Faithfulness and Love

Category Archives: 5th

Wednesday of Week 5 Year 1

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We sometimes come across people who have taken certain God’s laws such as dietary laws to the extreme. Such people begin to focus more on whether it is “kosher or not” to eat something, or whether it is “halal or haram” (Malay for ‘allowed or forbidden to be eaten.’) But what some of these people may fail to realise is that by focusing so much on such dietary laws, they may neglect, ignore or fail to observe more important aspects of God’s laws such as love, mercy, compassion, justice, fairness and many others. They may appear to be pious in what can or cannot be consumed, or even how they look in public, only to be hypocritical in their behaviour and conduct.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us: “Can you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot make him unclean, because it does not go into his heart but through his stomach and passes out into the sewer? It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean. For it is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.” Are some of us only concerned about the externals and choose to behave as we please? Some of us may appear to be holy, but our hearts may be twisted or hide nasty or cruel intentions. Let us take heed and be honest with ourselves, and make every effort to shy away from all that drives us away from our relationship with our loving God.

Tuesday of Week 5 Year 1

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How much do we love God? Some of us say that we love God a lot. But what about others? Do we love others as much as we love God? Do we follow God’s commandments in loving God and loving others? How many of us can claim to be truly loving God and others? Or could we be guilty of loving God and others when it is beneficial or convenient to us?

In today’s Gospel, we come across the Pharisees and some of the scribes who thought that loving God means following their traditions and way of life. These people were so extreme in following their own rules and regulations, so much so that they were even willing to circumvent or bypass the true meaning of God’s laws, for the convenience and observance of their own. This is why Jesus scolded them when He exclaimed: “It was of you hypocrites that Isaiah so rightly prophesied in this passage of scripture: This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless, the doctrines they teach are only human regulations. You put aside the commandment of God to cling to human traditions.”

What about us? Are we just as guilty in making up laws and regulations which befits us, and make God’s word null and void for the sake of our tradition which we have handed down? Let us be mindful and careful not to become like these Pharisees and scribes, who do things only to appear to be good and holy. Let us instead follow the example of Jesus, who loves us all and does all things for the greater glory of God.

Monday of Week 5 Year 1

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It seems strange and unfortunate that we sometimes come across some people with quite low self-esteem. Such people think that they are not good, or hopeless, or worthless, or lacking in one way or another. When a person has got low self-esteem, such a person may try to cover it up by bearing down at others, in an attempt to hide their true self and possibly to boost their ego. Some people with low self-esteem may try to put the blame on others, thinking that they have gotten to such a state because of others. Some keep to themselves and prefer to lick their wounds and remain in their present state, rather than making effort to do something about it. Some even try to show off to others how good they seem to be, hoping to gain some popularity or recognition from others, in an attempt to hide their low self-esteem. The question is: are we not aware of how important and valuable we are? Do we not know that we are made in the image and likeness of God, and thus we should have no reason and no excuse to belittle ourselves and remain in such a state?

In today’s reading, we are reminded that whatever God had made, “God saw that it was good.” If that is the case, then each and every one of us is good, because God does not make mistakes. We are good in different ways, as each and every one of us are made to be different, to be special, to be unique. Thus, let us put aside our fears, our worries, our low self-esteem, and continue to do our best and shine, so that in all we do, we bring glory to God.

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

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What is your purpose in life? Have you even wondered why you are here on this earth? Why are you working in a particular job or performing certain tasks? Are the things we are doing, sometimes routine tasks, all there is to life? Some may feel as if life is becoming more and more of a drudgery, and they feel more and more disillusioned and tired of doing the same things over and over again. Those who feel this way may identify with Job in today’s first reading, where he lamented: “Is not man’s life on earth nothing more than pressed service, his time no better than hired drudgery?” The danger we have to watch out for is when we allow ourselves to begin to feel as if our lives no longer have any purpose and any direction. When we allow ourselves to feel this way, some of us may begin to contemplate suicide, thinking that life is no longer worth living, has no purpose, and there seems to be no more reason for us to carry on.

However, today’s readings actually give us a significant reason and purpose for living; and that purpose is God. We live because we believe in God and seek to maintain a close relationship with Him: in good times or in bad, in all that we do, in our efforts to do good and avoid evil; all these mean something special and matter only because we believe that God will be our providence and guide. In the Gospel, Jesus could have easily been carried away with doing wonderful work and helping so many people. He could have been tempted to continue doing this good work with the excuse that he was doing it out of love and compassion for the people. But was this God’s will? No. Jesus was aware that his mission was to preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God to other neighbouring country towns also, not just settle down at one place. What He wanted to do personally wasn’t important. The only thing that mattered was the will of God: and that is to preach the kingdom of God and to glorify God. Likewise, St. Paul knew of his life purpose to preach the gospel, as he tells us in the secong reading: “I do not boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it! If I had chosen this work myself, I might have been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put into my hands.” This too is our mission and our purpose in life, that is: in all things, to glorify God.

Some of us think that the devil would tempt us into doing something which is bad or evil. However, this is not always the case. The devil could also tempt us into doing something which seems good, and when we do so, some of us may begin to think that without us, the task at hand would collapse. We begin to do things for our own personal gratification, for our own popularity, to feed our ego. We begin to drift away from our true purpose: that is to preach the Good News and to glorify God in all we do. We become more concerned with what others think of us; and so we do things that we hope would make them like us. We become more concerned with what makes us happy, even though that happiness is only temporary; whether it be riches, popularity or power. If our life purpose is based on these factors rather than God, we will soon find ourselves disillusioned and tired.

Thus, let us always remember that we have a purpose in life, and that is to preach the Good News and to glorify God. Let us continue to strive towards building God’s Kingdom and not our own, as we beseech God to help and guide us; as we hear the words of the “collect” or opening prayer: “Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection.”

Friday of the 5th Week of Easter

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Do we truly and really love? Or do we merely “like” or “enjoy” under the appearance of love? Sometimes we come across people who genuinely love others and just as today’s Gospel tells us, they would even be willing to “lay down his life for his friends.” Other times, we come across individuals who love because it is convenient or advantageous to them, or provides self-gratification, but deep down in their hearts there is no love. What about you? Where do you stand?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that we are His friends if we do what He commands us. What did He command us to do? Jesus tells us in the Gospel: “What I command you is to love one another.” Moreover, Jesus has chosen us; and commissioned us to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last. Are we loving others and sharing Jesus’ love with others, just as Jesus loves us? Or are we hoarding love only for ourselves? Is our love genuine? Or has our love become more and more selfish or self-centred? We may appear to be able to hide our true intentions or true self, but we cannot run away from the “fruit” of our “love.”

Thursday of the 5th Week of Easter

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Being a Christian in this world is not easy. On the one hand, we want to succeed and prosper. On the other hand, we are reminded time and time again to keep God’s commandments. Sometimes the things we are asked to perform in the world may be in conflict with God’s commandments. If we choose to perform the task, we would be breaking a commandment of God. If we choose not to perform the task, we may lose our status, our popularity, our financial security, our prosperity, and even our lives. If faced with such a situation, what would you do?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus said to his disciples: “Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete.” What do we want? Eternal joy or eternal sadness? The joy we experience in this world is only temporary. After a while, we would need to find other ways and means to remain joyful. In fact, we may never attain complete joy. However, Jesus is offering a kind of joy which is complete. We can receive this joy which He offers us if we keep God’s commandments and remain in His love. If that is so, why do we still stubbornly insist in seeking temporary things of this world while slacking in seeking eternal things out of this world? Don’t we value and want the joy Jesus offers us?

Wednesday of the 5th Week of Easter

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Are we part of Jesus’ vine? Or have we drifted away from Him. Some of us think that we are part of Jesus’ vine, but the reality is that some of us have chosen to be apart from Him, or we have drifted away from Him due to our neglect, or due to our attitudes and behaviour. In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us: “Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing.” We may appear to be doing good or charitable things, but we could still be apart from Jesus. We could appear to be respectable people, but we could still be cut off from Jesus. How so? By looking at the fruits and motivation of what we are doing and why we are doing such things. Some of us are doing things for our own glory or for our own personal gratification, under the pretence of appearing helpful, respectable, good or charitable.

Ultimately, whether we are remaining in Christ or otherwise can be summed up in what Jesus tells us: “It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit, and then you will be my disciples.” The glory is to God, not to ourselves. The question is: are we really remaining in Jesus?

Tuesday of the 5th Week of Easter

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Suffering and hardship are some of the many things we may experience as Christians. Some of us may not necessarily experience major suffering or hardship in our lifetime, but we may experience some sort of suffering and hardship, especially in countries where Christians are persecuted or mistreated. Some countries may not necessarily cause suffering and hardship explicitly or directly, but through various subtle ways and means, Christians in those countries may still experience suffering and hardship.

In today’s reading, Paul and Barnabas “put fresh heart into the disciples, encouraging them to persevere in the faith. ‘We all have to experience many hardships’ they said ‘before we enter the kingdom of God.’” Despite the many difficulties, sufferings and hardship we may face, are we willing to persevere in the faith as Paul and Barnabas encouraged all of us to do so? It is tempting and seems easy to just run away or abandon our faith. But let us not lose heart; let us remain strong and hopeful for God will care for us.

Monday of the 5th Week of Easter

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Are we all the same? Some of us think that we are better or smarter than others, and we differentiate among ourselves according to status, rank, the amount of wealth we have, etc. When we go to a function or to a store, do we see equal treatment? More often than not, we see those who are in power or who have influence or wealth receiving special or VIP treatment. However, when we go down to the basics, aren’t we all the same?

Today’s reading tells us that “when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening they tore their clothes, and rushed into the crowd, shouting, ‘Friends, what do you think you are doing? We are only human beings like you…'” Barnabas and Paul shows us that, despite all the wealth, power, capabilities, intellect, etc. we may have, ultimately we are only human beings. All that we have, all that we are, all that we value here on earth are only temporary and there will come a time when we could lose all these, especially when we die. Thus, shouldn’t we be focusing more of what is permanent or eternal?

5th Sunday of Easter Year A

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What is more important to our spiritual growth? Action? Prayer? Some of us may think that we need to do something for our spiritual growth. We get involved with all sorts of activities, we do charity here and there, we get into different aspects of church life. Over time, we become more and more preoccupied with doing things. We begin to think that our spiritual growth is tied to the amount of things we are capable of doing, as well as the number of activities we are involved or have been involved in.

However, is action more important or the only thing that matters? Would we be branded as useless or hopeless if we do not get involved so much? In our busyness and running around doing things, we become less and less hardworking in our prayer life. We neglect our conversations with God and begin to find it more and more challenging keeping still. After all, we are so used to activities, things going on around us, that we may have failed to listen to the promptings of God within us.

St. Peter in the second reading reminds us that we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Here, we are reminded to give praise to God through our words and actions. In the first reading, seven deacons were appointed to help in the distribution of goods so that the apostles “can continue to devote themselves to prayer and to the service of the word.” When we look at these readings, we can begin to realise that we need to look carefully at our prayer life. Our actions must flow from our prayers and praying helps us to remain focused on God. Prayer reminds us that we are doing God’s work and not our own. Prayer reminds us that ultimately, God is in control.

Jesus tells his disciples at the beginning of today’s gospel: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust in me.” When we trust in God and in Jesus, we begin to realise that we cannot do everything. We realise that we are not superman or superwoman, and there are certain things and certain situations which we need to let God take care. When we pray, we are not saying that we are incompetent or incapable, but we are aware of our limitations and we trust that God, who is limitless, will do what is best for us and for the situation.

Today, let us increase our efforts in prayer and reflection. Let us let God be God and trust in Him, knowing that He will take care of things. Let us listen to His voice, and let Him take control. Let us remember that we can never do it alone, as all things are possible only with God.