Category Archives: Thursday

We sometimes come across persons who seem to be good to us or treat us well, and some of such persons become our friends. We treat them as friends but do such persons really treat us as friends without any terms or conditions, or do they treat us as friends only when it benefits them or is convenient to them? Such friends are known as fair-weathered friends, who only become friends when times are good, and when times are not so good, they may abandon us, or even persecute or betray us.

In today’s reading, we come across examples of fair-weathered friends. Job’s friends had initially come to console him but they ended up telling him that he was being punished by God for doing wrong. Instead of being consoled by his friends, his friends persecuted him. When faced with such friends, what did Job do? Job responded to them by these words: “I know that my vindicator lives.” Even though there seemed to be no sign that God cared for Job, yet Job had a spirit of abandonment to God, and had absolute confidence and trust in God.

What about us? When we are faced with difficulties or even persecutions in our lives as Christians, would we be willing to follow Job’s example in having a spirit of abandonment to God, letting God take control? Would we allow such friends to influence us and cause us to ruin our relationship with God, or like Job would we persevere and trust in His providence? May we continue to do God’s will with zeal and trust, and glorify Him with our efforts and with our lives.

I sometimes wonder whether some of us have begun taking Mass or Holy Communion for granted. How many of us are properly prepared to come and participate at Mass, and receive Holy Communion properly and worthily? Do we observe important preparations such as the 1 hour fast before Holy Communion; and how many of us are regular for the Sacrament of Confession, in an effort to try receive Holy Communion in the state of grace? Do we assume that we have the right or entitlement to receive Holy Communion, come what may? Also, are we coming for Mass just for the sake of fulfilling the Sunday obligation?

In today’s Gospel, which is about the Parable of the Wedding Feast, we could pick up three important “I’s” for us to reflect on. The first I is Invitation. The Lord invites us every day to come to his banquet. He has it all prepared; but it is up to us to accept his invitation. We must be prepared to come when it is ready, instead of making all sorts of excuses or conditions. Are we willing to come with sincere and honest acceptance, at the moment he calls? The second I is Indifference. Those invited were indifferent. They ignored the invitation and went about their own businesses and works. They ignored the Lord. Just imagine, God Himself inviting us and then we have the audacity to say “No” to his invitation because we have other things to do. Have we become indifferent towards Mass and even indifferent in preparing before Mass? The third I is Inappropriate. Here, the concern is not so much on how we dress for the Eucharistic celebration, though this does not give us any excuse not to dress our Sunday best. The main concern here is more on how we are in Church: our inner disposition; whether our hearts are properly dressed. We may be physically present in church, but in reality some of us may actually be mentally absent.

The question that we need to ask ourselves sincerely is this: the Eucharistic celebration is like the Wedding Feast in today’s Gospel. We are already invited to come to God’s banquet, and we are expected to come and be properly disposed to come. But are we really ready and properly disposed to come? May we take seriously our inner disposition, lest we end up “bound hand and foot and thrown out into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”

It is easy for some of us to feel as if we are useless, or not good enough, or not capable enough, or some other reason. When we feel this way, we begin to think as if God had made a mistake in creating us, and some of us even think that we should not have been born. Some even go to the extent of having suicidal thoughts, and tragically some even go to the extent of making such thoughts a reality.

But today’s reading reminds us that we are part of the works of the Lord, and that “the work of the Lord is full of his glory.” Not only that, the reading reminds us: “How desirable are all his works, how dazzling to the eye! All things go in pairs, by opposites, and he has made nothing defective.” This shows that God does not make a mistake and each of us are special and have got a purpose, which is ultimately to glorify Him. Perhaps we may not have fully realised our purpose, so let us not dwell in pity or even despair. Instead, let us focus on God and let Him guide us, so that in all we do we give Him the glory.

How do we treat others in church? Do we treat all as equal, as brothers and sisters in Christ; or do we treat others according to the way they dress, or their appearance, or according to the their status or rank in society? In some churches, I have noticed that when a person is well dressed or has got a title or something, some treat such a person like a VIP. But when a beggar or shabbily dressed person comes to church, some may begin to form all sorts of thoughts and assume all sorts of scenarios, whether good or bad.

Today’s reading warns us: “Can’t you see that you have used two different standards in your mind, and turned yourselves into judges, and corrupt judges at that?” Today’s reading also tells us that “the right thing to do is to keep the supreme law of scripture: you must love your neighbour as yourself; but as soon as you make distinctions between classes of people, you are committing sin, and under condemnation for breaking the Law.”

The question we need to ask ourselves is this: Are we segregating and treating people differently in church? Are we not all brothers and sisters in Christ, regardless of how we look or who we are? If we are continuing to treat people in such a manner, how different are we compared to the world? Are we followers of Christ, or have we allowed the ways of the world to corrupt us?

From time to time, we may have found ourselves in a difficult or dangerous situation. When we are in such a situation, some of us may try to live in denial, thinking that such a situation is just our imagination, though the reality is that it is not. Some of us may even feel as if we have no way out and we may be tempted to give up or despair. How many of us are willing to put our full trust in God, knowing that He will do what is best for us?

Today’s reading reminds us that with God, there is no problem too big, no situation too difficult or dangerous which He cannot help us out. In today’s reading, Daniel had full confidence and trust in God’s help and God saved him from the lions. This caused King Darius, who initially thought that there was no hope or way or solution to rescue Daniel, to joyfully exclaim: “He is the living God, he endures for ever, his sovereignty will never be destroyed and his kingship never end. He saves, sets free, and works signs and wonders in the heavens and on earth; he has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”

What does this mean to us? It means that if God is on our side and watching over us, there is no reason for us to fear. It also means that we must continuously and consistently trust in God, knowing that our salvation is in Him, and not in some other form or means. Let us therefore continue to build our relationship with Him and trust Him just as Daniel did.

As Christians, we should never forget who we are and what God has done for us. When we forget who we are, we may end up doing and saying things which offend God and hurt others. That is why we need to be reminded as often as possible, especially through the reading of the scriptures, who we are and how we are supposed to live. When we read the scriptures, or when we hear it being read, are we moved with what we hear? Or have we begun taking the scriptures for granted; or even ignored its message and succumbed to distractions and attractions of the ways of world?

In today’s reading, Ezra gathered the men, and women, and children, and read to them from the Torah. He stood, on a raised platform in the rebuilt Temple, and from morning until midday read the Torah, from beginning to end. The men, women, and children listened to their story, their family history, the laws which God had given them; and they discovered who they were. They raised their hands in the air, and proclaimed, “Amen, Amen” and they wept for joy. Why were they so moved? Because they understood who they were and who God had called them to be.

What about us? Do we really understand who we are? Have we read the scriptures and finally understood what it means to be brothers and sisters in Christ? May we begin to understand and appreciate the significance of who we are, who we are called to be, and let the Lord be our help, providence and guide.

Nowadays, we can get all sorts of comments, opinions and information about certain church teaching or certain church practices. But the reality is that truth and church teaching has to be definitive and absolute. Otherwise, we may end up in relativism, where anything and everything goes, as long as it fits in with a certain culture, society, or historical context. This is why those of us who are teachers of faith and morals, including clergy, religious and even lay persons, have a heavy responsibility to ensure that matters concerning faith and morals are taught faithfully according to what the church teaches, not according to one’s preference, opinion or way of thinking.

In today’s reading, St. Paul cautions us: “Take great care about what you do and what you teach; always do this, and in this way you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.” Having an opinion or preference about a matter concerning faith and morals is fine, it is not wrong. But it becomes a problem one begins to treat one’s opinion or preference as truth, and one begins to teach one’s opinion or preference, instead of what the church teachers. Let us therefore be responsible in what we teach, and teach the truth, not what we like or prefer.

In today’s reading, “the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not believe that I could proclaim my holiness in the eyes of the sons of Israel, you shall not lead this assembly into the land I am giving them.'” If one were to read this out of context, one would think that God was not being fair to Moses and Aaron, especially since it was the Israelites that were being stubborn and difficult to deal with. But why did the Lord make such a drastic decision?

When we look at the reading, we would discover that the Israelites had been behaving like spoilt brats, complaining about being taken out of Egypt even though it was for their own good. Moses and Aaron, being leaders of the people, were supposed to remain calm and patient with the people, since God had assured all that He would eventually lead them into the land He is giving them. But in the reading, we can see that in Moses and Aaron’s disgust and resentment with the complaints of the rebellious Israelites, Moses taunted them before he struck the rock twice to make water flow from it.

It seems like Moses had reached the limit of his tolerance and patience and had only harsh and heated words for the people. Such a response by Moses was intolerable to God, as his duty and responsibility was to be God’s mouthpiece, and do what God instructed with humility and patience. Because of this, Moses and Aaron were punished by not being allowed to lead the people into the promised land.

What about us? Have we misused our duty and responsibility, instead of serving with humility and patience? May we come to realise that what God expects of us is obedience and patience, since He will know what to do with the people, and all that is expected of us is to do His will. May we not allow pride and arrogance to affect our tasks, and ultimately leave it in the hands of the Lord.