Some of the things we need to be prepared for when we want to serve God is the possibility of rejection, persecution, and even being put to death. Over the centuries, we have seen many saints and martyrs who proclaimed the faith with vigour, and some even went to their death for the faith. Some
How do we know whether a person is wise or not? Is there some sort of clear criteria which could be used to determine whether a person is wise? Unfortunately, there is no clear criteria. Different ethnic groups have different interpretations of what makes a wise person. Even within an ethnic group, what certain individuals
What sort of life are we living here on earth? What do we hope to attain? Some of us seem to be more goal-oriented and achievement-centered. We spend much energy and time to reach somewhere in life: such as our career, wealth, status, knowledge or whatever we deem is our priority or has importance. But
What sort of image of Christ do you have? Some of us may think of Christ as a healer, miracle worker, teacher, rebel against authorities, activist against the unjust status quo, and many other images. In today’s Gospel, Christ asks His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They respond to Him mentioning various
Many of us are so used to getting things done quickly, so much so that we do not like to wait. Even if we need to wait, we do not want to wait too long. For example, if we go for a hair cut at the barbers, and we find that there are one or
When we speak of yeast, we normally speak of a kind of substance which enables bread to expand and rise, making the bread more pleasing to look at and eat once baked. In today’s Gospel, Jesus warned us of a “yeast” which is a little different. What sort of yeast is Jesus trying to tell
Why do we do things or offer our services in church? Do we do such things and services to serve God? Or do we do such things and services to gain recognition, admiration and to feed our pride and ego? When we do something for church, do we expect praise and recognition from others, especially
Have you heard of a being named S. A. Tan? Perhaps you may have seen horror stories at the movies, or read books about him, but few of us have seen him face to face. Some of us may have experienced his presence, and many of us could have experienced him luring us and tempting
It has become easy and convenient for many of us to get things done quickly. We have become so used to efficiency and instant this or that, that we may have become less and less tolerant or impatient when things don’t go our way or we have to wait for something to be completed. However,
For some religions, there are certain restrictions to what can and cannot be eaten. Some of such religions would specify whether it is “kosher or not” to eat something, or whether it is “halal or haram” (Malay for ‘allowed or forbidden to be eaten.’) However, we sometimes come across followers of such religions who focus
