The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Monday, 08-12-2025

Genesis3:9-15, 20 / Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 / Luke 1:26-38  

To be able to succeed in any task or mission, there must be adequate preparation.

The bigger the task or the mission, the more detailed will be the preparation.

In the 1st reading, Adam and Eve were tempted and they fell into sin.

From that moment, sin entered into humanity and it is called “original sin”.

But God did not allow sin to destroy His creation and so He made preparations to save the human race.

And this mission of salvation would involve human beings.

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin.

It is because God freed her from the stain of original sin that Mary was able to say “yes” to the mission of salvation.

And it is through her that God became man in Jesus Christ.

Reflecting of the God’s plan of salvation, we will realise that it is because of God’s great love for us.

Let us like Mary, say “yes” to God’s love and to the salvation that Jesus won for us on the Cross.

May we do God’s will and may we also love as God loves us.

2nd Sunday of Advent, Year A, 07.12.2025

Isaiah 11:1-10 / Romans 15:4-9 / Matthew 3:1-12

It is said that life is like a toilet paper roll. As it comes closer to the end, it runs out faster and faster. 

The same can be said about time. We are already one week into December, and in less than three weeks’ time, it will be Christmas. 

It seems that as we come to the last month of the year, time is really rolling and flying. 

Time is not only rolling and flying, there are also many things happening. 

People are going off for holidays, schedules are changed here in there. Christmas decorations must be put up quickly at home, in the office and also in church. 

Of course, when it comes to Christmas decorations, the must-have item is the Nativity Scene, because that is what Christmas is about. 

Then the rest are things like the Christmas tree, fairy lights, Santa Claus and reindeers and whatever. 

But no Christmas decoration would ever have a figure or a picture of John the Baptist. 

Anyway, why should John the Baptist appear in the Nativity Scene or in any Christmas decorations. 

With that kind of attire, and that kind of diet, John the Baptist is just so out of place in this festive season. 

But on this 2nd Sunday of Advent, the gospel brings in John the Baptist. 

He preached in the wilderness of Judaea, and this was his message: Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is close at hand. 

His message is straight and direct, and the prophet Isaiah spoke of him as a voice crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.” 

His message was also accompanied by a baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

But John the Baptist had tough words for those who take repentance and the baptism lightly. 

John the Baptist says this: Even now, the axe is laid to the roots of the trees, so that any tree that fails to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire. 

Yes, tough words that are accompanied by an uncomfortable image of the axe at the roots. 

If John the Baptists were to come and take a look around, he might take that axe and cut down a few things. 

We like our Christmas decorations to be nice and pretty. 

But John the Baptist will remind us that this is still the season of Advent, and he will take down those things that will distract us from the spirit of preparation and repentance. 

And going down to the root of the matter, John the Baptist wants us to remember this:

Our lives are rooted in Jesus Christ, and when we are rooted in Christ, then we will bear fruits for Christ. 

But along the way, our roots have gone to look for the waters of worldly pleasure and sensual desires. 

Slowly we begin to drink in the contaminated waters of addiction to porn and immorality, and living by the ways of the world. 

We slowly forget about the clean waters of our baptism, and walking in the straight ways of the Lord.

John the Baptist wants to give us an Advent present, and that present is an axe.

With that axe, we need to look at the roots of our lives that have gone the wrong way. 

Let us start by looking at those roots that have made us produce bad and rotten fruits. 

Let us get down to looking at the behaviours and the attitudes of our lives. 

Behaviours and attitudes like: jumping to conclusion, passing the buck, throwing our weight around, making mountains out of molehills, blowing our own trumpet, adding fuel to fire, pushing the blame. 

Let us cut off all the crooked and twisted attitudes and behaviours of our lives. 

Then the roots of our lives will thirst for the living water of Jesus Christ, and we will bear fruits of love for Jesus and for others. 

Then we will learn how to swallow our pride, , walk away from gossips and bickering, speak the truth, pick up the pieces of our disappointments and frustrations and giving them to Jesus, take responsibility, live with honesty and sincerity.

When we are rooted in Jesus Christ, we will see the straight path and walk towards Jesus Christ, from this Advent to Christmas, and always. 

1st Week of Advent, Saturday, 06-12-2025

Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26 / Matthew 9:35 - 10:1, 6-8  

The question of the connection between illness and sin is an age-old question.

Despite being a long-standing question, there is no obvious answer to it.

On the one hand, those who commit wickedness will pay for their sins by being afflicted with illness or disease.

But on the other hand, in the face of innocent suffering, what explanation can there be.

In the gospel, Jesus summoned His twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness.

It is the love of God for all peoples that is the foundation of the ministry of Jesus and the mission of the disciples.

So for sinners, God’s love reaches out to them that they may come to their senses and repent and be healed of the affliction of their sins.

For the innocent, God’s love comes to strengthen them to bear witness to God even in the midst of suffering and illness.

Regardless of whether it is the sinner or the innocent, Jesus feels sorry for them because they are harassed and dejected by the sufferings and afflictions of life.

We pray for them that when they have experienced the healing love of God, they will become labourers of love in the Lord’s harvest.

1st Week of Advent, Friday, 05-12-2025

Isaiah 29:17-24 / Matthew 9:27-31   

We ask questions for various reasons.

One is to get an answer or a clarification.

Another is to see what is another person’s understanding and conviction.

In the gospel, Jesus asked the two blind men a simple question: Do you believe I can do this?

When the two blind men replied that they do, Jesus touched their eyes saying, “Your faith deserves it, so let this be done for you.”

That would also make us think about our faith in prayer.

When we pray for an intention or a need, do we believe that Jesus will answer our prayer?

Especially when we face the wickedness from evil-doers, and we pray desperately for help.

In the 1st reading, God says this: for tyrants shall be no more, and scoffers vanish, and all be destroyed who are disposed to do evil:

Those who gossip to incriminate others, those who try at the gate to trip the arbitrator, and get the upright man’s case dismissed for groundless reasons.

God will not let evil overcome us when we stay faithful to Him.

Let us believe that God will protect us from evil, and we will see the powerful justice of God.

1st Week of Advent, Thursday, 03-12-2025

Isaiah 26:1-6 / Matthew 7:21, 24-27   

In our modern fast-paced world, to have to wait is considered a waste of time or unproductive time.

So, the solution to waiting time is to have instant products and instant responses.

With that, the waiting time is reduced to seconds or minutes.

but when the waiting time is increased to hours, or days, or weeks, or months, then we will get flustered, frustrated and irritated.

But for the people of God in the Old Testament, they had waited and waited for the coming of the Messiah.

They had to dig deep into their hope that the promise of God to send the Messiah will be fulfilled.

So, the 1st reading urges the people to keep the hope alive with these words: Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord is an everlasting Rock.

Jesus is that everlasting Rock that came down from heaven to give us hope.

As we face the struggles and troubles of life, we pray and wait for God’s saving help.

When we build our faith in Jesus the Rock of our salvation, we will not wait in vain.

St. Francis Xavier, Patron of Missions and Missionaries, Wednesday, 03-12-2025

1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23 / Mark 16:15-20   

St. Francis Xavier, together with St. Therese, are the Patrons of the Missions and Missionaries.

But for St. Francis Xavier, to be priest was not his idea of what he wanted to be in life, much less a missionary.

He came from a noble family and he was studying at the University of Paris where he met St. Ignatius of Loyola.

St. Ignatius urged and pestered St. Francis Xavier to join him to answer the call to serve Jesus and to spread the Good News of salvation.

St. Francis Xavier finally relented, and with St. Ignatius and others, founded the Society of Jesus.

He went on as a missionary to the East, and converted thousands in India, the Malay Archipelago, and Japan.

He had intended to enter China but died before doing so.

Besides baptizing tens of thousands of people, he was known for adapting to local cultures and languages.

St. Francis Xavier’s mission was to spread Christianity, but he also focused on the well-being of the people he encountered.

Indeed, in every age and time, God calls men and women to serve Him in the mission of salvation, just like He called St. Francis Xavier.

Let us pray for those God has called that they will respond with faith and love.

Let us also ask for the prayers of St. Francis Xavier that we will also be willing to be God’s instruments in the mission of salvation.

1st Week of Advent, Tuesday, 02-12-2025

Isaiah 11:1-10 / Luke 10:21-24  

A cup that is already filled to the brim cannot be filled further.

Pouring anything into a cup that is already filled would be wasted.

So, the logical thing to do would be to empty the cup before anything else can be poured in.

Similarly, if we think we already know a lot, then we might not be that open to further knowledge.

Also, when it comes to the mysteries of God, we must remember that God’s ways are not our ways, and God’s thoughts are also not our thoughts.

Even if we are learned and clever, there are also many things about God that we do not know of and that we may not really understand.

And if we are truly learned and clever, then we would also be open to how God will reveal His ways to us.

Just as God reveals His ways to open-minded children, we also need to pray that we will have the mind of a child.

Then we may be able to understand what the 1st reading is saying.

The ways of God are peace and harmony, and those who are filled with the knowledge of God will believe in it.

May we be like little children, and may God grant us the wisdom to know that His ways are higher than our ways, and that His thoughts are deeper than our thoughts.