God is Love

by

Thursday, 4 July 2013 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Gospel Reading)

Matthew 9 : 1-8

Jesus got back into the boat, crossed the lake again, and came to His hometown. Here they brought a paralysed man to Him, lying on a bed. Jesus saw their faith and said to the paralytic, “Courage, My son! Your sins are forgiven.”

Then some teachers of the Law said within themselves, “This Man insults God.” Jesus was aware of what they were thinking, and said, “Why have you such evil thoughts? Which is easier to say : ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Stand up, and walk’? You must know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

He then said to the paralysed man, “Stand up! Take your stretcher and go home.” The man got up and went home. When the crowds saw this, they were filled with awe, and praised God for giving such power to human beings.

by

Wednesday, 3 July 2013 : Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us should be happy, indeed, because we have faith in the Lord, even though we do not see Him physically walking with us in this world. Yes, He is with us, all the days of our life, even without us knowing about it. But how faithful are we to the Lord? We live in a world today that is obsessed with things visual and physical, and it is increasingly difficult for many to find God as something tangible in their lives.

St. Thomas did not believe at first because he was not at the meeting when Jesus appeared to His disciples, and the doubt and fear in his heart, which has grown ever since the tragic death of Christ on the cross, prevented him from believing in the Risen Lord, our God and Saviour. Indeed, for a rational man, and a man thinking about the natural order, it is simply impossible and unbelievable that someone could have risen from the dead, much less to appear physically to the living.

And yet, that is the truth that is our faith. Our faith has its core and foundation in our belief in the Christ suffering, Christ crucified, and ultimately, the most important of all, the Risen Christ, the conquering Lord of life and death, and no one has authority over Him, not even death. It is His triumph over death that is the centrepiece of our faith.

If Christ is just a man, and that He died on the cross, then that death would have been a waste, because then He would have ended His ministry in this world short. But the Lord is fully divine just as He is fully human. He is both the Lord our God, Lord of all the universe, and a humble, lowly man at the same time. His death and then His resurrection had opened a new door of hope for mankind. For Christ is the only bridge that bridged the infinite chasm that lie before us and God.

The Lord risen from the dead shows us that death does not have the final say on us. Throughout history, people have been searching for ways to prevent them from dying, and also to extend their life in this world, but they have failed to do so, because ever since the first mankind, death has always claimed all men without exception. Death is the fate and punishment that awaits all of us for breaking our covenant with the Lord, by our disobedience and sinful ways.

God who loves us did not give up on us, but gave us a new hope through Christ, the only hope for salvation. It is only through Christ that we can reach back towards the Lord our God. That is why our faith in Him as our Lord and Saviour is essential for all of us. But this world has been corrupted by evil, and as you noticed, the increasing influence of science and secularisation.

Science itself is not evil, and is indeed good, but it is the underlying principle of science, that championed reason and rationality above all things, and coupled with the great reduction in the influence of God and His Church to many, that brought much harm both to the world and to the Church, and of course, to the people of God.

Secularisation came because mankind began to discover many wonderful discoveries they claim for their own, and they began to question whether God is really present in their lives, and whether He is truly real. Mankind began to look for things that are real and tangible, and something that they can visually see and touch, just as the principles of science, which stated that something had to be proven by tests and reason so that it is the real deal. Because God seemed to be distant and intangible, mankind began to question their faith and walk away from the Lord, just as what happened to St. Thomas, who doubted that the Lord had risen from the dead, because he did not witness His appearing to the disciples.

That is why, it is important for all of us to remain faithful to the Lord. Faith is not just by being able to visually see something and then we believe, but faith involve more than just our vision and our sense of feel and touch, but it involves our hearts and soul. Deep in our hearts, all of us know that the Lord is there. He is real and tangible, through our actions, through our words, when we base them on His teachings. For is it not that God is Love? Yes, exactly as He had commanded us to love, through love, God is made manifest to the world, through the apostles, and through us.

God wants us to love Him, just as He had loved us, to the point of sacrificing Himself on the cross, that through the shedding of His Body and His Blood, we may be cleansed from the filth of sin, and be reunited with Him, in the everlasting bliss of eternal life. This Year of the Faith is a very good opportunity for all of us to renew our commitment to the Lord, so that we will be once again close to Him. St. Thomas’ example is an example of how we should indeed love the Lord even without us seeing Him. What we need is to feel Him through our hearts, through our love, that reflects the nature of God, who is Love.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us renew our resolve to the Lord, that we will be ever more faithful to Him, and ever more loving to Him and to all His children, our brethren. Let us all fall on our knees and worship Him who had given up His life for us so that we may live, and let our faith be an example for all the world to see, that we belong to our God, a God who loves us, cares for us, and is faithful to us, even when we ourselves had been unfaithful and rebellious.

May God grant us the gift of faith, and strengthen the faith in our heart, that the Lord will be ever close to us, in our heart, that we will always be in His grace, forever and ever. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 5 June 2013 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Christ is risen and He is our resurrected Lord, who triumphed over death and evil through His own glorious resurrection. Even the chains and the power of death cannot restrain Him, and neither can hell restrain Him. Jesus is our victorious Lord, who died on the cross, and yet risen in glory, conquering death forevermore.

God loves us so much, His greatest creation, the mankind, just as He loved all of creation, but to us, even in our rebellion and our disobedience against Him, He was willing to provide the only solution to salvation from the eternal death and condemnation which awaits us in hell. That was through the power of Christ, whose resurrection brought about the salvation of all mankind who believes in Him, and through whose death, He redeemed us all from the sins of our fathers.

God never abandons His people in need, and He is always with them, ever since the beginning of time. He never forget the promise that He had made with them, and always gave them His fullest attention, even when the people did not remember Him and in fact had forgotten Him and His kindness.

God always provided sustenance and deliverance to His people, ever since the beginning of time. He did not abandon Adam and Eve but gave them provisions that although their lives would be hard, He provided for them, that they could survive, even if death still has power over them. And neither did He abandon Abram and his relatives when they were in need. He rescued Lot from Sodom before its destruction, and gave Abram, whom He then called Abraham, a great promise to be made true through his descendants.

Throughout history, God has provided, and those whom suffer persecution and injustice always receive the justice of the Lord Most High, and they always receive the just treatment of the Lord, who is good and just. He sent many of His prophets to the nations, especially to Israel, who constantly was in rebellion against Him and His will, preferring the evil one and the pagan gods to Him. But He did not give up His people, and He did not abandon them to death and eternal damnation.

Even after that people slaughtered many of His prophets and messengers, He remained true to His love. Yes, our God is a just and avenging God, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ. He hates sin and all things that is of the evil one, which had corrupted mankind ever since our ancestors were first seduced by him. Yet, our Lord is at the same time is also a loving and merciful God, and His love for us is so great, that He is willing to give His all, in order to reunite ourselves with Him.

That is why He gave us Jesus, His Son, to be incarnate into mankind, as one of us, a humble man, that through Him, eventually, the salvation of this world and all mankind would come true. Although our sins are great and vast in their extent, but Christ, who is God, and with God, is worthy of freeing us from the chains of sin and the slavery of death, which had enslaved us ever since men fall into darkness. Yes, death is our pay for having rebelled against the Lord’s will and the goodness of God.

Christ died on the cross, bearing all our sins, all the sins and faults of all the people who lived, is living today, and will ever live in this world. He carried all of them on Himself on that arduous path to Calvary. He suffered and yet He did not open His mouth in protest. All out of His great and undying love for all of us, even to the greatest of sinners.

But Christ did not remain dead forever, because unlike all of us, He is good and He is pure from sin, and He is the only One found worthy in all of creation and in all the universe. If Christ had remained dead, and if the Sadducees were true in that there is no resurrection, then our faith is gone, our faith is dead. Because we are Christians simply because we believe, and truly believe that Christ is resurrected, and through that resurrection, He was triumphant over death and evil.

Christ was resurrected in glory, and embraced His full divinity, as His work in this world was finished, after He redeemed all mankind through the fee of His blood that flowed down from the cross. He ‘purchased’ all of us from Satan and broke the command of death over us forever. Death no longer has power over us, as long as we remain firmly faithful in our Lord God. By His death, Christ also made all of us who believe in Him, to die to ourselves, and to our sinful past, to all the evils that we had once committed. But again, if Christ had remained dead, then we too would have remained dead, without the hope of salvation and eternal life.

That is why exactly because of Christ’s resurrection, that we too arose with Him, and free ourselves from the chains of Satan, and death truly no longer has any power over us, because Christ has claimed all of us to be His own. This belief is vital, my brothers and sisters in Christ, that we believe in God who is a living God, and a God of the living, and not of the dead, because our Lord and God Himself is life, and therefore, to those whom remained in His favour, He would grant eternal life to them, as reward of their faith.

Today, we commemorate the feast of St. Boniface, who was a bishop and a martyr. St. Boniface toiled greatly in the Name of the Lord, by his missions to the land of the pagans, which still occupied much of the northern and central Europe at the time, especially what would today be known as Germany. St. Boniface converted many to the cause of Christ, and in his firm faith in the Lord, he brought many to salvation through conversion and baptism into the Church of God. Yet, he was not unharmed in his numerous ministries, as he faced many rejections, and even there were many who would dispose of him.

St. Boniface ultimately faced death when he was ambushed and killed by brigands while in the middle of his proselytising works. He faced death openly and remained strong in his faith to the end, even unto death. He faced death bravely because, yes, Christ is a living God, and He lives! In each one of us. That is why those who believe in the Lord has no need to fear death because Christ Himself has mastered death, and death no longer has power over us, especially if we remain true to the Lord’s words.

May our faith in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ become even firmer from today onwards, and may God strengthen our resolve in order to spread the Good News of the Lord to all mankind, and to no longer fear death, but believe at all times, that God is with us, within us, and that He will always watch over us, all the days of our lives, because He loves us, and He is Love Himself. Amen.

by

Sunday, 3 February 2013 : 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

The Lord presented to us, the greatest thing of all that exists in this world. This thing is Love. Love is the centre of all things, and indeed, love is at the very centre of the salvific mission of Christ in the world. For it may be asked, why God who is so great and so divine, would be willing to lower Himself such as to become a humble human like us. It is all because of love. Just as said in John 3 : 16, how God loves as so much that He gave us His only Son, Jesus Christ, that we can be saved and have hope for eternal life. If God has no love for us, surely He would not have done that.

Love is indeed essential for all of us, and as the Lord mentioned the most important things of all, faith, hope, and love, with love being the most important of the three. For faith is inseparable from love, since when we have faith in someone, particularly God, we must also have love, since it is impossible to believe and put all of one’s trust in someone, when in that one’s heart, there is no love at all for the other person. The Lord, who is full of love is therefore also faithful to us, and despite our constant rebellions and sinful ways, He is always ready to welcome us back if we are truly sorry of our faults and once again love Him.

Hope itself is also tied with love, as one cannot hope without love in their hearts. Since first, because all hopes are ultimately directed to God, how can one hope without first having love and faith in God? Indeed, one has to first believe in God and His power, that there is hope. It is through faith in God that we can have hope in Him, and indeed, hope in all mankind. By having faith, it means we also have love, and thus, this is why, love is at the centre, the most important thing of all that matters.

It is important to love, as without love, we are just a husk of flesh and blood without character, since our character is defined by love that is in us. Love that we have in God allows us to remain faithful to Him and keep Him always in our hearts, and always keep hope in Him, that even in the greatest darkness and times of greatest trouble, we still believe that God will help us find a way, such is the great love that He has for us, especially when we love Him too in return.

For the Lord has suffered greatly on the cross for us, all for our sake and for our liberation from sin, out of simple and pure love. It is Christ’s love for His Father that helped Him to persevere through His Passion, and allowed Him to accept willingly the chalice of suffering that He is to drink. This chalice of suffering, which then is filled with His Precious Blood, is the new covenant upon which we have our hope of eternal life. For the Lord brought with Him a new covenant in place of the old, that now through His great love for all mankind, all creation can be saved instead of just the people of Israel, God’s chosen people.

The people of Israel indeed has been God’s chosen people, and God has endured their numerous rebellions and protests with His love and patience, to still save them through the Sacrifice of His Son. However, ultimately, God’s love is such that He wants all of mankind to be saved and reunited with Him once again.

Thus, the new Covenant made by Christ covers all mankind, and no longer just cover only the people of Israel. Jesus made this clear in the Gospel today, as He mentioned how God sent His prophets to the people that do not belong to the Houses of Israel, even when there are so many others in Israel that need them as well. This is because even within Israel itself at the time, there are many who turned deaf to the word of God, shunned and even killed His prophets. Indeed, there are many examples given such as the widow of Zarephath and Naaman, the Syrian, who shows that faith and thus the love of God too existed in all peoples, even beyond Israel.

It does not mean that God hates the people of Israel and do not love them anymore. On the contrary, His love is as great as it has always been. Indeed, God sent His Son to be born into the House of David, as a fulfillment of His promise to David that his line and descendant will rule forever. This is fulfilled in Christ, who is both the Son of God, and the descendant of David, who will rule as King of all the Universe for all time. You can indeed see how faithful God is indeed to all His promises, just as how great is His love. God loves His chosen people, the first-called people of Israel, but He also love all others, all Gentiles, even more.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us has an important mission in our lives. Just like Jeremiah, who was chosen and called by God to be His prophet to all people, we too have been called, through our baptism. We all have a priestly, kingly, and prophetic role to fulfill upon our baptism, as we are called to be all these three, just as Christ who is our God, and also our High Priest, our great King, and our great Prophet of the Good News.

We have to bring the Good News to all around us, especially for those who seek the Word of God and have no chance to do so. In our daily lives too, we all should strive to put love at the centre of all our actions. In doing so, not only that we do the will of God by both loving Him with all our hearts, our minds, and our souls, but also love our neighbour as we love ourselves, just as Christ commanded us through His new commandment of love. Our faith will also grow and blossom, and bear fruits many hundredfold if we keep ourselves anchored in the love of God.

Remember, that God is Love (Deus Caritas est). Amen.