For your easy reference, the following is a list of weeks and years with their corresponding date:
2 Oct 2016 – 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
3 Oct 2016 – Monday of Week 27 Year 2
4 Oct 2016 – Tuesday of Week 27 Year 2
5 Oct 2016 – Wednesday of Week 27 Year 2
6 Oct 2016 – Thursday of Week 27 Year 2
7 Oct 2016 – Our Lady of the Rosary, Memorial
Every once in a while we come across a person who seems bent in creating problems for us as a church, or such a person is going all out to persecute us, like some sort of villain or antagonist who aims at getting rid of us or get the better of us at all costs. Some of us may try to avoid such a person, or even pray that God would do something to change the person’s ways, so that we would be left in peace. The funny thing is, God does do such things from time to time, and a person who was once so mean and wicked, could change to become a defender of the faith.
In today’s reading, we come across one such person named Paul, who tells us: “You must have heard of my career as a practising Jew, how merciless I was in persecuting the Church of God, how much damage I did to it, how I stood out among other Jews of my generation, and how enthusiastic I was for the traditions of my ancestors. Then God, who had specially chosen me while I was still in my mother’s womb, called me through his grace and chose to reveal his Son in me, so that I might preach the Good News about him to the pagans.” From a persecutor of the faith, Paul became a great defender of the faith, and even eventually died for the faith.
What does this mean to us? It means that we need to be patient and trust that God will take care of things. We need to be courageous and persistent in sharing our faith with others, just as Paul was after his conversion. If God can change a person like Paul, and use him for His glory, just imagine what God could do for us, if we are humble and willing to let God be in control.
Looking at what is happening around us, in our families, in our communities, in our country, throughout the world; I sometimes wonder… Have people become crazy? Has the world gone insane? Are we heading towards disaster or impending doom? We see innocent children being killed, some even while in the womb, since there are some who think that abortion is a right, they are the victim and the foetus is the aggressor. We see marriages falling apart and in some places, even the definition of marriage is being challenged. We see children being mistreated or even tortured, sometimes due to issues between adults or between their own parents. We see domestic violence, maids being ill-treated, misuse of power or authority, rape, corruption, exploitation, people going on amok or on a rampage, just because they have been so easily influenced by certain irresponsible parties.
Amidst all the mayhem and mess we are facing, we could understand how the Prophet Habakkuk must have felt in the first reading when he said: “Outrage and violence, this is all I see, all is contention, and discord flourishes.” Is it any wonder that more and more people around us are experiencing depression, some even to the point of ending it all, due to the madness happening around us. So how do we cope? How do we find meaning in life, when things all around us seems to be falling apart?
The readings today speak of faith. Faith enables us to see that God is in control, even though evil seems to be gaining the upper-hand; faith gives direction when we are lost; faith helps us to persevere and press on even when faced with the many problems. In the world today, we need faith more than ever if we are to survive. In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that if we have faith “the size of a mustard seed” we could uproot trees and move mountains. What does this mean? Jesus is not telling us that faith in God means God is going to perform something miraculous or spectacular for us, since that would reduce God to merely an entertainer, magician or some sort of wonder worker. Faith is when we believe God will take care of all things and not allow us to come to any harm. Faith is letting God to be God, letting God take control of our lives and do what is best for us, according to His terms and for His glory. It is in this context that, if we trust God, then even a tiny mustard seed could perform wonders way beyond our imagination and expectation, since it is God who allows it to take place. The problem is that some of us feel we must take a greater role, we want to be ones that can move mountains rather than letting God to do this. But if we say that we have ‘faith,’ then we must be prepared, willing and humble enough to let God have a free hand to do what is best for us.
Today, let us echo the words of the disciple and ask God to “increase our faith.” Let us be docile and willing to let God take care of us and do what is best for us, putting on the eyes of faith and knowing and trusting that no matter what happens, no matter how bad the situation may be, we have a God who will not abandon us and will be there for us.
For your easy reference, the following is a list of weeks and years with their corresponding date:
25 Sept 2016 – 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
26 Sept 2016 – Monday of Week 26 Year 2
27 Sept 2016 – Tuesday of Week 26 Year 2
28 Sept 2016 – Wednesday of Week 26 Year 2
29 Sept 2016 – Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels – Feast
30 Sept 2016 – Friday of Week 26 Year 2
Why do we follow Jesus? Have we decided to follow Jesus, no matter what happens? If disaster strikes, would we still follow Jesus, knowing and trusting that Jesus would be our help and guide? Or would we abandon Jesus and go for some other form of help? Sometimes, we come across people who claim to follow Jesus, only because they think that Jesus could be of use to them. Could some of us have such an attitude, thinking that Jesus is merely a means to satisfy our demands?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that following Him comes at a cost. We should be ready to give up everything we hold so dear, take up our cross and follow Him. We should also learn to be detached from people and things, so that we could be free to do God’s will. Would we be willing to surrender all to follow Jesus? Or have we become so attached to persons and things around us, and such persons and things have become obstacles preventing us from becoming true disciples of Jesus? May we be true to ourselves and be willing to become true followers of Jesus, letting Him be our constant help and guide, with trust and hope that we would be with Him for all eternity.
I believe most of us would not dare to challenge God or put God to the test. After all, we would want to grow in relationship with God and follow His ways. But there are certain beings which have chosen to go against God. We call such beings the devil or Satan and his fallen angels. We may not see them, but they are there and they are constantly trying to tempt us into following their ways.
In today’s reading, we come across Satan challenging God by saying that Job would curse God if Job lost everything he had, including his family and property. In a way, Satan was insulting God by saying that Job was only God-fearing because of property, wealth and family. But at the end of the reading, we can clearly see that this is not the case, since the reading tells us: “In all this misfortune Job committed no sin nor offered any insult to God.”
If we were in Job’s situation, what would we do? Would we still have trust in God, come what may? Or would we give up on God or curse God for our misfortune? May we be genuine in our trust and hope in God, and continue to follow His ways, no matter what happens.
Is it wrong to be wealthy or rich? Of course not. It is not so much whether you are rich or poor, but it is how you lived your lives; our words and conduct; as well as what sort of attitude and behaviour you have towards others; these are things that matter. One could be an extremely wealthy person, but at the same time one could be humble, unassuming and generous with one’s time and wealth. Also, one could be not too well off, and could pretend to be wealthy, snobbish, rude and aloof.
In today’s Gospel, we come across the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus, the poor man, went to heaven, and the rich man went to hell. Did Lazarus go to heaven because he was poor and the rich man ended up in hell because he was rich? Of course not. If that were the case, many rich persons in the world, past and present, would have been condemned to hell already. So why did the rich man end up in hell? The sin of the rich man was not because of his wealth, and not because he was cruel, wicked or selfish. The sin of the rich man was his indifference, his “tidak kisah or tidak peduli” attitude (translated to “don’t care or not my problem” attitude). The rich man did not care about what happened to Lazarus, he did not care about what was happening around him, he did not care about anyone else except himself. By the time he learnt to care for someone, his brothers in this case, it was too late. In fact, while he was still alive, the rich man did not even really care about what happened to his brothers. It is ironic that at least the dogs took notice of Lazarus and his condition, whereas the rich man remained indifferent to all around him.
In our lives, some of us may have been thinking that it is better to mind our own business and not poke our noses into other people’s business. Some of us think that it is not for us to get involved, even though what is happening is obviously wrong or a serious issue, and something should be done and done quickly. Many people choose to be deaf and blind, and pretend that everything is fine as long as our lives and our family life is not affected. But the fact is, complacency or indifference is one of the greatest ills of our society, since by not getting involved, by not helping, by ignoring the situation; nothing will change, the problem remains, and we could be accomplices to the problem or be a part of the problem. In fact, St Paul in the second reading reminds us that it is not enough to just take care of our own affairs and ignore others, since he writes: “As a man dedicated to God, you must aim to be saintly and religious, filled with faith and love, patient and gentle. Fight the good fight of the faith and win for yourself the eternal life to which you were called when you made your profession and spoke up for the truth in front of many witnesses.” This means that we need to do something, we need to take action, we cannot just sit idly and not be bothered. Each of us is called to saintliness and holiness, and we cannot just be mediocre or do the minimum.
Today, let us pray for the grace to be able to see with eyes and hear with ears of compassion. Let us follow Jesus’ example in reaching out and helping all in need. May we not waste our eternal future away with our indifference, and end up like the rich man, while we still have opportunities here on earth to do our part and make a difference.
For your easy reference, the following is a list of weeks and years with their corresponding date:
18 Sept 2016 – 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
19 Sept 2016 – Monday of Week 25 Year 2
20 Sept 2016 – Tuesday of Week 25 Year 2
21 Sept 2016 – Saint Matthew, Apostle, Evangelist – Feast
22 Sept 2016 – Thursday of Week 25 Year 2
23 Sept 2016 – Friday of Week 25 Year 2
There are certain kinds of people in this world which are difficult for some to accept and like. It could be the person’s character or attitude, it could be the person’s behaviour, or it could even be the person’s job or way of life. For example, how many of us are genuinely willing to show care and concern to prostitutes if one happens to come to us for help, especially when the person is wanting to change to a different and better way of life? Would we be willing to help? Or have we become prejudiced towards such persons and prefer to shun them?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus called a tax collector named Matthew to follow Him, and Matthew got up and followed him. Tax collectors were hated and shunned by the Jews, because they not only collected money from the Jews for the Romans, but they were also allowed to collect more (which could range from a bit more to a lot more) for their own survival. But Jesus was not only willing to call Matthew to follow Him, He was also willing to eat with the tax collectors and sinners. Eating with tax collectors and sinners was an unthinkable and shocking thing to the Jews, especially among the scribes and Pharisees, since they thought that people would normally eat only with good friends or close friends. But Jesus reminded them: “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.”
What about us? Are we willing to offer our time with the tax collectors and sinners around us? Are we willing to eat with them, reach out to them, be a friend to them, and help them out? Or have we become like the scribes and Pharisees, self-righteous and only knowing how to condemn others? Remember that we too are sinners, and if God can be loving and merciful to us, shouldn’t we be doing the same towards others?
Are you a slave? Or are you truly free? Some of you may be thinking: “This padre has really gone nuts or crazy. Of course I am free! How could I possibly be a slave?” But the reality is, unfortunately, many people indeed become slaves of one thing or another. We become trapped or addicted to the thing that we want to be free of. How can this be so? After all, we are free to do many things in this world, so how can we be enslaved even though we think we are free?
God invites us to depend on Him and learn from His ways, but He does not force us to do so. To be his servant, to put our entire trust and faith in him, we must do it freely without compulsion. But when we begin to place our trust in other things or persons other from God, we soon see ourselves losing our freedom to these things. We become slaves to these false gods. They begin to take control of our lives and take away our freedom. Take for example, money and wealth. We need to make a living and we need money to survive and function in this world, but when we begin to make money, some of us may begin to long for more and more of it, to the point that our entire efforts are in making money. We begin to neglect or pay less attention to other things, including our health, our family, even our relationship with God. When this happens, are we not enslaved or slaves to money? Has not money become like a false god to us?
That is why, in today’s Gospel, we are reminded that we cannot serve God and false gods at the same time. To serve God is to be truly free, whereas to serve other false gods would mean losing this freedom. We cannot be free and not free at the same time. We must never forget that we were created to know, love and serve God. The attractions of life can draw us away from living as sons and daughters of God, and slowly take away our inner freedom and we become slaves to them; we become addicted, attached and dependent on them, so much so that they have become our false gods. When we allow this to happen, when we become totally immersed to the ways of the world and the attractions of life, then we are actually breaking the first commandment: “I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.”
Today, let us pray for the strength to truly know, love and serve God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Today’s second reading reminds us: “For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and mankind, himself a man, Christ Jesus, who sacrificed himself as a ransom for them all.” Let us always remember that we cannot serve two masters, and make every effort to cast off all our false gods and place our trust in God. Let us depend on our God, and regain our freedom to become sons and daughters of God.
