Category Archives: Thursday

I used to occasionally visit an elderly man who was homebound to give him Anointing of the Sick and Holy Communion. He was frail and bedridden but I observed that whenever he noticed I came, he would gather whatever strength he could to sit down for Holy Communion. One important thing that I noticed about him was he never complained why he was suffering; never did I hear him complain about anything. He carried his suffering without questioning God. Perhaps he knew that to suffer was part of him being a disciple of Jesus. Eventually, the elderly man died.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus told Peter and the disciples that He must undergo suffering to accomplish His mission and Peter reacted with indignation. Perhaps Peter could not accept the fact that a powerful and influential person like Jesus would suffer. Perhaps Peter thought that Jesus was immune to suffering. But the reality is that Jesus was not exempted from suffering, and He went through it for it was part of His destiny and mission.

What about us? Would we follow the elderly man’s example, and especially Jesus’ example, in taking suffering as part of being a disciple? Would we be humble and willing to embrace whatever suffering that may come our way, to witness to Jesus and to give glory to God?

I sometimes come across people who can come up with lots of suggestions and ideas, but the interesting thing is when such persons are asked whether they can follow through with such suggestions and ideas, they suddenly back away or give all sorts of excuses. For example, I sometimes hear of people saying that the priest should make more time for house visits, but when asked whether such persons are willing to help the priest identify houses which may need such visits, and where possible accompany the priest to such houses, such persons suddenly back down from their suggestions.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus said to his disciples, “It is not those who say to me, “Lord, Lord,” who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.” As Christians, are we merely making suggestions without taking ownership of them, or making a commitment to follow through such suggestions? Are we merely, as the Gospel says, saying “Lord, Lord,” and refusing to do our part in sharing the Good News? May we walk the talk, not just utter words, since action speaks louder than words.

It seems strange that each of us would go through much effort to smell good. We would bathe regularly, put on sweet-smelling perfume, and maintain good personal hygiene, so that we would not have embarrassing body odour or emit a stench. But how many of us are just as diligent in ensuring that our soul would “smell good,” so to speak? When we sin, we are actually causing our soul to become dirty, and when we neglect to clean our soul by going for confession regularly, our soul may eventually have embarrassing “soul” odour or emit a stench.

In today’s reading, we are reminded: “Do not say, “I have sinned, and what happened to me?” for the Lord’s forbearance is long.” At the same time, the reading also warns us “not to delay our return to the Lord, do not put it off day after day, for suddenly the Lord’s wrath will blaze out” and it will be disastrous for us. May we be mindful and hardworking in keeping our soul clean, and make effort to follow God’s ways, so that we would be better prepared to face Him when He calls us.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They respond to Him mentioning various prophets that represent important aspects of His mission, but nothing really captures who He really is. Instead of the kind of messiah the disciples thought Jesus was, Jesus tells them that He “must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days.” This was something which Peter found difficult to accept. In his mind, he thought that Jesus would be some champion who would save the Jews from unjust authorities; not a suffering and dying Jesus. For this, Peter was criticised harshly by Jesus, even addressed as “Satan”, for he was “thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

What about us? Some of us try to think of Jesus in good terms, but the reality is that Jesus came to save us from our sins, and also to teach us how to live as God intended, not according to our own way or our expectations. Are we willing to set aside our thoughts and expectations, and understand and do what God expects of us?

Going forth and preach the Good News is a command Jesus has given to each and every one of us. This command is not to be taken lightly, as it is one of great urgency and importance. Today’s Gospel reminds us of this great urgency and importance: “Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs giving them authority over the unclean spirits. And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses. They were to wear sandals but, he added, ‘Do not take a spare tunic.'”

Since we are called to go forth and preach the Good News, we should not allow ourselves to become distracted with all sorts of needs and wants, and lose our focus and concentration in our duty. Instead, we should depend on God’s providence, so that we can be effective in bringing Jesus’ message to others. Are we willing to trust in God’s care and providence, and be faithful in our duty in preaching the Good News?

One reality of doing God’s work or preaching the Good News is that we may face much opposition and persecution, even the possibility of being put to death. When we are faced with such opposition and persecution, what do we do? Do we slowly lose our zeal or even give up in our efforts? Do we run away and go only to places which seem safe or where we feel accepted? Do we pick and choose where we want to serve? Or are we willing to serve fervently and with much zeal, come what may?

In today’s reading, 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? May we continue to do God’s will with zeal and trust, and glorify Him with our efforts and with our lives.

It is easy for some of us to become attracted and distracted by so called church teaching from various other sources. We sometimes lose focus on what is true, genuine church teaching, because the teaching we read or hear from such other sources appears to come from some so-called authoritative figure, or the teaching itself seems appealing to us, or such teaching seems to satisfiy our interpretation of what being church and being a follower of Christ means. But how do we know for certain whether such teaching is genuine or bona fide?

One way of ensuring that such church teaching is genuine is to read or hear such teaching from certified or official sources, and such teaching should jive or flow from the apostles, as St. Paul reminds us in today’s reading: “Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, the gospel that you received and in which you are firmly established; because the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you – believing anything else will not lead to anything.” As we can read, St. Paul is telling us that he is the genuine authoritative figure, instead of listening to so called other authoritative figures who may only lead us astray.

So what does this mean to us? It means that we must be prudent and discern what we read or hear, and scrutinise the source of such teaching. This is to ensure that we do not lose our way in our faith, and we should also guide others so that they too will not lose their way. May we make every effort to ensure we read and hear only true and genuine teaching, and share such genuine teaching to all.

In today’s reading, the prophet Amos kept warning the Israelites of the impending doom which would happen to them if they did not change their ways and return to the Lord’s path. But Amaziah the priest of Bethel, influenced the king of Israel into thinking that the prophet Amos was a fraud, a fake and a troublemaker. Not only that, Amaziah dared to challenge and chase away the prophet Amos, by saying: “Go away, seer; get back to the land of Judah; earn your bread there, do your prophesying there. We want no more prophesying in Bethel; this is the royal sanctuary, the national temple.” By saying so, Amaziah was convinced that God would not allow anything to happen to the nation and to the temple, since he believed that God was with the nation and resided in the temple. But what Amaziah failed to realise is that it was God who had sent the prophet Amos to warn the Israelites, and that God was not confined only to the temple.

What can be learn from this? When we are proud and egoistic, we fail to listen and take heed of God’s voice and warning. We begin to think that we are ok and nothing will happen to us. But we may realise when it is too late, that we had been only fooling ourselves into complacency and a false sense of security. May we learn to walk humbly in God’s ways, take heed of His promptings, and let Him be our guide.