Category Archives: Tuesday

Why do people become envious or jealous? Some become so because they covet what someone else owns. Some become so because they feel the other person seems more talented or capable than them. Some become so because they feel inferior or have low self-esteem. What happens when we are jealous and envious? We become critical and judgemental towards ourselves and towards others. We forget that each and every one of us is precious to God, and we are made in a unique way. We want to be someone else or we want something which we don’t have or lack. But what do we really gain from being jealous and envious? Are we living in truth, or are we living a lie?

In today’s reading, we hear of how Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses in connection with the Cushite woman. But the issue here is not so much the Cushite woman, but that they were envious and jealous of Moses, and they used a trivial matter to express it. So what they said merely expressed what was really eating away in their hearts. Because of such envy and jealousy, Miriam ended becoming a leper and Aaorn begged Moses to intercede for them and cure Miriam of her leprosy.

What about us? Have we become lepers because of our envy and jealousy? We may not necessarily be stricken with the disease of leprosy, but the poison of envy and jealousy causes us to become like lepers, where our envy and jealousy eats away our being bit by bit, until we become monsters, filled with resentment, anger, or even rage. May we come to our senses and remove the envy and jealousy in our hearts, and learn to be content and happy with the Lord.

Each day we are presented with many choices, some good, some not so good, some bad. Some of you may say that the choice is quite obvious, that is, to do good. But sometimes, what seems good may not necessarily be so, and the choices we make would lead to certain consequences. As the years go by, we gather more and more of the consequences of the choices we make. Eventually, we take a stand, on whether to do good or to do evil, and the stand we take is called a fundamental option (in other words, an ultimate, no return, no change, option).

In today’s Gospel, Jesus cautioned us: “Just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that provoke offences and all who do evil, and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. Then the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Listen, anyone who has ears!”  Jesus is cautioning us that if our choice is to do evil, then we would need to be prepared to face the consequences. It may seem surprising, but we have seen many examples of evil being done by people over the years, since God does not force us to be good. May we be cautious and discern carefully about the choices we make, since our eternal future is at stake.

I like to watch different types or genre of movies, and one type which I find interesting is the “Thriller” or “Drama” or “Suspense” type. Such a genre sometimes gives a twist to the plot or the characters. For example, a character who appears to be good may turn out to be a crook and vice versa. Sometimes, the movie plot could turn out quite differently from what we would expect at the end. This makes such a movie genre unpredictable, interesting, full of suspense, surprising and sort of mysterious, since one could never guess the final outcome.

In today’s reading, we see an example of such a movie genre. Moses, as a baby, had been put into a papyrus basket and laid among the reeds at the river’s edge. Many of us would have thought that Moses’ mother would have been the one to keep watch, but it was his sister who did it instead. Pharoah’s daughter found the child and decided to rescue him and keep him as his own. Then the irony is that in the end, it is Moses’ mother who suckled him till he grew up and was given to Pharoah’s daughter, who treated Moses as her son. Who would have thought that Moses was rescued in such a dramatic way, and even became a prince of Egypt, but that is exactly what happened.

What can we learn from this? God is a God of suspense and surprises. We sometimes go through life thinking that things would happen or take place in a certain way, and that certain choices would lead to certain outcomes. But God does not follow our rules. He does things according to His plan, and sometimes the outcome is far better or quite different from what we expected. May we be humble and ready for whatever outcome God has in store for us, for His greater glory.

Why are some of us unhappy? Some of us are unhappy because we feel that we have not achieved much in life. Some of us are unhappy because we are perfectionists and we constantly want to do even better than before. But for some of us, we are unhappy because we are jealous of others. We want to have what others have, or we want to be the centre of attention. When this happens, we begin to find ways and means to put others down, or to attract attention from others to whet our appetite for power and recognition, as our jealousy consumes us and blinds us to what is true and just.

In today’s Gospel, we read: “A man was brought to Jesus, a dumb demoniac. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed. ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel’ they said. But the Pharisees said, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts out devils.'” The people loved Jesus for what He said, the healing He did and the casting out of devils he did. The Pharisees were constantly jealous with Jesus’ increasing popularity and the words He said hit them hard and pricked their conscience, but they refused to change and risk losing their status and position. The Pharisees had become so jealous, that they even the good that Jesus was doing was, to them, the work of the devil. How absurd! But that is what jealousy does, and the Pharisees became blind to what is true and just.

What about us? Have we allowed jealousy to control our lives? Are we not happy, content and satisfied with the many gifts and talents God has given us? Why do we need to compare ourselves with others and become jealous of others because of what we do not have? God has made us special, unique amd gifted in different ways, and let us celebrate our uniqueness and give God the glory.

Every once in a while, we hear of massive natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, hurricanes, floods, tsunami, raging fires and much more. When such a massive disaster happens, those affected are often urged to make a getaway as quickly as they can. The authorities would even give advice on where persons should run or take cover, so as to minimise casualties or deaths. But sometimes, we get people who don’t want to follow instructions or listen. For example, a massive tsunami happens and people have only moments to run and head for higher ground. Instead of doing so, some people remain where they are and even take a video of the event, only to their peril.

In today’s reading, the angels urged Lot: “Come, take your wife and these two daughters of yours, or you will be overwhelmed in the punishment of the town… Run for your life. Neither look behind you nor stop anywhere on the plain. Make for the hills if you would not be overwhelmed.” However, “the wife of Lot looked back, and was turned into a pillar of salt.” Why did she do so? The reading does not tell us specifically. Perhaps Lot’s wife had become too attached to her old life, and she looked back in regret for what she was losing. Perhaps she was curious and wanted to see whether everything would be totally destroyed. But whatever the reason may be, she had disobeyed God and suffered the consequences.

What about us? Just as the local authorities may have issued a warning and given instructions to help us get to safety, God is constantly giving us opportunities to follow His instructions, so that our souls would be safe. One instruction that we are being constantly reminded is to remain in good terms and good relationship with God, especially through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. But how many of us are taking heed of such instructions? May we not procrastinate or look back, only to find ourselves in a difficult situation, and risk jeopardising our eternal future.

In this world, some people seem to be only more concerned about themselves. They practice “survival instinct” or “survival of the fittest,” and they try to grab as much as they can. Such attitude and behaviour can lead to greed and selfishness, since not only are they grabbing all they can, some would even go so far as to deprive others of their basic needs, so that such persons would benefit or prosper even more. Could some of us Christians be having such behaviour or attitude?

In todays’s reading, we see an example of having a “survival instinct.” In the reading, Lot and Abraham had a dispute as there seemed not enough place for both of them to co-exist. Abraham was older, but he was generous enough to let his nephew Lot to choose which part of the land to take. Using survival instinct, Lot quickly chose the choice lands (in other words, the part which seemed better or richer in resources). But because of his generosity and his giving way to Lot, God blessed Abram and his land.

As Christians, would we be willing to give way to others and not let our “survival instincts” take control of us? Sometimes what we may be letting go may turn out to be for the better. Would we be willing to check our “survival instincts” and let God be our help and guide?

It is interesting to observe how generous some people are with their wealth and time. We sometimes come across people who do not seem to have much, but they are willing to offer as much of the wealth as they can, or as much time as they can to serve the church and the Christian community. On the other hand, we also come across some people who seem to be quite well off, possibly owning a big house and a big car, but quite unwilling to be generous with their wealth and their time. What sort of person are you when it comes to generosity?

In today’s reading, we come across the churches in Macedonia that were facing great trials, and yet they were still willing to remain cheerful, and even though they faced tremendous poverty, they were overflowing with generosity. The reading tells us: “Now here, brothers, is the news of the grace of God which was given in the churches in Macedonia; and of how, throughout great trials by suffering, their constant cheerfulness and their intense poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity. I can swear that they gave not only as much as they could afford, but far more, and quite spontaneously…”

If the churches in Macedonia were so generous in their wealth and time, even in the midst of great challenges and trials, what about us? Are we willing to be just as generous with our wealth and time? Or are we more interested in accumulating more wealth, and remain indifferent to the needs of the church and the Christian community?

When we buy an item or product such as a handphone or a computer, we hope that the item or product would last for quite some time. But what happens if the item or product is damaged and cannot be repaired, or the item or product is no longer usable due to advances in technology? Quite likely we would discard them, since such items are considered useless and keeping such items or products around would mean we are accumulating junk.

In today’s gospel, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Salt adds flavour to food, and light enables all to see. When salt becomes tasteless, it become useless and is thrown away. When the light bulb is spoiled, the light bulb become useless as it no longer able to produce light, and it is thrown away. Likewise, we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, and if we as salt and light do not use our gifts and talents to add flavour to the lives of all, as well as to light up the way, we may end up useless and end up being thrown away. Are we allowing ourselves to become useless through our pride, ego and indifference, and risk being thrown away?

When we have jealousy and hatred in our hearts, we can sometimes degrade ourselves into committing all sorts of despicable and foolish acts. Pride and ego can colour our vision, and blind us from what is true, what is proper and just, what is truly holy and what is fair; just because we want to win at all costs, and we want to save face.

In today’s Gospel, we see an example of what jealousy and hatred can do, in the form of the scribes, Pharisees and the chief priests. Even though these folks were enemies with the Herodians, they were willing to forgo their principles just to find a solution to get rid of Jesus. But these folks failed to realise that they were not dealing with just some ordinary person, and Jesus’ answer to their question took them completely by surprise. If we consider carefully Jesus’ answer, does anything really belong to Caesar? No! Ultimately, everything actually belongs to God. Unfortunately for the scribes, Pharisees and the chief priests, their jealousy and hatred towards Jesus blinded them to what is evidently truth.

What about us? Have we become more like the scribes, Pharisees and the chief priests or even the Herodians, in the way we conduct ourselves and the way we treat others? Let us be mindful and check ourselves from becoming jealous and harbour hatred, lest we lose ourselves and lost sight of our eternal goal.