Category Archives: Sunday

Before we begin a task or make a trip for a holiday, many of us like to plan ahead and make the necessary preparations and arrangements, so that the task could be completed successfully, or we would be able to reach our destination safely and enjoy the holiday without problems. We would scrutinise our options and some of us would go through the details over and over again, with the hope that whatever we have planned would be smooth sailing. Some of us would even come up with contingency plans should our original plan be ridden with sudden surprises or other issues which may crop up along the way. However, life is such that even the best plans we make could sometimes turn out quite differently than what we had expected. We may eventually get what we hope to achieve, or to where we want, but not quite the way we want.

In today’s Gospel, we read of how Jesus’ plans were diverted by two different individuals who were in need. In the Gospel, Jesus had crossed in the boat to the other side, and He was about to begin preaching, teaching and healing, when He was interrupted by Jairus, the synagogue official, who pleaded with him to see his daughter who was “desperately sick.” Before we go further, just imagine you were in Jesus’ shoes… How would you have responded, especially with the crowd waiting eagerly and expectantly for you? Some of us may have said: “I am a little tied up with these folks at the moment. Could I come later?” Perhaps some of us may have said: “Just look at this crowd! I can’t just leave them here. Maybe next time?” But did Jesus respond to Jairus in any of these ways? No. Instead, Jesus got up without hesitation and followed Jairus to his house.

Then, while Jesus was making his way to Jairus’ house, a woman who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years touched His cloak. Jesus was immediately aware that power had gone out from him, turned round in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ Of course, anyone could have touched Jesus as the crowd was so big and was pressing round Him, but Jesus continued to look all round to see who had done it. Once again Jesus was distracted from His plan to go to Jairus’ house, and was kind and gave encouragement to the woman, when she came forward to admit the truth. Before Jesus could make His way to Jairus’ house after sending the woman off in peace, news came from Jairus’ house that his daughter had died. Some of us may have thought that it is too late, and we may have said “why put the Master to any further trouble?” But as far as God is concerned, it is never too late. Jesus still went on, reached Jairus’ house, raised the girl from the dead and returned her to her family.

What do these stories mean to us? These stories tell us that God always has time for us. God is never too busy to hear and notice the prayers and plea of every single person even when everyone else does not seem to notice, or are not bothered, or are too busy or preoccupied with their own matters. God is not so inflexible that he does not make changes at times in order to help us and guide us.

What about us? Are we able and willing to follow God’s example and make ourselves available to others who need our time and our help? Or have we become so individualistic, calculative and selfish with our time, that our needs and wants take precedence over others? God gives life; not causes death. He is our comforter and healer; not the cause of our suffering and pain. May we too be life-giving and bring comfort and healing to others, as we grow in relationship with God and with our fellow pilgrims here on earth.

Life sometimes throws us a hurdle or a difficult situation which seems to have no solution or no way out. Some may feel as if their lives are crumbling to dust, or everything seems to be falling apart. Some feel as if they are in a boat which is being bombarded by waves at all sides, that it is close to being ripped apart or to the point of sinking; or some feel as if they are in a airplane being swayed dangerously around, to the point of almost stalling and falling from the sky. When we are in such a predicament, some of us may begin to question whether God really takes notice or cares. There are some of us who turn to God only at the moment of our need, when we are stuck in a rut or in a hopeless situation, but we may have forgotten about Him at other times, especially when times are good or when we are ok. On the other hand, some of us may be so overwhelmed by our problems that we have forgotten about God and we blame Him for deserting us. We accuse Him of doing nothing to help us and we are angry with Him because He does not seem to be helping us out according to our terms and our expectations. But the question is: is God answerable to us? Does He have to quickly rush to our aid without delay?

In today’s readings, we are reminded that no matter how big the problem, no matter how great the obstacle, no matter how hopeless the situation may seem, we will not be overwhelmed by it. This is because, as the second reading reminds us: “The love of Christ overwhelms us when we reflect that if one man has died for all, then all men should be dead; and the reason he died for all was so that living men should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised to life for them.” When we have Christ’s overwhelming love, we no longer need to fear or be overwhelmed by other matters, since our lives are under His care and benevolence. Likewise, in the Gospel, Jesus admonishes us just as He admonished His disciples: “Why are you so frightened? How is it that you have no faith?” Jesus is the Lord of the storm and the seas; and the Lord of every problem, obstacle or situation that we may encounter, and He can help us if we allow him to be our Lord.

When we are faced with a problem or a difficult situation, we must allow Jesus to be our Lord and let Him give direction to our lives. The problem is: it is never easy for us to give up control, we want to take charge, we are reluctant or refuse to let go and let God take over. We continue to want to have control over the boat of our lives, even though we know that our efforts would not work out or even lead to disaster. But the fact of the matter is: do we want to remain in a vicious cycle, where we remain stubborn and try to face the situation or problem on our own, expecting God to get us out of our mess, only to end up angry and disappointed when it seems as if He is not helping? Or are we willing to let Jesus to take control, since it is He who must give directions and lead us according to His terms and for His glory; not we who give Him directions on what to do?

Sometimes the problem may seem to worsen, or we may have to live with the problem for the rest of our lives. But whatever the outcome may be, we must trust that God will take care of everything and provide us with what we need. Ultimately, it is His will be done, not our will be done. And if we are willing to accept God’s will and let Him be our guide and help, then there is no need for us to be disappointed, angry or fearful, since we can depend on God to do what is best for us. Are we willing and prepared to let God be God, and be comforted and cared for in His loving embrace?

Many of us have experienced problems in one form or another. We often fail to view problems from the proper perspective and thus fail to come up with solutions, because we are either too close to the problem, are ourselves involved and muddled in it or we are the problem. In dealing with our problems, our perspective can be widened if we realise that God has intervened and helped resolve problems throughout human history. This way, we can view things from God’s perspective.

In today’s Gospel, we read about the Parables of the Growing Seed and the Mustard Seed. The first tells us that the Reign of God will definitely come about as its seed grows to maturity, while the second teaches that God’s Reign, though of humble beginnings, is destined for greatness. God’s Reign is one of truth, justice, love, and peace. But what we often see and experience in life is the opposite. Everything seems to have a price, including truth and justice. Whose truth eventually prevails, in the media or the courts, is sometimes based on who paid more or who has the power or political clout. Justice seems to favour the rich and powerful. Love? There is so much hatred between husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, neighbours, different groups and peoples. This begs the question: Does peace really and truly exist?

There is one thing though about God’s Reign that we should be conscious of: it is already here but at the same time, not quite yet. It is already here because Christ had established it with His coming. Not quite yet, because truth, justice, love, and peace have yet to spread completely throughout all aspects of human life. God is continually at work and in due time His Reign will be established in its fullness. But we should not think that we can rest on our laurels or be complacent, since we too have our part to play in establishing God’s Reign, since we are God’s cooperators in His work. If we want truth to prevail, we need to plant the seed of truth. We want justice and love, we also need to plant their seeds. But once planted, we must water and fertilise them as well as clear them of weeds. If there is truth, justice and love, then peace is not too far away since these three are connected. In short, we must first live and practise the values of the Kingdom before we can convincingly ask others to do the same. Moreover, God wants us to have patience. We cannot expect that just because we have set ourselves to do God’s work, because we have planted the seeds of truth, justice, love and peace, then the world will change immediately and automatically. Like a seed, things take time to grow and need to be nurtured. There will be pains, challenges, difficulties and sorrows. But like God, we must be patient before the harvest.

All this points to the fact that we have indeed a big and substantial task ahead of us. But we must do our part and start somewhere: at home, in school, at our workplace, in our community. As we do our part, let us be patient. In His own time, God will bring our work, His work, to fruition.