Isaiah 35:1-6, 10 / James 5:7-10 / Matthw 11:2-11
This weekend of the 3rd Sunday of Advent finds us between two significant dates in the Catholic calendar.
Just a couple of days ago, the Church celebrated the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Back in 1854, on the 8th December, Pope Pius IX formally proclaimed the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church.
Essentially, the doctrine here is that from the moment when she was conceived in the womb of her mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary was kept free from original sin and was filled with the sanctifying grace normally conferred during baptism.
Although the belief was widely accepted by the Church as early as the 4th century, it was only in 1854 that it was formally proclaimed.
This doctrine of the Immaculate Conception gained additional significance from the apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes in 1858.
At Lourdes a 14-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed that a beautiful woman appeared to her and said, "I am the Immaculate Conception".
That was the 8th December. Monday is the 12th December. It is another feast-day that is connected with Mary under the title of “Our Lady of Guadalupe”.
On the 12th December 1531, a peasant Juan Diego went to see his bishop for the third time. The bishop had asked for a sign that Juan Diego had a vision of Our Lady who asked that a church be built on the hill of the apparition.
Our Lady had told Juan Diego to pick the roses that were growing on the hill (which was unlikely in December) and she arranged the roses in his tilma (or cloak) for him to bring to the bishop as a sign.
For the third time, Juan Diego was ushered in to see the bishop.
The bishop was skeptical and had waited for two days to see what sign Our Lady has for him. So Juan Diego opened his tilma, letting the roses cascade to the floor. But more than the roses, both men are astonished to see what is painted on his humble tilma - an exquisite image of Our Lady, which is now known as the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, indeed a divine artwork.
On display at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City built on the site of her apparition, it is a place for Mary to hear the petitions and to heal the sufferings of the Mexican people and to the millions more who make pilgrimages over the next five centuries to see the miraculous tilma, and to honour Our Lady of Guadalupe. Great miracles continue to occur, even till today.
So with such a rich spiritual history, the Catholic Church continued to grow. But now there seems to be signs that this growth is plateauing off and maybe even declining to a crisis.
We see it in other countries where there are big beautiful churches but not much of a congregation.
And from the recent survey that the archdiocese conducted, there is something disturbing. Statistics have it that there are over 370,000 Catholics in Singapore but only about 125,000 attend Church on Sundays. It means to say that only one out of three are practising Catholics.
Well, we know of at least someone who don’t come to Church. We also know that a number had gone over to other Christian churches.
To say the least the signs are worrying and disturbing.
What is this looming crisis that the Church is Singapore is facing? Or in short, what is the problem?
In the gospel, John the Baptist also had a problem, or a crisis actually. He was in prison and he had heard what Jesus was doing and he sent his disciples to ask Him, “Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?”
Maybe we too, in times of crisis, will ask a sort of similar question, like, “Am I in the right church, or would it be better to go to another church which is more happening? Or would it be better that I don’t go to church at all.”
Jesus told John’s disciples, “Go back and tell John what you hear and see: the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor, and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me.”
We too want to hear and see all that. We want to see signs and wonders so that we won’t lose faith in Jesus and in the Church.
This made me recall the occasion when an excited lady came to see me on a Monday, the 13th December 1999.
She had just come back from a holiday trip in Australia the night before. She was baptized earlier in the year at Easter but over the months the fervour of her faith had dwindled.
She went for a holiday in Australia and the day before, 12th December was the last day of her trip. She wondered off from her hotel early in the morning to catch the sights before going back later in the afternoon.
She had brought more than enough of money in her purse so she toured around. Then by chance she came to a church and so she went in but Mass was already halfway through. After Mass, she walked around the church and came across a rather strange picture and the words below the picture were “Our Lady of Guadalupe”.
Not knowing the story behind the picture, she nonetheless said a short prayer to Our Lady. And since there was a donation box below the picture, she thought it would be good to give something.
So she took out a $50 Australian note from her purse and since she had some time, she did a little origami on the note and folded it into a small triangle, since the triangle is a symbol of the Trinity, and then she put it into the box and went off to continue her sight-seeing.
She went to a flea market that is rather crowded and she stopped to look at some souvenirs and decided to buy something. It was then to her horror that she discover that her purse that contained all her money was missing.
She panicked because now she had no money to go back to the hotel and she was all alone in a foreign country. But in her helplessness she remembered the picture at the church and asked Our Lady of Guadalupe to help her.
Hoping against hope, she dug into her pockets to see if by chance she had some money. Then she felt something in one of her pockets. She took it out, and she couldn’t quite believe what she saw. It was a $50 Australian note folded into a shape of a triangle, much like the one that she put into the donation box.
Whatever it was, it was enough to get her back to the hotel and in time to catch the flight back to Singapore. As she told me the story, she ended off by saying that her faith in God was renewed through the prayers of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
I did some checking up, and then I told her that it happened to her on the 12th December, the feast-day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Certainly it was no coincidence.
In the story of Guadalupe, when Juan Diego was disappointed and afraid to see the bishop, Our Lady said to him, "Am I not your mother? ... Are you not in the crossing of my arms?"
On this 3rd Sunday of Advent, as the celebration of the birth of Jesus draws nearer, let us rejoice and be glad.
It is not the old church dying, but a new church coming to birth.
May Our Lady who is the Immaculate Conception and who is also the Lady of Guadalupe pray for us that we will not lose faith in Jesus and that we will be able to see the signs and wonders He has in store for us.
Saturday, December 10, 2016
Friday, December 9, 2016
2th Week of Advent, Saturday, 10-12-16
Ecclesiasticus 48:1-4, 9-11 / Matthew 17:10-13
The prophecies in the Old Testament are understood as God speaking to His people then and also about what is to come, ie. in the future.
When it is about the latter, then those prophecies of old come to a new fulfillment in the New Testament, and especially in the person of Jesus Christ.
Also connected with Jesus Christ are also figures of the Old Testament and their roles which take on a new fulfillment in the New Testament.
One such figure is Elijah who was mentioned in the 1st reading. But he is also mentioned again in the gospel and his mission is now continued by John the Baptist.
During this time of Advent, we hear again the prophecies of the Old Testament which are fulfilled with the coming of Jesus Christ.
But the Word of God is alive and active and hence the prophecies are also alive and active and so is the mission of the prophets in our present times.
May the progressive lighting of the Advent candles shed light on our hearts and enlighten us on how the Word of God is alive and active and taking flesh in our lives.
May the Word of God also empower us to be prophets of our time so that we will turn our hearts and the hearts of our people back to God and receive His blessings of peace and joy.
The prophecies in the Old Testament are understood as God speaking to His people then and also about what is to come, ie. in the future.
When it is about the latter, then those prophecies of old come to a new fulfillment in the New Testament, and especially in the person of Jesus Christ.
Also connected with Jesus Christ are also figures of the Old Testament and their roles which take on a new fulfillment in the New Testament.
One such figure is Elijah who was mentioned in the 1st reading. But he is also mentioned again in the gospel and his mission is now continued by John the Baptist.
During this time of Advent, we hear again the prophecies of the Old Testament which are fulfilled with the coming of Jesus Christ.
But the Word of God is alive and active and hence the prophecies are also alive and active and so is the mission of the prophets in our present times.
May the progressive lighting of the Advent candles shed light on our hearts and enlighten us on how the Word of God is alive and active and taking flesh in our lives.
May the Word of God also empower us to be prophets of our time so that we will turn our hearts and the hearts of our people back to God and receive His blessings of peace and joy.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
4th Week of Advent, Friday, 09-12-16
Isaiah 48:17-19 / Matthew 11:16-19
The saint that the Church remembers and honours today is St. Juan Diego. He was canonized in 2002. He was a native of Mexico, and he is the first Roman Catholic indigenous saint from the Americas.
He was a common person, neither rich or influential, but he was the person chosen to receive the first apparition of Mary hill at Tepeyac on the 9th Dec 1531 and subsequently Mary appeared to him for another three times.
On that day he was on his way for Mass when he was stopped by a beautiful radiant sight of a woman and she requested him to go to the bishop and to tell him to build a chapel on that hill.
When Juan Diego approached the Bishop and told him about the matter, he was asked to come back another time. Later on during the day Juan Diego encountered the Virgin Mary a second time and told her he failed in granting her request. He tried to explain to her he was not an important person, and therefore not the one for the task, but she insisted he was the man chosen for the task.
Juan Diego returned to the Bishop the next day and repeated his request, but now the Bishop asked for proof or a sign the apparition was real and truly of heaven. Mary agreed to give the sign. But after some obstacles here and there, the sign was a miraculous imprinted image of the Virgin Mary on the flower-filled cloak (tilma) of Juan Diego.
After that event, Juan Diego withdrew to a hermitage on the hill and spent the rest of his life in prayer and work and looking after the site of apparition.
Today, the rich and poor alike gather at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe to experience the blessings of God through the intercession of the Blessed Mother.
As the 1st reading tells us: I, the Lord your God, teach you what is good for you, I lead you in the way that you must go.
St. Juan Diego was humble and willing to listen to the Blessed Mother, and through him God taught us what is good for us. May St. Juan Diego pray for us that we too will be humble and willing to be taught what is good for us.
The saint that the Church remembers and honours today is St. Juan Diego. He was canonized in 2002. He was a native of Mexico, and he is the first Roman Catholic indigenous saint from the Americas.
He was a common person, neither rich or influential, but he was the person chosen to receive the first apparition of Mary hill at Tepeyac on the 9th Dec 1531 and subsequently Mary appeared to him for another three times.
On that day he was on his way for Mass when he was stopped by a beautiful radiant sight of a woman and she requested him to go to the bishop and to tell him to build a chapel on that hill.
When Juan Diego approached the Bishop and told him about the matter, he was asked to come back another time. Later on during the day Juan Diego encountered the Virgin Mary a second time and told her he failed in granting her request. He tried to explain to her he was not an important person, and therefore not the one for the task, but she insisted he was the man chosen for the task.
Juan Diego returned to the Bishop the next day and repeated his request, but now the Bishop asked for proof or a sign the apparition was real and truly of heaven. Mary agreed to give the sign. But after some obstacles here and there, the sign was a miraculous imprinted image of the Virgin Mary on the flower-filled cloak (tilma) of Juan Diego.
After that event, Juan Diego withdrew to a hermitage on the hill and spent the rest of his life in prayer and work and looking after the site of apparition.
Today, the rich and poor alike gather at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe to experience the blessings of God through the intercession of the Blessed Mother.
As the 1st reading tells us: I, the Lord your God, teach you what is good for you, I lead you in the way that you must go.
St. Juan Diego was humble and willing to listen to the Blessed Mother, and through him God taught us what is good for us. May St. Juan Diego pray for us that we too will be humble and willing to be taught what is good for us.
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Immaculate Conception of the BVM, Thursday, 08-12-16
Genesis 3:9-15, 20 / Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 / Luke 1:26-38
On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX formally proclaimed the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church.
Essentially, the doctrine here is that from the moment when she was conceived in the womb of her mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary was kept free from original sin and was filled with the sanctifying grace normally conferred during baptism.
Although the belief was widely accepted by the Church as early as the 4th century, it was only in 1854 that it was formally proclaimed.
It also seeks to clarify that Mary, at the first instance of her conception, and by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stains of original sin.
And being always freed from original sin, Mary also received the sanctifying grace that would, for us, normally come with baptism after birth.
Mary was filled with this sanctifying grace and that was why the angel Gabriel greeted her, "Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you".
The grace that Mary received was a special privilege from God that kept her free from sin so that she can respond to the call to be the Mother of God.
We too have received sanctifying grace at our baptism so that we can choose to walk in the ways of God and grow in holiness.
The grace that Mary received prepared her to be the Mother of God; the grace that we received at our baptism prepared us to be the holy People of God.
Let us pray with our Blessed Mother that we will always preserve the grace of God in our hearts so that the Son of God will make His home in us.
On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX formally proclaimed the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church.
Essentially, the doctrine here is that from the moment when she was conceived in the womb of her mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary was kept free from original sin and was filled with the sanctifying grace normally conferred during baptism.
Although the belief was widely accepted by the Church as early as the 4th century, it was only in 1854 that it was formally proclaimed.
It also seeks to clarify that Mary, at the first instance of her conception, and by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stains of original sin.
And being always freed from original sin, Mary also received the sanctifying grace that would, for us, normally come with baptism after birth.
Mary was filled with this sanctifying grace and that was why the angel Gabriel greeted her, "Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you".
The grace that Mary received was a special privilege from God that kept her free from sin so that she can respond to the call to be the Mother of God.
We too have received sanctifying grace at our baptism so that we can choose to walk in the ways of God and grow in holiness.
The grace that Mary received prepared her to be the Mother of God; the grace that we received at our baptism prepared us to be the holy People of God.
Let us pray with our Blessed Mother that we will always preserve the grace of God in our hearts so that the Son of God will make His home in us.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
2nd Week of Advent, Wednesday, 07-12-16
Isaiah 40:25-31 / Matthew 11:28-30
The number of times a particular word appears in the Bible is usually different for each version of the Bible. Because there is no single correct way to translate the ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek Bible manuscripts into English. The grammar, structure, and style of those languages are very different from English, and a literal word-for-word translation is not possible.
With regards to the word "heart" in the Bible there as as many as 730 or more citations in the Bible.
But most translations would agree there is only once when Jesus spoke of His own heart and that is in Matthew 11:29 "Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls", which is part of today's gospel passage.
Jesus described His heart as gentle and humble, and it is with a gentle and humble heart that He was obedient to the Father's will.
It is with a gentle and humble heart that He was empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim with Good News with authority and to work miracles and wonders.
Knowing what the heart of Jesus is like, what can we say of our own hearts? Or what would God say of our own hearts?
The 1st reading describes what our hearts may be like: How can you say, Jacob, how can you insist, Israel, " My destiny is hidden from the Lord, my rights are ignored by my God"?
Our hearts may be restless and clouded with doubt, and this has caused us to be tired and weary, and we stumble along the way of life.
But Jesus tells us to come to Him and learn from Him, to be gentle and humble of heart and we will find rest for our souls.
And with that we will have hope in the Lord who will renew our strength and we will put out wings like eagles. We will run and not grow weary or tired. So let us ask Jesus to have a heart like His, a heart that is gentle and humble.
The number of times a particular word appears in the Bible is usually different for each version of the Bible. Because there is no single correct way to translate the ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek Bible manuscripts into English. The grammar, structure, and style of those languages are very different from English, and a literal word-for-word translation is not possible.
With regards to the word "heart" in the Bible there as as many as 730 or more citations in the Bible.
But most translations would agree there is only once when Jesus spoke of His own heart and that is in Matthew 11:29 "Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls", which is part of today's gospel passage.
Jesus described His heart as gentle and humble, and it is with a gentle and humble heart that He was obedient to the Father's will.
It is with a gentle and humble heart that He was empowered by the Holy Spirit to proclaim with Good News with authority and to work miracles and wonders.
Knowing what the heart of Jesus is like, what can we say of our own hearts? Or what would God say of our own hearts?
The 1st reading describes what our hearts may be like: How can you say, Jacob, how can you insist, Israel, " My destiny is hidden from the Lord, my rights are ignored by my God"?
Our hearts may be restless and clouded with doubt, and this has caused us to be tired and weary, and we stumble along the way of life.
But Jesus tells us to come to Him and learn from Him, to be gentle and humble of heart and we will find rest for our souls.
And with that we will have hope in the Lord who will renew our strength and we will put out wings like eagles. We will run and not grow weary or tired. So let us ask Jesus to have a heart like His, a heart that is gentle and humble.
Monday, December 5, 2016
2nd Week of Advent, Tuesday,06-12-16
Isaiah 40:1-11 / Matthew 18:12-14
If a baby is born today and if the parents are still thinking of a Christian name for the baby, then they may want to consider the saint that the Church honours today.
Today the Church honours St. Nicholas, aka Santa Claus, which comes from the Dutch name Sinterklaas.
And with the festive season coming around, it would be good to be reminded of his influence in this particular season.
St. Nicholas lived in the 4th century and he used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra (part of modern-day Turkey) while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need, his protection for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.
Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known in the East as Nikolaos the Wonderworker .
He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of poor children and the needy, and thus became the model for the modern day Santa Claus. The golden decorative balls on the Christmas tree are symbols of those gold coins given out by St. Nicholas.
St. Nicholas and all the other saints throughout history are the embodiment of God's promises to His people from age to age.
The 1st reading says this: "Console my people, console them," says your God. And it goes on to say: Here is your God. Here is the Lord coming with power, His arm subduing all things to him
That promise of God was reiterated in the gospel parable told by Jesus of the man who left the ninety-nine sheep to look for the lost one, and His teaching that it is never the will of God our Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
In all this, the Good News of God's promises are proclaimed and fulfilled.
So it was in the past and so it will be now. May this season of Advent and the prayers of St. Nicholas remind us of God's promises and prepare us for Christmas as God's promises will be fulfilled again.
If a baby is born today and if the parents are still thinking of a Christian name for the baby, then they may want to consider the saint that the Church honours today.
Today the Church honours St. Nicholas, aka Santa Claus, which comes from the Dutch name Sinterklaas.
And with the festive season coming around, it would be good to be reminded of his influence in this particular season.
St. Nicholas lived in the 4th century and he used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra (part of modern-day Turkey) while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need, his protection for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.
Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known in the East as Nikolaos the Wonderworker .
He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of poor children and the needy, and thus became the model for the modern day Santa Claus. The golden decorative balls on the Christmas tree are symbols of those gold coins given out by St. Nicholas.
St. Nicholas and all the other saints throughout history are the embodiment of God's promises to His people from age to age.
The 1st reading says this: "Console my people, console them," says your God. And it goes on to say: Here is your God. Here is the Lord coming with power, His arm subduing all things to him
That promise of God was reiterated in the gospel parable told by Jesus of the man who left the ninety-nine sheep to look for the lost one, and His teaching that it is never the will of God our Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
In all this, the Good News of God's promises are proclaimed and fulfilled.
So it was in the past and so it will be now. May this season of Advent and the prayers of St. Nicholas remind us of God's promises and prepare us for Christmas as God's promises will be fulfilled again.
Sunday, December 4, 2016
2nd Week of Advent, Monday, 05-12-16
Isaiah 35:1-10 / Luke 5:17-26
Whenever we say that something is impossible to accomplish, we come to that conclusion because it has not been done before and we also have not done it before.
In other words, it always seems impossible until it is done, and everything is theoretically impossible until it is done.
But since there is no harm in trying out the impossible and with nothing much to lose, then it could be exciting to try to do the impossible.
In the gospel, we heard of a paralyzed man on a bed and his friends trying to bring him before Jesus.
But the crowd made it impossible for them to find a way of getting in. It could also be that the crowd was telling them that it was impossible to get in. The crowd was simply not going to make way for the paralyzed man and his friends.
But that did not stop them from thinking of another way to get to Jesus. So they went up the flat roof and lowered him and his stretcher down throught the tiles right into the middle of the gathering, right in front of Jesus!
And Jesus saw their faith. And so the gospel is telling us this - Without faith, nothing is possible. With faith, nothing is impossible.
When we are faced with a great difficulty and a hopeless situation, the 1st reading tells us this: Courage! Do not be afraid. Look your God is coming, vengeance is coming, the retribution of God; He is coming to save you.
With faith, we will be able to face that great difficulty and overcome a hopeless situation.
The difference between the possible and the impossible lies in the determination of faith, as the paralyzed man and his friends have shown us. Let us be firm in our faith, and God will make things possible.
Whenever we say that something is impossible to accomplish, we come to that conclusion because it has not been done before and we also have not done it before.
In other words, it always seems impossible until it is done, and everything is theoretically impossible until it is done.
But since there is no harm in trying out the impossible and with nothing much to lose, then it could be exciting to try to do the impossible.
In the gospel, we heard of a paralyzed man on a bed and his friends trying to bring him before Jesus.
But the crowd made it impossible for them to find a way of getting in. It could also be that the crowd was telling them that it was impossible to get in. The crowd was simply not going to make way for the paralyzed man and his friends.
But that did not stop them from thinking of another way to get to Jesus. So they went up the flat roof and lowered him and his stretcher down throught the tiles right into the middle of the gathering, right in front of Jesus!
And Jesus saw their faith. And so the gospel is telling us this - Without faith, nothing is possible. With faith, nothing is impossible.
When we are faced with a great difficulty and a hopeless situation, the 1st reading tells us this: Courage! Do not be afraid. Look your God is coming, vengeance is coming, the retribution of God; He is coming to save you.
With faith, we will be able to face that great difficulty and overcome a hopeless situation.
The difference between the possible and the impossible lies in the determination of faith, as the paralyzed man and his friends have shown us. Let us be firm in our faith, and God will make things possible.
Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/impossible.html
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/impossible.html
Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/impossible.html
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/impossible.html
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