4th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 01-02-16

2 Sam 15:13-14, 30; 16:5-13 / Mark 5:1-20

A curse can be expressed in several ways. It can take on the expression of a wish that misfortune, evil, doom, etc., befall a person, group, etc.

Or it can be a formula or charm intended to cause such misfortune to another. Or it can be an evil that has been invoked upon a person. Or it can be the cause of evil, misfortune, or trouble.

Whether the curse will be actualized or not is another matter.

Nonetheless, to hear the words of a curse can cut and tear the heart.

In the 1st reading, king David heard the cursed words of Shimei and he could have retaliated. But he did not.

King David knew that he was in the pits because even his own son was after his life.

Still, in the depths of his distress, he placed his hope in the Lord's mercy.

In the gospel, we can understand that what the disciples saw in the man was just a bag of curses.

They might even felt that this was the pits for them: they were in a foreign land, there was this possessed madman before them, the pigs, the cemetery around.

They were probably cursing the situation they were in and wondered why Jesus brought them there in the first place.

But that was precisely why Jesus came into this world so that the curse of sin will be changed into a blessing of hope.

So whenever we find ourselves in a lousy situation and feel like cursing, let us follow David's example and turn to God and place our hope in His mercy.

And when we have received the blessing of hope and mercy, let us also do what Jesus told the man He had healed: Go home to your people and tell them all the Lord in His mercy has done for you.

4th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 31.01.2016

Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19 / 1 Cor 12:31 – 13:13 / Luke 4:21-30

It is said that knowledge is power. Knowledge has the power to control access to opportunity and advancement.

Knowledge comes from learning. But the more the knowledge, the lesser should be the ego.

Because the more we know, we should also realize that there is much more that we don’t know. Because real knowledge is to know the extent of our ignorance.

It is said that there are two ways to live life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

And if we think that praying for a miracle is almost nearly impossible then let us listen to this story.

A woman went to see a holy man and asked him to pray to God to take her husband out of this world, because he was always quarrelling with her, and she can’t live with him anymore.

The holy man paused for a moment, and then said to her:  Very well, I will pray, but I must warn you that when I begin to pray, God will decide which of you is more guilty. And whoever is more guilty will die immediately! So how? You want me to start praying?

The woman thought for a while, and then said: Err…. Never mind, no need to pray anymore. And she left, hurriedly.

Well, the truth set her free, and it also made her flee.

We may know what the truth is, but it would take a miracle for the truth to set us free.

In the gospel, we heard that Jesus went to His hometown and preached the truth to His people but they despised Him.

To bring home the point, Jesus recalled for them two stories from their history about how God helped outsiders instead of their own people.

One was a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town and the other a leper, Naaman a Syrian.

But instead of believing that miracles can happen to outsiders, they became enraged and they hustled Him out of the town and took Him to the brow of the hill and intended to throw Him down the cliff.

And then something astonishing happened. Jesus slipped through the crowd and walked away.

Another miracle happened before their eyes. The truth had set Jesus free but that same truth left them obstinate and trapped in their anger.

So we may know what the truth is, but for the truth to set us free, it may require a miracle.

And that would depend on how we live our lives. Do we live as though nothing is a miracle? Or do we live as though everything is a miracle.

But for a miracle to happen would require us to put more energy to our faith and beliefs than to our doubts and fears.

Once there was a Christian lady who lived next door to an atheist.

 Everyday, when the lady prayed, the atheist guy could hear her. 

 He thought to himself, "She sure is crazy, praying all the time like that.  Doesn't she know there isn't a God?" 

Many times while she was praying, he would go to her house and harass her, saying "Lady, why do you pray all the time? Don't you know there is no God?"  But she kept on praying.

One day, she ran out of groceries. As usual, she was praying to the Lord explaining her situation and thanking Him for what He was going to do.  

As usual, the atheist heard her praying and thought to himself, "Humph. I'll fix her."  He went to the grocery store, bought a whole bunch of groceries, took them to her house, dropped them off on the front porch, rang the door bell and then hid in the bushes to see what she would do.

When she opened the door and saw the groceries, she began to praise the Lord with all her heart, jumping, singing and shouting.  

The atheist then jumped out of the bushes and told her, "You old crazy lady!  God didn't buy you those groceries, I bought those groceries!" 

Suddenly the lady shouted and began running down the street, shouting and praising the Lord. The atheist chased after her, and when he finally caught her, he asked what her problem was. 

She said, "I knew the Lord would provide me with some groceries, but I didn't know He was going make the devil pay for them!"

So as it goes, for some everything is a miracle; for others nothing is a miracle.

For us who believe in God and that with His love, everything is possible and everything is a miracle.

Yes, God is love and His love is described in the 2nd reading: love is patient and kind, never jealous, never boastful or conceited, never rude or selfish; love does not take offence and is not resentful; love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth.

And as we hear these words, a miracle is also waiting to happen. As much as God is love and His love is described in the words that we have heard, God also wants to recreate us with His love.

The miracle that is waiting to happen is when we can say: I am patient and kind, never jealous, never boastful or conceited, never rude or selfish; I do not take offence and I am not resentful; l take no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth.
May this text be fulfilled even as we listen.

3rd Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 30-01-16

2 Sam 12:1-7, 10-17 / Mark 4:35-41

Weather forecasts have advanced far enough for us to know what will be coming up.

So when we tune in to the weather forecasts, we will know if it is going to be sunny or rainy, humid or windy, warm or chilly.

And those forecasts are often correct, especially when it comes to the more serious things like storms, typhoons, hurricanes and tornado.

So if we were told that a storm is already brewing, then we better heed the warnings and take the necessary precautions.

King David, before he was confronted by the prophet Nathan, was committing one sin after another - he had an affair with Uriah's wife who subsequently conceived; then he tried to get Uriah to take responsibility, failing which he plotted his death.

The warning signs were there but David's murky conscience did not want to heed it. Until Nathan told him the parable and then it was David who pronounced sentence on himself.

In the gospel, while the disciples were crossing the lake, a gale blew up, probably without any warning signs. The waves were breaking into the boat and it was almost swamped.

Certainly they were frightened and in their fear, they confronted Jesus, who was asleep and complained that He didn't care.

But the fact that He was with them was a sign that they didn't understand that He has power over the wind and the waves.

God will always give us signs to tell us what is happening with us and what we should do or where we should go.

Let us pray that we will be sensitive to these signs and that we will understand and comprehend these signs.

Then in any storm, the winds and the waves will not overwhelm us.

3rd Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 29-01-16

2 Sam 11:1-10, 13-17 / Mark 4:26-34

An act or a deed is driven by an intention or motive. We don't do something without a reason.

And depending on what the intention or motive is, the act or deed is deemed good or bad.

In the gospel, we heard parables about seeds. The seeds were be thrown on the soil or sowed in the soil.

That act was intended to have the seeds germinate and bear fruit for the harvest.

In the 1st reading, we heard about king David "sowing his seed" with another woman. But king David's intention of "sowing his seed" was out of lust and carnal desires.

And so out of a sinful intention came a act that bore consequences and then it spiralled further into another evil intention that resulted in the murder of an innocent man who was loyal and trusted in his king.

Hence, we must always check the intentions behind our actions. Because bad intentions will drive actions that will only bear bad fruit.

For whatever we intend to do, we must put it under the light of prayer and to sieve out any ulterior motives and selfish desires.

Then our actions and deeds will bear a harvest of goodness and God will be glorified in all that we do.

3rd Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 28-01-16

2 Sam 7:18-19, 24-29 / Mark 4:21-25

The Book of Psalms in the Bible is accredited to the authorship of King David, although it is quite obvious that there is more than one author.

We use the Psalms in the worship at Mass and also in the Divine Office of the Church.

In many ways, the Psalms expressed the spirituality of King David.

There are psalms of adoration, worship, praise and thanksgiving.

There are also psalms of petitions, contrition, distress and lamentation.

Psalm 8 expresses best the prayer of King David in today's 1st reading.

Psalms 8 begins with this: What is man that you should keep him in mind, mortal man that you care for him.

David was overwhelmed that God not only made him king of a great nation, God also promised to make his descendants into a royal dynasty, from which as we know now, came the Saviour Jesus.

That was why David said: Who am I, Lord, and what is my house that you have led me this far?

Like King David, let us also ask ourselves: Who am I, that the Lord should care for me even though I am sinful, and He sustains my life and fills me with blessings even though I do not deserve it.

Indeed, we could only say that God is merciful and His mercy endures from age to age.

When we truly understand this mercy and love of God for us, then that mercy and love will kindle the flame within us and, like Jesus said in the gospel, we will shine God's love for all to see.

3rd Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 27-01-16

Samuel 7:4-17 / Mark 4:1-20

Jesus started His ministry by teaching in the synagogues.

In today's gospel, we see a switch in style. He goes into the open: at the seashore, and the fishing boat becomes the pulpit.

But a more profound switch was from lecture-style teaching to simple parables about everyday life, although the purpose was still the same, i.e. to teach the people about eternal life.

The switch was only natural, because for the common people, stories attract their attention, and they are easy to remember.

But the purpose of Jesus in using stories or parables goes deeper than just getting their attention.

A parable like the sower and the seed tests the hearts of the people, as well as our hearts.

When our hearts are open, we will be able to sense the truth of the teachings of Jesus.

Just as in the 1st reading, the prophet Nathan sensed it was the word of the Lord that was being announced to him and he opened his heart to receive it.

Yet, nonetheless, God will also respect our freedom.

The parables of Jesus contain enough light for us who want to know the truth.

We have the freedom to step into the light of truth, or to remain in the shadow of darkness.

Saints Timothy and Titus, Tuesday, 26-01-16

2 Tim 1:1-8 or Titus 1:1-5 / Luke 10:1-9

One of the ways to motivate people to take on higher responsibilities is to recognize the contributions they are already making and the talents they have.

They need to be affirmed of whatever gifts that God has bestowed upon them so that what they have and what they are doing with it can be reinforced.

When St. Paul chose Timothy and Titus to be bishops of their respective churches, he was not looking merely at their gifts and talents.

In fact, Timothy and Titus were rather young to be the bishops of the churches.

Rather, St. Paul recognized the faith that they had.

And especially for Timothy, St. Paul reminded him of the sincere faith which was handed down from his grandmother and his mother.

St. Paul affirmed Timothy that he saw this faith in him, and that was sufficient for him to lead the church that was entrusted to him.

Here, it is good to remember that faith is not so much taught as it is caught.

The faith that we have is "caught" from others - our parents, our teachers, our friends, etc.

Hence, we have a faith to share, a faith that others are waiting to catch, so that they too will come to know God and believe in Him.