THE SOLEMNITY OF THE NATIVITY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

Isaiah 49:1-6
Psalm 138:1-3.13-15
Acts 13:22-26
Luke 1:57-66.80

HIS NAME IS “GOD IS GRACIOUS”

We celebrate today the birth of one of the great men in the history of salvation, St John the Baptist. He was the man specially chosen by God to be the herald of the Messiah and to prepare the people of Israel for his coming. He was the bridge between the old and the new testaments. The birth of John the Baptist inaugurates the crossing over to the new age, the age of grace, as his name indicates “God is gracious”.

In the first reading the vocation of the prophet Isaiah helps understand the vocation of John the Baptist. He was called and chosen by God even from his mother’s womb to be his servant. He sharpened his mouth to make him his spokesperson (Is 49:1-6).

Luke narrates the birth stories of John and of Jesus as parallel accounts. In both stories, there is always something of a miracle and of wonderment in people. Again, in these stories, Luke stresses the identity and mission of both children. For John the Baptist, he was chosen by the Lord to be the herald of the Messiah. He was to go before the Lord so as to prepare his ways. He was not the Word, but the voice that announces the coming of the Incarnate Word. He was not the Christ, but the one who pointed the crowds to the Christ.

That  is why St Paul in a brief survey of the history of salvation speaks of John the Baptist as the one who proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole of Israel so as to herald the coming of Jesus Christ in fulfillment of God’s promise (Acts 13:22-26).

Like John the Baptist, we too have an identity and a mission. By virtue of our baptism, we are children of God. Our mission is to make Christ known, loved and accepted as personal Saviour. May John the Baptist intercede for us so that we may be true witnesses of Christ with courage, humility and confidence. Amen

PENTECOST SUNDAY, YEAR B

Acts1:1-11
Psalm 103
Galatians 5:16-25
John 15:26-27.16:12-15

THE TRANSFORMING EXPERIENCE WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

The solemnity of Pentecost commemorates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. The event took place on Pentecost, the Jewish Harvest Festival, an occasion when the Jews recalled their covenant with God on Mount Sinai, fifty days after their escape from Egypt.

This day was announced by Jesus Christ. For he promised the disciples that he would send them the Paraclet, the Spirit of Truth. The Holy Spirit would glorify him, bear witness to him and empower the disciples also to bear witness to him. The Holy Spirit would teach them the ways of God and lead them to the whole truth (John 15:26-27.16:12-15).

The first reading narrates the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise. As described by Luke, the Pentecost event was a spectacular and transforming experience. The Holy Spirit opened the closed doors of the Church to everyone, freely involving anyone it comes across as the wind, having a burning and transforming power like fire, empowering men and women to proclaim the wonders of God to all peoples. This way, he freed the disciples from cowardice and fear, and empowered them to speak freely about the wonders of God (Acts 1:1-11).

We too have received the Holy Spirit at our baptism. We are therefore called to live by the Spirit, to bear fruits and outdo all the works of the fresh (Gal 5:16-25). Our lives are to be living testimonies to the wonders of God. For each of us is a miracle of God’s grace given to us in the Holy Spirit. It is high time therefore to come out of our self-inflicted prisons caused by fear, selfishness, wickedness, divisions, etc so as to preach fearlessly the love of God to all.

May the Spirit of the Living God fall afresh on us, mold us, fill us and use us, enabling us to be true witnesses of Christ. Amen.

SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B

Acts 1:15…26 
Psalm 102
1 John 4:11-16 
John 17:11

             PRAY LIKE JESUS

The period between the Lord’s Ascension and Pentecost is a period of waiting in prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as promised by Jesus himself. 

In the first reading, the Apostles prayed God to choose the one to replace Judas Iscariot, the traitor. The lot fell on Matthias, who was then listed among the Twelve. Here we see the implicit action of the Holy Spirit guiding the decisions of the nascent Church. 

In the second reading, we are called to abide in the love of God, by loving one another. This communion with God is made possible by the Holy Spirit, which is the gift of God to us. It is therefore love that makes God present in us. 

The gospel is an excerpt of Jesus’ prayer commonly known as Jesus’ Priestly Prayer (John 17). This prayer shows how dear we are to Jesus. This is the mystery of Christian prayer: Jesus Christ prays for us, in us and with us. And this is our consolation and security: our Lord has prayed for  us and continues to pray for us, for he is now seated at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us.    

We must therefore strive to tighten our relationship with the Lord through prayer. It is in prayer that we can experience the loving care of God. It is in prayer that we can ask for guidance of the Holy Spirit in everything we do as individuals or as a Church. A Christian cannot live without prayer. Let us therefore make prayer the air we breathe and ask the Holy Spirit to direct us in making the right decisions at the right moments. 

Amen 

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B

Acts 10:25…48
Ps 97
1 John 4:7-10
John 15:9-17

FRIENDS OF JESUS CHRIST

The inner longing of every man and woman is to love and to feel loved. For we were created out of love, in love and for love, by a God who is love. In effect, the second reading gives us another name of God: love. “God is love”. He loved us first and gave us his only Son for our salvation. As such, those who truly love are sons and daughters of God (1 John 4:7-10).

In the first reading, this love of God is proven boundless, open to all men, irrespective of their nationality. God has no favourite, but accepts anyone who fears him and does what is right. Thus, by pouring his Spirit upon the pagans, whom Jews considered unworthy of God’s mercy, love and salvation, God broke the barriers of our prejudice and self-sufficiency (Acts 10:25…48).

Similarly, Jesus in the gospel invites his followers to love one another as he has loved us. What is specific of the love of Christ is that he loved us to the end and gave his life for us. He has made us his friends (John 15:9-17). He is the only selfless, faithful, loyal and true friend.

This way, Jesus invites us to experience love in its true sense: a love that overcomes fear, selfishness, and pride. A love that seeks the good of the other for the sake of the other. A love that endures and forgives. It is only when we love in this way that we become true friends of Jesus. Anything apart from this is a caricature of love. 
May the Lord Jesus teach us how to love as he loves us. Amen

FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B

Acts 9 :26-31 
Psalm 21 
1 John 3:18-24 
John 15:1-8

ABIDING IN JESUS CHRIST

On this fifth Sunday of Easter, the gospel proposed for our meditation is the parable of the vine (John 15:1-8). This parable is an invitation to abide in Jesus Christ so as to bear much fruits. Either you are connected to Christ or you are disconnected from him. If you abide in him, you will bear much fruits. But if you do not abide in him, you become fruitless, sterile. You go from frustration to frustration, from crisis to crisis, for a life without Christ is a life with crises: “For without me, you can do nothing”, says Jesus.

Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. Consequently, the fruitfulness of our life depends on our connexion or intimacy with Jesus Christ. We must therefore remain always connected to him. We must develop a personal relationship with him through prayer, listening to the Word of God and the celebration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. To remain in Jesus also means finding the reason to live and hope in spite of everything. It is to make him our shelter, our dwelling, therefore our security.

One cannot abide in Jesus without being like Jesus, without loving like him. To abide in Jesus means keeping his word that calls us to love one another (1 John 3:18-24). To abide in Jesus has therefore a social dimension. Sometimes, it means integrating sinners, the rejected, the marginalized and the abandoned into our community. Other times, it means forgiving others and lettting go the wounds they had inflicted us.

This is exemplified in the first reading. The community of believers in Jerusalem found it difficult to accept Paul, despite his conversion on the road to Damascus, for he was a persecutor of Christians. It took the intervention of Barnabas for him to be recognized as a disciple of Christ.
May the Lord help us to abide in him so as to bear fruits to the glory of God. Amen

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B

Acts 4:8-12
Psalm 117
1 John 3:1-2
John 10:11-18

SHEPHERDS AFTER THE HEART OF JESUS CHRIST

The fourth Sunday of Easter is also known as “Good Shepherd Sunday” and is set aside to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. In today’s Gospel, Jesus proclaims that he is the Good Shepherd. As the Good Shepherd, he freely lays down his life for his sheep, knows them, cares for them, defends them from foreign attacks and goes out to look for the lost sheep. He gathers his sheep into one sheepfold (John 10:11-18).

Praying for vocations therefore is a way of asking the Lord to give us shepherds after his own heart, as he himself had promised (Jer. 3:15). For we need priests and religious who care for God’s people, who are close to them, know them and listen to them. We need holy priests and religious, people who touch lives by their way of life.

There are two main vocations by which the Lord calls each one of us to service. One is the married life and the other priestly and religious life. God has called each one of us, but what we are to be has not yet come (1 John 3:1-2). Therefore, as pilgrims, let us cultivate the virtues of patience and perseverance. We live in a world which is becoming more hostile to the Gospel. Like Peter in the first reading, let us be bold and fearless in preaching the truth about Jesus Christ, for in him alone there is salvation (Acts 4:8-12).

Let us all pray for, encourage and support vocations. Let us pray expecially for young people that many may respond positively to the call of the Lord and give their lives to the Risen Lord in priestly or religious life. Amen

THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B

Acts 3:13-15.17-19
Psalm 4
1John 2:1-5
Luke 24:35-48

THE WITNESSING CHRISTIAN

Jesus of Nazareth, the Prince of Life was put to death, but death could not overcome him. This is an old news but always new, transforming lives to the glory of God. Today, he appears to his disciples. It was in the evening of the day of his resurrection. The prevailing atmosphere among the disciples was one of fear and doubt, sadness and deception. But the encounter with the Risen Jesus renewed their faith and filled them with joy.

Today’s appearance story follows Jesus’ manifestation to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, where they recognized him in the breaking of bread. Three things are worth highlighting in today’s passage. First, he offers peace to his troubled and frightened disciples and reassures them that he is the same who was dead but now is alive. Second, he makes them understand the Scriptures which foretold his Passion, death and resurrection. Third, he invites them to be witnesses of his saving work.

Consequently, in the first reading, Peter boldly bears witness to the Risen Lord before the people and calls them to conversion. St John, in the second reading, reminds us that Jesus’ death is the expiation for our sins and those of the whole world. This way, he has become our advocate before God.

Indeed, Jesus died, but now he is alive. He died for our sins. This is the news we must preach to the world and call our contemporaries to conversion. But we ourselves must be converted first so as to be living testimonies of God’s mercy and love.
May the Risen Lord give us peace and joy. Amen

SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B

Acts 4:32-35
Ps 117:2-4,15-18, 22-24
1 John 5:1-6
John 20:19-31

DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY

If the Risen Christ appears to his disciples many times, it is to strengthen their faith, and assure them that he has not abandoned them. Henceforth, he is present and active in the sacraments to offer them consolation and reconciliation. Today, he shows them the marks of his Passion, expression of God’s Mercy for mankind.

John narrates the appearance of the Risen Lord to his disciples. In the evening of the day of his resurrection, Jesus offered three gifts to his disciples: peace, the Holy Spirit and a mission. The peace he gives them is the peace that forgives, forgets their failures and mistakes, reconciles them with himself and assures them of his presence. He breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit to strengthen them for the mission he entrusts them. Their mission is to be his representatives in the world as ministers of God’s mercy, as he himself is the Face of God’s mercy.

Moreover, today’s gospel outlines the appropriate response to Jesus’ resurrection: faith. After one week of doubt, Thomas finally makes a great and unparalleled confession of faith in the Risen Jesus: “My Lord and my God”. According to the second reading, faith in the Risen Lord as the Son of God is the great weapon to overcome the world (1 John 5:1-6).

If we profess and live out our faith in Jesus Christ as we ought, indeed, we shall overcome today’s world marked by selfishness, individualism, corruption, division, consumerism, desire to exploit others, etc. Our faith will inform us that we ought to live our life with and for others. The first Christians understood this; that is why they put their belongings in common, sharing them to each according to his needs (Acts 4:32-35).

Let us also cultivate the habit of sharing. May the Risen Lord help us be authentic witnesses of his resurrection. Amen

EASTER SUNDAY

Acts 10 :34.37-43 
Psalm117 
1Corithians 5 :6-8 
John 20 :1-9

HE HAS RISEN INDEED

This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. For we celebrate the foundation of our faith: the resurrection of Jesus Christ (cf. 1Cor. 15:13-14).

However, from the gospel reading, we understand that the Lord's resurrection is not a scientific fact to be proven. It is to be believed in. No one saw Jesus coming out of the tomb. But some "facts" and events indicate that something extraordinary happened: the empty tomb, the appearances of the Risen Lord, and the witness of the apostles.

From what happened on Good Friday and these indicators, we come to believe that Jesus was dead, but now he is alive. On Good Friday, our hopes were shattered. But today, our hope has come alive. We now know our Redeemer lives. Easter is therefore a period of joy and hope.

This is the Good News we must carry. Let us bring this joy and hope to those around us. Let us show by our way of life that we are Easter people. Let us celebrate this Easter not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, unforgiveness and self-pity, but with sincerity, truth, and self confidence (1Cor. 5:6-8). May the Risen Lord bless and keep all of us.
Amen