Monthly Archives: June 2015

It is interesting to observe how some people view God. Some people seem to long for a god that would bless them with riches and good fortune, that would protect them from all harm, that would solve all their problems, that would give them happiness and peace. Perhaps this was what Peter in today’s Gospel was hoping for, when Jesus came into his life. Peter had hoped and thought that Jesus had come to liberate Israel from the Romans, and lead Israel as a nation back to their glorious past. But Jesus gives a very different picture of his role, by speaking of Himself as being “destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death.” Jesus is trying to help Peter and His disciples understand that He is God who is prepared to suffer and die for us because He loves us.

What does this mean to us? It means that, to be a disciple of Christ, we must as Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel: “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it.” Whatever we seek in this world merely brings temporary satisfaction, and we can become easily dissatisfied and search for other things that may satisfy; but nothing can truly satisfy but God’s love. It also means that as a disciple of Christ, we are one in Christ, as St. Paul in the second reading reminds us: “You are, all of you, sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. All baptised in Christ, you have all clothed yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” This means that as one people in Christ, we need to help each other and together experience God’s love.

Some of us may wonder: how are we to deal with suffering? Is suffering a bad thing? No, Jesus taught us through His life example that suffering is not a bad thing or our enemy. In fact, Jesus is showing us through His life example that we all experience pain and suffering, but when suffering comes, we can either choose to complain and become bitter and angry; or we can choose to see how God can bring goodness out of this experience. Today, let us not fear or despair if we are experiencing suffering, since God is there to help us and guide us, transforming us into something beter, for His glory.

We sometimes come across people who think they are good Christians because they observe and keep God’s laws and the laws of the church faithfully. They think that being a Christian or having a Christian faith means keeping such laws. The problem with such thinking is that when we begin to think of our religion as merely a set of laws, our faith is then based on fear of judgment and punishment from God. Some of us begin to think that if we obey these laws we will be blessed and nothing bad will happen to us, but if we break these laws then we will be punished and cursed. When religion is based on fear, we become judgmental. We begin to judge others by external appearances and behaviour, and we are ready to catch people when they make a mistake and are quick to condemn them or even ostracise them from the community. But is this what Christianity really all about? As Christians, how do we see others? Do we often judge others by appearance, remember their mistakes and use it against them?

In today’s readings, we are reminded of what it really means to be a Christian. In the second reading, St. Paul reminds us that “what makes a man righteous is not obedience to the law, but faith in Jesus Christ.” This means that it is not enough to just follow a set of rules and laws, as our faith is based on relationship with God and the heart of our faith must be love. God relates to us not as a judge waiting to punish us when we have done wrong but as a God who loves us, as St. Paul tells us of his faith: “The life I now live in this body I live in faith: faith in the Son of God who loved me and who sacrificed himself for my sake.”

Moreover, we are also called to mercy instead of judgment. Today’s gospel gives us the beautiful story of Jesus and the sinful woman. In the Gospel, the Pharisee who invited Jesus to his house only saw a sinful woman. This woman is described as one who had “a bad name in town.” For the Pharisee, this woman’s sin was too great and cannot be forgiven, and that she was already condemned and doomed. But Jesus saw the woman differently. He knew that she was a sinner but he also knew she could change if given the opportunity. Mercy and forgiveness creates the opportunity for change, and allows us to leave the past behind. Mercy and forgiveness is how God relates with us and challenges us to also show mercy and forgiveness to others.

Today, may we begin to show mercy, understanding and forgiveness to one another. May we recognise that we are all sinners and acknowledge that we are not perfect. May we admit that we have hurt one another by our pride, ego, and selfishness. But let us not remain trapped by our failings, because God has shown us a way forward through forgiveness and mercy. May we press on in our journey, as we learn to forgive and be forgiven, and let our loving God be our help and guide.

Each and every one of us would have gone through some form of suffering in our lives. Suffering can either make or break us. We are familiar with what some people have done to themselves because of suffering: they become withdrawn; they feel they can’t take it any longer; some even despair and end it all by committing suicide. We are also familiar with how some people have handled their suffering: they could still smile sweetly and live normally, having a positive outlook and depending on God’s help with patience and confidence. What about us? How would we respond to suffering? What about the sufferings of other people? What have we done when we are confronted by the suffering of other people? What have we done when people share their pains and sufferings with us? Have we remained unmoved or have we involved ourselves in their suffering by lending a compassionate ear or extending a helping hand?

In today’s readings we learn that there are people who really do care about other people; that they do not keep their distance from others in their sufferings but instead do something to help them. This was what Elijah did to the widow of Zarephath in the first reading, where Elijah petitioned for God’s help and brought her son back to life. This was also what the townspeople did in the Gospel for the widow of Nain, by giving her their support as her son’s body was being carried out for burial. Jesus also did something spectacular for the widow of Nain, by raising her son back to life.

Do we not see examples of Elijah and Jesus in the way some of us deal with people who come to us? When a person comes to us in need, do we make effort to give him or her our time, or do we often make excuses, saying to ourselves that we have more important things to do? If we are making excuses and avoiding people to do our own thing, then perhaps the words “God has visited his people” in today’s Gospel can never be said of us.

Today, let us make time for others when they are in need. Sometimes, the time we offer to them could mean much more than all the sermons we could utter, or even the financial aid we could offer. Let us be men and women of God, bringing His love and compassion to others, so that in all we say and do, His name be glorified.