Ecclesiasticus 15:15-20 / 1 Cor 2:6-10 / Matthew 5:17-37
We all know who Fr. Paul Tong is. He has been in this parish for a very long time and until now he still does the Chinese Mass and takes care of the Chinese-speaking ministries.
Some of us may know how old he is. Yes, he is 90 years old and is still up and about, his mind is clear as crystal, remembers a lot of things, though a bit hard on hearing.
He still uses the computer to read his emails. He uses a tablet and I think he has got WhatsApp and WeChat.
To me, he is a fatherly figure, and needless to say he makes me feel very young.
It is said that the best classroom in the world is at feet of the elder.
For me it is at the dining table and chatting with Fr. Tong and learning the lessons of life from him.
One lesson that I learnt from Fr. Tong is the meaning of the word “home”. It was when I first came to the parish and we were having breakfast.
Then he asked me if I was having lunch at home. I thought that he was asking if I was having lunch with my mother at home, as in my home.
So of course I told him that I am having lunch here, in the parish. And he said, “Yes, that’s what I mean. Are you having lunch here at home, in the parish.”
That’s when I realized that for Fr. Tong, home for the priests means here in the parish. If it is the other home, then he will ask if I am going to see my mother.
And that’s a valuable lesson that I learnt from Fr. Tong – the sense of belonging for the priest. Home for the priest is the parish. Other than that it is going to visit our loved ones.
Such is his understanding of what it means to be a priest and where the priest must belong. And for me it was a truly enlightening lesson of life and of the priesthood.
Hence, we must salute and respect our elders. One thing is that they gained their wisdom without Google or Wikipedia. They may not be always right but at least they have more experiences of being wrong … and learning from it.
In the gospel, we heard Jesus giving a teaching and He begins with “You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors”. He touches on a few of the Commandments – Do not kill; Do not commit adultery.
But with each of those Commandments, He gives a deeper aspect to it and presents an enlightening teaching to help us understand the virtues that flow from the Commandments.
For example, with the Commandment on committing adultery, He says that if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
A story goes that a young man said to an elderly priest, “I like to look at women especially the beautiful ones. If God does not want us to look at them, then why does He give us eyes?” The elderly priest responded, “God also gave us eyelids so that we can close them when necessary.”
As for killing, Jesus says this: anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court.
The wisdom that life has taught us, that anger and its consequences is like drinking poison and hoping that the other person will die. Or clutching on to red hot coals and hoping that the other person gets burnt.
In other words, when we get angry, we only hurt and harm ourselves, and then the hurt and harm spreads on from us.
There was a grandfather, and his little grandson often came in the evenings to sit at his knee and ask the many questions that children ask.
One day the grandson came to his grandfather with a look of anger on his face. Grandfather said, "Come, sit down, tell me what has happened today."
The child sat and leaned his chin on his Grandfather's knee.
Looking up into the wrinkled, nut brown face and the kind dark eyes, the child's anger turned to tears.
The boy said, "I went to the town today with my father, to trade the furs he has collected over the past several months. I was happy to go, because father said that since I had helped him with the trapping, I could get something for myself, something that I wanted.
I was so excited to be in the trading post, I have not been there before. I looked at many things and finally found a hunting knife! It was small, but good size for me, so father got it for me."
Here the boy laid his head against his grandfather's knee and became silent. The Grandfather, softly placed his hand on the boy’s hair and said, "And then what happened?". Without lifting his head, the boy said, "I went outside to wait for father, and to admire my new knife in the sunlight. Some town boys came by and saw me, they got all around me and started saying bad things. They called me dirty and stupid and said that I should not have such a fine knife. The biggest of these boys, pushed me back and I fell over one of the other boys. I dropped my knife and one of them snatched it up and they all ran away, laughing."
Here the boy's anger returned, "I hate them, I hate them all!"
The Grandfather, with eyes that have seen so much, lifted his grandson's face so his eyes looked into the boy’s eyes. Grandfather said, "Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do.
But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times. It is as if there are two wolves inside me, one is white and one is black. The White Wolf is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. But will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.”
"But, the Black Wolf, is full of anger. The smallest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing.”
"Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."
The boy, looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes, and asked, "So Grandfather, which one wins?"
The Grandfather, smiled and said, "The one I feed."
So the question comes back to us. What are we feeding our hearts with? Because what we feed our hearts with, we will also become.
As we come to the Eucharist, we are fed with the teachings of Jesus, we are also fed with His love in Holy Communion.
And we also need to keep reminding ourselves of this love that Jesus is filling our hearts with.
There is this little prayer about love on our parish Facebook page. It goes like this:
“Love is patient, love is kindness, no hatred, no anger.
God is love, He loves me, all the time, every time.”
Good to sing it we are about to be angry or not happy about other people.
Jesus wants to remind us that He loves us always. The lesson of love must be revised in our hearts always.
And as we have learnt it, so must we show it.
To see video, click
Video of Archbishop William Goh & Prayerful Puppet singing "What is Love"
Church of the Sacred Heart, Singapore Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchofthesacredheartsg