Faithfulness and Love

Monthly Archives: December 2013

Tuesday of Week 1 Year 2

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Exorcisms should not be taken lightly. We sometimes hear people claiming to be able to cast out evil spirits, but they may not necessarily be ready or able to do so. One needs to have a certain “authority” to be able to perform exorcisms. Sometimes, what we think is a manifestation of an evil spirit may not necessarily be the case. Evil exists, but we should not jump into conclusions whether a person is truly possessed or not. One needs to verify genuine cases from merely psychological or medical-based ones, and also one needs to be fully and properly prepared physically and especially spiritually, before any exorcism is attempted. In other words, one should not play play with such matters as it could mean a matter of life or death.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus not only taught with authority, but he also had authority over unclean spirits. If we are to be genuine and with “authority” to perform exorcisms, then we should follow Jesus example closely and ensure that we are physically and spiritually ready at all times for any situation. Being God’s instrument in casting out evil spirits is not a simple matter. Are we honest and humble enough to trust the Lord and be prepared to face any consequences? Are we performing such exorcisms for the glory of God? Let us examine ourselves carefully and not be blinded with personal intentions or personal gratification.

Monday of Week 1 Year 2

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In certain societies, a woman may be showered with lots of affection and gifts from her husband, but if she is unable to bear him a child, she may be looked down upon or ridiculed. Even though her husband may not be bothered about her condition and love her nonetheless, the ill-treatment by others around her can be quite demeaning and painful to bear. Hannah in today’s reading was facing such a situation. Some other women may have despaired due to their situation, but Hannah chose to cry out to the Lord and the Lord was mindful of her, and she conceived and gave birth to a son.

Sometimes in our lives, we too may face difficult situations similar to what Hannah faced. Are we able to continue to hold our heads up high and depend on the Lord’s mercy and providence, knowing that the Lord would provide for us in His time, just as He provided for Hannah? Perhaps our prayer may not be answered quickly or in the manner we expect, but let us persevere and not lose heart, knowing that God would be mindful of us and help us.

Baptism of the Lord

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Why was Jesus baptised if He had never sinned? Jesus never sinned and did not need baptism for the forgiveness of sin. However, Jesus chose to be baptised to unite himself and share fully in the expectations and hopes of all men and women. It is not humankind that goes to Him, but He goes towards humankind for whom He came to redeem from sin.

Jesus’ baptism also became the starting point of his ministry. His ministry was affirmed when “the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice spoke from heaven, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.'” This shows that Jesus had a close relationship with God and we too should follow Jesus’ example by maintaining a close relationship with God, and by always doing what is right for the glory of God.

When we were baptised, we died to our old sinful ways and began a new life in Jesus. Have we truly understood the significance of our own baptism? Have our lives changed and have we been faithful in our ministry and giving glory to God? Let us not neglect our responsibilities and remain faithful in doing the will of God.

Friday after Epiphany

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Some of us would have been in active ministry for quite a while. Throughout our ministry, we would have experienced joy, sadness, challenges, difficulties, etc. If we are to continuously work and do things for others, there may come a time where we may feel tired, fed up, or burned out. This is where we ought to follow Jesus’ example. In today’s Gospel: “His reputation continued to grow, and large crowds would gather to hear him and to have their sickness cured, but he would always go off to some place where he could be alone and pray.”

Notice that Jesus wasn’t working or doing things all the time. He would always go off to some place where he could be alone and pray. This shows us that we need to take time off for rest, reflection and recreation. Let us not overdo things, but take opportunities to spend time with the Lord in silence and prayer, while recharging our “batteries” as well.

Thursday after Epiphany

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For many of us, loving God seems easy. We do not actually see Him, we do not feel Him directly, and we experience His continuous care in one form or another, without us even having to ask at times. However, when it comes to loving our neighbour, that becomes a great hurdle for some. Our neighbour could be our spouse, children, parents, in-laws, out-laws, friends, associates, acquaintances, un-friends, enemies, etc. We may find it easy to love those who love us, but loving those who hurt us, belittle us, irritate us, anger us, betray us; that seems a tough thing to do.

Today’s reading reminds us that: “Anyone who says, ‘I love God’, and hates his brother, is a liar, since a man who does not love the brother that he can see cannot love God, whom he has never seen. So this is the commandment that he has given us, that anyone who loves God must also love his brother.” Are we selective in our love towards others? Or do we genuinely love all, regardless of how they treat us? Loving indeed is not easy, but we should remember that God loved all and sent His Son to save all. Are we willing to follow Jesus’ way in loving all?

Wednesday after Epiphany

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In life, we face all sorts of challenges and obstacles. As time goes by, some of us may feel worn out, discouraged, anxious, afraid, etc. However, Jesus in today’s Gospel assures us: “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.” Jesus can help us as we struggle along in life and with Him as our guide, we do not need to fear or worry any longer. Storms may come and go, but Jesus is there to protect us and help us weather the storm. Are we willing to let Him take control and care for us? Do we really and truly trust Him with our lives?

Tuesday after Epiphany

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When we hear of some people loving others without any hidden agenda or condition, we call that unconditional love. However, we sometimes come across people loving others because it is beneficial to them, and such love would be advantageous to them in some way. What about us? What sort of love do we have and practise?

Today’s reading reminds us that love comes from God “and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.” Also, today’s reading tells us of God’s unconditional love, where He “sent into the world his only Son so that we could have life through him…” We also see in today’s Gospel how Jesus loved the crowd by not only teaching them, but also feeding them by performing the miracle of the multiplication of five loaves and two fish. Do we really know God and are willing to love unconditionally just as God loves us unconditionally? Are we following Jesus’ example in loving all?

Monday after Epiphany

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Every once in a while we hear someone preaching something which seems to be about Christ. They appear to be gaining lots of followers and soon they have mega-churches or big buildings, property and land to be used for so called evangelisation. However, today’s reading warns us to be careful and not be easily influenced by such people. The reading tells us:

“It is not every spirit, my dear people, that you can trust; test them, to see if they come from God, there are many false prophets, now, in the world. You can tell the spirits that come from God by this: every spirit which acknowledges that Jesus the Christ has come in the flesh is from God; but any spirit which will not say this of Jesus is not from God, but is the spirit of Antichrist, whose coming you were warned about.”

Not everything which people do in Jesus name is true. Sometimes there is deception in what appears to be true, so we need to discern carefully and see whether these people are genuine or just trying to lure us away from the Gospel. Many tragedies, forms of cheating and other evil have been committed, under the pretext of preaching the Gospel. Let us be careful and not be so easily influenced.

Epiphany

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Some of us like to follow stars. Some like to follow movie stars, singing stars, successful stars, wealthy stars; hoping perhaps that one day we would be like the stars we follow. The wise men in today’s Gospel were also after a star. However, this star is not just any ordinary star. This star is the true star which we should follow: Jesus Christ, King of kings.

To further affirm that Jesus is the true star, even the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh which the wise men brought have great significance. The gift of gold symbolises the kingship of Christ. Jesus Christ is a king, not of this world, but one of justice, peace and love. The second gift is the gift of frankincense. This gift symbolises the divinity of Christ. Christ is no mere human person. He is God made man. He is God with us. Finally, we have the gift of myrrh which points to the passion of Christ. Christ must suffer and die to save us. We must also be prepared to follow his ways and eventually on the way to the cross.

Today, let us choose to follow the one true star that really matters: our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. All other stars come and go, but Jesus is here to stay and He is leading and guiding us to be with him eternally. Are we willing to follow Him earnestly?

3 January

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Sin and God are incompatible. So if we sin, we are distancing ourselves from God. Sometimes we find it difficult to stay sinless, because of all sorts of temptations and attractions of the world. However, we have much opportunities to cleanse ourselves from sin by going for confession. The question is: have we been regular for confession? Do we value this precious sacrament?

Today’s reading assures us that “we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.” The reading also admonishes us by reminding us that “Surely everyone who entertains this hope must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ. Anyone who sins at all breaks the law, because to sin is to break the law.” If we want to remain in Christ, we must make every effort to avoid sin. If we sin, we must purify ourselves by going for confession. Let us not be shy or procrastinate, as our time is short. We do not know when the Lord will call us, so we should always try to remain ready, clean and pure to meet him.