Category Archives: Year C

What is a hypocrite? The dictionary defines a hypocrite as “a person who pretends to have desirable qualities or publicly approved attitudes, beliefs and practices but actually does not possess them.” If there is anything that Jesus hates, it is hypocrisy. As Jesus pointed out in his condemnation of the Scribes and Pharisees, their problem is they emphasise the “outside” rather than the “inside” – the inmost concerns of the heart. This being so, there is need to look into our “inside” and discover its priorities. Is it to impress others? If so, then our concern becomes how we appear externally before others, for example, through the way we talk, the clothes we wear, the jewellery and other bodily accessories we display, the house we live in, etc. For some of us, this may even include the way we practice our faith as the Scribes and the Pharisees did in Jesus’ time. All these in order to project our self-importance.

Sincerity and truthfulness are the opposite of hypocrisy. In these virtues, the emphasis is on what lies “inside” of us. When we are sincere and truthful, we cease to be overly concerned with the “outside” since we believe that what matters in God’s eyes is our “inside.” Among others it tells us that we would be no different from others if it were not for the grace of God. Jesus knows the kind of people we all are, how prone we are to sin. Yet He says to all of us, “Be perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect.” We certainly cannot be as perfect as the heavenly Father is. But with God’s grace, we can aim to be less and less imperfect – every moment, every day, over a long period of time, a lifetime.

Is it difficult? Of course. Is it impossible? No! Why not? Because Jesus has shown us how, as seen in today’s Gospel. For example, Jesus, while talking about the parable of the blind leading the blind, asked, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?… You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.” Here Jesus is teaching us that we can lead others only after we have accepted Him in faith. Thus the need for us to discover and acknowledge our sinfulness, and strive to make changes in our lives. Then only do we acquire, the so-called “right” to correct and even lead others without both of us falling into the pit.

Thus, when we speak out on people and issues, we do so not out of self–righteousness as this only puts them off. Rather, we do so conscious of our own shortcomings, a trait we all share with others but with a difference, we constantly try to overcome them . May we strive to follow Jesus’ ways, and give glory to God in all we say and do.

A pastor once preached a Sunday sermon titled “Forgive Your Enemies.” He asked how many of the congregation have forgiven their enemies. About half held up their hands. He then repeated his question. Now about 90% held up their hands. He then repeated his question once more. All responded, except one elderly lady. The pastor asked: “Mrs. Lee, are you not willing to forgive your enemies?” She replied: “I don’t have any.” The pastor was baffled and said: “Mrs. Lee that is very unusual. How old are you?” “Ninety-three,” she replied. The pastor then asked: “Mrs. Lee, please come down in front and tell the congregation how a person cannot have an enemy in the world?” The little sweetheart of a lady tottered down the aisle and said, “I outlived every one of them!”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us an interesting teaching. He tells us to love our enemies, because as Christians, love should be our priority. At the heart of Jesus’ teaching are two important traits – compassion and forgiveness. More than ever, we need to exercise both compassion and forgiveness, wherever we are, especially in our society, parish community, and families. It seems easier said than done. But the reality is that compassion and forgiveness must be the foundation of all our relationships. In our relationships, we must be realistic that we live in an imperfect society, community and family. We must recognise that there are people who will try to take advantage of us, try to cheat us and wrong us, just as we also do the same to others. Ultimately, it is important to recognise that none of us is perfect.

Jesus does not demand perfection from us. Rather, in today’s Gospel Jesus asks us to “be compassionate as your Heavenly Father is compassionate.” Here we find the basis of our need to show compassion and forgiveness. We must forgive and show compassion towards others because we have been forgiven and shown compassion by God. If God can forgive us in spite of our sinfulness, then we must be able to forgive others who have sin against us. It is only when we are able to reflect on our own sinfulness, limitations and weaknesses, that we begin to understand, forgive and finally come to accept others. Of course, it is not easy. But with the grace of God, all things are possible. Thus, let us pray for the grace to be more compassionate and more forgiving as we pray: “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

Some people think that for a person to be joyful, the person should also be happy. But if we look carefully at what joy and happiness really mean, we would discover that one could be joyful, even when one is poor, hungry, down and out, when one is mourning for the loss of loved one, when one is facing persecution and experiencing suffering. How is it possible for a person to be joyful even when experiencing such difficult situations and circumstances?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus exclaims: happy are you… blessed are you… rejoice… be joyful. What sort of joy does Jesus speak of? Is joy something that you get when your needs and wants are fulfilled? Society tries to keep sadness and happiness separated. Consequently, we try to forget about death, illness, our family problems because they seem to keep us from the happiness we hope for. Yet, Jesus shows in his teachings and in his life, that true joy is hidden in the midst of our sorrow. The cross has become a powerful symbol of this reality; it is a symbol of death and of life, of suffering and of joy, of defeat and of victory. In the cross, both joy and sorrow can co-exist. Of course, this is not easy to understand, but when we think about some of our life experiences, such as being present at the birth of a child or the death of a friend, great sorrow and great joy can be seen as parts of the same experience, where we discover joy in the midst of the sorrow.

So what does this mean? It means that true joy is not the same as happiness. We can be unhappy about many things, but joy can still be there because it comes from knowing of God’s love for us. Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing; not even death; can take that love away. To be happy, as the responsorial psalm tells us, is to “trust in the Lord.” In our spiritual life, joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God, and have found in God our refuge our safety, and our strength, and that nothing can take God away from us. Let us remain joyful always, no matter how difficult or challenging it may be, as God is with us.

Looking at what is happening around us, in our families, in our communities, in our country, throughout the world; I sometimes wonder… Have people become crazy? Has the world gone insane? Are we heading towards disaster or impending doom? We see innocent children being killed, some even while in the womb, since there are some who think that abortion is a right, they are the victim and the foetus is the aggressor. We see marriages falling apart and in some places, even the definition of marriage is being challenged. We see children being mistreated or even tortured, sometimes due to issues between adults or between their own parents. We see domestic violence, maids being ill-treated, misuse of power or authority, rape, corruption, exploitation, people going on amok or on a rampage, just because they have been so easily influenced by certain irresponsible parties.

Amidst all the mayhem and mess we are facing, we could understand how the Prophet Habakkuk must have felt in the first reading when he said: “Outrage and violence, this is all I see, all is contention, and discord flourishes.” Is it any wonder that more and more people around us are experiencing depression, some even to the point of ending it all, due to the madness happening around us. So how do we cope? How do we find meaning in life, when things all around us seems to be falling apart?

The readings today speak of faith. Faith enables us to see that God is in control, even though evil seems to be gaining the upper-hand;  faith gives direction when we are lost; faith helps us to persevere and press on even when faced with the many problems. In the world today, we need faith more than ever if we are to survive. In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that if we have faith “the size of a mustard seed” we could uproot trees and move mountains. What does this mean? Jesus is not telling us that faith in God means God is going to perform something miraculous or spectacular for us, since that would reduce God to merely an entertainer, magician or some sort of wonder worker. Faith is when we believe God will take care of all things and not allow us to come to any harm. Faith is letting God to be God, letting God take control of our lives and do what is best for us, according to His terms and for His glory. It is in this context that, if we trust God, then even a tiny mustard seed could perform wonders way beyond our imagination and expectation, since it is God who allows it to take place. The problem is that some of us feel we must take a greater role, we want to be ones that can move mountains rather than letting God to do this. But if we say that we have ‘faith,’ then we must be prepared, willing and humble enough to let God have a free hand to do what is best for us.

Today, let us echo the words of the disciple and ask God to “increase our faith.” Let us be docile and willing to let God take care of us and do what is best for us, putting on the eyes of faith and knowing and trusting that no matter what happens, no matter how bad the situation may be, we have a God who will not abandon us and will be there for us.

Is it wrong to be wealthy or rich? Of course not. It is not so much whether you are rich or poor, but it is how you lived your lives; our words and conduct; as well as what sort of attitude and behaviour you have towards others; these are things that matter. One could be an extremely wealthy person, but at the same time one could be humble, unassuming and generous with one’s time and wealth. Also, one could be not too well off, and could pretend to be wealthy, snobbish, rude and aloof.

In today’s Gospel, we come across the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus, the poor man, went to heaven, and the rich man went to hell. Did Lazarus go to heaven because he was poor and the rich man ended up in hell because he was rich? Of course not. If that were the case, many rich persons in the world, past and present, would have been condemned to hell already. So why did the rich man end up in hell? The sin of the rich man was not because of his wealth, and not because he was cruel, wicked or selfish. The sin of the rich man was his indifference, his “tidak kisah or tidak peduli” attitude (translated to “don’t care or not my problem” attitude). The rich man did not care about what happened to Lazarus, he did not care about what was happening around him, he did not care about anyone else except himself. By the time he learnt to care for someone, his brothers in this case, it was too late. In fact, while he was still alive, the rich man did not even really care about what happened to his brothers. It is ironic that at least the dogs took notice of Lazarus and his condition, whereas the rich man remained indifferent to all around him.

In our lives, some of us may have been thinking that it is better to mind our own business and not poke our noses into other people’s business. Some of us think that it is not for us to get involved, even though what is happening is obviously wrong or a serious issue, and something should be done and done quickly. Many people choose to be deaf and blind, and pretend that everything is fine as long as our lives and our family life is not affected. But the fact is, complacency or indifference is one of the greatest ills of our society, since by not getting involved, by not helping, by ignoring the situation; nothing will change, the problem remains, and we could be accomplices to the problem or be a part of the problem. In fact, St Paul in the second reading reminds us that it is not enough to just take care of our own affairs and ignore others, since he writes: “As a man dedicated to God, you must aim to be saintly and religious, filled with faith and love, patient and gentle. Fight the good fight of the faith and win for yourself the eternal life to which you were called when you made your profession and spoke up for the truth in front of many witnesses.” This means that we need to do something, we need to take action, we cannot just sit idly and not be bothered. Each of us is called to saintliness and holiness, and we cannot just be mediocre or do the minimum.

Today, let us pray for the grace to be able to see with eyes and hear with ears of compassion. Let us follow Jesus’ example in reaching out and helping all in need. May we not waste our eternal future away with our indifference, and end up like the rich man, while we still have opportunities here on earth to do our part and make a difference.

Are you a slave? Or are you truly free? Some of you may be thinking: “This padre has really gone nuts or crazy. Of course I am free! How could I possibly be a slave?” But the reality is, unfortunately, many people indeed become slaves of one thing or another. We become trapped or addicted to the thing that we want to be free of. How can this be so? After all, we are free to do many things in this world, so how can we be enslaved even though we think we are free?

God invites us to depend on Him and learn from His ways, but He does not force us to do so. To be his servant, to put our entire trust and faith in him, we must do it freely without compulsion. But when we begin to place our trust in other things or persons other from God, we soon see ourselves losing our freedom to these things. We become slaves to these false gods. They begin to take control of our lives and take away our freedom. Take for example, money and wealth. We need to make a living and we need money to survive and function in this world, but when we begin to make money, some of us may begin to long for more and more of it, to the point that our entire efforts are in making money. We begin to neglect or pay less attention to other things, including our health, our family, even our relationship with God. When this happens, are we not enslaved or slaves to money? Has not money become like a false god to us?

That is why, in today’s Gospel, we are reminded that we cannot serve God and false gods at the same time. To serve God is to be truly free, whereas to serve other false gods would mean losing this freedom. We cannot be free and not free at the same time. We must never forget that we were created to know, love and serve God. The attractions of life can draw us away from living as sons and daughters of God, and slowly take away our inner freedom and we become slaves to them; we become addicted, attached and dependent on them, so much so that they have become our false gods. When we allow this to happen, when we become totally immersed to the ways of the world and the attractions of life, then we are actually breaking the first commandment: “I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.”

Today, let us  pray for the strength to truly know, love and serve God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Today’s second reading reminds us: “For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and mankind, himself a man, Christ Jesus, who sacrificed himself as a ransom for them all.” Let us always remember that we cannot serve two masters, and make every effort to cast off all our false gods and place our trust in God. Let us depend on our God, and regain our freedom to become sons and daughters of God.

People in love have the capacity of doing the craziest things. If you observe a person in love, you would notice the amount of time and effort the person would spend towards the one the person loves. For example, a mother would go through great extent to ensure that her child is well cared for and well provided, regardless whether the child is grateful to the mother or not. A father would not hesitate to rescue his child who fell into a pool, even though he does not know how to swim and may be at risk of drowning. A teacher spends lots of time helping a child to gain a better grasp of his lessons, as the child is a slow learner, and the teacher loves the child and wants him to do well in life, without caring about what others think. Love can certainly make people do crazy things.

In today’s Gospel, we see examples of how love can make people do crazy things. In the Gospel, we are told that a shepherd leaves ninety nine sheep to go after the one that is lost. We are also told that a woman goes in search for the lost tenth drachma by “light a lamp and sweep out the house and search thoroughly till she found it.” A person attuned to the ways of the world or a business person may be thinking: “Are you crazy? Have you gone nuts? Why risk losing the other sheep just to look out for one? Why go through all the trouble looking to that one drachma when you already have the other nine?” But the fact is, God’s ways are different from our ways. God loves without limit, and He is prepared to go all out and endure suffering, seek and find that one which is lost.

Some of us may think that the best thing to do would be to let these sort of people carry on with whatever they’re doing, and we too carry on with our own lives. We wash our hands off such people, because we don’t feel it worthwhile or necessary to bring them or rescue them. But this is where God shows us the true meaning of love. God never gives up even when we choose to give up; He never stops working or trying even though we have long ceased all efforts; He never stops loving even when we may feel as if it is impossible to love anymore. Such is our God: the most compassionate, the most loving, and the most merciful. Seeing that we have such a God, what does this tell us? This tells us that each of us is very important; has a special dignity; is unique; is priceless and worth saving. The problem is, we sometimes fail to recognise our own dignity, and we forget who we are. Because of this, we easily get angry with others when we are made to feel small; or become jealous and selfish because we feel that we are not good enough. But the point is, God is telling you: “You are beautiful! You are precious! Why let others put you down? God loves you so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die for you and to save you from your sins!” Are we doubting God?

Today, let us hold our heads up high, knowing with trust and confidence that God is there to help us and guide us. Each and every one of us is more precious and valuable than anything else, so we should not feel down or give up. Let us always remember that God will never abandon us; that He loves us unconditionally, and that we too should learn to love the way He loves us.