Micah 5:1-4 or Roman 8:28-30 / Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23
Whenever we think of birthday cakes, we would think of a cake with lighted candles, or at least one candle, and the person celebrating the birthday would make a wish and then blow off the candles.
The meaning of lighted candles placed on the cake is to symbolize the "light of life" and to celebrate that person's life.
As with the blowing off the candles, many ancient cultures believed that smoke carried their prayers to
the heavens. Today’s tradition of making wishes before blowing out the birthday candles may have started with that belief.
Today as we join the Church to celebrate the birth of Our Lady, there may be no birthday cakes to cut or candles to blow off.
But the purpose of celebrating Mary's birthday is essentially to thank God for fulfilling the promise of salvation through her.
As the prophet Micah says in the prophecy "The Lord is therefore going to abandon them till the time when she who is to give birth gives birth. Then the remnant of his brothers will come back to the sons of Israel".
Also the angel of the Lord in the gospel of Matthew has this to say to Joseph: Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.
So as we honour Mary and give thanks to God for the gift of Jesus through her, we offer ourselves to Mary like lighted candles on a birthday cake because she has given us Jesus, the Light of Life.
And may the smoke of our prayers also rise up to God with the prayers of Mary as we heed her call to us to do whatever Jesus tells us and pray and work for the salvation of all peoples.
Friday, September 7, 2018
Thursday, September 6, 2018
22nd Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 07-09-18
1 Cor 4: 1-5 / Luke 5:33-39
We like to have new things. It feels good to be the first owner of something new, and as it is said "A new broom sweeps clean".
But as with all things new, we need to also get used to it. A new phone needs to be customized. A pair of new shoes needs to "break in" before it can be comfortable. New clothes need to be washed and worn before we can get used to it.
In other words, new things need to get "seasoned" before they become part of us and then we won't want to part with them.
As we might know for ourselves, some of us have got new shirts in the cupboard, but we still keep wearing the same few shirts until they are thread-bare and we still don't want to change them. (It happens more with men than with women. With women it is always not enough dresses to change!)
Yes, when we get used to things, we will use them season in and season out, until we are so "seasoned" with them.
But in the gospel parable, Jesus said that nobody puts new wine into old wineskins. Because when the new wine was initially put into the new skins, the fermentation process would have "seasoned" the skins, and they can't be used again to put in new wine. So it is always new wine into new skins.
So when new challenges come our way, we also need to have new ways to handle them so that there will be a renewal in ourselves, a renewal of mind and heart.
Yet we can be so used and "seasoned" in our old ways that we tend to think that what worked in the past should work now, and we don't think of new ways to meet new challenges.
It often happens with the way parents handle their children. Children grow up and change fast, but the parents may still be using outdated ways of handling their children, and hence the generation gap grows wider.
As we come for the First Friday Mass and Devotion to the Sacred Heart, Jesus wants to renew our hearts so that we will be like new wineskins ready for the new wine.
It could be that we are praying for a particular intention and our prayer doesn't seem to get anywhere.
Then it is time to change and to ask Jesus to renew our hearts so that we will be open to the promptings of a new direction so that we can see that Jesus is answering our prayer.
Yes, let us pray for a renewal of our hearts so that Jesus can pour the new sweet wine into our lives.
We like to have new things. It feels good to be the first owner of something new, and as it is said "A new broom sweeps clean".
But as with all things new, we need to also get used to it. A new phone needs to be customized. A pair of new shoes needs to "break in" before it can be comfortable. New clothes need to be washed and worn before we can get used to it.
In other words, new things need to get "seasoned" before they become part of us and then we won't want to part with them.
As we might know for ourselves, some of us have got new shirts in the cupboard, but we still keep wearing the same few shirts until they are thread-bare and we still don't want to change them. (It happens more with men than with women. With women it is always not enough dresses to change!)
Yes, when we get used to things, we will use them season in and season out, until we are so "seasoned" with them.
But in the gospel parable, Jesus said that nobody puts new wine into old wineskins. Because when the new wine was initially put into the new skins, the fermentation process would have "seasoned" the skins, and they can't be used again to put in new wine. So it is always new wine into new skins.
So when new challenges come our way, we also need to have new ways to handle them so that there will be a renewal in ourselves, a renewal of mind and heart.
Yet we can be so used and "seasoned" in our old ways that we tend to think that what worked in the past should work now, and we don't think of new ways to meet new challenges.
It often happens with the way parents handle their children. Children grow up and change fast, but the parents may still be using outdated ways of handling their children, and hence the generation gap grows wider.
As we come for the First Friday Mass and Devotion to the Sacred Heart, Jesus wants to renew our hearts so that we will be like new wineskins ready for the new wine.
It could be that we are praying for a particular intention and our prayer doesn't seem to get anywhere.
Then it is time to change and to ask Jesus to renew our hearts so that we will be open to the promptings of a new direction so that we can see that Jesus is answering our prayer.
Yes, let us pray for a renewal of our hearts so that Jesus can pour the new sweet wine into our lives.
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
22nd Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 06-09-18
1 Cor 3:18-23 / Luke 5:1-11
It is not that easy to always do what you are told. From our childhood days, whenever we are told to do something, especially something we don't really like, we have a tendency to question and to argue.
More so when we think we know what is right, then all the more we wouldn't want others to tell us what to do. And it would be also more likely that we would be telling others what to do.
In the gospel, Peter faced a situation of a carpenter-preacher telling him, a professional fisherman, where to fish.
There is a tinge of protest when Peter said they had worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But he was also submissive enough to do what Jesus told him to.
Peter was open enough to do as Jesus instructed maybe because he had earlier heard Jesus preaching from his boat.
There was something spiritual in what Jesus said that echoed in the depths of his being that he decided to do what Jesus told him. And it was a decision that led to a revelation.
For Peter it was a revelation of divine wisdom, and that was proven by the great catch of fish.
And as the 1st reading tells us, if we think we are wise in the ordinary sense of the word, then we would probably have missed the moments of revelation of divine wisdom.
Even though we may be competent enough to know what we are doing, let us also be like Peter and to be open to what Jesus wants to reveal to us.
Wisdom is to know that we don't know everything, and that many a times our ways are not God's ways. May we be humble enough to keep learning what Jesus is teaching us.
It is not that easy to always do what you are told. From our childhood days, whenever we are told to do something, especially something we don't really like, we have a tendency to question and to argue.
More so when we think we know what is right, then all the more we wouldn't want others to tell us what to do. And it would be also more likely that we would be telling others what to do.
In the gospel, Peter faced a situation of a carpenter-preacher telling him, a professional fisherman, where to fish.
There is a tinge of protest when Peter said they had worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But he was also submissive enough to do what Jesus told him to.
Peter was open enough to do as Jesus instructed maybe because he had earlier heard Jesus preaching from his boat.
There was something spiritual in what Jesus said that echoed in the depths of his being that he decided to do what Jesus told him. And it was a decision that led to a revelation.
For Peter it was a revelation of divine wisdom, and that was proven by the great catch of fish.
And as the 1st reading tells us, if we think we are wise in the ordinary sense of the word, then we would probably have missed the moments of revelation of divine wisdom.
Even though we may be competent enough to know what we are doing, let us also be like Peter and to be open to what Jesus wants to reveal to us.
Wisdom is to know that we don't know everything, and that many a times our ways are not God's ways. May we be humble enough to keep learning what Jesus is teaching us.
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
22nd Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 05-09-18
1 Cor 3:1-9 / Luke 4:38-44
If others were to give an honest opinion of us as Christians, would they say that we are different from non-Christians?
Or would they say that we are no different from non-Christians, and maybe at times behave in a lesser way than them!
In the 1st reading, St. Paul would not accept that Christians in Corinth were behaving like non-Christians and even regressing into behaviours like jealousy and wrangling.
They were even dividing themselves into unspiritual clans with slogans like "I am for Paul" and "I am for Apollos".
Obviously they had forgotten the teaching and example of Jesus of which we saw in the gospel.
Jesus loved and cared for the people by teaching them and healing the sick and He restored the spiritual dimension in the lives of the people.
In fact, He Himself highlighted how important the spiritual aspect is when He would go to a lonely place early in the day to pray.
People saw how different Jesus was and what an extraordinary life He lived.
They saw the spiritual dimension in His life and they experienced God's presence in Him.
Jesus showed us how to live life. We cannot live it any lesser.
If others were to give an honest opinion of us as Christians, would they say that we are different from non-Christians?
Or would they say that we are no different from non-Christians, and maybe at times behave in a lesser way than them!
In the 1st reading, St. Paul would not accept that Christians in Corinth were behaving like non-Christians and even regressing into behaviours like jealousy and wrangling.
They were even dividing themselves into unspiritual clans with slogans like "I am for Paul" and "I am for Apollos".
Obviously they had forgotten the teaching and example of Jesus of which we saw in the gospel.
Jesus loved and cared for the people by teaching them and healing the sick and He restored the spiritual dimension in the lives of the people.
In fact, He Himself highlighted how important the spiritual aspect is when He would go to a lonely place early in the day to pray.
People saw how different Jesus was and what an extraordinary life He lived.
They saw the spiritual dimension in His life and they experienced God's presence in Him.
Jesus showed us how to live life. We cannot live it any lesser.
Monday, September 3, 2018
22nd Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 04-09-18
1 Cor 2:10-16 / Luke 4:31-37
Whenever deliverance or exorcism is mentioned, we may think of something dramatic happening, much like what we see in the movies.
We may think of images of the possessed person shouting and other weird things happening.
We probably got these impressions from what we read in the gospels about how Jesus cast off devils and evil spirits.
One such instance is in today's gospel when the evil spirit that possessed the man shouted at Jesus.
But Jesus said sharply, "Be quiet! Come out of him." And the evil spirit came out of the man without hurting him at all.
We may not have seen such things happening, especially in church. We don't expect such things to happen in church of all places.
But that doesn't mean that there are no evil spirits around. But if Jesus gave the Church the authority and the power to cast out evil, then how is it happening?
In a less dramatic way, but certainly in no less a powerful way, we see it happening in the Confessional.
People who have heard the Word of God and have opened their hearts to the cleansing and healing Word, will realise the sin and the evil in their hearts.
They go for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and there Jesus cleanses and casts out the evil in their hearts, and they are healed and forgiven.
Let us also listen to the Word of God and open our hearts to the Word. And when we realise the sin and the evil in our hearts let us go for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
There we will be cleansed and forgiven. That is the power of the Word of God, and that is also the power and the authority that Jesus has given to His Church.
Whenever deliverance or exorcism is mentioned, we may think of something dramatic happening, much like what we see in the movies.
We may think of images of the possessed person shouting and other weird things happening.
We probably got these impressions from what we read in the gospels about how Jesus cast off devils and evil spirits.
One such instance is in today's gospel when the evil spirit that possessed the man shouted at Jesus.
But Jesus said sharply, "Be quiet! Come out of him." And the evil spirit came out of the man without hurting him at all.
We may not have seen such things happening, especially in church. We don't expect such things to happen in church of all places.
But that doesn't mean that there are no evil spirits around. But if Jesus gave the Church the authority and the power to cast out evil, then how is it happening?
In a less dramatic way, but certainly in no less a powerful way, we see it happening in the Confessional.
People who have heard the Word of God and have opened their hearts to the cleansing and healing Word, will realise the sin and the evil in their hearts.
They go for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and there Jesus cleanses and casts out the evil in their hearts, and they are healed and forgiven.
Let us also listen to the Word of God and open our hearts to the Word. And when we realise the sin and the evil in our hearts let us go for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
There we will be cleansed and forgiven. That is the power of the Word of God, and that is also the power and the authority that Jesus has given to His Church.
22nd Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 03-09-18
1 Cor 2:1-5 / Luke 4:16-30
One of the primary tasks of the priest is to preach the Word of God. Preaching the homily at Mass is his duty and he is obligated to prepare for it.
Yet the task of preaching is indeed challenging because the people of God thirst for the Word to be made flesh in their lives. They yearn to experience scriptural teachings translating in their everyday life.
So priests and preachers will understand what St. Paul meant when he said : I came among you in great fear and trembling in the speeches and sermons that I gave.
But he also quickly added that none of his preaching belonged to philosophy.
Rather it is a demonstration of the power of the Spirit.
It was with the power of the Spirit that Jesus went back to Nazareth, and at the synagogue, He read the passage from the prophet Isaiah.
And the people were astonished by the gracious words that came from His lips.
But it is so easy to let human thinking as well as criticism come into the way of the Word of God.
As we could see it from the gospel, the people started to make a judgment about Him and subsequently rejected Him.
Human beings may be endowed with knowledge and intelligence, but we must also remember that God's ways are not man's ways.
The book of the prophet Isaiah has this passage (Isa 55:8-9) : My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
May our minds and hearts be opened to God's revelation as He speaks to us through His Word.
May our faith be not dependent on human philosophy but on the power of God.
One of the primary tasks of the priest is to preach the Word of God. Preaching the homily at Mass is his duty and he is obligated to prepare for it.
Yet the task of preaching is indeed challenging because the people of God thirst for the Word to be made flesh in their lives. They yearn to experience scriptural teachings translating in their everyday life.
So priests and preachers will understand what St. Paul meant when he said : I came among you in great fear and trembling in the speeches and sermons that I gave.
But he also quickly added that none of his preaching belonged to philosophy.
Rather it is a demonstration of the power of the Spirit.
It was with the power of the Spirit that Jesus went back to Nazareth, and at the synagogue, He read the passage from the prophet Isaiah.
And the people were astonished by the gracious words that came from His lips.
But it is so easy to let human thinking as well as criticism come into the way of the Word of God.
As we could see it from the gospel, the people started to make a judgment about Him and subsequently rejected Him.
Human beings may be endowed with knowledge and intelligence, but we must also remember that God's ways are not man's ways.
The book of the prophet Isaiah has this passage (Isa 55:8-9) : My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
May our minds and hearts be opened to God's revelation as He speaks to us through His Word.
May our faith be not dependent on human philosophy but on the power of God.
Saturday, September 1, 2018
22nd Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 02.09.2018
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8 / James 1:17-18, 21-22, 27 / Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
As we begin the month of September, we also begin a time when temperatures start to rise. We may think that the weather is already hot enough, so is it going to be hotter, or what?
But we are not talking about the weather. We are talking about a “fever” – the exam fever.
In fact it has already begun. The PSLE Oral exams are just over; the written exams will start at the end of September. The Sec 4s just finished their prelims and the “N” levels and “O” levels are the next big thing that is coming up.
And across the board, the students are preparing for their year-end exams. So the fever is going to rage.
And just as fever is usually felt around the head, exam fever is also felt around the head. Exams are about the measurement and grading of the memory and the academic ability. It is about how good the head can perform when subjected to exams.
So it can be said that the purpose of exams is to grade the students on their academic abilities with the objective of making them clever and smart.
And that is because the world rewards those with high academic qualifications. The world rewards those who are clever and smart.
And we need to have a head that is clever and smart if we want to make it in life and succeed in this world.
So for those who don’t have much in their heads, they will have to make up for it by working hard with their hands. One way or another, we will have to express who we are and what we can do with either head knowledge or hard work.
In the gospel, there seems to be some argument over the head and the hands. The Pharisees and the scribes who have a head filled with the knowledge of the Law and the religious traditions, questioned Jesus as to why His disciples do not respect the traditions of the elders and eat their food with unclean hands, i.e. hands that were washed in ritualistic way.
But Jesus moved the question of the state of the hands to the state of the heart, as He quoted from the passage of the prophet Isaiah: “This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless”.
In effect Jesus is telling the Pharisees and the scribes that they may be clever and smart when it comes to the Law and the traditions.
But what about their hearts and what about the worship that they offer to God?
In this world, whether it is in the area of education or business, it is about how clever we are and how smart we are. It is all about the head.
But Jesus turns our attention to our hearts. Are our hearts with God, or are they far from God? So it is not just about clean hands; it is about clean hearts.
Well, talking about clean hands, we know that there is a life-sized statue of Jesus the Sacred Heart at entrance of the church. It is quite a unique statue.
The hands of that statue are stretched downwards, and within our reach, if we are tall enough. If not we can still touch the feet of that statue.
There have been comments about the hands and feet of that statue, especially the hands. Some have commented that the paint on the hands are worn out and looks “dirty”, so why not repaint the hands at least.
Yes, people touch those hands of the statue of Jesus, and hence the paint gets worn out and it does look a bit soiled, though we clean those hands every day.
Those soiled hands may not look that pretty, but there is a teaching point in them. Jesus is like reaching out to us and asking us to touch His hands and to give Him all that is unclean in our hearts.
And Jesus tells us what are the things that are lurking in our hearts: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly.
Yes, all these evil things come from within and make our hearts unclean.
We have at least one or more of those sins. Jesus is asking us to touch His hands and to give it to Him. He came to take away our iniquities and to carry our diseases.
Jesus came to cleanse us, to heal us and to make our hearts like His. Let us look at His Heart and let us ask Him to make our hearts clean, to heal our hearts of sin, so that we can offer God a pure and worthy sacrifice.
As we begin the month of September, we also begin a time when temperatures start to rise. We may think that the weather is already hot enough, so is it going to be hotter, or what?
But we are not talking about the weather. We are talking about a “fever” – the exam fever.
In fact it has already begun. The PSLE Oral exams are just over; the written exams will start at the end of September. The Sec 4s just finished their prelims and the “N” levels and “O” levels are the next big thing that is coming up.
And across the board, the students are preparing for their year-end exams. So the fever is going to rage.
And just as fever is usually felt around the head, exam fever is also felt around the head. Exams are about the measurement and grading of the memory and the academic ability. It is about how good the head can perform when subjected to exams.
So it can be said that the purpose of exams is to grade the students on their academic abilities with the objective of making them clever and smart.
And that is because the world rewards those with high academic qualifications. The world rewards those who are clever and smart.
And we need to have a head that is clever and smart if we want to make it in life and succeed in this world.
So for those who don’t have much in their heads, they will have to make up for it by working hard with their hands. One way or another, we will have to express who we are and what we can do with either head knowledge or hard work.
In the gospel, there seems to be some argument over the head and the hands. The Pharisees and the scribes who have a head filled with the knowledge of the Law and the religious traditions, questioned Jesus as to why His disciples do not respect the traditions of the elders and eat their food with unclean hands, i.e. hands that were washed in ritualistic way.
But Jesus moved the question of the state of the hands to the state of the heart, as He quoted from the passage of the prophet Isaiah: “This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless”.
In effect Jesus is telling the Pharisees and the scribes that they may be clever and smart when it comes to the Law and the traditions.
But what about their hearts and what about the worship that they offer to God?
In this world, whether it is in the area of education or business, it is about how clever we are and how smart we are. It is all about the head.
But Jesus turns our attention to our hearts. Are our hearts with God, or are they far from God? So it is not just about clean hands; it is about clean hearts.
Well, talking about clean hands, we know that there is a life-sized statue of Jesus the Sacred Heart at entrance of the church. It is quite a unique statue.
The hands of that statue are stretched downwards, and within our reach, if we are tall enough. If not we can still touch the feet of that statue.
There have been comments about the hands and feet of that statue, especially the hands. Some have commented that the paint on the hands are worn out and looks “dirty”, so why not repaint the hands at least.
Yes, people touch those hands of the statue of Jesus, and hence the paint gets worn out and it does look a bit soiled, though we clean those hands every day.
Those soiled hands may not look that pretty, but there is a teaching point in them. Jesus is like reaching out to us and asking us to touch His hands and to give Him all that is unclean in our hearts.
And Jesus tells us what are the things that are lurking in our hearts: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly.
Yes, all these evil things come from within and make our hearts unclean.
We have at least one or more of those sins. Jesus is asking us to touch His hands and to give it to Him. He came to take away our iniquities and to carry our diseases.
Jesus came to cleanse us, to heal us and to make our hearts like His. Let us look at His Heart and let us ask Him to make our hearts clean, to heal our hearts of sin, so that we can offer God a pure and worthy sacrifice.
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