13th Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 05-07-2024

Amos 8:4-6, 9-12 / Matthew 9:9-13  

We won’t feel a loss or an absence of something until we lose it.

And depending on its importance and significance, we will embark on a search for it.

If it is something that can be replaced without too much difficulty, we may search for a while and then we will settle for a replacement.

But if it is something that is valuable or sentimental, then we will certainly keep searching and searching.

In the 1st reading, the Lord warned His people of a famine, a famine not of bread or a drought of water, but of hearing the Word of the Lord.

They will seek and search for the Word of the Lord and yet fail to find it.

Only then will they realise the importance and the significance of what they have lost.

But it was by their own doing that they strayed and did not want to listen to the Word of the Lord, and hence it is their loss.

In the gospel, it was the tax collectors and sinners who gathered around Jesus to hear again what they had lost or forgotten.

We have the Word of God. We read it in the Bible and we listen to it at Mass.

Let us treasure and cherish the Word of the Lord. 

It is the living Word of love, and when we listen and ponder on it, God will bless us with a meaningful and a loving life.

13th Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 04-07-2024

Amos 7:10-17 / Matthew 9:1-8  

An amateur is a person who engages in a pursuit on an unpaid rather than a professional basis.

But an amateur may also be seen as incompetent or unsuitable for a particular specialized activity.

The word amateur has its roots in the Latin amator which means ‘lover’, and also from amare which means ‘to love’.

In the 1st reading, Amos tells the Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, that he was not a prophet, and neither does he belong to any of the brotherhoods of prophets.

It was the Lord God who called him to prophesy and he did it out of love for the Lord.

In the gospel, it was the faith of the friends of the paralytic, as well as their love for the paralytic, that made them bring the paralytic before Jesus.

Jesus saw their faith, as well as their love, and with that He cured the paralytic.

Many good and amazing things are brought about by simple acts of faith and love.

We may think that we may be amateurs when it comes to discussions about the faith and religion.

But with simplicity and humility, God will work wonders and marvels through us.

St. Thomas, Apostle, Wednesday, 03-07-2024

Ephesians 2 : 19-22 / John 20 : 24-29   

The attitude of St. Thomas in today's gospel gave rise to the term "Doubting Thomas".

That term, undoubtedly, has a negative connotation, and may not be very fair to St. Thomas.

Nonetheless, the disbelief of St. Thomas has done more for our faith than the belief of the other apostles.

We can surely relate with St. Thomas especially when he showed his human limitations about his faith.

We can surely relate with him especially in his asking for a sign, not just seeing the Risen Christ, but very realistically putting his finger and hand into the wounds.

St. Thomas did not take his faith in Jesus lightly. What he asked for was nothing short of a deep experience of the Risen Christ.

Finally his response to this God-experience was his profound proclamation - My Lord and my God.

We too should not take our faith for granted nor take it too lightly.

God will show Himself to those who deeply desire to deepen their faith in Him.

As we pray for a deepening of our faith, let our prayer also be "My Lord and my God".

And blessed are we who have not seen, and yet believe.

13th Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 02-07-2024

Amos 3:1-8; 4:11-12 / Matthew 8:23-27

To meet up with someone is quite different from going for a meeting.

To meet up with someone will more likely to be a time of personal conversations and renewing of relationships.

To go for a meeting would be more likely to be a time of discussion over work matters or for some formal matters.

Whenever we talk about meeting God, we would think of it happening in eternity and it would be a happy and joyful meeting.

But for God to summon us to a meeting is as chilling as our boss calling us up to meet up to him.

We may have an idea of what is the meeting for, and we know that God is going to address a serious issue with us.

In the 1st reading, after pointing out the faults of His people, God says this: This therefore, Israel, is what I plan to do to you, and because I am going to do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God.

That will certainly be a stormy meeting, much like the storm that the disciples were in, and they thought they were going to meet their God.

And they did meet God, when Jesus calmed the storm, and they wondered who Jesus  is, that even the winds and the sea obey Him.

Let us not wait for a storm to push us into meeting God.

Let us have a peaceful and joyful meeting with Him in prayer, and He will calm the winds and the storms in our hearts.