God the Father

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Sunday, 19 January 2014 : 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, World Day of Migrants and Refugees (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

John 1 : 29-34

The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him, and said, “There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! It is He of whom I said : A Man comes after me, who is already ahead of Me, for He was before me. I myself did not know Him, but I came baptising to prepare for Him, so that He might be revealed in Israel.”

And John also gave this testimony, “I saw the Spirit coming down on Him like a dove from heaven, and resting on Him. I myself did not know Him, but God, who sent me to baptise, told me, ‘You will see the Spirit coming down, and resting, on the One who baptises with the Holy Spirit.'”

“Yes, I have seen! And I declare that this is the Chosen One of God!”

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Sunday, 12 January 2014 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate a great feast of the Church, commemorating the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Jordan river by St. John the Baptist. This baptism marked the beginning of the ministry of our Lord Jesus, after thirty years of His life in this world since He was born.

A detail on the early life of Jesus besides His birth, presentation at the Temple and the time when He was left behind in the Temple at twelve was scarce and absent, but it was likely that He lived normally as any man would, under the care of His loving family, Mary His mother and Joseph, His foster-father. He would have lived normally as any sons of a carpenter would live, learning and understanding the world from Joseph, His foster-father.

Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptised by John because it had been prophesied as such by the prophets, and it therefore the very first instance when Christ the Saviour was revealed to the world, the very first instance when many could see and hear the witness of God’s sign of salvation. The truth about God and His saving plan was made clear at that moment when Jesus was baptised.

God made His Son, Jesus Christ to be the Christ or the Messiah, or the Saviour of the world. That was because it was only in Christ that the world could be freed from the chains of sin and evil that had enslaves it since the time when sin first entered the world. And all those who believe in Him would receive the great reward of salvation.

In that event too, God made obvious His nature for the world to see. First, that He is the one and only true God as opposed to all other false gods. He is the one and only supreme Lord and King of all, as the One who created this universe and everything in it, including all of us. But in this Oneness and unity, He has three Divine persons, all coexisting with each other in perfect unity, Three distinct persona, but One in nature and in perfect and indivisible unity.

Yes, what was shown in the event of the baptism of Jesus was what we know as the doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity. God that is One and yet has Three distinct persona of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. All of them are God, and One. The Father is the aspect of God as the Creator and the Omnipotent ruler and Lord of all things, while the Son, who was the Word of God made flesh, is the One who made things come to be, including the creation as well as the plan of salvation. The Holy Spirit is the force and power behind all things and all creation, as well as the life that God has given us.

The Father is not seen or visible to us, as He was portrayed in the Old Testament as a burning bush to Moses, or as a gentle wind to Elijah. It was often His voice that was heard, speaking His will to the prophets or directly to the people of God. Meanwhile, the Son who was the Word of God since the beginning of time and before that, was made known to us, in the person of Jesus Christ, incarnate as a Man, to become the Saviour of the world.

The Holy Spirit was also not directly seen like the Father, but is often portrayed as the flames of fire symbolising the flames of the Spirit of God, just as what happened in Pentecost, as well as a dove, which is the form that the Spirit took when Jesus was baptised at the Jordan. Thus, the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, recalling the baptism of Jesus at the Jordan.

How is this important to us? That is because when we were baptised, we were immersed with the water of baptism much like Jesus as He was immersed in the waters of the River Jordan. And not only that, to show that our baptism is not symbolic, but instead a Sacrament, we were all sealed in the Most Holy Name of the Holy Trinity, to be the possessions of the Lord, and marked for His saving grace, which He had revealed to the world through Jesus.

Jesus Christ was unique among every beings that had ever been in creation and in this universe. That is because He is one Being with two distinct natures, one that is fully divine and the other that is fully human, the two natures of which are united much in the same way the Holy Trinity is united to each other, perfectly united in love and indivisible from one another.

The divine nature of Christ is the One who had existed before all ages with God and was God, the Logos or the Word of God, who came down into the world, and with the will of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, was conceived into the world in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother, and that was the time, when His human nature, that is Jesus Christ, becomes extant.

The two natures had always existed together in Jesus, but as He grew as a baby and then as a young child, the complete truth about His appointed mission in this world was not revealed to Jesus. Nevertheless, He grew to be great with wisdom and knowledge as He aged, and whatever had been taught to Him by His family in this world. It was however at His baptism in the Jordan, when the Trinity once again come together, in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that the fullness of the divine mission of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, was made completely clear.

Hence, it can be said that this is the moment of new beginning in the earthly life of Christ. He began His ministry and teaching the Good News for the next three years or so, gathering His disciples and performing miracles and healing for the glory of God. It marked the beginning of the period of great graces of God, just as it does for all of us.

When we were baptised, we were marked to be the possessions of the Lord, that the mark of the Lord will remain for us for the rest of our lives. We were made completely clean once again, without any taints of sin with the water of baptism, and most important of all, we are all made children of God upon our baptism. But then we cannot just be idle or engage again in sinfulness, as we were indeed made clean upon baptism, but there also began our journey of faith towards the ultimate salvation in God, just as Jesus embarked upon His ministry.

May the Lord our God remind us of our holy baptism, of the time when we were made His children and welcomed into the Church, today, when we celebrate the baptism of His Son at the Jordan. May we remember always the water of baptism that made us whole again and worthy of the Lord, that we will resolve from now on to continue living in faith and devotion to God, without turning to the left or right.

Stay faithful, brethren, and as we rejoice in the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us also remember our own day of baptism! Yes, when we were made glorified as the children of God! God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 12 January 2014 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 3 : 13-17

At that time Jesus arrived from Galilee and came to John at the Jordan to be baptised by him. But John tried to prevent Him, and said, “How is it that You come to me? I should be baptised by You!”

But Jesus answered him, “Let it be like that for now, so that we may fulfill the right order.” John agreed. As soon as He was baptised, Jesus came up from the water. At once, the heavens opened and He saw the Spirit of God come down like a dove and rest upon Him.

At the same time a voice from heaven was heard, “This is My Son, the Beloved; He is My Chosen One.”

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Wednesday, 8 January 2014 : Wednesday after the Epiphany (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

God is with us, and He never leaves us, because He is in us and He remains with us, so long as we remain faithful ourselves towards Him. He steadies those who have faith in Him and keep them steady in the storm of the ocean that is this world. Like the disciples, if they keep their faith in God strong, their ship would not sink, because the Lord is with them.

God sent us His Son, Jesus Christ, to liberate us from the tyranny of sin and evil. No longer will evil have any power or sovereignty over us, as they once had since the days of the first mankind until the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. This is the proof of Divine love, manifested in the suffering and death of Jesus.

And He did not just stop at that, because He promised and then sent the Advocate, that is the Holy Spirit, to come down upon His disciples on Pentecost, who then, through the disciples, passed on to all the faithful ones, all of us today. The Lord Himself dwells within us through His Most Holy Presence in the Eucharist, which we partake every time we participate in the Holy Mass.

We must always them keep all of our actions, our deeds and words within the bounds of the laws and the precepts of the Lord, because only then He will remain with us and stay within us, marking us as the ones worthy of His kingdom when He comes again at His second coming. We cannot just profess our faith in Christ without action, that is concrete action, based in love, the love of God.

Faith without love and good graces through our actions, again based on love, is dead. A dead faith is no good, and is no better than having no faith in the Lord. Our faith must be a vibrant and living faith, which is a faith made concrete by our own loving actions, both towards our neighbours, our fellow men and women, as well as of course, towards God Himself, who had first loved us.

God rewards those who have faith, and rewards those who love. This is because He treasures those who believe in Him and worship Him as the Lord their God, and those who follow His will, as revealed through the prophets and through the Lord Jesus Himself who revealed to us the true meaning of the commandments of God that is love.

And God will protect those who belong to Him and provide for them. They will be blessed and glorified. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us put our complete trust in the Lord and love Him more and more day after day. Fear not the devil or any forces that threaten us, because the Lord is with us, on our side. Those who have any ill will against us will be destroyed before God.

Instead, brothers and sisters, we should love one another and care for each other, and give of ourselves to others in need, in the same way as Jesus Himself had given Himself to us, to be our help, our Saviour, and our hope. Be a beacon of light for the people of God, those who still live in darkness. Share with them, the love of God, that we have in us, because we have received the Holy Spirit and the Lord Himself dwells within us.

Let us profess love in all of our actions, words, and deeds, and spread the same love that God has given us through Jesus. Let us always remember that our faith is dead without action, and particularly without love. Let us from now on, if we have not done so, love one another, and love each other sincerely, forgiving each other of the mistakes we have done, and remove any grudge that existed between us. And finally, let us love Jesus our Lord with all our hearts, all of our strength and abilities!

Lord Jesus, love us ever more and continue to watch over us, and make us to realise how great the love You have for us, that we may love You ever more too! Amen.

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Tuesday, 7 January 2014 : Tuesday after the Epiphany, Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

God is Love, and He is the embodiment of Love, and in Him is the purest form of love as ever existed in this universe. That is what today’s readings try to bring to us, as we continue to learn more and more about the Lord and what His plans are for us.

God loved us so much that He was willing to come down, in the form of man like us, His own Word, the divine becoming a humble and mortal man, so that through Him, the world may know love, understand love, and most importantly, be saved in the love of God.

Jesus brought the love of God into reality and complete in concreteness. The love of God was made real through Jesus, whose very presence was the ultimate proof of God’s undying love for us, even though we often reject and spurn His love for us. Despite of that, He still came offering His love to all mankind, even to those who rejected Him and persecuted Him and those who followed Him.

God showed His love even by feeding His people, when they followed Him to hear His teachings even for days. He miraculously multiplied loaves of bread and fishes, to feed them until there were even great excess and leftovers. In His love for us, He showed it through concrete action, and in the end, He gave none other than Himself, offering Himself to all of us, in the form of His own Body and Blood.

We who receive these Body and Blood of our Lord, that is in the Eucharist, receive the Lord, and indeed, the fullness of His love. We can indeed say that as the Lord loves us, His love is now inside each one of us. That is the message that St. John the Evangelist in his letter tried to convey to us, that because we belong to the Lord and the Lord is in us, we have love and we know what is love. And therefore, with that love, we ought to love one another.

Love cannot just remain within us or it will be dormant, wither and die. This is because love is meant to be shared with one another. There is no love or real love if we selfishly keep it to ourselves. Certainly our Lord who is love did not keep the love He has for us, from us. He was moved with compassion and love every time He saw His children, that is us, in pain, sorrow or difficulties. The proof of which could be found throughout the Scriptures, including what Jesus had done in the multiplication of the bread and fish to feed His beloved ones.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Raymond of Penyafort, a religious who lived during the time of the Medieval era Europe. St. Raymond was a major figure in the faith in that era, having numerous contributions to the cause of the Church, by his numerous writings and works, in particular related to the Church laws and regulations, meant to regulate and maintain purity in the faith of the people of God.

But besides this, St. Raymond was also very renowned for his missionary zeal, that is to spread the word of God and the truth about God to those who lacked faith in Him. St. Raymond was particularly aiming at the conversion of the Jews and the Muslims. The first group of people was the people first chosen by God to be His people, but many rejected Him when He came to His people in Jesus. They rejected the One who had fed them with food, as well as with His own Body and Blood.

And the second one was a group of people who were misled by heresy instigated by the false prophets in what is now modern day Arabia. They were misled by falsehood spread by the evil one in purpose to confuse the people of God, that they would reject the very One who is the true and complete manifestation of God’s love in this world, that is Jesus Christ. They rejected Him and His divinity, rejecting that their Lord came into this world to save them, being led into the lies that it was unimaginable for their Lord to lower Himself to be a humble man.

These are the people whom St. Raymond wanted to convert to the cause of the Lord, to show them the truth of the love our God has for everyone, including these misled and rebellious children of His. We too should take part in delivering the truth to everyone and have the same aspiration as St. Raymond of Penyafort. We have to show the love of God to them, just as we should also show the same love to one another. We do this through our own actions, deeds, and words, that they too may believe.

May the Lord our God who loves us with all of His heart, also enkindle in our hearts His love, that we may love one another just as He asked of us, as well loving Him as our God and our Father. Amen.

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Thursday, 2 January 2014 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 2 : 22-28

Who is the liar? The one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is an antichrist, who denies both the Father and the Son. The one who denies the Son is without the Father, and those who acknowledge the Son also have the Father.

Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you too, will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise He Himself gave us : eternal life.

I write this to you thinking of those who try to lead you astray, you received from Him the anointing, and it remains in you, so you do not need someone to teach you. His anointing teaches you all things, it speaks the truth and does not lie to you; so remain in Him, and keep what He has taught you.

And now, my children, live in Him, so that when He appears in His glory, we may be confident and not ashamed before Him when He comes.

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Wednesday, 1 January 2014 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God – Theotokos, World Day of Prayer for Peace (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Galatians 4 : 4-7

But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son. He came born of woman and subject to the Law, that we might receive adoption as children of God. And because you are children, God has sent into your hearts the Spirit of His Son which cries out : ‘Abba!’ that is, ‘Father!’

You yourselves are no longer a slave but a son or daughter, and yours is the inheritance by God’s grace.

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Monday, 30 December 2013 : Sixth Day of the Christmas Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 2 : 12-17

My dear children, I write this to you : you have already received the forgiveness of your sins through the Name of Jesus.

Fathers, I write this to you : you know Him who is from the beginning.

Young men, I write this to you : you have overcome the Evil One.

My dear children, I write this to you because you already know the Father.

Fathers, I write this to you because you know Him who us from the beginning.

Young men, I write this to you because you are strong and the Word of God lives in you who have indeed overcome the Evil One.

Do not love the world or what is in it. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the craving of the flesh, the greed of eyes and people boasting of their superiority – all this belongs to the world, not to the Father.

The world passes away with all its craving but those who do the will of God remain forever.

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Friday, 27 December 2013 : Feast of St. John the Evangelist, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 1 : 1-4

This is what has been from the beginning, and what we have heard and have seen with our own eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, I mean the Word who is Life.

The Life made itself known, we have seen Eternal Life and we bear witness, and we are telling you of it. It was with the Father and made Himself known to us.

So we tell you what we have seen and heard, that you may be in fellowship with us, and us, with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And we write this that our joy may be complete.

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Tuesday, 24 December 2013 : Vigil Mass of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Vigil (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 88 : 4-5, 16-17, 27 and 29

I have made a covenant with David, My chosen one; I have made a pledge to My servant. I establish his descendants forever; I build his throne for all generations.

Blessed is the people who know Your praise. They walk in the light of Your face. They celebrate all day Your Name and Your protection lifts them up.

He will call on Me, “You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.” I will keep My covenant firm forever, and My love for him will endure.