Israelites

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Friday, 12 June 2015 : Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, World Day of Prayer for the Sanctity of Priestly Life (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Hosea 11 : 1, 3-4, 8c-9

YHVH said, “I loved Israel when he was a child; out of Egypt I called My Son. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; yet little did they realise that it was I who cared for them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with leading strings of love, and I became for them as One who eases the yoke upon their neck and stoops down to feed them.”

“My heart is troubled within Me and I am moved with compassion. I will not give vent to My great anger; I will not return to destroy Ephraim for I am God and not human. I am the Holy One in your midst and I do not want to come to you in anger.”

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Sunday, 23 March 2014 : 3rd Sunday of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Be not stubborn and put our trust in God. Open our hearts and listen to God speaking in the depths of our hearts. Let Him come to us and make us once again to be worthy of Him. Be open to the words of God and do not harden our hearts against Him, and our salvation will surely come upon us and we will rejoice with God.

Do not be like the Israelites but rather be like the Samaritans, this is the message that we need to learn today. Not to be prejudiced over one race of people against another, so that is why we need to understand first the context and background that made up the scene in our Gospel reading today.

At that time, and ever since the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel, about seven centuries before the birth of Christ, the remnants of the Israelites, commonly called the Jews since then, had been at odds with the people who lived at the former territories of the northern kingdom.

These people had been brought in by the Assyrian conquerors to replace the people of the northern kingdom who had been mostly deported to the far away territories of the Assyrian Empire, and these people intermingled with the remnants of the people of the northern kingdom to form the people called the Samaritans, because they lived in the region of Samaria, the former capital of the northern kingdom.

The Jews despised the Samaritans because ever since their exile in Babylon, they had been largely faithful to the law of God, and under the leadership of the Pharisees, they became rather puritans in faith, that is they were very zealous and proud of their faith in God as well as their heritage of the faith and full observation of God’s laws. And the Samaritans stood in contrast to this, as they mixed their ancestors’ pagan rites with the faith of the Israelites in God.

So essentially the Jews and the Samaritans worship the same God, but they were at odds because of their differences, in how they worship the Lord their God. And in particular because the Jews and their faith believed that they were the only ones worthy of salvation because they were of God’s chosen people, and exclude others as pagans and unworthy of salvation, refusing to deal with them as much as possible.

Well, as we see from the Scriptures, we know that Christ was first sent to the Jews, to the chosen people of God, to tell them of God’s Good News of salvation. Yet, as we know, they refused to listen to Him, or just believed superficially without real substance of the faith.

Jesus’ own neighbours in His own hometown rejected Him, the Pharisees and the chief priests rejected Him, and the same people who believed in Him and put their faith in Him because of His miracles and healings called for His death and crucifixion on the cross. Yet, the Samaritans believed in what He said and followed Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as Jesus Himself said, that all who believes in Him will receive eternal life, we too will receive what He promised to the Samaritan woman if we genuinely believe in Him. And we should not be prejudiced against anyone based on their background either, and worst of all we should not claim to be righteous over another and condemn them for their supposedly ‘lesser’ faith.

Instead, let us help one another to believe more and more in God, and let us help one another to reach out to the Lord, that all of us may together be saved and may one day be together in heaven, all as the same children of the same God. Let us go together and worship the Lord as one. May God guide us and help us on our way. Amen.

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Sunday, 23 March 2014 : 3rd Sunday of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Exodus 17 : 3-7

But the people thirsted for water there and grumbled against Moses, “Why did you make us leave Egypt to have us die of thirst with our children and our cattle?”

So Moses cried to YHVH, “What shall I do with the people? They are almost ready to stone me!” YHVH said to Moses, “Go ahead of the people and take with you the elders of Israel. Take with you the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.”

“I will stand there before you on the rock at Horeb. You will strike the rock and water will flow from it and the people will drink.” Moses did this in the presence of the elders of Israel.

The place was called Massah and Meribah because of the complaints of the Israelites, who tested YHVH saying, “Is YHVH with us or not?”

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Saturday, 18 January 2014 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Today brethren, we heard about how God had chosen Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, to be the king over His people Israel, and how He instructed Samuel, His prophet and servant, to deliver His will to Saul and later on, to let it be known to the people.

He anointed Saul through His servant Samuel, that Saul be filled with His own Spirit bearing power and authority, that He be granted wisdom and power, which came from God, to lead the people of God through righteous life and obedience to the Lord, and make sure that the people of God faithfully keep the laws and commandments of God without turning from them or abandoning them.

But sadly, Saul, and many other kings of Israel did not remain faithful to God, and followed their own ways and desires, in ruling the people, misusing the power given to them and the authority entrusted to them. They became tyrants and abusers of power, serving their own needs and desires instead of serving the people of God.

The people of Israel were eventually lost and were scattered all over the world, after their kingdoms of Israel and Judah were destroyed by their enemies. They went into exile, and only a portion would eventually return to their Promised Land, and began anew, trying to once again obey the will of God and not walk the path of sinfulness as their ancestors had under the rule of the corrupt kings.

God resolved to show His infinite love for His people and for all mankind, the most beloved of all His creations, by sending to us His ultimate form of love, that is, Jesus Christ, His own Son, the Logos, the Word of God, who was made man, by the power of God, and born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus, as Lord, is the true King of all, for God is the true King over all creations, the Lord and King over all the universe. From God all authority and power comes.

But Jesus showed all of us, that true kingship is not one based on the abuse of power or tyranny. Even though He was Lord of all and King of all kings, and have all the power and authority He needed, He never showed them off or used them to push things to His advantage. The kingship of Jesus is one of true service for His people, to care and love them very, very much, so much that He even was willing to lay down His own life for them.

He also came to seek the lost and the ones without hope. He came to bring light to those who live in the darkness, especially those who were deeper and even deeper in darkness. That was why, when He came, He sought those who were sinful and considered the troubles of the society, the hated enemies of the people. Yes, people such as tax collectors, prostitutes, and those possessed by illnesses and the evil spirits.

Jesus came to bring them to the comfort of the light of God, and to show that they too deserve redemption, even more so because they were so deep in the risk of damnation. He also made the point that these people were truly capable of great deeds and great piety, even more than those who outwardly showed brilliant faith, but inside were not as brilliant as they seemed to be.

That was why, He as the King who has authority over us, and who is like a father to all of us, came to correct things as well as perceptions of the society, that we should not judge others based on their appearance or their deeds in the past. Yes, the likes of Saul, who was very tall and handsome, who seemed like the perfect choice for a regal king, and yet failed miserably, and the likes of the Pharisees, who outwardly showed faith in God but in their hearts there were no love for God, but only for themselves.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are called by our King, our Lord Jesus Christ, to be the beacons of light shining the way for those who have been lost in the darkness of this world. Let us imitate Jesus and seek out those who have been condemned and villified by the society, those ostracised and hated. Let us not hate or be prejudiced against them, but instead embracing them, that we show to them the love of God, that they too may believe and therefore be saved together with us.

May the Lord put in our hearts, the courage to embrace the least of our brothers and sisters, especially those who are looked down upon by the society, and those who are unloved and rejected. May God be with all of us, that together, we may help one another to find a way to seek the light, our King, the One and only True King, Jesus Christ our Lord and God! Amen.

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Thursday, 16 January 2014 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

It was said indeed, that the people of Israel were fortunate, for among the many nations of this world, they had been chosen to be the people of God, after the Lord chose Abraham their forefather, for his upright life and righteousness. To his descendants therefore God promised many things that He fulfilled, giving them great numbers that spread throughout the world, and to Israel, the descendants of Jacob the grandson of Abraham, He chose to be a chosen people.

God chose His people among the many nations, and deliver them out of their suffering and slavery in Egypt with strong power and miraculous glory. He smote those who tried to destroy His people, by sending a deliverer to them in the person of Moses, who with his brother Aaron performed great miracles, that were plagues to smite the Egyptians, as well as to provide for the people of God with sustenance while they were in the desert.

God Himself set His commandments and laws before His people, through Moses, in the form of the Ten Commandments, written by God on two pieces of stone, which were then placed in a great container called the Ark of the Covenant. It was holy because the two stones inside bearing the words of the Commandments had been forged by God Himself. The Ark was to represent the divine presence in this world, God who walked among His people.

To the Promised Land He led them, into the land of overflowing milk and honey, where they were to enjoy endless happiness and joy, much like the glory allotted for our first ancestors Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, before they fell into sin. And yet, the people of God too did not remain faithful, but was even worse, by falling for the false gods and idols, first by worshipping the golden calf which they made, blaspheming that it was the golden calf that brought them out of Egypt.

And even though they were disciplined many, many times by the Lord, through plagues and attacks by their enemies, the people of God remained in their stubbornness. They rebelled against the Lord again and again, even complaining that they had much better life back in slavery in Egypt, and made complaints after complaints of their difficult journey that God made them wonder around the desert for forty years, until all the generation of rebels save for some who remained faithful would perish and not receive the reward of the Land of Promise.

However, as angry and wrathful as God was for the sins and the disobedience of His people, He still loved them beyond His wrath and anger. Yes, just as He still loves all of us despite His hatred for sins and our sinfulness. He did not abandon them or ignore them, when the enemies of His people came hard on them and made them suffer. He sent them judge after judge to lead His people and deliver them from their enemies.

Nevertheless, just as before, the people went back again to their rebellious and sinful ways right after they had been saved. They were like children given gifts by their parents without even showing gratitude. They spurned God’s love and persisted in their opposition against God’s will. They often did not listen to the words of the Lord or His judges, and did things evil and wicked in the eyes of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that was why God showed that He would abandon them and let them be destroyed if they continued in their rebellious way. The sons of the judge and priest Eli had led the people in their disobedience and wicked acts against God. The people of Israel was defeated in their battle against the Philistines, and the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the enemy.

This did not mean that God purposely wanted to destroy His people, but in His love for His children and His people, He wanted to remind them, a kind of shock therapy, reminding them how it would be like to have the Lord absent from their midst, marked with the loss of the Ark of the Covenant. God also punished the Philistines and they were terrified by the Ark among them, and therefore they were obliged to return the Ark to the people of Israel.

And in today’s Gospel we heard about Jesus our Lord went about healing the sick, those who fell ill with the abominable leprosy. He made the man clean and pure again from his leprosy. Jesus is the new Ark of the Covenant, one that is eternal and absolute. If the first Ark of the Covenant was the earthly Ark and which was lost when the First Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC.

Jesus is the new Ark as He made the new covenant between God and mankind, sealed by the sacrifice of Himself, with the outpouring of His Body and Blood on the cross, the perfect sacrifice and offering which He offered for the purification and our redemption of our sins, making us whole once again in God. And from the lessons learnt from the First Ark, we can understand more about the Eternal Ark that is Jesus, as well.

If we remain faithful to the Lord and keep Him always close to our hearts, then He will also bless us with His grace, and He will make our fortunes to grow plentiful. But, as with the First Ark, if we remain persistent and adamant in our rebellion against Him and refuse to acknowledge Him as our Lord and refuse His love, then He will leave us to our fate, that is destruction and eternal suffering, to suffer forever with Satan and his fellow fallen angels who were destined to suffer in the lake of fire.

Therefore, brethren, let us continue our efforts to remain faithful in the Lord, that we will continue to persevere to walk in His ways despite the temptations and challenges from the world. Through Jesus, God had made Himself available to all, and He dwells among us, for God is with us, and we will never be separated again from Him, if we ourselves keep our faith in Him alive and well.

May our Lord Jesus Christ, God who dwells among us, keep us in His love and embrace, that we will always belong to Him, and never have to fear again the consequences of our evils, that is death. May the Lord bless us and be with us all, forever and ever. Amen.

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Sunday, 25 August 2013 : 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Lay Apostolate Sunday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Isaiah 66 : 18-21

Now I am going to gather the nations of every tongue, and they will witness My glory, for I will perform a wonderful thing among them. Then I will send some of their survivors to the nations – Tarshish, Put, Lud, Moscheck, Rosh, Tubal, and Javan – to the distant islands where no one has ever heard of Me or seen My glory. They will proclaim My glory among the nations.

They will bring your kindred from all the nations as an offering to YHVH on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, on camels to My holy mountain in Jerusalem, says YHVH, just as the Israelites bring oblations in clean vessels to the house of YHVH. Then I will choose priests and Levites even from them, says YHVH.

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Saturday, 20 July 2013 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Apollinaris, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Exodus 12 : 37-42

The Israelites left Rameses for Succoth, about six hundred thousand of them on the march, counting the men only, and not the children. A great number of other people of all descriptions went with them, as well as sheep and cattle in droves.

With the dough they had brought with them from Egypt, they made cakes of unleavened bread. It had not risen, for when they were driven from Egypt they could not delay and had not even provided themselves with food.

The Israelites had been in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years. It was at the end of these four hundred and thirty years to the very day that the armies of YHVH left Egypt. This is the watch for YHVH who brought Israel out of Egypt. This night is for YHVH, and all the Israelites are also to keep vigil on this night, year after year, for all time.

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Monday, 15 July 2013 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Exodus 1 : 8-14, 22

Then a new king who had not known Joseph came to power and said to his people, “The Israelites are numerous and stronger than we are. Let us deal warily with them lest they increase still more and, in case of war, side with our enemy, fight against us and escape from the land.”

So they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labour.  In that way they built the storage towns of Pithom and Rameses. But the more they oppressed the Hebrews the more they increased and spread, until the Egyptians dreaded the Israelites and became ruthless in making them work.

They made life bitter for them in hard labour with bricks and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields. In all their work the Egyptians treated them harshly.

Pharaoh then gave this order to all the people : “Every infant boy born to the Hebrews must be thrown into the Nile, but every girl may live.”

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Friday, 12 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Genesis 46 : 1-7, 28-30

Israel left with all he owned and reached Beersheba where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to Israel in visions that he had during the night, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I will go with you to Egypt and I will bring you back again and Joseph’s hand will close your eyes.”

Jacob left Beersheba and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father with their little children and their wives in the wagons that Joseph had sent to fetch him. They also took their flocks and all that they had acquired in Canaan. And so it was that Jacob came to Egypt and with him all his family, his sons, and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters, in short all his children he took with him to Egypt.

Jacob sent Judah ahead to let Joseph know he was coming and that he would soon arrive in the land of Goshen. Joseph got his chariot ready in order to meet Israel his father in Goshen. He presented himself, threw his arms around his father and wept on his shoulder for a long time. Israel said to Joseph, “Now I can die, for I have seen your face and know you are alive.”

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Tuesday, 9 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Saints Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Genesis 32 : 22-32

That same night Jacob got up and taking his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons, crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream and likewise everything he had. And Jacob was left alone.

Then a Man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the Man saw that He could not get the better of Jacob, He struck him in the socket of his hip and dislocated it as He wrestled with him.

The Man said, “Let Me go, for day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let You go until You have given me Your blessing.” The Man then said, “What is your name?” “Jacob” was the reply. He answered, “You will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have been strong-with-God as you have been with men and have prevailed.”

Then Jacob asked him, “What is Your Name?” He answered, “Why do you ask My Name?” And He blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Penuel, saying, “I have seen God face-to-face and survived.”

The sun rose as he passed through Penuel, limping because of his hip. That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sciatic nerve which is in the hip socket because the sciatic nerve in Jacob’s hip had been touched.