7th Sunday of Easter, Year C, 01.06.2025

 Acts 7:55-60 / Apocalypse 22:12-14, 16-17, 20 / John 17:20-26

If we know that something is going to happen, then we will surely make preparations for it. 

Of course, we can't predict the future, and there is no need to read about what the horoscopes say. 

But there are obvious indications of what we need to plan and what to prepare for the future. 

For example, we need financial security and insurance coverage for what might happen in life. 

So, we save up for a rainy day, and we will buy life insurance, health insurance and hospital insurance. 

What we think is necessary, and if we are able to afford it, we should get it done. 

Because if we don't help ourselves to plan and prepare for the future, then there will be no one to help us when we are in need. 

And there's no need to plan too much. 

What is necessary and obvious, we should know. 

It is a matter of pondering and thinking about it, and getting it done. 

The gospel is part of a long prayer of Jesus. Jesus prayed that we, His church, will be united as one. 

Just as He and the Father are one, Jesus prayed that we, His Church, will also be one in God. 

Jesus said this prayer at the Last Supper, so it was His last prayer before He was arrested. 

Jesus knew what was going to happen soon. One of His disciples will betray Him, another will deny Him, the others will desert Him. Because He knew what was going to happen, He prayed that His disciples will be reunited, and united with love and in love. 

But that prayer is not just for His disciples. 

It is also for the many generations of Christians to come. 

Throughout the history of the Church, there were heresies and schisms which have broken up and torn the Church apart. 

Besides the division from within, there were also threats of persecution resulting in some Christians giving up and renouncing their faith. 

One such external threat was in the 5th century when the merciless barbarian Attila the Hun ravaged Italy and was about to attack the city of Rome. 

The pope then, Pope Leo I, or Leo the Great, went to meet at Attila to persuade him not to attack Rome. 

The historical fact is that Attila the Hun turned back and did not attack Rome. 

It was said that Pope Leo had prepared for the meeting with Attila by first celebrating the Eucharist, and then he went out in procession with the faithful, chanting prayers and singing hymns. 

There are many reasons as to why Attila turned back and did not attack Rome. 

There is also a legend that when Attila saw Pope Leo, he reportedly also saw two huge figures with Pope Leo. 

Those two figures were said to be St Peter and St. Paul, and they threatened Attila, and so he got frightened and retreated. 

But what is important for us to know is that Pope Leo prepared himself with prayer, and it was the hand of God that drove Attila away. 

This Sunday is in that period of time between the Ascension and Pentecost Sunday. 

Jesus told His disciples and the Church before He ascended, to pray and to wait to be clothed with the power from on high. 

That power from on high is none other than the gift of the Holy spirit. 

The Holy Spirit is our Advocate, our Protector, who will help us and lead us and guide us as we journey on in faith. 

The Holy Spirit will teach us all that we need to know, and He will prompt us as to what to prepare and what to do. 

So, we need to pray so as to be able to listen to the Holy Spirit and to be aware of His promptings. 

It is the Holy Spirit who will unite us to God and to one another in love and in peace.

6th Week of Easter, Saturday, 31-05-2025

Acts 18:23-28 / John 16:23-28 

We hear Jesus says in the gospel “Ask and you will receive, and so your joy will be complete’.

That statement does sound too good to be true, but the reality of life is that we have asked and yet have not received.

So we get disappointed, frustrated and even get angry with God.

We expected our prayers to be answered, we expected to receive what we asked for.

But because we did not get what we asked for, we begin to lose faith.

But at the Ascension, Jesus said to wait to be clothed with power from on high.

The days between the Ascension and Pentecost are to be days of prayer.

The Church prays to be ready for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

With the Holy Spirit, we will know what to ask for, and truly our joy will be complete.

So let us pray for the outpouring of Holy Spirit in our hearts with a simple prayer like: Come Holy Spirit.

May we realize that the Holy Spirit is the best and the greatest gift from God.

6th Week of Easter, Friday, 30-05-2025

Acts 18:9-18 / John 16:20-23

What is our opinion about life?

To say the least, life is difficult.

For some it may even be painful and sorrowful. 

No matter how prepared we are for the challenges and difficulties, or the struggles and troubles of life, it still won’t be that easy.

As Jesus said in the gospel, we will be weeping and wailing while the world will rejoice.

Yesterday, we celebrated the feast of the Ascension of our Lord into heaven.

For us, the Ascension is also a revelation for us.

Jesus revealed to us our eternal destiny and our eternal homeland.

So the sorrows and tribulations of this world cannot be compared with the eternal glory that is promised to us.

Let us keep our mind and hearts fixed on this eternity.

So life is difficult, but that cannot be compared at all with the peace and joy of being with Jesus forever in heaven.

Ascension of the Lord, Thursday, 29-05-2025

Acts 1:1-11 / Ephesians 1:17-23 / Luke 24:46-54  

Whenever we talk about heaven, the inclination is to look up. 

It is almost like a natural instinct to look up when we think and talk about God and heaven. 

To look up is a natural posture when we want to think about something big and mighty. 

As a figure of speech, we look up to people who inspires us. 

In the religious sense, we look up to God when we pray. 

We look up to the heavens with hope. 

We look up to have a sense of eternity. 

Today we join the disciples as they see Jesus ascended into heaven. 

We believe that Jesus has gone up to heaven to prepare a place for us. 

And as Jesus ascended into heaven, He lift up His hands to bless His disciples. 

And from heaven, Jesus continues to bless us so that we will believe in the place that He has prepared for us in eternity. 

So, we look up from the things of earth to the things of above. 

We look up to receive blessings and to be clothed with the power of love from on high. 

We keep looking up because that is where we are journeying towards, and that is where we will be forever. 

And may our prayers rise up to God in praise and thanksgiving as we pray for His continued blessings.

6th Week of Easter, Wednesday, 28-05-2025

Acts 17:15, 22 - 18:1 / John 16:12-15    

The past has happened and it is history.

Though we already know what happened, yet there are so many details of people, occasions and happenings that it is impossible to know all that actually happened.

If the past is history, then the future is mystery.

And as much as it might cross our mind to want to know the future, yet it would be too much of a burden.

To know the future is to know the details of every person that is connected to an occasion and how one incident is connected to another.

That will be too much for a human mind to follow.

So whether past or future, it is just too much for us as humans to handle.

Only God, who is the beginning and the end, can handle everything that happens in every instance of time.

We can only handle moments, and even that is already worrisome and anxious enough.

Jesus says in the gospel that the Holy Spirit will lead us to the complete truth.

Let us live life moment by moment and slowly be filled with the truth of life.

And may the truth of life lead us to a deeper love so that we will live each moment of life with love.

6th Week of Easter, Tuesday, 27-05-2025

Acts 16:22-34 / John 16:5-11   

It is often said that when God closes the door, He opens a window.

But when we think about it, it seems that there is something strange.

Why would some people say that about God? Why would God close a door and just open the window?

That would make God seem like He wants to take away things from us instead of giving things to us.

But we believe in God who is generous and wants to give us more than we can even think of, and more than we can ever dare to ask for.

In the gospel, Jesus says that unless He goes, the Advocate will not come to us.

Jesus says that His going back to the Father is for our good.

When we think about it, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to us so that we are united with Him always.

The Holy Spirit is our Advocate who will help us to feel the presence of Jesus in us.

Indeed, the going away of Jesus becomes a coming in of the Holy Spirit.

So, we can see now that if God closes the door, He will open up all the doors and the windows too.

God does not take away. Rather He gives and He gives, and the Holy Spirit is the greatest and the best gift we will receive.

6th Week of Easter, Monday, 26-05-2025

Acts 16:11-15 / John 15:26 - 16:4  

To have faith is to believe in God who loves us.

And because God loves us, He will take care of us and provide for us.

And we pray because we know that God will listen to our prayers and He will answer our prayers.

But to have faith would also mean that our faith would be tested.

In the early Church, the persecution came from non-believers and anti-Christians.

But it also cannot be denied that there were some Christians who became betrayers and traitors.

After all, one of the apostles of Jesus betrayed Him and another denied Him, and the rest also deserted Him in the hour of trial.

In the gospel, Jesus warned that the hour is coming when anyone who kills a believer will think he is doing a holy duty for God.

In our time, we may have come across a fellow believer doing un-Christian things to us, and we are scandalized by that.

But let us hold on to our faith and keep believing that God knows all things and He also knows the intentions of each person’s heart.

Let us keep praying that we don’t lose faith, nor resort to the retaliation of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

If we truly believe in God who is love, then let us keep praying and keep loving.