2nd Week of Lent, Monday, 01-03-2021

Daniel 9:4-10 / Luke 6:36-38     

It would be interesting if at the start of the day, we use a voice recording device and we record what we say throughout the day.

And at the end of the day, when we play back the recording, what will be our reaction to the words that came out of our mouths?

Will we be proud that what we said were kind and pleasant?

Or will we be embarrassed and frown at the rough and nasty words that came out of our mouths?

To hear our own words and to feel the tone and the emotions of those words can reveal something to us about ourselves.

The words that come out of our mouths are the expressions of what is stored in our hearts.

May the spiritual disciplines of Lent, which is prayer, fasting and alms giving cleanse our hearts so that Jesus can fill our hearts with compassion and kindness.

May our hearts be healed of the urge to judge others and to resist the temptation to criticise and condemn others.

May we speak words of love and peace and be the Good News to others.

2nd Sunday of Lent, Year B, 28.02.2021

Genesis 22:1-2, 9-13, 15-18 / Romans 8:31-34 / Mark 9:2-10

There is something that we all hold highly valuable in life but it is not something tangible. 

Over and above all our belongings, possessions and whatever property we have, we treasure our freedom. 

Freedom is our right and we won’t give it up so easily. In fact, we would guard it fiercely, such that it can even be said that our freedom is our life. 

And that is where the challenge in life comes in.

To obey someone and to comply to instructions and rules can be challenging and difficult for us because we see it as an infringement to our right of freedom. 

But we also cannot deny that there are instructions, or regulations, or rules that are for our good. 

In that regard, when we don’t obey or comply, then there will be problems and there can be trouble. 

For example, the wearing of face mask is for our good. When we don’t comply then we will get into trouble with the law and even putting our health at risk. 

Or the news about wild boars intruding into residential places. One of the reasons was that people were feeding the wild boars, although feeding of wild boars is prohibited. Hence the problem was not created by the wild boars but by humans. 

But there are also certain things, both in the secular and religious realms, that seemed so difficult to understand and so difficult to comply or obey. 

The story in the 1st reading is one such example, where we heard that God put Abraham to the test and called him to offer his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering. 

In our human understanding and reasoning, we will find it difficult to comprehend what God called Abraham to do. 

We would think that if God were to put Abraham to the test, why would God demand such a sacrifice, and it was clearly a human sacrifice. 

No doubt, it was God who gave Abraham the gift of a son, and God has the right to take it back, but why take it back in such a way. 

And we are surprised, to say the least, about Abraham’s stoic and emotionless obedience to God. 

Of course, there are spiritual reasons that will help us to understand the story in the 1st reading. 

One is that it is not so much the sacrifice of Isaac, but Abraham’s sacrifice of obedience to God. 

For Abraham, and as well as in the biblical understanding, sacrifice is offered so that one can draw nearer to God, who is above all other things. 

But the story becomes clearer with the gospel account of the Transfiguration of Jesus and the voice from Heaven that said, “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.” 

God sacrificed His only Son in order to save humanity from their sin and to draw humanity back to Him. 

The letter to the Philippians tells us that Jesus did not cling to His equality with God but was obedient, even unto death, and death on the cross. 

But God raised Jesus from death and exalted Him such that in heaven and on earth and under the earth, every knee must bend at the name of Jesus. 

Jesus, by His obedience, shows us two important aspects of our lives. 

That when we obey and comply to God’s ways, God draws nearer to us and it is we who will benefit from our sacrifice of obedience to God. 

Obedience is an expression of humility, and only those who are humble will understand the mysterious and yet wonderful ways of God. 

Obedience and humility are what Jesus is teaching us if we want to have true freedom in life. 

Let us listen to what Jesus is teaching us, and that is obedience and humility. 

In obeying God’s will and humbly walking in the ways of God, we will be blessed with the joy of true freedom.

1st Week of Lent, Saturday, 27-02-2021

Deuteronomy 26:16-19 / Matthew 5:43-48          

The season of Lent has a penitential character to it.

There is an emphasis on doing penance and making sacrifices, as well as fasting and to meditate on the sufferings of Jesus, especially in the devotion of the Way of the Cross.

All that have the objective of preparing ourselves for a renewal of faith as we journey on towards Easter.

This renewal of faith must begin from the covenantal relationship between God and us, and that is expressed in the 1st reading.

God takes us as His people and we pledge obedience and faithfulness to God by following His ways, keeping His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances.

But going further beyond what is required by the Lord our God, we also need to enter into a love relationship with God.

It is with love that we internalise what is required of us and we slowly grow into communion with God, to be what God is.

God is love and faithfulness. He is merciful, compassionate and forgiving.

More than just keeping to what God requires of us, we must grow to be like God.

As we journey on in Lent, may we enter deeper into God's love and strive to be perfect as He is perfect.

1st Week of Lent, Friday, 26-02-2021

Ezekiel 18:21-28 / Matthew 5:20-26        

What we are endowed with, be it our intelligence, talents, gifts and abilities will probably be in us for our lifetime, unless something drastic happens.

So it can be said that if we are born with it, then we will always have it.

But whatever we are not endowed with, or whatever we are not born with, then we will have to develop and nurture it, if we desire it.

So things like learning a language, learning how to swim, how to drive a vehicle, how to play a musical instrument, all this we will have to acquire along in life.

That goes the same for the life of holiness. By our baptism we are called to a life of holiness. 

Because of Original Sin, we have lost the gift of holiness, and even after our Baptism, we must strive for holiness.

Because we have been wounded by sin, and as much as we strive for holiness, we also must be aware of our weaknesses and that we can easily fall into sin, and even fall into grave sin.

But Jesus is our Saviour. He has saved us from our sins through the Cross and He will continue to stretch out His hand to save us.

Let us hold on firmly to His hand and through the Cross we will grow in holiness and have the strength to turn away from sinfulness.

1st Week of Lent, Thursday, 25-02-2021

Esther 4:17 / Matthew 7:7-12        

We may be able to recall those moments in our lives when we are in mortal danger.

It may be a grave illness or a precarious situation that could result in serious injury and even danger to life.

Or on a less serious level, it may be a situation when we are in serious trouble and there seems to be no way out.

Oh yes, we will remember these instances, because they are etched and seared into our lives and we also knew what we did at that time.

Like queen  Esther in the 1st reading, who took refuge with the Lord in the mortal peril which had overtaken her, we too implored and begged the Lord to deliver us from the mortal danger and precarious situations of our lives.

Queen Esther said something that we must also always remember. At the end of the 1st reading, she said this: Come to my help, for I am alone and have no one but you, Lord.

And the Lord God did come to her rescue and saved her.

As Jesus said in the gospel - Ask and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Yes, the Lord will rescue us and save us from the mortal dangers and precarious situations of our lives when we call upon Him.

May we also be willing to be at the Lord's service when He calls upon us to go to the help of those in need.

1st Week of Lent, Wednesday, 24-02-2021

Jonah 3:1-10 / Luke 11:29-32          

To turn away from sin and to repent is certainly not easy at all nor as easy as it seems.

We can try to rely on our determination and will-power, but we must admit that we have given in and crumbled when the temptation is stronger.

Maybe at times the only way to get us to be serious with repentance is with the threat of punishment.

That was what the Lord told Jonah to do. His message to the Ninevites was short and sharp: Only forty days more and Nineveh will be destroyed.

But what was remarkable was that the Ninevites heeded the message of that Jewish prophet and although they had to be threatened with punishment, they repented and turned away from sin.

As for us, we certainly should be more sensible than the Ninevites.

We know what sin is and we know we have committed sin.

But we also know that Jesus suffered and died to save us from our sins and eternal punishment.

What should move us to repent and turn away from sin is not the threat of punishment but the love of God as expressed on the Cross.

May we see the love of God on the Cross, and through the power of the Cross may we repent and turn away from sin.

1st Week of Lent, Tuesday, 23-02-2021

Isaiah 55:10-11 / Matthew 6:7-15        

Every action has a reaction and we see that in everyday life.

The 1st reading gives an example from nature, that as the rain and snow come down from the heavens, it waters the earth, and makes plants grow and bear fruit.

The Lord uses that example to tell us that the Word that goes forth from His mouth must also enter into our ears and into our hearts so that we will know what He wants of us and to do His will accordingly.

So we must pay attention to God's Word and let it take root in our hearts and to bear fruit in our lives.

And we must also pay attention to the words that are coming out of our mouths.

Our words must also be the fruit of God's Word in that our words must be for the good of others, to encourage them and to help them walk in the ways of the Lord.

So too must be our prayer. Our prayer is not to be some babbling, as Jesus pointed out in the gospel, words that don't come from our hearts and which won't go up to God.

If our words are to be for the good of others, then our prayer should also lead us to do the good that God wants of us.

May the Word of God fill our hearts, and from what fills our hearts, may it be for the good of others and also for our good.