footsteps

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Tuesday, 21 May 2013 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Sts. Christopher Magallanes, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs (Scripture Reflection)

Be humble, brethren, and you will be great in God’s eyes. For humility is one of the most difficult virtue to be achieved by us mankind, because of our frailty and susceptibility to the temptations of power, our natural sense of pride, and the sense of arrogance, which prevents us from stooping down and be humble before another person, which in this case, especially is the Lord our God Himself.

Humility is a great virtue, and the Lord is pleased with those who are humble. Even God Himself, in Christ, was truly humble. After all, what kind of humility can be ever greater than the humility that our God Himself had done when He lowered Himself so much to be born as a lowly and mortal man, through the Virgin Mary?

Love one another and do not contend with your brethren for power and personal glory, for what is our glory and achievements compared to the glory of God, that is the real glory? What is our minute achievement compared to the achievements and wonders created by our Lord and God? And with a single sacrifice on the cross, with the outpouring of His Most Precious Blood, He cleansed all creations of all time from their faults and sins, making everything good and worthy again of the Lord.

Do not fear for God is always with us, and He will continue to accompany us, as long as we are willing to hear Him and listen to His words. That is why humility and readiness to submit and listening capacity are important because pride and arrogance often cloud our perceptions and close our hearts from the words of the Lord.

Remember that Satan, the devil himself was born out of pride, out of jealousy of the Lord’s almighty power and authority, wishing to gain such powers for himself and unseating God to be the Lord of all creation. Thus was how Lucifer, the former lightbringer fell, and fell hard he did, from the most beautiful and mighty of all creation, to become the lowest and most despicable of all.

That’s the same with how the Lord will bring down the proud and the haughty ones, bringing them low, and at the same time, lifting up those who are humble and meek, and give them the authority even over those who are filled with their own arrogance and confidence in their own power. This is because they trust in their own power and abilities, and not in the power of the Lord who saves.

Today, we also celebrate the feast day of Saints Christopher Magallanes and his companions, who were martyrs of Mexican persecution of the Catholic Church in the early twentieth century. Mexico became a hotbed of anti-Church sentiments and even the government became very hostile to the Church and particularly to the clergy, resulting in massive persecution of the Church there and the martyrdom of many of the clergy, which includes Saints Christopher Magallanes and his companions.

Saint Christopher Magallanes and his companions resisted the opposition by the Mexican government by opening alternative seminaries when the government closed down a seminary intended for the preparation of new clergy. He preached against rebellion against the government by the faithful, but yet he was falsely accused of plotting in rebellion and was martyred. He remained steadfast and faithful till the end with his companions, who was martyred with him.

Saint Christopher Magallanes might just be a simple country priest in Mexico, but through his courageous actions and his zeal, and through his defense of the faith and the Church till his death, God elevates him to the glory of sainthood, and he is now there in heaven interceding for us before the Lord.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us today strive to be more humble, to humbly submit our sinful selves before the Lord our God, asking Him for forgiveness and clemency. Let us also follow in the footsteps of Sts. Christopher Magallanes and his companions, in their zeal, their humility, and yet courageous defense of the faith, that we too can become brave witnesses of Christ and the Gospels, and will not buckle despite temptations by the devil and the world. May God bless us all in this journey.

Saints Christopher Magallanes and companions, pray for us! Amen.

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Thursday, 16 May 2013 : 7th Week of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Christ, our Lord, is our shepherd, our Good Shepherd, who cares for all of us His sheep, and who laid down His life for us. For we are His friends too, and we belong to Him, and He loves us with infinite love. He feeds us and provides for us, ensuring that all of us are well-fed with His divine food, which for us is the Eucharist, in the Most Precious Body and Blood of Christ.

He gave us Himself, as the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God, sacrificed as our Paschal Lamb, on that cross in Calvary. Because He gave Himself up, we, who are His sheep can live. He died so that our death that is our punishment may be destroyed, and through His glorious resurrection, we have a new life in Him. That is what happened when we were baptised, because as we were immersed in that holy waters of baptism, we became dead to ourselves, and leaving our sinful past behind, we took on a new life of holiness, and clothed in pure white to symbolise the clean slate upon which we embark this new journey upon.

If we remain faithful to our God, and remain in His love, we will be saved, and gain eternal life. But remember, brethren, that our faith itself cannot be dead, and neither can the love that is in our hearts be dead. How can they then be dead? That is when we no longer project out that love from ourselves to others, and no longer let the faith of others grow through our own faith. Remember that faith without action, is a dead faith. A living faith is what is necessary for salvation.

What is a living faith then? A living faith is not just a faith sustained by prayers, devotions, and worship. Yes, these are important too, for there can be no faith without those, and faith must also be sustained by proper internal orientation towards the Lord, which can only be achieved by having a healthy and strong prayer life.

Living faith is by practising our faith through our words and actions towards those who are around us, and within our own society, to our neighbours and to those whom we meet in this life. Through our actions and deeds, we must reflect Christ in all of them, by infusing them with the love that is of God, and by infusing the knowledge of God into our speech and our thoughts.

This is the faith as practised by Paul in his ministry throughout the known world at the time, travelling tirelessly across the Mediterranean, visiting the many burgeoning communities of the Church, that eventually will grow into mature communities that became the basis of Christianity and Christendom of the later era. He preached the Good News and practised his faith through his numerous healings and miracles that he performed, helping countless peoples, Jews and Gentiles alike, that many turn their hearts towards God and believed.

That Paul did not even worry about putting himself on risk to spread the Gospel of the Lord, by attracting to himself all the oppositions and all the hatred of those who hated the Lord. He had even endured trials and persecutions while preaching the Good News. Yet he did not show fear because the Lord is with him, and provide him with all that he needs. That is because in his heart, his faith is alive, and the love of God filled him to the brim, and transformed him.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us strive to follow in the footsteps of St. Paul and the apostles, in making our faith concrete in this world, through concrete actions, even small ones, to make a difference in our society and those around us. May God’s love strengthen us and empower us with His love and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Friday, 3 May 2013 : 5th Week of Easter, Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles (Scripture Reflection)

Christ did not die, but He lives. He did not die a death that lasts, since He was risen by God the Father from the land of the dead, as the firstborn from the dead, the first One to rise from death and conquer death itself, to prove that death does not have the final say, and neither Satan, the evil one, has final say over us, and all creation.

For Christ, through His death and then His resurrection, made all creations new, and He rejuvenated all of creation, by the shedding of His Most Precious Body and Blood, which He offered as a perfect and unblemished sacrifice that day on the cross on Calvary. The Lamb of God, the Paschal Lamb, has been sacrificed for us, and has been found worthy, that we too, can be found worthy by God, our Father.

We are the sons and daughters of God, our Father, and therefore we should also be like our Father, who is good and perfect. Yet, sadly, we had been tainted by the evils of sin, by the disobedience of Adam our forefather, and Eve, his wife, being seduced by Satan, the deceiver. But God did not want  us to suffer death and eternal separation from Himself, and He wants us to be once again worthy of Him who is good and perfect.

Christ became the new Adam who renewed mankind’s contract with God, by providing them with a new life through the Spirit, but this time, He completed and made perfect that union between God and mankind, sealed through His own blood, as He is fully man and fully divine, indivisible and one. Christ came so that we can have hope once again, of life in the Spirit. God breathed life into mankind by His Spirit, that is His breath, but mankind squandered that life and made it imperfect by their disobedience.

The Blood of the Lamb that is sacrificed on the cross justifies all those who believe in the One sent by God, that is Christ, once again, and made them whole, just like the days before the fall of mankind. He then was resurrected from the dead and became the living proof and truth of all that He Himself had brought and taught to all those who had listened to Him and His preaching,

Today, we commemorate the feast day of the two apostles of Christ, in both St. Philip and St. James, both of whom became His witnesses to the entire world. They preached the Good News of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, which are indeed Good News, for they brought the long-awaited redemption to all mankind who believes in God and in Christ, His Son.

St. Philip and St. James worked hard to spread the Good News of the Lord to the many peoples of their time, and they converted many to the cause of Christ. Philip once told and explained the Word of God to the emissary of the ruler of Ethiopia, and converted him through the word of God and baptism. They did many other good things, just as Christ Himself had said, that those who belong to God, will do just like what the Lord Himself had done, that is what Christ had done in His short life and ministry in this world.

St. James, who was also called James the Just, became the first leader of the Christians in Jerusalem, becoming its first bishop and was one of the most important leaders of early Christendom with Peter, the leader of all the apostles and disciples.

Both of them endured rejection, persecution, and intense suffering for their service of the Lord, and they ultimately faced death with courage, in their ministry and in their defense of their faith in God. They had done well in this earth, and were rewarded with eternal life with Christ that is their due. Brothers and sisters in Christ, can we follow in their footsteps? The footsteps of the apostles and many other holy men and women who had walked the same path in following the example of Christ in doing God’s commandments and what is good in His eyes?

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us strive to be more like these holy apostles, and follow in their footsteps, to be always courageous in proclaiming the Word of God and the Good News, to our fellow men, and to explain them to our brethren in faith, who are wavering in their faith in God. For in our world today, there is still a great need, if not greater than ever, for evangelisation, to bring light to many in our world, darkened by sin.

May God bless us and strengthen our faith and love, and may His holy apostles and saints pray for us and watch over us. Pray for us, St. Philip and St. James, apostles, that we may be more like you and can dedicate ourselves to Christ our Lord, ever more. Amen.

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Tuesday, 30 April 2013 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Pius V, Pope (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the path to the service to God is not easy, and there will be many obstacles, but the Lord Himself will aid us in our great service to Him, through various ways, and He will never abandon us. He had shown His faith to us many times, especially to all those who love Him back too.

He gives all of us His peace, that is an everlasting peace, not the peace as we know it in this world, which is superficial peace, but true peace that transcends all our understandings, and all that we know about peace. For when we are together with Christ, we experience such a great joy and satisfaction that only God can give. This is the true peace that Christ gives us, if we would just believe in Him and put our trust entirely in Him.

Christ is always with us, even though we may think that He is no longer there. He is always with us, in our hearts, with us, and He walks with us, especially at the hardest times of our lives, when He is there, supporting us, and protecting all of us whom He loves, from harm and evil. Then let me tell you the well known story of the lone man and the Lord who walked together on the beach, and the footsteps on the sand.

A man walked on the beach with the Lord, walking side-by-side on the sandy beach, leaving their footprints behind. There are therefore two set of footprints on the sand, one of which belongs to the man, and the other which belongs to the Lord. All is fine until difficult times face the man, who then looked back at the sand, and saw only a single set of footsteps.

He then began saying bad things about the Lord and complained at how God has abandoned him in the times of his greatest need, and at bad times. But the Lord was not angry with him, and instead tell the man gently, that whenever the man is in bad times, there are only a single set of footsteps, not because God has abandoned him, but it is because God carries the man on His back, and that footsteps is the Lord’s.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, our God, our Lord loves us, very much, so much that He wanted to come down to us, to be human like us, and to be simple and humble servant of God’s children, and to suffer the ultimate suffering and death on the cross. The suffering of Christ is real, and the cross is real, for through the cross, we have been removed from death that is our due, because of our ancestors’ and our rebellion against the love of God.

We had been ransomed from death by the blood of the Lamb, who is Christ, and through His resurrection by God His Father, and our Father, He restored us to life, and promised, and indeed granted all of us who believe in Him, eternal life, that is true life that is of Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in complete and perfect union with Him who is the way, the truth, and the life.

Just as the cross is real, the resurrected and Risen Lord is real too, and it is in His resurrection that we placed our complete faith, that through Him we are redeemed and chosen by God to live forever in eternal bliss in His love.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, our mission today is to continue the works of the holy Apostles and disciples of the Lord, that through us, the Good News of our Lord will continue to spread and reach many, especially those who did not yet have the chance to receive the message, and those to whom the Word of God had been an annoyance.

Never give up to spread the Good News, to all people, to all nations. We have to persevere for the sake of the salvation of our brethren, our fellow brothers, children of the same, One True, and real God. God walks among us today, and He is within us. His real Presence in the Eucharist that we receive in the Mass allow Him to make our own beings into His Holy Temples, where He resides, and through Him, we receive the Holy Spirit that empowers us.

Be renewed by the Holy Spirit, and by the great zeal for the love for God and all His people. Today we also commemorate the feast day of Pope St. Pius V, a great reformer of the Church, who lived at the difficult times of the early modern era Church, when the Church was assailed by multiple opponents and difficulties, from the Protestant ‘reformers’ and from the Muslim threat of the growing Ottoman Empire. Many true Christians and children of God were martyred during these difficult and turbulent times.

Yet Pope St. Pius V did not give up, and he continued to persevere, with complete trust in the divine providence, to whom He entrusted the Church of God, and eventually God showed that He indeed supported the Church, just like how the Lord supported the man in his difficult times, that he only saw a single set of footsteps. And therefore, the Lord walks with the Church, and He protected the Church of God through that difficult time, and eventually the Christians scored a major victory against the Muslim Ottomans at Lepanto, and crushed their oppression on many Christians forevermore, which Pope St. Pius V commemorated by establishing the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Many souls too returned to salvation through the Church, and many returned to the true faith in God. Through his completion of the Counter-Reformation reforms and the Council of Trent, he helped to rejuvenate the Church and return the faith into a strong and glorious position once again.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us remember today, that our God is with us, and that He loves us, and He will always want to protect us, if we remain faithful to Him. Be faithful, and be courageous, and let God do wonders with our life. Let us follow in the courageous examples of Pope St. Pius V, that we can also be light to the nations, to be like the disciples of Christ, to bring the Good News and salvation to all mankind. Pope St. Pius V, pray for us. Amen.