm)

Psalm 18 : 2-3, 4-5

The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Day talks it over with day; night hands on the knowledge to night.

No speech, no words, no voice is heard – but the call goes on throughout the universe, the message is felt to the ends of the earth.