For your easy reference, the following is a list of weeks and years with their corresponding date:
8 March 2015 – 3rd Sunday of Lent Year B
9 March 2015 – Monday of the 3rd Week of Lent
10 March 2015 – Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Lent
11 March 2015 – Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Lent
12 March 2015 – Thursday of the 3rd Week of Lent
13 March 2015 – Friday of the 3rd Week of Lent
Some of us seem to be great runners. Some of us run away from responsibilities; some run away from commitments; some run away from relationships for some reason or another; some run away from the hurt or pain one is experiencing and try to find alternatives to help forget or reduce the hurt or pain; some even run away from God. But how long can we really run away? Eventually, we will need to face reality and the truth, and come to terms with what we are trying to run away from. What would we do then, when we are unable to run anymore?
In today’s reading, God beckoned Israel: “Israel, come back to the Lord your God; your iniquity was the cause of your downfall. Provide yourself with words and come back to the Lord. Say to him, ‘Take all iniquity away so that we may have happiness again and offer you our words of praise…’ Let the wise man understand these words. Let the intelligent man grasp their meaning. For the ways of the Lord are straight, and virtuous men walk in them, but sinners stumble.” When Israel was running in circles and running away from God, they faced many challenges and hardship because of their stubbornness and iniquity. But God did not give up on them; God continued to call them to come back to Him, to stop running away and be happy again in His love and care. In the same way, God is calling us to come back to Him, to stop running away and be happy again in His love and care. Why are we still running away and remaining fearful and stubborn? Don’t we want to experience the true happiness that God offers us?
Pride can be the downfall of many. When a person becomes proud, he or she slowly begins to lose the ability to reason, to accept mistakes and correction, to change, to forgive and seek forgiveness, and even to love unconditionally. People who gradually become proud begin to think that only their ways or thoughts matter, and others are perceived as a threat or unwanted competition. Such people may begin to find ways and means to put others down, or belittle them, or in some cases even to the point of committing ‘assassination’ of character or taken to the extreme, having the other killed so as to protect one’s interest. Such is the danger of being consumed with pride, that other sins and vile acts could begin to occur.
In today’s Gospel, we come across some people who have become so proud of themselves, their ways, and their capabilities, that Jesus was seen as a threat to them. They just could not accept Jesus or His teachings and everything Jesus did was seen as bad or threatening to them. Such people even went to the extent of saying: “It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.” A normal, sane, and thinking person would not associate the devil casting our devils, since such utterance is illogical, absurd and makes one look and sound foolish. But herein lies the problem: when a person is proud; jealousy and anger creeps in when one believes that one’s status or ability is being challenged. In response to their silly statements, Jesus admonished these people, saying: “Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? – Since you assert that it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils. Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges then. But if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you.” But were these people willing to see error in their ways? No, pride had already coloured their vision, and they preferred to remain in their comfort zone and carry on merrily in their ways instead of changing and returning to God’s ways.
We too could fall into the same trap as these people, if we allow ourselves to dwell in pride, since pride could rear its ugly head in many ways and forms. May we be watchful and learn to grow in humility, so that we could grow closer in relationship with our loving God.
Do you want to live? Or would you prefer to die? Many of you may be thinking… what a silly question! Of course many of you would say that you would want to live, and some would say that they would want to live as long as possible. So what do we need to do to help us increase our lifespan? Some may think that it would be necessary to have a healthy diet. Others may think that physical exercise and regular check-ups with the doctor would help. But what sort of life are we trying to prolong here? Are we only concerned about life here on earth?
In today’s reading, Moses said to the people: “Now, Israel, take notice of the laws and customs that I teach you today, and observe them, that you may have life and may enter and take possession of the land that the Lord the God of your fathers is giving you….But take care what you do and be on your guard. Do not forget the things your eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your heart all the days of your life; rather, tell them to your children and to your children’s children.” At first glance, we can deduce that Moses is giving the people a pep talk, and encouraging them to be faithful and remain close in relationship with God, so that they would one day come to the promised land. But for us Christians, our promised land is not a place here on earth. Our promised land is to be with God in heaven. Are we faithfully, diligently and consistently doing our part to “take notice of the laws and customs” and even “tell them to your children and to your children’s children” so that we would reach our promised land?
“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” are the words from the Lord’s Prayer or the Our Father which we pray on many occasions. We pray the Lord’s Prayer during Mass, when we pray the rosary, during a wedding, funeral or even a baptism service, and during many other liturgical services. But some of us do not seem to understand or appreciate what it really means to forgive and to receive forgiveness. Some of us say we forgive, but in our hearts we are still keeping the hurt or anger and allowing such hurt and anger to fester in us, to consume us, and lead us to even greater bitterness and hatred.
But what exactly does it mean to forgive? To forgive means we are making a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you, regardless of whether they actually deserve your forgiveness. Forgiveness is the intentional and voluntary process by which a victim undergoes a change in feelings and attitude regarding an offense, lets go of negative emotions such as vengefulness, with an increased ability to wish the offender well. If we receive forgiveness from God, we must give it to others who hurt us. When we forgive, we cannot hold grudges or seek revenge. We are to trust God for justice and forgive the person who offended us. That does not mean we must forget the offense, since sometimes that is beyond our power, but we should not linger in the memory of the offense or allow the thought about the offense to consume us and continue to hurt or destroy us. Forgiveness means releasing the other from blame, leaving the event in God’s hands, and moving on.
This is where the unforgiving servant in today’s Gospel did not get the point. He thought that he had been given a lucky break when his master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt. Instead of being grateful and thankful for his master’s generosity, charity and benevolence, and instead of following his master’s example towards his fellow servant, he became arrogant and nasty, refusing to forgive the other servant who owed him way much less than what he owed his master, and even had the gall to throw his fellow servant into prison till he should pay his debt. This caused his master to become furious and as the Gospel tells us: “”You wicked servant,” he said “I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?” And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt.”
What about us? Are we still like that wicked and unforgiving servant, expecting God and others to forgive us, but refusing to forgive others? Do we treat forgiveness lightly or as a lucky break, and think that we can do as we please towards others? As the Gospel also reminds and cautions us, we will be responsible and liable to repay our debts if we refuse to forgive others: “And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.”
Misunderstandings and ill-feelings sometimes occur when people do not communicate well or when people do not get the actual message. Sometimes the misunderstanding could be because the one who receives the message does not know or is not aware that the message is not for him or her; sometimes it could be misinterpreted due to limitations in language (as some say, “lost in translation”); sometimes it could simply be because the person who receives the message is edgy or quite easily aroused over the smallest things, possibly due to pride, fear, or even lacking of trust; sometimes it could just be a case of not listening, thinking and executing, but just hearing and doing.
When the king of Aram sent Naaman to the king of Israel, the message given to him in the form of a letter was actually meant for Elisha, but possibly due to a misunderstanding of the message, the king of Israel thought that the king of Aram was trying to pick a quarrel with him, since he tore his garments and exclaimed: “Am I a god to give death and life,’ he said ‘that he sends a man to me and asks me to cure him of his leprosy? Listen to this, and take note of it and see how he intends to pick a quarrel with me.” But Elisha admonished the king for doing such a silly thing, called Naaman to come to him, and had Naaman cured after Naaman immersed himself seven times in the Jordan. This led Naaman to realise “that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.”
Sometimes we too do not listen carefully to what we are told. We just hear and scoot off, only to come back feeling sheepish or embarrassed for not getting the gist of the message. Just as the king of Israel was too quick to jump into conclusions, Naaman himself too was at first too quick to jump into conclusions when he felt Elisha was not willing to cure him directly or immediately. It was only after he did what Elisha told him that Naaman was completely cured.
What about us? Do we take time and effort to listen carefully to what we are told? Do we discern carefully what God is telling us? Sometimes it just takes a bit of patience, humility and perseverance to truly understand the message. Let us not so easily jump the gun or jump into conclusions, so that we will be crystal clear on what we have listened.
For your easy reference, the following is a list of weeks and years with their corresponding date:
1 March 2015 – 2nd Sunday of Lent Year B
2 March 2015 – Monday of the 2nd Week of Lent
3 March 2015 – Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Lent
4 March 2015 – Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Lent
5 March 2015 – Thursday of the 2nd Week of Lent
6 March 2015 – Friday of the 2nd Week of Lent
Let us consider for a moment… Is there anything in this world that we really own? Do we have sole, complete and eternal rights to things, persons and ideas? Some of us may think that we have total rights and total control over such things, persons and ideas, and we become quite possessive towards them, but do we really have such total rights and total control? When we die or are one day incapable of controlling such things, persons and ideas due to some sickness or due to some other reason, what would happen then?
In today’s Gospel, we come across a parable of a vineyard. In this parable, Jesus was actually talking about the scribes and Pharisees. The owner of the vineyard is God, who is ever so patient, merciful and kind, giving the scribes and Pharisees plenty of opportunities to change and walk in His ways. But the scribes and Pharisees became quite possessive with their way of thinking and to them, only their way of rituals, sacrifices and other observances of their version of God’s law would enable themselves and those who followed them to grow closer to God. Prophets were sent to try and change the attitude and behaviour of the scribes and Pharisees, but thy remained obstinate, refused to listen or change, and got rid of the prophets. Jesus is the son the land owner had sent, but the scribes and Pharisees once again refused to listen or change, and even plotted to get rid of Him. Ultimately, Jesus gave the scribes and Pharisees a stern warning that they would not only meet their wretched end like the tenants in the parable, Jesus even added: “I tell you, then, that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
What about us? Have we been like the scribes and Pharisees in one way or another? Have we been having “holier than thou” attitudes or become quite possessive with our position in church, possessive with our families and friends, or even tried to be possesive with God? Let us be reminded that our time here on earth is short, and make every effort to change our minds and hearts, so that we may produce good fruit and glorify God.
There are some people in this world who think that riches is a blessing from God. They begin to think that just because they are rich or someone is rich, they or that someone can do whatever they like and possibly get away with it. For example, we have come across people who are rich in material wealth and property, and think that they can buy their way to privileges and perks, or they think they are entitled to certain benefits reserved only for those who have the means. Some even become conceited and boastful, thinking that money, wealth and property are all that matters. So does this mean that being rich is wrong or sinful? No. It depends on one’s attitude and behaviour, since we do come across people who are rich, but they live lives quite detached from the riches they have. In fact, some of these rich people use their riches not for themselves, but for charity and the benefit of mankind. Some even end up penniless at the end of their lives, because they had used up their riches to be of service to others less fortunate. If you are wealthy, what sort of person have you become?
In today’s Gospel, we come across the story of Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man ended up in Hades not because he was a rich man per se, but because of his attitude or behaviour. The rich man was rich only for himself, since as the Gospel tells us, he: “used to dress in purple and fine linen and feast magnificently every day. And at his gate there lay a poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to fill himself with the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.” He knew that Lazarus was there, but he refused to take notice, he was only concerned about himself, and he did not lift a finger or at the very least get someone to help Lazarus out. After all, the rich man was enjoying himself to the fullest, and he did not want to have anything to do with others. It is only when the rich man ended up in Hades that he realised his folly, but by then it is too late.
What about us? Have we become like the rich man in one way or another? We may have wealth, some of us may be rich in other ways, such as riches in intellect, riches in talent, riches in abilities, but are we keeping such riches only for ourselves? Let us not become complacent, indifferent or have a “tidak apa” or “tidak peduli” attitude (roughly translated from Malay as “don’t care” or “doesn’t matter to me” attitude), but use our “riches” for the greater glory of God.
What do you look for in life? Some of us may be looking for riches, wealth and financial security. Some may be looking for continuous happiness with family and friends. Some may look for titles, recognition and power. Some may look for popularity among peers. But what about you? What are you really looking for?
In today’s Gospel, we come across the mother of Zebedee’s sons coming to Jesus and asking Jesus to give her two sons important positions in heaven. These two brothers were looking for power and prestige, even in heaven. It seems strange that these two did not ask Jesus themselves and got their mother involved, but if we consider for a moment their actions, we can understand why they did so, since some of us would do the same. What they did could be called a form of “intercessory syndrome,” where a person feels more comfortable to ask another to ask the authority or important person instead of asking themselves. Some of us do the same by asking our father or mother to ask the other parent, instead of asking the other parent directly. In the same way, some of us do the same by preferring to ask Mother Mary instead of asking God or Jesus directly.
But Jesus response to their request is a lesson in service and humility. In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us: “You know that among the pagans the rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” To be great is to be a humble servant to all. This is quite in contrast with what the world thinks of greatness, and if we call ourselves disciples of Jesus, then we need to learn to shed away the ways of the world and put on the ways of Christ. May we learn to walk humbly before our loving God and let Him be our guide.
