2nd Week of Easter, Saturday, 30-04-2022

Acts 6:1-7 / John 6:16-21

There is a famous poem called "Footprints in the sand" which we have probably come across before.

It is about a person who had a dream and was walking along a beach with the Lord.

Suddenly, across the sky, scenes appear from the person's life.

For most of the scenes, there were two sets of footprints in the sand - one belonging to the Lord and the other to the person.

What confused the person was that during the most trying times of life, there was only one set of footprints.

The person then asked the Lord why was he alone during the most trying times in life, since there was only one set of footprints.

The Lord replied : I would never never leave you alone during your times of trials and sufferings.

When you saw only one set of footprints, that was when I was carrying you.

In the gospel, when the wind was strong and the sea was rough, Jesus appeared to His disciples and said : It is I, do not be afraid.

When life gets too stormy, let us remember this gospel passage and remember those words : It is I, do not be afraid.

And let us also believe that in those dark moments, the Lord is carrying us.

2nd Week of Easter, Friday, 29-04-2022

Acts 5:34-42 / John 6:1-15    

It is understandable that in our human weakness, we tend to be dissatisfied about some things and some people.

So we get irritated and annoyed and we slide into complaining and criticising.

But when we complain and criticise, then we won't be able to understand and sympathise.

In the 1st reading, the members of the Sanhedrin didn't want to understand what the disciples were saying nor did they want to know why they were proclaiming that message.

But the wise Gamaliel gave the Sanhedrin some good advice about the difference in the ways of God and the ways of man.

He wanted to understand and he wanted the members of the Sanhedrin to understand so that they won't end up fighting against God.

In the gospel, Jesus showed how important it is to understand and to sympathise with people.

He attended to their needs and He fed them, and taught His disciples with His actions.

Let us remember that when we complain and criticise, we won't be able to understand and sympathise with people.

But when we want to understand and sympathise, then we will also realise that there is nothing to complain or criticise about.

2nd Week of Easter, Thursday, 28-04-2022

Acts 5:27-33 / John 3:31-36   

Whenever it is said that God speaks to us, it is usually meant in a figurative way.

We don't hear the voice of God as in the way we hear the voices of those who are speaking to us.

But as the Church, as the People of God, it can be said that the voice of the People of God is the voice of God.

As the Church reflects and discerns the will of God, she will speak as the People of God so that the world will know what God is saying through the Church.

In the 1st reading, Peter and the apostles spoke as one to the Sanhedrin.

What they said was in obedience to what God wanted them to say.

Let us also listen to what the Church is teaching and saying through the Pope and the Councils.

Let us obey the voice of the Church so that we will also be able to obey and follow the will of God.

Let us believe that the voice of the Church is an echo of the voice of God.

2nd Week of Easter, Wednesday, 27-04-2022

Acts 5:17-26 / John 3:16-21

The word love may not have that many letters.

But love is certainly more than just a word or a concept.

It has many expressions, from the most profound to the most profane.

In its most profound expressions, it is about of sacrifice, compassion, kindness, forgiveness and the beauty of humanity

In its profane expressions, it is down to lust and erotic pleasure.

When Jesus said that God loved the world so much, that He gave His only Son, we see the most profound expression of what love is.

It is a love that forgives and saves, and those who have experienced that kind of love will not forget what true love is about.

Let us remember that God gave each of us that love, and it is expressed by Jesus on the Cross.

May we experience that love of God and may we love others with the love that God has for us.

2nd Week of Easter, Tuesday, 26-04-2022

Acts 4:32-37 / John 3:7-15  

When God created this world, He saw it as beautiful and good.

When God finally created man, He saw man as the most beautiful and very good because man was created in the image of God.

So we ought to see this world, as well as ourselves, as beautiful and good, because that was how God created it to be.

But when we look at this world, and the people around us, we may think it is rather messy and and in a rather sorry state.

But what the 1st reading tells us about the early Christian community is about a group of believers who were united in heart and soul, with no one claiming anything for themselves and no one was ever in need, and sharing everything in common.

So it is possible to live in a beautiful world with beautiful people,

But as Jesus said to Nicodemus in the gospel: You must be born from above.

To be "born from above" means that we believe in God who is all good and created all things beautiful.

With that faith in God, we will want to make this world a beautiful place and see people as beautiful persons created in God's image.

That is what Good New and salvation is about.

St. Mark, Evangelist, Monday, 25-04-2022

1 Peter 5:5-14 / Mark 16:15-20

St. Mark, whose feast we celebrate today, was not one of the apostles.

Nonetheless, he was one of the disciples of St. Peter, and he was mentioned in the 1st reading as a "spiritual son" of St. Peter.

He could also possibly be one of the followers of Jesus and later on became a disciple of St. Peter and he eventually wrote the account of the life and ministry of Jesus, which became one of the gospels of the Church.

In his gospel, St. Mark captured the core and essence of the ministry and message of Jesus.

As we heard it in the gospel, and what is often called the "Great Commissioning", the way St. Mark puts it across straight and sharp in just a few words.

"Go out, proclaim the Good News, believe or be condemned, cast out devils, work signs and miracles, heal the sick".

To understand and accept the Good News and the commissioning of Jesus, we need to "Go out" like St. Mark did.

Because when we are out there, and there is no dependency and certainty but Jesus Himself, then we will truly experience the power of the Good News and become true disciples of Jesus Christ.

2nd Sunday of Easter, Year C, 24.04.2022

Acts 5:12-16 / Apocalypse 1:9-13, 17-19 / John 20:19-31

The ability to see is indeed a wonderful gift that we must not take for granted. 

Some may need reading glasses, some may need spectacles of different specifications, some may use contact lens, some may have embedded visual aids. 

Whatever it is, to be able to see would mean that we can admire the beauty of this world, be able to perceive unspoken body language, be able to communicate by visual means and to interact in a visual world. 

As it is usually said, seeing is believing, although not absolutely. Our eyes can be tricked by illusions, or hampered by unclarity, whether it is the lack of light or when the light is too bright. 

So, visual clarity has its limitations, but still, our eyes are a great help in knowing what is around us. 

As Christians, we walk by faith and not just by sight. But that does not mean that we can walk around with our eyes closed. 

In fact, we need to use our eyes to look at what God is showing us, to judge with the eyes of faith and to act with love. 

But there are things that we do not see and yet we say we believe in it. We have not seen God and yet we say that we believe in him. 

In the Easter celebrations, we say that we believe in Jesus who rose from the dead, and yet we have not seen the Risen Jesus. 

In the gospel, Jesus appeared to His disciples after His Resurrection. The disciples were filled with joy, but whether they really believed in what they were seeing is another matter. 

They told Thomas, who was not with them that day, that they had seen the Lord. They didn't seem that convincing to Thomas, and he said that he would not believe unless he could physically touch the wounds of Jesus. 

Thomas may be called “Doubting Thomas”, but it was he who proclaimed his faith in Jesus when he said “My Lord and my God”. 

And it was through Thomas, that Jesus gave us a blessing when He said, “You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe”. 

And indeed, we are blessed because though we have not seen the Risen Lord, yet by faith we believe in the Resurrection. 

If it is said that seeing is believing, then for us Christians, in believing we will see, and we will see what God wants to show us. 

It had been a rough two years, but we have kept the faith and held on with hope. 

Now we are beginning to see God's blessings as we joyfully prepare for the celebration of the ordination of a Deacon Simon Ho in this church on the Feast of the Sacred Heart. 

We see God's blessings as the faithful come back to church and fill the pews in the Eucharist. 

We see God's blessings on our efforts to hold the faith of the community through the online initiatives during the past two years. 

Yes, let us believe, and we will see the signs and wonders that God wants to show us.