glorification of God

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Monday, 30 June 2014 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of the very first martyrs of the faith, most likely those who suffered great persecutions under St. Paul when he was still an unbeliever, Saul, as well as those who were persecuted by the Roman authorities, particularly those who were martyred during the first official persecution by the Emperor Nero, who also martyred the two saints, St. Peter and St. Paul, later known as the patron saints of Rome and the Universal Church.

These faithful people did not abandon their faith in exchange for their safety and life. They chose to remain faithful even though they had to suffer for their faith and for their obedience to the Lord and to His ways. That was why they were honoured and raised to the glory of the altar as the holy martyrs and saints of the Church. These martyrs therefore became the source of great inspiration to countless others who would follow in their footsteps and seek the Lord as they once had done.

As the Gospel reading today highlighted to us, following the Lord is not an easy or a simple matter. For indeed, following the Lord requires from us complete and extensive dedication and commitment, as well as readiness to face difficulties and oppositions from many sides. We already know quite well that this world stands often in direct opposition to the Lord and His ways, and as a result, we who follow Him and His ways, will also stand in the way of the world and its ways too.

This does not mean that we should hate the world or refuse to have anything to do with the world, or withdrawing entirely from the world, as this is not the right way to do things. This withdrawal and ignoring attitude in fact can be seen as our inability to accept the reality of things and our responsibilities and the risks of following the Lord. Indeed, if I am to be bluntly honest, that is tantamount to running away from the difficulties of the world, which were not what the martyrs had done.

The martyrs had a choice, whether they would remain faithful and committed to the Lord, and suffer grievous death and torture, as many of the tales of the martyrs had enlightened us with, or to save their own lives and live comfortably in peace of the world, but forsaking their faith and trampling on the cross, on the Lord Himself. Similar tales were also heard all over the different parts of the world, where persecution of the faithful were rampant and vicious.

They had a choice, to face the truth, or to run away. Running away does not always mean turning one’s back to the Lord or to be an apostate, namely someone who betrays the Lord, but in fact, if we avoid doing our responsibilities and avoid the challenges presented to us in this world, we are no different from those who ran away from their faith to the Lord into eternal damnation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we may think that martyrdom is a thing of the past, and it is no longer relevant in today’s world. However, if we look at it more closely, persecution of the faith and the faithful is still rampant at every part of the globe. Many were still ridiculed and worse still, suffered grievously for believing and walking in the way of the Lord, and yet many of us are still oblivious to this fact.

How do we then overcome this? Yes, how do we overcome our fear of the world and the suffering it may bring to us? None other than by having a good and living relationship with our God, just as the first martyrs of the Church once had. They placed their trust in God, and they therefore did not fear, for they knew that God would take good care of them. They also prayed often, as prayer is the way for us to connect with God, as a two-way conversation between Him and us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all emulate the examples of the first martyrs and the many other holy men and women who had lived their lives according to the will of God. Let us walk in their ways and remain truly faithful and dedicated to the Lord our God. God be with us all and may He guide us on our way. Amen.

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Sunday, 25 May 2014 : Sixth Sunday of Easter (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God loves all of us, and He had shown that repeatedly, again and again, in many occasions, including all that we heard in the readings of the Scriptures today. He cares for us, and genuinely He does so, without concern even for Himself. What else can we expect from the Lord and God who gave even His own life for us, in exchange for our eternal bliss and happiness?

But we have to play our parts as well, brethren, for God gives of Himself freely for all, but only for those who accept those gifts that the Lord will exercise His grace and blessings. And therefore, only those who accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour, through the waters of baptism, believe in His words and His teachings as taught to us by the Apostles and which we received through the Church, and finally carry out those will and commandments of God faithfully, will receive the grace everlasting that God had promised all of us.

We are still in the midst of the holy Easter season, a season of the celebration of life, that is the new life in Christ, and we are fast approaching its end, when we will celebrate the solemnity of the Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, and more precisely, as we all know, the descent and the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles and the disciples of Christ as He Himself had promised.

The Lord precisely meant this when He said that He will be with them, and that He will not abandon them as orphans. He cared for them so greatly that even after Jesus had left for His heavenly glory and throne in the Ascension, which we will also celebrate soon, He sent His people the Holy Spirit, which enlightens and bring truth to all those with the ears, hearts and minds to listen to the word and the will of God.

We too have received this faith in its great purity and enlightened nature through the Church, and through the many priests and bishops who had carried forward the truth and the faith which they received from the Apostles. And we too are therefore charged with keeping this faith alive and strong, that many others may also hear and know of the Lord’s saving passion and love.

This will not be easy, because the world itself is part of the dominion of the evil one, and the devil is definitely opposed to any goodness that we do in the Name of the Lord. He will use everything in all of his power to prevent and delay his eventual downfall, as he know it, and in the process bringing down as many souls of mankind with him into hell to suffer and perish with him for eternity.

Thus, that is why it is important for us to keep the faith within us strong and alive, and endowed by the Holy Spirit, and not just leave it at that, but also allow the Spirit to bear His fruits within us. We all know the fruits of the Holy Spirit, with faith, hope and love being the principal ones that we need to have and bear fruits of. We who have been baptised either at birth, or when we made that conscious effort and choice to accept the Lord in our adult years, have received a great grace from the Lord, who washed away our sins and planted His Spirit in us.

And those of us who had received the Sacrament of Confirmation has been affirmed even more strongly by the gift of the Holy Spirit, similar to what the Apostles had received on the day of Pentecost. But all this will go to naught if we do not use whatever things and graces that God had granted us through His Spirit and let it go to waste or worse, by committing things evil and wicked in His eyes.

We have to be faithful servants of the Lord, and loving children of His, who are committed to fulfill His laws and commandments every days of our lives. That is living faith, the kind of faith that God needs from us, the love that we show for Him, and the dedication that we have for Him. He desired from us this, and that we show in our words, deeds and actions the love God had shown for us, so that many more will come to believe in God and be saved like us.

Let us all today come together with a spirit, and the courage and strength to evangelise, to spread the love of God to all the peoples of all nations. Let us all bring the light of God to our brethren, and share the joy of Easter with them, not just by mere words or preaching, but also through our own actions and deeds, that in all the things we do and say, we proclaim the Lord who is Risen and who loves us all so much that He gave Himself for our salvation.

May the Lord continue to foster and strengthen the faith in us all, and strengthen and empower us with His Holy Spirit, that we may bear the wonderful fruits of the Holy Spirit, for our own good, and the good of our fellow brethren around us. May God be with us all, bless us and enlighten our path, always and forever. Amen.