Faithfulness and Love

Category Archives: Advent 2

Saturday of the 2nd Week of Advent

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Years ago, I recall receiving an e-mail about a lady who was looking for a Mr. Right. In other words, the lady was fishing for a husband. It so happened that the lady came across a building with a sign saying: “Search a Husband Here.” Also, there was another sign saying: “You can enter this building only once and stop at each floor only once.” The building had 7 floors and the lady excitedly entered the lift at the ground floor. When the lift reached the first floor, the doors of the lift opened and the lady saw a sign in front of her saying: “Enter here for a husband who is handsome and strong.” The lady decided to remain in the lift, curious to know what the next floors would be. At the second floor, the sign in front of her said: “Enter here for a husband who is handsome, strong, and a good cook.” The sign at the third floor said: “Enter here for a husband who is handsome, strong, a good cook, and loves children.” The lady became more and more curious and excited, and she decided to remain in the lift and see what the other floors would reveal. As she reached the fourth, fifth and sixth floor, the sign in front of her on each floor revealed even more fantastic capabilities and attributes of the men supposingly to be found at each floor. Finally the lady reached the seventh floor and when she got out of the lift, all she saw was a flight of stairs going down, and a sign which said: “No men can be found here, since no men could ever meet your expectations at this level.”

Today’s gospel tells us about a Mr. Right, the right man to foretell the coming of the Messiah. According to the scribes, the prophet Elijah is the right person to prepare the coming of the Messiah, since they believed that Elijah was the precursor of the Messiah, and that Elijah was a terrible man preaching doom and destruction. Yet when John the Baptist came and announced the coming of the Messiah, somebody greater than him, the scribes did not accept him as Mr. Right. For them, John’s person and message was not up to their expectations. He preached about baptism and personal conversion, not about the terror that will go with the day of the Lord. For them John was not Elijah, not Mr. Right. Yet, the irony is, John actually turned our to be Mr, Right, not according to our expectations, but according to God’s plans.

What about us? Have our expectations clouded us and prevented us from accepting the message of John the Baptist, the actual Mr. Right, and prepare the way for the Lord? May we open our eyes, ears and hearts, so that we would be able to let the message of John the Baptist change us, so that we would learn to walk in God’s ways and glorify Him in all we do.

Saturday of the 2nd Week of Advent

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In the world, people often look at qualifications and experience when hiring a person. When a candidate is being chosen for elections, he or she may not necessarily have the proper abilities, but may be chosen because of his or her popularity or clout among important or powerful figures in the political party. Looks, popularity, having close relationship with powerful figures, qualifications and experience are some of the criteria when it comes to choices made in the world.

That is why, if we look at today’s Gospel, the scribes did not recognise John the Baptist as Elijah who has come to see that everything is once more as it should be; but treated him as they pleased, since he did not meet their worldly criteria, since Elijah preached doom and destruction, but John the Baptist preached about baptism and personal conversion, which was not what the scribes expected. But what the scribes failed to realise is that God’s ways are not their ways, and His choices need not meet their expectations. Would we end up like the scribes, expecting choices to be made according to our terms, or would we put our trust in God, and let Him decide what is best for us?

Saturday of the 2nd Week of Advent

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There are times our understanding of the right person for the task at hand may not necessarily be the right person to God. For example, we sometimes wonder why a priest is posted to a particular parish, especially where the priest seems less energetic than previous parish priests. Or perhaps some may wonder why a certain person was chosen to become the bishop, even though there seem to be other candidates who seem better qualified or experienced. But as we know, God’s ways are not our ways, and he choices turn out to be for the better in the long run.

In today’s Gospel, we come across another example of how our understanding of the right person differs from God. According to the scribes, members of a learned class in Jesus’ time, the prophet Elijah is the right person to prepare the coming of the Messiah. Elijah’s return to earth is the great sign that the expected Savior is coming as prophesied by another prophet named Malachi, who prophesied that the precursor of the Messiah is a terrible man preaching doom and destruction. John the Baptist came and announced the coming of the Messiah, somebody greater than him, but the scribes rejected John the Baptist, since he preached about baptism and personal conversion, not about the terror that will go with the day of the Lord. What the scribes failed to realise is that, as already mentioned, God’s ways are not their ways, and in fact, John the Baptist was Elijah, who came to prepare the way for the Lord.

What can we learn from this? At the end of the day, we must realise that God has a plan and purpose for persons chosen. His choices may not jive with our choices, but His choices are best. Would we still doubt His choices, just like the scribes did, or would we trust in Him and let Him be our guide?

Friday of the 2nd Week of Advent

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In society, we have certain rules, regulations and laws which are meant to be followed, for the good of society as a whole. If we do not follow such rules, regulations and laws, we could be causing inconvenience or even problems to others, because of our selfishness, attitude and behaviour. For example, if we drive our vehicle as we please by not wearing the seatbelt or driving too fast, we may be a danger or hazard to others, and the police would summon us for not obeying traffic laws. Likewise, we also have God’s commandments which are there for the good of all, so that all may be loving and responsible in our words, deeds and conduct.

Today’s reading tells us: “I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is good for you, I lead you in the way that you must go. If only you had been alert to my commandments, your happiness would have been like a river, your integrity like the waves of the sea.” God is inviting us to let Him teach us and lead us. When we are open to following God’s commandments, and be willing to let Him guide us, we would then learn to be loving and responsible as His people. Are we willing to let God be our guide, or do we still stubbornly insist in doing things our way?

Thursday of the 2nd Week of Advent

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When you go for a holiday or a business or working trip, it is generally better if you have a tour guide or someone who knows the place of destination who can accompany you. This is so that the holiday or trip would be an enjoyable one, and you would not be so easily cheated or taken for a ride. In the season of Advent, there is somebody who is ever willing to help us in our journey. That person is John the Baptist, who is showing us the way and the preparations that we need to do. The preparations consist of repentance and the conversion of heart. In the Gospel, Jesus exalts John the Baptist because he is faithful and committed to His mission in life. He is indeed true to his purpose.

What about us? Are we preparing ourselves for Jesus, with repentance and conversion of heart? Are we being faithful and committed to our mission in life, so as to give glory to God? May we follow John the Baptist’s example, and prepare the way not only for ourselves but for others too, so that we would be ready to meet our loving Saviour.

Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Advent

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When a farmer wants to plough the field in preparation for planting crops, the farmer would put a yoke on an ox so that the animal could pull the plough. Some farmers have a yoke which is designed for 2 oxen, so that the burden of ploughing the field could be shared by the 2 oxen. Another reason why a yoke for 2 oxen is used is to train a new ox, since the more experienced ox would be guiding the new ox in ploughing the field.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is inviting us to ” Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.” When we have Jesus to guide us, we would be able to go through the plough of life with less difficulty, since Jesus is pulling the plough with us. May we shoulder Jesus’ yoke, and find rest for our souls in His care.

Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Advent

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Supposing you are a rich man and you dropped some money while coming out of a building, would you go back to search for the money and retrieve it? If the amount dropped is substantial, some may go back to search and recover the money, but if the amount is negligible, quite likely it would be ignored. But if you are a poor person, any amount of money lost is a big deal, and quite likely a poor person would search and recover the money.

In today’s Gospel, we see a man who chose to go after that one sheep that was lost, even though he had another ninety-nine. For some of us, losing one sheep may not have been a big deal; but for that man, each sheep was extremely precious and losing even one could be disastrous to the man’s livelihood, and so he had no qualms about searching for that lost sheep till it was found. God is very much like that man. The Gospel tells us that “it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” Even if we have done a lot of bad or nasty things, God is always looking for us and beckoning us to come home with Him. Are we going to stubbornly choose to remain lost? Or are we willing to return to the Lord’s ways, and let Him be our providence and guide?

Monday of the 2nd Week of Advent

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When a person is paralysed, he or she 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. Some even suffer from a different form of paralysis, where a person is unable to speak or express oneself clearly and concretely, and may end up being misunderstood or even rejected. This is why being paralysed 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.

Some of us may be suffering from a different kind of paralysis, that is spiritual paralysis. We suffer from spiritual paralysis when we sin and allow ourselves to remain in the state of sin, until we become spiritually paralysed to God’s promptings. The cure to such spiritual paralysis is to be regular and consistent in going for confession, and building our relationship with God. The question is: are we willing to be set free from such spiritual paralysis, or do we prefer to remain spiritually paralysed until it is too late?

Monday of the 2nd Week of Advent

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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.

Monday of the 2nd Week of Advent

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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.