Faithfulness and Love

Category Archives: 11th

Tuesday of Week 11 Year 1

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As humans, we like to receive affection and assurance from others. When a person says nice things to us or praises us for something we had done, we feel good and feel happy. But if we consider for a moment, people who say nice things and praise us are often our friends or people who like us. What about those people who are our enemies, or have got something against us, or just plain dislike us for one reason or another? How do we respond to such people?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us: “You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

If we are loving and good only to those who like us or who are our friends, then we are no different from others who do the same. As Christians, we are challenged to go beyond this and be loving and good to all, regardless of whether they like us or are friendly to us or otherwise. Who knows, by being good and loving to all, we may be helping our enemies and others who dislike us to have a change of heart, for God works in mysterious ways and can do wonders for us. May we continue to glorify God in all we do, and trust in His love and providence.

Monday of Week 11 Year 1

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What sort of people are we? Are we followers of Christ? Or have some of us begun to be more and more worldly in our attitude, behaviour and conduct? Calling ourselves followers of Christ is fine and good, but what matters more is that we show that we really are followers, not just in words, but especially in deeds.

In today’s reading, we are reminded: “We prove we are servants of God by great fortitude in times of suffering: in times of hardship and distress; when we are flogged, or sent to prison, or mobbed; labouring, sleepless, starving. We prove we are God’s servants by our purity, knowledge, patience and kindness; by a spirit of holiness, by a love free from affectation; by the word of truth and by the power of God; by being armed with the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left, prepared for honour or disgrace, for blame or praise; taken for impostors while we are genuine; obscure yet famous; said to be dying and here are we alive; rumoured to be executed before we are sentenced; thought most miserable and yet we are always rejoicing; taken for paupers though we make others rich, for people having nothing though we have everything.”

Ultimately, all that we do, all that we say, is for the glory of God. Being a follower of Christ and a servant of God means there is no place for personal glory or personal gratification. If we are faithful and glorify God in all we do, we can find joy and confidence in His love and care.

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

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Many of us have experienced problems in one form or another. We often fail to view problems from the proper perspective and thus fail to come up with solutions, because we are either too close to the problem, are ourselves involved and muddled in it or we are the problem. In dealing with our problems, our perspective can be widened if we realise that God has intervened and helped resolve problems throughout human history. This way, we can view things from God’s perspective.

In today’s Gospel, we read about the Parables of the Growing Seed and the Mustard Seed. The first tells us that the Reign of God will definitely come about as its seed grows to maturity, while the second teaches that God’s Reign, though of humble beginnings, is destined for greatness. God’s Reign is one of truth, justice, love, and peace. But what we often see and experience in life is the opposite. Everything seems to have a price, including truth and justice. Whose truth eventually prevails, in the media or the courts, is sometimes based on who paid more or who has the power or political clout. Justice seems to favour the rich and powerful. Love? There is so much hatred between husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, neighbours, different groups and peoples. This begs the question: Does peace really and truly exist?

There is one thing though about God’s Reign that we should be conscious of: it is already here but at the same time, not quite yet. It is already here because Christ had established it with His coming. Not quite yet, because truth, justice, love, and peace have yet to spread completely throughout all aspects of human life. God is continually at work and in due time His Reign will be established in its fullness. But we should not think that we can rest on our laurels or be complacent, since we too have our part to play in establishing God’s Reign, since we are God’s cooperators in His work. If we want truth to prevail, we need to plant the seed of truth. We want justice and love, we also need to plant their seeds. But once planted, we must water and fertilise them as well as clear them of weeds. If there is truth, justice and love, then peace is not too far away since these three are connected. In short, we must first live and practise the values of the Kingdom before we can convincingly ask others to do the same. Moreover, God wants us to have patience. We cannot expect that just because we have set ourselves to do God’s work, because we have planted the seeds of truth, justice, love and peace, then the world will change immediately and automatically. Like a seed, things take time to grow and need to be nurtured. There will be pains, challenges, difficulties and sorrows. But like God, we must be patient before the harvest.

All this points to the fact that we have indeed a big and substantial task ahead of us. But we must do our part and start somewhere: at home, in school, at our workplace, in our community. As we do our part, let us be patient. In His own time, God will bring our work, His work, to fruition.

Friday of Week 11 Year 2

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What do you treasure most in life? Do you still continue to look for riches here on earth, or have you been seeking riches in heaven? Some of us may have been enamoured or influenced by the glitter, beauty or value of riches here on earth, so much so that we spend a lot of time accumulating them. But the question is: for how long would we be able to hold on to such riches? When we die, all these riches we have accumulated cannot be brought with us. These riches will either become worthless, lose their value over time, or end up possessed by others.

Jesus in today’s Gospel reminds us: “Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and woodworms destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworms destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” The riches we accumulate here on earth are only temporary. We cannot own them or hold on to them forever. The riches we accumulate for heaven is for eternity as we will not lose them. Are we reconsidering our priorities and begun focusing that which is eternal? Or are we still stubbornly interested only in that which is temporal?

Thursday of Week 11 Year 2

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Some people think that they need to say a lot of things when praying. They go into all sorts of words, noises, gestures, perhaps thinking that God needs some time and hopefully will eventually hear them. Today’s Gospel reminds us: “In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Instead, we are taught the Our Father or Lord’s Prayer. Though this prayer seems short and concise, it is full of meaning. In the Our Father, we learn to be humble and dependent on God’s providence. Are we reciting the Our Father with meaning, humility and conviction? Are we fully aware of what we are praying while reciting the Our Father? Or are we, as the Gospel tells us, merely “babble as the pagans do?” Why the need to rush? Why the need to say so much?

Wednesday of Week 11 Year 2

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When we do good things or works of charity, what is our motive or intention? Are we doing such things to show how rich, how great, or how wonderful we are? Or are we doing such things for the greater glory of God? Sometimes we may appear to be doing good, but we should be careful not to expect admiration, gratification or rewards. If we expect something in return, then perhaps we may, as today’s Gospel warns us, have had our reward.

Instead, we should make every effort to do good inconspicuously. As today’s Gospel reminds us, “and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.” Ultimately, we need to ask ourselves honestly: by doing good, are we glorifying God and letting His Kingdom come; or are we glorifying ourselves and letting our kingdom come?

Tuesday of Week 11 Year 2

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How much do we really love others? Do we love only those who are nice to us or love us or do good things for us? Some of us find it easy to love those who are friendly or kind to us, but some of us may find it quite difficult to love our enemies.

Today’s Gospel reminds us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. In the world, this may sound like a crazy or unreasonable request. But if we call ourselves Christians, then we should imitate Jesus, who even prayed for His enemies as He died on the cross. Are we willing and humble enough to follow Jesus’ example and also love our enemies? Or have we become no different than the rest of the world? Our enemies may some day become our friends, or even followers of Jesus, if we love them and show compassion and good example. Are we willing to take up the challenge and love all as Jesus did?

Monday of Week 11 Year 2

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Wrath or rage is one of the seven capital sins we need to watch out for. We may fall into wrath or rage quite easily, especially when we have a short fuse or a quick temper. Wrath or rage can lead us to do worse things. Sometimes, we may even kill a person or several people. In the aftermath, we may become proud and refuse to feel any remorse, or we may regret our actions utterly. By then, it is often too late.

Today’s first reading shows us how Ahab fell into wrath or rage, since Naboth refused to sell him his ancestral land. Naturally, Naboth had every right to sell or not sell, but Ahab was determined to get the land at all cost. Ahab had the gall to allow Jezebel to “settle things” for him, so that he could get the land he wanted. Here, we see a classic example of not only wrath or rage, but also greed and pride thrown into a deadly mixture.

Are we guilty of wrath or rage at times? We may not necessarily kill a person, but the words we utter in our rage could still kill. Let us be mindful of our temper and seek God’s help to avoid falling into wrath or rage, lest we only bring ruin to ourselves.