genuine

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Friday, 14 March 2014 : 1st Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

In our faith, brothers and sisters, we must always be genuine. We cannot take our faith for granted, and neither can we only keep an outward profession for faith, but inside we truly lack the faith and do not believe in God. True faith in God requires us to devote ourselves to Him and be committed in our actions and deeds to show our true faith to God.

We must heed what the Lord wants from us, in our actions and deeds, in every single aspects of our lives. We often end up doing lip-service to the Lord and following superficially the laws and rules He had given us, instead of truly devoting ourselves to His cause. This we cannot do, brothers and sisters in Christ.

And we certainly will have to do and act in the way that we preach. We cannot say one thing and yet do another, different thing from what we had said. If we do so then our faith is shallow and not genuine, and can be easily swayed by the wickedness that is in this world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, our Lord loves us, and I have to repeat it again and again, that God loves us, very much, that He gave us Jesus His Son to be our helper, and to show us the way, how to devote ourselves entirely to Him, by teaching us and showing us the examples of being a good and faithful servant of God.

The key thing of all these is that we have to love, and we have to base all our actions on love, and in all of our actions and dealings, we have to always align ourselves with the ways of the Lord, that is righteousness. We have to adhere to the principles that God had established, in His laws and tenets that we ought to know, understand, and obey.

God wants all of us to love, and to love tenderly, and to forgive when someone slighted us or made mistakes to us. He wants us to do the same too, when we have slighted someone else. He wants us to be reconciled with one another, and forgoing all the hatred and differences that kept us apart, that we all may once again serve Him together as one, united people, united in love.

And He wants to show us that faith in Him cannot be just limited to observations of rituals and obligations according to the law. We cannot be just bystanders and followers, following the instructions of our faith to the letter, without understanding it. What I mean is that, we have to truly understand what we are doing, and in doing so we will make our faith much more meaningful.

And that is why God wants us to forgive one another first and be reconciled before we make our offerings to Him. What He wants from us is a heart of love, untainted by hatred, jealousy and all the other negative feelings that mar the perfection of our hearts. Let this be a lesson to all of us, that we may take note of it, whenever we do something, and whenever we say something, that we truly reflect that we belong to God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us make a resolution before the Lord, that we will be ever better servants of His will, that we will forsake the way of hatred, jealousy and other negative ill-feelings, and change them for the way of love, practicing what we have believed in, that is our faith in the One and only True God, Jesus Christ, who came to us in love to save us. Amen.

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Wednesday, 12 March 2014 : 1st Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Today brethren, we see how even a people, who were often prejudiced against by the faithful, as the pagan nations, and a pagan people, with their pagan practices and pagan idols, can turn their back to their sinful ways, and sincerely asking and begging God for forgiveness. That was why Jesus used them as an example to the wayward people of God.

The contrast between what the pagan people of Nineveh had done, with the lack of faith in the supposedly righteous and faithful chosen people of God can be seen very clearly in the two readings. The faithful people of God did not listen to the words of Christ, or at most did not take His message very seriously.

They continued in their debauched and misled way of life, and they even doubted and questioned the authority of Christ in His teachings, by asking Him for signs and miracles, as if what He had done all that time He had spent with them were not enough to them. They refused to believe because they had hardened their hearts against the Lord and closed their ears to His words.

On the contrary, the supposedly pagan and therefore condemned people of Nineveh, the capital of the powerful and all-conquering Assyrian Empire, when they heard the warnings of Jonah the prophet, immediately, from their king to the lowest of the people bowed themselves down, very, very low before God, and humbled themselves with fasting and penitence, showing their genuine regret and repentance for their past sins.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, an important lesson that we ought to take from today’s readings is that we must never judge on others based on our prejudice or any preformed opinions, and we must never be judgmental in general. We have no right to judge others because we too will be judged with them as one people of the same God.

And God wanted to teach us that no one is beyond redemption or help. What matters is not nationality, race, or any other categories of peoples that will help us to achieve salvation. What matters is how genuine we are in our faith and devotion to the Lord and in following His commandments and teachings. If we are true to our faith and be fully devoted to the ways of the Lord, then we will be considered righteous.

What the Lord wants from each one of us is not blind obedience or empty profession of faith, not substantiated by the action that makes our faith truly genuine and real. Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us keep in mind of what God wants from us, that is our love and devotion! We cannot be half-hearted in our dedication to Him and certainly we will have to live up to our faith.

We cannot be like the people of Jesus’ time who professed outwardly as faithful and religious and yet did not show it in their actions which in fact showed the contrary. We should rather follow the example of the people of Nineveh, who showed their genuine faith and that they believe, not by empty words but through real and concrete actions.

We too, brothers and sisters, ought to show our love for God, by listening to Him, accepting Him in our lives and acknowledging at all times, the love He has for us, and the unworthiness of our sins, which we made and tainted ourselves. And yet our loving God is willing to forgive us from all of that and allow us to be reunited once again with Him.

Let us now therefore pray, brothers and sisters in Christ, that we may be like the people of Nineveh and be sincere in our faith, that we may give a hundred percent of our devotion to God and nothing else. May God too guide us as we make our way towards Him. God bless us all and be with us always. Amen.

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Friday, 21 February 2014 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, make a choice, between good and evil, and between the Lord and Satan. We must make a stand in the battle for our souls, in whether we choose to follow the Lord or instead, the path of the devil. We cannot be half hearted in this matter. Be confident and faithful in our choice, and we will be rewarded.

Jesus Himself had told us, through His disciples, how important is the salvation of our souls, and that nothing in the world can compensate or match with how much our soul is worth. Yet, many of us, either because we are unaware, or because we lack the faith, choose to let our souls be corrupted and lost, as a price for gaining the powers and influence in this world.

Yes, the temptations and allures of this world are great indeed, that they can pull mankind away from the path towards the Lord, with all the tempting and good offerings of the good that is in the world. The devil is very resourceful and he has all the world and all of its goodness in his power and possession. If we are not vigilant, brothers and sisters in Christ, we will fall to the trap of the devil.

The devil attacks us daily with these temptations and goodies of the world, trying to steer us away from our way towards salvation in God. He does not want to see us saved, and therefore will definitely try his best to prevent that by doing what I have just mentioned. His attacks are relentless and merciless, and he will not stop before we lay separated from the love of God and suffer with him in hell.

If we are to defend ourselves from evil, then we have to commit ourselves fully to the Lord, by dedicating ourselves to Him and following Him with all of our heart and with all of our might and strength. We cannot be uncertain or reluctant in this, for doubt and lack of seriousness hamper our progress towards salvation. No, brothers and sisters, our faith must be firm and genuine!

Yes, our faith cannot be just empty words or repeated professions of faith made without meaning or concrete examples. If we do so, then we are the perfect hypocrites, whom the Lord condemned in the Pharisees, as they were outwardly faithful and devoted, and yet their prayers were empty and there was no God inside of them. Indeed, they let themselves be corrupted by the devil, and follow his ways rather than the Lord.

Brethren, our faith cannot be like that of the Pharisees’ or God will also condemn us in the same way. Our faith, as according to St. James in his letter, must be alive and active, and cannot be a dormant and empty faith. How to do so? Faith that is alive and active means that the faith is substantiated and affirmed with action and love.

And as St. James again mentioned, that faith cannot be separated from action, and neither can action for the good of the Lord and mankind be separated from the faith. Our faith must be alive and supported with our active participation of the faith. Let our faith be one of a living Creed, firmly founded on our loving actions, in our devotion and love for God, and in our concern and love for our brethren.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Peter Damian, a well known religious and teacher of the faith, who was truly faithful to the Lord and showed it in his actions, that his faith was a living, not an empty one. St. Peter Damian was renowned for his emphasis on holy living, one based on sincere and strong discipline, maintaining the purity of one’s soul through hard work, discipline, and loving acts towards the brethren in need.

St. Peter Damian also contributed enormously to the Church, by his teachings and acts in showing the faith he has for God, by championing reforms in the Church, and he was eventually made an influential Cardinal by the Pope despite his initial refusal. St. Peter Damian used his new position to garner even more work and effort to ensure that the Church and the people of God remain faithful to the Lord.

St. Peter Damian exhorted his brother Cardinals to live and lead by example, and to shine in their faith. He showed that actions and deeds cannot be separated from faith, and faith must be substantiated by love, in loving both God and our fellow brothers and sisters. Today we are again reminded both how important our faith is to us, and how we have to also lead by example as St. Peter Damian had done.

May through the inspiration and intercession of St. Peter Damian, we will be able to get closer to the Lord, and may our faith in Him be ever living, vibrant and genuine, that the Lord who sees how faithful we are, will reward us with eternal glory in His heavenly majesty. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 2 December 2013 : 1st Week of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 8 : 5-11

When Jesus entered Capernaum, an army captain approached Him to ask His help, “Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralysed and suffers terribly.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have You under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one, ‘Go!’ he goes; and if I say to another, ‘Come!’ he comes; and if I say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ he does it.”

When Jesus heard this He was astonished, and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven.”