Faithfulness and Love

Category Archives: 12th

Monday of Week 12 Year 1

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It is not easy for some of us to move from one place to another. This is because over the years, we may have accumulated many things, made many friends, and become accustomed to the place we are at. For some of us, we may have become older, perhaps a little less mobile due to age or illness. But sometimes, it is good and necessary for us to leave and move on. For some of us who are priests or religious, moving on gives us opportunities to experience new places, discover new things in a new mission or environment, and also give our former mission or parish a chance to grow and transformed with new leadership.

In today’s reading, “The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.” In a way, the Lord was giving Abram an opportunity for greater and better things, and by obeying and going to where the Lord wanted him to go, Abram received much blessings from the Lord. What about us? Would we be willing to go when the Lord calls us to go some place? May we willing to go to where the Lord leads us, and let Him be our providence and guide.

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

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Some of us may have heard stories of Christian missionaries going to distant lands to preach the Good News. Some of us may have been influenced by the movies or television, of the adventure and excitement of these Christian missionaries who overcame the odds, climbed mountains, crossed valleys and rivers, and successfully established Christian missions wherever they went. But more often than not, such movie or television scenes do not reflect the reality faced by Christian missionaries. The reality is that being a Christian missionary is a tough and thankless job. Jesus never promised us that it would be easy or smooth sailing, but warned His disciples and us too, that they will face persecution, and face many obstacles, such as objections from family and friends, criticisms, jealousy of others, stubbornness of those we are trying to reach out to, and many more other obstacles. What happens when we are faced with so many obstacles? We are tempted to be discouraged and tempted to give up. This causes some of us to not even want to try, as some are afraid of failure even before they have begun. When we are discouraged, we may be prevented from beginning Christ’s mission. Sounds like a dready and hopeless situation, isn’t it?

But wait! All is not lost. Today’s readings give us lots of hope, assurance and encouragement. God is not saying that all will be well, or that He will solve all our problems, remove all obstacles, and make life easy for us. As witnesses for Jesus Christ, we are sure to meet with opposition, encounter rejection, and face much criticism from others. Why, even Jesus Himself was also rejected by His own people. So what is God’s message for us? God’s message is: “Do not be afraid.” Do not be afraid, for as today’s Gospel tells us: “everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear.” Do not be afraid of any obstacle or person who seems to stand in the way of your mission in doing God’s will, because as the first reading reminds us: “the Lord is at your side, a mighty hero” and He will deliver you.

So what does this mean? It means that we need to take courage. Courage does not mean we believe and rely on our own strengths and capabilities. Courage means we know and trust that God loves us and that we are precious in His eyes. Jesus uses the example of the two sparrows which can be bought for the price of a penny. The penny and the sparrows may seem small and worthless, but in the eyes of God, each sparrow is precious enough for God to take notice. What more of us? Jesus tells us in the Gospel: “You are worth more than hundreds of sparrows… so there is no need to be afraid!”

So let us take heart, do not be afraid, and not be discouraged. In today’s second reading, St. Paul assures us: “If it is certain that through one man’s fall so many died, it is even more certain that divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came to so many as an abundant free gift.” Let us courageously declare Jesus in the presence of all people, and no matter what happens, may we always remember that we are precious in God’s eyes. May we never end up regretting not trying in the first place, but be bold in our efforts, and glorify God in all we say and do.

Thursday of Week 12 Year 2

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When we do something wrong or displeasing towards our parents, what happens? Quite likely some of us may get a scolding, some of us may even get smacked. When we do something wrong or commit a traffic violation, what happens? We may be fined for the offence committed. But what if we do something wrong or sin against God? God may be merciful and patient with us, but some of us may have taken for granted God’s mercy and patience, and sometimes we may be caught off-guard when we are called to face Him for judgement. Then what would happen to us then?

In today’s reading, king Jehoiachin did what is displeasing to the Lord, just as his father had done. Already many of his ancestors had committed offences against God, and God had been so merciful and kind towards them. But king Jehoaichin failed to change his ways and make amends with God. Then what happened? Because of the infidelity of the Israelites, because of the continuous displeasing acts committed, king Jehoaichin and the Israelites ended up in exile, a humiliating and painful consequence of not taking action in making amends with God while they had plenty of opportunities to do so.

What about us? Some of us seem to think that we have plenty of time to change our ways and return to God’s path. But we forget that God can call us any time to give an account of our lives. Are we going to jeopadise our eternal future through our own inaction and false sense of security?

Wednesday of Week 12 Year 2

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Every once in a while, we come across certain persons who claim to be preaching the Good News, but what they preach is more often than not their version or interpretation of the Good News. We see such persons making outrageous claims, such as being able to heal most persons in a crowd, and they even have the gall to say that if a person is not healed, then it is because the person did not put his or her faith in the so called healer. Sometimes such persons would encourage the crowd to give more of their wealth, so that they would get more wealth and success from God, making it sound as if God would do our bidding if we give more.

But let us consider a moment: who is actually doing the healing? God, isn’t it? The preacher or healer is not the one that heals, but it is through God’s grace and mercy that a person is healed. Also, since when God could be bribed or forced to give us wealth? The strange thing is, some people are so gullible into thinking that they can get what they want, be it healing and wealth, by following such persons. But quite often, such persons do such things only for their own benefit. Once they have reached a certain goal, or when they find that support is dwindling, such persons would quite likely disappear and go some other place to ply their trade.

That is why, in today’s Gospel, we are warned: “Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits.” Sometimes it does not take much to weed out a fake, and we should warn others about such persons, since such persons are there to try and create trouble and confusion for their own ends. Sometimes it may not be so easy to spot such persons, and this is where we need to watch carefully and be discerning as to whether such persons are genuine or not. Whatever it is, may we be diligent and careful, so that our Christian community would not be led astray or taken for a ride.

Tuesday of Week 12 Year 2

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There are times in life where we are threatened by certain persons or groups who say that if we do not join them or follow their ways, we would be persecuted or even exterminated, and according to them, there is nothing we can do to stop them. They seem to be so confident that we would give in or kow tow to their demands, just because they think that they have the power and strength to carry out their evil designs. But as we recall in many instances in Scripture, God has helped and intervened, and such persons end up eating humble pie.

In today’s reading, we come across one such person, the Assyrian king Sennacherib. He thought that, just because he had quite easily defeated the other nations, Jerusalem would have no chance to escape from imminent destruction at his hand. This is because Sennacherib thought that the God of the Israelites was worthless, just like the other gods who had failed to prevent other nations from being destroyed. But what Sennacherib failed to realise is that the other gods were idols, and that the God of the Israelites is the one, true God. In the end, it was Sennacherib who suffered a crushing and humiliating defeat, and the Israelites were saved, because the Israelites had put their faith and trust in God Almighty, the one true God.

What about us? Would we do the same as the Israelites did? Sometimes the situation seems hopeless and we appear to be on the verge of being wiped out. But let us not be disheartened or even despair, because God can help us if we trust Him and let Him do what is best. No matter what happens, may we remain steadfast and faithful to God, and give Him the glory.

Monday of Week 12 Year 2

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What sort God do we believe in? Do we believe in a god that grants us all our wants and needs? Do we believe in a god that gives us lots of wealth? Do we believe in a god that will protect us from our enemies? Some of us may think that this seems to be a silly question, since some of us think that we believe in God Almighty. But if we believe in God Almighty, then we should be following His ways, keeping His commandments, and growing in His providence, care and friendship. But are we really doing these things? Or have some of us begun believing other gods, thinking that we would get what we want according to our whims and fancies?

In today’s reading, the Israelites had a problem. What was their problem? They had gone astray. The reading tells us: “The Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the grip of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshipped other gods, they followed the practices of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed for them.” Even though the Lord had given Israel and Judah plenty of warnings through the prophets and the seers, the Israelites were still so stubborn and went against God. Because of this, the Israelites were conquered, captured and deported by the Assyrians.

What about us? Could we end up being deported as well? We could be deported from our eternal heritage, especially when we sin and refuse to seek forgiveness and reconciliation for our sins. We could be deported when we refuse to forgive and be forgiven. May we take caution and not end up being deported, since we have only ourselves to blame.

Housekeeping – Week 12 Year 2

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For your easy reference, the following is a list of weeks and years with their corresponding date:

19 June 2016 – 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
20 June 2016 – Monday of Week 12 Year 2
21 June 2016 – Tuesday of Week 12 Year 2
22 June 2016 – Wednesday of Week 12 Year 2
23 June 2016 – Thursday of Week 12 Year 2
24 June 2016 – Birthday of John the Baptist

Tuesday of Week 12 Year 2

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Some of us can behave quite strangely at times. We expect others to be nice to us, to be kind to us, to help us when we are in need, to forgive us when we have done something wrong, to accept us as we are, to be compassionate and patient with us. It seems like we are concerned all about us. But what happens when it is us dealing with others? Are we just as nice, kind, helpful, forgiving, accepting, compassionate and patient with others?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us: “So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.” Instead of expecting others to take the initiative, we as Christians should be the one to take the initiative by treating others the way we ourselves would like to be treated. In this way, we are being witnesses to the Gospel, because our ultimate objective is not to gain respect or recognition here on earth by our words and deeds, but to give glory to God. By doing so, others would begin to understand what it really means to be a Christian, and perhaps join us in faith.

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

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It is interesting to observe how some people view God. Some people seem to long for a god that would bless them with riches and good fortune, that would protect them from all harm, that would solve all their problems, that would give them happiness and peace. Perhaps this was what Peter in today’s Gospel was hoping for, when Jesus came into his life. Peter had hoped and thought that Jesus had come to liberate Israel from the Romans, and lead Israel as a nation back to their glorious past. But Jesus gives a very different picture of his role, by speaking of Himself as being “destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death.” Jesus is trying to help Peter and His disciples understand that He is God who is prepared to suffer and die for us because He loves us.

What does this mean to us? It means that, to be a disciple of Christ, we must as Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel: “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it.” Whatever we seek in this world merely brings temporary satisfaction, and we can become easily dissatisfied and search for other things that may satisfy; but nothing can truly satisfy but God’s love. It also means that as a disciple of Christ, we are one in Christ, as St. Paul in the second reading reminds us: “You are, all of you, sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. All baptised in Christ, you have all clothed yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” This means that as one people in Christ, we need to help each other and together experience God’s love.

Some of us may wonder: how are we to deal with suffering? Is suffering a bad thing? No, Jesus taught us through His life example that suffering is not a bad thing or our enemy. In fact, Jesus is showing us through His life example that we all experience pain and suffering, but when suffering comes, we can either choose to complain and become bitter and angry; or we can choose to see how God can bring goodness out of this experience. Today, let us not fear or despair if we are experiencing suffering, since God is there to help us and guide us, transforming us into something beter, for His glory.

Friday of Week 12 Year 1

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When we are sick or having some sort of trouble, we would try to find help from the various options available in modern medicine. Different doctors may give us different prognosis and suggest different kinds of treatment, some cheap, some quite expensive. In our efforts to be cured, what if, after all the different medical procedures have been attempted, we are still not well? How would we respond to such a predicament?

In today’s Gospel, the leper had suffered much, since at that time, lepers were ostracised from society and had to live on their own or within a leper community, as they were considered unclean. There seemed to be no cure and the leper, in desperation and with hope, dared to venture towards Jesus, bowed low in front of Him, and pleaded to Jesus for a cure. Even then, the leper did not force Jesus to cure him, as he merely said: “Sir, if you want to, you can cure me.” The leper had placed his full confidence and trust in Jesus, and as a result, he was cured.

How many of us are like that leper in today’s Gospel, willing to have full confidence and trust in God? Sometimes in our efforts to find a cure, we may have forgotten or neglected to seek God’s help, thinking that we can find a solution or a cure on our own. But let us not forget that God can and will heal us, if we are willing to be patient and place our trust in Him. Are we willing to be humble and let God care for us according to His time and for His glory?