Apocalypse 7:2-4, 9-14 / 1 John 3:1-3 / Matthew 5:1-12
The Church of the Sacred Heart was built in 1910 and so it’s already 105 years old.
And when we look around at the interior as well as the exterior, we can say that it is solidly built.
To build a church like this in 1910 is certainly no easy task but the funds came in not just from generous donors but also from the humble widow’s mite.
So everyone contributed, regardless of how big or how small the sum was.
So if building a church is no easy task, then how about building a university?
Back in 1953 when the idea was mooted by the Chinese community leaders in Singapore to build the then Nanyang University, there was no government funding.
But the plan to set up the university received overwhelming support from the Chinese community, with both the rich and the poor donating generously to the building fund.
Contributions were received from the working class, and that included the taxi drivers, the hawkers, the trishaw pullers and … the cabaret dancers.
Who would expect this group of the working class to contribute to the building of Nanyang University.
It was surprising and also unexpected that the trishaw pullers and the cabaret dancers would do their bit for an institution that they would probably never benefit from.
But to this day, when the story of how Nanyang University was built is told, the big donors were acknowledged, but so were the working class of the taxi drivers, the hawkers, the trishaw pullers and the cabaret dancers.
It goes to show that when people see a higher objective and purpose, they will bring themselves to work towards it and to fulfill it.
Today the Church celebrates All Saints Day. We honour all the saints who form “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) for us and for the whole Church.
We acknowledge the countless men and women who are in heaven and who saw the higher objective and purpose of their lives when they were on earth.
Now that they have attained their eternal reward, they take on another objective and purpose but it is no more for themselves.
They want us to join them in heaven and they are praying for us as we journey on earth with all our challenges and difficulties.
Those saints are people just like us and they have gone through what we are going through – worries and anxieties, doubts and failures, desires and sinfulness.
So if we going through a difficult time with a wayward spouse and children who have fallen away from the faith and from the path of life, know that we are not alone.
St. Monica prayed continuously with tears for the conversion of her husband and then for her son St. Augustine.
Her prayers were answered and she will pray for us too that our prayers will be answered.
If we feel stressed at work and have a difficult boss, then let us turn to St. Joseph, patron saint of workers.
He knows how stressful it was to protect and provide for Mary and Jesus and yet he didn’t utter a word of complaint and he is a model for workers.
And when we find ourselves in a desperate situation, be it financial or emotional or spiritual, there is St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of desperate cases.
He knows how exasperating it was to share the same name as that apostle who betrayed Jesus. He was almost forgotten until people in desperate situation turned to him for his intercession, and he has never failed them.
And talking about forgotten saints, today is also a day that we remember our patron saints.
Most of us go by our baptism names which is usually a saint’s name.
It would be good to find out more about our patron saint because besides being a model of holiness for us, our patron saint is also praying for us.
So today as the Church celebrates All Saints Day, there is an outpouring of prayers from heaven for us.
The saints in heaven are asking God to grant us His blessings so that we can live our lives in the spirit of the Beatitudes that we heard in the gospel.
Beatitudes is not about attitudes. Beatitudes means blessings so that in gentle and merciful, in being pure of heart and poor in spirit, in being peacemakers and in doing what is right and just, we become a blessing for others.
The contribution of the saints is their prayers for us and for the Church.
Our lives of holiness will be our contribution to the world as we bring about God’s blessings to our world.
Life is difficult. People may abuse us and persecute us and speak all kinds of calumny against us.
But we are assured of the prayers of the saints and the blessings from God.
Let us rejoice and be glad, and look forward and upward to our reward in heaven.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Friday, October 30, 2015
30th Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 31-10-15
Romans 11 : 1-2,11-12,25-29 / Luke 14 : 1,7-11
No matter how far we have gone in life or how much we have achieved, it is always necessary to remember our humble origins.
More so when we remember how little we had in the past and how much we have to struggle to become who and what we are today.
Remembering our humble origins would only make us realize that we cannot take anything for granted and that whatever blessings we have received from God also have to be shared with the unfortunate and the needy.
Remembering our humble origins would cultivate in us a humble heart and we also know that without God's blessings, we won't be who and what we are today.
That is essentially the teaching of Jesus in today's gospel, that anyone who humbles himself will be exalted, and vice versa.
So we are reminded that everything is a gift from God, for without His blessings we can't achieve anything, much less have anything.
In the 1st reading, St. Paul also reminds us that God never takes back His gifts and blessings or revokes His choice.
The Jews were chosen to reveal the Messiah, and we Christians are chosen to reveal God's gift of salvation to all peoples.
Hence the blessings we have received from God are not just for our sake but for the sake of the proclamation of the Kingdom of God.
By who we are and with what we have, we are to proclaim the love of God and that is not an option.
That is our mission and it is an obligation, for which we will be held accountable.
So with humble hearts, let us remember that everything is a gift from God and we are called to share that gift.
No matter how far we have gone in life or how much we have achieved, it is always necessary to remember our humble origins.
More so when we remember how little we had in the past and how much we have to struggle to become who and what we are today.
Remembering our humble origins would only make us realize that we cannot take anything for granted and that whatever blessings we have received from God also have to be shared with the unfortunate and the needy.
Remembering our humble origins would cultivate in us a humble heart and we also know that without God's blessings, we won't be who and what we are today.
That is essentially the teaching of Jesus in today's gospel, that anyone who humbles himself will be exalted, and vice versa.
So we are reminded that everything is a gift from God, for without His blessings we can't achieve anything, much less have anything.
In the 1st reading, St. Paul also reminds us that God never takes back His gifts and blessings or revokes His choice.
The Jews were chosen to reveal the Messiah, and we Christians are chosen to reveal God's gift of salvation to all peoples.
Hence the blessings we have received from God are not just for our sake but for the sake of the proclamation of the Kingdom of God.
By who we are and with what we have, we are to proclaim the love of God and that is not an option.
That is our mission and it is an obligation, for which we will be held accountable.
So with humble hearts, let us remember that everything is a gift from God and we are called to share that gift.
Thursday, October 29, 2015
30th Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 30-10-15
Romans 9:1-5 / Luke 14:1-6
One of the distracting things that can happen when we are at work is when someone comes in unexpectedly with a request or the phone rings and the person at the other end of the line has a difficult issue to discuss.
Whenever such things happen, our thoughts and ideas and concentration on our work gets thrown off and we may have to start all over again when we get back at it.
To us, it may just be another person with a request or another call to attend to.
But whatever it is, the person has a need or a request, and that need may be urgent or important to that person.
That person will certainly feel disappointed or frustrated if he were told to come back another day or to make an appointment first.
In the gospel, the man with dropsy may be having it for a long time.
But the fact that he was standing in front of Jesus meant that he was hoping that Jesus could do something for him.
Jesus was going for a meal but He didn't put the man on hold or tell him to come another day.
For Him, that man could be cured immediately and He would do it.
We have our own work and it may be urgent and important.
But let us also remember those occasions when we needed help immediately and we actually got it.
We have to realize that it was God who sent us the help, and so we too must help others in their need when they come to us.
One of the distracting things that can happen when we are at work is when someone comes in unexpectedly with a request or the phone rings and the person at the other end of the line has a difficult issue to discuss.
Whenever such things happen, our thoughts and ideas and concentration on our work gets thrown off and we may have to start all over again when we get back at it.
To us, it may just be another person with a request or another call to attend to.
But whatever it is, the person has a need or a request, and that need may be urgent or important to that person.
That person will certainly feel disappointed or frustrated if he were told to come back another day or to make an appointment first.
In the gospel, the man with dropsy may be having it for a long time.
But the fact that he was standing in front of Jesus meant that he was hoping that Jesus could do something for him.
Jesus was going for a meal but He didn't put the man on hold or tell him to come another day.
For Him, that man could be cured immediately and He would do it.
We have our own work and it may be urgent and important.
But let us also remember those occasions when we needed help immediately and we actually got it.
We have to realize that it was God who sent us the help, and so we too must help others in their need when they come to us.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
30th Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 29-10-15
Romans 8:31-39 / Luke 13:31-35
To fall in love is a beautiful experience. To fall out of love is a lousy experience.
To be in love, however, requires more than just an experience ; it requires a decision.
Because true love and unconditional love requires a decision to be in love and to keep loving regardless of the situations and circumstances.
Indeed, to be in love requires a decision, which has to be renewed day by day, and hour by hour, and minute by minute.
But if falling out of love is a lousy experience, then unrequited love is indeed a very painful experience.
In fact, the bitterest tragedy in human life is to give your heart totally to the other party only to have it refused and broken.
That was the experience of Jesus as He laments over Jerusalem. For Jesus, it is not just unrequited love, but also they were going to kill Him if He were to continue with His journey of love.
So Jesus could have given up loving us because of the danger and the rejection. Why did He continue His journey of love all the way to the cross?
The 1st reading says it all. God did not spare His own Son but gave Him up to benefit us all.
So nothing can come between us and the love of Christ and nothing can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Jesus Christ.
So what kind of response we are going to give to God's love for us depends on us now.
Whatever it is, we have to make a decision to respond to God's love or reject it outright.
We have to exercise our human freedom of choice. Human freedom is awesome. Yet it is also supremely wonderful when we freely decide to love God and love others.
To fall in love is a beautiful experience. To fall out of love is a lousy experience.
To be in love, however, requires more than just an experience ; it requires a decision.
Because true love and unconditional love requires a decision to be in love and to keep loving regardless of the situations and circumstances.
Indeed, to be in love requires a decision, which has to be renewed day by day, and hour by hour, and minute by minute.
But if falling out of love is a lousy experience, then unrequited love is indeed a very painful experience.
In fact, the bitterest tragedy in human life is to give your heart totally to the other party only to have it refused and broken.
That was the experience of Jesus as He laments over Jerusalem. For Jesus, it is not just unrequited love, but also they were going to kill Him if He were to continue with His journey of love.
So Jesus could have given up loving us because of the danger and the rejection. Why did He continue His journey of love all the way to the cross?
The 1st reading says it all. God did not spare His own Son but gave Him up to benefit us all.
So nothing can come between us and the love of Christ and nothing can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Jesus Christ.
So what kind of response we are going to give to God's love for us depends on us now.
Whatever it is, we have to make a decision to respond to God's love or reject it outright.
We have to exercise our human freedom of choice. Human freedom is awesome. Yet it is also supremely wonderful when we freely decide to love God and love others.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Sts Simon and Jude, Wednesday, 28-10-15
Ephesians 2:19-22 / Luke 6:12-19 (2010, 2017, 2019)
Some ancient Christian writings have it that St. Simon and St. Jude went together as missionaries to Persia, and were martyred there.
This may explain the lack of historical information on them and also why their feast days are usually put together.
Even the gospel accounts do not say much about them.
St. Simon is called the Zealot (or Zealous) maybe because of his patriotism and nationalism.
St. Jude is traditionally depicted carrying the image of Jesus in his hand or close to his chest, which according to some accounts, was used to preach the Good News
Devotional prayers to St. Jude helped people, especially newly arrived immigrants from Europe to the US, deal with the pressures caused by the Great Depression and World War II and other political and economic and social changes.
St. Jude is also invoked as the patron saint of desperate cases.
So even though we may not know much about the historical facts of these two saints, we know that they are praying for us.
We also have recourse to them in our needs, especially to the intercession of St. Jude.
They also remind us that we have to keep faith in Jesus and trust in Him always.
They even laid down their lives for Jesus in order to witness to Him.
May we also put forth our needs through the intercession of St.Simon and St. Jude, and may we also offer our lives to God in this Mass.
Some ancient Christian writings have it that St. Simon and St. Jude went together as missionaries to Persia, and were martyred there.
This may explain the lack of historical information on them and also why their feast days are usually put together.
Even the gospel accounts do not say much about them.
St. Simon is called the Zealot (or Zealous) maybe because of his patriotism and nationalism.
St. Jude is traditionally depicted carrying the image of Jesus in his hand or close to his chest, which according to some accounts, was used to preach the Good News
Devotional prayers to St. Jude helped people, especially newly arrived immigrants from Europe to the US, deal with the pressures caused by the Great Depression and World War II and other political and economic and social changes.
St. Jude is also invoked as the patron saint of desperate cases.
So even though we may not know much about the historical facts of these two saints, we know that they are praying for us.
We also have recourse to them in our needs, especially to the intercession of St. Jude.
They also remind us that we have to keep faith in Jesus and trust in Him always.
They even laid down their lives for Jesus in order to witness to Him.
May we also put forth our needs through the intercession of St.Simon and St. Jude, and may we also offer our lives to God in this Mass.
Monday, October 26, 2015
30th Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 27-10-15
Roman 8:18-25 / Luke 13:18-21
The news of pregnancy usually brings about joy.
That is because pregnancy is a sign of fertility, a sign of new life, a new beginning, a new hope even.
The 1st reading used the analogy of pregnancy and birth-giving to express the Christian dimension of the hope of being freed from the slavery of sin.
And this hope is being fulfilled by the gift of the Spirit that brings about in us a new birth as children of God and first-fruits of the Spirit.
But this new life does not happen automatically or without effort on our part.
Just as a woman suffers the discomfort of pregnancy and the pain of childbirth, similarly if we want to live the new life of the Spirit, then struggle and suffering is inevitable.
Yet, we are reminded that what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory, as yet unrevealed, which is waiting for us.
Just as the gospel parables of the mustard seed and the yeast which will take time to grow and manifest, so will the fruits of the Spirit in our lives take time to grow and develop.
We need to be patient as the Kingdom of God slowly grows within us.
The news of pregnancy usually brings about joy.
That is because pregnancy is a sign of fertility, a sign of new life, a new beginning, a new hope even.
The 1st reading used the analogy of pregnancy and birth-giving to express the Christian dimension of the hope of being freed from the slavery of sin.
And this hope is being fulfilled by the gift of the Spirit that brings about in us a new birth as children of God and first-fruits of the Spirit.
But this new life does not happen automatically or without effort on our part.
Just as a woman suffers the discomfort of pregnancy and the pain of childbirth, similarly if we want to live the new life of the Spirit, then struggle and suffering is inevitable.
Yet, we are reminded that what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory, as yet unrevealed, which is waiting for us.
Just as the gospel parables of the mustard seed and the yeast which will take time to grow and manifest, so will the fruits of the Spirit in our lives take time to grow and develop.
We need to be patient as the Kingdom of God slowly grows within us.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
30th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 26-10-15
Romans 8:12-17 / Luke 13:10-17
Very often, some things may seem very strange to us initially, but after awhile we might just get used to it and we just accept it without further questions.
We may have our questions about it but maybe because we can't do anything about it, we just simply let it be.
Especially when it comes to things about laws and rules and regulations, at times it would be more convenient to just accept and not ask questions.
In today's gospel, Jesus points out a strange interpretation of the Law.
If the Law allows the ox and the donkey to be untied and taken out for watering on the Sabbath, then how can it be that healing cannot be done on the Sabbath.
In healing the afflicted woman on the Sabbath, Jesus showed that the Sabbath as well as the Law was made for man and not the other way round.
More importantly, Jesus also emphasized a very important reality - that the woman who was suffering for 18 years was a daughter of God and God wanted her to be healed and freed.
In the 1st reading, we are also reminded that the Holy Spirit brings us together to bear witness that we are children of God.
As children of God, we are to live spiritual lives for the glory of God and not to succumb to the unspiritual lives that will lead to death.
As children of God, we are also coheirs with Christ. Hence, we must be prepared to share in His sufferings so as to share in His glory.
We have our questions about suffering, but when we can accept that, then we too will straighten up and live lives directed towards God.
Very often, some things may seem very strange to us initially, but after awhile we might just get used to it and we just accept it without further questions.
We may have our questions about it but maybe because we can't do anything about it, we just simply let it be.
Especially when it comes to things about laws and rules and regulations, at times it would be more convenient to just accept and not ask questions.
In today's gospel, Jesus points out a strange interpretation of the Law.
If the Law allows the ox and the donkey to be untied and taken out for watering on the Sabbath, then how can it be that healing cannot be done on the Sabbath.
In healing the afflicted woman on the Sabbath, Jesus showed that the Sabbath as well as the Law was made for man and not the other way round.
More importantly, Jesus also emphasized a very important reality - that the woman who was suffering for 18 years was a daughter of God and God wanted her to be healed and freed.
In the 1st reading, we are also reminded that the Holy Spirit brings us together to bear witness that we are children of God.
As children of God, we are to live spiritual lives for the glory of God and not to succumb to the unspiritual lives that will lead to death.
As children of God, we are also coheirs with Christ. Hence, we must be prepared to share in His sufferings so as to share in His glory.
We have our questions about suffering, but when we can accept that, then we too will straighten up and live lives directed towards God.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)