Category Archives: Year 2

I believe most people prefer to hear good news. Sometimes in our pursuit of hearing or receiving good news, we may shut out or avoid news which may be uncomfortable to hear or even shut out or avoid bad news altogether. But the reality of life is that, there will always be ups and downs. We can never experience only ups, since there are times we would need to face the downs also. For example, our heartbeat shows a signal of up and down when it is being monitored. If our heartbeat were to remain level, without any ups and downs, we would be dead.

In today’s reading, the priests and prophets wanted to get rid of the prophet Jeremiah, as he had prophesied against the city. But Jeremiah was prophesying bad news not for the fun of it, but to warn the people of the consequences of not amending their actions and listening to God’s voice. The priests and prophets were not willing to listen to bad news from Jeremiah, but the city officials and the people chose to do so, since they were convinced that such bad news was necessary and a wake up call for all to buck up and change their ways. Because of this, the city officials and the people refused to get rid of Jeremiah.

What about us? How would we treat bad news? Sometimes the bad news we receive is good and necessary for us to change and become better persons. Sometimes bad news could actually save us from mortal danger, or even spiritual danger. May we learn to accept news, both good and bad, and continue to depend on God’s love and mercy, and walk in His ways.

Over the years, we have come across certain individuals who commit all sorts of evil deeds and at the same time, appear to be pious and holy. Such persons call themselves Christians and even come to church and worship, but they do not live Christian lives. Some even think that God is on their side at all times, and they think that what they say and do outside of the church would not have any consequence to their relationship with God.

But the reality is: God and sin are incompatible. We cannot expect to remain in relationship with God, if we continue to sin and commit deplorable acts. We cannot hide our words and deeds from God, as today’s reading tells us: “Yet here you are, trusting in delusive words, to no purpose! Steal, would you, murder, commit adultery, perjure yourselves, burn incense to Baal, follow alien gods that you do not know? – and then come presenting yourselves in this Temple that bears my name, saying: Now we are safe – safe to go on committing all these abominations! Do you take this Temple that bears my name for a robbers’ den? I, at any rate, am not blind – it is the Lord who speaks.” God cannot be fooled by our deception and antics, and our coming to church does not mean we would get a free ticket or “get out of jail card” to get our sins cleared and we can continue to do as we please with impunity.

Perhaps we should ask ourselves: are we really following God’s ways in our words, attitudes and conduct? Or have we been following the ways of the world, and putting on a front or a show at church. Let us be reminded that God is not blind, and if we continue our charade and masquerade, we do so only at our peril.

I believe most of us are doing our best to remain in good terms with God. Even though we may have fallen and sinned, we pick ourselves up and with God’s grace, try to avoid sinning again. Of course, this is not easy, since the ways of the world tempt us with many kinds of wrongdoing, and we depend on God’s grace and providence to turn away from sin and remain faithful to the Gospel.

However, there are times we come across people who choose to remain evil and do evil or nasty things. Such persons have no qualms about committing despicable acts, as they prefer to remain proud, egoistic and conceited. In today’s reading, we see examples of such persons, who “plot evil, who lie in bed planning mischief! No sooner is it dawn than they do it – their hands have the strength for it. Seizing the fields that they covet, they take over houses as well, owner and house they confiscate together, taking both man and inheritance.” Such persons don’t think about God, and they don’t even bother about Him. But to these evil doers, God has this to say: Woe to those who plot evil” and “your necks will not escape; nor will you be able to walk proudly.”

What about us? Are some of us persisting in doing evil and committing despicable acts, even after hearing such warning from God? Ultimately, we have a choice: we can choose to stop our evil ways, or to continue doing so, and risk our eternal future.

When we want something, we would go all out to get it, hopefully in a legal, fair, just and proper way. For example, if we want to win a marathon, we would train our bodies by putting lots of practice in running marathons; we would go to the gym often to tone our muscles; we would eat nutritious food so that we would build energy; we would ensure we get enough rest; and we would not give up no matter how long it takes. All these efforts are made to achieve something in this life. But what about our spiritual life? Do we take as much effort or go all out to grow in relationship with God, and prepare ourselves for that which is more permanent?

In today’s reading, we are reminded: “You should be living holy and saintly lives while you wait and long for the Day of God to come… So then, my friends, while you are waiting, do your best to live lives without spot or stain so that he will find you at peace. Think of our Lord’s patience as your opportunity to be saved. You have been warned about this, my friends; be careful not to get carried away by the errors of unprincipled people, from the firm ground that you are standing on. Instead, go on growing in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.”

What we achieve here on earth is only temporary, and may one day be forgotten or become irrelevant. But God is patiently beckoning us to come closer to Him and to walk in His ways, and attain that which is premanent or eternal. May we open our eyes and come to realise what really matters in the end, and do our best to live lives without spot or stain, so that the Lord would find us at peace and ready to meet Him, when He calls.

I sometimes wonder whether we are living in an era where people are becoming more and more complacent or taking things for granted when it comes to sin. For example, when it comes to Lent and Advent, the number of faithful who come for the Sacrament of Reconciliation seems to depend on when and where confession takes place. At the beginning of Lent or Advent, the number of faithful who come for confession seem so few, so much so that at times, it seems as if the number of priests who have come to listen to confession are more than the faithful present. Yet, towards the end of Lent or Advent, the numbers seem to swell up tremendously, and the priests present find it difficult to cope. Some faithful even take their sweet time to come, sometimes quite late at night, and expect the priests to still be there.

In contrast to the way some faithful are when it comes to sin, today’s reading tells us of the prophet Isaiah who had a mystical vision of the holiness of God. The prophet confessed his sinfulness, and subsequently he was cleansed and healed of his sinfulness, because he experienced the overwhelming glory of God. Not only that, the mystical experience also made him readily and willingly respond to God’s call to be His messenger.

If we realise, just as the prophet Isaiah did, the magnitude of God’s holiness, and how incompatible sin is to God, then surely we should make every effort to go for confession more often, instead of just waiting for Lent or Advent to come by. Have some of us become so lax or have a “tidak apa” attitude or “don’t care” attitude when it comes to sin? Or have some of us have the misguided notion that sin should be accumulated into one lump sum before seeking confession? Let us not be caught off guard or unprepared, and make more effort to seek confession when possible, as our eternal future may be at stake.

In the Old Testament, God raised prophets every once in a while to remind people of who they are, and how they should live and behave. When a prophet prophesises, the prophet says: “It is the Lord who speaks”, to emphasise that the prophecy is not the prophet’s own words or invention, but it is God who speaks through the prophet.

Today’s reading not only demonstrates this point, but it also gives the people hope of the future where something wonderful is about to happen, where there will be restoration and blessings to come. However, such hope comes with conditions attached. The people are foretold of the will of God and his future plans for his people, and that they are to cooperate with God’s intentions through prayer, patience, persistence, and obeying with faithfulness. Also, the people are foretold of what needs to be done in the present, where they are to called to repentance and to go back to the ways of the Lord. This means that, in a nutshell, the people need to do their part with cooperation and repentance, for the prophecy to be fulfilled.

In our present times, such prophecies of hope were fulfilled when Jesus came, to bring us out of mourning and sadness, and lead us to rejoicing and gladness. Jesus came to save us from our sins and restore our relationship with God. The question is: are we cooperating with repentance, so that Jesus could transform us and help us?

The Temple that king Solomon built was a huge and magnificent building. Huge blocks of finest stone were used to build it, and it was decorated with gold and silver ornaments. It was the pride and glory of Israel and a belief that God dwelt in their midst in that Temple. Because the temple appeared to be impressive and seemingly indestructible, the Israelites began to have a false sense of security, and became complacent in their faith, thinking that God would always be on their side, come what may. But the Israelites were soon rudely awakened and shaken to the core, when king Nebuchanezzar of Babylon conquered Jerusalem and his army laid the Temple to waste.

This was the basis on which the book of Lamentation in today’s reading tried to put into words the sorrow and grief of the people, when they realised that they had been been putting their trust and dependence in the wrong place. Instead of being faithful to God and walking in His ways, they had walked in their own ways, thinking that the Temple would always assure them of God’s presence. As a result, the people realised their folly too late, and ended up in exile and captivity.

We too could also fall into the same trap. We may have become complacent in our faith, especially when we have church structures and magnificent buildings around us, and we begin to put our trust in such structures and buildings, while we continue to commit despicable acts, instead of putting our trust in God and walking in His ways. May we open our eyes and realise that we are only creating our own illusions and false sense of security, and do our best to remain at rights with God, seeking forgiveness through the Sacrament of Confession when possible, lest we too end up in exile and captivity through our own negligence.