Category Archives: Year A

Some people think that their race or ethnic group are superior or special. They think that others must give in or “kow tow” to their every whims and fancies. Even among people of the same race or ethnic group, we see segregation and discrimination. People treat others unfairly and with contempt, especially those whom they think are less capable or do not think or act like they do. Even in our churches, are we behaving lovingly and caringly like brothers and sisters in Christ, like sons and daughters of God? Sometimes we see people forming cliques or focusing only with people they are comfortable with, people who perhaps share the same age group, language, culture, interests, or ideas. Is this what we should be as children of God?

In the first reading, Isaiah reminds us: “Thus says the Lord: Have a care for justice, act with integrity, for soon my salvation will come and my integrity be manifest. Foreigners who have attached themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love his name and be his servants – all who observe the sabbath, not profaning it, and cling to my covenant – these I will bring to my holy mountain.” Notice that here, all peoples who listen to God’s will are part of God’s fold. It does not matter who you are, whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, God treats you as His own, if you obey His commandments. St Paul in today’s second reading also reminds us that He was sent to pagans as their apostle, and that “God never takes back his gifts or revokes his choice.” Our ancestors were once pagans and were saved through the grace of God. This shows that God’s salvation is given to all people without discrimination. God’s grace is not reserved for any particular race.

As Christians, we cannot have an attitude of isolation or think that we are better or superior to others. God reminds us to “have a care for justice and act with integrity” to all. It matters not who we are, what ethnic group we come from, what religion we profess, God loves all. We should not condemn others or belittle them just because they look, behave, act or think differently than us. We should always show respect to them and put aside our prejudices. We must allow our faith to transform our culture, attitudes and our history. In this way, we can become effective witnesses to all. Are we willing to take up the challenge and love and witness to all, as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of our loving God?

Do you love God? Are you comfortable being in His presence? Or do you fear Him? To some cultures, God is a distant, strict, fierce and frightening being (don’t play play with God, as some of these cultures may think). Some of these cultures think that God needs to be appeased with gifts and sacrifices such as fruits, food, candles, incense, prayers and even animal sacrifice (which, in some cultures may include human sacrifice), failing which such cultures fear that God may be swift to punish them or some sort of disaster may occur. But what about us? What is your impression of God? Are you afraid of God like some of these cultures?

In the first reading, Elijah encounters God not in the powerful forces of nature such as wind, earthquake and fire. God comes to Elijah in the form of a gentle breeze. God is not waiting to bring destruction to anyone as some may believe, but God comes close to us and invites us to enter into a relationship with Him. He comes in a gentle and peaceful way, beckoning us to come closer to Him. In the Gospel, the disciples were frightened to see Jesus walking on the water, and they thought they were seeing a ghost. Jesus assures and comforts them by saying, “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid!” It is Jesus who guides us throughout our ups and downs, and sustains us at all times.

Thus, we do not need to fear Jesus. Instead, we can approach Jesus with trust and love, because we know that He loves us and cares for us. In the same way, we can also approach God. We do not need to fear Him, for He is a gentle and loving Father, compassionate and merciful to all. In the same way, we too should follow Jesus’ and God’s example by being gentle, loving, compassionate and merciful to others around us. After all, we call ourselves sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters in Christ. Are we able to let go of our pride, prejudices and preferences, and love others just as God loves us?

Some of us worry a lot and are worrywarts. We worry about so many things, sometimes things which are actually not a big deal. We worry about our present circumstances, we worry about our future, we worry about our family, our financial situation, etc. When we worry, we are actually looking only at ourselves, we are looking at our needs and perhaps the needs of our loved ones. We have little or no time to think of the needs of others, especially those not close to us or those around us.

So how do we lessen or stop our worrying? By being more trusting towards God’s care, love goodness and providence. In the second reading, we are reminded that “Nothing can come between us and the love of Christ, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked. These are the trials through which we triumph, by the power of him who loved us.” If God is there for us, why do we still worry? If we believe that God can help us, then we should be free from worries. We should be more willing to care and share with others, because God is there for us and we will not be lacking as God can provide for us.

In today’s Gospel, we see how the disciples were worried about what to do with the crowd. We read: “When evening came, the disciples went to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place, and the time has slipped by; so send the people away, and they can go to the villages to buy themselves some food.’ Jesus replied, ‘There is no need for them to go: give them something to eat yourselves.’ But they answered ‘All we have with us is five loaves and two fish.’” Here, we see how the disciples still did not get it. They still did not recognise or have enough trust in Jesus. They were more concerned of themselves and wondered how they were going to feed such a crowd with so few loaves and fish. But Jesus showed them that when we give, we can receive even more, and we see this in the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fish which Jesus performed right in front of their eyes.

The more we are willing and prepared to give, the more blessings we would receive from God. It matters not how much or how little we give, it is the heart or quality of the giving that matters. Some people give a lot, but they may do so grudgingly or to show off. But if we are genuinely willing to give happily and generously, God will bless us abundantly, sometimes in ways which are beyond what we imagine. Are we willing to trust in God’s providence and share what we have?

What do we value most in our life? Do we value most our wealth, our property, our popularity, our position, our status, our credentials, qualifications and titles, our family, or our extended family? Perhaps we value one or a few of these things or people, but are these things and people all that matter to us? How long would we be able to hold on to these things or people? Would we be able to keep them securely and indefinitely?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us something which we should value most. Jesus is telling us that that which we value most is not our money or possessions, not our titles or qualifications, not even our loved ones. Jesus is telling us that that which we should value most is the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus says: “‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.”

All that we have, whether it be material things, titles or relationships are temporary. We could lose them eventually in one way or another. It is only the Kingdom of Heaven which remains and we are united with God and His Kingdom when we do His will, and also when we are are united with one another. Solomon in today’s first reading also realised how much more important the Kingdom of Heaven is when he asked God for wisdom instead of wealth, power and other things. Solomon knew and chose wisdom to understand the will of God. To know what God wants of us is the only thing that matters.

Let us not deceive ourselves into thinking that all that we have here on earth are all that matters. Everything that we have is only temporary. We cannot bring our wealth, titles and relationships with us when we die. Let us make more effort to do the will of God, and be united with Him and each other in His Kingdom. Let us place God as our primary focus and highest value for the betterment of our eternal future.

What is strength? What is weakness? We sometimes equate strength or weakness with the amount of energy or muscle we have. Some of us think that strength means being able to hold your own, to avoid losing face, being able to deal with a situation effectively to our advantage. Some people think that one needs to be “kiasu” or “scared to lose” to be strong. Some think that to be strong, one needs to be adept or capable of putting a brave front, refusing to give in, refusing to admit our mistakes or errors, refusing to say sorry or apologise, refusing to forgive others who may have hurt us or done something wrong. But are we really strong in these situations?

Today’s readings give us a different view or understanding of strength. Strength means having compassion. In the First Reading, we learn that God’s justice has its source in strength, and yet God is mild in judgement, and God governs us with great lenience. He could have easily used His Power to punish us or wipe out our enemies, but He chose not to. This is a great example of God’s compassion towards all of us, regardless of who we are. In the Second Reading, we come to realise that God is always there to help us and guide us, even in our weaknesses. In the Gospel, we discover that each of us have got some good and some bad, some wheat and some darnel, all mixed up together. We are not perfect and no one is completely strong or completely weak. By learning to have compassion, we learn to accept our own weaknesses and limitations. By recognising our own weaknesses and our need for God’s forgiveness and compassion, we will also begin to be compassionate with our brothers and sisters who are struggling in one way or another like us.

At the end of the day, we need to learn to be compassionate, just as our Heavenly Father is compassionate to all. Being compassionate does not mean we will be at the losing end or that we are weak. Instead, we would learn to be more like our strong, loving and benevolent God.

How important is the Word of God to us? Some of us treat the Word of God with such great importance, but we do so only for show or for decoration by putting the bible on a fancy stand and perhaps place the bible at the family altar, probably only to slowly collect dust. Some read the Word of God like a story book, but do not grasp its meaning and some do not even bother to find out more about what the passage is really trying to teach us. Some read the bible and reflect on the words reverently and prayerfully, taking time and effort to digest the meaning.

The Word of God is special nourishment for our soul. It is like soil which enables our soul to gain necessary and essential nutrients for growth so that we could bear good fruit. But for us to benefit from the Word of God, we need to examine ourselves. Today’s Gospel speaks about seeds falling on different types of environments with different soil conditions. Each environment could be linked to our condition and the condition of our soul.

The first environment (edge of the path) is like people who are not the least bit interested in the Word of God. They come late for Mass, or sometimes come only for certain major occasions like Christmas and Easter. Some may say that these sort of people have a hatch, match and detach mentality, meaning that they come to church only when they are being baptised as infants, when they get married and when they are carried or wheeled in for their funeral. On other occasions, they are like “chipsmore,” now you see them, now you don’t. These people are also sometimes impatient, just waiting to get out of the church after Mass, or perhaps looking elsewhere or doing other things or thinking of other things, just to while away the time. They seem more interested in other things and come to church just to fulfil the Sunday obligation (with great difficulty at times).

The second environment (patches of rock with little soil)  is like people who have superficial or shallow faith. They select only bits and pieces of the Word of God, avoiding or ignoring those parts which are unpleasant or that which they think are not relevant to them. We call this group of people folks with selective hearing, only wanting to hear some things and become deaf with other things. When some challenge occurs or when they face some difficulty, their faith withers away.

The third environment (fell among thorns) is like people who listen and accept the Word of God, but so many other things, worries, pressures and distractions cause them to lose focus. As a result, they feel as if God has abandoned them and they fall away, when in actuality, it is they who have abandoned God. They lack trust, perseverance and patience to press on and finish the race.

Naturally, we hope and pray that we will be like the fourth environment, where we gain access to rich soil. People who are in this fourth environment thrive and flourish, producing good fruit and giving glory to God.

The question is this: which environment are we presently in? Are we stuck in a particular environment? It takes God’s Grace and providence to help us make a change and begin producing good fruit, but we must also make effort and do our part. We must come out of our comfort zone and be willing to be more trusting and dependent on God. Are we humble and willing enough to let the rich soil God is offering us through the His Word and also through the Eucharist, nourish us?

As children, some of us find it difficult to listen to our parents. We try to do things our way. As a result, we get a scolding (and in some cases, even a beating) for not listening or doing what our parents tell us. While we are growing up, we find it harder and harder to listen to our parents, as we value our freedom and we think we can figure things out. However, at times, what our parents tell us is actually for our own good, and we disobey at our peril.

When we are unable or find it difficult to listen to our parents, we are being disobedient. In the same way, when we are unable or find it difficult to listen to God’s voice, we are also being disobedient. Sin is disobedience to God. Obedience means listening to God’s voice and trusting in His providence.

Jesus in today’s Gospel invites us to put our trust in Him and in God the Father. We may not fully understand God’s will, but that’s ok. Unless we become docile and obedient like little children, we would not discover God’s will. Jesus reminds us that God hides these things from the learned and the clever and reveals them to mere children. This is what trust is all about. A child who trusts that his parents will take care of him is free from worry. Obedience means trusting.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus also gives us an imagery of the yoke where he says: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” A yoke is often made for two or more oxen, and by inviting us to take His yoke and learn from Him, Jesus is assuring us that by putting on His yoke, He will guide us and help us in our burdens. When we accept Jesus’ yoke, we are actually being liberated from many unnecessary fears or worries, and we learn to be meek and humble, trusting in Jesus and in God the Father, knowing that we will be cared for, just as a child puts his or her trust in his or her and parents and is cared for by them. Disobedience is a result of pride. Obedience is a result of humility.

Let us therefore surrender to God’s will and let Him take control. When we surrender to God’s will, we will also find peace and true happiness. Are we still so obstinate and wanting to do things our way? Or would we be willing to be humble, and do things God’s way?