Category Archives: Ordinary Time

Forgiveness is not something which should be taken lightly. When we pray the Our Father, we say, “forgive us our tresspasses, as we forgive those who tresspass against us.” But do we realise the implications of receiving forgiveness? Do we understand what is forgiveness?

In today’s Gospel, a master had a servant who owed him quite a lot of money. The master wanted to sell the servant, together with the servant’s wife and children and all the servant’s possessions, to meet the debt. The servant begged for more time to pay off his debt, and the master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt. But did the servant appreciate the master’s forgiveness? No. He thought he had been given a lucky break or lucky escape. This is shown by the way he treated another servant who owed him money. As a result, the servant was punished by the master for being unforgiving and ungrateful. The Gospel cautions us: “And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.” When we are forgiven for the wrong we have done, are we not bound to forgive others who have wronged us? Have we become so proud, conceited, or thick-skinned in expecting forgiveness, but so easily condemn others for even the slightest wrong?

Each of us at some point or another may have gotten into a misunderstanding with another person. Such a misunderstanding could be a small squabble, or an argument due to differences in opinion, or even a heated exchange of words. Sometimes the misunderstanding could also be due to some wrong doing committed by one party to another. When a person has done something wrong towards us, how do we respond? There are people who would ignore the person’s wrongdoing and forgive him or her (sometimes due to the fact that such people do not want to make an issue out of the matter, no matter how serious it may be, but by doing so, the other person who has committed wrongdoing may not learn from their mistake and possibly think that he or she had had a lucky escape and may not appreciate the forgiveness given). There are people who get angry or upset or bear a grudge against the other person. There are also people who begin to shun the other person, especially if the wrongdoing was especially serious and hurting, and this could lead to prolonged feelings of anger and resentment. But what did Jesus teach us to do in such a situation?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus said, “If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.” As you can see, dealing with another person who has done something wrong is not an easy or quick matter. It requires patience, persistence, firmness, compassion and mercy towards the other person. We ought to be against the wrongdoing, not the wrongdoer, and try to help the other person grow and change for the better. Have we been charitable and loving towards those who have wronged us?

Some of us may think that to be great, we must have lots of money and property. With such wealth, we think we can buy respect and admiration from others. Some of us may think that to be great, we must be highly educated, thinking that people would treat us like a sage or a wise person. Some of us may think that to be great, we must have lots of titles and honours, thinking that we could be greeted and respected widely wherever we go. However, what is greatness really?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus taught His disciples: “‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'” Little children learn to depend on their elders and parents for help and guidance. In the same way, like little children, we learn to be humble and depend on our Heavenly Father for His help, guidance and providence. We begin to realise that being great is not for ourselves, but for the glory of God. Are we still chasing after temporary greatness here on earth, or are we striving towards eternal greatness in heaven?

Are we willing to set aside certain rights and privileges, even though we may be entitled to them? Some of us seem to think that we have a right to something or we are entitled to certain privileges. When we have this sort of mentality, we may become more and more possessive of what is ours and what we ought to receive. But there are times where we could set aside certain rights as a form of showing good example or witnessing to others.

In today’s Gospel, we see the collectors of the half-shekel questioning Peter on whether Jesus pays the half-shekel. This half-shekel is a temple tax which is meant for the upkeep of the temple (after all, even in those days, nothing comes free and persons and buildings still need to be maintained at cost). Jesus is actually exempted as the temple is the house of God and he is the Son of God. However, Jesus chose to forgo his right to be exempted and had the tax paid so that his exercising his right would not be a stumbling block to the temple collectors and others. He sent Peter fishing to demonstrate that he was in fact Lord over all creation, having the power to know which fish had a shekel in its mouth, just enough to pay the tax for the two of them. Moreover, Jesus’ willingness to pay the tax shows his submission to the law of God. He told Peter to take the shekel and “give it to them for me and for you.” Here, we see that Jesus made a distinction between himself as the exempted son and Peter as the non-exempted subject, and yet still followed the law of God as an example to others.

What about us? Are we still demanding our rights? If Jesus, son of God, is willing to forgo His rights and pay the temple tax, would we be willing to do the same? Jesus, as son of God, could have easily exercised His rights, but as St. Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:6-8: “Though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.” We call ourselves Christians, followers of Christ, but are we humble and willing to follow Jesus’ example?

Some of us want to be somebody in this world. We work hard, and do our utmost best to climb the career ladder, hoping to become a VIP (Very Important Person) or a big shot in some way. Perhaps some may try to accomplish some extraordinary feat to become famous or successful. However, all these things we do or try to gain: are these things all that matters? In our efforts to make a name for ourselves or to gain recognition or power or prestige, we may in the process be losing our life, especially our spiritual future.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus admonishes and reminds us: “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?” We may be so engrossed with our temporal achievements, that we may neglect other things. For example, we may neglect our health, our family, and our friends, and one day we may find that we may have achieved what we desire, only to lose other things which are in actual fact more precious and important, but we failed to realise and appreciate these other things till it is too late. In the same way, we may lose our spiritual future and we may only realise our loss only when it is too late.

Are we aware of what is happening, or have we become engrossed only with ourselves? Let us be reminded what Jesus tells us: “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour.” Have we been behaving ourselves for the benefit of our eternal future?

Persons in authority could sometimes begin to become too comfortable with their position. When they were first promoted to a position of authority, they may have behaved in a certain way, perhaps with humility and trust in the Lord. But as the years go by, would they be able to continue maintaining such behaviour? Perhaps some may be able to do so, but what about the others?

In today’s Gospel, we see Simon Peter being praised and then given the keys of the kingdom of heaven. We do not have any elaboration in the Gospel on how Simon Peter reacted towards such an honour and responsibility, but shortly after that, we see Simon Peter being admonished by Jesus and was even said to his face: “Get behind me Satan.” Perhaps Simon Peter was influenced by the evil one to remonstrate with Jesus. Perhaps Simon Peter was genuinely concerned and did not want the Lord to be taken away.

But whatever his intentions may be, we can learn from this incident that authority is not for us to misuse, authority is not for us to think that we know all the solutions, nor is it a means for us to lord it over others. Authority means we need to do as Jesus tells us with love, patience and humility. Also, this incident reminds us that at times, we may be an obstacle to God’s plan, especially if we try to interfere with matters instead of being trusting and humble towards God’s Wisdom. Things happen for a reason and it is not for us to try and reason everything. Are we able and willing to walk humbly before God, and serve Him faithfully with trust and perseverance?

What does it mean to be scupulous? A person who is scrupulous is said to be diligent, thorough, and extremely attentive to details. A person who is scrupulous is also known to be very concerned to avoid doing wrong. Sometimes in the process of trying to avoid any wrong doing, such persons may end up following rules and regulations according to the letter of the law, and not according to the spirit of the law. A scrupulous person may be so concerned with the action and fail to be loving, compassionate, or merciful. This is the situation that the Pharisees had gotten themselves into. They were more concerned about appearing to be good and upright in following the law, that they had become cold, indifferent and calculative in being charitable towards others.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus told the people: “What goes into the mouth does not make a man unclean; it is what comes out of the mouth that makes him unclean.” Jesus was admonishing the Pharisees for only being concerned with the tradition of the elders such as ritual cleansing before a meal, but the Pharisees did not see any problem or wrongdoing when it came to words they uttered, words of condemnation, or hurtful sayings they may have committed along the way. What about us? Have we become so scrupulous like the Pharisees, only concerned about the externals, that we forget that our attitude, behaviour and way of life have become a contradiction to the values of the Gospel?

Some of us face many kinds of difficulties and challenges in life. Sometimes we feel as if such difficulties and troubles are too overwhelming, so much so that we may be tempted to give up. Instead of continuing to fervently pray and depend on God’s help, some may have doubted in God’s providence and turned to other forms of help such as shamaans, medicine men and bomohs, thinking that these other forms of help would really help them, only to later find that they are of no help.

In today’s Gospel, the disciples were battling with a heavy sea, and they doubted when Jesus came towards them, thinking that He was a ghost. Peter also doubted when he felt the force of the wind, took fright and began to sink, and Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. When we doubt, we begin to question whether God is able to help us. We fail to realise that God can help us, but according to His time. When we ask God for help, we cannot expect or demand that He will help us immediately according to our terms. Are we trying to control God? Let us be patient and persistent in prayer, knowing that God can and will help us. When and how? Trust and pray, go do your best today, and leave it in the hands of the Lord.