Category Archives: Sunday

What does it mean to be great? What does it mean to be important? Some think that being great and important means having a title or a high position in society; some think it means having lots of wealth and property; some think it means having lots of influential friends and acquaintances; some think it means being popular or famous like movie stars or pop stars. But what about those people who are not in the limelight; those people who care for the sick, the unloved, the forgotten, the bedridden, the rejects of society; those people suffering crosses without grumbling; those people giving encouragement to others; those people who bring the love of God to others; those people who witness to Jesus in small ways? Are they great and important too? As Christians, what does it really mean to be great and important? Are we great and important only in the eyes of the world?

If we look at the life of Jesus, we can get some ideas of what it really means to be great as a Christian. In today’s Gospel Jesus says His hour has come, His hour of glory. Unlike what the world may think as glory, Jesus’ glory is quite different: It is his passion and death! Why so? Because if a grain falls on the ground and dies it yields a rich harvest. The hour of glory for Jesus is his passion and death because when he is lifted up from the earth he will draw all men to himself. Jesus’ glory is not what the world thinks as glorious because the world does not see as God sees. Who would have thought that Jesus would have to suffer? Yet as the second reading reminds us, “He learnt to obey through suffering; but having been made perfect, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation.” This is greatness, not quite what the world sees as greatness, but greatness in God’s eyes. It is for each and every one of us Christians to follow, as the Gospel reminds us: “Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life. If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too. If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.”

The question is: are we still looking for greatness in this world, greatness which is only temporary, an illusion? Or have we begun looking for greatness which is eternal? Sometimes we give glory to what seems strong and powerful, but God does not look at appearances, God looks at the heart. Do we give glory to what appears great or do we give glory to what truly is great? Let us not be complacent into thinking of what seems great but in reality is not so, but humbly, earnestly and consistently strive to discover the real meaning of greatness, and glorify God.

Every now and then. we come across people who do not seem to feel good about themselves. Such people seem to think that they are not good enough, not smart enough, not handsome or pretty enough, not loving enough, not talented enough or not capable enough. When these people think and feel this way, they are suffering from low self-image and low self-esteem. They are unable to accept themselves for who they are, even though in reality they are doing just fine. Some even begin to be critical of others or constantly find fault in others, thinking that by doing so, they would be able to boost their ego and self-esteem. But such efforts would only end up in failure, because these people would become more and more alienated from others, or others may avoid or shun them.

But if we consider for a moment what today’s readings and Gospel tells us, we are actually much loved and appreciated. We are so loved and appreciated that, as the Gospel tells us: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life. For God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved.” Moreover, St. Paul remind us in the second reading: “We are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live it.” Imagine that… we have a God who loves us so much that He sent His son to save us. We are not just any other old thing or useless or hopeless, but we are God’s work of art. With such assurance from God, why do we still need to look for other forms of assurance?

Since God loves us so much and we are His works of art, then we should making every effort to stop sinning. When we sin, we are actually lacking of belief in God’s love for us. When we sin, we believe that God’s love for us is not enough and we doubt His love for us. When we sin we are actually calling God a liar, since we claim that there is something more than what God can give to us.

So let us not be so concerned about looking for acceptance from others, from our peers, from our families, friends and loved ones. No matter how much we do things for others or say nice things to others, we will never be able to please everyone, and we may end up miserable and unhappy. We also do not need to try and please God by trying to be more prayerful or by merely trying to follow the commandments, since as St. Paul reminds us in the second reading: “It is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit.” Instead, we should learn “to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live it.” All that we say or do should not be to win admiration or approval from others, or we hope to win admiration or approval from God, but because we know that God loves us and all that we say and do is ultimately for His greater glory.