Christ

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Sunday, 10 March 2013 : 4th Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday, 2nd Scrutiny for Baptism (Scripture Reflection)

Forgiveness. Something that is easy to be said, but difficult to be done. Something that we want to do, but hard to do, because either we lack love in our hearts, or have the hatred and darkness in our hearts that block us and prevent us from carrying out acts of forgiveness and mercy.

Today, our Lord Jesus Christ showed us the virtues of forgiveness and mercy, just as what God the Father had done for us, through the parable of the prodigal son. It shows the extent of God’s boundless and infinite love for us, who are sinners, but yet He is willing to take all of us as His children. After all, are we not His most beloved of all creation? The very beings created in His image? Though indeed, we were marred by our rebellion, beginning from the rebellion of our foreparents Adam and Eve, who fell into Satan’s temptation.

But God again shows that no sinner is beyond His mercy and salvation. That is why, out of His great love for all of us, the only One worthy to redeem us, His Son, Jesus Christ, was given to us as a ‘Sacrificial Offering’, the perfect offering that redeemed us every single cents of our debts, that is our sins and faults.

We who had been saved by Christ through His Sacrifice, and through our baptism, either when we were infants or when we were already adults, when God took us to be His sons and daughters, are like the elder son of the father in the parable, who had already had a share in the wealth and all the properties of the father, who is God represented. We should not act like the Pharisees, who thought themselves of worthy, and that others who had ‘erred’ in their eyes, they labeled as sinners and unworthy to share their salvation and faith.

For the Pharisees in the blind man case, represented exactly the sentiments of the elder son, where pride, arrogance, and power trumped over humility, love, and compassion. Just like the elder sons of Jesse, whom the Lord asked the prophet Samuel to visit to appoint the new king of Israel, they had been rejected although they were strong, powerful, and has that aura of command, being the elder and thus more mature sons according to the society’s norms.

No, the Lord seeks not these kind of strength, pride, and power, for these things often corrupted men and deviates their heart from their true love for God, and instead to love mankind, the world, and all the temptations of power and glory that Satan offered through the world. God desires indeed the qualities found in David, whom he chose as the new king of Israel to replace the disobedient Saul.

For David is humble and loving, and he truly loved the Lord with all his heart and after his anointing, he set out to do good throughout all his life, for God’s sake. And except for the sin he committed in murdering the husband of his future wife (he is still like us after all, a sinner), he was committed to a life of dedicated love to God, and to all his fellow men, whom he ruled justly.

It is through humility and love that we can learn the true nature of God, that is love, mercy, and compassion. For if we let ourselves be blinded by our pride, jealousy, our hatred, and all things of evil and sin, we blind ourselves, not only from the truth in our fellow men, but also blind ourselves from God. This is exactly what happened to the Pharisees and the people gathered, who condemned the blind man, cured by Jesus, failing to see God’s work in Jesus, and failing to listen to the testimony of the blind man, which is truth.

For they are too embroiled in their own self-vanity, pride, and preservation, and jealousy against all who intruded into their sphere of control and power (who was indeed Jesus), that they rejected God directly, out of these sheer darkness in their hearts. For them, these had closed their hearts from God’s love, but still, God gave His life to save all, including them, and He forgave them in the end at Calvary. This is how great the love that God has shown us, that He gave Himself for us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us strive that we will not be like the ungrateful and arrogant elder son, who think highly of himself and failing to see God’s love in all, and for all, even for the greatest sinners, represented by the younger son. Because he has been always with the Father as we are with the Father through Christ and through our baptism, but we have to reach out and help out those who are still struggling, and those who had lost their way to God.

Help one another, strengthen one another in faith, and bring the Good News to others who had yet to receive it. Let us, brothers and sisters in Christ, as One community, One Church in Christ, do our best to show God’s mercy, forgiveness, and love, through our charity and our actions, which will make God’s love manifest in this world. That more can be saved, through our action, not out of jealousy, not out of pride, but out of love, and humility, and let us rejoice together when anyone returns or comes to the Lord, acknowledging Him as their Saviour.

May God bless us all, and bless those who had rejected Him, those who had hated Him, and those who had closed their hearts to His love. Amen.

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What is our faith really about? And how to answer questions that directly address our faith (From a comment)

You see how much lies evil had planted in the heart of many in this world to lead them away from the truth in God (From my blog’s comment and my reply). Do not reject them, and do not turn them away.

Especially if they ask you about your faith in God, through the Church, stand up tall, and shielded with our faith and knowledge of that faith that we have gained through the teachings of the Church, answer confidently, in courage, in love, and of course, offer a welcoming hand for them, and teach them the truth, that they too may join us in salvation in Christ.

Let us work together to accomplish the unity of all Christians in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church! Ut Omnes Unum Sint, ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam! That they all may be One, for the greater glory of God!

The comment :

What of the pope Petrus Romanus as described by St. Malachy in 1139 to be the next and final pope? St. Malachy’s final words regarding his full listing of all future popes (which has proven to be correct to the last detail) – “Rome, the seat of the Vatican, will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people.”

Please pray to our Lord and Savior, our only Redeemer and mediator with God, Jesus Christ our one true King!
Ephesians 2:8-9; 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)
8 For by [a]grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God,
9 [b]Not of works, lest any man should boast himself.

It is not through a church, catholic, evangelical, or other that we find our way. It is only with a relationship with Jesus, our Lord and Savior. It is not through saying rote prayers or seeking after a “favor” or “abolition” from any mere human (past or present).

It is only with our Lord Jesus. His mother Mary was highly “favored” which never meant she was to be placed higher than our Lord. Period. Seek after and follow Him and know others by the fruits of their hearts not the fruits of this world (fame or fortunes) as they are always meant to decieve.

Thank you for reading and seeking Him!

My reply :

I have no need to comment on that prophecy, which may after all be false and forgery. Even if that prophecy is true, it only showed that the Church led by the successor of blessed St. Peter the Apostle, remained faithful to the last, with that last Bishop of Rome as shepherd to feed the lambs of our Lord, through time of persecution of the Church, and even likely to suffer death at the hands of Satan and those who hated the Church and wished for its destruction, as it is the last bastion of Christ and His light in this world.

For grace and salvation is indeed through faith, but faith alone does not save one, and neither does work alone. For what you mentioned here of boasting is, work done without faith, but work done in faith serve only to affirm that faith in the Lord, and faith without works is dead. Faith needs to be alive, and nothing better to make it alive and manifest through our actions, in simple acts that we do in our daily lives, through our love for our neighbours and fellow men.

For believing solely in faith, to be frank, how do you even define faith? Faith is not mere words, and not mere ‘personal’ relationship, but it is as communal as it is personal. Nobody can have faith if they never show it through their good works following what Christ had taught us. It is a danger to believe that we are saved simply by faith, and then we can do as we like. Faith is through our love and works for our brethren, the poor, the weak, and the less fortunate, that through this living faith, we are justified by the Lord. Not enough by mere personal relations and personal dedications to God, for if that is the case, then the faith of the Pharisees would have been sufficient.

No! Christ mentioned that we are saved by faith, because this faith is not just once, and not just once and for all, and not through a single moment, but this faith is manifest throughout our entire life, and reflected through our prayers, our actions, and our concrete works for the good of others, and for the sake of God. The Church is the community through which we can make our faith manifest in this world even more.

Mary, the mother of our Lord, is never placed higher than our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. That is a severe misunderstanding of the true faith of our Church, and that is what people outside the Church had been led to believe by the evil one, so that they will too take part in destroying the very one and only Church that God had established.

Mary, as the mother of our Lord, in the faith of the Church, is the mother who brought Christ into this world, and through her perfect obedience of God’s will, by her answers to the Archangel Gabriel, the salvation of this world through Christ is possible. Her faith and love is proven throughout Christ’s life on earth, even to accompany Him on the foot of the Cross.

For Mary is our closest and most direct intercessor to our God, for who else is closer to Christ in this world than His own mother? Remember the wedding at Cana, when Christ apparently refused to perform the necessary miracle because ‘it was not yet His time’, but when Mary interceded for their sake, the Lord did listen and performed the miracle of water, turning into wine.

Therefore, we venerate Mary, not as a goddess, not as equal of God, but as a being so great, and so noble, and as the first and greatest of all the saints in heaven, all of whom pray for us ceaselessly before the Lord, and no one else in ever closer to God than Mary, His mother.

If only we humble ourselves and ask God, through Mary, His mother, in great humility and repentance, our prayers will surely be heard. It is of course up to God’s will, whether He will fulfill our wishes, but that is how great indeed that God works in His own mysterious ways.

Rosary, and all that dedication to Mary? Simply our way of adoring her, who is the greatest saint and the one who made all salvation possible through her acceptance of her mission, that is to bear Christ the Saviour in her, and taking care of our Lord all the way to Calvary.

She is the pillar of support of the Lord’s mission in salvation, and it is in this spirit that we dedicate our prayers through Mary, honouring her, and in honouring Mary, we honour her Son, our God.

Do not listen to the lies of Satan and the world, and learn the truth of God’s love through the Church. The Church is not perfect, and it is led by humble and sinful men, like all of us, but through the Church, and through the authority God has granted it via the Apostles, especially through Peter, God has made His power, His redemption, and His presence manifest in this world.

Our faith is communal as it is personal. It is not enough to just have a personal relationship in Christ, but we must also have a ‘communal relationship’, that is through the Church, that is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

God bless you, dear brother, and may God guide you to the truth, and be joined as one, that I, and all my brothers and sisters in Christ and in faith, can soon call you our brethren.

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Sunday, 10 March 2013 : 4th Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday, 2nd Scrutiny for Baptism (Gospel Reading)

Luke 15 : 1-3, 11-32

Meanwhile tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of the eager to hear what He had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering, “This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable.

Jesus continued, “There was a man with two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Give me my share of the estate.’ So the father divided his property between them. Some days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings, and started off for a distant land, where he squandered his wealth in loose living.”

“Having spent everything, he was hard pressed when a severe famine broke out in that land. So he hired himself out to a well-to-do citizen of that place, and was sent to work on a pig farm. So famished was he, that he longed to fill his stomach even with the food given to the pigs, but no one offered him anything.”

“Finally coming to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against God, and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me then as one of your hired servants.’ With that thought in mind, he set off for his father’s house.”

“He was still a long way off, when his father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.'”

“But the father turned to his servants : ‘Quick!’ he said, ‘Bring out the finest robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Take the fattened calf and kill it! We shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of min was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost and is found!’ And the celebration began.”

“Meanwhile, the elder son had been working in the fields. As he returned and approached the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what it was all about. The servant answered, ‘Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father is so happy about it that he has ordered this celebration, and killed the fattened calf.'”

The elder son became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and pleaded with him. The son, very indignant, said, ‘Look, I have slaved for you all these years. Never have I disobeyed your orders. Yet you have never given me even a young goat to celebrate with my friends. Then when this son of yours returns, after squandering your property with loose women, you kill the fattened calf for him.'”

“The father said, ‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But this brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found. And for that we had to rejoice and be glad.'”

 

Alternative reading (from Year A)

John 9 : 1-41

As Jesus walked along, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, “Master, was he born blind because of a sin of his, or of his parents?” Jesus answered, “Neither was it for his own sin nor for his parents’ sin. He was born blind so that God’s power might be shown in him. While it is day we must do the work of the One who sent Me; for the night will come when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

As Jesus said this, He made paste with spittle and clay, and rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man. Then He said, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.” (Siloam means sent.) So the blind man went and washed and came back able to see. His neighbours, and all the people who used to see him begging, wondered. They said, “Isn’t this the beggar who used to sit here?” Some said, “He’s the one.” Others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But the man himself said, “I am he.”

Then they asked him, “How is it that your eyes were opened?” And he answered, “The Man called Jesus made a mud paste, put it on my eyes abd said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went, and washed, and I could see.” They asked, “Where is He?” and the man answered, “I don’t know.”

The people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made mud paste and opened his eyes. The Pharisees asked him again, “How did you recover your sight?” And he said, “He put paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “That Man is not from God, for He works on the sabbath”; but others wondered, “How can a sinner perform such miraculous signs?” They were divided, and they questioned the blind man again, “What do you think of this Man who opened your eyes?” And he answered, “He is a prophet!”

After all this, the Jews refused to believe that the man had been blind and had recovered his sight; so they called his parents and asked them, “Is this your son? You say that he was born blind, how is it that he now sees?” The parents answered, “He really is our son and he was born blind; but how it is that he now sees, we don’t know, neither do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is old enough. Let him speak for himself.”

The parents said this because they feared the Jews, who had already agreed that whoever confessed Jesus to be the Christ was to be expelled from the synagogue. Because of that his parents said, “He is old enough, ask him.”

So a second time the Pharisees called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Tell us the truth; we know that this Man is a sinner.” He replied, “I don’t know whether He is a sinner or not; I only know that I was blind and now I see.” They said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” He replied, “I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

Then they started to insult him. “Become His disciple yourself! We are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses; but as for this Man, we don’t know where He comes from.” The man replied, “It is amazing that you don’t know where the Man comes from, and yet He opened my eyes! We know God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone honours God and does His will, God listens to him. Never, since the world began, has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

They answered him, “You were born a sinner and now you teach us!” And they expelled him. Jesus heard that they had expelled him. He found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “Who is He, that I may believe in Him?” Jesus said, “You have seen Him and He is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”; and he worshiped Him. Jesus said, “I came into this world to carry out a judgment : Those who do not see shall see, and those who see shall become blind.”

Some Pharisees stood by and asked Him, “So we are blind?” And Jesus answered, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty. But you say, ‘We see’; this is the proof of your sin.”

 

Shorter version (John 9 : 1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38)

As Jesus walked along, He saw a man who had been blind from birth.

As Jesus said this, He made paste with spittle and clay, and rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man. Then He said, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.” (Siloam means sent.) So the blind man went and washed and came back able to see. His neighbours, and all the people who used to see him begging, wondered. They said, “Isn’t this the beggar who used to sit here?” Some said, “He’s the one.” Others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But the man himself said, “I am he.”

The people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made mud paste and opened his eyes. The Pharisees asked him again, “How did you recover your sight?” And he said, “He put paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “That Man is not from God, for He works on the sabbath”; but others wondered, “How can a sinner perform such miraculous signs?” They were divided, and they questioned the blind man again, “What do you think of this Man who opened your eyes?” And he answered, “He is a prophet!”

They answered him, “You were born a sinner and now you teach us!” And they expelled him. Jesus heard that they had expelled him. He found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “Who is He, that I may believe in Him?” Jesus said, “You have seen Him and He is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”; and he worshiped Him.

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Sunday, 10 March 2013 : 4th Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (Second Reading)

2 Corinthians 5 : 17-21

For that same reason, the one who is in Christ is a new creature. For Him the old things have passed away; a new world has come. All this is the work of God who in Christ reconciled us to Himself, and who entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation.

Because in Christ God reconciled the world with Himself, no longer taking into account their trespasses and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

So we present ourselves as ambassadors in the Name of Christ, as if God Himself nakes an appeal to you through us. Let God reconcile you; this we ask you in the Name of Christ. He had no sin, but God made Him bear our sin, so that in Him we might share the holiness of God.

 

Alternative reading (from Year A)

 

Ephesians 5 : 8-14

You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Behave as children of light; the fruits of light are kindness, justice, and truth in every form.

You yourselves search out what pleases the Lord, and take no part in works of darkness that are of no benefit; expose them instead. Indeed, it is a shame even to speak of what those people do in secret, but as soon as it is exposed to the light, everything becomes clear; and what is unmasked, becomes clear through light.

Therefore it is said : “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead that the light of Christ may shine on you.”

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Friday, 8 March 2013 : 3rd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. John of God, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Mark 12 : 28b-34

So a teacher of the Law came up and asked Jesus, “Which commandment is the first of all?”

Jesus answered, “The first is : ‘Hear Israel! The Lord, our God, is One Lord; and you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ And after this comes a second commandment : ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these two.”

The teacher of the Law said to Him, “Well spoken, Master; You are right when You say that He is one, and there is no other besides Him. To love Him with all our heart, with all our understanding, and with all our strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves is more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice.”

Jesus approved this answer and said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask Him any more questions.

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Wednesday, 6 March 2013 : 3rd Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

God our Father, had given the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel through Moses. These laws were meant to be the guidelines of how the people of God should live. The prophets too came over the centuries, during and after the times of the kingdom of Israel, to preach and explain about the Law, and at the same time proclaiming the coming of the Messiah, who will set all things right and save the world.

That Messiah is Christ, who came into the world, the divine Word of God, becoming a humble man, born through the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem. He came indeed not to destroy or displace the Law of God. Rather, He came to fulfill it, to purify it, to make sure that indeed the Law is for man so that they can orientate themselves and love God and their fellow brethren, in what Christ has taught the disciples, that is the two main Commandments of Love, that is to love God with all our being, and to love our fellow men as much as we love ourselves.

Such is the perfection of the Law that God had first given to the people of Israel, and then Christ had spread throughout the world as the Universal Law of love. In obeying and living out this Law, it is how we please the Lord, who will see us as worthy of Him. No more excessive laws and rites that we must follow, such as the 613 laws of the Jewish Law, which evolved from the laws that God has told Moses while he was on the Mount Horeb, the mountain of God.

It may seem that the commandments of love are easy to be done. After all there are only two of them is it not? No! In fact, these two are the hardest ones to be one. Because, it is never easy to love God and our fellow mankind. To truly love God is to spend our time for Him, to listen to Him, through our constant prayers, and to do His will, which is of course, linked to loving mankind, as when we do good deeds to our brethren, we show our sincere love for God. Love for God cannot be just with words and all prayers. These devotions and prayers are indeed important, but without a concrete action to live our faith, and our love, we are nothing but empty husks without love.

God wants to embrace all of us, no matter how broken we are, and how sinful we are. Better for us to be ugly and broken outside, but with the love of God inside us, waiting to break free, rather than being beautiful outside, and empty and dark inside. Lucifer the lightbringer too were once very beautiful and amazing, but inside, he has a dark pride, the pride that brought down many, angels and man alike, into the rebellion against God.

Because we are so rebellious, especially you all should know about the long story of the Israelites since their delivery from Egypt all the way to the time of Jesus, especially in the Book of Kings, how they even slaughter the prophets of the Lord, disobeyed His commandments, and spurned His love. This is why God set those rules as the Law to ensure that the people, tempted as they are, and weak as they are, and vulnerable as they are to sin and evil, through the Law, they can be safeguarded.

Nevertheless, by the time of Jesus, people had lost so much of the ideas and the original intentions of the Law that they ended up being ‘enslaved’ by the very Law that God has given them to safeguard them, through the Pharisees and their strict observation of the rules and the laws. It is through Christ that mankind was once again awakened to the true meaning of the Law, that is a Law of love that is to bring mankind closer to God, and to lead in the reconciliation with God, from the rebellion of our forefathers.

None but Christ Himself, the Messiah, and the Son of God, implemented what He preached, that is to give Himself in greatest form of love to all of us, that is His Sacrifice on the Cross. Through that love He had given us, we now have hope of life in Him, and to be reunited with God, as Christ became our bridge to return back towards the Lord.

We don’t have to give our life as the proof and sign of our love to God, but what matters is, in whatever things we do, even little ones, let us always remember to thank God, either in happiness or sorrow, in good times or bad, and to share the love God has planted in us to our neighbours, that the love will not just stay there, but blossom to let the love of God manifest in others, and therefore the world.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today, let us begin by doing small acts of love in our daily lives, acts of love that can brighten both our days and those around us, especially those who sorrow, and those who have lost hope. Bring to them the warmth of love and hope that is from God, and kindle in them a new fire of God’s love. Let us imitate the example of Christ who had loved us so much so as to give Himself up for our sake, that just as He was glorified on His Resurrection, we too can share in that glory, in the fullness of God’s love and compassion. Amen.

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Wednesday, 6 March 2013 : 3rd Week of Lent (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, 3 March 2013 : 3rd Sunday of Lent (Scripture Reflection) (First Scrutiny of Baptism)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is the story of salvation. First that of the people of Israel, and then all of us, who are saved, both by God, through His agents. The people of Israel suffered under great slavery in Egypt under the Pharaoh, who forced them to work day and night, to build the buildings and monuments for the Egyptians. God sent Moses, as His messenger to the Pharaoh to liberate His people from the chains of Egyptian slavery.

When Pharaoh refused, God sent the ten plagues to punish the Egyptians, who eventually let them go, but before they had even reached the Red Sea, the Pharaoh had yet changed his mind again and intent on re-enslaving the Israelites again. God split the Red Sea and brought His people across that sea and crushed the Egyptians under the waves as a sign of His faith and love to His people. And that He is not hesitant to punish those who had been ignorant and whose heart had been hardened against His love.

But yet, the Israelites rebelled, and had put the Lord to the test. They doubted His power and majesty, and even doubted His love. They complained against Him because of their thirst and hunger, despite God having constantly showing His kindness through the manna, the birds, and many other provisions along the way. They even mentioned going back to Egypt where they claimed that life under slavery would have been much better than to suffer and die in the desert. It is better to them they thought to live in slavery and hard work, but at least well fed by their slavemasters, than to be free and walking in the desert of death.

Then, it is the same, as the Lord Himself sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to be our Messiah, our Saviour, that all of us can be saved from certain death, under the slavery of sin and Satan, who is like Pharaoh, who is our slavemaster. We were servants of sin and were the thralls of Satan prior to our liberation through the waters of baptism, for through that living water of baptism, our thirst, the real thirst that we have, is quenched by the living water of Christ. Christ dwelled in us and became the living spring of water of eternal life.

For this living water of Christ quenches our real thirst and our real hunger and longing, that is not the physical thirst of water or hunger for food, but truly our thirst for the redeeming Word of God, and most importantly, the infinite love that God has for us. For separated from God, under the slavery of sin and evil, we are cut off from the love of God, and therefore, we suffer because of such separation.

We also constantly rebel against the Lord through our sins and our sinful ways, but the Lord is ever ready to forgive us, but only if we had not hardened our hearts against Him, and instead humbly asking Him for forgiveness. Let us not be like the Israelites who always complained that they did not have enough even though the Lord had provided them greatly, for who else in the world had ever received heavenly bread of manna as food every morning? And flocks of bird for them to eat? and crystal-clear water that satisfies thirst?

Let us therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, strive to be faithful to God, and most importantly, to know how to feel enough, and sufficient, and not to succumb to temptations and our greed, to have more, when we already have some that we need, and what is enough for us. This is what had driven the Israelites to rebel in the desert, because they felt that they did not have enough. Let us also open our hearts to God and His love, and let us be filled and satisfied by His love, through His dwelling in all of us and our hearts.

Pray brothers and sisters, that we will not fall back into the slavery of sin and evil. For evil will continue to try to put us back into slavery under him and sin, as all of us who are faithful in Christ and had been baptised, had been liberated by the living water of Christ, who died for us on the cross that our chains are broken, and we are freed, just like the lamb sacrificed on the Passover, the blood that marked the doors of the people of Israel that God would pass from them, so did Christ gave us His Precious Blood to mark us, that God knows that we belong to Him, and will not pass judgment of death upon us, but stay in Him and have eternal life.

May God keep us in His love, and keep us in His loving embrace, and protect us from the assaults of the evil one. That the chains that had been broken will not come back to chain us once again. For we are free and we now obey and love God and Him alone. Amen.

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Sunday, 3 March 2013 : 3rd Sunday of Lent (Second Reading) (First Scrutiny of Baptism)

1 Corinthians 10 : 1-6, 10-12

Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, about our ancestors. All of them were under the cloud and all crossed the sea. All underwent the baptism of the land and the sea to join Moses and all of them ate from the same spiritual manna, and all of them drank from the same spiritual drink. For you know that they drank from a spiritual rock following them, and the rock was Christ. However, most of them did not please God, and the desert was strewn with their bodies.

All of this happened as an example for us, so that we might not become people of evil desires, as they did. Nor grumble as some of them did and were cut down by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as an example, and they were written as a warning for us, as the last times come upon us. Therefore, if you think you stand, beware, lest you fall.

 

(Alternative reading from Year A)

 

Romans 5 : 1-2, 5-8

By faith we have received true righteousness, and we are at peace with God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Through Him we obtain this favour in which we remain and we even boast to expect the Glory of God.

And hope does not disappoint us because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, pouring into our hearts the love of God. Consider, moreover, the time that Christ died for us : when we were still helpless and unable to do anything. Few would accept to die for an upright person; although, for a very good person, perhaps someone would dare to die.

But see how God manifested His love for us : while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

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Pope Benedict XVI’s retirement and what the world thinks of it : Why we should not fear and worry

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2013/03/01/every-snarky-comment-about-the-pope-is-an-insult-to-me/

Indeed, as we all should know, the world does not like us, it does not like the Pope who leads the Church, just as it does not like Christ, as He Himself had said that this world hated Me, and it will also hate and persecute those who believes in Me and follow My teachings and My ways.

But we should not fear, and we should neither worry, but we must be courageous and steadfast as God will guide us and He will surely protect us from harm. Let us all, rather than hating the world and hating these people and institutions which had made so many attacks on the Pope and the Church, let us forgive them, and pray for them. That they all too will learn the truth of Christ, and be enlightened. Let us show them what is the Church and our faith all about, not by attacking back viciously or having any siege mentality, but let us offer ourselves in love, to embrace those who hates us, that they too will believe in God and His love.

God bless us all, and God bless His Holy Church, our Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, his successor-to-be, and bless the world with all its people. Amen.

 

Content of the article from site above :

 

Every snarky comment about the Pope is an insult to me

People outside the faith will never understand how much the Holy Father means to us

By on Friday, 1 March 2013

The See of Peter is vacant, and as a result, like so many others all over the world, I feel a little bereft as I write this. Yesterday, as in so many other parishes, we did our best to mark the end of Benedict XVI’s reign and ministry as Supreme Pastor. The children in our primary school, many of whom were not born when he was elected, had a celebration; and there was, in the evening, Vespers, Benediction and Te Deum, followed by food and drink. It was nice to be able to say goodbye to a Pope while he was still alive – a novel event – rather than to mark his death and burial; but all the time I was aware of those pictures on the television, of the helicopter flying past the dome of St Peter’s taking the Pope away from us all. It felt like a bereavement, and it felt that way because it was a bereavement.

I was born in the early months of Pope Paul VI’s reign, and so I have seen four Popes, and await my fifth. I have had a deep personal attachment to all four, even though I never met any of them in the flesh, and I only ever saw John Paul II from an immense distance. But, the Pope is our father, and we love him; he belongs to us, we are part of the same family of faith. These four pontiffs have had a great formative influence on me, and I do not think that someone who is not a Catholic can really understand this. Andrew Brown,  who writes for the Guardian, always writes well, and he has great insight into religious matters, but he stands outside the family of faith, and as a result, he does not get why this Pope, indeed any Pope, matters to us so intensely. The Church is not an organisation like the United Nations or the European Union or the Liberal Democrat Party. It is the Mystical Body of Christ. To be Catholic is to experience the joy, peace and love that belonging to the Mystical Body brings; it is to be in communion with the Pope, which is the visible sign of that Mystical unity. And that in the end is why I cannot really express to anyone just how intensely I loved Benedict XVI, John Paul II, John Paul I, and Paul VI, or how intensely I will love the Pope who is to be elected shortly.

This is the mystery of the Mystical Body. Those outside the Church need to deal with it. It is the way we are. And it is the reason why when people make snarky comments on Twitter about the Pope, any Pope, they do not really insult the Successor of the Apostles, they insult me.

How happy I am that, wherever I have been in the world, I have been with people who profess the Catholic Faith, people who follow Christ and follow Peter. Ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia, ibi vita eterna. For those who need a translation: Where Peter is, there is the Church, there is eternal life!