disease

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Wednesday, 5 February 2014 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red (Martyrs)

2 Samuel 24 : 2, 9-17

The king said to Joab and the commanders of the army who were with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and count the people that I may know how many they are.”

Joab gave the total count of the people to the king : eight hundred thousand sword-wielding warriors in Israel and five hundred thousand men in Judah. But after he had the people counted, David felt remorse and said to YHVH, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done, but now, o YHVH, I ask You to forgive my sin for I have acted foolishly.”

The following day, before David awoke, YHVH’s word had come to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, “Go, and give David this message : I offer you three things and I will let one of them befall you according to your own choice.”

So Gad went to David and asked him, “Do you want three years of famine in your land? Or do you want to be pursued for three months by your foes while you flee from them? Or do you want three days’ pestilence in your land? Now, think and decide what answer I shall give Him who sent me.”

David answered Gad, “I am greatly troubled. Let me fall into the hands of YHVH whose mercy is abundant; but let me not fall into human hands.” So YHVH sent a pestilence on Israel from morning until the appointed time, causing the death of seventy thousand men from Dan to Beersheba.

When the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, YHVH would punish no more and said to the angel who was causing destruction among the people, “It is enough, hold back your hand.” The angel of YHVH was already at the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite.

When David saw the angel striking the people, he spoke to YHVH and said, “I have sinned and acted wickedly, but these are only the sheep; what have they done? Let Your hand strike me and my father’s family.”

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Sunday, 15 December 2013 : Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or Rose (Gaudete Sunday)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today is Gaudete Sunday, or Joyful Sunday, where ‘Gaude’ or ‘Joy’ is the spirit of the day. We celebrate today, even as we anticipate the coming of Christ in this Advent season, the joy of the coming of Christ Himself. That is why, if you see the priests and the colour used today in the liturgy is rose, to signify this joy, the joy of the coming of the Messiah.

And today’s readings rightly reflect this nature of joy. That all creation ought to rejoice at the coming of Christ into the world. The world was in darkness and yet light has come into it, and made everything illuminated once again in the light of God. Jesus came and during His ministry in this world, He performed many miracles, healing the sick, touching the lepers, curing them, and making the lame walk, making the blind see once again.

You can just imagine the joy that these people experience, as their afflictions were removed by the power of God. For many of us, who are well endowed with excellent health and good life, it may not be easy for us to imagine the joy that these people experienced. Yet, let us take some time to think, to reflect, and to appreciate what we have around us, all of which are the gifts and graces of God.

We have beautiful environment around us, the wondrous mountains and valleys, rivers, lakes, and seas, the beauty of flowers and plants, the shining glory of the sun, the marvel of the moon and stars at night, and many other wonders of God’s creations in this world. We can enjoy all these, because we have normal and healthy vision, good eyes with which we can see all of these wonders and marvel at them.

Yet, what if our sight was taken from us? What if we could no longer see? The light that we see around us will be no more, and everything will be dark, truly dark. Imagine the suffering of those who had been born blind. They do not know what is light, because they never see light. They have known only darkness all their lives, and they do not know what are mountains, flowers, moon, stars, and others, because what they knew of them, is only what has been told to them, but they cannot directly know what they actually look like.

When Jesus opened their eyes, and light for the first time poured into them, imagine the joy experienced by those whose sight were restored. They could see again, and could marvel at God’s creations around them, seeing things they have never seen before. God did not leave them in darkness, and neither did He leave those who suffer in their suffering. Through Christ they were renewed and given new life of glory in Him.

How is this then relevant to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? Precisely because we too are people afflicted, with illness. We may think that we are free from any afflictions, illnesses and defects, because externally and scientifically we are clean from any physical defects, but in fact all of us has a defect in us. A very serious and dangerous defect indeed. A defect that if we do not correct it, will drag us into eternal suffering, one that is without end.

Yes, I think all of you somehow have gotten what I am trying to say. We are all afflicted with sin, the evil of sin. Ever since mankind rebelled and disobeyed the will and the laws of the Lord, we have ever been imperfect, tainted with the defect of sin within each one of us. Sin has afflicted us, and we are ill with it. The Lord came to heal all, including all of us. And the greatest of His healing came about when He took up His final mission, lifted up on the cross with all of our sins that He bore upon Himself.

Healing us from our sinful afflictions is the greatest joy that we can ever enjoy, and this is what Christ came into our world for, His divine mission, to fulfill the long-planned salvation that God had prepared for all of us. That is also the true message of Christmas, that is the joy in the coming of the One, who took it upon Himself to be born as one of us, and to eventually be the One who brought true joy, through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead.

Today is Gaudete Sunday, as we rejoice in the joy of the expectation of the coming of Jesus our Lord. This is why even though in this Advent season, where we are in a state of subdued celebration, in a preparation period before Christmas, this Sunday, the colour used is rose instead of the usual purple or violet, to signify this joy of Christmas, the joy in Christ that we celebrate.

What is this joy of Christmas that I had mentioned? This is not the joy of the secular Christmas celebrations that we have outside, in our malls and shopping centres. The joy of Christmas is not about the parties and revelries that accompany it. The joy of Christmas is not about the feast and the meal that we usually have on Christmas, with our family members. The joy of Christmas is not about buying new clothes and exchanging gifts. Neither does Christmas mean Christmas trees and Santa Claus for sure!

The joyous occasions and events that I had mentioned above are part of our celebrations, our human way to show our gladness and happiness for the true joy of Christmas. And yes, that true joy of Christmas, is about Christ. It is all about Christ and none other. The Lord who came into this world as a baby, and the same Lord who would give His own life for us, to heal us, and bring us into eternal glory, is the true joy of Christmas.

Therefore brothers and sisters, as we approach even closer to Christmas, to the celebration of the coming of our Lord, have we made Christ to be truly at the centre of our celebrations? Have we made Him as the focus of our joy this Christmas? If we have done so, then well done. It means that we have gotten what it means to celebrate the joy of Christmas, and it means that the true joy of all joy, will be ours. God bless us all with a wonderful Christmas joy. Amen!

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Wednesday, 13 November 2013 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brethren in Christ, today we listen again to the healing miracle of the ten lepers by the power of Christ our Lord. The Lord has authority over all things, as the Lord and Creator of all things in this universe. He alone has the power to alter everything as He saw fit. He had come down to us in Jesus His Son, to bring about concrete change to all of us, reaching out to us all as we are all in one way or another, sick.

Yes, we are sick, and we are ill, brethren! Not the illness of the physique or those that are visible to the eyes, but the illness that is inside our souls. This is what Christ had come to us to cure. For physical illnesses and diseases can have many cures but for this illness of the soul, there is only one and only cure, that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus, as He Himself had said, came especially for the sick and for those who are downtrodden. And yes, we are all sickened, brothers and sisters, and this sickness, that is of our soul, is the illness of sin. Yes, sin is our suffering and the pain that had infected us, affected us, and made us all unworthy before God our Lord.

Sin is a leprosy, yes the most terrible form of leprosy indeed, that is the leprosy of the soul. All of us have sinned at one point of our lives, and indeed, even from day to day we have sinned and inflict on ourselves more and more of this leprosy. And just like leprosy, sin spread like disease, affecting all of us, corrupting the health of our souls. Sin has no bounds and it affects everything.

Yet, unlike our diseases of the body, which inflicts physical pain and suffering to us, which none of us would certainly like, sin is often enjoyable and even attractive to many of us, that we are constantly always tempted to commit sin in our daily lives. That is why, sin is so dangerous, and we all ought to be careful, lest we all fall into corruption of sin.

The Lord Jesus came to us to heal us from this affliction, just as He showed His power by healing the lepers, the paralysed, those with physical debilitation, as those with spiritual illness, as those whose demons He had cast out. But often, we are too proud to admit our sinfulness and indeed, this illness, this leprosy of our souls. We are like those portrayed by the Book of Wisdom in our first reading as the proud and the mighty, those who do not bend their knees to acknowledge our Lord, the Master of all.

We are also often like the nine other lepers, the ones who did not return to Jesus after knowing that they have been healed. Jesus did not ask them to give Him thanks or worship Him for what He had done, but yet the one leper, the Samaritan, returned and give thanks and glory to God. For he knew that it is God who is the One with the power and authority, healing him from the leprosy that had affected him.

We are often like the nine other lepers, because we are often too immersed in our joy and happiness, when we received good things from God, that we failed to give Him thanks for all the blessings He had granted us. We often even give glory to ourselves and praise ourselves instead of God. That is what happened to the nine other lepers, that they were so engaged in their happiness, that they dashed off back to their old lives without stopping and use the chance to thank God as the Samaritan had done.

Nevertheless, brethren, we must not think that God does not want us to be happy, as what He wants from us is merely our love for Him. It is only right and just that we thank Him for the multitudes that He had given us. Not the least of which, is the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. It is the greatest gift God had given us mankind, because in Jesus, we are saved and given a new lease of life, and He did this precisely by striking against that leprosy of the soul, that is sin!

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us take time to reflect, whether for the many good things God had given us, we have thanked Him properly for them. God does not need us to utter a long litany of thanks, as what He truly needs is, none other than our love, and our wholehearted dedication to Him. May the Lord who loves us dearly, continue to bless us and watch over us, as we grow in His love. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 9 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Saints Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Matthew 9 : 32-38

When they had just left, some people brought to Jesus a man who was dumb, because he was possessed by a demon. When the demon was driven out, the dumb man began to speak. The crowds were astonished and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

But the Pharisees said, “He drives away demons with the help of the prince of demons.”

Jesus went around all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom, and He cured every sickness and disease. When He saw the crowds, He was moved with pity, for they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are only few. Ask the Master of the harvest to send workers to gather His harvest.”

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Friday, 21 June 2013 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Matthew 6 : 19-23

Do not store up treasures for yourself here on earth, where moth and rust destroy it, and where thieves can steal it. Store up treasures for yourself with God, where no moth or rust can destroy it, nor thief come and steal it.

For where your treasures is, there also your heart will be. The lamp of the body is the eye; if your eyes are sound, your whole body will be in the light. If your eyes are diseased, your whole body will be in darkness. Then, if your light has become darkness, how dark will be the darkest part of you!