Category Archives: Christmas Season

“There is no more wine,” Mary says to her Son. It is neither a demand nor even a request. It is just a description of the situation at hand, which could turn out to be quite an embarrassing situation for the newly weds, and especially for the master of feast who ought to have been on top of things. She does not put Jesus in a spot. Nor does she pester Him to perform a miracle. She gives Jesus space to think and decide. She is very prudent, wise and considerate. Not only that, she knows her Son deep in her heart. Acting on her mother’s instinct at the first sign of Jesus’ willingness to deal with the situation, she immediately instructs the servants. “Do whatever he tells you,” and she does not interfere further.

Mary’s intercession clearly illustrates her role as our mediator to the Lord. She brings people to her Son and she lets Him take it from there. It also highlights her profound faith in Him – knowing fully well that whatever He tells us is wise, good, and just. When we pray and ask for Mary’s intercession, let us pray with confidence and be ever ready to “Do whatever he tells you,” so that whatever we pray for will be to do His will and glorify His name.

It is very easy for us to get caught up with praying for all kinds of needs and wants, and we make much effort to pray persistently, asking God to grant our prayers. However, when our prayers are not answered, do we reflect on why our prayers are not answered? Or do we begin to think that God is not interested in our prayers, or even think that God is being very selective with answering prayers? Would some of us even give up trying to pray altogether, and turn to other so called deities for help?

In today’s reading, we are reminded: “We are quite confident that if we ask the Son of God for anything, and it is in accordance with his will, he will hear us.” Notice that the reading does not say that our prayers will be answered come what may, but if “it is in accordance with his will.” This clearly shows that we need to pray in such a way that our prayer would jive with God’s will, not our will. After all, when we pray the Our Father, we say: “Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done” and not “my Kingdom or my will.” May we learn to pray earnestly to do God’s will, and give Him the glory.

Throughout our lives, we would have overcome many kinds of challenges and hurdles. There are also many other challenges and hurdles which we may still be trying to overcome or have yet to overcome, and one of which is avoiding sin. We face many temptations in life, some obvious, some so subtle, that we need to constantly discern whether a particular action or certain words could lead us or others to sin.

In today’s reading, we are reminded: “Who can overcome the world? Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God… God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son; anyone who has the Son has life, anyone who does not have the Son does not have life.” When we have life in Jesus, then we would have much help in overcoming sin, since Jesus has given us life. If we have found that we have been drifting away from God, or neglecting our life in Jesus, may we come to realise our situation, and return to life in Jesus, walking in His ways and growing in relationship with Him, for the betterment of our eternal future.

Some of us may have been quite judgmental others just by looking at them or hearing about them. Sometimes what we see or hear could have been coloured with prejudiced eyes and ears, and unless we are open to the promptings of God’s spirit, we may fail to discover and appreciate another person’s character, talent and capabilities.

In today’s Gospel, Nathanael did not initially have a good impression of Jesus or Nazareth. Hearing that Jesus was from Nazareth, he asked, “What good can come out of Nazareth?” He said this because Nazareth was a small, insignificant place, and to the Jews, it seemed unlikely that the Messiah would come from there. Nathanael was not despising Jesus or even Nazareth for that matter, but he was just being frank and straightforward, and Jesus recognised that in Nathanael when He said that Nathanael was incapable of deceit. Not only that, Jesus saw that Nathanael was sincere and that he awaited for the coming of the Messiah, since Nathanael was found “under the fig tree,” at prayer and open to the Lord. Eventually, Nathanael was humble and open enough to recognise Jesus as the Son of God and the King of Israel.

What about us? Would we be able to see or hear without prejudice? We may have had not quite a good impression of someone initially, because of what we may heard about the person or where the person came from. Let us pray that, like Nathanael, we would eventually see the good in others, just as Jesus sees the good in each of us.

Some people can be quite possessive when it comes to certain things or even persons. In such situations, these persons may find it quite difficult to share or let go. Sometimes such persons would cling on to such things or persons as if their lives depended on it, and it is certainly not easy to live with such persons, because they can be domineering or controlling towards others. But the question is: how long can one really be possessive? Sooner or later, we would lose the item or person due to one reason or another. What would happen to us then, if we are such persons?

In today’s Gospel, “As John stood with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God.’ Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus.” John could have been possessive towards his two disciples and prevent them from going to Jesus, but John recognised that Jesus is the master, and that Jesus must increase and he must decrease. So, John let his two disciples go, knowing and trusting that they would be in good hands.

What about us? Would we be willing and able to let go of the things or persons we are possessive towards? Would we be willing to be detached of such things and persons, and leave them to God? May we, like John, point others to Jesus, and offer them to God for His glory.

As Christians, what do we really believe in? We say that we believe in Jesus, but do we really know who Jesus is? Some Christians had fallen into heresy in the past, when they began to think of Jesus as only a man, or only God, whereas Christians believe that Jesus is both man and God, and that He is Son of God. If we call ourselves Christians, then we not only believe in Jesus, but we also have life in Him and we do what He tells us. Are we following Jesus and His ways, or have we drifted away from Him and are doing our own thing?

In today’s reading, we are reminded: “God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son; anyone who has the Son has life, anyone who does not have the Son does not have life.” Do we have life in Jesus? Or have we allowed sin to rule our lives, and allowed ourselves to go astray? May we come to realise our situation, and return to life in Jesus, walking in His ways and growing in relationship with Him, for the betterment of our eternal future.

Some of us seem to be using the word love so easily without meaning it or understanding its meaning. When we say we ‘love,’ we may be actually saying that we ‘like.’ Some of us love because there is a condition, or strings attached, or there is something we can get out of it. But how many of us are able to love unconditionally, the way God loves us unconditionally? How many of us are willing and able to love those who are difficult to love, those who are our enemies?

In today’s reading, we are told that refusing to love makes us murderers. The reading tells us: “This is the message as you heard it from the beginning: that we are to love one another; not to be like Cain, who belonged to the Evil One and cut his brother’s throat; cut his brother’s throat simply for this reason, that his own life was evil and his brother lived a good life. You must not be surprised, brothers, when the world hates you; we have passed out of death and into life, and of this we can be sure because we love our brothers. If you refuse to love, you must remain dead; to hate your brother is to be a murderer, and murderers, as you know, do not have eternal life in them.”

When we refuse to love, we are dead to the needs of others and dead to our relationship with them. We begin to think only of ourselves and become oblivious to others. We become like murderers, since we are no longer bothered or concerned about others, and we may find ways and means to protect our image, our interests, and feed our pride and ego, even to the point of actually committing murder. This is why as Christians, we may at times be at odds with the ways of the world and the world would hate us, since the world often focuses only on the self, and others or things are merely to be used, abused, exploited and discarded. May we stay alert and be cautious not to fall into the Evil One’s trap, but learn to truly love just like God truly loves all of us.

What sort of life are we living at present? Are we living life according to God’s ways? Or are we living life according to the ways of the world? While it is necessary for us to make a living in this world, we sometimes come into conflict with certain practices or policies which could cause us to sin. If we are faced with such a situation, would we continue to do what we are told and commit sin, or would we be courageous enough to avoid sin? It is certainly not an easy decision, but what is it that really matters to us in the end?

In today’s reading, we are reminded: “My children, do not let anyone lead you astray: to live a holy life is to be holy just as he is holy; to lead a sinful life is to belong to the devil, since the devil was a sinner from the beginning.” In the reading, we are given a choice to live a holy life and grow in relationship with God, or to live a sinful life and distant ourselves from God. Ultimately, may we choose wisely for our eternal future is at stake.