Genesis 1:26 - 2:3 / Matthew 13:54-58
Where there is work to be done, the usual reaction would be anything from indifference to reluctance.
Not everyone is going to be that enthusiastic about work, especially when the work is not that pleasing and when it is also quite demanding of our time and our energy.
In the 1st reading, we heard of God creating the world, and after the heaven and the earth were completed with all their array, God rested on the seventh day after all the work He had been doing.
God also blessed the seventh day and made it holy. We can imagine God taking pride in His work of creation and seeing it as very good, and hence the seventh day is indeed a holy day, and especially for us to wonder and give thanks for God's creation.
Today as we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, we ask for his intercession for all workers that, like him, we will give glory to God with the work of our hands.
But St. Joseph is not the patron saint of workers just because he was a carpenter. His most important work was that he took Mary home to be his wife and to be legal father of Jesus.
It was a work, or a mission, that he was not prepared, nor did he expect it. But with further promptings from God and in obedience, St. Joseph accepted the work he was tasked to do, with commitment and with responsibility.
May we, like St. Joseph, always do our work well and give glory to God with the work of our hands.
May we also, like St. Joseph, be prepared to do God's work willingly and cheerfully, so that God's work of creation will be continued in us.
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Monday, April 29, 2019
2nd Week of Easter, Tuesday, 30-04-19
Acts 4:32-37 / John 3:7-15
We have often heard this statement of faith - With God nothing is impossible. We not only have heard it we have used it even, and most likely on others.
But when we are faced with a task that is beyond our capabilities or can't comprehend it with our logic, then do we really believe that nothing is impossible with God?
From what we heard in the 1st reading, we may comment that it was idealistic. In our current church or parish settings, it would be too naive, if not impossible, to live like that.
Being united in heart and soul is already difficult enough, to say nothing of owning nothing and everything being held in common.
We may wonder and ask "How can?". But if with God nothing is impossible, then why cannot?
If we do not believe that such things can happen on earth, then how are we going to come to terms with things of faith and heavenly things.
That was what Jesus said to Nicodemus in the gospel. Because Nicodemus kept saying that it was impossible for a person to be reborn in the Spirit.
Similarly we too must believe that with the risen Lord, we too will be able to rise from our sinfulness and live a life of holiness, a life in the Spirit.
It is not a question of "How can?"; it's a matter of "Why cannot?"
We have often heard this statement of faith - With God nothing is impossible. We not only have heard it we have used it even, and most likely on others.
But when we are faced with a task that is beyond our capabilities or can't comprehend it with our logic, then do we really believe that nothing is impossible with God?
From what we heard in the 1st reading, we may comment that it was idealistic. In our current church or parish settings, it would be too naive, if not impossible, to live like that.
Being united in heart and soul is already difficult enough, to say nothing of owning nothing and everything being held in common.
We may wonder and ask "How can?". But if with God nothing is impossible, then why cannot?
If we do not believe that such things can happen on earth, then how are we going to come to terms with things of faith and heavenly things.
That was what Jesus said to Nicodemus in the gospel. Because Nicodemus kept saying that it was impossible for a person to be reborn in the Spirit.
Similarly we too must believe that with the risen Lord, we too will be able to rise from our sinfulness and live a life of holiness, a life in the Spirit.
It is not a question of "How can?"; it's a matter of "Why cannot?"
Sunday, April 28, 2019
2nd Week of Easter, Monday, 29-04-19
Acts 4:23-31 / John 3:1-8
The usual practice for the Rite of Baptism is to use water as the form or the means for baptism.
So whether it is infant or adult, whether it is by immersion or by affusion, the form or the means is water.
The symbol of water gives us the indication that baptism washes away our sins and purifies us and makes us God's children.
Yet water has also an additional meaning. It also points to the descent of the Holy Spirit into our hearts at our baptism.
So at our baptism, it is like what Jesus said in the gospel - we are born again through water and the Spirit.
The waters of baptism purify us, and the Spirit sanctifies us.
The Spirit sanctifies us to be a people of prayer who will listen to the promptings of the Spirit.
It is in trusting in the Spirit that we will experience the power of prayer.
In the 1st reading, as the disciples prayed, the house where they were assembled began to rock.
May our hearts too be moved by the Spirit when we pray.
As our hearts begin to be moved by the Spirit in prayer, we also pray that the hearts of those whom we are praying for be moved so that they too will follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
The usual practice for the Rite of Baptism is to use water as the form or the means for baptism.
So whether it is infant or adult, whether it is by immersion or by affusion, the form or the means is water.
The symbol of water gives us the indication that baptism washes away our sins and purifies us and makes us God's children.
Yet water has also an additional meaning. It also points to the descent of the Holy Spirit into our hearts at our baptism.
So at our baptism, it is like what Jesus said in the gospel - we are born again through water and the Spirit.
The waters of baptism purify us, and the Spirit sanctifies us.
The Spirit sanctifies us to be a people of prayer who will listen to the promptings of the Spirit.
It is in trusting in the Spirit that we will experience the power of prayer.
In the 1st reading, as the disciples prayed, the house where they were assembled began to rock.
May our hearts too be moved by the Spirit when we pray.
As our hearts begin to be moved by the Spirit in prayer, we also pray that the hearts of those whom we are praying for be moved so that they too will follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Saturday, April 27, 2019
2nd Sunday of Easter, Year C, 27.04.2019
Acts 5:12-16 / Apocalypse 1:9-13, 17-19 / John 20:19-31
It has been a week since we celebrated Easter Sunday. It would certainly be nice to take a break and have a little rest.
Because Lent is a spiritually packed season, with a sharp emphasis on prayer, penance and almsgiving, along with the Way of the Cross, Confessions, etc.
All that reaches its peak with Holy Week and especially at the Holy Triduum, where Maundy Thursday moves on to Good Friday and into Easter Vigil and then Easter Sunday.
We can imagine the physical state of the priests on Easter Sunday evening, almost like a state of spiritual comatose. It was a long week with a busy weekend.
There is this so-called Easter joke, of a boy who came home after a long day at school. He told his mother that he has a stomach ache.
His mother told him, “That’s because there is nothing in your stomach. You’ve got to put something in it.” And she quickly prepared some food which he ate and he felt better.
On Easter Sunday, the boy went with his parents for the evening Mass. After Mass, they met the priest at the entrance. The priest shared with them that it was a long and tiring weekend and that he was having a headache.
Then the boy remembered what his mother told him and he said to the priest, “Father, you are having a headache because there is nothing in your head. You need to put something into your head.”
Stomach ache or headache or backache, if it’s not serious, can be cured and we can get better quickly if there is the correct medicine.
But there are some pains that are difficult to cure. It is not so much a physical pain like a headache or stomachache, but rather spiritual, like a heartache.
Heartaches are difficult to cure because there is no medication for it, and what is needed is not so much a cure but more of a healing.
It can be said that the disciples in the gospel were suffering heartaches from a number of causes. There was guilt from betraying and denying and deserting Jesus, there was the fear of the Jews, their faith was broken and the future was just blank hopelessness.
It was a heartache that no medicine can cure because it was more than a physical pain – it was a spiritual pain that required a spiritual healing.
It was in this state of utter despair that the Risen Lord Jesus came and stood among them, and His first words were “Peace be with you”.
And that was what the disciples needed most. Jesus came not to settle scores but to sooth the sore and painful hearts that were broken with guilt and pain.
And Jesus even came back again eight days later just for Thomas, who had said, “Unless I see the holes that the nails made in His hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into His side, I refuse to believe.”
We can understand how the disciples and especially Thomas felt. With a shattered faith and blank hopelessness, it was very difficult to believe, especially in something like the Resurrection.
Just a week ago, on Easter Sunday, when the whole Church was celebrating the joy of the Resurrection, terrorists attacked and bombed three churches and four luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, leaving more than 250 people dead.
One of the targets of the horrendous Easter Sunday bombings was St. Anthony’s Church, which is renowned as a place of worship open to all faiths. But the bombings have shut its doors for now. For the first time in its 175-year history, people can’t go into the church. In fact, all worship services have been suspended throughout Sri Lanka.
The church is fondly called a “miracle church” because her patron, St. Anthony, has a reputation of a “miracle worker”, and no prayer request, no matter how big or small or strangely specific, is left unanswered by St. Anthony, as the people would testify.
But on Monday, despite the church grounds being cordoned off and no one was allowed to enter the church, still a large crowd gathered around the perimeter, staring at the building, praying perhaps. Faith is shaken and broken, like the disciples in the gospel.
They have witnessed horrendous carnage and the loss of innocent lives. So will the horror erode the people’s faith in the power of God and of the Church?
Fr. Leo Perera, a Sri Lankan priest has this to say: You cannot keep people away from here just because of something like this. They will keep coming back because this is the time they need the presence of God in their lives. In no way this will affect the state of the Church and the faith of her believers.
Maybe this explains why many people still came together to stand in front of the church. Yes, they come to express sadness and horror at what took place at the church. Yet they came to express hope.
In the darkness of the hour, the church continues to be a symbol of hope, with many Sri Lankans choosing to stand together despite the terror and horror that have unfolded before their eyes.
And with the church closed and worship services suspended for the time being, the Risen Lord Jesus now goes out to stand amongst the people.
The Risen Lord Jesus stands among them to heal their heartaches and despair and to bring them peace.
We too must stand with the Church and the people of Sri Lanka and to offer prayer for them, since they can’t even go to church to pray.
And let us also learn from them and see how the Risen Lord Jesus will heal their heartaches with His peace.
Their heartaches are also a mirror of our own heartaches. Their healing will also give us hope that our own heartaches will be healed.
That is the power of the Risen Lord Jesus. His peace and His mercy is what is needed to heal our heartaches and the heartache of the world.
It has been a week since we celebrated Easter Sunday. It would certainly be nice to take a break and have a little rest.
Because Lent is a spiritually packed season, with a sharp emphasis on prayer, penance and almsgiving, along with the Way of the Cross, Confessions, etc.
All that reaches its peak with Holy Week and especially at the Holy Triduum, where Maundy Thursday moves on to Good Friday and into Easter Vigil and then Easter Sunday.
We can imagine the physical state of the priests on Easter Sunday evening, almost like a state of spiritual comatose. It was a long week with a busy weekend.
There is this so-called Easter joke, of a boy who came home after a long day at school. He told his mother that he has a stomach ache.
His mother told him, “That’s because there is nothing in your stomach. You’ve got to put something in it.” And she quickly prepared some food which he ate and he felt better.
On Easter Sunday, the boy went with his parents for the evening Mass. After Mass, they met the priest at the entrance. The priest shared with them that it was a long and tiring weekend and that he was having a headache.
Then the boy remembered what his mother told him and he said to the priest, “Father, you are having a headache because there is nothing in your head. You need to put something into your head.”
Stomach ache or headache or backache, if it’s not serious, can be cured and we can get better quickly if there is the correct medicine.
But there are some pains that are difficult to cure. It is not so much a physical pain like a headache or stomachache, but rather spiritual, like a heartache.
Heartaches are difficult to cure because there is no medication for it, and what is needed is not so much a cure but more of a healing.
It can be said that the disciples in the gospel were suffering heartaches from a number of causes. There was guilt from betraying and denying and deserting Jesus, there was the fear of the Jews, their faith was broken and the future was just blank hopelessness.
It was a heartache that no medicine can cure because it was more than a physical pain – it was a spiritual pain that required a spiritual healing.
It was in this state of utter despair that the Risen Lord Jesus came and stood among them, and His first words were “Peace be with you”.
And that was what the disciples needed most. Jesus came not to settle scores but to sooth the sore and painful hearts that were broken with guilt and pain.
And Jesus even came back again eight days later just for Thomas, who had said, “Unless I see the holes that the nails made in His hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into His side, I refuse to believe.”
We can understand how the disciples and especially Thomas felt. With a shattered faith and blank hopelessness, it was very difficult to believe, especially in something like the Resurrection.
Just a week ago, on Easter Sunday, when the whole Church was celebrating the joy of the Resurrection, terrorists attacked and bombed three churches and four luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, leaving more than 250 people dead.
One of the targets of the horrendous Easter Sunday bombings was St. Anthony’s Church, which is renowned as a place of worship open to all faiths. But the bombings have shut its doors for now. For the first time in its 175-year history, people can’t go into the church. In fact, all worship services have been suspended throughout Sri Lanka.
The church is fondly called a “miracle church” because her patron, St. Anthony, has a reputation of a “miracle worker”, and no prayer request, no matter how big or small or strangely specific, is left unanswered by St. Anthony, as the people would testify.
But on Monday, despite the church grounds being cordoned off and no one was allowed to enter the church, still a large crowd gathered around the perimeter, staring at the building, praying perhaps. Faith is shaken and broken, like the disciples in the gospel.
They have witnessed horrendous carnage and the loss of innocent lives. So will the horror erode the people’s faith in the power of God and of the Church?
Fr. Leo Perera, a Sri Lankan priest has this to say: You cannot keep people away from here just because of something like this. They will keep coming back because this is the time they need the presence of God in their lives. In no way this will affect the state of the Church and the faith of her believers.
Maybe this explains why many people still came together to stand in front of the church. Yes, they come to express sadness and horror at what took place at the church. Yet they came to express hope.
In the darkness of the hour, the church continues to be a symbol of hope, with many Sri Lankans choosing to stand together despite the terror and horror that have unfolded before their eyes.
And with the church closed and worship services suspended for the time being, the Risen Lord Jesus now goes out to stand amongst the people.
The Risen Lord Jesus stands among them to heal their heartaches and despair and to bring them peace.
We too must stand with the Church and the people of Sri Lanka and to offer prayer for them, since they can’t even go to church to pray.
And let us also learn from them and see how the Risen Lord Jesus will heal their heartaches with His peace.
Their heartaches are also a mirror of our own heartaches. Their healing will also give us hope that our own heartaches will be healed.
That is the power of the Risen Lord Jesus. His peace and His mercy is what is needed to heal our heartaches and the heartache of the world.
Saturday within Octave of Easter, 27-04-19
Acts 4:13-21 / Mark 16:9-15
Faith is a gift from God. It is not something we can earn or acquire by our own efforts or resources.
But how God grants this gift of faith and in what measure is somewhat a mystery.
A person can read the whole Bible and the profound theological books and listen to the most persuasive preacher and yet do not have faith.
On the other hand a person can just come across an ordinary mundane experience and yet be converted, as in the case of St. Augustine and St. Ignatius of Loyola.
In the 1st reading, ordinary uneducated laymen like Peter and John were preaching about the resurrection of Christ.
There was even proof of what they were saying in the person of the healed cripple.
Yet the elders and the scribes somehow did not believe them.
In the gospel, Mary Magdalene went to tell the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead.
But they refused to believe her. (Well, it can be very difficult to believe that a person can rise from the dead).
The main phrase that runs through the readings is "did not believe".
The gospel even mentioned that Jesus reproached His disciples for their incredulity and obstinacy for their refusal to believe in His resurrection.
As for ourselves, regardless of whether we have inherited the faith because of our parents or came to believe in the faith in our adult years, the challenge for us is to grow and deepen in our faith.
If faith is a gift from God, then we must treasure and nourish this gift with prayer and devotion.
We also must persist in our faith. That is one profound way of proclaiming our trust and faith in God.
Faith is a gift from God. It is not something we can earn or acquire by our own efforts or resources.
But how God grants this gift of faith and in what measure is somewhat a mystery.
A person can read the whole Bible and the profound theological books and listen to the most persuasive preacher and yet do not have faith.
On the other hand a person can just come across an ordinary mundane experience and yet be converted, as in the case of St. Augustine and St. Ignatius of Loyola.
In the 1st reading, ordinary uneducated laymen like Peter and John were preaching about the resurrection of Christ.
There was even proof of what they were saying in the person of the healed cripple.
Yet the elders and the scribes somehow did not believe them.
In the gospel, Mary Magdalene went to tell the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead.
But they refused to believe her. (Well, it can be very difficult to believe that a person can rise from the dead).
The main phrase that runs through the readings is "did not believe".
The gospel even mentioned that Jesus reproached His disciples for their incredulity and obstinacy for their refusal to believe in His resurrection.
As for ourselves, regardless of whether we have inherited the faith because of our parents or came to believe in the faith in our adult years, the challenge for us is to grow and deepen in our faith.
If faith is a gift from God, then we must treasure and nourish this gift with prayer and devotion.
We also must persist in our faith. That is one profound way of proclaiming our trust and faith in God.
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Friday within Octave of Easter, 26-04-19
Acts 4:1-12 / John 21:1-14
The last chapter of the Gospel of John is chapter 21, and today's gospel passage is taken from that chapter.
And this passage recalls many occasions for reminiscing.
When Peter said he wanted to go fishing, probably he wanted to recall how his life had turned out since the time he left his fisherman trade to follow Jesus.
And then there was the miraculous catch of the 153 fish; another reminder for Peter of that occasion, at the same lake, when he witnessed a miraculous catch of fish under the similar circumstances.
And then the sight of the charcoal fire. It was while standing before another charcoal fire that he denied knowing Jesus.
And then the bread and fish - it certainly reminded him of the miraculous feeding of the thousands.
It was in the midst of all this recollection and reminiscing that Jesus asked Peter the question "Do you love me?"
How else could Peter answer?
And when Jesus asked him to feed His sheep, how could he reject?
And when it came for him to lay down his life for Jesus, how could he not do it willingly?
Because when it comes to Chapter 21 of the Gospel of John, Peter knew that Jesus is the only one who can save us.
It was a conviction which he declared in the 1st reading.
We too will come to a Chapter 21 of our lives.
And as we recall and reminisce what God has done for us in our lives, may we also say, like Peter, that we love Jesus, and may we proclaim His as Saviour.
The last chapter of the Gospel of John is chapter 21, and today's gospel passage is taken from that chapter.
And this passage recalls many occasions for reminiscing.
When Peter said he wanted to go fishing, probably he wanted to recall how his life had turned out since the time he left his fisherman trade to follow Jesus.
And then there was the miraculous catch of the 153 fish; another reminder for Peter of that occasion, at the same lake, when he witnessed a miraculous catch of fish under the similar circumstances.
And then the sight of the charcoal fire. It was while standing before another charcoal fire that he denied knowing Jesus.
And then the bread and fish - it certainly reminded him of the miraculous feeding of the thousands.
It was in the midst of all this recollection and reminiscing that Jesus asked Peter the question "Do you love me?"
How else could Peter answer?
And when Jesus asked him to feed His sheep, how could he reject?
And when it came for him to lay down his life for Jesus, how could he not do it willingly?
Because when it comes to Chapter 21 of the Gospel of John, Peter knew that Jesus is the only one who can save us.
It was a conviction which he declared in the 1st reading.
We too will come to a Chapter 21 of our lives.
And as we recall and reminisce what God has done for us in our lives, may we also say, like Peter, that we love Jesus, and may we proclaim His as Saviour.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Thursday within Octave of Easter, 25-04-19
Acts 3:11-26 / Luke 24:35-48
Today's readings underscore three interwoven aspects of our lives as Christians.
Firstly, there is the reality of the resurrection.
Jesus had to say quite a bit to convince His disciples of the reality of His resurrection - Touch me, I have flesh and bones. I am not a ghost. Yes, I am risen. And I can even eat fish.
Secondly, there is the necessity of the cross. The Christ would have to suffer and die and then rise from the dead.
And thirdly, there is this urgency to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins.
However in life, that order somehow becomes a little different.
Firstly, we must feel the urgency for repentance of our sins, whether it is because of grave illness or some close shaves in life.
We must long for that freedom to be forgiven and to forgive others too.
But that urgency and longing can only come about when we face the cross.
Because the cross challenges us to turn away from sin, to empty out our selfishness and to pour out our lives for others.
There is no other way to experience the reality of the resurrection except through the way of the cross.
So whenever we choose the cross, we choose what is now, and that is the life of freedom, and we also choose what is beyond, and that is the life of the resurrection.
Today's readings underscore three interwoven aspects of our lives as Christians.
Firstly, there is the reality of the resurrection.
Jesus had to say quite a bit to convince His disciples of the reality of His resurrection - Touch me, I have flesh and bones. I am not a ghost. Yes, I am risen. And I can even eat fish.
Secondly, there is the necessity of the cross. The Christ would have to suffer and die and then rise from the dead.
And thirdly, there is this urgency to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins.
However in life, that order somehow becomes a little different.
Firstly, we must feel the urgency for repentance of our sins, whether it is because of grave illness or some close shaves in life.
We must long for that freedom to be forgiven and to forgive others too.
But that urgency and longing can only come about when we face the cross.
Because the cross challenges us to turn away from sin, to empty out our selfishness and to pour out our lives for others.
There is no other way to experience the reality of the resurrection except through the way of the cross.
So whenever we choose the cross, we choose what is now, and that is the life of freedom, and we also choose what is beyond, and that is the life of the resurrection.
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