Faithfulness and Love

Author Archives: gubahan

Saturday of Week 5 Year 1

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Life can be seen from an optimistic or pessimistic point of view. I recall a story of twin boys who were given their birthday gifts, and both were given the same thing: a huge pile of dung. One boy sobbed bitterly saying, “Oh what a mess. What a useless pile of dung. What can I do with this pile of dung? I don’t want this useless pile of dung.” The other boy was very excited and exclaimed, “Yahoo! If there’s this pile of dung, there must be a horse somewhere nearby!” If we received such a gift, how would we respond?

In today’s Gospel, we are told: “His disciples replied, ‘Where could anyone get bread to feed these people in a deserted place like this?’ He asked them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ ‘Seven’” The disciples seemed pessimistic about feeding the crowd, but Jesus was optimistic and even gave instruction for the crowd to sit down on the ground. In the end, Jesus fed the crowd and even seven basketfuls of the scraps left over were collected after that.

What can we learn from this? We can learn that Jesus was not looking at limitations; rather He was more interested in possibilities. When we look at life from an optimistic point of view, we begin to see the many possibilities that could happen, if we are willing to consider such possibilities no matter how small they may seem and take time to make it happen with God’s help. May we seize such opportunities with enthusiasm, and glorify God in all we say and do.

Saturday of Week 4 Year 1

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It is good to have zeal and make effort to preach the Good News. After all, we Christians are commissioned and sent forth to do so by our Lord Jesus. However, as with many things in life, there needs to be a time and place for everything. If we spend too much time in one thing, we may end up neglecting another thing, to our detriment. For example, in our efforts to preach the Good News, we may neglect taking care of our health, and as a result, we may face serious health consequences. Such health consequences could cause us to be unable to continue preaching the Good News, whereas if we had been balanced in taking care of our health while preaching the Good News, we would be able to preach the Good News for a longer period.

In today’s Gospel, we are told: “The apostles rejoined Jesus and told him all they had done and taught. Then he said to them, ‘You must come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while’; for there were so many coming and going that the apostles had no time even to eat. So they went off in a boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves.”

From the Gospel, we can see that even Jesus and the apostles would take a break whenever they can, to take care of other matters while being diligent in preaching the Good News. This means that we should not be extreme in our efforts, but do things in a balanced way, so that we could continue fulfilling our duty harmoniously. May we learn to know the right place and the right time to do different things, so that we could continue to give glory to God in all we say and do.

Saturday of Week 3 Year 1

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How much faith do we have in God? Do we have faith that God will guide and help us according to his ways and terms, or are we expecting faith to be according to our own terms? We sometimes say we have faith, but we want faith to be according to our expectations and convenience. How many of us are willing to have faith in God, and surrender to His thoughts and His ways, even though at times it may difficult for us to accept?

In today’s reading, we are reminded: “Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. It was for faith that our ancestors were commended.” The reading reminds us that we should have faith that God will take care of things, and let His will be done, instead of constantly trying to have things our way. May we let God be in control, and glorify Him in all we say and do.

Saturday of Week 2 Year 1

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I believe many of us would want to keep clean and maintain good hygiene. After all, who among us would want to emit an odour or stench? We make so much effort to clean ourselves by bathing regularly, and even spend time grooming ourselves and putting on all sorts of sweet smelling perfume, so that we would look and smell good. All these efforts are to put on a good external appearance. But how many of us have spent an equal amount of time and effort to keep our internal appearance clean, especially in our spiritual life and our soul? Have we been regular in going for confession, and growing in relationship with God, or have we been focusing only on the externals?

In today’s reading, we are reminded: “The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer are sprinkled on those who have incurred defilement and they restore the holiness of their outward lives; how much more effectively the blood of Christ, who offered himself as the perfect sacrifice to God through the eternal Spirit, can purify our inner self from dead actions so that we do our service to the living God.”

When we are regular in attending Mass, receiving Holy Communion, and going for confession regularly, we are letting the blood of Christ purify our inner self, our soul. We are inviting Christ to take control of not only our outer selves, but especially our inner selves. May we not waste the many opportunities given to us to let Christ purify us, so that we would learn to grow closer to God, and glorify Him in all we say and do.

Saturday of Week 1 Year 1

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We sometimes come across persons who seem to be quite adept in putting on an appearance, so that others may think that such persons are a certain way, but the reality is that their true self could be quite different from what is perceived. For example, we see some persons behaving one way when it comes to persons of authority, but with others, especially with subordinates or even with certain colleagues, their attitude and demeanour could be quite different.

It may seem as if we may be able to appear in a certain way and give others a false impression, but we ought to realise that 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.”

The question we need to ask ourselves is this: are we willing to cast aside our falsehoods and be real and genuine? Or are we still insisting in sticking to our masks or appearances? Let us not forget that God sees all and knows all. Instead, let us make more effort to remain true and grow in relationship with God.

聖安德肋宗徒慶節

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今天在我們之中有很多人能夠從網絡中學習到一些知識，因為互聯網刊載的知識或資源非常廣闊而且很容易找到。但是你們是否知道網絡中的資料不可盡信，有些是不可靠而且不正確的?因此我們要很細心思考與斟酌來閱讀有 關的資料或資訊。

你們是否有參考過網上所刊登有關信仰課題？我們是否可以相信那些資料？從某種程度上來說，的確我們可以學到一些皮毛。然而，我們不可以掉以輕心，最好是查証資料的來源，仔細考慮資料的可靠度或是有爭議性的？所以我建議最好是向受過培訓的傳道員或合格老師學習。聖保祿宗徒在今天的讀經裡提到：“信德始於別人的講道，而道是始於耶穌訓話。”希望每位教友們小心翼翼地分辨資訊的可靠性﹔如有需要盡量尋求合格人選來輔助，因為他們所傳的道理是教會所教導的。

聖安德肋宗徒慶節

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放去我們的過去或是以往的處事方法是不簡單的也不容易。畢竟有些事情在一些人來說是那麼投入或是駕輕就熟而突然間要他們更改方法或是開始嶄新的發展，當然是不容易而且困難重重。但是在現實中，確實有很多事情在改變。在過去的時光裡該項方法非常管用且有效，可是到了今時今日它已成了廢物。因此為了不失去良機或挫敗，我們一定要與時並進，勇於改變和創新。

在今天的福音中，耶穌見到兩位漁夫的兄弟，一個是西滿，也稱為伯多祿和他的弟弟安德肋正在湖中撒網捕魚。耶穌對他們說，“跟隨我吧，我要使你們成為漁人的漁夫。他們立刻舍下漁網跟隨了祂。”今天耶穌也很可能在召喚你，放下你的漁網，改變一下生活方式，再往前走，跟隨祂。那麼你是否願意接受該邀請，從此讓耶穌輔助及做你生命的向導？

Friday of Week 30 Year 2

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Is it okay to cure on a Sabbath day? The Sabbath day is supposed to be a day of rest and worship. But in the Gospel, Jesus seems to be not following the rules of the Sabbath day. Throughout Jesus’ ministry, we see that Jesus does not choose a special place, occasion or time to help and to heal. Instead, as long as Jesus sees a need, He would do something about it regardless of whether it is a Sabbath day or not.

The lawyers and the Pharisees were those who faithfully observe the Sabbath law. However, by Jesus’ action, He simply showed them that there’s an exception; that the law of the Sabbath can be broken, as long as there is a good and valid reason to break it. Jesus is showing the lawyers and the Pharisees that the observance of the Sabbath day should be superseded by a more important need, in this case, the need to heal the man sick with dropsy.

If you were in Jesus’ situation, what would you do? Would you simply let the man suffer from his severe sickness even if you could actually do something to help him? Or would you heal the man just like Jesus did? May our faith in God be made more real, alive and dynamic, by living it with acts of love, mercy, compassion and kindness.

Saturday of Week 34 Year 2

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I believe most of us would want to keep healthy, especially as we age. We spend a lot of time and effort to ensure that we eat healthily, we go for regular check-ups to detect diseases early so that such diseases could be treated early to have a better chance at survival, and we do many other things which concern the health and well-being of our body. But how many of us spend time and effort to keep our soul healthy? Do we go for confession regularly, and build our relationship with God for the health and well-being of our soul?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns us: “Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will be sprung on you suddenly, like a trap.” If we are not vigilant; if we slacken in our spiritual health and allow sin to permeate in our soul and neglect to cleanse ourselves from sin by going for confession, we may find ourselves regretting for not taking care of our spiritual health. By then, it may be too late, and we may find ourselves away from God.

While it is good for us to be concerned for the health and well-being of our body, we should also not neglect to be concerned about the health and well-being of our soul, lest we find ourselves suffering physically and even spiritually. Let us remain vigilant and watch ourselves, so that when the time comes, we would be better prepared to meet the Lord.

Saturday of Week 33 Year 2

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We sometimes here people saying words like: “you can’t put a good person down” or “justice will prevail.” Such sayings give us hope and encouragement that, no matter what, a wrong will eventually be made right, though not necessarily the way we expect, but it would be made right by God in His time and according to His plan. We do not know exactly when and how this will happen, so we can only leave it in the hands of the Lord instead of worrying or fretting about it.

In today’s reading, we come across an example of how “you can’t put a good person down” or “justice will prevail.” In the reading, two prophets who have been a plague to the world, were finally killed by the beast that comes out of the Abyss. The people of the world were glad about it, since they thought that they have been finally gotten rid of the prophets. But God had other plans, and “after three-and-a-half days, God breathed life into them and they stood up, and everybody who saw it happen was terrified; then they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, ‘Come up here’, and while their enemies were watching, they went up to heaven in a cloud.” Indeed, “you can’t put a good person down” or “justice will prevail”, since the prophets could not be silenced or stopped, since God is with them.

What does this mean to us? As Christians, when it comes to doing what is right and just, are we willing to stick with it, knowing that eventually, “you can’t put a good person down” or “justice will prevail?” We may face troubles or persecution, or even put to death, but we should not be worried or concerned, and continue doing what is right and just, since what we are doing is not for our own gratification or glory, but for the glory of God.