Rejoice in the Lord always | Philippians 4:4 | Arise With Jesus | 20th April 2026

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Psalm chapter 57 verse 10. For your steadfast love is high as the heavens.

[00:00:06]Your faithfulness extends [music] to the clouds. Let us all kneel down before our Eucharistic Lord and let us call out to our God. Let us call out [music] to our savior. Let us call out to our redeemer because our God is loving. [music] Our God is everlasting. Our God is a God who loves us day and night unconditionally.

[00:00:26][music] Through this adoration song, let us sing to him and say, more love, more power.

[00:00:32][music] I need more of you More power.

[00:00:38]I need more [music] of you.

[00:00:40]>> [singing] >> in my life.

[00:00:43]Let us surrender [music] our lives to the Lord and say, more love.

[00:00:47]Lord, I surrender my family.

[00:00:49]Lord, I surrender my struggles.

[00:00:52]>> [music] >> Lord, I surrender my difficulties.

[00:00:55]>> [singing] >> More love.

[00:00:58]>> [music] >> Lord, I fill me with your power.

[00:01:03]Lord, bless me today.

[00:01:04]>> [singing] [music] >> Let us say to him again, more love.

[00:01:10]>> [music and singing] [music and singing] >> Let us raise our hands and tell him, I will worship you, Lord.

[00:01:22]Lord, I will praise you.

[00:01:23]>> [music] >> I will thank you.

[00:01:25]Psalm [singing] chapter 60 verse five.

[00:01:31]>> [music] >> So that those whom you love may be rescued.

[00:01:34]So that those whom you love may be rescued. [music] Lord Jesus, as we raise our right hands, Lord, grant victory to us in our failures. Lord, have mercy on us this morning. Fill us [singing] with your blessings. [music] Fill us with your graces, Lord. Lord, have mercy.

[00:01:51]>> [music and singing] >> Lord, we worship you this morning.

[00:01:55]>> [music and singing] >> Psalm 61 verse three.

[00:01:59]For you are my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.

[00:02:03]>> [music] >> Jesus, you protect me today from all dangers, from all fights, [singing] from all dangers, Lord.

[00:02:09]>> [music] >> Bless us. Fill us, oh Lord.

[00:02:12]>> [singing] [music] [singing] [singing] >> Say to him, you are my [music] God.

[00:02:29]Lord Jesus, have mercy on us today. Bless our job interview. [music] Bless our exam for you. Lord, we are scared.

[00:02:37]We are worried. We don't know how to appear. We don't know how to how to approach this exam.

[00:02:43][music and singing] We don't know how to approach this interview. Oh Lord Jesus, [music] fill us with your Holy Spirit this morning.

[00:02:49]Lord Jesus, this day you lead [singing] us. You guard us. You guide us. You fill us with your strength. You fill us with your power.

[00:02:57]Lord, have mercy on us, [music] Lord.

[00:02:59]>> [singing] >> Lord, deliver us from all kind of addictions. [music] Deliver us, oh Lord.

[00:03:06]Lord Jesus, save us today. Lord Jesus, there are so many obstacles ahead [music] of us.

[00:03:11]Lord Jesus, have mercy. Fill us with your power. [singing] Fill us with your grace.

[00:03:17]>> [music] >> For you are my God.

[00:03:23]>> [music] >> You are my God.

[00:03:27]>> [music] [music and singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] [music] >> Let us say to him, restore us, oh God.

[00:04:14]>> [music] [singing] [music and singing] >> Once again, let us say to him.

[00:04:25]Psalm 80 verse three, the first part says, restore us, oh God.

[00:04:32]>> [singing and music] >> Once again, let us say.

[00:04:38]>> [music] [singing] [singing and music] [music] [singing] [music] >> My dear youngsters, we are here with so much of joy because we are in the presence of someone who loves us. Someone who loves us more than anyone on this earth.

[00:05:23]Yes, we have different people who love us. Maybe our parents, our siblings, our friends.

[00:05:31]But all of them put together >> [music] >> are not anywhere close in the depth of the love that our Lord has for you and me. And therefore, that is the main reason for us to rejoice, to be happy.

[00:05:49]And therefore, the first question that I want to ask you today, not the first question, the one and only [music] question that I'm going to ask you today, are you happy?

[00:06:01]Are you really happy?

[00:06:04]Yes, why?

[00:06:06]Maybe you heard some very good news.

[00:06:09]Maybe you received something. Maybe somebody appreciated you.

[00:06:14]Maybe somebody said something nice about you.

[00:06:18]Maybe you [music] got something that you've been waiting for a long time.

[00:06:22]Yes, that gives us a sort of a happiness, some kind of a joy.

[00:06:29]If not, maybe one or two or maybe few of you are not really happy. Maybe because somebody said something wrong about you.

[00:06:37]Or maybe you lost something. Maybe you consider yourself as a failure in something. Maybe you are worried or bothered about something. Some way you feel that you are not really happy.

[00:06:52]Today, we are going to reflect on one of the most important passages from the letter of St. Paul to the Philippians chapter four verse four. Very easy to remember. Philippians 4:4. Rejoice in the Lord always.

[00:07:10]Rejoice in the Lord always.

[00:07:14]The Lord has asked us to rejoice. But there are time uh there are situations wherein we are not really happy.

[00:07:23]As I said, various reasons which make us sad.

[00:07:29]Yes, maybe there are some of us who have learned this art of smiling while deep down we are going through some sort of a storm in our lives.

[00:07:39]>> [music] >> Sometimes we pretend to be happy because of others. Many look up to us and therefore we sometimes plaster an artificial smile so that others are happy.

[00:07:53]Whatever it be, the externals or the reasons outside us in fact actually cannot make us happy.

[00:08:00]>> [music] >> In fact, the reason for our happiness is Jesus our Lord and therefore he tells us, rejoice [music] in the Lord always.

[00:08:10]Rejoice in the Lord always. That's the message [music] that St. Paul today gives us.

[00:08:18]Rejoice in the Lord. Not rejoice in the things.

[00:08:22]And therefore, our happiness or our rejoicing doesn't depend on the things external to us, but our happiness as John Powell in his book, one of the most famous books, happiness is an [music] inside job.

[00:08:38]Our happiness is within us. And once we realize that our happiness is within us, we can be happy anytime, anywhere, and in any circumstances.

[00:08:49]The secret of our joy is somebody who dwells within us [music] and that is Jesus our Lord. Who is here present in this blessed sacrament is the same Lord who dwells in our hearts.

[00:09:02]Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit.

[00:09:07]It's not that all the time we can smile. There are reasons, there are times, maybe some sickness, some tragedy. Maybe occasionally there is some sort of a sadness.

[00:09:21]But then as I said, we need to be joyful.

[00:09:25]And this joy is not the absence of pain, but the presence. And that presence [music] is the presence of God.

[00:09:35]In the Gospel of John chapter 15 verse 11, Jesus tells, I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

[00:09:50]Jesus is the reason for our happiness.

[00:09:56]Even in suffering, even in sadness, even in tragedies, even in failures, even in sickness.

[00:10:02]If you believe that Jesus is the source of our life, we can still afford to smile.

[00:10:10]We can still afford to be joyful.

[00:10:15]On the other hand, if our happiness is on the worldly things, temporal things, temporary things, passing things, unpredictable things, then that joy is short-lived.

[00:10:28]Maybe I want a particular brand of mobile.

[00:10:34]And the moment I get [music] it, I'm so happy. But then again, after a while, even we get used to it.

[00:10:42]Maybe if you feel that that person is my friend, if I if that person becomes my friend, I will be happy. No.

[00:10:48]If I get that particular degree, or this particular license, or if I get this particular thing, or that No, but all these things pass. Yes, till we get it, probably we are looking for it. But there is something Happiness is beyond [music] things.

[00:11:04]And that is what the Lord tells us. This happiness, [music] in fact, survives tears.

[00:11:10]And that's what happened to the apostles. Yes, few days ago we were in Lent, and now we are in this Easter season.

[00:11:17]You see the sorrow of the apostles.

[00:11:19]And can you see the joy after Jesus met them after his resurrection? Yes, Jesus was the source of their strength. He made apostles become brave soldiers for Christ.

[00:11:33]Today, you and I [music] are called to come back to the same Lord.

[00:11:38]Just like the apostles were transformed once [music] they acknowledge the presence of Jesus, you and I are called to acknowledge his presence so that we too will be transformed.

[00:11:50]Today, may the Lord who has called us here to worship him, once again [music] restore our lost joy.

[00:11:59]Once again, he may fill us with that lasting joy. [music] That he may teach us to rejoice.

[00:12:06]May the God who we worship be our [music] source of strength. May he be our source of nourishment. May we always be convinced >> [music] >> that no matter what, our God is always with us. As he himself has assured us, "Remember, I'm with you always [music] till the end of the age."

[00:12:27]Amen.

[00:12:42]Let us pray.

[00:12:45]O God, who in this wonderful sacrament have left us a memorial of your passion, grant us, we beseech you, so to venerate the sacred mysteries of your body and blood that we may ever experience within us the fruit of your redemption.

[00:13:01]Who lives and reigns forever and ever.

[00:13:04]Amen. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Let us kneel down [music] before our Lord Jesus, and let us take his blessings.

[00:13:52]>> [music] [singing] [singing] [music] [music] [bell] [music] [music and bell] [bell] [music] [bell] [music] >> I love you, Jesus. I love you, Jesus. I praise you, Jesus. I praise you, Jesus.

[00:14:44]I thank you, Jesus. I thank you, Jesus.

[00:15:09]Dear youngsters, thank you for joining in this time of worship.

[00:15:16]We realized that Jesus is the reason for our peace. He's the reason for our happiness. In the presence of Jesus, we can always be joyful. [music] And that presence is always there. It is constant. And therefore, as part of your homework, dear youngsters, I give you this very apt and meaningful verse from Psalm 16, >> [music] >> verse 11. Psalm 16, verse 11.

[00:15:46]In your presence, there is fullness of joy.

[00:15:51]In your presence, there is fullness of joy.

[00:15:54]>> [music] >> The fullness Live in the presence of Jesus and experience [music] his joy.

[00:16:00]Have a wonderful day. Thank you. God bless.