Faithfulness and Love

Category Archives: Friday

Friday of Week 9 Year 1

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Do you believe that miracles can happen? Have you experienced a miracle before in your life? There are some who do not seem to believe that miracles happen, since they seem to take on a worldly view that science could give an answer and if it doesn’t, then they would accept the fact that their fate is sealed. The funny thing is, such people sometimes experience a miracle and become believers. Such is the power of our loving God, who does wonders for us, though at times we may not realise it or experience it directly.

In today’s reading, we see a series of miracles happening. In the reading, Anna was so full of joy of being able to see her son again that she exclaimed: “Now I can die. I have seen you again.” We must remember that the Jews were in exile in Nineveh at that time and they were facing persecution, and for a Jew to leave Nineveh safely and return safely was indeed a miracle. Tobias used the fish gall on his father’s eyes as medicine and as a result, Tobit was able to see again. Once again, another miracle had happened. Who would have thought that fish gall could be used to make a blind man see, but that was exactly what happened. Then, to top up the series of miracles, Tobias was able to bring Sarah his wife home. Sarah, in case some of you may not know, had been given in marriage seven times, and that Asmodeus, that worst of demons, had killed her bridegrooms one after another before ever they had slept with her as man with wife. But this time, God had intervened and the angel Raphael had chased the demon Asmodeus away, so that Sarah and Tobias could be together in peace.

Indeed, miracles do happen. Sometimes we realise it and give thanks to God. At other times, we may not realise it. But perhaps one miracle which we experience each day but we may of taken for granted, is the miracle of life. The fact that each of us is able to wake up every morning is already a miracle. Are we thankful for the gift and miracle of life that God has granted us each day?

Friday of the 7th Week of Easter

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Some of us are fortunate to have parents who love us a lot. Sometimes we may not necessary hear our parents say the words “I love you,” but they would go out of their way to show their love. This is especially true among Asian parents, who are usually uncomfortable in using such words, but they would show much love and affection to their children. But do we love our parents in return? There are some who have received much love from their parents when they were young, but when their parents are old and are unable to care for themselves, what happens? How many children are willing to care and love their parents in their golden years? How many children are truly grateful and appreciative towards their parents for the love and sacrifices their parents had showered on them? How many children are really willing to go out of their way to love and care for their parents, just as their parents had done for them when they were young?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus asked Peter 3 times whether Peter loved Him. When Jesus was on trial, Peter had denied knowing Jesus but Jesus did not hold that against him. Instead, Jesus was trying to help Peter come to terms with what it really means to love. Love is not just words, since anybody can just say things without meaning it. Instead, love requires action, and in the case of Peter, Jesus had entrusted the care of His sheep to him. Not only that, Jesus reminded Peter: “I tell you most solemnly, when you were young you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not go.” This shows that ultimately, Peter would be expected to love till it hurts, to love even to the point of death.

What about us? Are we willing to love till it hurts, even to the point of death? Are we willing to go through all the effort and trouble to love our parents and care for them as best we can, just as they had done so for us? Sometimes it seems convenient to just do the minimum and get on with our own lives, but are we truly being loving, or are we just trying to shirk our responsibilities? If Jesus were to ask us: “Do you love me?” the way He asked Peter 3 times, what would our honest response be?

Friday of the 6th Week of Easter

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When we are separated from our friends and loved ones for a period of time, some of us may feel down or feel sad. Sometimes the separation could be only for a short while, sometimes it could be for a longer time. However, how should we Christians deal with such separation? How many of us are joyful and hopeful, even when we are experiencing such separation?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus assures us that the separation we experience is only temporary. We read: “I tell you most solemnly, you will be weeping and wailing while the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. A woman in childbirth suffers, because her time has come; but when she has given birth to the child she forgets the suffering in her joy that a man has been born into the world. So it is with you: you are sad now, but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy, and that joy no one shall take from you.” Jesus is encouraging us to stay focused and stay faithful to Him, since we will see Him again. Instead of dwelling in our sadness, let us give thanks to God and remain hopeful and joyful that such separation is only for a moment, and that we will be with Jesus again.

Friday of the 5th Week of Easter

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How encouraging have we been to others around us? Have we noticed people around us who seem to be down in the doldrums, or they seem depressed or sad, or they seem to be keeping to themselves quite a bit? There are many reasons why people are in such a state, but do we notice them at all? Or have we become so busy with our activities or with ourselves that such people end up being ignored, forgotten or set aside?

In today’s reading, we are told: “The apostles and elders decided to choose delegates to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; the whole church concurred with this. They chose Judas known as Barsabbas and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood, and gave them this letter to take with them… The party left and went down to Antioch, where they summoned the whole community and delivered the letter. The community read it and were delighted with the encouragement it gave them.” Notice that in the reading, the apostles and elders did not just write a letter to encourage the community at Antioch, they also sent delegates to be present and give encouragement and support. It is easy to just write a letter or a few words of encouragement, but what matters more is when we offer our presence to others and give them our support as best we can. Perhaps we could make more effort to be mindful of people who need encouragement around us, and help strengthen these people with our support and presence.

Friday of the 4th Week of Easter

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Life can sometimes pose us with challenges which some of us may find difficult to cope. For example, at some point of our lives, we may be stricken with an illness, due to one reason or another. If we are in such a situation, what would we do? Some may try different doctors, hoping that modern medicine would have some cure somewhere. Some may look for traditional or alternative medicine in the hope that one could be cured. Others may seek the help of medicine men, shamans, and other forms of divination or feng shui, thinking that these may help. But in our pursuit for a cure, how many of us are willing to bring God into the picture? How many of us really do pray earnestly and consistently, asking God to have mercy on us and heal us?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reassures us: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me.” In our efforts to be cured, we may feel anxious, worried, concerned and troubled with what may happen to us. But do we have enough trust in God and in Jesus to heal us? Perhaps the cure may come instantaneously, perhaps it may come slowly, but we should not give up, thinking that God has abandoned us to our predicament. God can heal us according to His time. Are we willing to be patient and let God take care of us?

Friday of the 3rd Week of Easter

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Who would have thought that a person, after having been so wicked, mean and nasty towards Christians, could be converted? Who would have imagined that such a person could be transformed from being an ardent persecutor of the Way to an ardent promoter and defender of the Way? Some of us would have thought that such a person was beyond hope or redemption, and some would have been quite hesitant to believe when they hear that such a person had been converted. After all, news of such a person being converted could have been a trap, designed to flush Christians out from their hiding places so that they could be easily captured and imprisoned.

However, today’s reading shows us that such a conversion is possible. Before Saul could enter Damascus to carry out his evil plan, God intervened and caused Saul to fall onto the ground and became blind. Then Ananias (whose name means that the Lord is gracious or that the Lord is compassionate) was commanded by the Lord to go to Saul, lay his hands on him and give Saul back his sight. Ananias was naturally quite hesitant to do so, since he had heard the terrible things and horror stories of what Saul had done. But the Lord replied, “You must go all the same, because this man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before pagans and pagan kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he himself must suffer for my name.” With this assurance from God, Ananias did what he was told. He trusted in God’s care and providence and because of this, we see the depths of the graciousness and compassion of God, and we also see the beginnings of an amazing preacher and defender of the Way, Saul who became St. Paul of Tarsus.

What does this incident tell us? Some of us may think that those who persecute us or created tremendous problems for us would get their just rewards. But sometimes the kind of reward such people would get could be quite different from what we expect. Who knows? Such people may be converted just like Saul, and become champions of the Christian faith. We just need to trust in God’s care and providence, since He work wonders far beyond what we could ever imagine.

Friday of the 2nd Week of Easter

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Humanly speaking, there are many situations or events which we find difficult to resolve or settle. Some of us may feel as if there is little hope or we feel that we are powerless to change anything or improve the situation. Some of us may resort to other forms of distraction or solace, to try and forget what has taken place. But how should a Christian respond when faced with what some may think are impossible odds?

In today’s Gospel, the disciples were faced with a logistical nightmare, so to speak. Jesus had thrown them a challenge to feed about 5000 men (not including women and children, mind you). With such a crowd, it looked humanly impossible to provide that much food to so many people. This led Jesus’ disciples to respond in this way: “Philip answered, ‘Two hundred denarii would only buy enough to give them a small piece each.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, ‘There is a small boy here with five barley loaves and two fish; but what is that between so many?'” But what did Jesus do? He did not embarrass His disciples or leave them to deal with such a situation on their own. Instead, Jesus performed a tremendous miracle, feeding so many people with what was initially perceived as so few resources.

If Jesus could perform such miracles against the odds, just imagine what sort of miracles He has performed and will perform for us today. Sometimes we just need to have a little bit more faith in Jesus, seek His help and guidance consistently, earnestly and patiently, and let Him do wonders for us according to His terms and His time.

Easter Friday

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We sometimes forget our identity and our purpose as Christians. When times are not so favourable, some of us may be tempted to go back to our old ways, our old habits or our previous life. Some of us may even become lapse in our faith and some even stop going to church or get involved in any church activities, all because some feel as if God is not helping them.

In today’s Gospel, we read: “Simon Peter said, ‘I’m going fishing.’ They replied, ‘We’ll come with you.’ They went out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night.” It seems as if the disciples may have had some doubts whether Jesus would be with them again, or perhaps they were wondering what would be next. Instead of becoming fishers of men, these disciples were going back to being fishermen. But what do we find next? Jesus stood on the shore and helped these disciples to rediscover their identity and purpose. He helped them become aware of His presence by performing the same miracle when He first “caught” them and brought them into His company. After this, “None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, ‘Who are you?’; they knew quite well it was the Lord.”

When we are down in the doldrums, when we feel as if we are heading in all sorts of directions without any real purpose, let us be reminded that Jesus is there to help us and strengthen us. Let us not be so easily discouraged and go back to our old ways. Let us instead focus on Jesus and let Him lead us through the storms in our lives, so that we too would be “fishers of men.”

Friday of the 5th Week of Lent

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One of the things we come to realise as Christians is we can never please everyone. Sometimes even doing a good deed or a charitable act in the name of the Church or identifying ourselves as Christians could lead to opposition from certain parties, especially if such parties may have had bad experiences with other Christians who did or said things which do not reflect the truth about Christianity. As in any religion, we have the good and the bad followers and leaders, and this challenges us to be more alert and more determined to show the true face of Christianity, with the hope that such opposition would see our real intention and purpose.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus said: “If I am not doing my Father’s work, there is no need to believe me; but if I am doing it, then even if you refuse to believe in me, at least believe in the work I do.” When minds and hearts of some people are hardened, it is quite difficult to get such people to change their attitude and perception about Jesus and about Christianity, but at least we try to help them realise that the deeds we do are for the good of all, and that people would come to know that we are Christians by our love.

Friday of the 4th Week of Lent

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Each and every one of us have got a certain tolerance level or limit towards something. Once we reach that level and beyond, some may find it quite difficult to go on. Some have got a certain tolerance level towards pain. Once they reach that level, the pain may become quite unbearable that some may resort to drastic measures (such as suicide, or if the pain is caused by another, some may even go to the extent of committing murder) to end the pain, while others may turn to substances to dull the pain, and in doing so some may end up becoming addicted to such substances after prolonged usage. But what sort of tolerance level do we have towards the truth?

The truth hurts. Some of us prefer not to let others know the real us, or the real situation, and we would go through great effort to cover up the truth or sweep it under the carpet, and find ways and means to ensure it does not surface. In some cases, trying to avoid the truth could lead some of us to have malice, cruel intentions or wickedness in our hearts. Some begin to ill-treat, mock or even kill (either by actually committing such an act, or by bringing down a person’s reputation through character assassination). This is the situation the godless in today’s reading were in. They could not and refused to admit the truth, and their reasoning, common sense and sense of justice and fairness became corrupted and misguided. The reading even tells us: “This is the way they reason, but they are misled, their malice makes them blind. They do not know the hidden things of God, they have no hope that holiness will be rewarded, they can see no reward for blameless souls.”

What about us? Have some of us become like the godless, only interested in finding ways and means to protect ourselves and our interests from being exposed or revealed? Are we running away, avoiding or hiding the truth? We may be able to run and hide, but for how long? Someday, somewhere, the truth will come back to haunt us and be brought to light. As a Malay saying goes: “sepandai-pandai tupai melompat, akhirnya jatuh ke tanah juga” (roughly translated into English as: “no matter how clever a squirrel is able to jump, it would eventually fall to the ground”). Let us set aside our pride, prejudice and ego, and let God guide us to be true.