For your easy reference, the following is a list of weeks and years with their corresponding date:
15 Jan 2017 – 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A
16 Jan 2017 – Monday of Week 2 Year 1
17 Jan 2017 – Tuesday of Week 2 Year 1
18 Jan 2017 – Wednesday of Week 2 Year 1
19 Jan 2017 – Thursday of Week 2 Year 1
20 Jan 2017 – Friday of Week 2 Year 1
For your easy reference, the following is a list of weeks and years with their corresponding date:
4 Dec 2016 – 2nd Sunday of Advent Year A
5 Dec 2016 – Monday of the 2nd Week of Advent
6 Dec 2016 – Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Advent
7 Dec 2016 – Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Advent
8 Dec 2016 – The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Solemnity
9 Dec 2016 – Friday of the 2nd Week of Advent
Paralysis can come in many different forms. Some people are actually physically paralysed. Depending on the severity of the physical paralysis, such people may not be able to move or do anything on their own, and would require the help of family and friends to attend to their daily needs. Another form of physical paralysis is the inability to speak or express oneself clearly and concretely. Persons suffering from such a paralysis may find it difficult to communicate and may end up being misunderstood or even rejected. This is why being paralysed physically in one way or another is certainly no laughing matter, since we lose our freedom and independence to care for ourselves, and are at the mercy and generosity of others.
In today’s Gospel, we come across a paralysed man who was brought on a stretcher by some men. These men went up on to the flat roof and lowered him and his stretcher down through the tiles into the middle of the gathering, in front of Jesus, as the crowd made it impossible to find a way of getting him in. It was the faith of these men that impressed Jesus and Jesus cured the paralysed man, based on such great faith. The paralysed man may have had faith, but there was no way of telling about the amount of faith he had, since he could not move or express himself. So this paralysed man was lucky and fortunate to have such great friends who had such great faith in Jesus.
Another form of paralysis which we should be extra careful of is paralysis due to sin. When we sin, our conscience and our soul slowly becomes paralysed, until we become unable to differentiate what is truly right or wrong, and our soul is unable to move and reach out to God. We become alienated from God, untul we may even lose all connection or communication with Him. This is why, if we notice in today’s Gospel, the first words Jesus said to cure the paralysed man were: “My friend, your sins are forgiven you.” Physical paralysis was already bad enough, but what concerned Jesus even more is spiritual paralysis, which can cripple us far worse. Today, let us be on our constant guard against the snare of spiritual paralysis. Let us make every effort to have our sins forgiven through the sacrament of Reconciliation, so that we could be able to “get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home,” and return to our loving God’s care and guide once again.
For your easy reference, the following is a list of weeks and years with their corresponding date:
3 Apr 2016 – 2nd Sunday of Easter Year C
4 Apr 2016 – The Annunciation of the Lord – Solemnity
5 Apr 2016 – Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Easter
6 Apr 2016 – Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Easter
7 Apr 2016 – Thursday of the 2nd Week of Easter
8 Apr 2016 – Friday of the 2nd Week of Easter
What does Easter really mean to each of us? Is Easter meant to be experienced in an individualistic manner, or in a communitarian manner? Are we Christians only for ourselves, or are we Christians witnessing to all in a community? Today’s readings gives us an indication of how important it is for us to be an Easter people as a community.
In today’s Gospel, we come across the story of Thomas, one of the twelve apostles. When Jesus appeared to the apostles, Thomas was not there. The Gospel does not tell us why he was not there, but we could later get some glimpses of what was happening among the community of believers. The death of Jesus had effected each of the apostles in a different way. Perhaps in the case of Thomas, the death of Jesus caused him to have disillusionment or doubts about the community, since it was one among them who had betrayed Jesus, and many of them had run away when Jesus was arrested. So when Thomas insisted on seeing proofs of Jesus’ resurrection, he did not doubt Jesus nor the fact that he may have risen. He doubted the words of his brothers, the Christian community. A week later, when Thomas was with the others, Jesus appeared and revealed himself to Thomas and to the others in the community. This time, Thomas realised that his brothers were speaking the truth about Jesus, and he said: “My Lord and my God!”
Believing in God and in Jesus isn’t that difficult for most of us. But believing in the community is different matter altogether. We often see the sinfulness, the hypocrisy and the weaknesses of others in the community, and question whether God is really present in such a community. This causes many us to stay away from Church activities because we feel scandalised by the conduct and behaviour of certain persons in the community. But the point is, no community is perfect. The Church is made up of sinners, like you and I. It is in this broken and sinful community, that Jesus continues to be present, guiding us and helping us along the way. But how can we tell that Jesus is in this community and recognise His presence in the Church? Our physical eyes deceive us as they only focus our attention on the weaknesses and sinfulness of others. We must see with the eyes of faith, as Jesus tells us: “Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
Today, let us not doubt or feel disillusioned any longer. Let us look at Jesus as our hope and guide, knowing that no matter how difficult or challenging the community we are in may seem, we have confidence and trust that Jesus would be there to help us. May we do our part and be patient and persistent in our efforts to help our Christian community to grow, for the glory of God.
For your easy reference, the following is a list of weeks and years with their corresponding date:
21 Feb 2016 – 2nd Sunday of Lent Year C
22 Feb 2016 – Chair of Saint Peter, The Apostle – Feast
23 Feb 2016 – Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Lent
24 Feb 2016 – Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Lent
25 Feb 2016 – Thursday of the 2nd Week of Lent
26 Feb 2016 – Friday of the 2nd Week of Lent
Jealousy and envy are two emotions which we need to be cautious and watch out for, since from jealousy and envy, many other sins could be committed. Envy means “to bear a grudge toward someone due to coveting what that person has or enjoys.” In a milder sense, it means “the longing for something someone else has without any ill will intended toward that person.” Jealousy means being “apprehensive or vengeful out of fear of being replaced by someone else.” This causes one to be “watchful, ” or “anxiously suspicious” towards others.
When we are jealous or envious, we could fall into the trap of trying to put other people down or even trying to get rid of them or destroying their reputation. We do such things because of our uncontrollable pride and ego, refusing to acknowledge the gifts and capabilities of others. In today’s reading, we see an example of how jealous and envious the adversaries of Jeremiah were, even to the point of plotting: “‘Come on,’ they said, ‘let us concoct a plot against Jeremiah; the priest will not run short of instruction without him, nor the sage of advice, nor the prophet of the word. Come on, let us hit at him with his own tongue; let us listen carefully to every word he says.'” Are we allowing jealousy and envy to consume us, making us commit hideous and heinous sins, all for our own temporary gratification, only to our eternal detriment?
Do you really feel at home? Do you feel you have arrived at your final destination, that place which you would want to be, or is there something more? Many of us were taught that our home and final destination is heaven, but perhaps over the years, we may have become more and more attracted and comfortable with our temporary home here on earth. Life seems so much to offer, so many interesting things and attractions to see, enjoy and experience, that we sometimes forget or doubt about our final home and destination.
We must be cautious not to deceive ourselves into thinking that this life is a permanent one. Death can come at any time and in any form. The problem is, there are people who do not want to talk or think about death. They think that they could prolong their lives by gaining more wealth, property and power, as well as depending on so-called modern medicine. But death is a reality, we cannot avoid it, no matter how hard we try. All that we tried so hard to attain will be lost to us, as we cannot bring anything we have in this world into the next life. In today’s Gospel, the three disciples followed Jesus up the mountain. They wanted to experience the event of Jesus’ transfiguration indefinitely by wanting to build tents for all of them. But Jesus refused to allow them to do so and remain at this level, since the transfiguration points to Jesus’ resurrection and the glory of heaven and is not actually the resurrection nor heaven. In the same way, we would not be able to appreciate and attain eternal life, if we put our confidence only in the present life as if it was permanent. Eternal life is to know God, to love him and be with him for all eternity, since God does not promise us a long life but eternal life. In heaven we will be able to see God face to face, without having to hide behind our fears and anxieties and God is the fulfilment of our every hope, dream and desire.
Today, let us ask God for His help and guidance, so that we would be willing and able to let go of our earthly securities and in the first reading be like Abraham who put his faith in the Lord. Let us also take heed of what St. Paul reminds us in the second reading, that “For us, our homeland is in heaven.” May we patiently, humbly and joyfully walk in the ways of the Lord, and strive towards being with Him in heaven, our true and permanent home.
Each and every one of us have got abilities and talents which are unique to us. We do not have any duplicates as we are made different and special in the image of God. As St. Paul in the second reading tells us: “There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people; it is the same God who is working in all of them.” This means that, no matter how much talent or how little talent we may have, all these talents are meant for us to glorify God, not to be kept to ourselves. But the question is: Do we see a variety of gifts manifested in different ways in our parish? Do we see God’s spirit working in our parish through the many people who volunteer for ministry? Are you using your gift for the service of the community and the church?
God has given each and every one of us talents and abilities to help the church and the Christian community grow and mature. The issue is, we sometimes fail God and the community, especially when we do not acknowledge our gifts and the gifts of others in the community. A community can only flourish if its members are able to recognise their own gifts and affirm the gifts of others. A community is in danger of disintegrating when its members are only always expecting something from others and are not prepared to give or share; when its members are constantly criticising and finding fault with one another; when the gifts of its members are suppressed rather than identified and nurtured; and figuratively speaking, when the wine runs out.
In today’s gospel, we are reminded of the story of the wedding at Cana. This joyous occasion nearly ended in disaster because they ran out of wine. Sometimes in our churches, we see the same people serving in church year in year out without any successor, any change or new blood. We begin to think that the wine is also running out as there seems to be no new leaders and no new members. In the old testament, the Israelites also thought that the destruction of their country meant the end of everything. But such thinking is wrong, since Isaiah in the first reading gives a message of hope. All is not lost because God will redeem them. This led the Israelites to realise that glory and blessings came from God alone. Only God can ensure that the wine will never run out.
So what do we need to do? We should realise that our Christian community still has plenty of chances to grow and become stronger. We must recognise that we need a conversion of heart. We need to put God back into the center of our lives. If we have become complacent and satisfied with what we have, its time to wake up. It’s not enough to maintain the things that we have or remain as status quo. The community and the church must grow, and we must encourage and nurture new leaders and new members to eventually take over; otherwise, our community will eventually die. Let us pray that our community will be renewed by the Holy Spirit and that we will recognise our gifts and the gifts of others, and how we can use these gifts to serve the church and for the glory of God.
How many of us have got steadfast and great faith that Jesus would be able to help us and heal us? Some of us say that we have faith, but when help or healing does not happen, we begin to doubt and begin to look for other ways or means of help. Some of us say we have faith, but in our minds we are already having a defeatist attitude, thinking that we are only kidding ourselves. How many of us are willing to be patient and let Jesus do what is best for us, for the glory of God?
In today’s Gospel, the paralysed man was fortunate to have friends who had great faith in Jesus. They had so much faith in Jesus that they were even willing to take the trouble and: “went up on to the flat roof and lowered him and his stretcher down through the tiles into the middle of the gathering, in front of Jesus.” This is because “the crowd made it impossible to find a way of getting him in.” Because of the great faith of such friends, the paralysed man was cured.
If people could have such great faith in Jesus and go through so much trouble to help the paralysed man be cured, what about us? Are we willing to put aside our fears, our doubts, and our insecurities and let Jesus be our help and guide? Do we not trust in God’s providence? Let us be persistent and consistent in trusting God, since He can help us according to His terms and for His glory.
