Category Archives: Friday

What is an extremist? An extremist is a person who holds extreme or fanatical political or religious views, especially one who resorts to or advocates extreme action. In each religion, we would encounter extremists in one way or another. It is precisely such extremists who give the religion a bad name, since what they do and their way of thinking is off the mark, or out of line with what is the actual teaching of the particular religion. What is supposed to be simple teaching is taken by such people and made into complicated and radical. Sometimes, such extremists do such things to draw attention to themselves, and to attract especially the young to join their cause.

In today’s Gospel, we come across a bunch of extremists who are the lawyers and the Pharisees. These folks held an extreme view about many things, one of which is concerning keeping the sabbath. To them, keeping the sabbath means no work can be done, not even good deeds. But Jesus caught them in an embarassing situation when He said: “‘Which of you here, if his son falls into a well, or his ox, will not pull him out on a sabbath day without hesitation?’ And to this they could find no answer.” Obviously, any right-minded person would rescue his son or his ox from danger without hesitation, even on the sabbath. But when we are dealing with extremists, their minds are so warped and they have become so stubborn and obstinate, that even doing such a good and merciful act is prohibited. This is why the lawyers and Pharisees could not and dared not answer Jesus’ challenge, since they would be conflicting their absurd position if they were to agree that such a good or merciful deed is permissable and lauded.

What about us? Are some of us extremists in one way or another? Have we put people off or caused disharmony in our community with our extreme views through our behaviour, attitude and conduct? Let us check ourselves and shed ourselves of such extreme views, so that we may learn to live and love according to the ways of the Lord once again.

Some of us may have had an issue with another person at some point of our lives. When this happens, what do we do? Some of us may try to ignore the issue altogether, thinking that it would be a waste of our time to try and argue over it or get it resolved. Some of us think that the other party is definitely in the wrong and we expect them to come crawling to us for forgiveness, even though we too may be in the wrong through our conduct, behaviour and actions. How many of us are willing to get the issue resolved amicably with the other party in a brotherly or sisterly way?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us: “Why not judge for yourselves what is right? For example: when you go to court with your opponent, try to settle with him on the way, or he may drag you before the judge and the judge hand you over to the bailiff and the bailiff have you thrown into prison. I tell you, you will not get out till you have paid the very last penny.” Are we so self-righteous or conceited that we think we are faultless and right, demanding that others admit their faults? Or have we come to a point that we are not bothered about the other person, and we choose to have nothing to do with him or her, causing ill-feelings, anger or even hatred to simmer and boil over? As Christians, we pray that God would forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Are we practising what we pray, or are we saying it blindly, without meaning, just to put on a show?

Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. Different people have got different sorts of fear. Some are fearful of the dark, some are fearful of the unknown, some are fearful of strangers, while others are fearful of change. As Christians, what should we be fearful of?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns us: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will tell you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has the power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” What Jesus is warning us is that we should not fear man and the things around us, because man can only destroy the body but not the soul. No matter what happens, God would be there to care for us. However, we should fear God, not in a paranoid or erratic way, but with reverence and trust, since God could destroy both body and soul. But is God going to destroy us completely as He pleases? No. Jesus in the Gospel assures us: “Can you not buy five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God’s sight. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. There is no need to be afraid: you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.” God has no intention of destroying us totally, so there is no reason to fear, since He is giving us plenty of opportunities to grow closer to Him. It is a question of whether we want to remain in His care and love, or to be away from Him. Ultimately, the choice is up to us.

Have you ever stopped to think what jealousy could do to you, especially if you allow it to fester and control you? Some people may be quite surprised and embarrassed when they discover what happens when they allow themselves to be jealous. Some begin to behave in a silly or erratic manner, and they begin to say things which are silly, stupid or which make a fool of themselves. Some begin to waste time and effort trying to plot and bring the other person down, when they could have used such time and effort to do good. Some even begin to lose sleep and become increasingly frustrated, when others seem to be doing better or are more successful than they are, and their health is affected. But at the end of the day, why do we need to be jealous? What are we really trying to prove?

In today’s Gospel, we read: “When Jesus had cast out a devil, some of the people said, ‘It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.’ Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? – Since you assert that it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils. Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges then.'” We can obviously see that some of the people had allowed jealously to get the better of them, causing them to talk nonsense. Instead of trying to belittle Jesus, these people only end up belittling themselves. May we become aware of the dangers of allowing jealously to control us, lest we inadvertently end up by being worse than we were before.

When we associate with a leader, many of us would want to associate with a person who is destined to become even more important, or a person who has a great track record, or a person who is a winner, or even a person who can produce results which could benefit us. How many of us would associate ourselves with a person who is going to be mocked, persecuted or even put to death? According to the ways of the world, such a person is considered a loser or a person who would only bring disaster to us, and should be avoided at all cost. However, what do we Christians think a leader should be like?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us: “‘The Son of Man’ he said ‘is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.'” If we look at what Jesus just said from a worldly point of view, it certainly does not sound very exciting or wonderful, since such a leader would end up dead, and raised up on the third day? The world would laugh and claim that such a thing is impossible. But Jesus proved the world, and also us, that He did die and He rose again, as His purpose as a leader was not to gain recognition from the world, but to save us from our sins. The kind of leadership Jesus taught us is called a servant-leader, where we serve others, even to the point of death, not for our personal glory or gratification, but for the glory of God.

Today we as Christians are called by Jesus to follow His example and His leadership style. We are called to take up our cross and follow Him, for it is through Him that we receive the gift of salvation. Ultimately, we have a choice: to follow the ways of the world and its ideas of leadership, or to follow the ways of Christ, and let Him be our help and guide.

What is our purpose as Christians? Are we Christians because we want to serve God and serve others? Or have some of us become more and more interested only in serving ourselves? When we look at the church we are attending, is the church only interested in making money and the spiritual growth of the faithful is merely for show, limited or non-existent? Sometimes we could be guilty of putting a price on everything in the name of religion. For example, we have seen how some people have been duped into paying large sums of money to attend a healing rally organised by a so-called famous pastor who claims to be able to heal anyone, when Jesus did not enforce any charges for healing others. People gave out of the generosity of their hearts and not because they were being forced or cajoled to. Does the church we go to have this kind of attitude, where it is only all about money? Are we ourselves having such an attitude also? It is interesting to note that some people seem to think that they can pay their way to heaven, sort of like “cheap grace” where the more they contribute, the better the chances for them to reach heaven. Has our church and even some of us begun to have such thoughts?

In today’s reading, St. Paul reminds us sternly: “This is what you are to teach the brothers to believe and persuade them to do. Anyone who teaches anything different, and does not keep to the sound teaching which is that of our Lord Jesus Christ, the doctrine which is in accordance with true religion, is simply ignorant and must be full of self-conceit – with a craze for questioning everything and arguing about words. All that can come of this is jealousy, contention, abuse and wicked mistrust of one another; and unending disputes by people who are neither rational nor informed and imagine that religion is a way of making a profit. Religion, of course, does bring large profits, but only to those who are content with what they have. We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it; but as long as we have food and clothing, let us be content with that.”

This is where we have to honestly ask ourselves: are we a church only for the money? Sometimes we may discover that the church we go to could be only for the money, if the rich, influential and wealthy are well treated, but the poor, the marginalised, those who are not so well-off or even those who are struggling to make ends meet are given little or minimal attention. If the church we go to is treating people differently according to dollars and cents, then perhaps we should seriously consider whether that church is really a church of Jesus Christ at all.