evangelisation

by

Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan, the Papabile

http://www.eitb.com/en/news/world/detail/1282802/candidates-new-pope–profile-cardinal-angelo-scola/

From the article (My commentary at the end) :

 

Election of new pope

Profile of Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan

APTN

03/11/2013

A conservative, and theologically close to both Pope Benedict and his predecessor John Paul II, Cardinal Scola is regarded as one of the leading European candidates to become Pope.

Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan.

Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan, shot to the top of a list of possible successors to Pope Benedict XVI almost immediately the resignation was announced.

A conservative, and theologically close to both Pope Benedict and his predecessor John Paul II, Cardinal Scola is regarded as one of the leading European candidates to become Pope.

Some observers tipped him to succeed after the death of John Paul II in 2005, but the conclave instead chose Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who became Benedict XVI, the 265th pope.

But if there was rivalry between the candidates in 2005, it had little effect on their close relationship, and Scola remained a favourite of Pope Benedict’s, who appointed the Cardinal archbishop of the Milan Diocese in June 2011.

In the small town of Malgrate on Lake Como in northern Italy, many of the 5,000 residents are backing their hometown boy to become Pope. Scola was born in Malgrate on 7 November 1941 to a truck driver and a homemaker.

He entered the priesthood in 1970, became a Cardinal in 2003, serving first as Patriarch of Milan until he was elevated to his current post of archbishop.

Scola’s cousin, Angelo Colombo, remembers that during World War II he would spend time at his cousin’s home because Scola’s father was a truck driver and could get access to flour and bread.

Colombo said he would go to Scola’s family home, and his aunt and the future Cardinal would always share their food. When he asked if he thought his cousin would make a good Pope, Colombo laughed and responded: “he was a tough boy”.

Scola spent the early years of his life in a small home on Malgrate’s Salita Sant’Antonio. Alfredo Cagliandi was a classmate of Cardinal Scola and lived in the apartment below him.

“We would invite Angelo to come and play and he would repeatedly respond ‘I am sorry, but I don’t have time.’  He was too busy because was already involved in something religious,” said Cagliandi, who still lives in Malgrate.

Scola spent the first two decades after his 1970 ordination in the lecture halls and libraries of renowned Catholic universities and theological training grounds, notably in Fribourg, Switzerland, and the Lateran Pontifical University in Rome.

While pursuing theological studies, Scola was involved in Communion and Liberation, a conservative Italian Catholic group which blends political activism with faith-based fervour as it seeks to make its weight felt in the country’s decision-making.

Back in Scola’s home town, the local priest Father Andrea Lotterio proudly showed off the baptismal font where he says the town’s babies are still baptised today, noting that Scola was baptised there in 1941.

Father Lotterio said Scola has pleased the residents of Malgrate by never losing his strong ties to his hometown. “He has maintained his relationships with many local citizens, with his friends, with his relatives,” Lotterio said. “So much so that in this town he is called Don Angelo, instead of Cardinal or Patriarch of Venice.”

Pope Benedict resigned as leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday, becoming the first pope in 600 years to resign. For the time being, the governance of the Catholic Church shifts to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the camerlengo, or chamberlain. Bertone, along with the College of Cardinals will guide the church and make plans for the conclave to elect the 266th leader within the next few weeks.

 

Commentary and additions:

Indeed, Cardinal Angelo Scola has many strengths and characteristics that we need as the new Pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church, the one and Universal Church. He does have his weaknesses, but his strengths more than made up for him. After all, it is human to have weaknesses and to make mistakes.

Cardinal Scola is media-savvy, able to reach out into the hearts of many, including youths and those in the world, who are longing for the Lord to come to them. Being media-savvy, and also internet-savvy, Cardinal Scola is not shy of using modern media tools, such as the internet, twitter, YouTube, his own site, and many other means to evangelise to the world, and to reach out, especially to youths.

Cardinal Scola also has a positive outlook and optimism in the Church, and indeed, instead of being pessimistic on the Church, and instead of looking at a Church in trouble, he dismissed all this, and all the lies that the media had brought about the Church, that the Church instead of being in chaos and trouble, is in fact growing, and filled with vibrant and strong faith and love in God, and Cardinal Scola has the capacity to tap into all these energies.

Cardinal Scola also came from a poorer family background, and he understood the plight of the poor and the less fortunate. His hometown people has often remembered him as someone who not only did not forget about where he came from, and where he was born, but also someone who constantly gives them his care and his love, in imitation of Christ and His care for the poor.

Cardinal Scola speaks Italian, English, French, and Spanish, and although his English is not that good, but he has quite a strong command of these languages, which are essential in the Pope’s ministry as the leader of the Universal Church.

Cardinal Scola’s initiatives to reach out to the Christians in the Holy Land and in other areas where Christians are minorities, and his involvement in interreligious dialogue and cooperation, and even with atheists, had been fruitful and crucial in strengthening Christians in the areas where they had been persecuted, and where persecutions are ongoing.

His experience in the Archdiocese of Milan, Patriarchate of Venice, and Diocese of Grosseto clearly showed that he is a pastoral leader with a humble and yet intellectual mind, that matches that of our beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Yet, his experiences in the Roman Curia too were many, with works as leader of Pontifical Institute of Marriage and the Family, which he also took a strong stand with the Church in the sanctity of both marriage and the family.

His intellect, knowledge, and publications especially in topics like bioethics, in the midst of the attacks against Church’s stand on bioethics, cloning, and contraceptions will be essential for the future leader of the Church, and his ability to connect and reach out to people, more than Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, will be valuable asset to have in the new Pope.

Nevertheless, now that the Conclave will begin soon, we continue to pray that God will pour His Holy Spirit on all the Cardinal-electors, that they can make a wise and inspired decision, to elect someone whom the Lord has chosen, as the best possible person to succeed His Apostle, Peter, and lead the whole Universal Church, that God Himself built in this world, to be the manifestation of His love, justice, and presence.

by

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.

by

Summary of the Third General Congregation of the College of Cardinals (Tuesday, 5 March 2013)

http://www.news.va/en/news/general-congregations-5-electors-yet-to-arrive

 

Here is a rough summary of what was concluded yesterday morning in the Third General Congregation of the College of Cardinals :

1. 110 Cardinal-electors are already in Rome by yesterday morning, only 5 more Cardinal-electors remaining to arrive.

2. No rush to fix the date of the Conclave, but it is still possible to begin by next Monday, 11 March 2013.

3. Sistine Chapel had been closed to public as of yesterday morning, Tuesday, 5 March 2013 to prepare for the Conclave.

4. 33 Cardinals had spoken so far and 11 interventions were made in yesterday’s General Congregation, with issues pertaining to activities of the Holy See and the Church, evangelisation, and many others.

5. Focus on the timeline of the Conclave as specified in the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis and the modifications made by the Motu Proprio Normas Nonnullas.

6. The Cardinals sent a thank-you letter to the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, now living in the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo.

by

Who to watch for in 2013 papal conclave? Scola, Ouellet, Ravasi, Scherer

Scola, Ouellet, Ravasi, Scherer, who you should watch for in the Conclave.

 

Scola (Cardinal Angelo Scola, Metropolitan Archbishop of Milan)

Italian, so that even though he’s not in Curia, he did have experience in Rome, and he is already close to Rome, both in distance and relations. Also close to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,
and he has also done great job in Venice and then Milan, in which
these two archdioceses alone produced 5 popes in the past century

Only Pope Benedict XV and Pope Pius XII were not from these (excluding Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI)

Venice : Pius X, John XXIII, John Paul I
Milan : Pius XI, Paul VI

Also at the forefront of communication with Islam through the publications Oasis he created to reach out to Christians in the Muslim world, and involved in interreligious dialogues.

Scola is also more charismatic than Ouellet and also active in the media via youtube, twitter, his site.

Scola is also a well-known author in bioethics, and certainly is a trait needed for a Pope that will lead the Church in its constant battle against the improper use of Science. Yes to an ethical science, but no to unbridled and uncontrolled use of science!

If the conclave proceeds smoothly, he should be the one elected Pope, within 2 or 3 days from the start of the conclave.

 

Ouellet (Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops)

In the Roman Curia and in charge of the bishops, but with the problem is that his archdiocesan experience is not that good, and the story has come out that the very church and parish we was born into, was no longer there, which is shameful considering the rate of secularisation in the west. Formerly he was the Metropolitan Archbishop of Quebec in Canada.

But so far he has done quite a good job, and quite in line with Pope Benedict XVI, by appointing bishops who are not only known to be good administrators, but more importantly, bishops who are holy, and are steadfast in their faith, with individuals like Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia and Cardinal Tagle of Manila as example.

 

Ravasi (Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of Pontifical Council for Culture)

Ravasi is the forefront in how the Church communicates with social issues and the media, and he has been quite active in twitter, more so than Scola, but his administrative skill has been found rather lacking, since he has only five or six years experience as a bishop and never had any experience in handling major archdioceses or dioceses.

At least Cardinal Ravasi will sure make good use of the social media to help evangelise the faith to many, especially youths. But at the moment, we will also need candidate who are more experienced in administration as well, especially considering the troubles that had befallen the Church in recent years due to some inefficiencies in administration.

 

Scherer (Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, Metropolitan Archbishop of Sao Paulo)

Scherer is rather conservative and as a Latin American, this may boost his chances, but he is quite young and he is not familiar with the curia and with still a relatively short experience as a senior prelate, he needs more experience in managing important archdioceses and other administrative matters.

In addition, the status of Brazil as a country, although having the largest Catholic population in the world, but the rapidly declining number of Catholics in the country as a percentage of the population and the rapidly growing secularisation in the country (also affect the rest of Latin America) may also affect his chances.

 

In fact, this time round, just as it was with the election of Pope Benedict XVI, now our Pope Emeritus, we does have a clear leading papabili, and the number of papabili is in fact not as many as the media mentioned it.

It will not be like the election of Pope John XXIII when there is no clear preferred papabili present, which resulted in the election of Cardinal Angelo Roncalli, later Pope John XXIII as the compromise choice.

by

Why did Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI relinquished the Papacy? (My personal opinion)

In my personal opinion, why our beloved Pope Benedict XVI, now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, had decided to step down from his position and relinquish the Papacy, is because of three main factors and events that potentially play major roles in shaping his decision. All of these factors are tied to the first factor, that is his health.

 

Here are the three factors and events that in my opinion made our Pope Emeritus did what he had done :

 

1. Health : The Pope’s failing health due to his old age is likely the main reason why he had decided to relinquish the Papacy. Although indeed, he is now at 85 being much more vigorous as compared to Blessed Pope John Paul II’s last years, but as the Pope has great tasks to be done, for the sake of the Lord, and His people, Pope Benedict chose humility and step aside for someone else to take over the good works he had started.

He realised that his increasing difficulty in walking, most likely due to osteoarthritis and the problems with his vision will eventually impair him and preventing him from exercising his ministry as the Bishop of Rome. It has also been reported that Pope Benedict too suffers from Parkinson’s, although likely a mild one or one that is still at an early stage. This disease is well known for the one that debilitated Blessed Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict, being very close to the previous Pope, would really want to avoid another of many years of debilitation, where the Pope instead of leading directly the Church, had to delegate most of his works due to his disabilities. It is a matter of choice of course. Blessed John Paul II chose to persevere to show us how suffering for the sake of the Lord is like, and our beloved Benedict XVI stepped down to show us what humility and virtue is like.

 

2. WYD (World Youth Day) 2013 : The World Youth Day has been scheduled to occur in July 2013. It would have been in 2014, but because it will be held in Brazil, which will host the World Cup event in 2014, it was decided to hold the World Youth Day a year earlier. As the Pope’s health has made doctors to advise him strongly against transatlantic and difficult journeys, which would have limited him from visiting any countries outside of Europe, or even Italy in the coming years.

In 2012, his visits had been limited to Mexico, Cuba, and Lebanon, with only two major visits as opposed to the usual four or five visits per year, a clear sign that the Pope’s health is increasingly frail to travel far beyond Rome. As the World Youth Day 2013 will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, it is also possible that our beloved Benedict XVI chose to step aside that a more capable and vigorous new Pope can go instead to the event, that the new Pope can fully lead the event without the disabilities that increasingly had debilitated our beloved Benedict XVI.

 

3. Asia, the Church in Asia : Although Pope Benedict XVI had been known as someone who is particularly very attentive to the problems that the Church is facing in Europe and the West in general, which resulted in his numerous visits to the countries mostly in Europe, but he has also made several visits to countries in Latin America and Africa. Many would have criticised him for leaving out Asia, as although Middle Eastern countries like Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Israel had been visited rather often in his short pontificate, but he had yet to visit South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, where the Church, just as in Africa, had been growing very, very rapidly.

The Pope in fact, loved the Church in Asia, particularly the Church in China, which he had tirelessly worked at, in order that the believers in Christ there can be fully reintegrated into the One Body of the Universal Church, free from any form of external and governmental interventions.

Azerbaijan in Central Asia, was the last country in Central Asia visited by a Pope in 2002. But to truly look into Asia, we should go deeper into South Asia, that is India, and further east. The last time a Pope visited India and South Asia was in 1999 or 14 years ago, and the last time a Pope visited Southeast Asia was in 1995 (World Youth Day 1995, Manila, Philippines) or 18 years ago; and for East Asia, the last Papal visit was to Korea in 1989 or 24 years ago.

Several countries in Asia such as Singapore, Indonesia, Korea, Philippines, and some other Asian countries had also been graced with Papal visits only once or twice in the entire history of the Church, also owing to the recent expansion of the Church to Asia and that only beginning with Pope Paul VI, that the Pope began to travel again outside Rome and Italy after quite some time. Therefore, due to Pope Benedict XVI’s love for the Church, both in the elder Europe and the younger Church in Asia, and already that his debilitation had made him difficult to make transatlantic visits, including the upcoming World Youth Day in Brazil, but a travel plan to Asia would have made it much more difficult.

A younger and healthier Pope therefore will be able to visit Asia (South, Southeast, East Asia) perhaps as early as this year or next year, 2014. This is however not to say that an Asian Pope will be elected, just yet. The time has not come yet in this election for an Asian Pope. Only in the next election, which hopefully will be held in about a decade from now or more, that the first Asian Pope may be possibly elected.

 

In the end, it is Pope Benedict XVI’s love for God, and God’s people in the Church that made him to decide to step aside for the good of the Church and the good of God’s mission in this world. However, this is not at all interpreted that it will be permanently so or that such a stepping down will be customary for the Popes. The Papacy is not an office, and not an institution, which for example like the Archbishop of Canterbury of the Anglicans, which is rotated after every number of years in manner akin to the secular and the worldly prime ministers and presidents. No, the Bishop of Rome’s position, as Christ’s only Vicar on this world is far beyond that. Only the Pope himself can decide when and if he will resign at all, and only in extreme cases should this be done.

Let us all pray therefore for our beloved Pope Emeritus, His Holiness Benedict XVI, that God will continue to look after him in his retirement, that through his new life dedicated in prayer, he can lead the Church with the new Pope, his successor, whom we also pray for, to fight against the evils of this world. We also pray for those who attack the Pope, the institution of our Church, and those who attack the faithful in Christ, that first we forgive them, and ask the Lord to enlighten their hearts, that they will learn the truth about His Church and its teachings, that they too will believe and be saved through the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

May God bless all of us, bless His One and Universal Church, and bless the whole world. Amen!

by

Sunday, 10 February 2013 : 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time and Chinese New Year (Scripture Reflection)

We have seen today, that the Lord is everything for us, and He loves, and cares for us deeply. There is no other being with greater love. He provided for us in our daily lives, He guided us, taught us, and blessed us with abundance. That we have enough but not excessive, so that we may live comfortably, but not be ensnared by the lures of money and therefore greed.

As today, Chinese around the world celebrate Chinese New Year, the most important day in the whole Chinese calendar year, let us reflect on the readings today, with regards on the matter of blessing and prosperity, on which Chinese New Year frequently base itself on. On Chinese New Year, we Chinese visit one another in the family and relatives, and bring one another the spirit of joy and love. The day is a celebration of life, and of love, through the family blessed by God with ample goods and graces. This is what we should remember on this festive Chinese New Year day, and not instead, the culture of materialism, that increasingly become more and more common amongst Chinese, and people around the world in general.

Chinese New Year has often been associated with wealth, prosperity, money, auspiciousness, and lavishness, with lavish reunion dinners, lavish new clothings, and concerns about etiquette while visiting one another. In today’s modern world, intense commercialisation and materialism has led to Chinese New Year celebrations to become increasingly elaborate. This also applies to other types of celebrations around the world, which are becoming increasingly commercialised and with focus placed much on the glamour and glitz instead of the true meaning of the celebrations themselves.

Jesus reminded us today, that God as our Father has given us everything that we need, and that He as the Ultimate Judge of all life too, has the life of all creation known and measured, without our knowledge of these. Indeed, no matter how much wealth we accumulate in this life on earth, how many houses, cars, or even private jets we have, ultimately, when we die, we will not bring these with us. What we instead bring with us is just ourselves, our soul. Will you rather choose to be wealthy in this world and then judged unworthy by the Lord in the end? To suffer separation from Him all eternity, out of which there is no hope? Or would you rather to be not so wealthy in this world, but build up spiritual wealth instead, and be richly rewarded by God for your meaningful life filled with actions out of love for others and God?

Do not however, be mistaken. God does not hate or condemn wealth and money, and indeed, naturally, we need those to support ourselves, our own families, and to live rather comfortably. However, the main point is, not to be mastered by these instead of us mastering them. We must take charge of our wealth, and whenever we can, try to share some with the less fortunate.

Unfortunately, in our present day world, as it had happened in the past as well, many people guard their treasures with greed and jealousy, without even thinking of others in need. Many concern themselves everyday on the pursuit of gathering more wealth, buying more luxury goods, possessing more cars and other amenities, until to the point that they are actually mastered and enslaved by wealth, instead of the other way around.

Wealth is not everything indeed, and although it is essential, we Christians should heed the message in the readings today, to know how to feel ‘enough’, to know the ‘limit’ of our wishes, and to know how to be satisfied. We should look at others around us, when we are engrossed in our pursuit of wealth and prosperity, so excessive that we neglect even to look around. There are many others amongst us who are not so fortunate, and these people are already very thankful when they even have enough to eat for the day, and there are even those who do not have enough.

One may then ask, isn’t the Lord saying that He provides enough for all of us everyday? Then why are there these people who beg? Why are there people who hunger? Why then there are people who still die of neglect and poverty? This is because, the Lord does His work, through us, through His children, and Jesus taught us in the Scripture to give thanks to God for what we receive, and to share them with our fellow brothers and sisters in God.

It is we who ought to open our ‘granaries’ of food and ‘banks’ of wealth to share some of excesses we have, which we do not need, with those who cannot afford them. Remember, the Lord does not disdain or hate wealth, it is just that He wants all of us to live happily in love, sharing our joy together, sharing our sorrow together, in a community based in the faith in the Lord, who gives enough to all everyday, without the need to worry.

The poor no longer will need to worry about what they will survive on tomorrow, and whether their children will be taken care of properly, and the rich will also no longer need to worry about what investment to make tomorrow, where to profit on tomorrow, and what car or what property to buy tomorrow. Do as you always do, and work as you have always worked, but do not make yourselves slaves to your career and to whatever you are doing. Rather, always remember the Lord in all things that we do, and make Him the centre of our lives. We will realise that once we put God into all things that we do, we will no longer desire more and more, and will be satisfied with whatever blessings and generous gifts God has given us.

Let us therefore, in this Chinese New Year celebration, renew the commitment to love one another, and not just within one’s family, but also to others beyond that, for we are all one family in Christ. While we party, drink, and eat much food, remember always in our prayers those who are less fortunate. Whatever excesses we have in our celebration, let us pass them to them, that they too will be able to joyfully participate in the celebration. Let us be inclusive as the Lord wants us to be, and not be greedy and exclusive.

All said, as the other readings show us, we still have our missions to fulfill, namely to reach out to others who have yet to listen to the Word of God and the Good News, and that is why Christ told His disciples on the boat to go out and put the net out to the deep. So far, we have caught the ‘fish’ on the surface and those who are near, but there are many who are located deeper and farther away from the love of God, who are yet caught by us.

Christ made Simon the fisherman into Peter the fisher of man, and so did He make the other Apostles fishers of men. This mission, reiterated by Christ after His resurrection, to go out to all the nations and deliver to them the Good News of the Lord, and baptise them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, is still true today, and all of us Christians, should also reach out further and deeper, to those amongst us, who are yet to receive the grace of the Word of God.

Do not worry that we cannot do this mission as Christ asked us to. Remember that God provides everything for us, and He will provide all that we need to do our mission. We can begin simply with our own lives, to live a life of love and faith to God, such that we become such a shining beacon of goodness, that others will come to us, and through us, God will make His wonderful work, and the Word of God will be brought to all mankind, even through just one faithful and dedicated disciple of the Lord.

Let us be fishers of men, just like the Apostles, beginning from ourselves, and even our own families. I myself came from a non-Christian family background, and although my mother is a Catholic, but my father is not, and he was a very staunch follower of his own beliefs. It is not easy to bring the Word of God, the Good News to everyone, but we can begin indeed in showing that God is Love, and through His Spirit, that our own actions will be filled with love and all, even those who do not yet believe in God, will believe in Him, through us, and our actions.

May God bless all of us on this wonderful day, and bless all the Chinese people throughout the world celebrating this magnificent Chinese New Year, and remind us always that on top of the parties and the celebrations that we have, we also have a mission to do, that is to share the Good News to all, and indeed, to share the joy, happiness, and blessings that we receive, particularly on this festive moment, with those who have little or none. God bless us all, and bless His holy Church! Amen.

by

Friday, 1 February 2013 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Jesus mentioned plenty about seeds and how they grow today, just as in the days prior, in the readings He mentioned the parable of the sower, where the sower spreads the seeds onto different kinds of soil, and in the end only those that fall on the rich soil will grow and produce yield thirty, sixty, and hundredfold. So does too our faith, which in the beginning is just like a small seed, once nurtured and grown, will grow into a large tree just like the mustard tree.

Therefore, never be afraid of showing your faith to God, since no matter how small it is, what matters is that we truly put our trust in Him, and love Him with all our hearts, our souls, and our minds. If we truly put our faith in God who is faithful to us, He will reward us with great blessings and graces, that will allow our faith to grow ever stronger, and ever more vibrant, just like those seeds. In the first reading, again we see the importance of living our faith, and transforming our faith into real practice, that is doing the will of God.

What is the will of God? Well, Jesus Himself said, what you have done to the least of these, you have done it for Me. When we do our best to help those who are weak, those who are sorrowed, those who are lonely, those who are ostracised, those who are abused, and those who are rejected, we have done the will of God, and we shall be saved. To be saved is not just to be faithful in God, but also therefore to put it into practice in our daily lives.

Just as it was said in the letter to the Hebrews in the first reading that we are not among those who withdraw and perish, but among those who believe and win personal salvation, hence, let us not withdraw from those around us who need the love of God, which we can channel through ourselves, as we ourselves, if we are truly faithful, we have felt and seen the love of God. It is through us, through our speech and our hands that the Lord made His great works and love manifest in our world today. Many people still suffer and many are still in slavery of sin and evil.

Therefore, let us all, brothers and sisters in Christ, take up this mission, to bring God’s Good News to all who yearn to hear it, to bring God’s love and comfort to the sorrowful and to those who suffer, and to bring redemption to those who have fallen into the darkness of evil and sin. Do not let fear, laziness, and inaction to stop us in our works, in our mission to nurture our faith, through our mission and our good deeds in the name of God, and by doing God’s will, our seed of faith will blossom, and from the least of all seeds, indeed we can become the greatest of all in faith.

But do not let this come to competition, but rather, support each other and help one another to nurture each other’s faith. May God bless us all this day and all the days of our life, that our faith may be strengthened ever through our actions in His Holy Name. Amen.

by

The Church and our Faith, with the Social Media, for New Evangelisation

http://www.ucanews.com/news/young-catholic-turns-the-internet-into-a-campaigning-tool/67249

(“We Catholics, no matter how rich or poor we are, are equal in God’s eyes,” he said. “God works through Facebook. He changes something virtual into something real. This is God’s call to me.”)

Yes, the social media can be a great tool for evangelisation, and also for the spreading of the good works of the Lord, which through our hands and our effort, we can make God’s power manifest in our world.

Let us strengthen our faith by sharing it with one another through the social media, and use it as a proper platform to gain attention to those who are especially in need of help.

Youths are the future of the Church, and we have to make sure that all Catholic and indeed all Christian youths, to be protected from the evil influences on the social media, simply by ensuring that they are also exposed to good influences of the Church through the same social media.

https://www.facebook.com/gerejakatolik

by

Thursday, 24 January 2013 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor (Scripture Reflection)

Once again, we focus on Jesus as our High Priest in today’s readings, and how He as the High Priest, offered Himself, once and for all, which we witness in our celebration of the Holy Mass, the Sacrifice offered by the priests, united and one, and the same as the Sacrifice of Christ on the cross. While the priests of the Jewish people of the past were humans, and sinners like us, they too have to offer the sacrifices of animals to God for their own sins too, as they are not like Christ, who as the High Priest, and the perfect priest, is sinless, although He is just as human as we are, just as He is God.

Christ also offered the best that He had, just as Abel offered the best of his animals as sacrifice to God. While the offering of the priests can be compared to the offering of Cain, who offered grains, an imperfect offering in the eyes of God, and the priests of the Old Testament offered animals and their blood, while physically unblemished as ordered by the Law, they were imperfect, as they had to be repeated, and did not cover sins of all, did not serve all purposes.

But like Abel, who offered his very best to God, Christ, offered Himself, the very Lamb of God, and God Himself, whose Precious Blood is the only worthy sacrifice to redeem ALL mankind from their sins, once and for all. Through the Holy Mass that we should frequently participate in, we take part in Christ’s Sacrifice, and partake His Precious Body and Blood, that all of us truly take Christ into ourselves, and our beings become God’s Holy Temple. But, Christ’s offering is not just Himself and His being, as the Psalm clearly demonstrates the point. It is Christ’s ultimate and perfect obedience to God’s will, and His heart which is ever directed towards the Father, that He fulfills the will of God, that all of mankind can be saved from the slavery of sin and death. And who is more worthy of worship, than God who just like Abraham, willingly sacrificed His own Son, out of His love for us, that we too can be reunited with Him again in Heaven?

For the most important thing is not only the act and the externals of our being, but even more important is our hearts, whether we truly direct them towards the Lord, and the Lord alone, and to obey the will and the teachings of the Lord, as Jesus has taught us. This is why it is important to read the Scripture, and understand the very commandments of love that Jesus has given us, as the perfection of the Law and the Commandments of God. Let us therefore, align our hearts to God, lift up our hearts to the Lord, and always keep Him in our hearts, in whatever we do, wherever we are, and at all times.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_de_Sales

Today we also celebrate the Feast of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. He is the patron saint of journalists and the press, and today is also the 47th anniversary of World’s Communications Day, in honor of St. Francis de Sales and his patronage. St. Francis de Sales was a very faithful and a very gentle priest, who eventually became Bishop of Geneva and wrote many books on the tenets of the faith. His deep faith and wisdom was made evident through his books, which influenced many even long after his death in 1622. He spearheaded many evangelism campaigns to return many Protestants in his time back into the true faith of the Church, and through his great preaching abilities and faith, many returned to the Church.

We may think that it is difficult to evangelise to others, especially those who are strangers to us. But let us begin from the place nearest to us, within our own families, and with our friends. We may be surprised to find that there are many people close to us, who are still in the darkness, and truly yearn to learn about God, to find God, and to reach out to Him. Let us not shut our ears to them, and let us gently approach them, just as St. Francis de Sales had done, to bring the Word of God to those who hunger, and to bring them into full understanding of the faith in God.

Communication requires at least two people, and we cannot just keep the faith to ourselves. Let us therefore today, renew the commitment to share our faith with others, that everyone too can be closer to God as we are, and together, we will worship Him, who is our High Priest, who through His great obedience to His Father, and through His offering of Himself, we are all promised of eternal life, as long as we remain true to Him. Amen.

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.