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Tuesday, 1 October 2013 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Solemnity of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as per the theme of the readings yesterday, today we once again listen to the words of Jesus, on the importance of humility in our lives, in all our dealings with God and with one another. That humility is one of the key elements necessary for the salvation of one, because with humility, many of the necessary attitudes needed for one to be saved can be achieved.

It is too often that we are so preoccupied with ourselves, and immersed in our sense of pride and our natural arrogance that we fail to realise our own shortcomings and our sinfulness. That is why many of us tend to continue to dwell in the world of sin and darkness instead of seeking the light in God. We close ourselves and our hearts to the Lord, all because we think of ourselves as great and beyond reproach.

That was the reason of the fall of many, who put their trust in their own strengths and disregarded any advice that the Lord had given to them through various sources. Pride leads to arrogance, and arrogance leads to even more pride. And in our pride, we forget about God, we forget about those around us, and even those who are dear to us, and we tend to care only for ourselves.

Ever since we have fallen into sin, we have been prone to any kind of sins and evils, including pride. It is also how the devil fell, as Lucifer the lightbringer, who was enraptured by his own beauty and might, as the greatest angel, turned to pride and then jealousy and hatred against God. That is how pride brings down even the mighty and the powerful. Indeed, those who are mighty are more prone to pride than those who are weak, but that does not mean that all of us can be complacent.

The way to greatness is truly through humility, as through humility, we tend to be better able to express ourselves in love, in gentleness, and in faith to God. The Lord who sees us doing these things, will truly reward us and glorify us, just as He had glorified Christ our Lord, His Son, whose sacrifice in perfect humility, brought about the salvation of mankind.

Through His own humility, Christ showed the love that is within Him to all those whom He touched and met. He lowered Himself in great humility so that He can love us all more perfectly. To the extent, that He gave His own life, so that we may live and not die. He sets the example with His own actions, the saving power of His eternal love.

Jesus also told His disciples to be more like little children. Why so? That is because it is the faith of little children that is the purest, the purest faith and love towards God. Very often, we as adults, are so preoccupied with the things and matters of the world, that we forget what is more important in our lives, that is love, gentleness, hope, and God Himself.

If we can just be more like children in our faith, then we will certainly be better persons, with faith untainted by the concerns and corruptions of this world. We ought not to forget our true calling in this life, that is to love, and to love tenderly, especially to those who are unloved, we can truly be like those children, whose faith and dedication to God are pure and total.

That is what was echoed by the saint whose feast day we celebrate today, namely St. Therese of the Child Jesus, also known as St. Therese Lisieux. St. Therese Lisieux was well-known for her great humility, her piety, and her deep spirituality and devotion for the Lord, that she showed in her short life, as she died early in her early twenties, and yet in that short life, she had really done much for the sake of the Lord and His people.

St. Therese Lisieux joined the religious life and devoted herself fully to the Lord, and received series of visions and revelations through her life. She dedicated herself to her life of prayer in simplicity and perfect obedience to the will of God. Through her numerous writings, she communicated her feelings and beliefs, in the life dedicated to God.

It is through her extensive writings, poems, and other works, that St. Therese Lisieux influenced many of us even to this day. Although she had lived only a short life in this world, through her works and writings, she lived on forever, inspiring and strengthening many in their own paths towards the Lord. She is now up there, as one of the saints, interceding endlessly for our sake, we who are sinners still living in this darkened world of pride and evil.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, after we hear the examples set by St. Therese Lisieux and that of many other saints, let us emulate their virtues, their piety and humility, realising the depths of our own sins, and asking the Lord for His pardon out of His eternal love for us. Let us also be proactive in love, that we love tenderly, love sincerely, and love generously, both to God and to our fellow men.

May the Lord continue to shower us with His love and that we will come to ever greater realisation of our own unworthiness before Him, and therefore come ever closer to reach out to the throne of mercy, asking Him to show His infinite mercy to us, and forgiveness for our innumerable sins. God bless us all and watch over us always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 7 August 2013 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Saints Xystus II, Pope and Companions, Martyrs; and St. Cajetan, Priest (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Saints Xystus II and Companions); White (St. Cajetan)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, the case of the Canaanite widow and her daughter, and how the daughter was healed by Christ our Lord because of her mother’s faith, should stir all of us, all of our hearts. That the woman had shown her great faith and trust in God, placing all of her heart and faith in the power and ability of our Lord, recognising Him as the heir of David, the awaited Messiah of Israel, the Saviour of the world.

Yes, brothers and sisters, the woman, the Canaanite woman, not of the chosen race and the chosen people of Israel, had recognised the Lord and put her entire heart and full faith in Him when so many other people of Israel had failed to do so. Not only that many of these people had failed to put their full attention and faith in the Lord, but they even complained against Him and grumbled against Him, when He had shown them so much love, compassion, care, and kindness.

So great is His love that He listened to their complaints, giving them food, the bread of heaven in the form of manna for them to eat in the morning, and quails for them to eat in the evening, as well as crystal-clear and sweet spring water from rocks for them to drink and satisfy themselves when they complained that they have not enough to eat or drink.

Yes, the Lord even promised them, as He had promised Abraham their forefather, the Promised Land of milk and honey, where the land is so rich that it will yield fruits manyfold and bring with them great riches for God’s people, that is Israel to enjoy for eternity. He fulfilled that promise and brought His people to the land that He had given to them and their descendants.

And yet, they still complained, and they did not truly love the Lord their God, nor did they give Him their full dedication and faith. When the explorers sent by Moses reached the Promised Land and saw the warlike peoples of Canaan living in the land, with giant men and powerful warlords, the people chose to follow their own human instincts and immersed themselves in their own human fear, that they again complained against the Lord for having brought them to that ‘dreaded’ Promised Land filled with enemies and prospects of death.

Despite all the good things that the Lord had given them and would have given them in perpetuity, for eternity, they rejected the kindness of the Lord, because they trusted themselves more, in human power and fear, and not in divine power of our God. And therefore, because of their rebelliousness, they deserved death. The Lord rejected them from His presence and denied them from entering the Land He promised them.

Then we can contrast this, to the widow, the widow who does not belong to the people of Israel, the Canaanite woman dismissed by many in Israel in Jesus’ time as pagans and people doomed to hell. Yet, she proclaimed the Lord and recognised in Him the salvation that is to come for her and the whole world. She asked humbly for His mercy and showed her faith to Him, even when Christ seemingly rebuked her and mentioned that He was only sent to the people of Israel. She answered well and proved her faith to God, and as a result, she received her due reward, the same reward promised to the people of Israel of old, but which they rejected because they trusted more in the power of man rather than in the power of the One and almighty God.

It does not mean that the people of Israel are bad or that they are rejected by God. Remember that Jesus Himself is a Jew, and He belongs to the House of David, because He is His heir, and the widow rightly proclaimed that He is the Son of David, the One to whom God will give eternal kingship, glory, and power over not just Israel, but over all mankind, over all the world. Instead, the readings today highlight that, first, we must be always faithful and trusting in the Lord our God, and we should be fast to praise and slow to complain.

It is our nature to feel that we do not have enough when we actually already have more than enough. It is part of our natural greed and desire for things and material goods. And it is also our nature to first think about ourselves and our needs before that of others, and we are quick to praise ourselves in general, whenever we achieve something, but it is generally considerably more difficult for us to give due thanks and praise to others, when they have done something that had benefited us in one way or another.

This happened to the people of Israel in the desert, that despite the freedom God had given them from the backbreaking and hard labour under slavery in Egypt, despite that He had showed them His might and power in opening the sea, giving them His own Laws and commandments, making sweet and crystal-clear water to gush out from rocks and even giving them food from His own table in heaven in the manna, they did not feel that they have enough, and indeed, complained that their previous life in Egypt had been much better, and even brought the Lord to the test, in doubting whether God could provide for them in their journey in the desert.

Yes, brethren, the path of the Lord is not an easy one, and there will certainly be numerous obstacles lying in our path if we choose to follow the Lord. The evil one certainly does not stay idle and let us, the followers of God, His disciples to just go free without any difficulties. This is why, it is often much easier and much more pleasurable for us, to settle on things that seem to be easier and more relaxed, even though to do that means that we sin against the Lord our God.

We cannot have this mentality, brothers and sisters in Christ, because to settle for such a thing would mean that we prefer the slavery under sin and Satan, instead of the freedom God had offered all of us through His suffering and death on the cross. Do not follow the path of the Israelites who chose to rebel against God and complained against His love and kindness. Our Lord knows what we truly need, brethren, and He will not leave us without love or care, because He always watches over us, at all times.

Today, brothers and sisters in Christ, we celebrate the feasts of Pope St. Xystus II or Sixtus II, as well as St. Cajetan. Both of them are holy and pious men dedicated to God in their own ways. Pope St. Xystus II lived in the middle era of the Roman Empire, and reigned as the leader of the Universal Church during the height of the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire in the middle of the third century. He reunited the divided factions of the people of God after healing the rifts that existed after heresies wrecked the faithful, and brought them back to God, once again as one people. He was martyred along with several of his companions following a brutal repression and persecution of the faithful by the Emperor Valerian.

St. Cajetan on the other hand was a priest who lived in the middle of the Renaissance Italy, during the sixteenth century. He helped much in the Church’s attempts to combat heresy of the Reformation which spread like wildfire during his lifetime. He dedicated much of his efforts and works to love and serve the poor, the lonely, and those without love, committing himself towards caring for all of them. He founded a religious order, the Theatines, which has a similar vision to him, that especially focus on the virtue of service and committing acts of love to others, as part of the faith.

Therefore brothers and sisters, today, let us be resolved to have the faith of the widow, to seek the Lord with great humility and persistence, and ask Him to show mercy and love upon us sinners. Let us not harden our hearts the way the people of Israel had done when they journeyed through the desert. Let us reflect on ourselves and our own weaknesses, and seek the Lord to enlist His aid, in helping us to overcome these weaknesses.

Let us also follow the example of Pope St. Xystus II in his commitment to the cause of the Lord, and the faith and love, as well as the dedication he had shown him, just as the widow had shown her faith to God, by her recognition of the good that the Lord had done for us. Let us also follow the example of St. Cajetan, in his own devotion to the Lord, which he showed through his love and service, and all the care he had given to all the children of God in need, in need for love, care, and compassion. In doing those things, St. Cajetan showed his love and faith in God. We too can do the same, brothers and sisters in Christ. Show Christ our love, just as He had shown us His love from the cross.

May the Lord bless us all with strength, faith, and perseverance to go on in our lives, no longer complaining but from now on putting our whole and complete trust in the Lord our God who loves us. May Pope St. Sixtus II and St. Cajetan, and all the company of saints and angels in heaven intercede on our behalf before the Lord who is loving and merciful, that He will forgive us our trespasses and deem us worthy of His presence and His kingdom once again. Amen.

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Wednesday, 10 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard of Christ calling His twelve disciples, the principal disciples who later would become the apostles, and how He sent them in mission to the people of God in service. The disciples had been sent to be the extension of God’s love and ministry in the world, to share His love with all the people whom He loved.

Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, too was called by the Lord out of Canaan, to become a great disciple of the Lord in Egypt and beyond, preparing that country for the worst famine the world had ever witnessed, and ensured that many people would not die of hunger, but remain living. The brothers of Joseph, the other sons of Jacob, might have had evil intention when they sold Joseph to the slavers who brought him to Egypt, but God has His plans.

He called Joseph to be a great saviour of people, the Egyptians and many others around the world, and indeed, ironically, his brothers would later come and beg him for mercy, both for food, and also for the sake of their brother, Benjamin, whom Joseph asked for, and the brothers feared that he would be lost the same way Joseph was ‘lost’ and that would grieved Jacob to death.

God called Joseph to be the progenitor and initiator of Israel’s migration to Egypt, where, in the next four hundred years or so, they would grow to become a great nation, until the Pharaoh at that time wanted to get rid of them because there were so many people of Israel around in Egypt. Joseph was then called, first through slavery and then into a position where he could actually affect the lives of many, and he exercised his power in accordance with God’s will, and many lives were saved.

The same happened to the Apostles, whom the Lord called out of their disparate and humble origins, some being fishermen, some tax collectors and sinners, and some even murderers and zealot fighters. He called them all to follow Him and began a new life, a life of total service to the Lord. The Apostles would follow Christ, and except for Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Christ to the chief priests. they all remained faithful, even to the end of their lives.

The Apostles continued the work of Christ after His death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. They received the Holy Spirit and began the good works of preaching the Good News to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem, throughout the entire land of Judea, and later the entire Roman Empire, and to us now, the whole world. Now the whole world had listened to the Good News of Christ, and many have accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour, but not all have done so.

We have all been called to be disciples of Christ too, brothers and sisters! To be the modern apostles and preachers of the Good News of the Lord. We have been chosen and have been given gifts through the Holy Spirit, in order to bring God’s message ever closer to mankind, that salvation may eventually reach everyone, every children of God.

Some of us are called to be fathers and mothers, to recreate the Holy Family in our own humble families, raising our children with love, care, and kindness, that they will grow up to become faithful and loving children of God. Some are called to be friends to be friends to those who are lonely and without love, and those who lie in despair, to bring hope and love to them, that they will be able to begin a new, more purpose-filled life.

And finally some are called to follow the Lord completely, just as the apostles had done, leaving everything and giving themselves completely to the Lord. They gave themselves to become the bride of the Church, the servants of God’s people, and the shepherds of God’s flock. We are now facing a severe lack in the recruitment of our new priests and religious members of religious orders. While in some parts of the world, recruitment is still going strong, in many parts of the world, the numbers have dropped significantly.

That is why, brothers and sisters, we have to embrace our calling in life. For those of us called by the Lord to follow Him, pray and pray hard, so that the Lord will guide us in the process, so that in the end we will be able to make a carefully thought decision, so that we will be able to give our all through our service and love, to God and to our fellow men.

Do not bar one another’s path to the Lord, and instead, support one another, sow a beneficial atmosphere for learning of the faith and that of love. In that way, we will become truly children of God, and supporting one another, we also help everyone to accomplish the missions God had entrusted them in life.

May God grant us wisdom and strong discernment to pick the path of our choice in life, and that the choice we made will be in tandem with God’s will. May our work and actions be fruitful, to ourselves, to our families and friends, and to all those around us, and to those whom we have interacted with in our lives. God bless us all, and may He strengthen our resolve to follow Him just as the apostles had done. Amen.

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Sunday, 16 June 2013 : 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Galatians 2 : 16, 19-21

Yet we know that a person is justified not by practicing the law but by faith in Christ Jesus. So we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may receive true righteousness from faith in Christ Jesus, and not from the practices of the Law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.

As for me, the very Law brought me to die to the Law, that I may live for God. I am crucified with Christ. Do I live? It is no longer me, Christ lives in me. My life in this body is life through faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.

In this way I do not ignore the gift of God, for, if justification comes through the practice of the Law, Christ would have died for nothing.

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Tuesday, 11 June 2013 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle (First Reading)

Acts 11 : 21b-26 and Acts 13 : 1-3

A great number believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the manifest signs of God’s favour, he rejoiced and urged them all to remain firmly faithful to the Lord; for he himself was a good man filled with Holy Spirit and faith. Thus large crowds came to know the Lord.

Then Barnabas went off to Tarsus to look for Saul and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they had meetings with the Church and instructed many people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

There were at Antioch – in the Church which was there – prophets and teachers : Barnabas, Symeon known as Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod, and Saul. On one occasion while they were celebrating the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul to do the work for which I have called them.”

So, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

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Monday, 10 June 2013 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters, peace be with all of you! God is with us and He will take care of us, all the days of our life. His blessings are always upon us, if we walk in His ways and reflect His teachings in our lives. He takes care of our needs, and we do not need to worry, because He is with us, He walks among us, and He never leaves us behind.

Today, we heard Jesus’ teachings on the mountain, which is commonly known as the Beatitudes, in which Jesus praised those who are humble, lowly and those who has done good in God’s Name, for the good of God’s people, and that they will gain great things in their life, because of what they had done, and because of the things they had gone through for the sake of God.

It is not easy brothers and sisters in Christ, to belong to Christ in our world today. There are too many temptations and persuasions from this world for us to deviate from Christ’s way, into a way that is the world’s. Why so? Because the world is full of violence, injustice, and hatred, which the devil perpetuates in this world, so as to keep mankind away from God, through his agents which are always at work in this world.

Peace, my brothers and sisters, is not an easy objective for us to obtain. True peace requires all of us to be able to sit side-by-side and embrace one another as brethren in love, and in complete harmony that is of the Lord, despite our backgrounds, despite our racial profile, despite the differences that are between us, in our thoughts and in our actions. But clearly, as all of you can see, there is too much darkness and hatred in our world, that hinder peace and those who work for the sake of peace.

There are those who perpetuate hatred and violence in our world today, in our own societies, for their own gain and benefit. Why, brothers and sisters in Christ? Surely people will want peace right? But if through the perpetuation of violence and hatred it allows some to continue to gain in their own agenda, in their own efforts, these people will not stop spreading lies and hatred to keep the people of God from achieving the true peace that is our aim.

Too often, it is ourselves that are to blame as well, whenever we failed to do the things that God wants us to do, as He clearly told His disciples on today’s Beatitudes. That we should be bringer of peace, of comfort and justice, and also as bearers of God’s faith to all mankind. Let us reflect into ourselves, whether we have done these things that the Lord wants of us.

When we see those among us in feud among themselves, hitting each other verbally and even physically, causing hurt to one another, are we courageous enough to be the peacemaker? Too often, we are concerned of losing our ‘face’ to others, especially to those who are fighting, so that we are more often content to be the silent bystander.

The same also happens when we see someone who is hungry, who is unloved, and who has been unjustly treated. Very often we want to have nothing to do with any of them, because if we do any good to them, we will be considered ‘uncool’ by our friends and those whom we know. But let us see, do we ask for the opinion of men while doing God’s work? No, right? We should not be accountable to men for things that we do for the good of those around us, and for the glory of God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect on today’s Beatitudes, let us reflect on our own lives, and make a new commitment to be like those whom Christ blessed for being faithful disciple of the Lord, by practising His commandments as peacemakers, and bringer of love and justice to everyone. Let us not be afraid to lift up our fingers to help others around us who suffer, and surely God will guide us and bless us when we love those who are least among us.

May God be with us and bless us, and make us ever more like Him, who is Love, and reflect in ourselves and our lives, the light of peace, love, justice, and harmony, to all mankind, and with all of them, praise our God who loves us and who wants to bless us all our days. Amen.

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Saturday, 25 May 2013 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor; Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope; and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today, we learn about God, that God is our Father, our creator. God shaped us from dust, in His own image, that we look like Him, and receiving His Holy Spirit through His breath, we gain life that is anchored in the Spirit that is in all of us.

He is our Father, and like our earthly father, He loves us, protects us, and grant us His grace, through His guidance and numerous blessings to us. He taught us many things through subtle means, and He opened our eyes to the knowledge of the world. He brought us up since the day of our conception and cares for us till the day of our death.

God who is our Father loves us, brothers and sisters in Christ, that He even sent His only Son, one of the Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, to be one of us, to be a lowly man like us, and in doing so, He brought us even closer to Himself, because we now, through Christ, truly become children of God, because Christ Himself, the Son of God, is our brother, just as He is our Lord and Saviour.

But we have rebelled against His love and His faithfulness to us, and we have rejected Him since the first days of creation, beginning with the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, when they ate the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, trusting Satan in the snake more than they trust the Lord their God and their creator.

Yes, one weakness that mankind particularly has today is greed, my brethren, especially greed for knowledge, curiosity, and an excess of it, which resulted exactly in the rebellion of the first mankind, because of their curiosity of the knowledge of good and evil as tempted by Satan. The Lord has given each one of us wisdom and intellect, but we have never felt enough, and are always curious and wanting to know more.

This is how our modern world rapidly becoming less and less faithful to God, and many turn their hearts away from total obedience and love for God. Many question their faith, because they are curious about the truth behind it, and they trust more alternatives to God such as scientific discoveries, because in those discoveries, they gain more and more knowledge, and this displaces God in their hearts, because to them, science seems to offer them something tangible, as science itself represents something that must be verifiable and visible.

Yes, our God and Lord may not be visible to us, and His presence may not be easily felt, if you apply the standards of science, and the standards of our human stature to it, but God does exist in our hearts, brothers and sisters in Christ, and He is present in all of us, through the Spirit of life that He has given us. What mankind is lacking truly is the ability to transcend that greed for more knowledge and more understanding, but in the process, those greed transform them into a corrupted being.

That is why Christ asks us to be like the children, to have faith like the children, because children are pure and innocent, and in the children lie the fullness of the love of God, and they are beings that can truly love God with all their heart, their mind, and their soul, without being disrupted and clouded by the evils of this world, simply because, in the innocence of their heart, they know only the love of God.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, we too should follow the children’s example, in their pure and unadulterated love for God. If you see a child pray, you can see that their prayer is pure, and not like many of us who utter litany of wishes in our prayer, because we have been tainted by greed and desire, desiring that God grant us our wishes, although prayer is in fact the bridge of faith, our pure connection, a two-way connection between us and God, instead of being a help line or a wishing line.

That is why those of you who are parents with young children, it is important to educate your children well, and ensure that they are protected from the evil influences that are ever present in our world, and in our surroundings. In a world where knowledge had become much more readily accessible and in the reach of even children through the media and the internet, there is a need for greater vigilance, brethren, that we, and especially young children, do not fall prey to Satan’s advances. Knowledge is good, and knowing more is good, but are we able to truly distinguish between truth or lies? and are we able to distinguish between what is good and what is bad?

Today, we also celebrate feast of saints, my brothers and sisters in Christ. Saints because we do not just celebrate one saint, but three saints! They are St. Bede the Venerable, a holy monk living in the seventh and early eighth century England, who contributed greatly to the development of the Church in Britannia, and we also have Pope St. Gregory VII, a great Pope, and a great reformer Pope, who championed the freedom and the authority of the Papacy against secular powers that try to usurp the Church’s authority from it, and finally St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, a virtuous religious sister who often received visions from the Lord, and was known for her great piety and love for God.

St. Bede the Venerable was a great author who wrote extensively on the early histories of the British Isles, but also made important chronicles of the development of the Church in the West and in Britain, especially in the well known history of the Church and people of England, that is the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum. His works brought great advancement in the field of learning and knowledge. This shows the greatness of wisdom and intellect that God has given us, and if we utilise it right, we can bring about great good to mankind, just as St. Bede the Venerable had done.

Pope St. Gregory VII, is a great Pope of the medieval era, who championed Papal supremacy and authority over the rulers of Christendom. He persevered over the power of the secular ruler, in the person of the Holy Roman Emperor, the Christendom’s ruler at the time, over the appointment of bishops, which rightfully should belong to the successor of the apostles, the successor of Peter, that is the Pope, alone. He triumphed against those who in their pride think that they know it all and did not pay proper respect to the Lord out of their pride and arrogance.

St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi gained many visions which she received regularly from the Lord, and through her writings on her visions and experiences, many believed in the Lord. This is the proof that knowledge and wisdom indeed comes from God, and from God alone. We humans receive our knowledge and wisdom from the Spirit that is also our life, but we are prone to think that this knowledge and wisdom is our own, and disregard the Lord’s role in it.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us from now on, follow in the footsteps of these great saints, and pursue the true knowledge, the truth that is in the Lord. Do not be tempted by the falsehood that this world offers, that is Satan’s temptation. God who loves us will grant us truth, wisdom, and knowledge that is anchored in Him, that we will not fall like Adam and Eve once did. May God be our light of guidance, and steer us on the path to return to Him one day. Amen.

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

John 14 : 6-14

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you know Me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know Him, and you have seen Him.”

Philip asked Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough.” Jesus said to him, “What! I have been with you so long and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever sees Me sees the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?”

“All that I say to you, I do not say of Myself. The Father who dwells in Me is doing His own work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do.”

“Truly, I say to you, the one who believes in Me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these, for I am going to the Father. Everything you ask in My Name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Indeed, anything you ask, calling upon My Name, I will do.”

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Saturday, 27 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

John 14 : 7-14

“If you know Me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know Him, and you have seen Him.”

Philip asked Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough.” Jesus said to him, “What! I have been with you so long and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever sees Me sees the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?”

“All that I say to you, I do not say of Myself. The Father who dwells in Me is doing His own work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do.”

“Truly, I say to you, the one who believes in Me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these, for I am going to the Father. Everything you ask in My Name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Indeed, anything you ask, calling upon My Name, I will do.”

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Saturday, 20 April 2013 : 3rd Week of Easter (First Reading)

Acts 9 : 31-42

Meanwhile, the Church had peace. It was building up throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria with eyes turned to the Lord and filled with comfort from the Holy Spirit.

As Peter travelled around, he went to visit the saints who lived in Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas who was paralysed, and had been bedridden for eight years. Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; get up and make your bed!” And the man got up at once. All the people living in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

There was a disciple in Joppa named Tabitha, which means Dorcas or Gazelle. She was always doing good works and helping the poor. At that time she fell sick and died. After having washed her body, they laid her in the upstairs room.

As Lydda is near Joppa, the disciples, on hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, “Please come to us without delay.” So Peter went with them. On his arrival they took him upstairs to the room. All the widows crowded around him in tears, showing him the clothes that Dorcas had made while she was with them.

Peter made them all leave the room and then he knelt down and prayed. Turning to the dead body he said, “Tabitha, stand up.” She opened he eyes, looked at Peter and sat up. Peter gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the saints and widows and presented her to them alive.

This became known throughout all of Joppa and many people believed in the Lord because of it.