The Annunciation of the Lord, Monday, 08-04-2024

Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10 / Hebrews 10:4-10 / Luke 1:26-38 

It is often said that Easter is the greatest feast of the Church, and for our faith as well.

In rising from the dead, Jesus conquered sin and death and revealed His divine identity - that He is the Son of God, and that He is Lord of the living and the dead.

Yes, Jesus is fully divine. Yet He is also fully human. Indeed, that is a mystery that needs to be often meditated upon.

Today's feast of the Annunciation of the Lord helps us to understand deeper the humanity of Jesus.

The angel Gabriel announced to Mary the good news of salvation and that the Son of God would be conceived in her by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Indeed, God becoming man and taking on human flesh in the womb of a woman is a mystery that is difficult to comprehend

Yet in His human nature, Jesus showed that God is with us, God is one of us, and that the offering of Himself on the Cross has become the one perfect sacrifice that took away the sins of the world and saved us.

Hence, in as much as Easter reveals the divinity of Jesus, the Annunciation reveals the humanity of Jesus as well as the dignity of human nature.

In our human nature, whatever sacrifices we make for the Lord is united in Jesus who will offer it to the Father as sacrifice for the salvation of the world.

Just as Mary offered herself for God's plan of salvation, may we also follow her in offering ourselves as servants of the Lord for the salvation of the world.

2nd Sunday of Easter Year B, 07.04.2024

 Acts 4:32-35 / 1 John 5:1-6 / John 20:19-31   

In our busy lifestyles, time is an important factor for us. 

There doesn’t seem to have enough time everyday to do the things we want to do. 

We may even cut down on our sleeping time to clear off some of the items in our to-do list for the day. 

But that may not be productive, and our health gets affected. We may end up getting more tired out, and we slow down, and we take more time to get other things done. 

So, the cycle goes on, we have things to do, we tire ourselves in order to get more things done, and we end up taking more time. 

And with that, we have become impatient and frustrated with delays and lateness, because time is wasted. 

When we order the food at the food stall, the food must be ready in 10 minutes, otherwise we will get agitated and frustrated. Hunger can lead to anger. 

When we order an item online, it must come within a couple of days, or better still, the next day. 

And this attitude may also creep into our spiritual life. We pray and we want our prayers to be answered immediately. 

And when we think that God is not listening to our prayers, or taking His time to answer prayers, then we get agitated, frustrated and disappointed. 

In the gospel, the disciples were huddled in fear in a room with the doors locked. 

Jesus was dead and buried, and their lives were also like dead and buried. 

Then suddenly, the Risen Lord Jesus came and stood among them, and greeted them with “Peace be with you”. 

It was a stunning moment for the disciples, but they were filled with joy. 

All the disciples were there in the room, except for one - Thomas. 

And when the disciples told him that they had seen the Risen Lord, Thomas refused to believe. 

He also demanded that he wants to put his finger and his hand into those wounds in order to believe. 

Eight days later, the Risen Lord Jesus appeared again to the disciples, and this time Thomas was with them. 

Thomas saw and he believed. He may not even need to touch those wounds to believe. 

We may wonder, why does it have to take 8 days later for the Lord Jesus appear again to His disciples. 

Couldn't He appear as soon as Thomas was with the disciples, or ASAP?

And by extension, we also wonder, why doesn't God answer our prayers immediately, or ASAP? 

Thomas had to wait 8 days to see the Risen Lord. With our busyness and urgency in life, we would like our prayers to be answered in 8 minutes, or 8 hours. 

8 days would seem too long because we don't like delays or to wait. 

But the number 8 has the biblical meaning of revelation. 

The 8th day means in God's time, and His will and His plan will be revealed to us and we will also be able to accept it. 

There was this occasion when I went to the hospital to visit a patient. The patient's daughter was there and she lamented about the problems and stress she was facing in life.

So, I gave her the Sacred Heart prayer card, and told her to send in a petition, or better still, to come for the Devotion to the Sacred Heart. 

She looked surprised, and she said that she heard about the Devotion to the Sacred Heart, but thought that it was not practiced anymore.

I shared with her that prayers have been answered, and she should pray for the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

As I reflected about it, for that lady, it was the 8th day for her, a revelation for her,  as Jesus revealed to her His Heart. 

Let us continue to pray with faith and hope, and our 8th Day will come when Jesus will reveal His love for us. 

And then, like Thomas, we will exclaim “My Lord and my God”.

Saturday Within Easter Octave, 06-04-2024

Acts 4:13-21 / Mark 16:9-15

God often reveals Himself in the most unexpected situations and in the most unexpected persons.

We would usually think that the intelligent and the religious would know more about the ways of God and how He reveals Himself.

Yes, we need to know about how God has revealed Himself in the past.

But God’s ways and His thoughts are often not the ways of man or how man thinks.

In the 1st reading, the rulers, elders and scribes were astonished at the assurance shown by Peter and John, considering they were uneducated and lowly laymen.

But when these rulers, elders and scribes saw the man who had been cured standing by their side, they could find no answer.

But the answer is right before their eyes, just that they cannot accept the mysterious ways of God.

God often chooses the lowly and humble to reveal His ways and His plans.

But to be obedient to God, then we have to change our ways and our thinking.

Only when we are humble, then we will be able to understand the ways and the plans of God.

Friday Within Easter Octave, 05-04-2024

Acts 4:1-12 / John 21:1-14 

The name “Jesus” in Hebrew means “God saves” or “God is salvation”.

In Christianity, the name Jesus is a holy name, and it is used to address Jesus who is our Lord and Saviour.

That also means that the name of Jesus should not be used casually or disrespectfully.

We also use the name of Jesus to call upon Him in prayer, and it is also the simplest form of prayer, by repeating lovingly the name of Jesus.

But even outside of worship and prayer moments, the mention of the name of Jesus can be a subtle form of witnessing.

When we share with others our happy and heart-warming moments, instead of saying “lucky”, we can say that we thank Jesus for those blessings.

But at times we may think it is awkward and we rather leave religion out of our conversation.

In the gospel, the disciples knew quite well that it was the Lord Jesus who directed them to that miraculous catch of fish and prepared breakfast.

But none of them called out His name or address Him by His name.

In the 1st reading, Peter boldly proclaimed the name of Jesus.

And he even said that of all the names in the world given to men, that is the only one by which we are saved.

The name Jesus means “God saves”. May that name be always in our minds, on our lips and in our hearts.

Thursday Within Easter Octave, 04-04-2024

Acts 3:11-26 / Luke 24:35-48  

The act of eating is primary for the need of survival.

In other words, we eat to live.

But going beyond the need for survival, there is also another purpose.

The act of eating show that we are alive and hence we are able to eat without any external assistance.

And with that comes the social aspect of eating.

Food is enjoyed with good company, and even with simple food, relationships are renewed and deepened.

When the Risen Lord Jesus asked for His disciples for something to eat, they offered Him a piece of grilled fish.

He ate it before their eyes, and it was then they realized that Jesus was real and alive.

The Risen Lord Jesus ate earthly food to show His disciples that He was real and alive.

But the Risen Lord Jesus gives us heavenly food, the Bread of Life, which is His body, to tell us that He is alive and that He wants to live in us.

As we partake of the Body of Christ at Holy Communion, let us remember that it is not ordinary food that we are consuming.

It is the divine Bread of Life, Jesus Himself, and we eat of it so that we live, no more for ourselves, but for Jesus, and also to live in order to love and serve others.

Wednesday Within Easter Octave, 03-04-2024

Acts 3:1-10 / Luke 24:13-35  

In life, we don’t live by ourselves or be with ourselves alone.

The journey of life is a journey of encountering persons and starting relationships.

So, from the day we came into this world, we encounter persons, and we have our relationships with them.

We begin to experience living with others in a family, in a community and in a society.

In the journey to Emmaus, the Risen Lord Jesus came up and walked along by the side of the two disciples, but something prevented them from recognizing Him.

As they journeyed along to Emmaus, the two disciples began to share their experiences with Jesus.

From being strangers, the two disciples became friends with Jesus and eventually, they invited Him to be with them for supper.

And it was there that Jesus revealed Himself to them.

Jesus also wants to walk with us in the journey of life.

He comes in the form of persons who will help us understand the meaning and the direction of life.

Jesus always makes the first move when it comes to journeying with us.

Let us be open to persons who will help us grow to be better persons.

And let us also thank Jesus for sending us persons to help us know more about Him.

Tuesday Within Easter Octave, 02-04-2024

Acts 2:36-41 / John 20:11-18   

To address a person by the personal name would indicate that the relationship is personal.

Of course there are persons or acquaintances that we address by their names.

But it could be that we happen to know their names and hence we address them by their names.

The difference would be in the tone that is used to call the name.

In the gospel, when Jesus called Mary by name, she immediately knew it was Jesus.

It could be the familiarity of the voice, and it also could be the tone of the voice.

Her immediate response was in Hebrew “Rabbuni” (which means Master)

Mary’s response was in her native language, a language of the heart, and it was an intimate response.

When Jesus calls us, we will know it is His voice, because it has a tone that only we ourselves can recognize.

And we will be ready to response with our heart to whatever He wants of us.