Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18 / Matthew 25:31-46
It was said that the Great Wall of China was the only man-made structure that can been seen from the moon.
Whether it is true or not, the fact is that the Great Wall is a massive and impressive structure.
It was built to keep out the enemy and so it was built to be impregnable.
Yet it was breached, and many times too, simply because of traitors and betrayers; in other words, it was a case of the enemy within.
The enemy brewed from within not because of big crises but rather from small issues like welfare, honesty, integrity and respect.
Those might seem to be like small issues but they can become powerful enough that even the Great Wall cannot stop them.
Jesus also talked about paying attention to the small issues of the Christian life, issues like feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked and visiting those in prison.
Those are small issues that won't make the headlines but they are important to God.
In the 1st reading, God commands His people to be holy just as He is holy.
The expression of holiness is in paying attention to the small issues of life.
These small acts of love cannot be seen from the moon, or for that matter of fact, might seem even too trivial.
But they count in God's eyes, and they count for eternity.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Saturday, February 13, 2016
1st Sunday of Lent, Year C, 14.02.2016
Deuteronomy 24:4-10 / Romans 10:8-13 / Luke 4:1-13
It can be said that everyone has two eyes but no one has the same view.
The fact is that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
This can be said of how Valentine’s Day came about, since today is the day and it’s good to know something about it.
The Catholic Church recognises at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
One story has it that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he saw marriage as an obstacle and so he outlawed marriage for young men.
Valentine saw the injustice of the decree, and he defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.
When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
That’s one account of how Valentine’s Day came about. So it was about two men who had two different views about love and marriage.
One view withstood the test of time and sensibility, while the other faded off into absurdity. It’s not just two different views, but also two opposing and contradictory views.
By and large, it can be said that the world is made up of two sorts of people – those who love and create, and those who hate and destroy.
Putting it simply, we can say that the world is made up of good and bad people.
As in the case of St. Valentine and the emperor Claudius, the bad will try to put down the good, as the good tries to stand for what is right and just.
We see this again in the gospel account of the temptation of Jesus.
In his attempts to tempt Jesus, the devil takes on the ultimate spiritual battle of trying to destroy Jesus and the good that He stood for.
The devil tried to fool Jesus to believe in what isn’t true. But Jesus turned the temptation into a teaching of what is true.
As for us, we are presented with these two opposing views and we have to decide which to believe and follow.
There is a story of a famous writer was in his study room. He picked up his pen and started writing:
“Last year, I had a surgery and my gallbladder was removed. I had to stay stuck to the bed due to this surgery for a long time.
The same year I reached the age of 60 years and had to give up my favourite job.
I had spent 30 years of my life in this publishing company.
The same year I experienced the sorrow of the death of my father.
And in the same year my son failed in his medical exam because he had a car accident. He had to stay in bed at hospital with the cast on for several days. The destruction of car was another loss.
At the end he wrote: Alas! It was such bad year!! ”
When the writer's wife entered the room, she found her husband looking sad and lost in his thoughts. From behind his back she read what was written on the paper. She left the room silently and came back with another paper and placed it on the side of her husband's writing.
When the writer saw this paper, he found this written on it:
“Last year I finally got rid of my gall bladder due to which I had spent years in pain.
I turned 60 with sound health and got retired from my job. Now I can utilize my time to write something better with more focus and peace.
The same year my father, at the age of 95, without depending on anyone or without any critical medical condition went peacefully to meet his Creator.
The same year, God blessed my son with a new life. My car was destroyed but my son stayed alive without getting any disability.
At the end she wrote: This year was an immense blessing of God and it passed well!! ”
The incidents are the same but the viewpoints are different. What point of view we take is certainly our choice.
Certainly, we should fear temptations, but then again, fear can have two meanings.
F-E-A-R can mean Forget-Everything-And-Run. Or it can also mean Face-Everything-And-Rise.
It’s for us to decide and choose.
Jesus faced His temptations and rose with the truth.
May we also face our temptations and realize that we do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
May we worship the Lord our God and serve Him alone.
May that be our choice and our decision.
It can be said that everyone has two eyes but no one has the same view.
The fact is that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
This can be said of how Valentine’s Day came about, since today is the day and it’s good to know something about it.
The Catholic Church recognises at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
One story has it that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he saw marriage as an obstacle and so he outlawed marriage for young men.
Valentine saw the injustice of the decree, and he defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.
When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
That’s one account of how Valentine’s Day came about. So it was about two men who had two different views about love and marriage.
One view withstood the test of time and sensibility, while the other faded off into absurdity. It’s not just two different views, but also two opposing and contradictory views.
By and large, it can be said that the world is made up of two sorts of people – those who love and create, and those who hate and destroy.
Putting it simply, we can say that the world is made up of good and bad people.
As in the case of St. Valentine and the emperor Claudius, the bad will try to put down the good, as the good tries to stand for what is right and just.
We see this again in the gospel account of the temptation of Jesus.
In his attempts to tempt Jesus, the devil takes on the ultimate spiritual battle of trying to destroy Jesus and the good that He stood for.
The devil tried to fool Jesus to believe in what isn’t true. But Jesus turned the temptation into a teaching of what is true.
As for us, we are presented with these two opposing views and we have to decide which to believe and follow.
There is a story of a famous writer was in his study room. He picked up his pen and started writing:
“Last year, I had a surgery and my gallbladder was removed. I had to stay stuck to the bed due to this surgery for a long time.
The same year I reached the age of 60 years and had to give up my favourite job.
I had spent 30 years of my life in this publishing company.
The same year I experienced the sorrow of the death of my father.
And in the same year my son failed in his medical exam because he had a car accident. He had to stay in bed at hospital with the cast on for several days. The destruction of car was another loss.
At the end he wrote: Alas! It was such bad year!! ”
When the writer's wife entered the room, she found her husband looking sad and lost in his thoughts. From behind his back she read what was written on the paper. She left the room silently and came back with another paper and placed it on the side of her husband's writing.
When the writer saw this paper, he found this written on it:
“Last year I finally got rid of my gall bladder due to which I had spent years in pain.
I turned 60 with sound health and got retired from my job. Now I can utilize my time to write something better with more focus and peace.
The same year my father, at the age of 95, without depending on anyone or without any critical medical condition went peacefully to meet his Creator.
The same year, God blessed my son with a new life. My car was destroyed but my son stayed alive without getting any disability.
At the end she wrote: This year was an immense blessing of God and it passed well!! ”
The incidents are the same but the viewpoints are different. What point of view we take is certainly our choice.
Certainly, we should fear temptations, but then again, fear can have two meanings.
F-E-A-R can mean Forget-Everything-And-Run. Or it can also mean Face-Everything-And-Rise.
It’s for us to decide and choose.
Jesus faced His temptations and rose with the truth.
May we also face our temptations and realize that we do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
May we worship the Lord our God and serve Him alone.
May that be our choice and our decision.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Saturday after Ash Wednesday, 13-02-16
Isaiah 58:9-14 / Luke 5:27-32
It is said that nothing is too difficult to achieve as long as we persevere and persist in it.
So whether it is some kind of physical training to excel in a sport, or practising on a skill, or trouble-shooting and finding a solution to a problem, what is needed is perseverance and persistence.
The way to go about it is certainly not impossible or rocket-science but what is needed will be conviction and commitment.
In the 1st reading, what the Lord is telling His people is certainly something that is not beyond their reach or impossible to achieve.
It is the very basics of being human - doing away with the yoke, the clenched fist, the wicked word, giving bread to the hungry, relief to the oppressed.
In return, what they will receive from the Lord is immeasurable - they will be like a watered garden, a spring of water, called "Breach-mender" and "Restorer of ruined houses".
In the gospel, Jesus called Levi to follow Him. It was not certainly not that impossible or too difficult to understand what Jesus meant by that.
But it would take a conviction and commitment on the part of Levi. And what he got in return was an unbounded joy that made him give a great reception in honour of Jesus.
In the season of Lent, we are called to practise the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
That is not too difficult or impossible. But we must have the conviction and commitment. And what we will receive from the Lord would be a joy that is so unbounded that like Levi we will also do all for the glory of God.
It is said that nothing is too difficult to achieve as long as we persevere and persist in it.
So whether it is some kind of physical training to excel in a sport, or practising on a skill, or trouble-shooting and finding a solution to a problem, what is needed is perseverance and persistence.
The way to go about it is certainly not impossible or rocket-science but what is needed will be conviction and commitment.
In the 1st reading, what the Lord is telling His people is certainly something that is not beyond their reach or impossible to achieve.
It is the very basics of being human - doing away with the yoke, the clenched fist, the wicked word, giving bread to the hungry, relief to the oppressed.
In return, what they will receive from the Lord is immeasurable - they will be like a watered garden, a spring of water, called "Breach-mender" and "Restorer of ruined houses".
In the gospel, Jesus called Levi to follow Him. It was not certainly not that impossible or too difficult to understand what Jesus meant by that.
But it would take a conviction and commitment on the part of Levi. And what he got in return was an unbounded joy that made him give a great reception in honour of Jesus.
In the season of Lent, we are called to practise the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
That is not too difficult or impossible. But we must have the conviction and commitment. And what we will receive from the Lord would be a joy that is so unbounded that like Levi we will also do all for the glory of God.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Friday after Ash Wednesday, 12-02-16
Isaiah 58:1-9 / Matthew 9:14-15
Whenever we embark on a task, especially a task that we are not that keen about, there may be a tendency for us to look for benefits or rewards in order to motivate us.
We may ask this question: what do I gain from it?
So even a spiritual discipline like fasting can be manipulated.
The prophet Isaiah tells of people who ask God such questions like: Why should we fast if You never see it, why do penance if You never notice.
Let us remember that spiritual disciplines like fasting or alms-giving or even prayer is not meant to attract God's attention and gain spiritual points.
In the case of fasting, it is a spiritual discipline, a physical form of prayer, that helps us to come to a greater awareness of God in our lives and also to have a hunger for God.
Fasting helps us see clearly what is really important and necessary in our lives.
Fasting is a good spiritual discipline that leads us into a deeper relationship with God.
When we are in a deep relationship with God, we will know what to fast from.
We are to fast from sin, because it creeps so easily into our lives and clings tenaciously onto us.
Sin destroys our relationship with God. Fasting is a spiritual means to restore that relationship.
Prayer together with fasting are powerful spiritual disciplines that makes us aware that God is always telling us "I am here".
Whenever we embark on a task, especially a task that we are not that keen about, there may be a tendency for us to look for benefits or rewards in order to motivate us.
We may ask this question: what do I gain from it?
So even a spiritual discipline like fasting can be manipulated.
The prophet Isaiah tells of people who ask God such questions like: Why should we fast if You never see it, why do penance if You never notice.
Let us remember that spiritual disciplines like fasting or alms-giving or even prayer is not meant to attract God's attention and gain spiritual points.
In the case of fasting, it is a spiritual discipline, a physical form of prayer, that helps us to come to a greater awareness of God in our lives and also to have a hunger for God.
Fasting helps us see clearly what is really important and necessary in our lives.
Fasting is a good spiritual discipline that leads us into a deeper relationship with God.
When we are in a deep relationship with God, we will know what to fast from.
We are to fast from sin, because it creeps so easily into our lives and clings tenaciously onto us.
Sin destroys our relationship with God. Fasting is a spiritual means to restore that relationship.
Prayer together with fasting are powerful spiritual disciplines that makes us aware that God is always telling us "I am here".
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Thursday after Ash Wednesday, 11-02-16
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 / Luke 9:22-25
We may know about the novel titled "Frankenstein" and may even have read it.
It is about this monster that Dr. Frankenstein created, although the monster had been mistakenly called Frankenstein.
It is not so much a horror story but rather a tragic story.
Because this creature-monster also had feelings and self-awareness to some extent.
It was that ability to think and feel and reflect that made it more an object of pity rather than of fear and disgust.
We too, can think and feel and reflect. And we also can choose.
That is what makes us uniquely human - our ability to choose; our freedom of choice.
In the 1st reading, Moses asked his people to exercise properly this freedom of choice - a choice for life or death, a choice for God or for sin and destruction.
In the gospel, Jesus stated clearly His choice - He chose the cross.
In turn, Jesus now asks each of us: What is your choice?
Do we want to follow Jesus and hence choose the cross?
That is the fundamental question that stands between us and Jesus.
Moses urged his people: choose life.
Ironically, it is in choosing the cross that we choose life.
To choose otherwise will only make us monsters.
We may know about the novel titled "Frankenstein" and may even have read it.
It is about this monster that Dr. Frankenstein created, although the monster had been mistakenly called Frankenstein.
It is not so much a horror story but rather a tragic story.
Because this creature-monster also had feelings and self-awareness to some extent.
It was that ability to think and feel and reflect that made it more an object of pity rather than of fear and disgust.
We too, can think and feel and reflect. And we also can choose.
That is what makes us uniquely human - our ability to choose; our freedom of choice.
In the 1st reading, Moses asked his people to exercise properly this freedom of choice - a choice for life or death, a choice for God or for sin and destruction.
In the gospel, Jesus stated clearly His choice - He chose the cross.
In turn, Jesus now asks each of us: What is your choice?
Do we want to follow Jesus and hence choose the cross?
That is the fundamental question that stands between us and Jesus.
Moses urged his people: choose life.
Ironically, it is in choosing the cross that we choose life.
To choose otherwise will only make us monsters.
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Ash Wednesday, 10-02-16
Joel 2:12-18 / 2 Cor 5:20 - 6:2 / Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
Today as the Church begins the season of Lent with fasting and abstinence, the Church also includes in the liturgy a rather unique substance.
This substance makes its appearance only once a year and it is on this particular day, and this particular day of the Church year is even named after it.
Yes, we are talking about ashes, a substance that is quite alien to the usual materials that is associated with the liturgy.
But it is only today that it makes its appearance and it is also used in a particular way that has its origins that dates back to the Old Testament.
Ashes smeared on the head and other parts of the body, or sitting in the midst of ashes was a sign of penance and repentance.
In today's Mass, the ashes will be imposed on the forehead with these words: "Repent and believe in the Gospel". The other formula is: "Remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return".
The ashes that are used in today's Mass were obtained by burning the palm branches that were used in last year's Palm Sunday Mass.
As we look at the ashes, a thought or two may surface in our minds. Ashes makes us realize two realities in the cycle of life.
What has happened to the ashes is irreversible as well as irrevocable. We cannot reverse the process, we cannot change it back to what it was before, it cannot be recovered to its former state.
Yes, what has happened to the ashes is irreversible as well as irrevocable.
Ashes are used in today's liturgy, on the 1st day of Lent, to help us realize, in a very experiential way, that the season of Lent is a call to repentance and conversion.
Ashes are also used to help us realize our mortality and eventual finality. Yes, we will eventually turn to dust, for we are dust and unto dust we shall return.
And as Jesus tells us in today's gospel, for all the material rewards of this world, all will eventually crumble and turn to dust.
We are reminded of this as the ashes are imposed on our foreheads.
But a deeper realization is that there is an eternal reward that only God can give.
When we realize that all will turn to ashes, that all things will pass, that our existence is like a passing wind and fades like a shadow, we must then turn to God and surrender the ashes of our lives in penance and repentance.
And it is in God and only in God that we will rise from ashes, we rise from the good we failed to do. It is in God and only in God that we see our world as ashes but our lives must be true.
May the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting and alms-giving help us to rise from ashes and to a new life that will give glory to God.
Today as the Church begins the season of Lent with fasting and abstinence, the Church also includes in the liturgy a rather unique substance.
This substance makes its appearance only once a year and it is on this particular day, and this particular day of the Church year is even named after it.
Yes, we are talking about ashes, a substance that is quite alien to the usual materials that is associated with the liturgy.
But it is only today that it makes its appearance and it is also used in a particular way that has its origins that dates back to the Old Testament.
Ashes smeared on the head and other parts of the body, or sitting in the midst of ashes was a sign of penance and repentance.
In today's Mass, the ashes will be imposed on the forehead with these words: "Repent and believe in the Gospel". The other formula is: "Remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return".
The ashes that are used in today's Mass were obtained by burning the palm branches that were used in last year's Palm Sunday Mass.
As we look at the ashes, a thought or two may surface in our minds. Ashes makes us realize two realities in the cycle of life.
What has happened to the ashes is irreversible as well as irrevocable. We cannot reverse the process, we cannot change it back to what it was before, it cannot be recovered to its former state.
Yes, what has happened to the ashes is irreversible as well as irrevocable.
Ashes are used in today's liturgy, on the 1st day of Lent, to help us realize, in a very experiential way, that the season of Lent is a call to repentance and conversion.
Ashes are also used to help us realize our mortality and eventual finality. Yes, we will eventually turn to dust, for we are dust and unto dust we shall return.
And as Jesus tells us in today's gospel, for all the material rewards of this world, all will eventually crumble and turn to dust.
We are reminded of this as the ashes are imposed on our foreheads.
But a deeper realization is that there is an eternal reward that only God can give.
When we realize that all will turn to ashes, that all things will pass, that our existence is like a passing wind and fades like a shadow, we must then turn to God and surrender the ashes of our lives in penance and repentance.
And it is in God and only in God that we will rise from ashes, we rise from the good we failed to do. It is in God and only in God that we see our world as ashes but our lives must be true.
May the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting and alms-giving help us to rise from ashes and to a new life that will give glory to God.
Monday, February 8, 2016
5th Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 09-02-16
1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30 / Mark 7:1-13
An atheist is defined as a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.
In other words, an atheist is one who does not believe in the existence of God.
A story goes that an atheist asked a Christian this: Show me where God is and I will give u a hundred dollars.
The Christian replied : Show me where He is not, and I will give you a million dollars.
Well, the atheist and the believer can argue all day long but for King Solomon in the 1st reading, the question of the existence of God is beyond argument.
For him, the existence and the presence of God is so enormous that even the heavens cannot contain God, much less the magnificent Temple that he has built.
So the presence of God is everywhere, and His commandments are valid anytime.
But human beings have this ability to manipulate God's commandments to serve their own vested interests.
In the gospel, Jesus gave a few examples of how human traditions can make God's commandments look small and restrictive.
Hence, we too need to reflect and examine our own practices and traditions.
Our practices and traditions should not make people frown and belittle our faith.
Rather, our faith practices and religious customs and traditions should show others that we truly believe that God is present everywhere and loving us all the time.
An atheist is defined as a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.
In other words, an atheist is one who does not believe in the existence of God.
A story goes that an atheist asked a Christian this: Show me where God is and I will give u a hundred dollars.
The Christian replied : Show me where He is not, and I will give you a million dollars.
Well, the atheist and the believer can argue all day long but for King Solomon in the 1st reading, the question of the existence of God is beyond argument.
For him, the existence and the presence of God is so enormous that even the heavens cannot contain God, much less the magnificent Temple that he has built.
So the presence of God is everywhere, and His commandments are valid anytime.
But human beings have this ability to manipulate God's commandments to serve their own vested interests.
In the gospel, Jesus gave a few examples of how human traditions can make God's commandments look small and restrictive.
Hence, we too need to reflect and examine our own practices and traditions.
Our practices and traditions should not make people frown and belittle our faith.
Rather, our faith practices and religious customs and traditions should show others that we truly believe that God is present everywhere and loving us all the time.
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