All Saints, Tuesday, 01-11-2022

Apocalypse 7:2-4, 9-14 / 1 John 3:1-3 / Matthew 5:1-12    

We come to Church to worship God and to offer our prayers to Him. 

In doing so, we also received blessings from God. 

A blessing is a wonderful and amazing gift from God, because it is a sign of His love for us. 

When our prayers and needs are answered, we know that it is because God loves us. 

In receiving God's blessings, we are called to share God's blessings with others by being a blessing for others. 

As we celebrate the Feast of All Saints, we celebrate those who received blessings from God and lived out God's blessings in this world. 

Now that they are in Heaven, these Saints become God's blessings for us as they pray for us. 

We also ask these Saints to pray for us. So we will pray to our patron Saints and other Saints who have inspired us. 

Through the prayers of these Saints, we receive God's blessings so that we are able to live the life that God is calling us to. 

And we know that God's blessings are lifting us up when we count our blessings instead of complaining about our troubles. 

It is God's blessings that soften our hearts to be gentle and humble. 

It is God's blessings that empower us to work for reconciliation and to be peacemakers where there are resentment and bitterness. 

And it is God’s blessings that protect us for evil and danger.

As Jesus teaches us about the Beatitudes in the gospel (Beatitudes means blessings), we see that the Saints are God's blessings in action. 

May the Saints pray for God's blessings to be upon us, so that we too will be God's blessings in action for others and for the world.

31st Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 31-10-2022

Philippians 2:1-4 / Luke 14:12-14

One of the ways to motivate people is to entice them with rewards.

Organizations use that strategy, companies use it, society uses it and even the family would use it.

This idea of rewards springs from the fact that we usually ask ourselves before we embark on a task: What is in it for me? What am I going to gain from it?

At the back of our minds, we are already thinking of the possible reward, the kind of returns, the expected gains and the tangible as well as intangible benefits.

Yet all that points to our self-centeredness and our ego, our pride and our desires that are connected to it.

And that is what the 1st reading as well as the gospel is addressing.

St. Paul urged the Philippians that if their life in Christ meant anything to them, then they would be united in heart and mind, and there will be no competition and conceit.

Also nobody will think of his own interests first but everybody will think of other people's interest instead.

In the gospel, Jesus went further against the grain of human behaviour by teaching the way of total giving without even thinking of getting anything in return.

The point is that all we do should be for God and before God. After all whatever we do and whatever we give is not ours but given to us by God in the first place.

So if all that we do is for the glory of God, then we won't be looking for rewards and returns. Then we will truly feel the joy in doing whatever we do and giving in whatever we give because we know we do it for God and before God.

31st Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 30.10.2022

Wisdom 11:22 – 12:2 / Thess 1:11 – 2:2 / Luke 19:1-10

There is one thing that young children like to do, and that is to climb. 

From the moment they start crawling around, they will also begin to look for things to climb. 

So, when they see a flight of steps they will go and climb it. And it is not just steps. They will also climb things like chairs, low tables, sofas, beds and whatever catches their interest. 

And they will also want to climb as high as they can, regardless of whether they can come down after that or not. 

We may be amused by the climbing abilities of the young children, but it is not that funny anymore when they climb onto windows and even climb out of it. 

But this instinct and ability to climb is not just during childhood. It continues into adulthood. 

Adults also like to climb but it is not a flight of steps or chairs or tables or sofas anymore. 

Adults like to climb ladders, but it is not the ladders that we are thinking of. Adults climb the career-ladder, the ambition-ladder, the status-ladder, the power-ladder, the wealth-ladder. 

And with each rung of those kind of ladders, they step harder and deeper into selfishness, into greed, into desires, and into other things like pride and jealousy. 

The climb is always up and higher, and as it is said, the higher you climb, the harder you fall. 

In the gospel, we hear of the senior and wealthy tax collector Zacchaeus who heard of Jesus and was anxious to see what kind of man He was. 

But Zacchaeus was short and he couldn't get through the crowd, so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree. 

Instinctively, he knew he needed the advantage and climbing up a sycamore tree would make him higher than the rest. 

But when Jesus came along, He stopped and looked up and said to him: Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today. 

Obviously, Zacchaeus would be surprised, but he obeyed and came down from the tree and welcomed Jesus joyfully. 

To come down can be seen as an act of humility. To come down is to give up the advantage over others. To come down is to let go of wanting to be at the top and to be with the rest. 

And Jesus said to Zacchaeus: Today, salvation has come to this house. 

And Jesus also said that He came to seek out and save what was lost. 

To be lost is like a kite that has been detached from the string. The kite will fly and even float higher with the wind, but eventually it will come crashing down. 

The human instinct is to climb and to be higher, to be better and to be faster than the rest. But like a kite that is detached from the string, we will lose our grounding, and go along with the ways of the world. 

Jesus calls out to us to come down, and to be grounded in His ways of truth, of life and of love. 

Yes, Jesus calls out to us to seek us out, so that we won't be lost but will walk in the ways of salvation. 

The 1st reading says this about God: Little by little, therefore, You correct those who offend, You admonish and remind them of how they have sinned, so that they may abstain from evil and trust in You. 

We don't want to come crashing down from the ladders of our ways and the ways of the world. 

Jesus will help us to come down slowly, little by little, and He holds us by the hand to help us along. 

There is no need to keep climbing the ladders of self-achievement. 

We just have to climb down to seek divine salvation and Jesus will be there to welcome us.

30th Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 29-10-2022

Philippians 1:18-26 / Luke 14:1, 7-11       

If we had the choice to be who we want to be, and to do what we want to do, what would be our choice.

Certainly, we would want to have a free and easy life, no stress, be healthy and maybe even wealthy.

But whatever we wish or dream about would be quite unlikely to be a reality.

The reality in life would be challenges and difficulties.

In the 1st reading, St. Paul reflected on life and it was not about what or how he wished his life had turned out.

Rather he was looking at what is in the present and what is ahead.

As much as he wants to be gone and be united with Christ, but he also knew that his life is a more urgent need in the service of Christ for the Christian community.

St. Paul teaches us to surrender our lives in humility to Christ so that we will be happy and be at peace.

May we humbly accept the reality of life, which is the reality of the Cross, and we will live life happily.

Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles, Friday, 28-10-2022

Ephesians 2:19-22 / Luke 6:12-19     

Not much is known about the two saints whose feast we celebrate today.

Simon was called the Zealot probably because of his zeal for the Jewish independence before he was called by Jesus.

Jude or Thaddeus is the author of the letter in the New Testament in which he warned Christian converts against false teaching and immorality.

He is also venerated as the patron of "impossible cases"

Traditional sources had it that both of them were together in their missionary work in Persia and they were martyred.

Both of them also tell us something about the people Jesus chose to be His disciples.

Both of them, as well as the rest of the apostles, were insignificant people from insignificant backgrounds.

But both of them had  a purpose in God's plan of salvation.

Both of them became zealous for Christ and for the Kingdom and they also became channels of God's grace for those who were seeking God's love and forgiveness, or when they seek God's help when their problems in life seemed hopeless or impossible even.

We may think that we are insignificant persons and hence we think we have no purpose in God's plan of salvation.

But let us ask for the prayers of St. Simon and St. Jude that we will discover our purpose in life and also our purpose in God's plan of salvation.

We may be insignificant but it does not mean that we are impossible or hopeless. Because with God, everything and everyone is possible and a hopeful case.

30th Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 27-10-2022

Ephesians 6:10-20 / Luke 13:31-35       

Human beings have a body and a soul. 

But often, the body part of the human being is the main focus.

Hence, it is the physical dimension like the build, the looks, the impression that is the topic of discussion.

But the soul, or the spiritual dimension, of the human being could be neglected but it is an equally important if not more important aspect of the human being.

The 1st reading highlights the spiritual dimension of the human being when St. Paul urges us to grow strong in the Lord, with the strength of His power, so as to be able to resist the devil’s tactics.

He also reminds us that it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle but against the spiritual army of evil.

St. Paul urges us to pray all the time, asking for what we need, and praying in the Spirit on every possible occasion.

When we pay attention to the spiritual dimension of our lives, then our physical dimension will also be formed in the ways of God.

We will want to be buckled with truth, strengthened with integrity, protected with faith and armed with the Word of God.

Then we will be truly human, and walking towards salvation and living for the glory of God.

30th Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 26-10-2022

Ephesians 6:1-9 / Luke 13:22-30    

Learning is a life-long process, and everyday we acquire new knowledge about ourselves and about the world around us.

As much as there are numerous resources available, there is also the need to discern the basis of what is presented.

From the teachings of Jesus, what is presented to us is the narrow door of life.

That may tell us that there are no short-cuts or easy-going roads or wide-open doors.

The lessons of life are learnt through the Cross of Christ, which shows us the way of life.

When the 1st reading talks about the parent and children relationship, it goes back to the Commandment where it is stated that children are to honour and respect their parents.

But it also balances that by telling the parents not to drive their children to resentment, but to bring the children up by correcting them and guiding them as the Lord does.

In all that, we are learning and in the knowledge that we are acquiring, let us always remember to see if the foundation is on the teachings of the Bible and on Gospel values.

God grants His wisdom to those who follow the way of the Cross and try to enter into life by the narrow door.