fall of mankind

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Sunday, 9 March 2014 : 1st Sunday of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s readings, we see how the ‘old’ Adam and the ‘new’ Adam are compared to each other. You may be asking, why is there two Adams? That is because, Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, is the new Adam who came to rectify the faults and mistakes committed by the first Adam, as what he had done in the Book of Genesis.

In the readings, we see the clear contrast between the two Adams. The first Adam, our first ancestor, fell to the temptation of Satan with Eve, and they disobeyed God’s will by eating the forbidden fruit of knowledge, thinking that they might become like God as the devil spoke to them about. Yet Christ, as the new Adam, did the exact opposite, refusing to listen to the sweet lies of the devil and firmly held onto the faith in God His Father.

Yes, how right it is when it is said that because of the first Adam, every single one of humanity, including all of us have been condemned to a life in difficulty on this earth, and a life that is subjected to the power of death because of the disobedience of our ancestors. Initially, because of the disobedience of the first Adam, we were also destined for doom and destruction, which were our due for our disobedience, but all that was changed with Christ, the new Adam.

In Christ, the new Adam, mankind was made anew. Christ our Lord became one of us, the sons and daughters of Adam, that through His perfect obedience to the will of God and the total rebuke and refusal to follow the ways of Satan, He had made all of us anew, and bring us into the light of God. As the new Adam, He broke free the fetters and chains holding us, that is the sin of the first Adam, our ancestor.

Adam and his wife, Eve, the first two mankind to be created by the Lord, showed us the things that we are vulnerable to, when the devil came and offers us things that are contrary to the goodness and to the will of God. And the temptation of Jesus in the desert by the devil further highlighted the many vulnerabilities that the devil may attack us, to tempt us away from the salvation in God.

Yes, brethren, even though Jesus through His death had liberated us from the chains of original sin, that is the sin of the first Adam, that tainted all mankind until the moment when Christ broke free that chain of sin as the new Adam, the progenitor of new life of man, the devil can still attack us and as he always does, he tries at every moment to bring us away from the salvation offered through the new Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ.

The temptations which Christ went through can show us the venues through which the devil may strike at us. The devil can strike at our desires, our greed and desire for things like food, as in the first temptation of Jesus. He can also strike at our ego and our desire and affinity for praise, and that was the second temptation of Jesus.

And lastly, the temptation of power and glory, which he may strike us with, is one of the most dangerous, which he made in the last of his three attempts to tempt Jesus. All of these he can utilise to break us and bend us to his ways. It is easy for us to fall if we do not prepare ourselves well. The devil has many tools in his disposal to trap us and make us fall.

Do not think that we can also use the Scriptures to ward off his attacks, if we are unprepared. The devil himself quoted from the Scripture passages when he tried to tempt Jesus! If he did so before, then certainly if we are unprepared, then we will be more vulnerable to the devil’s attacks. We have to prepare ourselves, by deepening our faith in God, and strengthening our devotion to Him.

Yes, brethren, we need to strengthen our faith, the shield of our souls, that we will not fall to the tricks of the devil. Our faith should be firm like the faith of Jesus. It is not easy, brothers and sisters, as the devil will be merciless and relentless in his attacks. We need to strengthen ourselves, and reject the alluring temptations of Satan, rejecting the false pleasures that he may offer us.

This is because the joy and pleasures he offers us are just temporary and illusionary in nature. They are pleasures that gives happiness briefly for a moment, and later on may bring about great sorrow and suffering. And ultimately, if we want to gain these false promises from Satan, we will have to serve and pay him our obedience.

Brethren, we cannot have two masters, either we serve the Lord or Satan, we have to make a decisive and concrete choice. And if we serve Satan we all should know that for a brief moment of joy and pleasure, we will suffer for eternity with the devil. Serving the Lord will not be easy, and there will be challenges awaiting us.

Therefore, let us from now on, seek the Lord with all of our strength. Do not be complacent in our faith but keep our faith living and strong, by devoting ourselves genuinely and sincerely to God, giving out our love to Him and to our fellow mankind. Be faithful brethren, and be strong always, against the evil one! Amen.

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Sunday, 9 March 2014 : 1st Sunday of Lent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Romans 5 : 12-19

Therefore, sin entered the world through one man and through sin, death, and later on death spread to all humankind, because all sinned. As long as there was no law, they could not speak of disobedience, but sin was already in the world. This is why from Adam to Moses death reigned among them, although their sin was not disobedience as in Adam’s case – this was not the true Adam, but foretold the Other who was to come.

Such has been the fall, but God’s gift goes far beyond. All died because of the fault of one man, but how much more does the grace of God spread when the gift He granted reaches all, from this unique Man Jesus Christ. Again, there is no comparison between the gift and the offense of one man. The disobedience that brought condemnation was of one sinner, whereas the grace of God brings forgiveness to a world of sinners.

If death reigned through the disobedience of one and only one person, how much more will there be a reign of life for those who receive the grace and the gift of true righteousness through the one person, Jesus Christ.

Just as one transgression brought sentence of death to all, so, too, one man’s good act has brought justification and light to all; and as the disobedience of only one made all sinners, so the obedience of one person allowed all to be made just and holy.

 

Alternative Reading (shorter version)

 

Romans 5 : 12, 17-19

Therefore, sin entered the world through one man and through sin, death, and later on death spread to all humankind, because all sinned.

If death reigned through the disobedience of one and only one person, how much more will there be a reign of life for those who receive the grace and the gift of true righteousness through the one person, Jesus Christ.

Just as one transgression brought sentence of death to all, so, too, one man’s good act has brought justification and light to all; and as the disobedience of only one made all sinners, so the obedience of one person allowed all to be made just and holy.

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Sunday, 9 March 2014 : 1st Sunday of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Genesis 2 : 7-9 and Genesis 3 : 1-7

Then YHVH God formed Man, dust drawn from the clay, and breathed into his nostrils a breath of life and Man became alive with breath. God planted a garden in Eden in the east and there He placed Man whom He had created. YHVH. God caused to grow from the ground every kind of tree that is pleasing to see and good to eat, also the tree of Life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Now the serpent was the most crafty of all the wild creatures that YHVH God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say : You must not eat from any tree in the garden?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden, but of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden God said : You must not eat, and you must not touch it or you will die.”

The serpent said to the woman, “You will not die, but God knows that the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.”

The woman saw that the fruit was good to eat, and pleasant to the eyes, and ideal for gaining knowledge. She took its fruit and ate it and gave some to her husband who was with her. He ate it.

Then their eyes were opened and both of them knew they were naked. So they sewed leaves of a fig tree together and made themselves loincloths.

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Friday, 14 February 2014 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cyril, Monk, and St. Methodius, Bishop, Patron Saints of Europe (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Let all who have ears listen and those who have eyes see, and those who have tongues speak of the power and the glory of God! Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we witnessed Jesus’ healing of the man who was deaf and mute, and opening his ears and tongue, Jesus revealed to us all the true authority He has over all, and the truth about Himself, that He came to open our minds and our hearts, to welcome into them the Lord.

Yes, brethren, it is imperative for all of us to open wide the doors of our hearts and sharpen the edge of our senses, that we may know when the Lord comes to us, so that we may welcome Him and bring Him to dwell in ourselves. We have to be responsive to the Lord calling for us, that we may heed His call and come to Him.

We ought to avoid the fate and punishment that fell on Solomon and his descendants, who because of Solomon’s obstinate attitude and refusal to listen to the Lord had resulted in the kingdom of Israel being torn apart, together with the community of the people of God. Solomon was wise, and was greatly blessed with wisdom, power, and authority by the Lord, but these were also the cause for his greatest undoing.

In continuation with yesterday’s reflection on the readings, Solomon fell because he put his trust more and more in his human power and glory, and gradually less and less on the Lord, unlike his father David, who constantly kept up his faith and devotion in the Lord throughout his life. Solomon was swayed by the devil, through his wives and concubines, who blinded him and deafened him from the calling of God, asking him to keep faithful the commandments his father had kep so faithfully.

That is exactly what can also happen to us all, brothers and sisters in Christ, because power, authority, worldly glamour and prestige are all the things that keep our attention away from the Lord and blinds us against His truth, and deafens us from His call, and closes our tongue that we may not call on Him. These prevent us from reaching the Lord and the Lord from reaching us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we let what had happened to Solomon also affect us? Shall we let ourselves be punished for our disobedience because we refuse to listen to the Lord as Solomon had done? Shall we let ourselves be condemned because the Lord saw wickedness in us because we refuse to obey the Lord and walk in His ways as Solomon had done?

It is easy for us all to forget about the Lord and become engrossed in ourselves, in all the glory we have, and in all the good things that the world can offer us. As you know, especially in our world today, where more and more things are being commercialised and consumerism is getting at a dangerously high levels, it is even easier for us to be led astray by the temptations of the world than ever before.

That is why the Lord sent Jesus into the world, to send His own Son to open the eyes, the ears, and the tongues of the people, that He may resensitise them and reopen the senses of their hearts to the love of God, and to the truth that is in the Lord. Through His teachings and revelations of God’s nature and love, which He passed down through His apostles and disciples, we receive the revelations and our minds are opened.

God wants to open our minds, and to let our eyes see, and our ears hear, that we may believe in Jesus, and break free from the chains of pride and arrogance, from the shackle of desire and greed, and from the oppression of lust and anger. He wants to free us from all the distractions that burdened us and kept us away from Him, but we too need to work hard and do our best, so that we may break free and return to the Lord our God who loves us.

Today, we celebrate the feast of two saints, said to be brothers, that of St. Cyril and St. Methodius who converted many pagan nations and peoples in central Europe during the Dark Ages, and they helped to bring many people who lived in darkness into the light of God. That was why they were also known as the Patron Saints of Europe, due to their hard and zealous works in bringing so many people of that continent into the faith.

St. Cyril and St. Methodius helped to translate many works of the faith into the language of the then pagan peoples, and through their preachings and works, they truly, just as Jesus had done, opened the eyes and the ears and the tongues of those people, who then witnessed the truth about the Lord, the folly of their old ways, and the need for them to repent and follow the Lord, and that they did.

The two saints converted many souls and brought many to salvation in God. A people who lived in darkness had seen a great light indeed, that is the Light of Christ reflected in the actions, words, and deeds of both St. Cyril and St. Methodius, without whom many people would have been lost to damnation and hell.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, the example of Solomon and the two saints, as well as Jesus Himself, showed us the need for us to strongly reaffirm our faith in God and to reorientate ourselves that in all things we align with our Lord and God. And it is important for us to seek Him out in humility and ask Him for His healing and mercy, that we may have the doors of our hearts and senses opened, that we may truly experience His love and mercy.

May the Lord our God continue to bless us, empower us, and open ever wider the doors of our hearts to Him, while closing it to any influences of the devil. May He remove from us all the distractions of this world that we may then be truly faithful to Him without any hindrance. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 3 February 2014 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr, and St. Ansgar, Bishop (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Bishops)

Today we witnessed the exorcism conducted by Jesus our Lord on the possessed man of Gerasenes, and how even the evil spirits obeyed the Lord and feared His authority. In today’s readings, we listen about the concept of authority and power, and how mankind had interacted with these across time, with the story of the rebellion of Absalom, the son of David, and how Jesus cast out the demons from the man.

The authority of Jesus was clear. He was the Son of Most High God as the demons themselves proclaimed. He was the Word of God made flesh, incarnate into Man in Jesus through Mary His mother. The evil spirits, the Legion feared Him because they knew who He was, even if mankind could not recognise who He was.

The evil spirits feared Jesus as Lord not because He has wealth, influence, or power that denote greatness in our human eyes. The greatness of the Lord is not measured in terms of human power and glory. What is power and glory to us mankind have no meaning and are nothing before the Lord our God. Jesus Himself showed us all this through His own actions.

Jesus was great not just because He was already the Lord and Almighty God, but because in His actions He showed the perfection of God’s love and mercy to us all. He was great because even though He has power, majesty, and authority, He chose to come down and be our servant, that through His works, we may have new hope in Him, and as our Shepherd, He guided us through the narrow gates towards salvation.

As Jesus mentioned in His Last Supper with the disciples, that the true meaning of leadership is service. A leader must be the servant of the people whom he or she leads, and the power and authority that the leader has been given must not be misused. True authority does not equal oppressing others or destroying those whose ideas or views not necessarily in line with our own views and opinions.

The Lordship and authority of Jesus is one of humility and service, and He did not boast of His miracles and achievements, while mankind like us must have been tempted to glorify ourselves or seek praise and glory from others for what we have done, gaining credits for our works. The irony is that, it is always the devil and the evil spirits in league with him that clamoured to proclaim Him! Yes, such as the evil spirits that inhabited that man of Gerasenes.

The authority of Jesus in casting out the numerous demons, the Legion, from that man showed His power and sovereignty over all things, be it angel, man, or demons, and is a testimony clear enough for all of us today to hear. We are fortunate to be able to witness this testimony through the Holy Gospels written by the Holy Apostles, who witnessed what happened first hand on that day.

If we trust in the Lord and in His power, then we will have no need to worry, for our Lord will be with us and He will take care of us well, and He shows us how to live a good and faithful life. The contrast we can see in the first reading today, which is centred on the civil war in Israel, between king David, the faithful servant of God and his own son, Absalom.

Absalom as the oldest son of king David was driven by his youth and ambitions, and he aspired to be the king of Israel, even though his father was still the reigning king and the chosen one of the Lord. Absalom succumbed to the taste of power and human glory, and that doomed him, causing him to rise up in rebellion against his own father.

As the story would go, Absalom was defeated in that war, and he lost his life in the process. The example of Absalom and David in today’s reading showed the frail nature of human power and glory. Power and glory in human terms are just temporary. We cannot hope to depend on our human power, as if we depend on them as Absalom had done, then we shall fail.

In a way even king David also had a part of blame on himself in this matter. David as a king as was common among the kings of his time, had many wives and children. Having more wives and children was associated with power and glory, and the more wives and children one had, the more powerful and prestigious was one seen by their people and their neighbouring countries.

Trusting in human power and authority was what had made David, the faithful servant of God, to err in some occasions. First of which was his plot to kill Uriah after committing adultery with the latter’s wife, Bathsheba, despite Uriah’s great loyalty to him, and then David’s sin of wanting to count the number of the people of Israel and Judah, as if he revelled in the great glory God had given him and was immersed in a moment of self-glorification and self-praise.

And David met his troubles because of what he had done, be it the rebellions of his sons and their mischievous behaviours, or the disease and pestilence that swept across the land and killed many, as the sign of God’s displeasure. This is proof that trusting in human and worldly power does not bring us good. Rather than be proud of our own power, ability, and achievement, we should rather trust in the Lord and walk in His ways.

Today, brethren, we celebrate the feast of two saints of the Church, that is of St. Blaise and St. Ansgar. St. Blaise was the well known patron for throat based diseases, which feast day usually saw the traditional blessing of the throats with two crossed candles. St. Blaise was a renowned physician who went around many places to heal peoples, often with miraculous results, and people flocked to him seeking the consolation of the flesh as well as the soul.

St. Blaise was a faithful follower of the Lord, and practiced his faith truthfully in the works that he had done, but when Christians were persecuted by the last persecution of Christians by Emperor Licinius of the Eastern Roman Empire, he was arrested by the governor of his province and subsequently was tortured and martyred for his faith in the Lord.

Meanwhile St. Ansgar was an Archbishop who lived in northern part of Germany during the late Dark Ages, and was renowned as the Apostle of the North, for his works of evangelisation, bringing the Good News of the Lord to many peoples in the northern Europe, where paganism still dominated most of the people. St. Ansgar tirelessly worked for the cause of the Lord and gained many converts, even baptising lords and kings of the pagans.

Despite his position in the Church, St. Ansgar did not have an easy work ahead of him. Often times many of his supporters withdrew their support from him, and St. Ansgar had to proceed with his missions with great difficulties. Yet, St. Ansgar persevered and he never complained. And the Lord gave him the help he needed through various sources, and he prevailed in his missions.

The examples of St. Blaise and St. Ansgar show that if we walk upright in the path of the Lord and if we remain faithful to Him and trust always in Him, then we have no need to fear at all about the work we are to do, our about our lives. God will care for us and He will protect us. He has all the power and authority, and no evil shall dare to approach us, for they know who they will be dealing with if they mess with us.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us today therefore put our trust in God, and keep our faith in Him strong, especially avoiding the bad influences of this world, taming our greed and desire, particularly for power, authority, and influence among many others, and seek only for the Lord. May our Lord therefore be with us, and guide us to walk upright at all times in His ways, that we may never again fall into sin. Amen.

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Monday, 9 November 2013 : Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Genesis 3 : 9-15, 20

YHVH God called the man saying to him, “Where are you?”

He said, “I heard Your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree I ordered you not to eat?”

The man answered, “The woman You put with me gave me fruit from the tree and I ate it.”

God said to the woman, “What have you done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.”

YHVH God said to the serpent, “Since you have done that, be cursed among all the cattle and wild beasts! You will crawl on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will make you enemies, you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.”

The man called his wife by the name of Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

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Monday, 11 November 2013 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin of Tours, Bishop (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 17 : 1-6

Jesus said to His disciples, “Scandals will necessarily come and cause people to fall; but woe to the one who brings them about. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck. Truly, this would be better for that person, than to cause one of these little ones to fall.”

“Listen carefully : If your brother offends you, tell him, and if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he offends you seven times in one day, but seven times he says to you, ‘I am sorry.’ Forgive him.”

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” And the Lord said, “If you have faith, even the size of a mustard seed, you may say to this tree, ‘Be uprooted, and plant yourself in the sea!’ And it will obey you.”

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Wednesday, 2 October 2013 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, or in short our Guardian Angels, who care for us, watch us in our daily lives and intercede for our sake before the Lord, especially when we are lost in darkness, and when we are being pulled apart by the forces of the darkness.

The Lord had not left us all in this world empty-handed and without guidance. Just as He gave us His helpers through His disciples, who passed down their authority to our priests and bishops, who minister to us, He had also sent even His angels to each one of us, to be our protector, companion, and guide. That is what the meaning of the Guardian Angels is about.

An angel created by the Lord had rebelled against Him in his pride, in his arrogance. That is Lucifer, now known as Satan. Once the most brilliant and the mightiest of the angels, he had been thrown down and fell so low that he is the most disgusting of all creations, as the great Enemy, the deceiver. And with him, came down many angels who followed him into his rebellion against God. These are the fallen angels.

Satan and his fallen angels were certainly not pleased of their failed rebellion and were committed to destroy the ones that God loves, that is His creation, particularly in mankind. He came down as the snake at the gardens of Eden, to deceive Eve and Adam, our ancestors. He successfully did so, and mankind fell into sin.

God certainly did not remain silent, but He sent His help over the generations through the prophets and messengers to help bring His beloved creations back to Him, by shunning their lives of sin and embrace instead the love of God. But mankind is easily tempted, by the allures of the pleasures that are in the world, and by the temptations of Satan himself, who sent his fallen angels daily to tempt mankind and sow darkness in the hearts of each one of them.

That is where the Guardian Angels, our Guardian Angels come in. They are in constant spiritual battle against the fallen Angels Satan had sent to us, in battle for our soul, for salvation over damnation of this soul we have in us. The Guardian Angels is at the forefront of this daily spiritual battle, as is all of us. We are always barraged daily with the forces of evil, through temptations and deceit, and we must be strong if we want to persevere through this challenge to the end.

The Lord does not want us to fall into sin and into hell, which He did not prepare for us, but for the devil and his angels. That is why He sent us His angels to protect us and to help prevent us from falling to that fate. These angels, our Guardian Angels are truly noble beings, committed to our salvation, working tirelessly day and night to ensure that this happens.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, have we all then, appreciate what the Lord had done for us, all these while, through His angels that He stationed around us for our sake? Have we listened to their advice and follow their guidance? Or have we rather followed our own desires and the temptations of the evil one? We have a choice in this, brothers and sisters, and it is up to us to decide.

Let us, together with our guardian angels, persevere and fight on against the forces of evil, supporting one another in this daily struggle of the faith. We cannot be idle, but we must be proactive, reaching out at our brethren, especially those who are struggling in their faith, those who have fallen into the state of sin, and those whose life is filled with all forms of evils and corruptions of Satan.

May the Lord continue to watch over us, through His angels that He had sent for us, to be our protectors, that they will continue to pray for our sake, interceding for our purpose. May we continue to be loving in our actions, that we will remain in God’s favour, and also reject Satan and all of his approaches and persuasions. Let us continue to fight a good battle with our Guardian Angels and give thanks to them for their commitment, and to God for having sent them. Amen.

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Saturday, 14 September 2013 : Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate a very important feast of our faith, the very centre of our faith itself, and the foundation of our faith, that is the Most Holy Cross of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. The cross is the symbol of our salvation, and not just mere symbol in fact, as the cross is where the Lord our God was lifted high up in between the heavens and the earth, bleeding and suffering.

The cross was the common way for the Romans to punish criminals, particularly those considered as dangerous threat to their Empire, and that was the punishment meted out by them on Jesus, on the advice of the Pharisees and the chief priests. It is truly a humiliating way to die, the criminals’ death, that He was lifted up, left almost naked on the cross, bound and pierced with nails, and left hanging there until He gave up His Spirit to the Father.

That cross, the humiliating cross, was taught by the enemies of Christ, prime among all, Satan himself, as the end of the road for Christ, as the victory that he finally achieved in his rebellion against God, as the ultimate foiling of the Lord’s long conceived plan for salvation of mankind and the world. The enemies of Christ rejoiced in His seemed ‘defeat’ and death. The cross become their symbol of victory against the Messiah and the Lamb of God.

And yet, the cross truly is the symbol of victory, as it has been transformed from the humiliating cross, into the triumphant cross of glory. The cross was transformed from the symbol of humiliation, defeat, and despair, into the sign of hope, of victory. All of that was because of Jesus and His death, which happened as He hung on that wooden cross in suffering.

Jesus who was without sin and perfect as One fully divine and fully human, and yet He was punished for all of our sins, and He bore all that as He carried His cross to Calvary and as He hung between the heavens and the earth. His bleeding wounds are symbols of His suffering of bearing our faults and sins, the punishment that we should have endured ourselves, but the Lord in His love, endured them all for our sake, that we may live.

Just as when the people of Israel suffered because of their rebellion, when the Lord punished them with fiery serpents, for having doubted His power and complained repeatedly for the Lord having shown His love and kindness to them. The serpents represent the punishment for sins that we have committed, and the wickedness that we had committed and found wanting in the eyes of God. Yet, He showed great mercy on all of His children, by giving them a new hope, on the bronze serpent, lifted up high by Moses, that all who looked at it will not die but live.

Jesus Christ is the bronze serpent for all of us, that through His loving sacrifice on the cross, just as He mentioned to Nicodemus, that He was lifted up high between the heavens and the earth on that cross, for the exactly same purpose, that all who look at Him and believe, will not die, and not just any death, but death everlasting, will live. He died so that we may live, and have eternal life in us, the life God the Father had given, the Spirit had nurtured, and the Son had renewed through His death.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we commemorate this important feast of the Holy Cross of Christ, let us always keep in mind, the painful suffering that our Lord, the Lamb of God led to His slaughter, endured for our sake, so that we may live and not die. Let us also always be mindful of the numerous wounds on His Body, which represent each and every one of our sins without exception. Remember that every time we sin, or every time we are tempted to sin and do something against the commandments of the Lord.

Let us also put our hope in Christ, the victorious and conquering Lord, putting our hope in His triumphant cross, the symbol of victory against sin and evil. Do not turn our back on the cross or be shy about the Lord on the cross. Remember that with every cross, there is also Christ there, because just as He is a triumphant God, He is also a suffering God, who so loved the world that He willed Himself to descend unto our world and be the redemption for our sins, paying to the last cent, our faults and iniquities, that we ought to have suffered from.

Let us rejoice in Christ and His Holy Cross, giving thanks and praise for the One who gave up His life on the cross, that we may live. May the cross lead us and inspire us to take up our own crosses and follow Christ at all times. Amen.

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Sunday, 18 August 2013 : 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are reminded on the mission that Christ had when He came upon this world. The mission that Christ had in saving this world, is not an easy mission, brethren, because even though He is God, it does not mean that He had an easy time. Yes, He had had much opposition and resistance during His time on earth, and during His ministry to the people of God.

Herod rejected Him, the innkeeper rejected Him and His family. The people rejected Him, and the priests and the Pharisees rejected Him, and together they even had condemned Him to die, to die a humiliating death on the cross. Basically, the path of the Lord is filled with obstacles and dangers, definitely not a walk in the park. That was why Christ said in the Gospel reading, in what some of us may feel a bit disturbed, that He came not to bring peace, but discord.

This discord come about exactly because of the divisions that the Lord, in His person and in His teachings, that divides the people, because some people will follow and obey the Lord, but there will always be some or many who will dissent and disagree with Him. They were those who had rejected Him in the first place. Those who mocked Him, His disciples, and even us, who believe in Him.

Many martyrs of the early Church faced suffering and martyrdom because their families and relatives rose up against them, either betraying them to the authorities or by dealing with the holy martyrs themselves. Discord existed between the people of God and those who still believed in the pagan gods. Even discord and persecution awaited God’s servants, the prophets like Jeremiah.

We tend to sway away from the path of the Lord, because just as the Lord Himself had been rejected, mocked, and treated badly, we too, who follow the Lord will face much opposition and discord in our lives, and in all our dealings. We will be rejected as well, and we will face discord even with our own families and relatives. This discord however, does bring about potential destruction and conflict that involve all of us. It is indeed much easier for us to follow the ways of the world, and give in to the temptations of this world, some of which include money, wealth, sexual pleasure, good life, and many other things.

The world offer us much goods, and much things that are indeed more enjoyable, pleasurable, and easier to be done than to follow the Lord, and that is exactly what caused the discord and friction that will surely exist within our families, within our circle of friends, and within our own societies, much like how it was during the early Church. In the early Church, being the followers of Christ means to be detached from the larger general population, and for those in the positions of privilege and power, following the Lord, or in short becoming Christian was a serious risk to them, both for their position and for their own lives.

Temptations are many, brethren, and even more so in this world of ours today. In this world, many things easily bring us astray from the true path towards the Lord. Money, wealth, world pleasures, and even good food can corrupt us and our hearts, subverting us from the purpose given to us. That is why, brethren, our churches are empty! Our seminaries are empty! Our new priests are getting fewer and older! All because of the challenges presented to us and the Church, especially important in this ever-changing times.

Yes, brethren, the need is greater than ever for us to support one another and pray for one another, that we remain faithful and dedicated to their faith in God. This is that we will not fall to the traps of the evil one, and therefore falter in our path towards salvation. We have to be strong and stand up against the temptations of evil and the pleasures of the flesh, and rebuke the devil and all that he offers us. But worry not, brothers and sisters, for our Lord is with us, and He will guide us and protect us, as long as we remain faithful and loving to Him.

God walks with us and remains with us if we are faithful to Him. He will not abandon us, just as He never abandoned Jeremiah in the sewers, and He lifted him up through king Zedekiah and his servants. The same happened to the disciples of Christ, the apostles, like St. Peter who was imprisoned by King Herod and intended to be executed, because of his faith in Christ, and was to be made an example to the other Christians. However, God rescued him through His angel, and He liberated him from his shackles in order to do many more good things for the sake of God, and God’s beloved people.

In our world today, there will be many challenges and persecutions, in many different forms, and do not be surprised that the devil may attack where we least expect, that is from within, from within ourselves, within our own families, within our own friend circles, and within our own societies. Indeed brethren, the one who caused divisions and discords among us is in fact not the Lord, but ultimately is the devil who sowed in us the seeds of his discord, his rebellion, and his disobedience against the will of God. Sin and our human weaknesses are the channels through which Satan nurture in us these seeds of evil. It is up to us whether we let divisions and discord rule over us, or that we give ourselves fully to the Lord and immerse ourselves in His love, that all of us may be reunited in harmony, as the one people of God, all of whom obey the Lord our God with all our hearts and with all our beings.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, reminding ourselves of the words of the readings today, of the teachings of the Lord revealed through Christ our Lord, let us resolve to continue our total love and devotion towards He who had come into this world to save it. He who has punished the enemies of the Lord and the enemies of those who believe in Him. He who had taken those He had chosen from this world, and protect them, that despite the oppositions of this world against them, they remain triumphant because of the power and glory of God given them through Christ, who had marked them as His own.

May the Risen Christ who is triumphant against evil, bless us and strengthen us with His love, that we will persevere in our worldly struggle and indeed, daily struggle against sin and against the forces of evil arrayed against us. May the holy saints and martyrs of God who had gone before us, intercede for our sake and pray for us sinners still living in this world. God bless us all. Amen.