Faithfulness and Love

Category Archives: Monday

Monday of the 1st Week of Lent

Posted on by Posted in 1st, Lent, Lent 1, Monday, Weekday Leave a comment

We sometimes take for granted the small issues or matters in life. We think that such small issues or matters are insignificant or not worth too much of our effort or time. We sometimes hear of people telling us: “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” But sometimes, small issues could lead to big issues, if we do not deal with them, or take appropriate action, or throw caution to the wind and make necessary preparations. For example, you have a minor toothache, and the pain subsides. This does not mean that the toothache is no longer there. It simply means that the affected tooth is temporarily not giving you any pain, but the pain could flare up at any time, and sometimes the pain we experience could get worse compared to the first few times we experienced it. If we do not go to the dentist for proper treatment, we may experience even greater pain and discomfort.

In today’s reading, the Israelites were reminded of the many small issues that needed to be observed. These many small issues are the dos and don’ts that helped the Israelites to learn how to love their neigbour as themselves, in an effort to “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” Likewise, in the Gospel, Jesus also talked about paying attention to the many small issues of Christian life, issues like feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked and visiting those in prison. If we do not pay attention to these small issues mentioned in the reading and the Gospel, if we become complacent and neglect them, if we procrastinate and think that we have plenty of time to act later, then we may suddenly find ourselves faced with a big issue, and that big issue could involve our eternal future. Are we willing to take the risk and lose it all? After all, there is a Malay saying: “sedikit-dikit lama lama menjadi bukit” (roughly translated as: “little by little a hill is formed”). Let us do our part today, even if it is little by little, and let our God guide us and help us grow closer to Him.

Monday of Week 5 Year 2

Posted on by Posted in 5th, Monday, Ordinary Time, Weekday, Year 2 Leave a comment

Do you believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist? Do you believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist at all times, including when we receive the Eucharist during Holy Communion, when we have adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, when the Blessed Sacrament is taken out of the tabernacle or exposed and put back in the tabernacle or deposed? As Catholics, we say we do, but if we say we do, then how are we showing proper respect and decorum towards the Eucharist? For example, are we properly dressed, gone for confession to clear our sins before receiving Holy Communion, maintain sacred silence at proper times in church?

In the 1st reading, we read that “the cloud filled the Temple of the Lord, and because of the cloud, the priests could no longer perform their duties: the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s Temple.” For king Solomon and the people, it was clear that God was indeed present in the Temple and among His people, and the priests showed proper respect by not performing their duties. In the same way, we believe that God is present in the church and among us in the Eucharist, and if God is present in church and among us, then how do we show proper respect towards Him? If we are in the presence of a king or sultan or emperor or some important dignitary, surely we would make every effort to ensure that the way we look, the way we dress, our mannerisms and practices, would give honour and respect to the VIP (Very Important Person). But what about our being in the presence of our VVVIP, that is our loving God? Do we give even more honour and respect?

Monday of Week 4 Year 2

Posted on by Posted in 4th, Monday, Ordinary Time, Weekday, Year 2 Leave a comment

When we are faced with evil, what do we do? Do we repay evil with evil? Or do we put our trust and hope in God, and do only what is necessary to defend ourselves, but not with the intention of retaliating or taking revenge? It is tempting to succumb to “an eye for an eye” mentality, but what should we Christians do and how should we respond?

In today’s reading, king David was experiencing a double whammy. His own son, Absalom, had gathered enough support from among the Israelites and was now after his head. Not only that, Shimei, a relative of Saul, came along and cursed David and threw stones at him. King David could have taken these situations as an excuse to take revenge and retaliate, in an attempt to defend his kingship and wipe out his enemies, which would include getting rid of his son Absalom and Shimei. But did king David do that? No. Instead, he chose to humble himself before God and commended himself into the hands of the Lord when he said, “Perhaps the Lord will look on my misery and repay me with good …” Even when faced with a crisis, king David chose to face it with humility and repentance, and he trusted in God’s mercy and remained faithful to God.

What about us? Would we be able and willing to respond the way king David did? Or would we allow our pride and ego to get the better of us, and end up retaliating or taking revenge? May we be willing and humble enough to put our trust in God and let God be our guide.

Monday of Week 2 Year 2

Posted on by Posted in 2nd, Monday, Ordinary Time, Weekday, Year 2 Leave a comment

Nowadays, people buy wine or alcoholic drinks in bottles or cans. However, at the time of Jesus, such means of storing wine or other liquids were either totally not available or too expensive or impractical to produce (after all, they did not have manufacturing facilities the way we do). Wine and other liquids would often be stored in clay jars or in containers made of animal skin. Animal skins were particularly convenient for transportation, as they could be carried easily, were lightweight, and would occupy less and less space as the liquid was consumed.  However, wineskins required proper care and would eventually need to be discarded, since after a period of use, the leather would become worn and could easily rupture, especially if filled with unfermented or “new” wine.

Jesus uses the image of wineskins to teach us that the “wineskins” of the Old Covenant had become incapable of receiving the Good News of salvation, since spiritual blindness had festered especially among the scribes and the Pharisees. This is because the Old Covenant had been hijacked and reduced to merely following laws, customs and traditions which were manipulated and multiplied at the whims and fancies of the scribes and Pharisees. This meant that a total transformation was necessary and this transformation was brought about by Jesus, who taught us new ways (the new wineskins) of connecting with God.

If we consider for a moment, we too could be in danger of being trapped in old wineskins, especially if we allow our souls to become like old, thin wineskins, weakened by sin and spiritual neglect. It is up to us to be vigilant and careful, so that we would be able to hear, receive, and act upon the Word of God. May we take full advantage of God’s constant promptings and help in offering us his grace through the sacraments to repair what is broken, strengthen what is weak, and fortify what is healthy.

Monday of Week 1 Year 2

Posted on by Posted in 1st, Monday, Ordinary Time, Weekday, Year 2 Leave a comment

As children, some of us may have experienced taunting from our classmates or friends. It is interesting to see how we, as children, responded when we experienced such taunting. Some of us may have just laughed it off and continued to play with our classmates or friends; some of us may have felt hurt for a little while and even said: “I don’t want to friend you!”, and then later snapped out of it and still continued to play with our classmates or friends; yet there are some of us who are quite sensitive and easily hurt, and we may alienate ourselves from our classmates or friends. The way we respond could sometimes be brought forward to adulthood, depending on our upbringing, how much self-esteem we have, and how much trust we have in ourselves and in God.

In today’s reading, we see how Hannah was quite hurt when Peninnah had taunted her year after year, every time they went up to the temple of the Lord, because Peninnah had children and Hannah was barren. Even though Elkanah her husband loved her more, Hannah was unable to come out from wallowing in hurt, self-pity and resentment. Hannah could have also wondered whether God would rescue her from her barrenness. But as we would later discover, God did not abandon Hannah and Hannah would later be freed from her barren state.

If we were facing the same situation as Hannah, how would we respond? Would we be able to come out of our anxiety, our fears, our hurt, self-pity and resentment? Would we be willing to trust in God and let Him rescue us or do what is best for us? God’s ways are not our ways, and sometimes God may be preparing something better for us. It is a question of how patient we are and how willing we are to let God be our help and guide.

Monday of the 2nd Week of Advent

Posted on by Posted in 2nd, 2nd Week, Advent, Advent 2, Monday, Weekday Leave a comment

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 Week 26 Year 2

Posted on by Posted in 26th, Monday, Ordinary Time, Weekday, Year 2 Leave a comment

I believe most of us would not dare to challenge God or put God to the test. After all, we would want to grow in relationship with God and follow His ways. But there are certain beings which have chosen to go against God. We call such beings the devil or Satan and his fallen angels. We may not see them, but they are there and they are constantly trying to tempt us into following their ways.

In today’s reading, we come across Satan challenging God by saying that Job would curse God if Job lost everything he had, including his family and property. In a way, Satan was insulting God by saying that Job was only God-fearing because of property, wealth and family. But at the end of the reading, we can clearly see that this is not the case, since the reading tells us: “In all this misfortune Job committed no sin nor offered any insult to God.”

If we were in Job’s situation, what would we do? Would we still have trust in God, come what may? Or would we give up on God or curse God for our misfortune? May we be genuine in our trust and hope in God, and continue to follow His ways, no matter what happens.

Monday of Week 24 Year 2

Posted on by Posted in 24th, Monday, Ordinary Time, Weekday, Year 2 Leave a comment

When we are invited to a house for a meal, would we just barge in, go straight to the dining table and begin eating? Of course not! There is a certain decorum and good manners we follow, since the host has taken so much trouble to invite us and prepare us a meal. When the time comes for the meal to be enjoyed, we would also not just simply seat at the dining table, but wait politely for the host to seat us according to his or her preference, and wait till everyone is present and ready, and then wait until we are invited to begin eating. Surely we are not barbarians or so uncivilised as to embarrass the host with disgusting and unbecoming table manners.

In the same way, when we come for Mass to the Table of the Lord, there is a certain decorum, protocol and table manners to follow. In today’s reading, St. Paul reminds us of such decorum, protocol and table manners: “The point is, when you hold these meetings, it is not the Lord’s Supper that you are eating, since when the time comes to eat, everyone is in such a hurry to start his own supper that one person goes hungry while another is getting drunk. Surely you have homes for eating and drinking in? Surely you have enough respect for the community of God not to make poor people embarrassed?… So to sum up, my dear brothers, when you meet for the Meal, wait for one another.”

What St. Paul reminds us in the reading is still applicable even today. When we come for Mass to the Table of the Lord, we are coming for a banquet with the Lord. Unfortunately, we sometimes see some people appearing to be so famished or lack control, that they have to eat something else while Mass is going on; or they even allow their children to eat something during Mass. Surely we can train ourselves and our children to be patient and wait; and then later eat and drink as we like after Mass. Have we forgotten that we are in the presence of God, and that we should learn to wait till the proper time comes for us as a community to partake in the Lord’s meal? Do we not respect and value the Lord’s meal, and wait till the Mass is over?

Monday of Week 23 Year 2

Posted on by Posted in 23rd, Monday, Ordinary Time, Weekday, Year 2 Leave a comment

Every once in a while, we come across people who are extremely stubborn and obstinate. No matter what you say or do, such people have become so set or fixated with their ways that nothing can change their thoughts or mind set. It is certainly not easy to deal with such people, and we could only imagine what Jesus went through with the scribes and Pharisees in today’s Gospel, who were just as stubborn and obstinate in their ways.

In today’s Gospel, the scribes and Pharisees were so extreme in their ways that even curing a man on the sabbath is forbidden, as the Gospel tells us that they “were watching him to see if he would cure a man on the sabbath, hoping to find something to use against him.” Jesus was not dancing to their tune or following their strict interpretation of the law, and as a result, the scribes and Pharisees were going all out to get Him. When Jesus went ahead and cured the man with the withered hand, the scribes and Pharisees “were furious, and began to discuss the best way of dealing with Jesus.”

Perhaps we should look at ourselves and the way we lead our lives: have some of us become so stubborn and obstinate like the scribes and Pharisees, so much so that the letter of the law has become more important than the spirit of the law? Sometimes we forget the purpose of what we do, and do things merely to observe and follow God’s law, whereas we should be observing a greater law, which is the law of love. May we have a change of heart and attitude, and learn to be loving and compassionate, just as our God is loving and compassionate to all of us.

Monday of Week 18 Year 2

Posted on by Posted in 18th, Monday, Ordinary Time, Weekday, Year 2 Leave a comment

Every once in a while, we come across people who claim to be some sort of prophet of God. They start to tell others all sorts of messages, and sometimes people can be so easily duped by such so-called prophets. The fact is, being a prophet is not something which one takes upon himself or herself, and the message to be delivered is to be from God, not some message which sounds good or pleasing to others. Sometimes, the motivation behind such so-called prophets is to curry-favour or win over people who crave for good news, with the intention of gaining popularity, wealth and fame. Such so-called prophets are what we call false prophets, misusing the word “prophet” for their own ends and purposes.

In today’s reading, we come across an example of a false prophet named Hananiah. The reading warns us of the consequences of being a false prophet: “The prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, ‘Listen carefully, Hananiah: the Lord has not sent you; and thanks to you this people are now relying on what is false. Hence – the Lord says this, “I am going to throw you off the face of the earth: you are going to die this year since you have preached apostasy from the Lord.”‘ The prophet Hananiah died the same year, in the seventh month.” As we can see, a false prophet is asking for trouble, since such persons are not only deceiving others, but they would also face the wrath of God.

If any among us are behaving like a false prophet, let us take heed of the warning the reading gives us. Let us not think that God is not watching or ignoring our deeds, but stop our false ways and the nonsense we have been saying and doing. Let us repent and return to God’s ways, before it is too late.