Isaiah 50:4-9 / Matthew 26:14-25 (2010 / 2020)
We are always more than ready to lament that we are victims of betrayal.
There are never short of accounts of betrayal by a husband, or a wife, or a family member, or a colleague, or a fiend.
It is also never easy to forget a betrayal.
But we may not be that ready to admit that we have betrayed somebody before.
So when Jesus said : "I tell you solemnly, one of you is about to betray me", even Judas himself had to cheek to ask : "Not I Lord, surely?"
Somehow, Judas has become the symbol of the dark side of ourselves.
We don't like to look at Judas, because we see in him the reflections we don't like about ourselves, especially about unfaithfulness, disloyalty and betrayal.
Yet Judas' reply to Jesus "Not I Lord, surely?" can be a means of prayerful reflection for us.
Will I be unfaithful to Jesus? Will I be disloyal to Him? Will I ever betray Him?
Yet after all our reflection, we can only humbly turn to Jesus and say: Help me Lord Jesus, to be faithful to You always.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Holy Week, Tuesday, 30-03-10
Isaiah 49:1-6 / John 13:21-33, 36-38 (2018)
In any culture, a meal is not just a social event. It is a time for bonding and deepening of relationships.
More so for the Jewish Passover meal. It is a religious meal, a time to recall and experience God's saving love for His people.
Yet at that Passover meal with His disciples, Jesus mentioned about betrayal.
Among the disciples who were around Jesus at that meal, two disciples would come to mind as we think about betrayal - Judas and Peter.
But what is the difference between them?
Well, Judas deliberately betrayed his Master, while Peter, in a moment of weakness, denied Him.
One was cold and calculated ; the other was out of fear, weakness and cowardice.
The other disciples had varying degrees of betrayal, to say the least.
We may not be cold and calculated like Judas in betraying Jesus.
Yet like Peter and the rest, we have to guard against the devil who can so easily tempt us to turn love into hate, holiness into pride, discipline into cruelty, affection into complacency and reverence into routine.
Let us turn to the cross of Christ for protection against the devil and guard against temptation and sin.
In the cross, we see that the love of Christ is selfless, sacrificial, forgiving and compassionate.
Let us ask Jesus to keep us near His cross, always.
In any culture, a meal is not just a social event. It is a time for bonding and deepening of relationships.
More so for the Jewish Passover meal. It is a religious meal, a time to recall and experience God's saving love for His people.
Yet at that Passover meal with His disciples, Jesus mentioned about betrayal.
Among the disciples who were around Jesus at that meal, two disciples would come to mind as we think about betrayal - Judas and Peter.
But what is the difference between them?
Well, Judas deliberately betrayed his Master, while Peter, in a moment of weakness, denied Him.
One was cold and calculated ; the other was out of fear, weakness and cowardice.
The other disciples had varying degrees of betrayal, to say the least.
We may not be cold and calculated like Judas in betraying Jesus.
Yet like Peter and the rest, we have to guard against the devil who can so easily tempt us to turn love into hate, holiness into pride, discipline into cruelty, affection into complacency and reverence into routine.
Let us turn to the cross of Christ for protection against the devil and guard against temptation and sin.
In the cross, we see that the love of Christ is selfless, sacrificial, forgiving and compassionate.
Let us ask Jesus to keep us near His cross, always.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday of Holy Week, 29-03-10
Isaiah 42:1-7 / John 12:1-11 (2018) (2022)
Among the words, whether spoken or unspoken, that are laden with regret are these words: I should have ...
We hear this being used in different ways and in different situations.
For e.g. "I should have taken the opportunity to encourage that person", "I should have visited my parents more often when they were still alive", "I should have studied harder for my exams".
The list of "I should have..." goes on and on.
We ourselves would have said it before.
Yet as much as those words might be laden with regret, still, regrets cannot reverse the situation or the consequence.
But in today's gospel, we see a woman who seized the opportunity to show Jesus an act of love.
And Jesus also reciprocated by affirming her of her love and generosity.
As we enter into Holy Week, let us also seize the little moments of opportunities to show Jesus an act of love.
It may be a dedicated time for prayer, or an act of service for a neighbour.
Whatever it may be, it will be appreciated by Jesus.
It is still not too late to deepen our Lenten preparation.
It might be late, but it is still better to regret and keep saying "I should have ..."
Among the words, whether spoken or unspoken, that are laden with regret are these words: I should have ...
We hear this being used in different ways and in different situations.
For e.g. "I should have taken the opportunity to encourage that person", "I should have visited my parents more often when they were still alive", "I should have studied harder for my exams".
The list of "I should have..." goes on and on.
We ourselves would have said it before.
Yet as much as those words might be laden with regret, still, regrets cannot reverse the situation or the consequence.
But in today's gospel, we see a woman who seized the opportunity to show Jesus an act of love.
And Jesus also reciprocated by affirming her of her love and generosity.
As we enter into Holy Week, let us also seize the little moments of opportunities to show Jesus an act of love.
It may be a dedicated time for prayer, or an act of service for a neighbour.
Whatever it may be, it will be appreciated by Jesus.
It is still not too late to deepen our Lenten preparation.
It might be late, but it is still better to regret and keep saying "I should have ..."
Saturday, March 27, 2010
5th Week of Lent, Saturday, 27-03-10
Ezekiel 37:21-28 / John 11:45-56 (2019 / 2023)
Today's gospel ends with questions, and those questions will be answered in the coming days as the liturgy unfolds.
It was also a questioning time for Jesus as His hour of reckoning approaches.
So as He retreated to the countryside with His disciples, He could have decided to remain there.
He could have gone on with His work of healing and teaching in a quiet way.
Many people would have supported Him and kept Him safe.
But Jesus knew that that was not the Father's will, so He moved out of His safety zone, a move that will cost Him His life.
Hence whenever we talk about doing God's will, we have to remember that it involves risk.
It involves moving out of our safety zone and moving out of our comfort zone.
But it is only in moving out that God moves in.
It is only when we move out of our pride, our resentment, our selfishness that God can move in to strengthen us with His love and to face the questions of life.
Today's gospel ends with questions, and those questions will be answered in the coming days as the liturgy unfolds.
It was also a questioning time for Jesus as His hour of reckoning approaches.
So as He retreated to the countryside with His disciples, He could have decided to remain there.
He could have gone on with His work of healing and teaching in a quiet way.
Many people would have supported Him and kept Him safe.
But Jesus knew that that was not the Father's will, so He moved out of His safety zone, a move that will cost Him His life.
Hence whenever we talk about doing God's will, we have to remember that it involves risk.
It involves moving out of our safety zone and moving out of our comfort zone.
But it is only in moving out that God moves in.
It is only when we move out of our pride, our resentment, our selfishness that God can move in to strengthen us with His love and to face the questions of life.
Friday, March 26, 2010
5th Week of Lent, Friday, 26-03-10
Jeremiah 20:10-13 / John 10:31-42 (2020)
At times it can be quite difficult to do a good deed or a charitable act in the name of the Church or when we identify ourselves as Christians.
Take for example, when the late Mother Teresa started her home for the destitute in India.
Among the opposition that she faced, one was the accusation that she wanted to convert the destitute into Christians and using the home and charity as a cover.
This negative notion of Christianity stemmed from the period of colonial rule in India when Christianity developed a bad name due to the counter-witnessing of Christians there.
But of course, they eventually saw the real purpose and good intention of Mother Teresa.
This brings us to the reflection of our identity and our deeds.
Jesus said to the people in the gospel, that even if they don't believe in Him, then at least they should believe in the good that He was doing.
Then they will eventually see who He really was.
Similarly for us, our identity and our deeds must have a connection and in fact be intertwined.
Only then can people see the God who is working in us and through us.
At times it can be quite difficult to do a good deed or a charitable act in the name of the Church or when we identify ourselves as Christians.
Take for example, when the late Mother Teresa started her home for the destitute in India.
Among the opposition that she faced, one was the accusation that she wanted to convert the destitute into Christians and using the home and charity as a cover.
This negative notion of Christianity stemmed from the period of colonial rule in India when Christianity developed a bad name due to the counter-witnessing of Christians there.
But of course, they eventually saw the real purpose and good intention of Mother Teresa.
This brings us to the reflection of our identity and our deeds.
Jesus said to the people in the gospel, that even if they don't believe in Him, then at least they should believe in the good that He was doing.
Then they will eventually see who He really was.
Similarly for us, our identity and our deeds must have a connection and in fact be intertwined.
Only then can people see the God who is working in us and through us.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
The Annunciation, 25-03-10
Isaiah 7:10-14, 8:10 / Hebrews 10 : 4-10 / Luke 1 : 26-38 (2020)
St. Augustine was quoted as saying : God does not ask of us the impossible. He may ask us to do the difficult thing, but He will make it possible.
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation, the proclamation of the Good News of salvation.
It is not only a joyful event, it is also a very profound event in God's plan of salvation.
Yet for Mary, it was not just an event ; it was for her a mission.
And if she said "Yes" then it was going to be a life-long mission. And it was going to be difficult.
But God assured her it was not going to be impossible.
Mary put her faith and trust in God as she accepted her mission.
We live in difficult and fragile times. We have wars here and epidemics there and all sorts of weird things everywhere.
Trying to believe and live out the Good News is not only difficult, but seemingly impossible.
Believing that there can be peace that there can be joy, that there can be love, can be difficult.
But let this celebration of the Annunciation, the celebration of the Good News of our salvation, remind us that difficulty is not synonymous with impossibility.
We join Mary to say "Yes" to God because we want to believe that God is greater than any difficulty and impossibility.
St. Augustine was quoted as saying : God does not ask of us the impossible. He may ask us to do the difficult thing, but He will make it possible.
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation, the proclamation of the Good News of salvation.
It is not only a joyful event, it is also a very profound event in God's plan of salvation.
Yet for Mary, it was not just an event ; it was for her a mission.
And if she said "Yes" then it was going to be a life-long mission. And it was going to be difficult.
But God assured her it was not going to be impossible.
Mary put her faith and trust in God as she accepted her mission.
We live in difficult and fragile times. We have wars here and epidemics there and all sorts of weird things everywhere.
Trying to believe and live out the Good News is not only difficult, but seemingly impossible.
Believing that there can be peace that there can be joy, that there can be love, can be difficult.
But let this celebration of the Annunciation, the celebration of the Good News of our salvation, remind us that difficulty is not synonymous with impossibility.
We join Mary to say "Yes" to God because we want to believe that God is greater than any difficulty and impossibility.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
5th Week of Lent, Wednesday, 24-03-10
Daniel 3:14-20, 24-25, 28 / John 8:31-42 (2020 / 2023)
The fiery furnace of tribulation is something we will come across in our lives. Not just once, but many times.
It is in this fiery furnace that our faith in God is tested, our faith in prayer is tested, our faith in others is tested, and our faith in ourselves is tested.
The fiery furnace comes in all forms : the loss of a job, the hurt form a broken or painful relationship, ill-treatment and accusations from others, etc.
And we often get trapped in the flames of doubt, despair, anger and resentment.
In the 1st reading, when the three young men were threatened with the fiery furnace, they stuck to their faith in God.
In doing so, they were freed from their fear of death.
They believed in God, and that set them free to face and over the fear of the fiery furnace.
It is also by believing in God and in His Word of truth that will set us free.
By forgiving those who hurt us, we are freed.
By praying for those we wrong us, we are freed.
By not nailing judgment on others, we are freed.
By loving others, we are freed.
The flames of the fiery furnace may not go off, but by believing and living in the truth, we live in the freedom of walking together with our God in that fiery furnace.
The fiery furnace of tribulation is something we will come across in our lives. Not just once, but many times.
It is in this fiery furnace that our faith in God is tested, our faith in prayer is tested, our faith in others is tested, and our faith in ourselves is tested.
The fiery furnace comes in all forms : the loss of a job, the hurt form a broken or painful relationship, ill-treatment and accusations from others, etc.
And we often get trapped in the flames of doubt, despair, anger and resentment.
In the 1st reading, when the three young men were threatened with the fiery furnace, they stuck to their faith in God.
In doing so, they were freed from their fear of death.
They believed in God, and that set them free to face and over the fear of the fiery furnace.
It is also by believing in God and in His Word of truth that will set us free.
By forgiving those who hurt us, we are freed.
By praying for those we wrong us, we are freed.
By not nailing judgment on others, we are freed.
By loving others, we are freed.
The flames of the fiery furnace may not go off, but by believing and living in the truth, we live in the freedom of walking together with our God in that fiery furnace.
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