Apocalypse 4:1-13 / Luke 19:11-28 (2020)
Any shrewd person who listens to today's gospel parable will certainly have some questions to ask.
Questions like : Why must that servant be punished for not making more money out of that one pound? Anyhow, the master should be happy enough to get his money back isn't it?
Well, from the logical point of view, yes.
But if we apply this premise to our lives and to our dealings with others, then this world would be a very selfish place.
Because we will become very calculative and ask questions like: why must I waste my time for the benefit of others, or why must I be generous to others..
But let us remember that what we have, be it our time, our resources, our money, all that we have, is a gift from God.
And if gifts are not shared, then this world would indeed be a very poor and sad place.
And if gifts are not shared and used, then those gifts will also deteriorate and be wasted.
So in whatever we have been called to do, let us do it joyfully, because God always blesses a joyful and self-giving servant.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
33rd Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 16-11-10
Apocalypse 3:1-6, 14-22 / Luke 19:1-10
One of the famous religious paintings is by William Holman Hunt. It is called the "The Light of the world".
It was an allegorical painting that represented Jesus carrying a lantern and knocking on a long unopened door that had overgrown weeds.
It represented what the Lord was saying in the 1st reading: Look, I am standing at the door and knocking; if one of you hears me calling, and opens the door, I will come in to share his meal, side by side with him.
The door in the painting has no handle, and can therefore be opened only from the inside, and the night scene represented the need for light.
Yet Jesus is carrying the lantern and persists in knocking on the door.
He knows that the door of the human heart will eventually open to him.
The tax-collector Zacchaeus in the gospel was one example of the door of the heart opening to the light of Christ.
Let us also persist in praying for ourselves and for those in need of conversion and salvation.
The persistent knocking of Jesus and the light of His love, coupled with our fervent prayers will open the hardest of hearts.
The reason why Jesus came is to knock on our hearts and to seek out and save what was lost.
One of the famous religious paintings is by William Holman Hunt. It is called the "The Light of the world".
It was an allegorical painting that represented Jesus carrying a lantern and knocking on a long unopened door that had overgrown weeds.
It represented what the Lord was saying in the 1st reading: Look, I am standing at the door and knocking; if one of you hears me calling, and opens the door, I will come in to share his meal, side by side with him.
The door in the painting has no handle, and can therefore be opened only from the inside, and the night scene represented the need for light.
Yet Jesus is carrying the lantern and persists in knocking on the door.
He knows that the door of the human heart will eventually open to him.
The tax-collector Zacchaeus in the gospel was one example of the door of the heart opening to the light of Christ.
Let us also persist in praying for ourselves and for those in need of conversion and salvation.
The persistent knocking of Jesus and the light of His love, coupled with our fervent prayers will open the hardest of hearts.
The reason why Jesus came is to knock on our hearts and to seek out and save what was lost.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
33nd Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 15-11-10
Apocalypse 1:1-4 - 2:1-5 / Luke 18:35-43
There is a phrase which we use to express a sincere empathy and compassion for a person.
We would say : you have got to be in his shoes to know what he is going through.
To be really in someone's shoes is to feel how he feels, to see how he sees things as well as to understand his thoughts.
For the blind man in today's gospel, he saw nothing other than to bring his needs before Jesus.
He just needed Jesus to listen to him and understand how he felt about life and how he longed for sight.
Jesus asked the blind man this question : What do you want me to do for you?
If Jesus were to ask us that same question, what would be our immediate response?
If we have to think awhile for an answer or have to make a choice of several options, then we may not be desperately needing Jesus, as the blind man needed him.
So if Jesus were to ask us that question let us ask that we love Him more and more.
In the first reading, the Lord had a complaint against the church of Ephesus.
He said that they have less love now than they used to.
May our only prayer request to Jesus is that we will love Him more and more everyday.
There is a phrase which we use to express a sincere empathy and compassion for a person.
We would say : you have got to be in his shoes to know what he is going through.
To be really in someone's shoes is to feel how he feels, to see how he sees things as well as to understand his thoughts.
For the blind man in today's gospel, he saw nothing other than to bring his needs before Jesus.
He just needed Jesus to listen to him and understand how he felt about life and how he longed for sight.
Jesus asked the blind man this question : What do you want me to do for you?
If Jesus were to ask us that same question, what would be our immediate response?
If we have to think awhile for an answer or have to make a choice of several options, then we may not be desperately needing Jesus, as the blind man needed him.
So if Jesus were to ask us that question let us ask that we love Him more and more.
In the first reading, the Lord had a complaint against the church of Ephesus.
He said that they have less love now than they used to.
May our only prayer request to Jesus is that we will love Him more and more everyday.
Friday, November 12, 2010
32nd Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 13-11-10
3 John 5-8 / Luke 18:1-8 (2022)
There is no doubt that God listens to our prayers. And God would certainly pay attention to earnest and persevering prayers.
And if we think that God is not answering our prayers, then maybe we have to see what our prayers are all about.
In other words, we have to listen to our own prayers, for a change.
Prayer is not about trying to change God's mind or God's will.
It would be rather absurd to assume that if we say long and persistent prayers, God would finally give in and grant us what we want.
That would make prayer look like some kind of magical method that can make God do something.
Rather prayer is an act of faith and it is the source of strength which will empower us.
It is with prayer that we will continue to strive for justice and work for peace.
It may mean that we come to realize and accept that some things cannot be changed immediately.
It may also mean that we put our trust in God and believe that with God, nothing is impossible.
Whatever it may be, our earnest and persistent prayer should bring our wills to conform to God's will.
It is God's will "to see justice done, and done speedily".
There is no doubt that God listens to our prayers. And God would certainly pay attention to earnest and persevering prayers.
And if we think that God is not answering our prayers, then maybe we have to see what our prayers are all about.
In other words, we have to listen to our own prayers, for a change.
Prayer is not about trying to change God's mind or God's will.
It would be rather absurd to assume that if we say long and persistent prayers, God would finally give in and grant us what we want.
That would make prayer look like some kind of magical method that can make God do something.
Rather prayer is an act of faith and it is the source of strength which will empower us.
It is with prayer that we will continue to strive for justice and work for peace.
It may mean that we come to realize and accept that some things cannot be changed immediately.
It may also mean that we put our trust in God and believe that with God, nothing is impossible.
Whatever it may be, our earnest and persistent prayer should bring our wills to conform to God's will.
It is God's will "to see justice done, and done speedily".
Thursday, November 11, 2010
32nd Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 12-11-10
2 John 4-9 / Luke 17:26-37 (2020)
The "stand-by" state in electrical and electronic equipment like tv sets and dvd players and computers is interesting.
In that state, when the equipment is activated, it immediately jumps to its full operational capabilities without having to go through the start up process and other delays.
But it is also a state in which it uses a considerable amount of energy as compared when it is totally shut down.
For most of us, life is generally busy, but it is usually busy with monotony.
In other words, we are usually busy with the same stuff - work, chores, assignments, appointments.
After a while, we might just enter a shut-down state as in that we might just exist for function but may not have motivation.
Like Jesus said in the gospel, we just slide into the monotony of eating and drinking, buying and selling, and we shut down to life and meaning.
Yet the 1st reading reminds us to watch ourselves because there are many deceivers in the world.
Hence we must stand firm in faith and stand-by with truth in our hearts, and prepare to witness to the truth. All the time!
The "stand-by" state in electrical and electronic equipment like tv sets and dvd players and computers is interesting.
In that state, when the equipment is activated, it immediately jumps to its full operational capabilities without having to go through the start up process and other delays.
But it is also a state in which it uses a considerable amount of energy as compared when it is totally shut down.
For most of us, life is generally busy, but it is usually busy with monotony.
In other words, we are usually busy with the same stuff - work, chores, assignments, appointments.
After a while, we might just enter a shut-down state as in that we might just exist for function but may not have motivation.
Like Jesus said in the gospel, we just slide into the monotony of eating and drinking, buying and selling, and we shut down to life and meaning.
Yet the 1st reading reminds us to watch ourselves because there are many deceivers in the world.
Hence we must stand firm in faith and stand-by with truth in our hearts, and prepare to witness to the truth. All the time!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
32nd Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 11-11-10
Philemon 7-20 / Luke 17:20-25
Human beings have this tendency to want to have a hold on the future in order to have a sense of security.
That is why fortune-telling and horoscopes etc. is such an attractive and thriving business.
Yet we may get so engrossed about wanting to know the future that we lose hold of the present.
We forget to live in the here and now.
That is what Jesus meant when He said that "the kingdom of God is among you".
In other words, the kingdom of God is in the present and in the now!
God wants to be present in the NOW of our lives and it is in the here and now that He reveals Himself to us.
Our present may not look that nice and rosy.
We may be struggling in our difficulties and worries and anxieties.
Just like in the 1st reading, the slave Onesimus was worried about his future because St. Paul was sending him back to his former master Philemon.
Yet it is in those difficulties and struggles that God reveals to us how much He loves us.
He even let His only Son Jesus suffer grievously and die for us.
In Jesus we are assured that God will always be with us. As it was, as it is and as it always will be.
Human beings have this tendency to want to have a hold on the future in order to have a sense of security.
That is why fortune-telling and horoscopes etc. is such an attractive and thriving business.
Yet we may get so engrossed about wanting to know the future that we lose hold of the present.
We forget to live in the here and now.
That is what Jesus meant when He said that "the kingdom of God is among you".
In other words, the kingdom of God is in the present and in the now!
God wants to be present in the NOW of our lives and it is in the here and now that He reveals Himself to us.
Our present may not look that nice and rosy.
We may be struggling in our difficulties and worries and anxieties.
Just like in the 1st reading, the slave Onesimus was worried about his future because St. Paul was sending him back to his former master Philemon.
Yet it is in those difficulties and struggles that God reveals to us how much He loves us.
He even let His only Son Jesus suffer grievously and die for us.
In Jesus we are assured that God will always be with us. As it was, as it is and as it always will be.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
32nd Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 10-11-10
Titus 3:1-7 / Luke 17:11-19
A story has it that two angels were sent to collect the prayer petitions of the people.
One angel was given a basket to collect the people's needs and requests, and the other angel was given a basket to collect the thanksgivings.
On their way back to heaven, the angel carrying the basket of the people's needs and requests was full and over-flowing, whereas the the angel carrying the people's thanksgiving was light and there were few thanksgiving.
That is not surprising isn't it. By and large, people are more concerned with their needs rather than the need to give thanks.
In the gospel, even Jesus expressed disappointment that those who were healed of the dreaded disease of leprosy did not come to give thanks.
In the 1st reading St. Paul instructed Titus to remind his people that was their duty to be obedient to the officials and representatives of the government.
If that is considered a Christian duty, then all the more it is an obligation and also the very essence of being Christian to give thanks to God for His blessings and graces.
What more will God not give since He had already given His only Son?
We only need to give a basket-full of thanks and praise to God.
In turn we will receive blessing upon blessing, grace upon grace.
A story has it that two angels were sent to collect the prayer petitions of the people.
One angel was given a basket to collect the people's needs and requests, and the other angel was given a basket to collect the thanksgivings.
On their way back to heaven, the angel carrying the basket of the people's needs and requests was full and over-flowing, whereas the the angel carrying the people's thanksgiving was light and there were few thanksgiving.
That is not surprising isn't it. By and large, people are more concerned with their needs rather than the need to give thanks.
In the gospel, even Jesus expressed disappointment that those who were healed of the dreaded disease of leprosy did not come to give thanks.
In the 1st reading St. Paul instructed Titus to remind his people that was their duty to be obedient to the officials and representatives of the government.
If that is considered a Christian duty, then all the more it is an obligation and also the very essence of being Christian to give thanks to God for His blessings and graces.
What more will God not give since He had already given His only Son?
We only need to give a basket-full of thanks and praise to God.
In turn we will receive blessing upon blessing, grace upon grace.
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