Saturday, August 31, 2019

22nd Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 01.09.2019

Ecclesiasticus 3:17-20, 28-29 / Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24 / Luke 14:1, 7-14

What we are sitting on are called pews. They look like benches but there is a difference between pews and benches.

The difference is that pews are found only in churches, whereas benches are found all around.

And there’s also a difference between one pew and another, because there is this unwritten, unspoken but understood “favourite” pew. 

Oh yes, we have our favourite pews in church. We come to church, walk down the aisle and then plant ourselves there at our favourite pew. And if someone else is sitting on our favourite pew, then it is like as if someone has stolen our seat.

Anyway, there is no such a thing as “my pew” or “chope” pews by putting tissue paper or umbrella or plastic bag or whatever.

But whatever pew we are sitting on, we can be sure that there is something right in front of our feet. Yes, it is the kneeler.

These kneelers can be quite cumbersome at times especially when stepping in and out of the pews.

We use the pews for a few purposes - we rest our feet on it, we stand on it, we put our things on it.

But the primary purpose of the kneeler is none other than for the knees. It is for us to kneel at those parts of the Mass, or when we want to pray.

Going down on our knees on the kneeler is a humble act of reverence and worship to the Almighty God.

In the gospel, Jesus noticed that the guests were picking the seats of honour. We can be sure that those seats of honour do not have any kneelers in front of them.

Because the seats of honour are not for the lowly and the poor. Those who are at the seats of honour don’t need to kneel, and they also don’t want to.

To be at the seat of honour is to stand out among the rest and to be in the spotlight.

But what is rather disgraceful is that the guests were picking the seats of honour for themselves.

In other words, those guests want the honour for themselves, they want to be held up high, they want the attention.

But that is rather shameful isn’t it. Because honour cannot be demanded, it is to be earned.

And those who do not know what is shameful has a bigger issue within them, and that is pride.

The first reading has this to say about pride: There is no cure for a proud man’s malady since an evil growth has taken root in him.

Indeed pride is a very dangerous thing. It is dangerous because it was pride that turned angels into devils.

And pride comes before the fall. In the gospel parable, Jesus gives this embarrassing scene of the host telling a guest to give up the seat of honour to another person.

The price of pride is shame. And that shame is our own doing. Shame should teach us a lesson provided we are willing to learn from it.

We have heard of the story of the hare and the tortoise. The hare was so proud of his speed and strength and he made fun of the slow tortoise and he even challenged the tortoise to a race just to prove his point.

When the race started, the hare sped off but he stopped halfway to take a break. And then he decided to have lunch since he was way ahead of the tortoise.

But he ate too much and fell into a deep sleep. When he woke up he saw the tortoise was near the finishing line and so he huffed and puffed to the finishing line, but the tortoise crossed it first.

Shamed but still prideful, he challenged the tortoise to another race. He trained hard for the second race to make sure he will finish the race in no time.

The day of the race came and again the hare lost. Why? The hare ran in the wrong direction!

Yes, pride makes us blind and even though we might be shamed we still may not learn our lesson. 

If the pride does not die in us, then nothing of heaven will ever live in us.

If it was pride that turned angels into devils, then it is humility that will turn men to be like angels.

The kneeler at the pew may be lowly and humble but it carries our knees as we kneel in reverence and adoration before the Lord.
And let us also remember what the first reading tells us:
The greater you are, the more you should behave humbly, and then you will find favour with the Lord. For great though the power of the Lord is, He accepts the homage of the humble.

Friday, August 30, 2019

21st Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 31-08-19

1 Thessalonians 4:9-11 / Matthew 25:14-30

In the working world, it goes without saying that the company's interest is first and foremost priority.

The way to move ahead in the career is to do what the company wants of us.

So if the company appoints us to be in-charge of a branch office, it goes without saying that we must do our best to develop that branch office and enhance the company's core product or core business so as to make it a profitable branch office.

To neglect that would mean that we are not interested in the company's business, and that won't reflect very well on our future with the company.

The gospel parable has those three servants who were given different sums of money by the master to manage according to their own abilities.

So they have the means, and it is up to them to put how much effort into what they were in charge of.

And the last servant was punished not because he lost the money and failed in his investment.

He was punished because he didn't have interest of his master as the priority. In other words he couldn't be bothered, and that is why the master called him a "wicked and lazy servant".

The parable reminds us that we must take our faith seriously and that we need to pray always to be guided by the Holy Spirit to do God's will.

When it comes to the time of reckoning, may we heard the Lord say to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant."



Thursday, August 29, 2019

21st Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 30-08-19

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 / Matthew 25:1-13

A practising Catholic can be described as one who keeps to what is required of the faith, does what an ordinary Catholic would usually do and observe the precepts of the religion.

Doing all these things is certainly good and it is the expression of the faith identity as Catholics.

But if practice makes perfect, then does it mean that as long as we keep practising what is required of us, then we are going to become perfect Catholics?

And if we don't know why we are doing what we are doing or having only a faint idea of the purpose of what we are doing, then our actions may be void of meaning.

In the 1st reading, we are told what is required of us and what we are called to be.

St. Paul tells the Thessalonians: What God wants is for you all to be holy. He wants nobody at all ever to sin. We have been called by God to be holy, not to be immoral.

So the fundamental calling in our faith life is to be holy. We are called by God to be holy and this is what He wants of us.

So when we sin, we are not living up to our calling and not doing what God wants of us.

To be holy is to keep the light of Christ shining in our lives always and to keep the light burning with the oil of prayer and good works.

Let us be faithful to our call to holiness so that we can radiate the light of the holiness of the presence of God in the world.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Passion of St. John the Baptist, Thursday, 29-08-19

Jeremiah 1:17-19 / Mark 6:17-29

We might wonder how Jesus would have felt when he heard about the death of his cousin, John the Baptist.

Not much is said about their relationship, but we can guess they knew each other from their earliest days, probably played together, talked about life.

Both knew they had a mission.

And both also know that the mission cannot be accomplished without putting their lives on the line.

John the Baptist was the first to do it and that line was drawn across his neck.

For Jesus, it was drawn at the cross.

And for us, that line will also be drawn for us.

A line that will cut across the various aspects of our lives when we have to decide between whose side to stand on.

To stand on God's side, then there will be lines drawn right across our faith, our love, our hope, our security, our future, which will result in sorrow and pain, and maybe even some scars and wounds.

But it is through those sorrows and pain, and those scars and wounds that God will continue to save the world.

For it is by Christ's wounds that we ourselves have been healed and saved.

May we, like St. John the Baptist, put our lives in the hands of God, and bear witness to truth and love.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

21st Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 28-08-19

Today we remember the great saint, St. Augustine, who lived during the 4th century.

He wrote many theological and spiritual works and to this present day, 2 of his works, The City of God and Confessions are still widely read.

In fact, the book "Confessions" is a sort of a spiritual journal for catechumens but it was more his own spiritual journey in discovering God.

In his younger days, St. Augustine was a wild and rebellious man. But he was also very intelligent and he studied philosophy and he taught rhetoric.

Of course, his mother, St Monica had an influential part in his conversion, especially through her prayers. She prayed for him for 30 years before he was converted and baptised.

The turning point of his life came when he heard a homily preached by St. Ambrose.

He went off to a lonely place to do some soul-searching and there he seem to hear a child singing: take and read.

He opened the bible at random and he read Rom 13:13-14, which essentially is about living in the day and not in the darkness. That was enough for him and he made preparations to be baptised.

In his book "Confessions" he talked about his experiences of God.

And here are two quotes that reflect St. Augustine's journey of discovering God, which in many ways reflect our own journey of discovering and loving God.

Late have I loved you, O beauty both ancient and new, late have I loved you.
You called, you cried out, you rid me of my deafness.
You sent forth your beams and shone upon me and chased away my blindness.

You stir us up Lord, and make us find joy in praising you, since you have made us for yourself. And our hearts find no rest until they rest in you.

Monday, August 26, 2019

21st Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 27-08-19

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 / Matthew 23:23-26   (Memorial of St.Monica)

Today we celebrate the memorial of St Monica, the mother of St Augustine, whose memorial we will celebrate tomorrow.

We celebrate this memorial not simply because St Monica was the mother of a great saint.

Part of the opening prayer for Mass goes like this and it is worth to take note: O God, who console the sorrowful and who mercifully accepted the motherly tears of St. Monica for the the conversion of her son Augustine.

St Monica was born of Christian parents. She married a good man but he had a violent temper and was sometimes unfaithful.

But St Monica managed to convert him to Christianity and he was later baptized.

Her son, Augustine, proved to be a much greater challenge.

When she was exhausted and tired with her son's wild and wheeling ways, she approached a bishop to ask him to intervene.

The bishop responded with these prophetic words: Let him be, and continue to pray for him. It is impossible that a son of so many tears should be lost.

St Monica dedicated most of her life praying for the conversion of St Augustine.

All in all, she prayed for something like 30 years before she finally had the joy of seeing St Augustine baptized.

The consolation, experienced by St Monica and her total abandonment to God can also be ours today when we persevere in patience and in trust.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

21st Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 26-08-19

1 Thes 1:1-5, 8-10 / Matthew 23:13-22

It can be quite amazing to think about the influence and power we can have over people.

What we say and what we do can influence others, be it for better or for worse.

And more often than not we see that power being used for the worse.

In the gospel, Jesus gave an example of how others can be adversely affected by our bad influence.

He said to the scribes and Pharisees: You who shut up the kingdom of heaven in men's faces, neither going in yourself nor allowing others to go in who want to. You who travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when you have him, you make him twice as fit for hell as you are.

Those are very grave and shocking words but nonetheless it shows the reality of the devastating power and influence that we can have over others.

But on the other hand, we are also capable of influencing others to rise above the sludge of this world and to reach for heaven.

In the 1st reading, we heard how St. Paul gave thanks to God for the community at Thessalonika.

But it was he who preached to them the Good News and helped them to break from idolatry, convert to God and become servants of the true and living God. They showed their faith in action, worked for love and persevered through hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So we have a choice: we can be like the scribes and Pharisees and have a devastating power and influence over others or we can be like St. Paul who was an instrument of God's saving grace for the Thessalonians.

Yes, we can choose, and let us pray that we will choose to be signs that will point others towards heaven.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

21st Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 25.08.2019

Isaiah 66:18-21 / Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 / Luke 13:22-30

It is a basic human desire to yearn for a better life. That is why human beings strive to develop and progress so that life can be better.

With development and progress the result will be an affluent lifestyle. But an affluent lifestyle and an affluent society have its challenges.

There is this picture of some tribal men, bare-bodied and getting ready for hunting. And the bottom of the picture there are these words:
No stress, no bombs, no homeless, no poverty, no junk food, no pollution. And some people call them … PRIMITIVE.

It is such a contradiction, isn’t it? We call ourselves an affluent and a civilized society and we have stress, wars, pollution, inflation, etc.

And that is one more thing. As we become an affluent society, we also become lazy.

And then the health issues begin to appear: high blood, high cholesterol, high blood sugar. And with all that scoring high that is also an added problem. Needless to say it is a heavy weight problem.
With expanding waistlines it is not easy to fit into our clothes and we become heavy and cumbersome. And of course, that is also not very healthy.

And there is no denying it, that we envy those slim and trim and healthy looking people.

In the gospel we heard of someone asking Jesus a rather strange question: Sir, will there be only a few saved?

Putting that question in another way, it is like asking how many good people will be saved? Or how many good people will go to heaven?

The presumption here is that the so-called good people are those who keep the rules, be in the right place at the right time and say the right thing.

Obviously the one asking the question is also presuming that he is one of those “right” people and so he wanted to know how many there are of these “right” people, since he thinks that he is also one of them.

Jesus addressed that question but not with a direct answer. He says, “Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.”
And we might be thinking. So those who do evil, those who are not good, those who don’t do the right thing, those who are bloated and heavy with the things of the world, the rich, the affluent, those who are overweight, they can’t go through that narrow door.

But before we go on speculating further, Jesus goes on to say this:
“Once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “I do not know where you come from.” Then you will find yourself saying, “We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets” but he will reply, “I do not know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men!”

And we might be thinking: Hey, those are the so-called “right” people. They were in the right place and at the right time and said the right thing. But why did this happen to them?

Today’s Gospel sets us thinking. Jesus tells us that it is the narrow door, and many will try to enter and will not succeed.

It is said that if we want to go fast we go alone. If we want to go far then we go together.

But if we want to go fast, we might just end up last. The narrow door becomes narrower, and it maybe even closed for those who want to go in alone.

But if we want to go through that narrow door, then we have to go together. For where two or three go together, the Lord will open the door wider.

So the teaching point here is this - that we have to help each other on the road to heaven.

And we who are strong ought to journey with those who are weak.

Let us remember that the salvation of many depends on the sacrifice of a few.

With that sacrifice the door to heaven will be opened wide for those who want to go in together with the others.

Friday, August 23, 2019

St. Bartholomew, Apostle, Saturday, 24-08-19

Apocalypse 21:9-14 / John1:45-51

St Bartholomew was from Cana in Galilee, and he was often identified as Nathaniel in the gospel of John but the other gospels listed him together with Philip as one of the first apostles chosen by Christ.

From the gospel, we can make a presumption of what kind of character he was.

For one, he was a straight-forward and a straight-talking person, who said what he meant and meant what he said.

We can make that presumption when he made that statement: Can anything good come from Nazareth? That was indeed a raw and cutting frankness.

Nonetheless, he was an open-minded person because he followed Philip to see who that person Jesus was.

He was also a person of prayer, as attested to by Jesus, because to sit under a fig tree means to be under its shade of coolness and to pray and meditate on God's righteousness and a longing for the coming of God's kingdom.

So in effect, Jesus was affirming Bartholomew about his character. It was like He knew what kind of a person Bartholomew really was.

Similarly, Jesus also knows each of us through and through and He also wants to affirm our goodness.

Like St. Bartholomew, let us continue to follow Jesus as He reveals Himself to us.

May we also come to know ourselves deeper and be strengthened in our goodness.

May we also always meditate on God's righteousness and on God's kingdom and proclaim it in our lives.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

20th Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 23-08-19

Ruth 1:1, 3-6, 14-16, 22 / Matthew 22:34-40

It is unlikely that a person can come to know God and love God as an isolated individual.

Because it is with others and from others that we come to know what kindness and compassion is, what love and forgiveness is, what truth and beauty is.

And we would want to believe in what they believe in, so that we too can radiate the goodness they radiate.

In the 1st reading, it would certainly be alright for Ruth to return to her people just as it would be alright for Naomi to return to her people.

Yet Ruth chose to follow Naomi and go to a foreign land and be a stranger and a foreigner, although she was not obliged to.

A possible reason for her to do that was because she saw the goodness of her mother-in-law Naomi.

Subsequently she can even accept Naomi's people as well as the God that Naomi believed in.

Certainly in Naomi and Ruth, we see the commandment of love that Jesus talked about in the gospel, being practised in the reality of life.

Yet in the reality of life, the conflicts in relationships abound, be it between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, father and son, husband and wife, parents and children, or superior and subordinates.

Yet the commandment of love demands a commitment and a conviction from us so that others will begin to love just as we choose to love.

Otherwise we will be living a very isolated and lonely life.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Queenship of Mary, Thursday, 22-08-19

Isaiah 9:1-6 / Luke 1:26-38

Eight days after the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven, the Church celebrates the feast of the Queenship of Mary.

The number "8" has the biblical meaning of a new beginning, and for Mary, it means that she now has a new heavenly and spiritual role.

The Assumption means that Mary is in heaven, body and soul, but that is not the end of her purpose in life nor is she just in heaven enjoying the rewards of heaven.

Mary is crowned Queen of Heaven so that she can continue to intercede and assist us in our journey to heaven.

So she not only did the will of God on earth, but even now in heaven, she continues to serve God by carrying out His will.

And Mary also continues to carry out her spiritual role as our Mother, a role given to her by Jesus when He was on the Cross.

Yes, Mary, the Queen of Heaven and our Mother, continues to intercede for us and prays with us.

With her, may we also do God's will on earth so one day we too will join her to praise God forever in heaven.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

20th Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 21-08-19

Judges 9:6-15 / Matthew 20:1-16

A story is an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment, e.g. an adventure story. 

Or it can be an account of past events in someone's life or in the development of something.

A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. 

In the Bible, a parable, especially those found in the gospels reveal something about God, about people and about life.

In the 1st reading, a story is told about the trees who wanted to anoint a king to rule over them. The olive tree, the fig tree, the vine rejected, but the thorn bush accepted.

Needless to say, the trees are asking for trouble for a thorn bush to rule over them. That was Jotham's point. Whether the people will heed that point or not, it was for them to decide.

In the gospel, the teaching point of the parable is about the generosity of God which is stated in these words: Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why be envious because I am generous?

Our life story may also have many instances when we make wrong decisions and end up as losers.

But let us also remember that Jesus came for the lost, the least, the last and the lonely. 

When we make the wrong turns in life and end up down and out, Jesus will raise us up with His mercy and love. Let us continue to put our trust and hope in Him.

Monday, August 19, 2019

20th Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 20-08-19

Judges 6:11-24 / Matthew 19:23-30

There are many lessons that we can learn from the sufferings of Jesus, especially from the Last Supper till He died on the Cross.

One profound learning point is in the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsamane, which was between the Last Supper and Jesus being betrayed.

At the Garden of Gethsamane, Jesus prayed that if it was possible, the cup of suffering would pass Him by, but in the end, He accepted that God's will be done, and with that He went on to face His sufferings.

It was a critical moment as Jesus struggled with making that decision, but when He decided for God's will, He was at peace with Himself and He accepted the sufferings to come.

In the 1st reading, Gideon was struggling to accept the mission from God. He needed some signs and God gave him the sign.

And the Lord said to him, "Peace be with you; have no fear; you will not die." And Gideon built an altar to the Lord and called it "The-Lord-is-Peace."

In life, we will also have our share of doubts, difficulties and fears. We doubt if God listens to our prayers and we find life's difficulties piling.

God's will becomes another difficulty for us. Yet like Jesus let us accept the will of God and do it.

Accepting and doing God's will brings us peace of heart. Only then what seemed impossible will now be possible.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

20th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 19-08-19

Judges 2:11-19 / Matthew 19:16-22

What we heard in the 1st reading is also what we will read about in almost every page of the Old Testament.

And just what is that? It is this recurring problem of the Israelites. They turn to idols and worshipped the idols and they did what displeased the Lord.

Two idols were mentioned in the 1st reading: Baal who was chief of the Canaanite pantheon and worshipped as the source of life and fertility, the mightiest hero, and the lord of war.

The other idol was Astarte who was worshipped as the beautiful goddess of fertility and sexual love.

That brief description would already give us an indication of why the Israelites fell into idolatry.

Because the worshipping of these idols was an expression of the cravings and desires of a human heart that longs for power, might, wealth, sex and the freedom from moral obligations.

And the problem was that the worshipping of these idols did fulfill these yearnings and cravings and desires.

Just like how the obsession with money and wealth can fulfill the yearnings and cravings and desires of the modern world.

Worshipping the one true God has its moral obligations and it also disciplines the wild and straying heart.

Yet, in worshipping the one true God, we will have the peace and joy that no amount of money can buy. For all that we give up on earth, God will reward us. That can also be found in every page of the Bible.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

20th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 18.08.2019

Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10 / Hebrews 12:1-4 / Luke 12:49-53
One of the things that we don’t really feel comfortable about, that we don’t feel at ease with, is the dark. 

There is this primeval fear of the dark and it not only affects children, even adults would avoid the dark places.

So as much as we may not say that we are afraid of the dark, our actions often show otherwise.

That is this joke about a little boy who was always afraid of the dark. And he wouldn’t go outdoors alone after sunset.

One day he forgot to bring in his badminton racket from the garden, and since it was already dark, he asked his mother to bring it in for him.

His mother wanted to help him overcome his fear of the dark, so she told him, “Don’t be afraid of the dark. Jesus is out there even in the dark. So just go and bring your badminton racket back.”

So the little boy opened the door a bit, and then said in a loud voice, “Jesus, if you are out there, please bring in my badminton racket.”
Oh yes, Jesus is out there even in the dark, but what He will do about it depends on what we want to do about it.

And if we were ever thrown into a dark well and sinking slowly into the muddy bottom, it is not going to be very useful to keep cursing the dark.

In the first reading, we heard that the Prophet Jeremiah was thrown into a well which has no water in it, but only mud, and into the mud Jeremiah sank.

We weren’t told what Jeremiah did as he was sinking into the mud, but we know what he did before he got thrown into the well.

He was telling the soldiers and the people living in Jerusalem to give up and surrender to the enemy who were laying siege on Jerusalem.

Certainly, to surrender was quite unthinkable, but Jeremiah’s point was that it would be better to surrender rather than to be in for total disaster.

In other words, in surrendering, there could still be a little light in spite of the impending darkness.

But the king’s leading men could only think of Jeremiah as bad and dark news.
But Jeremiah, being a prophet, should be proclaiming the good news of God’s protection and salvation, and not the bad and dark news of surrendering to the enemy.

But Jeremiah saw what the king’s leading men refused to see, that the people had turned away from God and turned into a people of darkness.

So God let a greater darkness cover them and if they had listened to Jeremiah, then they will realize that even in the overwhelming darkness, the light will still shine. But only if they listened and believed in Jeremiah.

Today’s Gospel sounded more like dark news instead of good news.

Jesus talked about bringing fire and then about a baptism He must still receive, and how great was His distress till it was over.

And then instead of peace, He talked about division and distress, and we might wonder what was His point and what was He talking about.

It was certainly one of those hard and tough sayings of Jesus. But we may remember that Jesus called Himself the Light of the world.
That light was now turning into a fire as Jesus prepares Himself to face the persecutions from the people of darkness, a persecution similar to what the Prophet Jeremiah faced. 

And the light from that blazing fire was going to burn way the false securities of a man-made peace and divided those who are in the light and those who are in the dark.

Because the Light of Christ will bring out the truth of who we are and where we stand.

Certainly we want to stand on the side of Truth and be in the light.

But we must also remember that when the light is brightest, the shadows are darkest.

The noblest of intentions can also be tainted with ulterior motives.

Just a couple of days ago, the Hong Kong tycoon Li ka-shing, put a full-page advertisement in the newspapers calling for a stop to the chaos and violence that are happening in Hong Kong.

The advertisement had an interesting header that said “the best of intentions can lead to the worst outcome”. It did not specify what “the best of intentions” referred to. 
At the bottom, it said “stop anger and violence in the name of love”.

It was a reminder to all those involved to rethink their intentions as they look at what is happening.

But people can only look and see clearly when there is the Light of Christ.

We are called to bring the Light of Christ to others and be the light of Truth for them.

But what is to give light must endure the burning.

May we let the fire of God’s love burn away the darkness and impurities of our lives so that we can shine with truth and with love.

Friday, August 16, 2019

19th Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 17-08-19

Joshua 24:14-29 / Matthew 19:13-15

It has been said that the church is not just a building made of stone walls.

The church is made of living stones, because we are the people of God, we are the Church.

The building is only a sign and a place for worship. Nonetheless the building is significant.

Because when the building is destroyed, the people lose their focus. Just like how the enemies destroy the Temple in Jerusalem when they overran the Israelites.

Also these stone walls bear silent witness to the life and the worship of the church community.

Even in the 1st reading, we heard how Joshua took a great stone and set it in the sanctuary of the Lord and said that this stone will be the witness to the covenant between the Lord and His people.

As we reflect deeper about this, we are also reminded that our home is not just a house with stone walls.

We, the family members, make it a home as well as a dwelling place for God, a mini sanctuary of the Lord.

The home is a house of blessings and a house of prayer. Hence we must teach our children to pray and also to bless them whenever they go off or when they come back.

Like what Jesus did in the gospel, we can just lay our hands on their heads or just make the sign of the cross on their foreheads.

Let us make our house a home of love and blessings. Otherwise it is just a house of stones.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

19th Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 16-08-19

Joshua 24:1-13 / Matthew 19:3-12

There is one prayer that we are all familiar with. It is one of first prayers that we learn and have come to know by heart.

Officially called the "Gloria Patri" it is commonly known as the "Glory be". We know how it goes: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen".

Other than the last part "world without end" which can be difficult to explain, coupled with some translation difficulty from the Latin  "in saecula saeculorum", the rest of the prayer is fairly simple to understand.

That prayer also expounds on an eternal truth, that God is Trinity, Three Persons in one God, and that all glory belongs to God, from the beginning, through all ages, and into eternity.

That was also what Joshua expounded to his people when he recalled how God was with them right from the beginning to the present day.

God was with them from the beginning to the present, blessing them always, clearing the way for them and forming them into a great nation.

The question and the challenge is whether the people will present themselves to serve the Lord as their eternal God.

In the gospel, Jesus addressed the question of divorce when He expounded on the foundations of marriage, that from the beginning, what God has united, man must not divide.

So it is clear to us that if God is not the beginning and the end of what we are doing, then there will be confusion and digression and distortion, and firm foundations will be shaken and broken.

So the next time we pray the "Glory be", let us commit ourselves to God, just as He had committed Himself to us from the beginning and forever.



Wednesday, August 14, 2019

The Assumption of Mary, Thursday, 15-08-19

Apocalypse 11:19; 12:1-6, 10 / 1 Cor 15:20-26 / Luke 1:39-56

Today’s feast goes by a unique title and it has a unique meaning as well.

Obviously, the feast of the Assumption is not about a presumption or something that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof.

Rather the feast of the Assumption is about Mary taking her place in heaven, body and soul, and it is a privilege bestowed upon her by God.

This feast confirms the belief since the earliest times of the Church that Mary was taken up, or assumed, into heaven by the gracious act of God.

Just as the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus conquered sin and death and opened up heaven for our inheritance, Mary is the first to receive this reward through the merits of Jesus Christ.

And what Mary has received, that too is to be our eternal reward.

As the mother of Jesus Christ, she received this reward because she said “Yes” at the Annunciation, and continued to say “Yes” to God.

And as our Mother, Mary also wants to share this reward with us.

In the gospel, she states the one thing necessary for us to attain this reward – humility.

It is with humility that we will experience the mercy of God who will come to our help as we strive to do God’s will.

It is with humility that our lives will proclaim the greatness of the Lord and exult in God our Saviour.

It is with humility that we will realise how useless and futile it is to be proud, to be selfish, to be conceited, to be arrogant and to be too confident at our own abilities and resources and not being dependent on God.

Ultimately, it is with humility and with the mercy of God that we will resist the temptation to sin, so as not to forfeit the eternal reward from God.

So in celebrating the feast of the Assumption, we join Mary to glorify God our Saviour as we set our hearts to be with God in heaven.

At the same time, we renew our devotion to Mary our Mother and to follow her in doing God’s will so that God in turn will do great things for us.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

19th Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 14-08-19

Duet 34:1-12 / Matthew 18:15-20

The number 16670 may not have much significance for us, nor does it have any meaning whatsoever in our modern world.

But going back 77 years ago, on the 28th May 1941, when a man was transferred to Auschwitz prison, he was given a number - 16670, and he was known as prisoner #16670.

That man was Fr. Maximillian Kolbe, and he was arrested by the Nazis for harbouring Jews from the German invasion in his priory in Poland.

While he was in prison, three prisoners disappeared from the camp, prompting the deputy camp commander, to pick 10 men to be starved to death in an underground bunker in order to deter further escape attempts.

When one of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, "My wife! My children!", Kolbe volunteered to take his place.

In that underground bunker, Kolbe celebrated Mass each day and prayed with the rest of the nine condemned prisoners and encouraged them with the hope of heaven.

After two weeks of dehydration and starvation, only Kolbe remained alive and the guards gave him a lethal injection to put him to death.

It was just another case of the atrocities that happened at the Auschwitz prison. But it was a story of faith and courage, love and sacrifice.

That is what we are celebrating as we remember St. Maximillian Kolbe and his sacrifice for another human being.

And as Jesus said in the gospel, where two or three are gathered in His name, He will be there. And we can see it clearly that St Kolbe was a sign of the presence of Jesus to the nine condemned men as they awaited their death.

May we follow the example of St. Maximillian Kolbe and be a presence of Jesus for others and be for them a sign of faith and courage, love and sacrifice.

Monday, August 12, 2019

19th Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 13-08-19

Deuteronomy 31:1-8 / Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

The number 40 has a significant and also an important meaning in the Bible.

There is the account of the Flood after it rained for 40 days and 40 nights.

There is also the account of the Israelites wondering in the desert for 40 years.

And then there is also the account of Jesus spending 40 days and nights in the wilderness.

Whether it is in the measurement of days or years, 40 is a long time, especially when it is raining for that long or fasting and praying for that number of days.

More so if it is in those number of years spent in the wilderness, it can be quite unimaginable.

The 1st reading tells us that Moses was 120 years old when he addressed the people of Israel. That was probably his last address to the people before they crossed into the Promised Land, a land which he won't set foot on.

But looking back at the life of Moses, we can see that the number 40 was very significant for him.

He was 40 years old when he fled from Pharaoh. He was 80 years old when he led the people of Israel out of slavery from Egypt. And he was 120 years old when he made that last address to the people.

The number 40 represents a period of probation, trial and chastisement, as well as a renewal and a new beginning.

Moses had gone through three sets of 40 years in his life. He had gone through the experiences of probation, trial and chastisement. And now God is preparing him for a new beginning in eternity.

So when we go through the difficult times of trials and struggles and difficulties, let us also know that there will be a renewal and a new beginning.

Let us trust in the Lord God, just as Moses trusted in Him.

Sunday, August 11, 2019

19th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 12-08-19

Deuteronomy 10:12-22 / Matthew 17:22-27

Small matters can become big explosive issues if not handled carefully.

Lighting a match-stick to light a candle is a small matter. Lighting a match-stick in a petrol-station is a dangerous thing.

More often than not, it is the small irritating issues that explode into raging fires because of the small-mindedness of some people.

In the gospel, the collectors of the half-shekel asked Peter, "Does your master not pay the half-shekel?"

But from what Jesus said, we get to know that He didn't have to pay the half-shekel.

Why was it that the collectors were asking from Him then? There could be many reasons, one of which could be that they were trying to find trouble with Him so that they could use something against Him.

Whatever it was, Jesus did not want to have trouble with those people nor take their bait. He rather let the fish do it, and the coin in the mouth of the fish solved the problem.

For Jesus it was a small matter and that small coin solved the problem.

Neither does Jesus want us to get entangled with small petty issues. He will provide the simple solutions to these small issues for us.

What Jesus wants of us is what Moses told the people in the 1st reading: to fear the Lord our God, to follow all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul.

Those are the big issues that we must pay attention to. If we neglect those big issues, then the small irritating issues will become explosive and destructive.

Saturday, August 10, 2019

19th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 11.08.2019

Wisdom 18:6-9 / Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 / Luke 12:32-48
One of the things in life that is not nice to encounter are complains. That is simply because no one complains nicely. 

In other words there is no such a thing as a nice complain; it is a contradiction of terms.

But whenever others complain, or when we complain, the cause of the complaints is that there is a disappointment.

Whether spoken or written, whether we hear it or we read it, the word “disappointed” tells us that it is not going to be something nice.

So it is not going to be nice when the boss tells the worker “I am disappointed with your performance”, or the parent tells the child “I am disappointed with your grades”.

And the litany goes on: I’m disappointed with your attitude; I’m disappointed with your progress; I’m disappointed with my spouse; I’m disappointed with my children; I’m disappointed with the Church; I’m disappointed with God.


And with the disappointments come all that sourness and bitterness that are the characteristics of complaints.

But as it is always said, disappointments come from expectations. So where there are expectations that will be disappointments, because the idea or the picture in our minds is not what it is in reality.

So the stoic way is to have no expectations, so that there will be no disappointments. But that is being like a robot. A robot has no expectations and hence it will never have disappointments.

But we are human, with feelings and emotions, with hopes and dreams. And of course with some expectations. Only thing is just to keep our expectations at a realistic level. 

Because expecting life to treat you well just because you are a good person is like expecting an angry bull not to charge at you because you are vegetarian. Well, you will be painfully disappointed.

In the gospel Jesus tells us a parable to give us an idea of what to expect in life. He tells us to be dressed for action and to have our lamps lit.

So what does that mean? It means to be like the servants waiting for the master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as the master comes.

So the servants are expecting their master. The question is when will the master arrive? Is it at second watch or the third watch? Is it that night or is it going to be another night?

And happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Yes happy the servants if he finds them ready, for they shall be rewarded.

And so we can actually have our expectations in life and have our expectations in God. God will reward us for being faithful and for being prayerful.

But at the same time, we have to be prepared to expect the unexpected. Even Jesus would tell us that we have to stand ready because He will come at a time that we do not expect.

So for example in our prayer we pray for an urgent need. We put our faith in God as we believe that every prayer uttered is also every prayer answered.

Yes God will hear our prayers and answer our prayers. The question is how are we expecting God to answer our prayers.

Well to keep our expectations at a realistic level, let us remember how God generally answers prayers.
Generally speaking, God gives us three answers to our prayers:
“YES” -  our prayers are answered immediately. 
“NOT YET” - we need to have faith in God and be patient.
Or, God says, “I have something better for you”.

So God doesn’t say “NO”. Rather He tells us to always expect the unexpected, so that instead of disappointment, that will be amazement.

There’s this story of a man who was catching fish by the river and he caught quite a number of fish.

A young boy came along to watch the man catching fish. The man looks at the boy and he says, “Hey boy, you can take all the fish back home.”

But the boy replied, “I don’t want the fish. I want the fishing rod so that I can catch fish everyday.”

Sounds like a smart answer from a clever boy, right? But the story is not finished yet.

The man said, “You can have the fishing rod but you would not be able to catch any fish.” The boy asked, “Why?” The man replied, “Because you need to learn from me the skill of catching fish.”

The point here is that the boy thought that if he had the fishing rod then he will be able to catch a lot of fish. That was his expectation and that will also be his disappointment. 

So let us not put our expectations on things or on people. Let us put on expectations in God, and also be prepared to expect the unexpected, because God always have something beyond our expectations. 

So that we will be amazed and marvel at the wonders that God will do for us.


























 19th Sunday OT C-2019                                                    11-08-19
Wisdom 18:6-9 / Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 / Luke 12:32-48
One of the things in life that is not nice to encounter are complaints. That is simply because no one complains nicely. 

In other words there is no such a thing as a nice complaint; it is a contradiction of terms.

But whenever others complain, or when we complain, the cause of the complaints is that there is a disappointment.

Whether spoken or written, whether we hear it or we read it, the word “disappointed” tells us that it is not going to be something nice.

So it is not going to be nice when the boss tells the worker “I am disappointed with your performance”, or the parent tells the child “I am disappointed with your grades”.

And the litany goes on: I’m disappointed with your attitude; I’m disappointed with your progress; I’m disappointed with my spouse; I’m disappointed with my children; I’m disappointed with the Church; I’m disappointed with God.


And with the disappointments come all that sourness and bitterness that are the characteristics of complaints.

But as it is always said, disappointments come from expectations. So where there are expectations there will be disappointments, because the idea or the picture in our minds is not what it is in reality.

So the stoic way is to have no expectations, so that there will be no disappointments. But that is being like a robot. A robot has no expectations and hence it will never have disappointments.

But we are human, with feelings and emotions, with hopes and dreams. And of course with some expectations. Only thing is just to keep our expectations at a realistic level. 

Because expecting life to treat you well just because you are a good person is like expecting an angry bull not to charge at you because you are vegetarian. Well, you will be painfully disappointed.

In the gospel Jesus tells us a parable to give us an idea of what to expect in life. He tells us to be dressed for action and to have our lamps lit.

So what does that mean? It means to be like the servants waiting for the master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as the master comes.

So the servants are expecting their master. The question is when will the master arrive? Is it at second watch or the third watch? Is it that night or is it going to be another night?

And happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Yes happy the servants if he finds them ready, for they shall be rewarded.

And so we can actually have our expectations in life and have our expectations in God. God will reward us for being faithful and for being prayerful.

But at the same time, we have to be prepared to expect the unexpected. Even Jesus would tell us that we have to stand ready because He will come at a time that we do not expect.

So for example in our prayer we pray for an urgent need. We put our faith in God as we believe that every prayer uttered is also every prayer answered.

Yes, God will hear our prayers and answer our prayers. The question is how are we expecting God to answer our prayers.

Well to keep our expectations at a realistic level, let us remember how God generally answers prayers.
Generally speaking, God gives us three answers to our prayers:
“YES” -  our prayers are answered immediately. 
“NOT YET” - we need to have faith in God and be patient.
Or, God says, “I have something better for you”.

So God doesn’t say “NO”. Rather He tells us to always expect the unexpected, so that instead of disappointment, there will be amazement.

There’s this story of a man who was catching fish by the river and he caught quite a number of fish.

A young boy came along to watch the man catching fish. The man looked at the boy and he said, “Hey boy, you can take all the fish back home.”

But the boy replied, “I don’t want the fish. I want the fishing rod so that I can catch fish everyday.”

Sounds like a smart answer from a clever boy, right? But the story is not finished yet.

The man said, “You can have the fishing rod but you would not be able to catch any fish.” The boy asked, “Why?” The man replied, “Because you need to learn from me the skill of catching fish.”

The point here is that the boy thought that if he had the fishing rod then he would be able to catch a lot of fish. That was his expectation and that would also be his disappointment. 

So let us not put our expectations on things or on people. Let us put our expectations in God, and also be prepared to expect the unexpected, because God always have something beyond our expectations. 

So that we will be amazed and marvel at the wonders that God will do for us.

Friday, August 9, 2019

St. Lawrence, Deacon & Martyr, Saturday, 10-08-19

2 Corinthians 9:6-10 / John 12:24-26

St. Laurence was a deacon of the Church of Rome when Pope Sixtus was martyred along with four other deacons.

St. Laurence was told by the authorities that if he wanted to be spared, he was to surrender all the treasures of the Church in three days time.

So during the next three day, St. Laurence went around gathering the poor and the needy who were supported by the Church.

Then he brought them before the authorities and he told them : These are the treasures of the Church.

Needless to say, he was taken away to be tortured to death.

The account of the execution scene was morbid.

St. Laurence was stripped and tied to a wire-mesh to be roasted over the fire.

One account has it that St. Laurence said to his torturers : You can turn me over, I am well done on this side.

But martyrdom is certainly no laughing matter, but yet even as the blood of the martyrs was poured out, the Church grew especially in those terrible times.

Because it was a blood that was willingly poured out, willingly given for the glory of God.

In these present times, the seeds of faith are also waiting to sprout in and around the Church.

We as Christians are called to fertilize the soil by the example of our lives and by our love for God and for others.

We do this by faithfully following Christ and serving Him in the poor, like St. Laurence did, so that our lives will also bear a rich harvest.

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Singapore National Day, Friday, 09-08-19

Isaiah 63:7-9 / Colossians 3:12-17 / Luke 12:22-31

54 years may not seem like that long a time. Even if a person is 54 years old, he cannot be considered that old, at the same time, not that young either.

Probably the appropriate word to use would be matured. Yes, a 54-year-old person can be considered matured.

A nation celebrating 54 years of independence can also be considered matured. Yes, after 54 years of independence, it can be said that our country has come of age.

The theme for this year's National Day is “Our Singapore”  and it is to commemorate our Singapore bicentennial and also to tell Our Singapore story from past to present. “Our” emphasises the collective ownership of Singapore. We are living the hopes and dreams of our pioneers, and we are now the pioneers of our future for our country.

To be matured means  that we have a past as well as a future. The lessons of the past had formed our maturity and we look at the future with the lessons learnt from the past.

That also means that we and our country must be firmly grounded in the present. We must be grounded in values and principles, in law and order, so that there will be peace, progress and prosperity for our nation and our country.

The gospel brings us back to this firm grounding as Jesus reminds us to set our hearts on the kingdom of God and then our needs, our hopes and dreams will be a reality.

We are reminded in the 2nd reading that we are God's chosen race, that He loves us, and we should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience.

We are called to be pioneers of those values for our country so that we can look at the future with hopes and dreams that are firmly grounded in love.

With faith in God, let us also invoke His blessings on us and on our nation and our country that the Lord will watch over us and guards from all dangers and grant us His peace.

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

18th Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 08-08-19

Numbers 20:1-13 / Matthew 16:13-23

Between hunger and thirst, it may be difficult to say which will affect us more adversely.

But in the desert, where life is becomes so thin and fragile, hunger and thirst are factors that will have to be seriously reckoned with.

In the 1st reading, the Israelites complained first of hunger. Then it is thirst.

And in the desert, thirst can have devastating effects. As it had on the Israelites. And also on Moses and Aaron.

In their disgust and resentment with the complaints of the rebellious Israelites, Moses taunted them before he struck the rock twice to make water flow from it.

Moses had reached the limit of his tolerance and patience and had only harsh and heated words for the people.

In the gospel, we also heard of some harsh words from Jesus to Peter.

But those harsh words of Jesus were not said in disgust or in resentment, but rather to emphasize His commitment to His saving mission, as well as a reminder to us that we should not be an obstacle to the ways of God.

In life there will be occasions when the dryness in our throats is not caused by thirst. Rather it may be caused by people who make us frustrated and angry and we burn with bitterness within.

In that fiery moment, our parched mouths may spew out something nasty, only to regret it later.

Let us always come to Jesus, and let the saving waters from His Heart put out the fiery anger and bitterness in our hearts and heal us so that we can be at peace with each other.

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

18th Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 07-08-19

Numbers 13:1-2, 25 - 14:1, 26-29, 34-35 / Matthew 15:21-28

Whenever we desperately need a favour from someone, the most obvious word that will be needed in our request is the word "help".

Obviously, we are not just asking for a favour. We need that person to help us and we need that help desperately.

More so if the other person is not obligated to help us or that we are not so deserving of the help from that person, then something more needs to be done.

We will have to appeal to the mercy and compassion of that person.

That was what the Canaanite woman did. When she said "Son of David, take pity on me" she knew that Jesus was not obligated to help her but she appealed to His mercy.

Of course, we may be astonished or amused by the conversation between Jesus and the Canaanite woman, the point is that Jesus eventually gave her what she requested for.

But in the 1st reading, we heard about the people raising their voices and cried aloud and wailed all night just because they were told that the opposition they were facing were just too much for them.

They disparaged the country that the Lord was going to give them, and yet they did not turn to the Lord for His mercy and help.

And for that they had to pay the price of a generation who will have to be buried in the desert.

In life, we have our desperate moments and urgent needs. We can worry and fret and be over-anxious.

But let us turn to the Lord and appeal to His mercy. We just need to say, "Lord, have pity on me, and help me".

We don't need to spend 40 years in the desert just to learn this.

Transfiguration of the Lord, Tuesday, 06-08-19

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 or 2 Peter 1:16-19 / Luke 9:28-36

The Bible teaches us that we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)

To believe that we are made in the image of God is really an awesome thing.

It means that planted in each human being are some of the attributes of God, like love, peace, kindness, compassion, generosity, faithfulness, holiness, goodness, graciousness, immortality, etc.

To know that is truly awesome, and to live that out is to be like God on earth so that we can be with Him in eternity.

But sin has wounded our true nature and corrupted by sin, we commit acts of sin, which goes against our true nature.

Hence if our conscience is formed in the Christian way, then we can never feel at peace when we commit sin and live a sinful life.

Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15) and in Jesus in the fullness of the divinity of God.

The Transfiguration is an important event in the life of Jesus such that it is recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

In the Transfiguration, Jesus shows His full divinity as well as His glorified humanity.

The Transfiguration also reminds us of our true nature, that we are made in the image of God, and that our lives are to be lived in holiness.

When we live out the call to holiness, then others will also see in us the image of God.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

18th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 05-08-19

Numbers 11:4-15 / Matthew 14:13-21

We often hear this phrase: A hungry person is an angry person.

Quite true, hunger has that ability to diminish our rationale and even contort our spirituality, so much so that we can even end up doing something crazy and stupid.

But being grumpy is another story altogether.

We can be grumpy not because we are hungry, but because we are fussy.

In the 1st reading, we heard how the Israelites began to be grumpy, not because they were hungry but because they were tired of eating manna, day in day out.

And their complaints burdened Moses to the extent that he in turn complained to the Lord.

But what Moses felt about the people's complaints was a much lesser intensity about how Jesus felt over the execution of John the Baptist.

For Jesus, it was a personal tragedy, it was a time to drop everything and spend some time in great grief.

But when people came to Him with their needs, He put aside His grief and even took pity on them and healed their sick.

Moses was burdened by the people's complaints. Jesus was grieved over the death of John the Baptist.

We have experienced both kinds of situations before.

How did we react before? And how would we react in the future?

We can continue to complain about our burdens and be grumpy about things that didn't go right.

Or like Jesus, we will trust in God's grace to turn burdens into blessings, and help others to do likewise.

Saturday, August 3, 2019

18th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 04.08.2019

Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23 / Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11 / Luke 12:13-21
It is said that in order to understand what life is about, we may have to visit these three places: the hospital, the prison and the cemetery.

At the hospital, we will understand that nothing is more beautiful than health.
At the prison, we will see that freedom is a very precious thing.
At the cemetery, we will realize that the ground we walk on today will be our roof tomorrow.

Of these three places, the cemetery may be the quietest, but the message from the graves may be the loudest, if only we want to listen.

The words engraved on the tombstones, form an epitaph, and they tell us something about the now and the beyond. And here are some examples:
- Prepare yourself to follow me
- I was hoping for a pyramid
- He left behind a lot of stuff and no one knows what to do with it.

Of course, those are one of a kind epitaphs, a bit funny, but they tell us a lot about life and what happens after death.

But even with these messages from the graves, we live like as if we will never die, and we work like as if we want to build pyramids to reach the sky.

The 1st reading calls that the vanity of vanities, and even going on to say that all is vanity. For so it is that a man who has labored wisely, skillfully and successfully must leave what is his own to someone who has not toiled for it.

That’s a rather grim reminder for us that we came into this world naked and with nothing, and we won’t be able to bring anything with us when we have to leave this world.

So if one leaves behind a lot of stuff, useful or not, the epitaph might just read “Here lies the garang-guni man” (rag-and-bone collector)

Or if one leaves behind a lot of wealth and riches, now what would the epitaph read? “Here lies the Rich man”? or “Here lies the Miser”? or “Here lies the Hoarder”? There are so many nouns that can be used.

But the gospel tells us what such a person is called. Such a person is called “Fool”.

Jesus told a parable about a rich man who had a good harvest, and not having enough storage, he wanted to build bigger barns to store his crops.

He envisaged his barns to be like pyramids reaching sky-high. And then he dreams of enjoying life – taking things easy, eat, drink and having a good time.

But that dream turned into a nightmare when God said to him: Fool! This very night, the demand will be made of your soul, and this hoard of yours, whose will be it then?

So the epitaph on that rich man’s tomb will just have this 4-letter word – FOOL

It is such a sad end, but as Jesus warns us, so it is when a man stores up treasure for himself, instead of making himself rich in the eyes of God.

But the question is not about riches; rather the problem is greed, and Jesus tells us to be on our guard against avarice of any kind, for a man’s life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs.

Riches and wealth and possessions don’t give us security. And God wants us to live simply and humbly. 

To live simply and humbly would be like what the 2nd reading tells us, that we have been brought back to true life in Christ, and that our thoughts are to be of things above, and not of the things of earth.

And when the demand is made of our souls, we pray that neither God nor anyone would call us “Fool”.

Well, one morning, something like 120 years ago, a man opened the newspapers and he happened to glance at the obituaries.

That was before they started putting photos in the obituaries.

He was shocked to see his name in the column.

The newspapers had carelessly reported his death in place of his brother who had just passed away.

Anyway, the man continued reading the obituary, and from shock, he became shell-shocked.

For the first time in his life, he saw himself as others saw him.

Because the obituary described him as the “dynamite king” who had spent his life making instruments of death and destruction.

That morning, that man, whose name is Alfred Nobel, resolved to change his image and his life.

His resolution resulted in the annual Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and world peace.

So, from meaningless death-dealing, Alfred Nobel became a life-giving person, and till today he is remembered  for that.

So when life is over and done, may God nor others not call us “Fool”.

Rather may we be known as a person who is life-giving, who lived simply and humbly, and was rich in the eyes of God.

Friday, August 2, 2019

17th Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 03-08-19

Leviticus 25:1, 8-17 / Matthew 14:1-12

If we could ask each character in today's gospel passage, who was responsible for the death of John the Baptist, they may come out with rather strange answers.

Herod would say that it was not him, because he must honour a public pledge. After all the girl could have asked for something else.

Herodias might say that John the Baptist deserved what he got for opening his mouth and criticizing authorities. After all, criticizing authorities meant danger and he brought this danger onto himself.

The girl would say that she was only doing what she was told; how could she disobey her mother.

And in all this deliberation, no one would obviously admit responsibility and would also point fingers at others.

Yet the crux of the matter is that someone was harmed and eventually lost his life.

What we will come across every day is not as serious as people losing their lives.

But what we will face every day is that we are indifferent to the good we can do because we think that there will be someone else who will do it.

Maybe this story will help us understand this situation.

It's a story about four people: Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when actually Nobody asked Anybody.

The story sounds funny but that may be the story of our lives.

Let us take the responsibility to do good today so that tomorrow can be better.

17th Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 02-08-19

Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37 / Matthew 13:54-58

Let us just say that a very rich close relative has this request of us.

After he has passed on, he will leave a big sum of money with us on one condition.

And that is that we will go to his tomb on a particular day every month and tidy up the tomb and offer a prayer for him.

That sounds rather simple considering the amount of money we are going to get if we can commit ourselves to do that.

So we might think that it would be easy to do that. After all it is just once a month on a particular day. So we would agree to it.

And so the eventuality finally happens, the relative passes on, and we receive this big sum of money.

And from then on, we faithfully go to the tomb on the particular day every month to tidy up the tomb and offer a prayer for the deceased relative.

So month after month, and year after year, we will perform our duty. But there will come a time when conditions are not too favourable and our commitment will be put to the test.

Under such circumstances, we will come up with reasons, and even excuses, to skip a month or to change the day, and whatever.

So what sounds simple may not be that easy. What we begin with fervour may slowly fizzle away, as monotony and routine set in.

In the 1st reading, we heard of the Lord giving Moses a list of solemn festivals to observe, with these instructions: These are the solemn festivals of the Lord to which you are to summon the children of Israel, sacred assemblies for the purpose of offering burnt offerings, holocausts, oblations, sacrifices and libations to the Lord, according to the ritual of each day.

These solemn festivals have the purpose of keeping the people connected to the Lord in worship and offering sacrifice. It was to be a time of thanksgiving to the Lord for the blessings and the wonders the Lord has done for His people.

We have come for the 1st Friday Mass in honour of the Sacred Heart, offering worship and thanksgiving for prayers answered and blessings received.

Whether we are keeping to a promise for 9 First Fridays or just wanting to give thanks to the Sacred Heart of Jesus or to offer up prayers and intentions, it is a commitment on our part and an expression of faith in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Whether we have received material or spiritual blessings, let us commit ourselves to honouring and thanking the Sacred Heart of Jesus on every 1st Friday of the month.

And let us also bring others along for them to know and love the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

With more thanksgiving and prayers, may more blessings flow from the Sacred Heart of Jesus so faith will be renewed, hope will be strengthened and may we experience the healing mercy from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.