ignorance

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Sunday, 14 July 2013 : 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan. This is a well-known story by Jesus to show that nobody is beyond help, and nobody is beyond salvation, for everyone is truly equal before God, and God loves them all the same.

Why Samaritan? In order to understand this, we need to look into the history of the people of Israel and the region of Jesus’ time, that is two thousand years ago. At that time, the region north of Judea, where most of the Jews lived in, and where Jerusalem is, is called Samaria, the former lands of the northern kingdom of Israel.

The northern kingdom was destroyed about more than seven hundred years prior to the birth of Jesus by the powerful Assyrian Empire, and the people of the northern kingdom were taken away from their homeland and scattered among the nations in exile. In their place, the pagan peoples of Assyria and its constituent nations came in and settled in that region, together with the local people of the land of Canaan.

The people of Samaria, as the region was to be known henceforth, were therefore a mix of people, but considered as evidently ‘non-Jewish’ by the Jewish people who would return from the exile in Babylon, those who settled in Jerusalem, and in the former Kingdom of Judah, in what was then to be known as Judea.

That marked the beginning of distrust between the Jewish people and the Samaritans, as they were called by the Jews at the time. They were considered as pagan and as a people without hope for salvation, because the Jews at the time believe that they, as the chosen people, the chosen race, are the only ones worthy of God, and no others are worthy of the Lord.

Yet, without going further into the long story of the history of the two peoples, we can see in today’s Gospel reading in particular, the disparity between the reaction of the Jews, and that of the Samaritan, when confronted with an injured person, a person in suffering. The Levite and the priest portrayed by Jesus were high ranked members of the Jewish society and were usually held in high regards, and yet they ignored the suffering of the robbed person and went on their way. But the Samaritan, cursed and held in contempt by the Jews, stopped and gave it his all to provide the best aid he could give to the suffering person.

The purpose of the readings today, brothers and sisters, is however not to put Jews against non-Jews, and not to discriminate against either the Jews or the Samaritans. The real purpose is to show that while it is not easy to become the disciples of the Lord, the Lord had not made it so difficult for us to follow His precepts and walk in His ways, just as the first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy had mentioned.

The Lord had given His commandments to the people, as a set of laws to govern how the people of Israel should live their lives, and He had given them to Moses, so that he could make sure that the people of God would continue to keep God’s laws in their hearts, as long as they live, and pass them down the generations, so that their children, grandchildren, and so on would continue to live according to the Lord’s way through His commandments.

But over time, the true meaning of God’s commandments had been lost, and they had been replaced with laws made by men. The laws had become empty rituals and observations that had lost their heart, the centre of all things, and of all the law. What is this thing? This thing is none other than love, for God’s commandments are truly the commandments of love!

To love our God, with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our strengths, and with all our being, just as we do the same to our neighbours, loving them, our brothers and sisters, forgiving those who had wronged us, and bring love to one another, sharing them so that love will not perish inside us, but grow, nurtured by our love with one another, and together with our love for God, who loves us all, without exceptions.

It is not difficult to love, and it is indeed possible to love without making much effort, but love requires a true sincerity of the heart to be accomplished, because love requires our hearts to be free of the entanglements of evil and its rotten fruits, like hatred, jealousy, sloth, greed, and so many other corruptions that evil had brought into our hearts.

We like to make excuses, brothers and sisters in Christ, excuses so that we will not need to love one another, and even not to love God! Because we like to linger in our own sense of security and pleasure in this comfortable world, so that we will not want to step beyond that sphere of security, to go out of our way, whenever we see someone hurting, someone in pain and suffering, and someone without love.

We like to love ourselves more, to be selfish, and to think of ourselves before that of others. No, brothers and sisters in Christ, we cannot be like that. To be Christian means to be with one another in Christ, to become brethren in our Lord and God. To be Christian means to be like the Good Samaritan, not because he is a Samaritan, but because he showed mercy, love, and compassion to those in need, to those who are suffering, and to give their love to others, that the love in all will grow and blossom.

It is important for all of us to show love in all the things that we do, in all our actions, in all our words and deeds, so that we truly belong to God who is Love, and not to the devil. It is easy for us to just walk away and ignore those in need, just as what was done by the priest and the Levite, abandoning the suffering to their pain, and go on about their own business.

Does it not ring a bell to our own actions, how we often walk away from those in suffering, and pretending not to see what had happened, or pretending to be deaf to the cries of those who are suffering, and who greatly need our help? Even little actions of love from us, can mean a great deal of difference to them.

Let me relate to you, a real-life story, in which a toddler was ran over by a car on the street, because the toddler’s parents were busy shopping in the nearby market, and they did not notice that their child had been separated from them. The toddler did not die instantly from the crash, and indeed had hope of survival from the injuries sustained from the accident, but because nobody was aroused to give their help, the child bled to death on the scene.

Did that accident happen on an empty road? on an abandoned street? No, the accident happened in a very busy road, where lots of people were passing around, and while some glanced at the injured toddler on the street, nobody were aroused to give a hand to help. They just walked on, pretending that nothing had ever happened. The worst are those who would say, either openly or secretly in these ways, “Pity”, “How very unfortunate”, “Where are the parents” “So tragic”, when they could just nudge themselves into taking action, which might have meant a big difference between life and death.

It is not difficult, brothers and sisters, to follow the commandments of the Lord, to be His disciples, because all that we need to do, is to obey Him and His will, and do His bidding, that is to do the works of love, and helping one another, especially those in need, is already good enough. We do not have to make excuses that, “Sorry I cannot help, too busy”, or if we would like to give in terms of financial donation, “Sorry, I am not rich enough, or I am still poor, so why should I give to the poor? Wait until I become rich then I will donate.”

Because acts of love can be as simple as showing love to those who are unloved, those who are ostracised, and those who have been growing up without love. Love is increasingly a more difficult commodity to find in our world today, and it is up to us, to rekindle the love in the hearts of our brothers and sisters. For no matter how great we are, without love, and therefore, without God, as the centre of our life, we are nothing.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today, let us pledge ourselves to the Lord, that we will always keep His commandments faithfully, by first believing in Him and loving Him with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our strengths, and with all our being, and then to love one another, as brothers and sisters, children of the same God, reflecting the love that we have received from the Lord, in our own actions, in our own words, and in all the things that we profess in our lives.

Remember always Jesus Christ, our Lord, whose perfect selflessness and love for all of us, God’s children, made Him to obey fully the will of God His Father, to die on the cross for us, the ultimate form of love, the love one has for one’s friend, that one would give life to another that that other one may live. Christ showed His love for us through none other than His death, a humiliating death on the cross, but which was converted to the cross of glory and hope, when He rose again, and gave us all, the hope of salvation and eternal life, if we believe in Him. May God remain with us always, and we too, remain in His love. Amen.

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Thursday, 11 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard from the readings about the mission that Christ had entrusted all of us with. The mission that He had given to the apostles before He left this world, that is to spread the Good News of salvation to all mankind, and to all the world. Each and every Christians baptised in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit must uphold this mission and pledge ourselves to its cause, that is the cause of the Lord.

Christ had called all of us to be His disciples, to bring all the people of God back to His loving embrace, to open their eyes and their hearts to God’s divine and everlasting love. The Lord offers His love and His peace freely to all, without exception, even sinners, and especially sinners, because the Lord did come especially for the sake of sinners, those lost sheep lost in the darkness of evil and sin.

Christ gave up His life in sacrifice, as a worthy offering in atonement for all our sins, all of us, without any exceptions. He died for all mankind, past, present, and future so that all may live, and in this new life, be granted eternal life in glory with Him for eternity, as long as we keep to the covenant that He had made with us, a new covenant sealed by His Blood pouring down from the cross.

Our Lord Jesus loves us, brethren, so much that He is willing to suffer all the blows, lashes, and curses, the pain of the nails that pierced his hands and feet, so that all of us do not have to suffer death eternal in hell. For our sins and iniquities the Lamb of God had been slaughtered and sacrificed, innocent and pure as He is, He was made to bear all the sins of the world.

Sadly, as many as those who would accept His call and His words, and followed Him into a new life of purity and holiness, there are even many more who would prefer to remain in their state of sin and darkened life, and preferred the pleasures of the world and Satan to the Lord who loves them. Many would reject Him and reject His messengers and disciples, including all of us who had been called by the Lord to be His apostles in this modern era.

So if Christ is rejected by many, then we will be rejected too, but this does not mean that we should slacken or abandon the mission that has been given to us. Indeed, there are still those who would accept Christ and His Good News, and even among those who have rejected Him and rejected us, there is always still hope, that they will change and receive the Lord. We must remain strong and courageous, and embrace our mission with zeal, devotion, and most importantly, love.

Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Benedict the abbot, also known widely as St. Benedict of Nursia, the founder of the religious order of St. Benedict, or the Benedictines. He was also an inspiration for our great Pope Emeritus, the beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, in choosing his regnal name as Pope, together with Pope Benedict XV, his predecessor and the Pope of peace.

St. Benedict of Nursia lived in the first millenium in the late Roman Empire, and he was the founder of a great religious order, the Benedictines, who imposed on them what is well-known as the Rule of St. Benedict. The rule placed a great emphasis on the balance between piety and religiosity and the need for service and good works, which the Benedictines practiced through their charitable acts and service, and a pious and holy lifestyle, dedicated to the Lord in humility and obedience. And important to the Benedictines are also the concept of peace, the need to seek peace in this world, and to be peaceful in one’s own acts.

St. Benedict strengthened the Christian monasticism that was growing up at his era, and he laid much foundations for the future missionary works of the Church and religious orders that helped to preserve the Traditions of the Faith through the tumultous era of the ending of the Roman Empire and the advent of the Dark Ages. Through St. Benedict, the monastic communities had been strengthened, and therefore, the Church itself had been strengthened.

Inspired by the example of St. Benedict of Nursia and other great missionary saints of the monastic orders, we embark on this new journey of the faith in this modern era of secularism and consumerism, where God increasingly take a lesser importance in people’s minds and lives. It is our duty then, to continue the work of faith, to bring the Lord closer to many people around the world who have yet to receive the Good News of the Lord, or even those who had rejected the message of salvation outright.

There will be rejection for sure, for the world will reject us just as it had once rejected Christ Himself. But we must never give up and we must be courageous, to defend our faith, to defend the Lord, and to bring salvation to many who still live in the darkness of evil and sin. May St. Benedict of Nursia intercede for us, and pray for our sake, that God will send His helpers to aid us in our mission in this world. May St. Benedict also intercede for the sake of our beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who is fighting for the Church in prayer and solitude. God bless us all, and God bless His Holy Church! Amen.

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Sunday, 7 July 2013 : 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Lord challenges all of us, to be His disciples and His followers, and what we are expected to do, when we choose to become His servants, the extensions of His will in this world. For to become the followers of Christ does not mean an easy life to us, or a leisurely work. Indeed, becoming the followers and disciples of Christ, mean that we die to this world, and abandon all the pleasures and the good that is in the world, for the sake of Christ.

There will be those who accept us, and there will likely be even more who will reject us, sometimes may not even be in a friendly manner. That is because not all people attune themselves to the Lord and His message, and many prefer to live in the ignorance provided by the world and all its temptations. To be a servant and disciple of Christ therefore means to struggle against the world and fight in this uphill battle for the sake of the Lord.

However, we must not give up, for certainly the Lord Himself did not give up on all of us. He still keeps up hope on us, and still continue to love all of us. Indeed, He embraced all of us, gave us all the love that He has in Him, that is infinite, and treat us like His own children. Nothing less indeed than giving us His own life, through His death on the cross, that we may have eternal life ourselves, those of us who believe in Him and accept Him as our Lord and Saviour.

God cares for all of us and He will bless us if we stay true to Him and follow Him as His disciples, particularly for those of us who have been called by the Lord to be His servants and serve His people. He will provide for all of us, and even if we face difficulties and opposition, as we surely will, the Lord will always be with us, and we should not need to worry at all.

The problem with our world today is that there are so much things that are good and enticing to men, and there are so much things that tempt us away from the Lord and His call. It is not that we should ignore or shun all of the world’s goodness, but we must know the limit to such goodness, otherwise we would succumb to our natural weakness of desire and greed. If we can understand self-control, we would be able to prevent the world from corrupting our hearts and blocking our path towards the Lord.

Our world has become very materialistic and secular in nature, that many people no longer place God as first in their hearts, and even no longer has the Lord in their hearts. In God’s place came in all the greed that is of the world, for material wealth, possessions, luxury, comfort, and excesses. The crazed search for more money and wealth is just one of the many examples of how our world had changed for the worse.

Especially it is increasingly becoming very difficult for the Church to find new priests today, and new servants of the Lord. Even the numbers of religious brothers and sisters have also dropped significantly, a sign in tandem with the increasing secularism of the world, and the increasing temptation of the world on us mankind.

In the past it is easy for the Church to find new priests and religious members because God still lives strong in many people’s hearts, and many willingly give up everything they have in life for the sake of the Lord, and serve His people through the Church, be it as priests, brothers, nuns, or even as lay worker. However, as I had mentioned and all of you knew, that times had changed. Now, many people are too fixated on their material possessions that they are increasingly unwilling to abandon all of them for the sake of God and His people.

However, internal reasons are not the only reasons, though it does play a very important part in why we have a great decline in the number of people in our seminaries today. The other reasons are external, from our friends, our society, and ultimately, our own families. In many parts of the world, success in life had increasingly been equated with monetary and economic success, and educational achievements, both linked to each other in such a way that, our life becomes more like an investment than a life.

Yes, as you know, in our modern world, raising a child increasingly become more and more expensive as years go by. Every year, inflation brings all living costs higher and higher, and consequently it becomes ever more difficult to raise a child, with soaring expenditures and declining income relative to those expenditures. Education, in particular, became so expensive, that educating a child in our society today becomes something like a chore.

That is why, coupled with the increasingly stronger link between education, its achievements and success in life, made so many parents becoming more and more reluctant to let their children go, when they reveal to them about their intentions in life. You see, God chooses whom He wants to be His servants, and He calls them all, through subtle means. Not many would take up that offer and that call, but many did answer and treasure the calling.

Yet, parental objections often stood in the way of the Lord’s call, because the parents thought of priestly life and a life dedicated to the service of the Lord and His people is a wasted life, a shameful life, and indeed, an investment wasted, because we gradually see our lives less as a life that we truly should see it, but merely more and more as an investment, about money and material possessions.

Friends and society also play a great deal in shaping one’s calling, because peer pressure and objections in the society do prevent one’s calling from being realised, especially when coupled with parental objection. These are in fact, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, some of the crosses that we must bear if we are to follow the Lord. This is exactly because the world does not love Christ, and neither does it welcome Him. The world follows its own ways, and those are not the ways of the Lord.

The purpose of today’s readings however is not to attack or put down parents, just because they rejected or opposed their children’s calling, but rather, to remind all of us that, life is not just about our possessions, or about how much money we have in the bank, or how big is the salary we receive in a month, or even, how many cars and other utilities we have. Life is indeed about Christ, and about loving Christ and our fellow brethren.

We Christians who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ must be brave and courageous, in defending our faith against the assaults of the world and its temptations, and must be ready at all times to take up our crosses, to walk alongside Christ in His suffering. These crosses mean to take an active part in our participation in the Church, according to our own calling, that is for those called and chosen to serve the Lord in divine priesthood, to be brave in embracing one’s calling and rejecting the voices that try to prevent one’s call from being realised; and for those in religious orders, to be faithful in prayer and service; and lastly, but not least, for the laity themselves, that they will take up a more active participation in the Church and groom themselves for better understanding of their faith.

In doing so, brothers and sisters in Christ, we have done God’s will, to be His disciples and preach the Good News to all of the world, including to our fellow brethren and ourselves. Therefore, now, let us pray that the Lord will give us strength and courage to face all the troubles in life, and also give us the understanding of the nature of God’s call and vocations, and bravely defend the faith of the Church in all of our deeds.

May the Lord give us His Holy Spirit, that we will always ever persevere, amidst the difficulties and challenges in this world, in showing God’s love to all, and also to preach the Good News of the Lord to all nations. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 1 June 2013 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Justin, Martyr (First Reading)

Sirach 51 : 17-27

With her help I made progress and I will glorify Him who gives me wisdom, for I decided to put it into practice and ardently seek what is good. I shall not regret it. My soul has struggled to possess her. I have been attentive to observe the Law, and after my faults I have stretched out my hands to heaven and lamented my ignorance of her.

My love of her increased and I found her in repentance. It was through her from the beginning that I learnt to possess my heart. She will not forsake me. With my whole being I sought her; that is why I won what is best. In return for this, the Lord has given me words to praise Him.

Come near, you who are without understanding and join her school. Why do you say you are deprived of all this and that your souls are thirsty? This is what I say : ‘Buy this without money; put your neck under her yoke and let your minds receive instruction; it is very near and within your reach. See for yourselves : my toil has been slight and I found deep rest.’

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Wednesday, 8 May 2013 : 6th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Acts 17 : 15, 22 – Acts 18 : 1

Paul was taken as far as Athens by his escort, who then returned to Beroea with instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible.

Then Paul stood up in the Areopagus hall and said, “Athenian citizens, I note that in every way you are very religious. As I walked around looking at your shrines, I even discovered an altar with this inscription : ‘To an unknown God.’ Now, what you worship as unknown, I intend to make known to you.

God, who made the world and all that is in it, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, being as He is Lord of heaven and earth. Nor does His worship depend on anything made by human hands, as if He were in need. Rather, it is He who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone.

From one stock He created the whole human race to live throughout all the earth, and He fixed the time and the boundaries of each nation. He wanted them to seek Him by themselves, even if it were only by groping for Him, succeed in finding Him.

Yet He is not far from any one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being, as some of your poets have said : ‘for we too are His offspring.’ If we are indeed God’s offspring, we ought not to think of divinity as something like a statue of gold or silver or stone, a product of human art and imagination.

But now God prefers to overlook this time of ignorance and He calls on all people to change their ways. He has already set a day on which He will judge the world with justice through a Man He has appointed. And, so that all may believe it, He has just given a sign by raising this Man from the dead.

When they heard Paul speak of a resurrection from death, some made fun of him, while others said, “We must hear you on this topic some other time.” At that point, Paul left. But a few did join him, and believed. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus court, a woman named Damaris, and some others.

After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

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Thursday, 28 February 2013 : 2nd Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

We heard today, the well-known story of Lazarus the poor and the rich man. One who suffered in this life and received his reward in the afterlife, while the rich man who enjoyed in this world, suffers  grievously in hell. Do not be confused though. God does not hate the rich, and neither that He hates those who have more. It does not mean that if you are poor then you are guaranteed entry into the kingdom of heaven.

No, indeed, what matters is the state of the soul, and how are we aligned with God in our hearts. Wealth and property can be a hindrance in our path to God, but they can also be an asset that helps us in our path. What matters is how we use them, and to whom we depend on. We have a choice, either to place our trust in the eternal and undying Lord our God, and in His love, or to place our trust in mortal man and temporal wealth.

Wealth though useful, as indeed, we cannot live in this world today without money at all. Money makes the world spinning, and it allows many things to be done. But, as we have seen in many people today, many are ensnared and trapped in the futile thirst for wealth, possessions, affluence, and wanting for more of each of them, that they plough forward thinking only on the best way to get these, and immerse themselves so fully in their career and work, so that they can earn all these. Such is the kind of damage to our soul and our being, that materialism and commercialism in our world has brought us.

Just as in the first reading, in what the Lord said to the prophet Jeremiah, that these men who placed their trust in mortal and temporary things will be cursed and rejected just like the rich man. You can party all you want all day, and have a very enjoyable life in this world, but in too many cases, because of such pleasure, enjoyment, and fulfillment, we became blind to those around us, we became blind to the condition of the world outside our comfort zone, and we ignore the cry of the poor and the less fortunate for help.

We do not need to give all our wealth and possessions to the poor. We do not need to sell our homes and live like a poor ourselves, denying ourselves any property. For what is important is that, to listen. Just as Abraham said to the rich man in hell, that there is a need to listen, to listen to the teachings of God through the Law and the prophets, and listen to the word of God, which today we read and listened to in the readings. But to listen is also to sharpen our minds and our senses, to open our eyes and ears to see and hear the plight of the less fortunate around us.

That beyond all those ceaseless partying, happy life, and all, there is a way to achieve true happiness. Because, happiness that is built on these materials, possessions, and all mortal things will eventually be swept away, and although it is real happiness, but it is not true happiness. What is true happiness is to follow what God has constantly taught us through Christ, to follow His commandments of love.

To love our neighbour as we love ourselves, and to love God Himself with all our strength, and with all our being. In doing so, we will gain true satisfaction, and with the knowledge that God loves what we are doing, if we do so, we can be rest assured that we will not suffer the same way the rich man did. For the rich man had many opportunities in life to help Lazarus in life, who always present at his gate, and therefore must be well known to the rich man. Yet, instead of giving him help, the rich man lifted no finger to help and abandoned him to his death.

Indeed, again we heard about the sin of omission, that is, failing to do what we are supposed to do, and failing to do what is good, when we are able to. To sin is not by just doing what is bad and evil in the eyes of God, but we also have committed sin, if we are fully capable of doing good, and have the power and capacity to lessen the sufferings of others by sharing what good we have, but have chosen to ignore, and do not use what we have, the opportunity that we have. Such is the sin of omission, that the rich man had done, in addition to whatever bad things he might have done in his life, that made him deserve hell.

For in hell, the sufferings that the rich man suffered is in fact not physical fires and torment, as what many would have thought and portrayed as the burning hells. Instead, what is hell? Hell is the ultimate separation between God and man, where man has no hope of eternal life, but eternal death and separation from God who is everything. For God encompass everything and loves all of His creation, that it is incomprehensible to be left out of His love and presence.

Hell is when we have totally rejected God, and have turned our back entirely from Him, and shunned His divine and infinite love. The suffering of the rich man is the suffering of the soul, the internal fire, a fire that is the absence of the love and presence of God, that burns the person so greatly that they suffer. Imagine a world where you cannot reach out to God, and where you have no hope of escaping, and imagine the place where it is too late for you to ask the Lord for forgiveness, because we ourselves have rejected Him. That is the true hell.

We have the privilege today to listen to the Word of God through the Scripture, just as the rich man had the opportunity to listen to the Moses through the Law, and the prophets. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is now up to us to choose, whether we want to listen to the Word of God, and begin to change our ways and our life, that we may live in charity and love, or to reject the Word and continue to revel in our own pleasurable life, that is not true happiness.

Let us pray for one another that all of us will grow ever more in faith, hope, and love. That all of us can do in our own ways, charitable acts and acts of love, to help those less fortunate around us, and not limited to just that, but also to comfort the sorrowful and to accompany the lonely, and many others things that we indeed can do, and we have the potential to do. Let us pray for our Church, that it can continue to do its numerous act of charity, which all of us can also participate in, for the good of our brethren throughout the world, suffering from hunger, injustice, prejudice, and even persecution. May God bless us all, always. Amen.