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Wednesday, 5 June 2013 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Mark 12 : 18-27

The Sadducees also came to Jesus. Since they claim that there is no resurrection, they questioned Him in this way, “Master, in the Scriptures Moses gave us this law : ‘If anyone dies and leaves a wife but no children, his brother must take the woman, and with her have a baby, who will be considered the child of his deceased brother.”

“Now, there were seven brothers. The first married a wife, but he died without leaving any children. The second took the wife, and he also died leaving no children. The same thing happened to the third. In fact, all seven brothers died, leaving no children. Last of all the woman died. Now, in the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife? For all seven brothers had her as wife.”

Jesus replied, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry, but are like the angels in heaven. Now, about the resurrection of the dead, have you never had thoughts about the burning bush in the book of Moses?”

“God said to Moses : ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is the God not of the dead but of the living. You are totally wrong.”

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Wednesday, 5 June 2013 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Psalm 24 : 2-4a, 4b-5ab, 6-7bc, 8-9

In You my God I trust; let me not be put to shame, let not my enemies exult over me. Those who hope in You will never be humbled; those who turn away from You will suffer disgrace! Teach me Your ways, o Lord.

Make known to me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and instruct me, for You are my God, my Saviour.

Remember Your compassion, o Lord, Your unfailing love from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, but in Your love remember me.

Good and upright, the Lord teaches sinners His way. He teaches the humble of heart and guides them in what is right.

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Wednesday, 5 June 2013 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Tobit 3 : 1-11a, 16-17a

Distressed, I wept and prayed and expressing my sorrow, I said, “You are just, o Lord; all Your actions and all Your ways are merciful and just; Your judgments are always true and just. Remember me, Lord, and look on me. Do not punish me for my sins nor the wrongs I have committed through ignorance.”

“Pardon the sins which my fathers have committed in Your sight, for they disobeyed Your commandments. You have allowed us to be mocked by all the pagan nations among whom we have been dispersed. Ah well! All Your judgments are just when You choose to punish me for my sins and those of my fathers, because we have not accomplished Your will, nor have we sincerely obeyed Your commands. We have not walked before You in truth.”

“Do with me as You will. Order my life taken from me, and turn me into dust, because I prefer death to life. In this way free me and let me return to dust. It is better for me to die than to live, because these unjust reproaches have caused me great distress. Command that I be now released from trials, and let me enter my eternal dwelling place. Do not turn Your face away from me.”

That same day, at Ecbatana in Media, Sara, the daughter of Ragouel, was insulted in a similar way by her father’s young maidservants. Sara had had seven husbands, but the demon Asmodeus had killed each one of them before the marriage had been consummated.

The maidservants said, “It was you who killed your husbands. You have had seven husbands and you have not enjoyed marital relationship with any of them. Why do you punish us? Since they are dead, go and join them. May we never see a son or daughter of yours!”

That same day Sara was so distressed in mind that she went to the upper room in her father’s house. She wished to hang herself. But she thought better of it and said : “If people ever reproached my father and said to him : ‘You had an only daughter whom you cherished and she hanged herself because she was unhappy,’ I would cause my father in his old age to die of grief.”

“It is better for me not to hang myself but to ask the Lord that I may die and not live to hear any more insults.” At that moment she stretched forth her hands towards the window and prayed. The Lord in His glory heard the prayer of Tobit and of Sara and He sent Raphael to heal them both – to give back his sight to Tobit and to give Sara the daughter of Ragouel, to Tobit’s son Tobias, as his wife. Also, Raphael would enchain the wicked demon Asmodeus so that Sara would be the wife of Tobias.

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Tuesday, 4 June 2013 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

To Caesar, give to him what is his due, and to God, give to Him what is His due. Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the well-known tale from the Scripture, in which Christ countered the attempt of the Pharisees to test Him, by giving them a perfect answer which they could neither deny nor use against Him. Because Jesus did not say give all things to God or to the civil authorities, but give to each, what is due for each one.

Because if Jesus had said that we should not obey the civil or secular authority, the Pharisees and the chief priests would surely accuse Him to the Romans of inciting the people against them, and therefore would ask the Romans to punish Him. On the other side, if Jesus said that we should obey the civil authorities completely, which was actually disliked at the time, remembering that tax collectors were seen very negatively by the people at the time, the Pharisees too would accuse Jesus of colluding with the Romans and therefore was at fault.

That was why, Christ gave them the perfect answer, the truthful answer. What matters for us in this world is that we obey God, with all our hearts, our minds, and our soul, but in this world, we are not alone, or by ourselves only, for in this world, we also have the often secular, civil governments having power and authority over us, just as God has the power over all mankind and all governments of this world.

We should obey the rules and regulations of the civil authorities, as long as they do not violate our ultimate obedience to God. It is our right to choose out of the free will God has granted us all. But if the state and the nation do not reflect God’s will and love in their actions, we should be awakened to our conscience and our hearts, to not follow the same path, which will certainly lead to disobedience against the Lord.

But if the civil authorities are doing this for the good of all, and in accordance with God’s commandments of love, by all means we should also obey them, and give them what is due. For the states have rendered service to us by ensuring that a proper system is in place, from education and all others like healthcare which enable all of us to have a comfortable life in this world. Therefore it is just right for all of us to repay them in a way, through what is commonly used form as taxes.

But never forget, brothers and sisters in Christ, that our ultimate obedience should always be in God, and God alone. States and nations are human-made, and as human things, they also can err, because they are not perfect, unlike God who is perfect and good. That is why, often at times, states become erroneous in their path and development. But to all of us, that is in fact not the time for us to run and shy ourselves from that erroneous path. Indeed, what all of us should do, is to inspire a change in that error, that the error can be rectified, that states and nations can once again reflect the nature and the will of God in all the things that they do.

Obey the authority in this earth, and the authority that is in heaven, but place our complete and ultimate obedience in God only, brothers and sisters in Christ, and be proactive in our society, that whenever the society begins to go astray from the path of God, let it be that through our actions, things can be made right and straight once again. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 4 June 2013 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Mark 12 : 13-17

They sent to Jesus some Pharisees with members of Herod’s party, with the purpose of trapping Him by His own words. They came and said to Jesus, “Master, we know that You are truthful; You are not influenced by anyone, and Your answers do not vary according to who is listening to You, but You truly teach God’s way. Tell us, is it against the Law to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them or not?”

But Jesus saw through their trick and answered, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a silver coin and let Me see it.” They brought Him one and Jesus asked, “Whose image is this, and whose name? They answered, “Caesar’s” Then Jesus said, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” And they were greatly astonished.

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Tuesday, 4 June 2013 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Psalm 111 : 1-2, 7bc-8, 9

Alleluia! Blessed is the one who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commands. His children will be powerful on earth; the upright’s offspring will be blessed.

For his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is confident, he needs not fear, he shall prevail over his foes at the end.

He gives generously to the poor, his merits will last forever and his head will be raised in honour.

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Tuesday, 4 June 2013 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Tobit 2 : 9-14

That same night, after I had buried the body, I returned home. I washed myself and went out into the courtyard to sleep against the wall; my face was uncovered because of the heat. I did not see that there were sparrows on the wall of the courtyard and, as my eyes were open, the hot droppings from the sparrows fell into my eyes and formed a white film on my eyes.

I went to find doctors to attend to me for medical treatment but the more ointments they smeared on my eyes, the more blind I became because of the film. Finally I became totally blind. I suffered from blindness for four years. All my brothers were burdened because of me. Ahikar kept me for two years before he departed for Elymiade.

My wife Anna worked hard at a woman’s task, weaving. On the seventh day of the month of March she cut the cloth and delivered it to her employers. They paid her wages and gave her, over and above, a young goat for food. When she returned home the kid began to cry. I said to her, “Where does the little kid come from? Did you steal it? Return it to its owners for we are not allowed to eat anything that is stolen.”

But she said, “It is a gift which has been given to me in addition to my wages.” But I said, “I don’t believe it. I tell you to return it to its owners.” I was ashamed of her. She replied, “What about your own almsgiving and your good deeds? I have to put up with all this from you.”

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Monday, 3 June 2013 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Sts. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, we heard today about the parable of the tenants in a vineyard, which Jesus told to the people, in order to foreshadow His own sacrifice on the cross as the Son of God, and as the Saviour. Indeed, Jesus Christ, who died for all of us, is the person whom Jesus told as the son of the owner of the vineyard, who was murdered in cold blood by the evil tenants who wanted to grab the vineyard as their own.

How does then, this story relates to the salvific mission of Christ in this world? It may be a bit difficult to see at first, but as you can see, that vineyard is none other than our world! It is a representative of our world, told by Jesus in a parable. To us, to whom the Lord had revealed His truth and knowledge, the truth cannot be further than that. Who are we then in that world? We are the vineyard tenants, who had been entrusted with the care of the vineyard by the owner of that vineyard, the owner of the world, that is our one and only God.

We had been entrusted with this world ever since creation, when God created mankind from dust, and to the first men, God had given the earth with all things inside it under our authority and our care, just like how the owner entrusted the vineyard to the tenants, whom he wished that they work hard and toil in the vineyard, producing much fruits, and bring profits to both the owner and of course, the tenants themselves.

But, just as what happened to the tenants afterwards, the same too had often happened in our world. Instead of being responsible and playing their parts as stated in the tenants’ agreement with their owner, that they should give him part of the profits, they abused their power and authority given to them, and therefore, violating the agreement that were in place between them and the owner.

The same too had happened repeatedly throughout the history of mankind. Man, since their first disobedience, in Adam and Eve our ancestors, by disobeying God’s commands, had become sinful and through sin, we had become increasingly abusive of the authorities granted to us. Through our greed and our desire, we become protective of our entitlements and did not give glory to God of what is His due, and instead, glorifying ourselves, and focus on our own human glory.

But in the parable, the owner did not remain quiet, and he sent many servants whom he entrusted with the dialogue between them and the tenants, that they pass to the tenants the message of the owner, desiring to renew that commitment. Who then are these servants in our world? The prophets! Remember the many prophets that God had sent over the history of mankind, and many of them brought the word of God to the people, but the people remained adamant and proud in their rebellious ways.

They even slaughtered God’s prophets and messengers, much as how the tenants of the vineyard slay the servants of the owner, even as more and more servants were sent their way. They remained solid in their rebelliousness and their pride, unwilling to submit to God’s authority.

Then ultimately the owner sent his own son, arguing that because it was his own son, certainly the rebellious tenants would fear and obey him, just as they should have obeyed the owner. That son, as I had mentioned, is indeed Jesus, that is Jesus Christ our Lord, the Son of God. God so loved the world, and such is His love that He did not want that we who rebelled against Him be condemned to eternal death in hell with Satan the deceiver.

That is why He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, through whom the world would finally see its salvation. But the people rejected Him, and not only rejection, but they even condemned Him to death, death on the cross. That was exactly how the son of the owner was killed in cold blood by the tenants, because the tenants thought that they would be gaining the inheritance of the vineyard if they killed the son.

The same too happened to us, because in our pride and our stone-hearted nature, many of us rejected Christ and the truth He brought to us. The world itself is against the Lord, because the world is of the evil one, while Christ does not belong to the world, because He is holy as He is perfect. That is why the world also hates those who follow Christ, because those who follow Christ are not like those rebellious tenants. Because by following Christ, we are transformed, from those rebellious tenants in the Gospel we heard today, to the true tenants of the land, by following the way of the Lord.

Life will not be easy for the disciples of the Lord, just as the first reading today told us about Tobit, the Israelite exile, who grew wealthy in foreign lands, but yet, opposition was rampant all around him, and he faced the fact of that opposition directly when his son told him about an Israelite who was strangled on the roadside. That was yet another example on how the world, who represent the rebelliousness of those wayward tenants, hate Christ and those who hear His word and follow Him.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Charles Lwanga, a great missionary, who was also martyred for his faith. He did a lot of great work in evangelisation and conversion in his native Uganda, and was martyred for his conversion of Ugandans, whose king persecuted Christians whom he perceived as a threat to the society of the people at the time. St. Charles Lwanga remained faithful even unto death, and through his death, received the heavenly glory of sainthood through martyrdom.

Be courageous and strong, brothers and sisters in Christ, remember that Jesus told us that the owner will not stay silent, and will rise to destroy the evil tenants. Our God is a merciful and loving God, but He is also a just and good God, who dislikes all things evil. Therefore, the Lord will also rise on the last days, to destroy those whom persecuted God’s people. Remain faithful and remain in God’s grace, and He will reward us. Have the strong faith in God like St. Charles Lwanga had, and remain in His favour.

St. Charles Lwanga, pray for us. May God be with us and give us courage to fight against the evils of this world, and may all of us be good tenants of the vineyard of the Lord, responsible and just in our power and authority over what God has given to us. Amen.

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Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Archbishop Emeritus of Mechelen-Brussel (Belgium), turns 80, ceases to be a Cardinal-elector

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Today, Tuesday, 4 June 2013, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Cardinal-Priest of S. Anastasia, and Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of Mechelen-Brussel, Belgium, turns 80, and therefore, according to the rules written in the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, he loses his right to vote in any future conclave.

Cardinal Godfried Danneels was made Cardinal-Priest of S. Anastasia by Blessed Pope John Paul II in the 1983 Consistory of Cardinals on 2 February 1983, Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the second of his pontificate.

http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/data/cardJP2-2.htm#39

May God bless His Eminence Cardinal Danneels, with a blessed old age and health. May he remain strong in the faith and hopefully can perhaps still carry out the mission God had given him.

The College of Cardinals now stands at 205 members in total, with 112 Cardinal-electors and 93 Cardinal non-electors. There are now vacancy of 8 Cardinal-electors as compared to the maximum number of electors allowed in the Conclave of 120, although Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI had sometimes surpassed this limit.

Next Cardinal-elector to age out (80) will be Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of Santiago (Chile) on 5 September 2013.

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Monday, 3 June 2013 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Sts. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Mark 12 : 1-12

Using parables, Jesus went on to say, “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press and built a watch tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenants and went abroad. In due time, he sent a servant to receive from the tenants his share of the fruit. But they seized the servant, struck him and sent him back empty-handed.”

“Again the man sent another servant. They also struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent another and they killed him. In the same way they treated many others : some they beat up and others they killed. One was still left, his beloved son. And so, last of all, he sent him to the tenants, for he said, ‘They will respect my son.'”

“But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let’s kill him and the property will be ours.’ So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

And Jesus added, “Have you not read this text of the Scriptures : ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the keystone; this is the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it?'”

They wanted to arrest Him, for they realised that Jesus meant this parable for them, but they were afraid of the crowd; so they left Him and went away.