Faithfulness and Love

Monthly Archives: December 2018

Thursday of Week 6 Year 1

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They respond to Him mentioning various prophets that represent important aspects of His mission, but nothing really captures who He really is. Instead of the kind of messiah the disciples thought Jesus was, Jesus tells them that He “must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days.” This was something which Peter found difficult to accept. In his mind, he thought that Jesus would be some champion who would save the Jews from unjust authorities; not a suffering and dying Jesus. For this, Peter was criticised harshly by Jesus, even addressed as “Satan”, for he was “thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

What about us? Some of us try to think of Jesus in good terms, but the reality is that Jesus came to save us from our sins, and also to teach us how to live as God intended, not according to our own way or our expectations. Are we willing to set aside our thoughts and expectations, and understand and do what God expects of us?

Wednesday of Week 6 Year 1

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As children, and even as adults, we sometimes hear people telling us: “patience is a virtue.” In a world where so many things are happening so quickly, and many of us are becoming more and more used to getting things done quickly, having patience is certainly harder for some of us to achieve. But the reality of life is this: some things just cannot be rushed. For example, we want to plant a mango or durian tree in our garden, but we cannot expect the tree to grow immediately and bear fruit. It takes years for the tree to grow, become strong, and eventually bear fruit. Even then, the first few fruits the tree produces may not necessarily be good to eat. It takes much patience, and lots of care, for the tree to eventually bear good fruit. When we exercise patience, we hopefully eventually get good fruit from the tree to enjoy.

In today’s reading, Noah had to wait for 40 days of rain, another 7 days for the water to subside, and then another 7 days for the surface of the earth to dry up.Whether Noah liked it or not, he had to have patience for the water to eventually subside and the surface of the earth to dry up properly. What does this mean to us? It means that eventually, we need to have patience and trust in God and wait. Are we willing to have patience, wait with hope, and trust in God’s providence and care?

Saturday of Week 5 Year 1

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Every once in a while, I get certain persons coming to me for confession, and instead of confessing their sins, they begin a tirade of how other people caused them to sin, putting the blame on other people and refusing to admit their own wrongdoing. Such persons seem to try and justify that the wrong committed is not their fault, and that they are the victim. It seems as if such persons are making others a scapegoat and not wanting to own up to the wrong committed.

In today’s reading, we come across another example of blaming others, or trying to pass the buck, or not owning up to one’s mistakes. In the reading, Adam blamed the woman whom God had put with him, and the woman blamed the serpent for tempting her. Though each was at fault for doing a wrong thing, each of them refused to own up to their sin. As a result, Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden.

What about us? Are some of us still blaming others for our sins? Or have we learnt to own up to them, seek forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and make more effort to follow God’s ways? God is inviting us to take responsibility for what we have done or failed to do, and let Him transform us into something better, for His Glory.

Saturday of Week 4 Year 1

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It is easy for us to give praise and thanks to God for all that He has done for us. After all, words are easy to utter and people may say things without necessarily mean what they say. For example, a person may say certain things to sound good, or to flatter another, but how does a person mean what he or she says? Are mere words sufficient?

In today’s reading, we are reminded: “Through Christ, let us offer God an unending sacrifice of praise, a verbal sacrifice that is offered every time we acknowledge his name. Keep doing good works and sharing your resources, for these are sacrifices that please God.” The reading tells us that we should not only praise God with words, we should also do good works and share resources. This means that mere words are not enough, since action speaks louder than words. Are we making more effort to “walk the talk” and give glory to God in all we say and do?

Thursday of Week 4 Year 1

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Going forth and preach the Good News is a command Jesus has given to each and every one of us. This command is not to be taken lightly, as it is one of great urgency and importance. Today’s Gospel reminds us of this great urgency and importance: “Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs giving them authority over the unclean spirits. And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses. They were to wear sandals but, he added, ‘Do not take a spare tunic.'”

Since we are called to go forth and preach the Good News, we should not allow ourselves to become distracted with all sorts of needs and wants, and lose our focus and concentration in our duty. Instead, we should depend on God’s providence, so that we can be effective in bringing Jesus’ message to others. Are we willing to trust in God’s care and providence, and be faithful in our duty in preaching the Good News?

Monday of Week 4 Year 1

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Being possessed by an evil spirit is certainly no laughing matter. A possessed person has little or even no control of himself or herself, and what a relief it would be to be rid of such possession. It is quite understandable then why a person who had been freed from possession would want to stay with Jesus, as mentioned in the Gospel. Perhaps the demoniac felt indebted to Jesus, and he wanted to stay with Jesus to serve Him. Perhaps the demoniac wanted some sense of security in Jesus’ presence, since he may have had concerns that he may be possessed again.

But whatever reason the demoniac had in begging to be allowed to stay with Jesus, Jesus would not let him stay. Instead, Jesus said to him, ‘Go home to your people and tell them all that the Lord in his mercy has done for you.’ In this way, the demoniac was preaching the Good News by sharing his story with his people, instead of keeping it to himself and clinging on to Jesus. If we are in a similar situation, would we be grateful and thankful of God’s mercy? Would we also be excited to share the Good News with others?

Thursday of Week 3 Year 1

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Nowadays, most people are living busy lives, and with the cost of living going up, it seems as if there is hardly any time for anything else besides work and earning a living. In the midst of the chaos we experience in life, we also need to deal with family, friends and even members of our church community, especially when it comes to community gatherings within our housing area. The temptation some of us face is to avoid or rarely attend such community gatherings, giving all sorts of reasons and excuses, such as lack of time, busy with other life issues, and so on. But the reality of being a Christian is that we cannot isolate ourselves from the community, since being a Christian means being a community of believers, not just a personal relationship with Jesus.

The reading today reminds us of the need for us to be together in faith as a community in communion with God: “let us be sincere in heart and filled with faith, our minds sprinkled and free from any trace of bad conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us keep firm in the hope we profess, because the one who made the promise is faithful. Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works. Do not stay away from the meetings of the community, as some do, but encourage each other to go; the more so as you see the Day drawing near.”

As the reading tells us, we should not stay away from our community gatherings, but make more effort to attend and encourage others to do the same. It is when we gather as a community that we learn to share our faith, and show love and concern towards others, especially with others in the community who may be in need. When we do so, then we are witnessing to others, by showing that we are Christians by our love.

Wednesday of Week 3 Year 1

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We come across different people who listen or hear news differently, depending on what sort of news is being conveyed. Some people listen or hear in a prejudiced manner. They shut their minds, and may be ignoring what is being said, or even not really listening at all. Some people listen or hear in a shallow manner. They may listen or hear for a while, but their minds eventually wander to something else. Some people listen or hear in a selective manner. They listen or hear only what they want to hear, and ignore the other matters. Some people listen or hear in a proactive manner. They are willing to listen and to learn, and are never too proud or too busy to learn. They listen attentively and with full attention to understand. What about you? How are you listening?

In today’s gospel, the parable of the sower reminds us of the different ways of accepting God’s word and the different kinds of fruits they produce. Just as different people listen or hear news differently, different people also listen or hear God’s word or the Good News differently. The question we need to ask ourselves is this: how are we listening to God’s word? Are we listening like in rich soil, yielding a harvest, thirty, sixty and a hundredfold?

Saturday of Week 1 Year 1

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Every once in a while, we come across people who have mastered the art of putting on an appearance or seem to have a “poker face,” where real thoughts and emotions are hidden or buried, and what is shown is merely an illusion. For example, such a person may be angry with someone or something, and the person may be fuming or seething with rage, but because the person does not want others to see the true self, the person may appear calm and pretend as if everything is fine, though in reality, the anger is eating him or her from the inside.

While we may be able to appear in a certain way and give others a false impression, one thing we ought to realise is we cannot fool God. Today’s reading reminds us of this fact: “The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely: it can slip through the place where the soul is divided from the spirit, or joints from the marrow; it can judge the secret emotions and thoughts. No created thing can hide from him; everything is uncovered and open to the eyes of the one to whom we must give account of ourselves.”

So let us not be naive to think that nobody knows our thoughts and actions, since God is watching us. Instead, let us cast aside our falsehoods and be real and genuine, while doing our best to remain in God’s care and guidance, for the betterment of our eternal future.

Monday of Week 1 Year 1

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It is not easy for some of us to let go of something. For example, some of us find it difficult to let go of our wealth and property; some find it difficult to let go of our children or loved ones; some find it difficult to let go of our habits or certain ways of doing things; others find it difficult to let go of their pride, prejudices or pre-conceived notions. But what do we Christians need to let go of?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus said to Simon and his brother Andrew: ‘Follow me and I will make you into fishers of men.’ And at once they left their nets and followed him. Jesus also called James son of Zebedee and his brother John at once and, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the men he employed, they went after him. Notice that when Jesus called, these men were willing to let go of all, including their families, relations and livelihood to follow Jesus.

What about us? If Jesus were to call us to follow Him, are we willing to let go of certain things, even to the extent of letting go of all, or are we still clinging on to certain things, come what may? May we be willing to let go of our old lives, and put on a new life in Christ, trusting in His providence and care, and glorifying Him in all we say and do.