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Tuesday, 19 November 2013 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we continue on today with the story from the time of just over a hundred and fifty years before the birth of Christ, when the Jews under Judas Maccabeus and his family rose up in rebellion against their Greek overlords, the Seleucid Empire, particularly that of king Antiochus Epiphanes. The Greek king and many of his successors imposed Hellenic or Greek culture and civilisation on the people, who were often forces to choose between obedience or death.

Such was the case that happened when the upright Eleazar, already ninety years in age, was brought for judgment for his refusal to obey the king’s order and abandon his faith. Eleazar was tortured, scourged, and forced to obey the king’s commands or face death. Yet, Eleazar did not budge, and not even when his acquaintances tried to convince him to lie and pretend, in order to save his own life.

Eleazar chose the Lord and his faith over the pleasures and safety of the world, knowing well that the Lord who knows all that His faithful ones had done, will reward him in the end, exchanging the suffering of his death into the glory of eternal life in joy, with God. And so he did, and he received from the Lord, the crown of life everlasting.

Such was the faith the Eleazar had, and he did not give way to sin to corrupt him, even to the end, and even through the grievous sufferings he had to suffer. He spurned the offer of the devil, which was conveyed through the acquaintances. An easy and good life in old age would have been his, had he chosen to take up the devil’s offer. But the consequences for eternity, would be immense. That was why Eleazar chose to abandon temporary joy and false happiness in order to gain one that is everlasting.

In today’s Gospel Reading, we hear the story of the repentant sinner, the tax collector Zaccheus. Zaccheus was considered a great sinner in the eyes of the people of Jesus’ time, given his position as a tax collector, that is the collector of taxes and money for their Roman masters. They were cast out of the society and considered as traitors of the nation, having done dirty work in place of their Roman superiors. They were deemed as misfits, even though many of them, were actually decent people like us. Imperfect, yes, but definitely not beyond redemption.

Zaccheus showed his great love, dedication, and faith to God, accompanied by strong desire to seek God, and the great curiosity he had shown towards Jesus. Just imagine, even though he was short, he tried very hard to be able to even get a glimpse of the Lord. He climbed the tree and see the Lord as He walked towards him. Jesus knew his faith, and Zaccheus was rewarded.

What is important, is what came afterwards. Zaccheus made a public proclamation of his faith, testifying before the masses of people, many of whom considered him an outcast, a traitor of their people, and a great sinner. Zaccheus brushed all of that aside, and caring not about their hostility, he showed the great faith he has in God, repenting for all of his sins, and made a concrete promise to the Lord, of his commitment to righteousness.

That was the faith of Zaccheus, a repentant sinner, committed to the Lord and to His precepts. It may look different from the faith of Eleazar, but nevertheless, both of them proclaimed their faith to God, each in their own distinct ways. Eleazar held fast to his faith, and did not budge even in the face of evil, frustrating the attempts of those trying to corrupt him to the ways of evil. While Zaccheus repented his past mistakes, and revelled in the new faith that he has obtained by believing in Christ, and committing himself to a total change in life.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we too have our own styles and differences in how we follow the Lord, but what is most important is that no matter what we do, we must adhere to His ways and do what He has shown us to do. We must always believe that there is always a chance for sinners, which include all of us. But we must not wait until it is too late for us. Whenever there is a chance, and in fact, at this very moment, grab the opportunity, and repent.

Yes, the Lord loves us, and if we are truly repentant and committed to change, like Zaccheus had done, He will lift us up and bring us to glories greater than we can ever imagine. Let us all be committed to change, to change our ways of life, that we will be ever more aligned with our Lord. On a side note, we must never judge others, as what the people had just judged Zaccheus with.

May the Lord empower us with His love, and grant us faith, that we will be strong in our faith and our love for Him, like Eleazar and Zaccheus had shown. Amen.

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Friday, 14 June 2013 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened again to the words of the Scripture, in which Christ told His disciples that they should keep themselves pure in all things, so that they will not fall into sin. Brethren, sin is our weakness, and our body is our weakness, ever since Adam and Eve our ancestors disobeyed the Lord and ate from the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Ever since humankind was exposed to that knowledge of things good and evil, we have been prone to the corruption of sin, particularly in our body, through our being, our minds, and our hearts. Mankind has done things evil in the eyes of the Lord ever since the day of our rebellion, until God once had wanted to destroy all but Noah in the Great Flood, such great was the extent of our forefather’s sins.

God loves us very much, brothers and sisters, for all of us are His children, His most beloved children, the greatest and most precious to Him of all creation, so much that He had entrusted this world to our care, that we become its stewards. But as much as our God is a loving God, He is also a jealous and a just God, and He cannot let sin stand in His presence, because He is good and perfect, and no sinner can stand worthy in front of Him in heaven. That was why He sent His only Son, that through Him salvation of mankind may happen, and those who repent and believe in Him, may become worthy of Him once again.

Brothers and sisters, Christ did not mean that we should literally cut off our appendages and our limbs because it caused us to sin. Yes, without these limbs indeed we cannot do what is bad, and therefore can sin no longer, but what Christ truly meant was that we should cut us off from sin itself, from all attachments to sin, especially from our hearts. If our hearts is pure, our hands and legs, and our mouths and eyes will not ever cause us to sin.

In addition, yes, indeed, if we cut away these limbs, we cannot do what is evil, but then it will also similarly hinder us from doing what is good, because certainly our limbs can be used for either good or evil. It is entirely within our choice whether we want to use it for good or for evil. It is also to note that no sinner is beyond redemption, and even the greatest of sinners, were he or she to repent, he or she can become the greatest of saints if God so desires of them.

Yes, brethren, there are hope for sinners. All of us are sinners, and even the greatest of the saints, who were also sinners. But what differentiates the saints from the condemned are that those who were condemned did not turn away from their sins and their vices, and continued to do things abhorrent in the eyes of the Lord. That was why they were thrown into hell, all and whole, because their heart and their bodies remained in darkness.

But saints did not remain in darkness. Yes, they had much faults and past sins, but all these drove them to approach the throne of God for mercy. Full in knowledge of their iniquity and unworthiness, they surrendered themselves to God and opened themselves to His love and mercy. They did not elevate themselves nor did they become arrogant and haughty, one of our greatest weaknesses that is pride. They lowered themselves and repented truly in their hearts, and a new light was born in them, and consequently, they were purified and made whole and worthy once again before the Lord. The Lord is pleased with them, and joyfully welcomed them back, like a father welcoming a long-lost prodigal son.

Our hearts are important, brothers and sisters in Christ, because within our hearts lie the Holy Spirit that dwells within us, and it is the most important part of our beings. If our hearts are pure, and we keep the Holy Spirit strong within us, and with a powerful anchor of faith in God, we will be able to resist any temptations of the devil and the world’s evils. It is within our hearts that lies the key to defeating evil and keeping strong the faith we have in God.

That was why Christ told His disciples and the people who were with Him that even if they had already had evil thoughts with the opposite sex, they had already committed adultery, even though they had not actually done the deed itself. That is because our hearts are the start of everything, whether things good or evil, is ultimately decided by the state of our hearts. If our hearts are evil and filthy with sin, we will definitely be more inclined to do things that displease the Lord, and vice versa, that we will be more predisposed to do things that please the Lord if we keep our hearts pure and filled with light.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us not fear evil, but face it with courage and faith. Let the Holy Spirit come and dwell within all of us, and keep ourselves firmly anchored in God, and in our faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord. That the Spirit will become the Treasure that St. Paul mentioned in the first reading today, encased within our unworthy bodies, but when unveiled through our actions and our words, the Spirit will proclaim the glory of God, for all to see, that they too may believe and repent! Amen.

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Wednesday, 12 June 2013 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Matthew 5 : 17-19

Do not think that I have come to annul the Law and the Prophets. I have not come to annul them but to fulfill them. I tell you this : as long as heaven and earth last, not the smallest letter or dot in the Law will change until all is fulfilled.

So then, whoever breaks the least important of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be the least in the kingdom of heaven. On the other hand, whoever obeys them, and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the kingdom of heaven.

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Sunday, 28 April 2013 : 5th Sunday of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

God is love, this is the fundamental and the most basic nature of our Lord and God, my dear brothers and sisters. For love is the centre of being of our God, for His love is infinite, and in His infinite and boundless love, He willingly sacrificed Himself that all of us, unworthy and sinful mankind, may be saved from the eternal separation from Himself.

It may not be easy to see God in our daily lives today, since God is no longer walking among us, just as He did at the time of the disciples, to whom He appeared often after His resurrection. But do we then abandon God in the search of something more tangible, for something more real? That is why many of the faithful in Christ had lapsed in their faith in God, simply because they had been allured by the evil one and his myriad tools that he used to lure mankind away from God.

There are many means that the devil had used in his attempts to corrupt mankind, by offering many seemingly better alternatives to God, whom he tried to portray to many as being boring and inexistent. Instead, men loves his creations, that of worldly goods, wealth, affluence, and other false idols, solely aimed at the separation of men from God, and the ruination of Christ’ salvific mission in this world.

But Satan will never succeed, for God will ultimately triumph, and despite all the plots and the devices that Satan had used in his attempts to deceive mankind, God’s love and faith in us will be a key weapon in the fight against the devil and his fallen angels, who ceaselessly tried to divert us from the true path towards the Lord.

There are indeed many false gods and idols that our world offer us all today, my brothers and sisters, most obvious of which is money and material possessions, which many of us desire to the point of worshipping them instead of God, to whom only all honour and glory should go. Many of us are so embroiled and involved in our pursuit for success and wealth, that we forgot that the Lord is always with us. We enjoy the company of money and material goods more than we do for the Lord.

How many of us find it a great chore to just go and attend the Sunday Mass to worship our Lord? and how many of us then spend so much time in our career and our work, and in the attempt to secure more pay and more money? And even worse are those who employ underhanded and illegal means to secure these wealth and possessions, that is through corruption and nepotism, which had marred many of our high ranking politicians, businessmen, and many other people, and do not be mistaken that this happens only on the top, since corruption and all these vices also exist in the bottom rung of the society, with many of us seduced by the allure of money, and became obsessed in attaining more of it, that we forget the Lord and His love.

The Lord Himself had said, that we should not worry about our lives and what we are to have in our daily lives, since God Himself will provide all that we need, just like how He provided for the animals and other beings that He had created. For mankind, especially, there had been a blurring of distinctions between what we want, and what we truly need for our lives. Too often we seek something that we do not actually need, but out of our insatiable desire for things that we want to have.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us take a step back from our mindless pursuits of wealth, affluence, fame, and material possessions. Seek not what can bring us glory in this world, but seek for the true glory in heaven instead. How to do so? By loving one another as the Lord has loved us, just as He had commanded the apostles to do so. Love is the core tenet of our faith, since our very salvation is anchored on the great and infinite love that God has for us, that He wanted to endure death for our sake, that we may live.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us strive to love one another ever greater, and put love manifested in all our words, our thoughts, and our actions, that whenever we do something, or say something, or think of something, love will always form the core of our speech, our decisions, and our actions. Remember that God is love, and by doing so, we have already obeyed God’s will and commandments, allowing even others to see our actions and believe in the Lord, saving more people for Christ who died for them.

Let us pray, that we can be ever more loving and more compassionate in our society, helping those who are weakest and the least there, and reaching out to all in need, both physically and spiritually, that God’s love will be made manifest in this world, through us, and through our actions. May God bless all of us. Amen.

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Passing of Cardinal Lorenzo Antonetti at the age of 90

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Cardinal Lorenzo Antonetti of Italy, the Cardinal-Priest of S. Agnese in Agone, and Pontifical Delegate Emeritus for the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, has passed away at the age of 90 on Wednesday, 10 April 2013.

http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/data/cardJP2-7.htm#9

Cardinal Antonetti was created Cardinal in the Consistory of 21 February 1998, and his passing made changes to the composition of the College of Cardinals. The College of Cardinals now consists of 205 members, out of which 113 are Cardinal-electors and 92 are Cardinal non-electors (reduced by 1 due to Cardinal Antonetti’s passing).

Barring any future deaths, the next event involving the College of Cardinals would be the aging out of Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Belgium from the electorate on 4 June 2013, when he turns 80.