Weekday of Advent, Saturday, 21st December 2024

Songs 2:8-14 or Zephaniah 3:14-18 / Luke 1:39-45    

Advent is a time of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Christ as well as His second coming.

But for Mary and Elizabeth, it was a time of preparation of motherhood.

As these two expecting mothers met in the gospel passage, we can sense a spike of revelation.

For Elizabeth, the sad barren period of her life is over as God revealed His blessings on her.

For Mary, a joy-filled, yet anxious future, has just been revealed to her.

In Mary and Elizabeth, we can see the cycle of life and the cycle of joy and anxiety.

Yet even in our joys and anxiety, God will still reveal Himself to us, just as He did to Mary and Elizabeth.

In our joys and anxiety may we still sing the songs of love and thanksgiving, like the song we heard in the 1st reading.

May our hearts always leap with joy with each revelation from God.

Weekday of Advent, Friday, 20th December 2024

Isaiah 7:10-14 / Luke 1:26-38   

The word "sign" in everyday language can have a few meanings.

A sign can give information, as in the information on a signboard.

It can give directions, as in road signs.

Or it can have a symbolic meaning, as in someone's words or actions are indicating a peculiar meaning or happening.

But when the Bible uses the word "sign" as in the 1st reading, it means that God was intervening for His people.

In the 1st reading, God was pledging that He would be with king Ahaz as he faced the threat of the foreign powers, and the prophet Isaiah was calling on Ahaz to trust in God because of the sign that was given.

Similarly in the gospel, God was also intervening when He sent the angel Gabriel to tell Mary that God was with her.

When the world was crumbling in its sin, God intervened and gave a sign.

He sent His only Son, born of a virgin, who became like us in all things except sin, to save us.

At every Mass, we celebrate God's saving intervention when we hear the words: The Lord be with you.

Let us respond by being with God and in God always, so that in everything, we see the signs of God's saving love.

Weekday of Advent, Thursday, 19th December 2024

Judges 13:2-7. 24-25 / Luke 1:5-25  

We pray because we believe that God hears and answers our prayers.

And because our prayers have been answered, our faith in God is deepened and strengthened.

And so we continue to put our faith and trust in God in our time of need.

But prayer can be rather challenging when it comes to difficult circumstances.

Zachariah’s wife, Elizabeth, was barren and getting on in years, and he was also an old man.

Though Zachariah prayed for a child, his hopes were fading and his prayer for a child became a routine.

And as he was offering incense at the Temple, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him that his prayer was heard and that Elizabeth is to bear a son and he must name him John.

But Zachariah found it hard to believe that it could happen.

Time has eroded his hopes and possibilities have faded off.

Advent is a time of prayer and a renewal of our faith in God who hears our prayers.

May we come to realise that what seems impossible to us is not impossible for God.

Weekday of Advent, Wednesday, 18th December 2024

Jeremiah 23:5-8 / Matthew 1:18-24  

When we think of home, what comes to mind will be a number of warm and cozy thoughts and feelings.

Because home is a place where we can call our own, be ourselves, feel comfortable and have a good and peaceful rest.

Any other place, no matter how nice or enjoyable can never be like home.

The 1st reading prophesied that the Lord will lead back and bring home the descendants of the House of Israel from all the countries where they were dispersed so that they will live on their own soil.

So the People of God will go home and live under the protection of the Lord God.

That is true freedom and with that, they will be able to worship God in a place that they can truly call their own.

In the gospel, the angel also used the word home. He told Joseph to take Mary home as his wife.

And that is also to prepare a place for Jesus as He comes into the world.

For Jesus, His home is in heaven, but He came from heaven to make His home with us.

He did that so that He can in turn bring us home to heaven.

Let us prepare a home for Jesus in our hearts during this Advent season.

When Jesus makes His home in our hearts, then we will also know what it feels like to be in heaven.

Weekday of Advent, Tuesday, 17th December 2024

Genesis 49:2, 8-10 / Matthew 1:1-17   

When we look at a tree, what we will see will be what is above the ground.

We will notice the height, the shape, the branches, the leaves and the fruit.

But the health and the state of the tree is determined by what is below the ground.

What is below the ground is what we don’t see, but it is as important if not more important that what is above the ground.

In other words, the roots determine the fruit, and the deeper the roots, the better will the tree hold on to the ground.

In the gospel, we hear of the long genealogy of Jesus Christ.

In that genealogy are some names of men that we have heard before, as well as some women who have significant roles.

But all of them form the roots of the tree of life that eventually bore the ultimate fruit, and that is Jesus Christ the Saviour.

The season of Advent reminds us of the promise of salvation that is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the root of our faith and our life.

May we bear the fruit of His love so that others will see us, the Church, as the tree of life bearing fruits for the salvation of the world.

3rd Week of Advent, Monday, 16-12-2024

Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17 / Matthew 21:23-27  

To say that a person is spiritual would imply that the person is closely in union with God.

It may also imply that God may choose to reveal certain things through that person.

In the 1st reading, Balaam was a spiritual person and as well as a prophet of God.

But he was enticed with a reward by the enemies of Israel to lay a curse on Israel so that they will be defeated in battle.

In other words, he detracted from his prophetic role and even collaborated with the enemies of Israel.

But the Spirit of God came upon him and he submitted to the authority of God and retracted and declaimed his curse.

And he even blessed Israel as well as prophesied that a great leader would arise from Israel.

In the gospel, when the chief priests and elders questioned Jesus about His authority, He in turn questioned them about the authority of John the Baptist.

If the chief priests and elders had been spiritual enough, they would have acknowledged that the authority of Jesus and John the Baptist was from above.

We are called to be a prophetic people and to fulfil that prophetic role, we have to be spiritual and to be closely united with Jesus.

And when we speak, may it be Jesus who speaks through us, and may our words be a blessing for others.

3rd Sunday of Advent, Year C, 15.12.2024

Zephaniah 3:14-18 / Philippians 4:4-7 / Luke 3:10-18

Human beings and machines have some similarities. 

A machine is designed to perform a specific task. 

For example, a car is designed to move after a sequence of operations. The task is specific and there are not much variations to what a car is supposed to do. 

Human beings, as much as they can be flexible and adaptable, also like to be told specifically what to do. 

And human beings can be rather robotic, and they can at times even act like robots. 

But a better way of putting it is that human beings are creatures of habit, and they like to be ritualistic. 

They want to know what to do and keep doing it, so that they don't have to think too much about how to do it. 

And when they get used to doing something over and over again, then it is not likely that they will like to change it. 

In the gospel, the people who came to John the Baptist asked him what must they do for repentance. 

So, to specific groups of people John the Baptist gave them specific tasks to perform. 

Generally, he told them to be generous and to share with those in need. 

Then, to the tax collectors, he told them to be honest and not to collect more than required. To the soldiers, he told them not to intimidate and not to extort. 

John the Baptist was specific and straightforward in his teaching and in his instructions to the people and to the specific groups. 

So the people thought that it was all that was required. 

Then, John the Baptist gave them something more to think about and what to be prepared for. 

He said that he baptized with water for the repentance of sin. 

But there is one who is coming after him, and who is more powerful than he is. 

And that one who is to come, will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 

What immediately comes to mind is a stark contrast. 

John the Baptist talks about and uses water for his ministry. 

But Jesus, the one who is to come, will have the power of the Holy Spirit and there will be fire. 

What a contrast, and what a change. 

But the contrast also prepares for the change, and it will be a wonderful and beautiful change. 

On this third week of Advent, the rose coloured candle is lighted and rose coloured vestments are worn. 

The rose coloured candle stands as a contrast among the three purple coloured candles. 

It is a candle to symbolize the theme of rejoicing. 

It also reminds us that when Jesus came He brought about a change. 

He was a light in the darkness, and his birth brought about rejoicing because the promise of salvation was fulfilled. 

On this third Sunday of Advent, the message for us is that Jesus will bring about a change, and it is a change that we will rejoice over. 

So, when there are changes in our lives, in our family and in our workplace, let us ask Jesus to help us see the change with rejoicing and with His blessings.

For this parish community, for Fr. Andre and for myself, all of us had undergone a change, and we want to believe that the change comes with blessings and rejoicing.

Let us remember the rose coloured candle of the Advent wreath.

May the light of that candle give us the Spirit of rejoicing. 

And let us pray that every change will come with the blessings of God, and that every change will be wonderful and beautiful.