Faithfulness and Love

Monthly Archives: November 2015

Monday of Week 4 Year 2

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When we are faced with evil, what do we do? Do we repay evil with evil? Or do we put our trust and hope in God, and do only what is necessary to defend ourselves, but not with the intention of retaliating or taking revenge? It is tempting to succumb to “an eye for an eye” mentality, but what should we Christians do and how should we respond?

In today’s reading, king David was experiencing a double whammy. His own son, Absalom, had gathered enough support from among the Israelites and was now after his head. Not only that, Shimei, a relative of Saul, came along and cursed David and threw stones at him. King David could have taken these situations as an excuse to take revenge and retaliate, in an attempt to defend his kingship and wipe out his enemies, which would include getting rid of his son Absalom and Shimei. But did king David do that? No. Instead, he chose to humble himself before God and commended himself into the hands of the Lord when he said, “Perhaps the Lord will look on my misery and repay me with good …” Even when faced with a crisis, king David chose to face it with humility and repentance, and he trusted in God’s mercy and remained faithful to God.

What about us? Would we be able and willing to respond the way king David did? Or would we allow our pride and ego to get the better of us, and end up retaliating or taking revenge? May we be willing and humble enough to put our trust in God and let God be our guide.

Friday of Week 3 Year 2

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From time to time, some of us may have fallen and committed sin. It does not matter the sin is serious or not, but what is our response after the sin has been committed? Some of us may make effort to go for confession and do penance, so that our souls would remain as clean as possible. But there are also some who would try to deny committing such sins. Some even try to sweep it under the carpet and pretend that nothing had happened. But ultimately, we will be confronted with the sin committed in one way or another. When this happens, how would we respond? Would we eventually own up to the sin, seek forgiveness and move on? Or would we continue living in denial, with the possibility of committing even greater sins?

In today’s reading, we see an example of how some people try to hide or destroy the evidence of wrongdoing, and end up committing even worse offences. King David had committed the sin of adultery by sleeping with another man’s wife, causing Bathsheba to become pregnant. Then he tried to hide the evidence by encouraging Uriah to go home and spend some time with his wife Bathsheba, hoping that Uriah would later think that the pregnancy was caused by him. When that failed, David got rid of Uriah instead. From an already serious sin, king David blundered and committed other sins, and in the end even committed murder, another serious sin.

Today, if we realise that we have committed sin, let us not try to deny or hide the fact. We may think we can fool others, but we cannot fool God. Let us own up to our sins, seek forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, do penance, and move on. After all, there is really nothing to be proud of in committing sins, and may we be humble and willing to seek forgiveness and change our ways, while we have the opportunities to do so.

Thursday of Week 3 Year 2

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Why do we sometimes find it so difficult to get new people to help out in different church ministries? Among the many reasons given, one reason is because there are some people who may have the skills or talents, but they are not willing to offer such talents or skills in church. Some of such people have what we call a “what’s in it for me?” attitude; or they think their skills and talents are for them to use as they please and for their benefit or advantage; or they even feel that their talent or skill is not good enough, even though in reality, their talent or skill is really good or even phenomenal. Could some of us be guilty of such attitude or way of thinking?

In today’s Gospel, we are reminded: “Would you bring in a lamp to put it under a tub or under the bed? Surely you will put it on the lamp-stand?… The amount you measure out is the amount you will be given – and more besides; for the man who has will be given more; from the man who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” When we offer our gifts, talents, skills and abilities to the church and to God, surely we would receive much from Him, sometimes even more than what we could dream off. Or are we still stubbornly or selfishly holding on to what we have, only to risk losing it all through our indifference, lack of practise, or due to some other reason?