challenges

by

Tuesday, 4 March 2014 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Casimir (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Mark 10 : 28-31

Peter spoke up and said, “We have given up everything to follow You.”

Jesus answered, “Truly, there is no one who has left house, or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or children, or lands, for My sake and for the Gospel, who will not receive his reward. I say to you : even in the midst of persecution, he will receive a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands in the present time, and in the world to come eternal life.”

“Do pay attention : many who are now the first will be last, and the last, first.”

by

Saturday, 1 February 2014 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Mass of our Lady)

There is nothing to fear, brothers and sisters in Christ, if we have our anchor in the Lord. There is nothing to fear, if we put our trust in God and have Him as our support. That was what Jesus told His disciples, that if they had had faith in Him, a complete faith that is, then they would have no need to fear at all, for God is with them, and protecting them.

We fear because we do not put ourselves completely at the side of the Lord, and the worries and the concerns of this world still occupy part of our hearts and minds. And indeed, as what happened to King David of Israel in the first reading, in continuation to what we heard yesterday, is because of this lack of faith. Not lack of faith in the sense that there is no faith, but because that faith is not complete.

We have faith in God and profess it to Him, but we too are still peoples of this world, and therefore are prone to the corrupting influences of the devil through various means he utilises in this world. Lust, greed, anger, jealousy, hatred, pride, and many others as you can name it, these are the evil influences that remain in our hearts, and these may possess threat to us and our state of grace if we do not have strong and solid faith in God.

They are like those storm and gale winds that blow across the lake, when the disciples of Christ with the Lord were in the boat, shaking them and threatening to sink them. Those storm and gales brought fear in the hearts of men, and if they have no concrete and strong faith in God, they will be swept away. This is much like those who indulge themselves in the pleasures of the world, and failed to resist their corrupting influences.

That was what happened to David, the king of Israel. He was one of the most faithful servants of the Lord and dutifully followed the laws and commandments of God, but this did not mean that he was invulnerable to the same corruptions that threaten us. If anything, the example of David and what he did to Uriah and Bathsheba can be a good lesson for us, that power, influence, lust, greed, and many other worldly things can corrupt, even those who are faithful if we let our guard down, as David did.

From what David had done, we can learn that we all have been made God’s stewards in this world, and to each one of us had been entrusted a certain responsibility, with the power and authority we have been entrusted with. To David, who had been made king, great responsibilities had been placed upon him, and God know the faith that was in David, that he would be able to shoulder them.

But that did not make David to be immune from the same ailment that affects everyone who had been entrusted with power. With power often comes desire and greed, because power does corrupt our hearts and minds. We are also vulnerable to the same afflictions. Power and authority if not based on solid faith in God will open us to the influences of evil spirit, and we will fall into sin.

Nevertheless, as you know, after we fall, we should not continue to lie down in defeat on the ground. Instead, we should rise up again, and walk again in the way of the Lord. If we continue to linger in our fallen state and do not try to rise up again, and if we even prefer to linger in that darkness, then we are truly doomed. David made his mistakes and he erred before the Lord, but he made a conscious effort to repent from his sins and asked the Lord for His forgiveness.

We too should follow David’s example in seeking the Lord with all of his heart, be it in times of happiness, or sorrow, or in regret, as he had done after realising the depth of his sins of adultery and murder before God. And we should do so with genuine faith, and one that is strongly anchored in the Lord our God.

Trust in God and put our faith in Him, and we will certainly be safe. We will meet challenges and tribulations, like the disciples meeting the great storm and gale winds, but as long as the Lord was with them, they would not sink. The same therefore also apply to us, as if we put our complete faith in God, and anchor our lives in Him, then we should not worry, because we will be ever solid and strong against the forces of evil assailing us from all sides.

May the Lord continue to be with us and guide us, bless us with His presence, and affirm within us our faith. May He stand by us as we are being battered by the storm of our lives, that we may remain faithful in Him, and therefore receive in the end the reward for our faith. God bless us all. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 29 January 2014 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the parable of the sower, where the sower spread the seeds which fell on different kind of medium and ground, and thereafter bear different kinds of results. In this well known parable, the Lord compared the different effects of the medium has on the seeds, with the reality of humanity and their faith to the Lord.

The seeds spread by the sower is the seed of faith, that has been given to us by the Lord. Each and every one of us were created by God, and His Spirit is within us, and in each of us we have been given faith. We have also been given the seeds of love inside each of us, and we have the capacity of love, as the children of God. But this faith is dormant, and the love in us is also dormant.

Yes, faith must not be kept dormant in us, or it is indeed dead. Our faith must be backed up by love, that is actions of love. And therefore, love itself cannot be dormant, but we have to share it with others via our actions, and therefore, make that love bloom through our action as well. However, we often have to deal with our environment, that is our surroundings and the world in which we live in.

This world is filled with many good things, particularly that of temptations and the allures of material goods. It is easy for us to be influenced by them, and losing our compass towards the Lord. Using the same analogy, these challenges can be likened to the weed growths that threatened the growing crops in the field. And they are also likened to thorns that choked the life out of the growing seed, as explained by Jesus.

The way of the world is indeed easier to be followed than the way of the Lord. But while the way of the world apparently is easier and filled with goodness, but it ends in darkness and suffering, whereas the way of the Lord may appear to be difficult and ridden with challenges, but in the end is happiness and joy of living in the glory of the Lord. Yet, many of us prefer the shortcut and did not want to experience suffering and hence opted to follow the path of the devil.

This is what we should not do, brethren. It does not mean that our lives should be entirely filled with difficulties and challenges, neither does that mean that we cannot enjoy this life at all. What is more important is that, whatever the things we experience in life, and all the choices that we have to make in life, make it with the full conscience that we ought to obey the Lord and follow His ways in all the things we do.

When it is time that we receive much blessing and joy, then be happy and rejoice, and most importantly, do not forget to give thanks to the Lord who had given us that blessing. Do not be too engulfed by the joy either, that we forget about others who are not as fortunate as us. Instead, whatever joy we have within us, share it with one another, especially those who have none of that joy.

And when it is time of difficulty and challenges, let us endure them with grace and patience, and asking God to be with us and to guide us through those difficult times, much as what our holy saints and martyrs had done in the past, when the world rose up against them, even crying out for their lives. Do not fear, for God is always with us. Nobody can destroy us forever, for we have been marked to belong to God.

And that is why it is important for us to also have a deep faith in God, that is faith with strong foundations. Again I would like to stress that faith cannot be just mere lip service or on documents. Our faith must genuinely come from the heart, and not just that, but overflowing with love that pours out from our heart. Without good roots, then our faith will wither just like the seeds that wither on the rocky soil.

Faith substantiated with much love is what we need, and that is the recipe for the fertile growth of the seed that God had planted in each one of us. This faith must be real and concrete, with genuine love and care that we have for each and every one of our brothers and sisters in faith. And in that way, our faith will indeed bear much fruits, together with our love in us, and we will become blessed and bountiful with God’s blessing.

Let us remember always brethren, that we all have our obligations as those who had committed ourselves to the Lord and His ways. Each of us can contribute in our own ways, and fulfill the will of God, through faith that is vibrant, dynamic, and strong, and founded on love, genuine and pure, that we may be productive and fruitful in the eyes of God, and He who sees all, will reward us. God bless us all, always and forever. Amen.

by

Saturday, 7 December 2013 : 1st Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate mission and the fruits of the mission that Jesus Himself, our Lord, has commissioned the disciples to do. The Lord sent out His call to repentance and salvation to all the nations, and through His disciples, in the missions He gave them, He offered all peoples, literally all mankind, the opportunity to be saved and to be made whole again, through Christ.

He made salvation readily available to all the nations, and through His disciples as His mouthpiece and as His representatives in the world, He spread the seeds of faith, hope, and love in this world. And those seeds that they spread in this world grow tall and strong, despite oppositions and persecutions that faced the Lord and His followers. These seeds would either grow or wither, depending on how each individuals respond to the Lord and His actions.

Some of us readily responds to the seeds God has planted in us, and yet there are others who ignored these gifts or even outrightly rejected them. That is why, these seeds of faith, hope, and love, cannot be left alone to fend for its own. Most likely in that case, the seeds will not grow, or will grow and then wither. That is because we need to make sure that we are healthy in spirit if we are to receive the grace from the Lord.

We need guidance, and we need helpers. That is why Jesus commissioned His disciples, to go ahead of Him, proclaiming His coming and His teachings to the people. Firstly only to the people of Israel, which many of them listened to those words and teachings of Jesus, but they did not truly believe in Him. They abandoned Him when He was betrayed and put to death by the Jewish authorities.

Then, He sent the disciples to all the nations after His death and resurrection, and as a parting statement and mission before He ascended into heaven, He sent forth the disciples to proclaim the Good News to all nations, bringing the words about salvation to all the furthest ends of the earth. And this they did, faithfully, persevering through oppositions, oppressions, and rejections, until they met martyrdom at the end, as part of their mission.

The disciples appointed many successors, who were to continue the good works they had begun, continuing to spread the seeds of faith, hope, and love throughout the world. The world was a great, fertile ground, where those seeds may grow, grow aplenty and strong. But at the same time, great challenges also awaited in the midst of all the goodness and all the opportunities.

Firstly, as Jesus mentioned, that the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. These labourers are literally those who had given themselves in the service of the Lord, in spreading His Good News, following in the footsteps of the Apostles. They are today represented by our priests, bishops, our Pope and the Cardinals, all the religious priests and brothers, all missionaries, nuns, sisters, and all who devoted themselves to a life of dedication to God. Each of them devoted themselves as labourers and servants of the Lord in different ways and yet they laboured for the same purpose, that is to make disciples of all the nations as Jesus had commissioned His Apostles.

In the past, we have plenty of priests and many aspirants to the priesthood and religious life. Many people lined up to join the Seminary or religious life, in total and complete devotion to the Lord. Seminaries were full, and churches were full. Priests were in abundance, in great numbers, and even though demands of them continued to increase over time, there was no concern of shortage as we have now.

Today, our world is increasingly becoming more and more hostile to the faith, to the development of our faith, and to the dedicated life in God, in general. The temptations and challenges of this world has become greater, greater, and ever greater. The world offered increasingly more and more tempting options that lured people away from a life of devotion in God. After all, being someone who is affluent in the world offers much greater opportunities and easier life as compared to those who dedicated themselves as the labourers of the Lord, as the servants of the Good News, the missionaries, priests, and so on and so forth.

The call of the Lord for more people to come and serve Him and help Him in bringing the people of God together towards Him, as harvesters seeking the harvest awaiting harvest, increasingly becoming more and more subdued behind the screen of noise of the world. Life as a servant of God becomes more and more of a challenge, as in every corner, the servants of the Lord face numerous obstacles, be it opposition, rejection, temptation, or lack of inner self-discipline and self-control.

And then, in the end, we ourselves have often are to blame ourselves too, whenever we fail to do our part to help, or we may even hinder the process of salvation. That is because, the Lord also calls upon all of us to also play a part in the mission He had commissioned the Apostles for, that is to continue proclaiming the word of God in all the nations. We like to remain idle, and do not profess the Lord in our actions and words. Indeed, we often show things contrary to the teachings of the Lord in our behaviour, that in fact keep people away from truly believing in God.

After all, how can they believe if they see that we ourselves do not believe and do not put complete and pure faith in what we believe in? And today, we celebrate the feast of a great saint, one who did not make compromises about the faith, and one who truly act what he preached, and as a result, gained bountiful harvests for the Lord through the salvation of many souls of the people of God.

Today is the feast of St. Ambrose, the well-known Bishop of Milan in the fourth century after the birth of Christ. St. Ambrose was well-known for his piety, his devotion to the Lord, his exemplary faith, and his unyielding and unbending faith, and his fearlessness to stand up against even the authorities especially when they had subverted and corrupted the faith to suit their own purposes, as I will explain soon.

St. Ambrose lived at a time of turbulence, when the Roman Empire is gradually heading to its ultimate demise, especially in the west, where St. Ambrose had his bishopric, that is the Diocese of Milan, the most important diocese besides Rome in the West, and which is still one of the most important see in the world today. St. Ambrose was an exemplary leader and shepherd of God’s people that few people could hope to equal.

St. Ambrose began his life as a layperson, who was appointed as governor of the region where Milan was in, and he was very well-liked by the people, due to his piety, his character, and the devotion that he had showed the people entrusted under his rule. This made him the clear favourite when the election of the Bishop of Milan took place, and St. Ambrose, while still a layperson, was literally called in to serve the people of God as their shepherd, their bishop.

St. Ambrose did a very good job, and as immediately as he began his tenure as the Bishop of Milan, he set out to root out heresies there, particularly the aberrant teachings of Arianism, which doubted the divinity of Christ. St. Ambrose went on hard on the heresy, persuading and pleading many of those who had left their faith in God, so that they may return to the Lord in the true and pure faith, untainted by heretical teachings such as Arianism.

Not only that, St. Ambrose himself also censured the Empress, because she herself believed in the heretical teachings of Arianism, and tried to destroy the presence of the true faith in Milan and in the Empire, and bend them to conform to the will of the Empress, following her heretical thoughts. St. Ambrose openly condemned the Empress without fear, knowing that heresy has no place in the hearts of the faithful.

St. Ambrose eventually won the day, and the true faith prevailed. And on another occasion, with the another Emperor, Theodosius I, St. Ambrose in fact censured the Emperor himself, by denying him from receiving communion, because he had razed and destroyed the lives of innocent peoples, when they rebelled against him asking for help and assistance. Instead, they were brutally assaulted and executed.

St. Ambrose did not fear at all even to censure the most powerful man on earth, and he stood his ground until the Emperor eventually came to him in sackcloth and in the spirit of repentance, asking the Lord for forgiveness for the sins he had committed in God’s eyes. The Emperor had to publicly acknowledge his sins in public and wore sackcloth and mourning clothes until he had shown his public act of repentance, only after which he was received back into the Church by St. Ambrose. It can be seen here, how exemplary St. Ambrose was, in daring to stand up to authorities in order to defend our faith.

So, after we heard the case of St. Ambrose of Milan and that of his persistence and zeal which made the faith in God truly concrete and real, through the zeal he had in His ministry, he was truly a very good and inspiring servant of God. But is this limited only to the holy men and women? No! All of us in fact also have a role to play. We are the agents of the Lord just as much as the disciples were.

We may not have to go to the extent of what St. Ambrose had done, and it may indeed be difficult to replicate what he had done. What we can do is indeed, starting from simple things, such as through our own deeds. If our faith in God is truly genuine, as that of St. Ambrose’s, and if our hearts are touched by the love that God has given us, I assure you that, we will bring rich harvests to the Lord, and the Lord will reward us with kindness and justice.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today, as we reflect on the life of St. Ambrose of Milan, and coupled with what was said in the Holy Scriptures today, let us resolve to seek to advance the cause for evangelisation, and for the conversion of many nations to the Lord. We should also resolve take part in the process, and not just standing in the sidelines, watching and doing nothing.

Remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, idleness does not reward us with anything. If anything at all, we will be scrutinised for our failure to act according to what the Lord had instructed us to do, through His disciples. Follow in the footsteps of the Apostles, and in the footsteps of St. Ambrose. We may not be able to do much, but it is the intention which counts. We ought to take part and support evangelisation where possible, and as much as within our capabilities.

Be brave, be courageous, and be fearless as St. Ambrose was! Do not worry for the Lord is with us, behind us, supporting us, in all the things that we do in His Name. May God bless us all, and bring more and more souls towards salvation. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 30 October 2013 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today it is revealed to us, how it is that it is not easy for us or anyone to enter into the Kingdom of God, and what the Lord has done to help us, that we can indeed enter His Kingdom. Many of us though, remain ignorant on the love of God, and what He has done for us, and many of us too, remained in our debauched way of life.

Yet, many of us at the same time also remain unaware that in our actions, we do not do things that will ensure our salvation in God. We remain idle, and even worse, we did things abhorring and abominable in the eyes of the Lord and even in the eyes of mankind. We like to deal with the things of the flesh, temptations of this world, and the offerings of the evil one rather than obeying the Lord and doing what is pleasing in the eyes of the Lord.

This is because it is not easy to follow the Lord and do as He commanded us. His desire for us is to love one another, and care for one another, just as we ought to love Him, with all our heart, with all our attention, and with all our dedication. We have to give Him the full attention and the complete dedication of our hearts. We cannot be half-hearted in this, as the Lord Himself said, that we cannot serve two Masters.

We cannot serve both the Lord, as well as Satan. Satan, the deceiver and the great enemy, has dominion and power over this world, ever since sin and evil entered into us. Ever since we have sinned against the Lord and disobeyed Him, we have entered into the dominion and fall under the power of the evil one. He is what is to many of us, our true master, because the things at we do reflect not the actions of the children of the one, true God, but instead as the actions of the children of Satan.

Brethren, why is the Lord so critical of those people who asked Him about the nature of salvation? Whether there are few or many that will be saved? That is because, they knew that the path is not going to be easy, and yet they did nothing about it, and continued on their daily life schedules. Often they neglected to do what the Lord had asked them to do, because they were too busy going about their routines.

Yes, as we all now know, that to sin is not just for us to do evil things or things that are considered evil. That is sin all right, but sin is also about failing to do what is right, what is good, and what is expected of us, to the point that we fail to appreciate the nature of goodness and love itself. We tend to become self-absorbed in our lives, and prefer to stay in our own comfort zones. We tend to detest going the extra mile to do what is good.

This is what the Lord wants to change from us, that we no longer give in to our pride and our human vanity, and instead open ourselves and our hearts in particular, ever more to the love and compassion of the Lord our God. In opening of ourselves, we do not only rid ourselves of the sense of self-preservation and vanity, as well as getting rid of the pride within us, but we also open ourselves at the same time, to loving our brethren, our brothers and sisters in the same Lord.

Let us therefore, brothers and sisters, step outside our comfort zone. Be daring to open up ourselves, and cast away the veil of pride and sin that had enclosed our hearts for long enough. We shall not allow them to interfere in our lives any longer. Let us also decisively reject Satan, casting him out of our lives, and rejecting all of his lies and false offers. Reject the father of lies and accept the Father of truth. Reject the father of hatred and accept the Father of love.

Hence, brethren, from now on, let us break free from our slavery under Satan, casting away his yoke, and rebuke the pleasures of this world that he offered all of us. No doubt that he will not be pleased, and will use all the powers in his possession to return us to himself. This is why our journey will not be easy, as oppositions will be rampant, and this world itself, as the dominion of the fallen one, shall be against us, the children of God.

Be not afraid though, because the Lord our God will surely send His help upon us. He will not abandon His children to be the slaves of His rebel angel. What is important then, is for us, to keep strong our defenses, namely our spiritual defenses, through constant and devout dedication to the Lord our God in prayer. When we pray, make sure our prayers are meaningful and dedicated to the Lord our God.

Do not let selfishness and pride come between us and the Lord. Indeed, let us be meek and humble before God, asking Him for forgiveness for our sins, and give ourselves in complete surrender before Him, that He will take us away from the dominion of Satan, into eternal life of glory with Him in heaven. God be with us all, forever and ever. Amen.

by

Sunday, 1 September 2013 : 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today Christ taught us the value of humility, of doing things in humility, and seeking not human glory in all our dealings. The prophet Sirach in the first reading today also put the emphasis on the relations between greatness and humility, that the greater someone is, the more that he or she should be humble, and to seek not things that lie beyond our capabilities and our reach.

Brethren, too many times have we heard about mankind trying to reach things beyond what they can do, that they became too absorbed in that pursuit and forget about anything else. It is very often that we even sacrificed much in order to get to that destination, to that desire that we seek to achieve. More often than not, this involved sacrificing even those dear to us. What makes mankind so desperate for such aims and targets that they devote so much for them?

That is because we often become immersed in our pride and in our desire, so much that we simply cannot let go when things do not go the way we wanted it. We always want to be the first in everything, the first in getting new items from the store, the first in our academic, economic, and other performances, that we fear so much from losing out to another people. In our deep pride, we cannot bear to lose to another person, because to us, there is often no consideration for being the second place.

It is in our human nature that we want to be preeminent, and first in all things, and that is our pride, that we ought to stand alone at the top without rivals. Yet remember, brothers and sisters, it is exactly the same sin that had brought down the greatest angel and the mightiest angel of all the angelic host of heaven. Who is that? Precisely, it is Lucifer, the false lightbringer, now known as Satan, the evil one, the devil, the deceiver, and the great enemy.

Lucifer was created as the most brilliant of all of God’s angels, the most perfect and beautiful of all God’s angels. It was told that he was created with twelve wings of a seraph, with incredibly bright light illuminating his figure, and hence his name, Lucifer, the lightbringer and the morning star. To him had been given power, glory, and might in addition to his beauty and wonder, by the Lord the Creator of all.

Yet, in his heart, due to his seemingly perfect beauty, power, and glory, he began to form dissensions and dissatisfactions with being a servant of God, and instead, in his great pride, he wanted to rise above all things, and take over the throne of God, as the ruler of all the creation and over all of heaven, as written in the Book of the prophet Isaiah. That he will raise his throne above the stars of heaven and ascend to the heights of heaven, seated on the throne of God, such are the things in his heart, the schemes that he plotted against God.

And yet, he failed. In his great pride he had sought to be like the proud guest who seek to reach the first place in the banquet, and he failed, badly. He was struck down and cast down from the heavens, as we read in the Book of the Revelation, when the Archangel Michael and the angels of heaven fought with the dragon, that is Lucifer, and defeated him with the power of God, and cast him away from heaven. The Book of the prophet Isaiah continued with the lamentation on the fate of Lucifer, as the fallen morning star, that had fallen and would never rise again as he had once boasted.

Indeed, as Christ had said to the Pharisees in the feast, that the one who seek to be the first will be made last, and will be relegated to the last position in great shame and humiliation. Truly, Lucifer, once the brightest, most brilliant, and mightiest angel of heaven, is now a shadow of his former self, known to us as the great enemy and the evil one, twisted, broken, and marred in his beauty, all because of his pride and lack of humility before God.

On the other hand, the Archangel Michael, whom we know as the chief of the angelic host and the leader of the angels of God, is made such not because of his pride, his power, or his might. Instead, the Archangel Michael was known for his great humility and obedience to the will of God, and it was indeed told that he always trembled before the presence of the Lord. That humility made the Lord to choose him as the leader of His angelic host, in the same way as the humble guest who seek the worst and last seat, is invited by the host to a position of honour.

After quoting the example of the archangels, of Lucifer and Michael and the comparison between them, and how it relates to the lessons we learn today from our readings and the Lord Himself, of the importance of humility in our lives, let us take some time to reflect on our own lives, whether we have always let our pride get in our way, and whether we have let our pride to take over us, as it had done to Lucifer.

To be humble is not easy, as temptations will certainly be great. We tend to compete with one another, not least in this increasingly more fast-moving and competitive world, where everyone’s success in life is measured by their achievements and by the things that they are able to do better than others, fueling even more and more competition in a vicious cycle, that if not controlled may result in excessive competition and everyone sought to overcome one another, at the expense of others as best as possible.

Yet, the Lord challenged us today to be different, to dare to be different from others, to be humble in our increasingly prideful world, in a world where people increasingly care less about one another, in a world where everyone vies to be the first ahead of others, and to achieve things that they are not able to do. The Lord challenged us to know the meaning of humility and the value of satisfaction, of knowing that we truly have enough in our lives, that all that we need have truly been taken care of by the Lord our God in various ways.

Christ had taught us the meaning of humility, and also teach us love, how to love one another, and how to love God. He has shown us all that through His own actions, that He, who is God, and who is divine and all-powerful, is willing to take the last seat of all, the most humiliating seat of all, to be born into a poor family of a carpenter and born in a dirty stable, even though He is indeed a King, King of all kings no less, the Master of all the Universe.

It does not just stop at that, as He lived humbly and did not seek glory for Himself. Many times the people who were amazed at His miracles and powers sought to force Him and to make Him their king, as the king of a renewed Israel, and yet, Jesus walked away from all that, and not only that, He even willingly walked towards His own death.

Yes, brethren, in His great humility, He who is God, let Himself be captured, tortured, mocked and spat at. He was given many lashes and eventually after carrying His own cross, was nailed to that cross on Calvary. Such is His great humility that He endured all sufferings intended for us, and took them all upon Himself. His wounds marked all the sufferings He had to suffer in our place, that we may live. He died, and died a humiliating death, a criminal’s death on the cross.

And yet? He who has died for all of us has risen from the dead! He has triumphed and conquered over the prideful one, Satan, the old Lucifer, whose pride had brought him from glory to humiliation. Christ had risen to His glory and made the greatest and most prominent of all. The Lord Himself had proven His own words today through His own actions, which He made out of pure love for all of us, that we all may live, that He had humbled Himself to die a humiliating death, despite being the Master of all, for our sake.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, inspired by the very example of our Lord Jesus, let us today heed His call, that we be humble in all our words, in all our deeds, and in all our actions. Let us be humble in all our dealings with one another, caring and loving for one another, just as the Lord had commanded us. Let us be truly brothers and sisters to one another, and do not seek the downfall of others or the failure of others for our own success. Let us throw away our pride and don humility instead, just as our Lord Himself had once done for us.

May the Lord continue to watch over us, protect us, and bless us, and that may He remind us at all times that we ought to be humble and loving in all our actions, and in all our dealings to our brethren, remembering the very life He had given us, through His own humble death. God bless us all, forever and ever. Amen.

by

Sunday, 7 July 2013 : 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Lord challenges all of us, to be His disciples and His followers, and what we are expected to do, when we choose to become His servants, the extensions of His will in this world. For to become the followers of Christ does not mean an easy life to us, or a leisurely work. Indeed, becoming the followers and disciples of Christ, mean that we die to this world, and abandon all the pleasures and the good that is in the world, for the sake of Christ.

There will be those who accept us, and there will likely be even more who will reject us, sometimes may not even be in a friendly manner. That is because not all people attune themselves to the Lord and His message, and many prefer to live in the ignorance provided by the world and all its temptations. To be a servant and disciple of Christ therefore means to struggle against the world and fight in this uphill battle for the sake of the Lord.

However, we must not give up, for certainly the Lord Himself did not give up on all of us. He still keeps up hope on us, and still continue to love all of us. Indeed, He embraced all of us, gave us all the love that He has in Him, that is infinite, and treat us like His own children. Nothing less indeed than giving us His own life, through His death on the cross, that we may have eternal life ourselves, those of us who believe in Him and accept Him as our Lord and Saviour.

God cares for all of us and He will bless us if we stay true to Him and follow Him as His disciples, particularly for those of us who have been called by the Lord to be His servants and serve His people. He will provide for all of us, and even if we face difficulties and opposition, as we surely will, the Lord will always be with us, and we should not need to worry at all.

The problem with our world today is that there are so much things that are good and enticing to men, and there are so much things that tempt us away from the Lord and His call. It is not that we should ignore or shun all of the world’s goodness, but we must know the limit to such goodness, otherwise we would succumb to our natural weakness of desire and greed. If we can understand self-control, we would be able to prevent the world from corrupting our hearts and blocking our path towards the Lord.

Our world has become very materialistic and secular in nature, that many people no longer place God as first in their hearts, and even no longer has the Lord in their hearts. In God’s place came in all the greed that is of the world, for material wealth, possessions, luxury, comfort, and excesses. The crazed search for more money and wealth is just one of the many examples of how our world had changed for the worse.

Especially it is increasingly becoming very difficult for the Church to find new priests today, and new servants of the Lord. Even the numbers of religious brothers and sisters have also dropped significantly, a sign in tandem with the increasing secularism of the world, and the increasing temptation of the world on us mankind.

In the past it is easy for the Church to find new priests and religious members because God still lives strong in many people’s hearts, and many willingly give up everything they have in life for the sake of the Lord, and serve His people through the Church, be it as priests, brothers, nuns, or even as lay worker. However, as I had mentioned and all of you knew, that times had changed. Now, many people are too fixated on their material possessions that they are increasingly unwilling to abandon all of them for the sake of God and His people.

However, internal reasons are not the only reasons, though it does play a very important part in why we have a great decline in the number of people in our seminaries today. The other reasons are external, from our friends, our society, and ultimately, our own families. In many parts of the world, success in life had increasingly been equated with monetary and economic success, and educational achievements, both linked to each other in such a way that, our life becomes more like an investment than a life.

Yes, as you know, in our modern world, raising a child increasingly become more and more expensive as years go by. Every year, inflation brings all living costs higher and higher, and consequently it becomes ever more difficult to raise a child, with soaring expenditures and declining income relative to those expenditures. Education, in particular, became so expensive, that educating a child in our society today becomes something like a chore.

That is why, coupled with the increasingly stronger link between education, its achievements and success in life, made so many parents becoming more and more reluctant to let their children go, when they reveal to them about their intentions in life. You see, God chooses whom He wants to be His servants, and He calls them all, through subtle means. Not many would take up that offer and that call, but many did answer and treasure the calling.

Yet, parental objections often stood in the way of the Lord’s call, because the parents thought of priestly life and a life dedicated to the service of the Lord and His people is a wasted life, a shameful life, and indeed, an investment wasted, because we gradually see our lives less as a life that we truly should see it, but merely more and more as an investment, about money and material possessions.

Friends and society also play a great deal in shaping one’s calling, because peer pressure and objections in the society do prevent one’s calling from being realised, especially when coupled with parental objection. These are in fact, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, some of the crosses that we must bear if we are to follow the Lord. This is exactly because the world does not love Christ, and neither does it welcome Him. The world follows its own ways, and those are not the ways of the Lord.

The purpose of today’s readings however is not to attack or put down parents, just because they rejected or opposed their children’s calling, but rather, to remind all of us that, life is not just about our possessions, or about how much money we have in the bank, or how big is the salary we receive in a month, or even, how many cars and other utilities we have. Life is indeed about Christ, and about loving Christ and our fellow brethren.

We Christians who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ must be brave and courageous, in defending our faith against the assaults of the world and its temptations, and must be ready at all times to take up our crosses, to walk alongside Christ in His suffering. These crosses mean to take an active part in our participation in the Church, according to our own calling, that is for those called and chosen to serve the Lord in divine priesthood, to be brave in embracing one’s calling and rejecting the voices that try to prevent one’s call from being realised; and for those in religious orders, to be faithful in prayer and service; and lastly, but not least, for the laity themselves, that they will take up a more active participation in the Church and groom themselves for better understanding of their faith.

In doing so, brothers and sisters in Christ, we have done God’s will, to be His disciples and preach the Good News to all of the world, including to our fellow brethren and ourselves. Therefore, now, let us pray that the Lord will give us strength and courage to face all the troubles in life, and also give us the understanding of the nature of God’s call and vocations, and bravely defend the faith of the Church in all of our deeds.

May the Lord give us His Holy Spirit, that we will always ever persevere, amidst the difficulties and challenges in this world, in showing God’s love to all, and also to preach the Good News of the Lord to all nations. God bless us all. Amen.