3rd Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 01-02-2025

Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 / Mark 4:325-41  

If we like to drink coffee or tea, then we know that something is needed for a good cup of coffee or tea.

Especially when the coffee or tea comes in a bag, then we know that we need hot water; better still is freshly boiled water.

The longer the coffee or tea bag stays in that hot water, the better the aroma and the taste.

In a way, faith is like a coffee or a tea bag.

We will not know how strong our faith until we are in hot water.

For the disciples in the gospel passage, their faith was tested in stormy waters, and they were frightened.

In the 1st reading, the faith of Abraham, Sarah, Issac and Jacob was tested in murky waters.

They had to believe in God’s promises and lived by faith.

But as the 1st reading says: Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen.

So, it can be said that to be in hot water is a blessing.

Then our faith will give out that strong aroma that will deepen our trust in God, and also be an inspiration for others.

3rd Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 31-01-2025

Hebrews 10:32-39 / Mark 4:26-34  

At times, in order to describe realities, it may be helpful to use examples or analogies or metaphors.

That may be because no amount of words would give an adequate or comprehensive description.

More so for abstract realities like heaven or the afterlife, there can be no precise description.

In the gospel, when Jesus preached about the kingdom of God, He used daily life examples so that the listeners were capable of understanding it.

These examples would also help us to comprehend some aspects of what the kingdom of God, especially in terms of seeds and growth.

So, words can help to give some understanding to the reality, but words cannot fully describe the reality.

Even when we try to describe what life is about, words can be used to form images and recall experiences.

The 1st reading describes the challenges of the Christian life.

It uses words like suffering, insults, violence to give an image of what to really expect for being a faithful and true Christian.

But it also encourages us to be confident that the reward is truly great.

And we will also need endurance to do God’s will and gain what God has promised us.

So in order to attain the reward of God’s promise, let us keep growing the seed of faith that is planted in us by Jesus.

Let us look beyond the things of this earth, to God’s reward waiting for us above.

3rd Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 30-01-2025

Hebrews 10:19-25 / Mark 4:21-25  

Coming for Mass regularly will certainly strengthen the faith.

We come for Mass to offer worship and thanks to God, as well as our needs and petitions.

But coming for Mass weekly, or even daily, can become routine.

And in the spiritual sense, routine can be an erosion of reverence.

The 1st reading brings us back into the deep mystery that we encounter at Mass.

It says that through the blood of Jesus, we have the right to enter the sanctuary by a new way which He has opened for us.

It is a living opening, and as we enter into the church, we enter into the living Body of Jesus, who is the high priest in the House of God.

The 1st reading urges us that as we enter, let us be sincere in heart and be filled with faith, our minds cleansed and free from impurity.

As we reflect on what the 1st reading said, Jesus tells us to take notice of what we are hearing.

What we get out of the Mass depends on what we bring to the Mass.

When we come for Mass with humility, we will be blessed with charity.

And that charity will be expressed in concern for others, and we will respond with love and good works. 

Indeed, the Mass is a celebration of the deep mystery of God’s love for us.

May we also go forth to celebrate that love with others.

Chinese New Year, Wednesday, 29-01-2025

Numbers 6:22-27 / James 4:13-15 / Matthew 6:31-34   

In the celebration of the Chinese New Year, there are many forms of decorations and many symbols are also used.

So there are lanterns and frills, banners with New Year greetings of peace, joy and prosperity.

The most prominent colour of these decorations and symbols is none other than the colour red; not just red, but very red.

And these red-coloured decorations and symbols are not just on the walls and ceilings.

They come right down into our hands in the form of “ang pows”.

But the colour red is not just a Chinese New Year colour, or a colour for Chinese New Year decorations and symbols.

For the Church, the colour red also symbolizes the sacrifice of Jesus.

The colour red symbolizes the blood of Jesus that is poured out on the Cross for our salvation.

And that sacrifice of Jesus brought about abundant blessings for us.

And we will be receiving God’s blessings in the form of mandarin oranges.

The oranges are golden in colour to symbolize the royal blessings from the King of kings.

The sweetness of the fruit symbolize the deep and gracious love of God for us.

So with such abundant blessings of love, let us not worry too much about what to eat, or what to drink, or what to wear. 

Let us not worry too much about life or about the future.

God blesses us and loves us. Let us be a blessing for others by sharing God’s love with them as we celebrate this festival.

3rd Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 28-01-2025

Hebrews 10:1-10 / Mark 3:31-35   

Sometimes religion can be thought of as some kind of barter trade between the deity and the devotee.

Religious rituals and sacrifices are performed in order to gain some kind of favours from the deity.

So someone may have gained a sum of ill-gotten money and to offset the guilt, he makes a donation to a religious institution in order to ease his conscience.

Or he may perform some religious rituals in order to ask for favours and to be granted what he desires.

Yet, we read in 1 Samuel 15:22 that the prophet Samuel told king Saul this, "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."

So what God is asking of us, over and above everything else, is our obedience to Him. With that, our religious rituals and sacrifices will fall into place and find their meaning in our faith.

And this is reiterated in the 1st reading when it said that God wanted no sacrifice or oblation or holocaust but that we do His will.

And in the gospel, Jesus would tell His disciples that whoever does the will of God is His brother and sister and mother.

So as we pray to God for our needs and intentions, let us also remember that God's will must also be done.

Obedience to God's will will give us peace of heart and mind. And that is what we really want.

3rd Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 27-01-2025

Hebrews 9:15, 24-28 / Mark 3:22-30

When we come for Mass, we come to worship God and to give thanks.

We also pray for God’s blessings, for guidance and for protection.

We also offer to God our needs and petitions.

We go through a set of rituals to express contrition and to ask for forgiveness.

We listen to Word of God, and unite ourselves with Christ in His sacrifice on the Cross.

But the Mass is not a re-enactment of the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary.

As the 1st reading says, Jesus Christ does not have to offer Himself again and again.

He offers Himself only once to take the faults of many on Himself.

And He enters not a man-made sanctuary but of heaven itself, so that He could appear in the actual presence of God on our behalf.

This may be beyond human comprehension, but the fact is that when we come for Mass, we enter into a deep and profound mystery.

It is a divine mystery that reveals and keep revealing itself to us.

And it is by faith that we enter into this mystery, and we can only give thanks to God for letting us participate in this mystery of His great love for us.

That is why the Mass is also called the Eucharist. Eucharist means thanksgiving.

Let us always give thanks, and with that we will also enter deeper into the mystery of God’s love for us.

3rd Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 26.01.2025

Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10 / 1 Cor 12:12-30 / Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21

It has been announced that the usage of cheques for monetary transactions will come to an end soon. 

So, with the era of cheques coming to an end, phrases like “my first pay-cheque” will also become archaic and obsolete. 

But for those of us who had the experience of receiving our first pay-cheque, we may remember how thrilled we were then. 

It was a symbol of our first achievement in the working world. 

It was a symbol of our independence and our abilities. 

And we may remember what we did with our first pay-cheque. 

We may have given half the amount to our parents as a gesture of gratitude. Or we may have given a treat to our family and friends. 

Whatever it might be, that piece of paper with writing on it says a lot and meant a lot to us. 

As we move to electronic banking, we will surely miss receiving cheques, because that means money coming in. 

On the other hand, we won't miss writing cheques, because that means money going out. 

And with the “go green” campaign and going paperless, there are also lesser and lesser hard copies of printed matter. 

But we also do not deny that there is a realistic feel about hard copies like books and notes. 

We can touch it, feel it, read it in black and white, and we are able to relate to it with almost all our senses. 

In the gospel, Jesus came to Nazareth, and He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. 

He stood up to read, and was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. 

He opened the scroll and found the passage that began with: The spirit of the Lord was given to me for he has anointed me. 

That passage talked about bringing good news to the poor, liberty to captives, to the blind new sight, setting the downtrodden free, and to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour. 

When He had finished, Jesus rolled up the scroll and sat down, and all eyes were fixed on Him. 

Then He said to them: This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen. 

And every Mass, we listen to the readings from the Scriptures. As we listen, was there any word or phrase or image that came to our minds? 

Today, the Church celebrates “Word of God” Sunday. God speaks to us through His Word in the Scriptures. There is something that is to be fulfilled today as we listen. 

There is a story of a young boy, Tommy, who was very intelligent, but also very naughty and disruptive in class. 

One day, Tommy came to class early and saw his teacher scribbling something on a piece of paper, and he asked her what she was writing. 

The teacher replied: I'm writing a prayer for you. Tommy tried to look at the prayer, but he couldn't read it as it was written in shorthand (a system of fast writing that uses lines and simple signs to represent words and phrases). 

Then another student came into the class and talked to the teacher. While the teacher was not looking, Tommy took that prayer slip and put it into his exercise book. And then he forgot about it. 

Many years later, Tommy became a very successful businessman, but he had been resorting to some dishonest means. 

One day, while he was clearing his storeroom, he flipped through his old exercise book and that prayer slip of many years ago slipped out. 

He was surprised, but also intrigued by what was written in it but he could not read it as it was in shorthand. 

So, next morning, he asked his secretary to translate it for him. The secretary read it, and blushed, and said that she will type it out and put it on his desk. 

The translated note came in an envelope, and Tommy took it out and read that prayer that his teacher wrote. It went like this:

Lord, Tommy is a very intelligent boy, but he is very disruptive in class and very naughty. Please guide him as he grows up so that he won't do anything wrong in the future. 

Tommy was stunned by what his teacher wrote, because he was about to close a deal in which he would receive a very fat pay-cheque, but it was by a very dishonest means. 

That prayer note woke him up and he stopped the deal. 

It can be said that God had fulfilled that prayer of Tommy’s teacher. 

If prayer notes can change lives, then God's Word can move mountains and change hearts. 

So, let us listen attentively to God's Word, and may it awaken us to do what God wants of us today.