13th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 01.07.2012

Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24/ 2 Cor 8, 7, 9, 13-15/ Mark 5:21-43

One of the greatest fears and nightmares of parents is to lose their young child in a crowded place, or in a foreign land, or in a place that is considered dangerous.

That kind of thing can happen anytime, and anywhere, and when it is least expected.

Every now and then, we will hear it over the PA system that there is a child who is lost and the parents or relatives are to go to the office to claim back the child.

Yes, with the modern means of communication, a child who is lost can be easily tracked and located and found.

But such may not be the case about 40 or 50 years ago where communication was rather primitive, compared to now, and PA systems were not installed everywhere.

I can attest to the fears and nightmares of parents who have lost their child, even though it may be for only a short period of time.

I remembered that when I was a kid, maybe about 8 or 9 years old. My family went out to the “pasar-malam: (street-side night market) on a Saturday evening.

Being a Saturday evening, the pasar-malam was crowded and noisy and people jostled here and there.

My mum held on to my elder sister and younger brother, who was only 4 or 5 years at that time, and my father held on to me.

Then, we stopped to look at something and my mum began the bargaining process, and the rest of us were just looking around at other things.

Then, all of a sudden, my mum turned around and asked: Where is Simon? (That’s my younger brother).

We looked around blankly, and then stunned, and then it hit us that Simon was not anywhere around.

Then all panic and chaos broke loose as my sister and I were ordered to stay put, while my parents set off in opposite directions looking for my brother, asking people, calling out his name, etc.

I can still remember the dreaded look on my parents’ faces and the panic in their voices.

Well, after what seemed like eternity, my mum came back with my brother, both of them sobbing away – my brother obviously frightened and traumatized, and my mum … maybe angry, maybe relieved.

The pasar-malam outing ended immediately and my mum gave us a good scrubbing on the way home about caring for each other and looking out for each other.

Yes, I have seen the dreaded look on the faces and heard the panic in the voices.

And today’s gospel passage brought back that memory of  mine, as well for as parents who have lost their child, even though it might just be momentarily (which at that time would seem like eternity)

At least, we would be able to understand how Jairus felt.

His 12 year-old daughter was critically ill. All hope was fading and so was her life.

Jairus was desperate and he had that dreaded look on his face – he was losing his daughter and it will be forever.

As he pleaded with Jesus to go and heal his daughter, he already had panic in his voice.

He couldn’t care less that he was a synagogue official and that Jesus was just a street-side preacher, who was not even a scribe or a rabbi.

Jairus couldn’t be bothered about what people would say about him, kneeling before Jesus and pleading with him.

All that mattered was his daughter’s life. He would go to almost any extent to save his daughter.

Certainly, we can see how great is the love of Jairus for his daughter, and by the same token, the great love of parents for their children.

If that is the love parents have for their children, then can we ever comprehend God’s love for us, we who are His children?

It is a great pain and sorrow for parents who have to make funeral arrangements for their children.

Somehow it does not sound right, it does not look right, because it should be the other way round.

So as we try to comprehend God’s love for us, the love a father has for his children, can we also comprehend the pain and sorrow that God feels when His children choose to be lost in waywardness, and eventually succumb to sin and death?

As the first reading will testify: Death was not God’s doing. He takes no pleasure in the extinction of the living.

God made man imperishable. He made him in the image of His own nature. It was the devil’s envy that brought death into the world, as those who are his partners, will discover.

Those are profound words that tell us how great God’s love is for us and that He wants us to have life and health.

On the other hand, the devil wants to snare us to commit sin, so that although we exist, but we are as gone as dead.

Yes, we can try to comprehend how Jairus felt for his daughter and how much he wanted to save her.

We can also try to comprehend how much God loves us and how He searches for us when we are lost, so as to save us from a sinful death.

Yes, life and health, and sin and death, is not a laughing matter, and they are certainly not humorous.

Humour, or at least serious humour, is associated with people like Mr Brown, who is one of Singapore’s most-read bloggers and he is also a social and political satirist.

Whenever you want to have a serious good laugh,  just go to Mr Brown.com and you will get your free entertainment anytime, anywhere. As well as something to reflect on.

But recently, he put up a story which concerned his family, and it was titled “Finding Faith”.

Nothing religious actually. It was an account of how his eldest daughter whose name is “Faith” was lost, and how he and his family and friends went in search of her.

Faith is a special child. She is about 12 years old, the same age of Jairus’ daughter. But she has severe autism, she does not speak, does not respond to her name easily, cannot tell anyone she is lost, and does not know what is dangerous.

Mr Brown was at work, and his wife had brought their three kids for an outing, and they were returning home in the evening.        

It was around 6.30pm (rush hour) when Faith broke free from her mother’s grip and ran off, and this was at Dhoby Ghaut MRT station, and it was rush hour!

The wife immediately called Mr Brown, and panic and chaos were already breaking in. Faith couldn’t have been lost in a worse possible place, at a worse possible time.

Dhoby Ghaut is a huge maze of an interchange station. Faith could be anywhere there, or she might have hopped onto another train and went somewhere else.

Mr Brown had the presence of mind to use modern communication means and he tweeted for help to find Faith.

He checked with the station staff who were monitoring the CCTVs. The PA system were not much of a use because of Faith’s autistic condition.

After a frantic wild goose chase, that seemed like eternity, and with much panic, Faith was found at Telok Blangah station.

Mr Brown proclaimed that it was a miracle to have found Faith.  So many friends and people who came into the picture, and the events that happened, were certainly not coincidences.

And I quote Mr Brown: Above all, thank God for watching over our firstborn and bringing her back home to us.

Yes, thank God that He watches over us and searches for us when we are lost.

Thank God that He loves us and gives us health and life so that we can share His goodness with others.

Thank God that sin and death do not have the final say.  

Because God is the God of the living. In God, let us have faith and let us not be afraid.

12th Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 30-06-12

Lamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19 / Matthew 8:5-17

If we were to check out some information about the Temple that king Solomon built, we will know that it was a huge and magnificent building. It can be said to be one of the man-made wonders of the world at that time.

Besides the gold and silver ornaments, huge blocks of finest stone was used for the building and the building's foundation was laid with hewn stone.

Yes, it was the pride and glory of Israel and a proclamation that God was dwelling in their midst in that Temple.

But the impressive man-made Temple also slowly became a false sense of security for the people.

They slowly became complacent in their faith but because the Temple was there, and seemingly indestructible, things began to spiral downwards.

But in the 587BC, king Nebuchanezzar of Babylon conquered Jerusalem and his army tore down the huge impressive Temple.

Before their very eyes, their beloved Temple, their pride and glory, was laid to waste.

In the 1st reading, the book of Lamentation try to put into words the sorrow and grief of the people; it was a shocking awakening to say the least.

But if the 1st reading was about lamentations, then the gospel is about inspiration and consolation.

Jesus is the new and everlasting Temple of God who affirms the faith of the centurion and takes away our sickness and infirmities.

So our security and salvation is not in impressive stone buildings that will eventually pass away.

Our security and salvation lies in Jesus who died and rose from the dead. May we put all our faith and hope in Him alone.

Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles, Friday, 29-06-12

Acts 12:1-11 / 2 Tim 4:6-8, 17-18 / Gospel 16:13-19       (2019 / 2024)

The Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, is a liturgical feast in honour of the martyrdom in Rome of these two great saints.

The celebration is of ancient origin, and it is celebrated on this date because it either marks the anniversary of their death or of the transfer of their relics.

Yet when we read the book of the Acts of the Apostles, we may wonder why these two saints are put together in the same feastday. 

Because in reality they were as different as oil and water. Yet it also not about who is above the other.

Because both men had their flaws, and even their "fights" were recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.

But both were chosen and called by Jesus for a mission and a task.

Both responded with all their hearts and even with their lives.

They had their differences but their love for Jesus rose above their human weaknesses like oil above the water.

Their feastday also tells us that although the Church may have its failings and weaknesses, yet there is also the divine calling and the outpouring of graces.

Like Sts. Peter and Paul, let us put aside our differences and open our hearts to God's graces, so that by our love and unity, we will proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord.

12th Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 28-06-12

2 Kings 24:8-17 / Matthew 7:21-29

The word "rebellion" means an act of violent or open resistance to an established government or ruler.

In the Old Testament, we see this happening countless of times and the price that was paid for it.

The people of God rebelled against God insistently despite God sending prophet after prophet to call them to repentance.

Because of that, the Northern Kingdom of Israel was annihilated in 721BC, and yet the kingdom of Judah thought it would never happen to them.

But in the 1st reading, we heard how the Babylonians finally took Jerusalem and sent the king and the nobles and the skilled workers into exile to Babylon.

Yet the lesson was not learnt and later the Temple of Solomon was eventually razed to the ground, with not even one stone on another.

So are we learning anything from this lesson? We have to be aware that rebellion lurks in our hearts and we want to be independent and free from any obligations to God.

Listening to the Word of God and acting on it means to be obedient to the will of God.

We will certainly remember what Samuel told Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22-23
Is the pleasure of the Lord God in holocausts and sacrifices or in obedience to the Lord God?
Yes, obedience is better than sacrifice, submissiveness better than the fat of rams.
Rebellion is the sin of sorcery, presumption a crime of teraphim.

Let us pray that we will build our lives on the rock of God's love and follow His ways and do His will.

12th Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 27-06-12

2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3 / Matthew 7:15-20      (2016)

Every country and every nation has its share of good and bad leaders.

Whilst good leaders were far and few between and they are held in honour for the good they did for their country, the bad leaders had caused much damage because of self-interest and greed.

In the 1st reading, we heard of the high priest Hilkiah and the court secretary Shaphan finding and  reading the Book of the Law and decided to inform king Josiah about it.

The Book of the Law had been hidden in the previous tyrannical regimes that had been unfaithful to the Lord in order to save it from being destroyed.

The high priest and the court officials were bold enough to present the Book of the Law to the king probably because they saw in the king a person of integrity and justice.

Indeed, just as a tree is judged by its fruits, a person is judged by his character.

As Jesus taught in the gospel, a sound tree bears good fruit, but a rotten tree bears bad fruit.

Yes, and also a sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit.

Yet we have to be alert and examine ourselves constantly for corruption and decay, because a sound tree can also become a rotten tree due to negligence and complacency.

When we realize we have stopped bearing good fruits, or even started bearing rotten fruits in our lives, let us immediately turn back to the Lord for healing and forgiveness.

We can't deceive others; they will know us by our fruits.

12th Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 26-06-12

2 Kings 19:9-11, 14-21, 31-36 / Matthew 7:6, 12-14

Power and might can be best described in terms of armaments and military capabilities.

In fact, the best way to flaunt power and might is to use military force for invasion or oppression.

In the 1st reading, when king Sennacherib of Assyria threatened king Hezekiah of Judah, it was like the sword already on the throat.

And king Hezekiah had every reason to fear because he was the main target and if the Assyrians get their hands on him, they would skin and mince him alive.

Yet king Hezekiah gave us a lesson about faith and trust in God. In the face of mortal danger, he turned to God in prayer and placed all his hope in God.

And indeed, God will cast down the mighty and proud who use their military might to insult the humble and the lowly.

Furthermore, king Sennacherib insulted God and he can be considered lucky to be able to go home alive.

In life, we may not face blood-thirsty soldiers going for our throats, but certainly we will come across slippery and slimy people who will scheme to make us trip and then stab our backs.

Let us be calm but vigilant because the evil one will tempt us to throw away our faith to the dogs and pigs.

Let us stand up to evil with a strong faith and to stay close to God in prayer.

In this world that has many dangerous nooks and corners, God is our only Saviour and guide.

12th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 25-06-12

2 King 17:5-8, 13-15, 18 / Matthew 7:1-5

In the history of the world, there were many great kingdoms and empires.

The common characteristic of these kingdoms and empires is their rise and fall, and almost nothing remained of these kingdoms and empires except for that in the pages of the history books.

We may wonder why a kingdom or empire can't last or remain? Is that how it is supposed to be, or is it some kind of a curse that a kingdom or empire won't last more than a number of years?

Well there can be many reasons, but with the rise of a kingdom or empire, comes the sweet taste of power and control, and it is very addictive.

And with the desire for more power and control comes the cruelty of oppression and subjection, and with that moral decay sets in and integrity and justice is eroded.

In the 1st reading, we heard of the annihilation of the Northern Kingdom of Israel by Assyria. Yes it was literally wiped off the face of the earth and became history and a thing of the past.

All because they forgot their humble and lowly origins as slaves in Egypt and they turned away from God who freed them and made them His people.

We may say it was the ingratitude and the stupidity of that people to do such a thing.

But let us hold ourselves in check. What happened to the Northern Kingdom of Israel has also happened to other kingdoms and empires and can also happen to ourselves.

Let us not judge but to learn from the lessons of history. Let us also remain humble and lowly and be grateful and thankful that God loves us and has made us His own people.