Faithfulness and Love

Category Archives: Monday

Monday of Week 1 Year 1

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

When a young man feels called to the priesthood, he has to undergo a process and pass through several steps such as interviews, several tests, journeying with the vocation director for some time, meeting the bishop several times, letter of application, etc. When accepted, he stays several years in the seminary for intensive formation which includes studies in Philosophy and Theology. The seminarian is also exposed to various pastoral experiences in different environments, including parish assignments, spending time with the poor, marginalised and less fortunate, and many other situations a priest may encounter in ministry. This is to test the young man’s physical, psychological and moral stamina, to ensure that he is fully aware and ready for the tasks ahead. Only after successfully going through these many stages that the young man may ask to be ordained.

Jesus’ disciples did not undergo such a process as we do today, but they had a somewhat similar orientation. Today’s Gospel tells us that Andrew and Simon were simply casting their nets in the lake while James and John were putting their nets in order when Jesus called them: “Follow me and I will make you into fishers of men.” They left everything in the boat and followed Jesus immediately. That instant, willing and ready! No hesitation! No ifs or buts! They had their “seminary formation” with Jesus for only three years or even less. All but one passed with flying colors and after that, they went on a super charged mission in bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the entire world.

Today we give thanks for the many young men and women who have answered God’s call, just as the disciples did, to go forth and preach the Good News. What about the rest of us? Have you answered God’s call to preach the Good News? Have you offered your lives to serve Him as His priests and religious? May you find it in your hearts to be generous, willing and enthusiastic to answer His call, and go into His vineyard, for His greater glory.

Monday of the 2nd Week of Advent

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

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 1st Week of Advent

Posted on by Posted in 1st Week, Advent, Advent 1, Monday Leave a comment

Nowadays, we seem to see more and more conflicts and wars happening around the world. Conflicts and wars happen due to a number reasons. One could be because of pride, where persons of one nation react due to what persons of another nation have said or done. Even though at times what was said or done was not as serious as it seems, pride blinds and distorts the minds of persons into reacting unwisely. Another reason could be because of greed. A nation has resources that another does not, and the other nation goes to war to try and plunder such resources. Also, some nations or corporations promote (in a discreet way) conflicts and wars because it benefits them financially, since weapons from such nations could be sold to nations involved in the conflicts and wars, for a handsome profit.

Seeing such conflicts and wars happening around us, could we ever experience the peace that is given in the vision of Isaiah in today’s reading: “peoples will hammer their swords into ploughshares, their spears into sickles; nation will not lift up sword against nation, there will be no more training for war.”? I believe we can, if we humbly, genuinely, perseveringly and consistently “walk in the light of the Lord.” Let us free ourselves from our pride, ego, greed and prejudice, and turn to Jesus who can heal the world and grant us peace.

Monday of Week 34 Year 1

Posted on by Posted in 34th, Monday, Weekday, Year 1 Leave a comment

What does it mean to think outside the box? To think outside the box means to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective.When one thinks outside the box, one is looking at issues or challenges from different perspectives, and finding creative and innovative ways to solve the problem. It also means that one is not fixated in ideas or thoughts.

In today’s reading, we hear how Daniel and his friends faced the dilemma of having to eat forbidden food. Daniel understood the situation of those who were put in charge of him, and even though such persons in charge were fearful and fixated in their thinking, Daniel was able to think outside the box, and found a creative way of going round the problem of food. At the end, the results showed that Daniel and his companions “looked and were in better health than any of the boys who had eaten their allowance from the royal table; so the guard withdrew their allowance of food and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.” In doing so, it became a win-win situation, where Daniel and his companions were able to survive without eating that which is forbidden to them, and those in charge of them avoided punishment for disobeying the king with regards to the food and wine.

What about us? Do we think outside the box when it comes to issues and challenges in church? Are we able to identify and utilise different methods to come to a solution? May we not be so fixated in our thoughts and ways, and be willing to explore new ways, so that in all we say and do, we give glory to God.

Monday of Week 33 Year 1

Posted on by Posted in 33rd, Monday, Weekday, Year 1 Leave a comment

As children, some of us were known to be champion pesterers. We would whine and beg our parents for something, and sometimes we could go on and on for hours or even days. After a while, our parents may give in to our whining, though sometimes they may not give us what we want. When we grew up and were pursuing our degree, many of us would “pester” our tutors and professors for help or better grades. Once again, we may get what we want, sometimes we may not get what we want. If you notice, whether you get what you want or not is not the main point. The main point is that you would have pestered for it patiently, persistently and consistently, hoping that you get it in the end. But when it comes to asking God for something, how many of us are willing to be just as patient, persistent and consistent in asking for it?

In today’s Gospel, we come across the blind man who wanted Jesus to heal him. The blind man said: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.” Even though people in front scolded him and told him to keep quiet, he shouted all the louder, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Eventually, the blind man was healed, because he had faith in Jesus. What about us? Do we have faith in Jesus like the blind man has? Are we willing to be patient, persistent and consistent in asking Jesus for help? May we not be so easily defeated but persevere and trust in God, knowing that He will do what is best for us.

Monday of Week 32 Year 1

Posted on by Posted in 32nd, Monday, Weekday, Year 1 Leave a comment

Life is meant to be lived with simplicity and joy. But the problem that we get ourselves into is when we allow our lives to be complicated and cluttered with sins like hypocrisy, craftiness, being cunning or scheming, wanting things only our way, and so on. We begin to think and deceive ourselves that the sins we commit are not so serious, and that we have plenty of time to go for confession to remove such sins. But sin stains our soul, and the longer we take to have it removed, the harder it would be for us to remove the stain. Just as a stain on clothing would ruin the clothing, the stain of sin on our soul would ruin us and ruin our relationship with God.

In today’s reading, we are cautioned: “Wisdom will never make its way into a crafty soul nor stay in a body that is in debt to sin; the holy spirit of instruction shuns deceit, it stands aloof from reckless purposes, is taken aback when iniquity appears.” When we allow sins to fester in our soul, we lose our connection with God, for God and sin are incompatible. That is why, we should make every effort to have our sins removed by being regular in confession, and strive to “love virtue… let honesty prompt your thinking about the Lord, seek him in simplicity of heart; since he is to be found by those who do not put him to the test, he shows himself to those who do not distrust him.” Are we willing to take action and return to the Lord’s ways, before it is too late?

Monday of Week 31 Year 1

Posted on by Posted in 31st, Monday, Weekday, Year 1 Leave a comment

Could we ever understand why certain things happen in life? For example, could we ever understand at what point a child is conceived? Some couples would have tried for weeks, months or even years to have a child, and still have no success. Yet some couples are able to have children so easily. Also, could we ever understand why certain people have been inflicted with certain illnesses? Some of us may claim that our genes and family background could play a part, but we are only speculating, since there have also been cases where persons had no issues in their family history and they had been living as healthily as possible, could still be stricken with certain illnesses.

In today’s reading, we are reminded: “How rich are the depths of God – how deep his wisdom and knowledge – and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods! Who could ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor? Who could ever give him anything or lend him anything?” If we cannot even understand why many things happen on earth, then how are we able to understand God? We could get some glimpses of who God is, but ultimately, it all bears down to faith, trust and joyful obedience. When we learn to have more faith and trust in God, even if we do not understand why certain things happen does not matter that much, since things happen for a purpose, for His glory.

Monday of Week 30 Year 1

Posted on by Posted in 30th, Monday, Weekday, Year 1 Leave a comment

If you have a heart attack and you need to get to the hospital quickly for treatment, and the day when your heart attack happened is on the sabbath, would you go to the hospital quickly as planned, or would you say, “It’s the sabbath, so I will go the next day”? Or if your house is on fire and you need to rescue your family, but the fire is raging on the Sabbath, would you go ahead and rescue your family? Or would you say: “Oh no! It’s the Sabbath. I will rescue the family tomorrow.”? Or supposing it is the sabbath and your son has been bitten by a snake, and he will die if you do not bring him to the hospital quickly for immediate treatment, would you still insist that it is the sabbath, and you would rather observe the sabbath come what may, even if it means your son will die?

These examples and many more show us the hypocrisy and absurdness of the synagogue official and the Pharisees in today’s Gospel, when it comes to observing the sabbath. Common sense would tell us that we should take action and perform works of mercy and do good things on the sabbath, since lives are in mortal danger as can be seen in the examples above. And yet, the synagogue official and the Pharisees could be still covered with confusion when such emergencies happen. What does this show us? It shows that the synagogue official and the Pharisees have become so distorted and extreme in their thinking, that it is illegal or sinful to be merciful, loving and compassionate even on the sabbath.

If we look at ourselves, have some of us become like the synagogue official and Pharisees? Are we washing our hands of our responsibilities as Christians, when there is an emergency or great need for help on the Lord’s Day? May we come to realise the real and true meaning of the sabbath, and in all we say and do, give glory to God.

Monday of Week 29 Year 1

Posted on by Posted in 29th, Monday, Weekday, Year 1 Leave a comment

What is avarice? Avarice means extreme greed for wealth or material gain. It makes the getting and keeping of money, possessions, and the like, a purpose in itself to live for, instead of seeing that these things are valuable only as instruments for the conduct of a rational and harmonious life. When a person is infested by avarice, the person treats as if wealth or material gain are all that matters, and relationship, including family and even God, become secondary or even insignificant. Sometimes a person who is filled with avarice begins to treat such wealth or material gain as god.

In today’s Gospel,  Jesus cautions us: “Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.”When we allow avarice to fester in our lives, we are distancing ourselves from God, thinking that we are self-sufficient and self-reliant. But what we fail to realise is that all that we have and own are merely temporary things which we cannot bring with us when we die. May we avoid allowing ourselves to end up in eternal ruin, and make every effort to be “rich in the sight of God.”

Monday of Week 28 Year 1

Posted on by Posted in 28th, Monday, Weekday, Year 1 Leave a comment

People become Catholics or Christians due to a variety of reasons, and after baptism, they are encouraged to live out and practice their faith in many different ways. Some do so by getting involved in different church ministries such as Ministers of Hospitality, Lectors, Commentators, Catechists and many others. Some do so by reaching out to the poor, providing them with basic necessities. Some do so by getting involved in works of mercy or charitable deeds, such as visiting the sick in hospital, praying for them, visiting prisons and much more. But what is the most important duty a Christian or Catholic is bound to do?

Our primary duty as Christians or Catholics is to preach the Good News, as Paul says in today’s reading. This means that preaching the Good News is not only meant for religious leaders, since each and every Christian is expected to do his or her part in preaching the Good News, in one form or another. One need not go far or to some remote place to preach the Good News, since even in our homes or housing area, we would come across many who may have not heard the Good News. Are we doing our part with joy, perseverance and consistency, or have we been slacking or trying to to shirk our responsibilities?