Faithfulness and Love

Author Archives: Andrew Kooi

Tuesday of Week 28 Year 2

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When we were baptised, we became a new creation, a child of God. We became a loved and valued member of God’s family. But sometimes, we forget that we are supposed to change from old ways to God’s ways. Some of us go back to old habits, attitudes, ways of doing things or behaviours which contradict how a Christian should live. For example, there are people who may have consulted witch doctors, feng shui, divinations or medicine men in the past. When these people became Christians, they should have abandoned such practises and had more trust and dependence on God. However, some still go back to such practises, especially when their prayers are not answered or when they do not get what they wish. But do these other practises really help? Or are these practises merely taking us for a ride or straining our relationship with God and with others?

In today’s reading, St. Paul reminds us: “Christians are told by the Spirit to look to faith for those rewards that righteousness hopes for, since in Christ Jesus whether you are circumcised or not makes no difference – what matters is faith that makes its power felt through love.” How much faith and love do we really have for God and for others? Is our faith and love genuine, for the greater glory of God? Or are we still clinging on to our own selfish needs, trying to do things our way whatever the cost may be?

Monday of Week 28 Year 2

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Are we a free people? Or are we an enslaved people? We may think that we are free, since there are many things we can do without let or hindrance. We may think that we are free, since we live in a rather peaceful environment (though this may not necessarily be the case for some in certain places). But are we really free? Some of us may be addicted or dependent on substances, such as certain drugs, tobacco, or alcohol. Some of us are entrapped in various forms of personal gratification, abusing our minds and bodies. Some are snared in certain habits or attitudes, making it difficult for us to truly love, forgive and reconcile. Are we really free?

In today’s reading St. Paul reminds us: “When Christ freed us, he meant us to remain free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” We were freed and made sons and daughters of God, but perhaps some of us do not understand, appreciate or value the freedom won for us. Let us consider carefully the freedom given to us: are we going to maintain our freedom and remain in good relationship with God? Or are we squandering our freedom, only to ruin our eternal future?

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

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Do you know what heaven is like? Have you seen heaven? Perhaps our imagination of heaven could have been influenced by what we see in the movies or television. We imagine that heaven would be up there above somewhere in the clouds where everyone has wings and are dressed in white robes and perhaps holding a harp. But is heaven really like that? No. We do not know what heaven is really like, since no one has gone there and come back to tell us exactly what heaven is like. But we do know heaven is in a state of being with God, being in His presence. Other than that, heaven is a mystery, just as God is also a mystery.

However, today’s readings give us some glimpses or ideas of heaven. In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah gives us an image of heaven where there would be a banquet of rich food; no more mourning as death will be destroyed; every tear will be wiped away as there is no longer any pain or suffering.We would also be able to see God face to face, and not just have some vague idea of what He may be like. In the Gospel, we are once again presented with the image of the banquet through the parable of the wedding feast. What is interesting is that all are welcomed to the wedding feast. In the Gospel, we read that “The servants went out to the crossroads of the town and collected together everyone they could find, bad and good alike.” However, people are not forced to enter. God chooses to invite all to be with Him, but we can choose not to enter or respond.

One may ask: why would anyone in their right mind not want to be in heaven with God? It may sound crazy or illogical, but there are people who refuse heaven. There are several reasons why people refuse heaven. One could be because some people feel they are not worthy or too sinful to be with God. They feel naked and ashamed, and prefer to hide from God, just as Adam and Eve tried to hide from God after eating the forbidden fruit. This could be the reason concerning the man mentioned in the gospel who was found to be without a wedding garment. The man, by not wearing a wedding garment, by not being prepared and ready to be with God, possibly due to feeling ashamed, and choosing to remain silent, had condemned himself.

Another reason why people refuse heaven is because these people are full of resentment, hatred and unforgiveness. They are unable to love, forgive, reconcile, have compassion and mercy towards others. Heaven is a state of harmonious and loving relationship between others with God. When people are filled with resentment and unforgiveness, they are unable to dwell in a state of harmonious and loving relationship between others with God. Because of this, these people are experiencing hell; and they choose hell because they refuse to love, forgive and reconcile.

What about us? Are we longing for heaven? Or are we refusing heaven? Ultimately, we are given a choice. This choice is for keeps, it is an eternal choice, it is what is called a fundamental option. God does not force us to be with Him; we choose to condemn ourselves by refusing His love, forgiveness, care and providence. We condemn ourselves when we stubbornly choose to remain as we are, thinking only about ourselves and refusing to love, forgive and be reconciled with others. Let us consider carefully the consequences of our choice for there is no turning back.

Friday of Week 27 Year 2

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When people are jealous or envious of another person’s abilities, talents or achievements, some may begin to find ways and means to belittle the other person or put the other person down. Sometimes a person may go to the extend of committing character assassination on another person just to eliminate what they perceive is a threat to their prestige, power or position. There have also been cases of people actually going to the extend of committing murder. Pride could lead some people to committing hideous sins just to protect their interests or status.

In today’s Gospel, we see how some of the people were jealous when Jesus had cast out a devil, and they tried to belittle Jesus by saying “It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.” Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven. By trying to belittle Jesus, these people were actually making a fool of themselves. They were talking rubbish or nonsense, as their jealousy had clouded their minds and made them unable to think or argue logically or sensibly. Moreover, Jesus began to “go to town” giving these people a good lecture or reprimand for making such silly comments or accusations.

What about us? Have we been quite jealous of other people, that we may have made similar comments? Have we allowed pride to take control of us? Let us be cautious and not allow ourselves to be consumed with jealousy and pride, as these would only lead us to our ruin. Let us learn to be humble and thankful for our gifts, abilities and talents, as well as the gifts, abilities and talents of others. God made each and every one of us unique and special in different ways. Why should we be jealous and proud?

Thursday of Week 27 Year 2

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Nowadays we tend to expect things to be done quite quickly. For example, we have instant coffee, instant tea, instant milo, or instant noodles. We also have ATM machines which enable us to withdraw money without having to wait for too long. We have machines to deposit money or a cheque, which also enables us to do our banking transactions quite easily. The internet too has made it easy for us to get instant news or latest updates of certain issues.

However, there are things in this world which are not so instant. For instance, when we pray and ask God for something, we do not always get our prayers answered instantly. Sometimes our prayers get answered much later, sometimes not at all. When our prayers do not get answered, what do we do? Some may begin to feel that God does not care and they give up or despair. Some may turn to other sources such as medicine men, witch doctors or fortune tellers, hoping that these other sources could help them, only to find that these other sources do not really help. Some pray to God but in their mind, they are already thinking that God would probably not help them or answer their prayers. But what about us? As Christians, what should be our attitude towards prayer?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that we should be persistent in our prayer. Sometimes we need to persistently, patiently and repeatedly pray for God’s help, and be convinced that God would help us in His time and according to His plan. Have we been praying with sincerity, conviction and for His greater glory?

Wednesday of Week 27 Year 2

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When a person does something wrong, how would we respond? Supposing the person is a VIP (Very Important Person) or some high ranking official. Would we be daring or brave enough to tell the person that he or she is wrong (in a brotherly or sisterly manner perhaps)? But what if the person is somebody we happen to meet or know in our community, in our neighbourhood, or perhaps at church. Would we be willing to tell the person that he or she is wrong? Some of us may feel quite reluctant to tell a VIP or some high ranking official that he or she is wrong, but perhaps we may have no qualms to tell other persons of less importance or status. Why is this so? Are we being good examples by being fair and just to all?

In today’s reading, we see St. Paul being bold and willing to tell St. Peter off in his face. Even though St. Peter was an apostle and a VIP in those days, St. Paul was impartial in his counsel. St. Peter had done something wrong by suddenly changing his attitude towards eating with pagans, just because a certain group of friends of James arrived. St. Peter may have been unwilling to create tension or issues with those group of friends of James, but his conduct was unbecoming of an apostle, who is supposed to be loving and fair to all, without fear or favour. Because of this, St. Paul gave St. Peter a piece of his mind: he told him off!

What about us? As Christians, we should be fair and loving to all, regardless of status, rank, or importance. We should not discriminate in our praises or criticism. Are we one, united, brothers and sisters in Christ, children of God? Or have we become divisive and selective in our conduct and attitude towards people, imitating the ways of the world instead, when it comes to praises or criticism?

Our Lady of the Rosary, Memorial

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Throughout her life on earth, Mary said yes to God. We read of many instances of Mary saying yes. In today’s Gospel, the angel Gabriel brought news that she would become the mother of God, Jesus Christ. Though she knew the consequences of this news, she still said yes. When she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, she said yes to God’s greatness in the Magnificat. At the wedding in Cana, once again we hear of Mary saying yes, by letting God take care of things, when she said: “Do whatever He tells you.”

Today, we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. The rosary and the mysteries we meditate on reminds us of the many yesses that Mary had said to God. When we pray the rosary, we are not praying to Mary, as some may believe. We are praying with Mary, and asking her to pray for us. When we pray the rosary, we are not only reminded of Mary’s yesses, but we are also reminded of our own yesses. Have we truly, like Mary, said yes to God? Are we willing to be humble and learn from Him, and depend on His providence and love, just as Mary did?

Monday of Week 27 Year 2

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Every once in a while, we come across a preacher who seems to be sharing the Good News quite different from what we have heard. For example, we may heard about some so called preachers who claim that we will receive greater rewards from God if we are more generous in our contributions or love offerings. Some are so easily taken in by such easy access to God’s grace and providence, that they are duped into parting with their cash and even property, thinking that they can so conveniently and so easily buy their way to heaven. More often than not, such so called preaching is only meant to enrich the preacher.

In today’s reading, St. Paul warns us: “if anyone preaches a version of the Good News different from the one you have already heard, he is to be condemned. So now whom am I trying to please – man, or God? Would you say it is men’s approval I am looking for? If I still wanted that, I should not be what I am – a servant of Christ. The fact is, brothers, and I want you to realise this, the Good News I preached is not a human message that I was given by men, it is something I learnt only through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” St. Paul is cautioning us to be vigilant, because many preachers claiming to proclaim the Good News could emerge and give us false teaching. We could notice such preachers in their motives and in their fruits; whether what they are doing is for the glory of God, or for their own glory while lining their pockets. Let us not be so easily taken for a ride, and adhere to true and proper preaching, for the good of our eternal future.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

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As we journey through life, we begin to accumulate a lot of things. Some of us accumulate wealth, property and riches. Some of us accumulate friends and acquaintances. Some of us get married and have children. Some of us accumulate educational and dignitary titles and honours. Some accumulate all sorts of odds and ends which we may not use or need. When we accumulate these things or people, some of us begin to think that we own them. We think that we are entitled to have power and authority over them. We begin to control, manipulate, or jealousy cling on to them, thinking that no one else but we can have them. We become quite possessive towards them.

But do we really own these things and people? Are these things and people our sole property, to be used and possibly abused as we see fit? No. We do not own these things and people, simply because these things and people are only temporary. The tenants in today’s Gospel thought that the vineyard belonged to them and they attempted to completely take over the vineyard from the owner by beating up the owner’s servants and ultimately by killing his son. But what the tenants failed to realise is that the vineyard is not theirs, they were merely staying there for a time, and one day they would need to move on.

When we think we possess or own something, or when we think that the thing or person is only for us, we may actually be hurting others in our desire to hold on tightly. For example, some of us have children. Our children are God’s gifts and they were given to us “on loan” or “on trust” so that we could learn to care, feed, love and share our faith with them. There will come a time we would need to let go, and let them fly away so that they could live independent and fruitful lives. But when we are so possessive towards our children, we become a stumbling block towards their growth, freedom and happiness. We begin to interfere with almost every aspect of their lives, only to make matters worse and create unnecessary anger, resentment, tension and hurt.

In the same way, when we become possessive towards our husband or wife, we are actually hurting them. We begin to get suspicious of our husband or wife, even for the smallest reason such as having friends. Is it wrong for your husband or wife to have friends? Just because he or she occasionally goes out for a bite or to watch a movie (especially with their friends of the same gender) does not mean he or she is being unfaithful or will leave you. We need to learn to trust and not be so possessive, suspicious or jealous, because we only create further resentment or tension if we behave this way. It is unfortunate that some men resort to violence to control their wives and prevent them from living a decent life. In the same way, it is equally unfortunate that some women begin to get extremely jealous, cautious, suspicious and possessive towards their husbands, to the extend of nagging, throwing tantrums, or even hen-pecking them for the slightest issue.

At church, some of us think that without us, the church would collapse or fall apart, or a particular church ministry would go bust. What we forget is that the church or church ministry does not belong to us. We should remember that we are merely servants and we should treat involvement in church and church ministry as a temporary thing. We should make effort to train and encourage others, especially the younger generation, so that one day they will be able to replace us and continue working for the Lord. It is when we refuse to let go, when we stubbornly insist in holding on to a particular ministry or office, we could be actually stifling the growth of the church. By doing so, we could be building our own kingdom, instead of God’s Kingdom.

Ultimately, we need to remember that we are all pilgrims here on earth. Our time on earth is short, and instead of bickering or being possessive towards something or someone, we should be humble and willing to be detached, to let go, to love just as God loves us. We should be reminded, as St. Paul advises us in the second reading: “There is no need to worry; but if there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honour, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise.” Let us use our time here on earth wisely to give glory to God in all we do, and be genuine, respectful, loving, forgiving and caring towards all.