Jacob

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Monday, 8 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Genesis 28 : 10-22a

Jacob left Beersheba and left out for Haran. When he reached a certain place the sun had set and he spent the night there. He took one of the stones that were there and using it as a pillow, he lay down to sleep.

While Jacob was sleeping, he had a dream in which a ladder stood on the earth with its top reaching to heaven and on it were angels of God going up and coming down. And YHVH was standing there near him and said, “I am YHVH, the God of your father, Abraham, and the God of Isaac. The land on which you sleep, I give to you and your descendants.”

“Your descendants will be numerous like the specks of dust of the earth and you will spread out to the west and the east, to the north and the south. Through you and your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed. See, I am with you and I will keep you safe wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land and not leave you until I have done what I promised.”

Jacob woke from his dream and said, “Truly YHVH was in this place and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How full of awe is this place! It is nothing less than a House of God; it is the Gate to Heaven!”

Then Jacob rose early and took the stone he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He named that place Bethel although before that it was called Luz. Then Jacob made a vow, “If YHVH will be with me and keep me safe during this journey I am making, if He gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and if I return in peace to my father’s house, then YHVH will be my God. This stone which I have set up as a pillar will be God’s House.”

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Saturday, 6 July 2013 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord is with us, He is around us, and He is within us. He is the bride of the Church, and therefore, He is also our bridegroom, and we are united intimately with Him. That was why Jesus told the disciples of John the Baptist, that His disciples did not fast the way that they and the Pharisees had done, because the Lord Himself walked among them, the disciples, that they should indeed rejoice for being given such a privilege. And indeed, why lament, or be sorrowful, or fast when the Lord Himself is with us? We should indeed be happy and joyful.

And even the more reason we have today to rejoice in the presence of our Lord, because our Lord Jesus Christ had died for us, and is risen, triumphant over evil, sin, and death. He redeemed all of us, without exception, from our fate that is death, because of our sinful rebellion. That is the even greater reason why we should be joyful and rejoice over such a great victory, the victory over sin. If we accept the salvation offered freely by our Lord Jesus Christ, death will no longer have any power and hold over us, and we will enjoy life eternal with our Lord in heaven.

The Lord Jesus today talked about the wineskins and the clothes in today’s Gospel reading, and these parables are a very strong indication and teaching to us, that when we accept Christ, as our Lord and Saviour, we must be renewed, rejuvenated, into a new life in Christ, and abandon our old life, the old life of evil and sin. That old life, that sinful existence before we accepted Christ is the old wineskin, old wine, and the old cloths, while the new life in Christ is akin to the new wineskins, new wine, and the new cloths.

So incompatible evil is with our Lord, who is Love, perfection, and the ultimate good, that indeed, just as Christ had said to His disciples, that we cannot patch old cloths with new cloths, neither can we put old wine into new wineskins, or new wine into old wineskins. We have to transform ourselves so that we can truly belong to Christ. For Christ will descend upon us and dwell within us through the Holy Spirit, that our bodies should be transformed into the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

Upon our baptism, our old sins and the sins of our forefathers, of the rebellion of man against the love of God, are erased. This is the purification of our body and our soul from evil, from the slavery of Satan, into the holiness of Christ. That is why, we must ever be vigilant, and ever remember that our bodies, our hearts, our minds, and our souls must always remain as clean as possible from the taints of Satan and his darkness.

For Satan certainly does not sit idly by while we are saved by the Lord. He will use all of his power and all the tools in his possession in order to corrupt us back and allow us to fall back into his fold, thus preventing our salvation and instead bringing about our eternal damnation with him in hell. Dear brothers and sisters, we must always be vigilant, because Satan is a trickster, and his ideas are many. While what Jacob did in order to gain inheritance from his brother Esau in the first reading should not be a condoned act, although it was indeed in God’s plan, it can give us a good insight on the kind of trick that Satan can play on us, with Satan being Jacob, and us being Isaac, who could no longer see, and thus was tricked by Jacob’s trickery and gave him the blessing intended for Esau.

Today, yet another reminder of the need to keep ourselves pure and worthy of our Lord, so that we will not fall into damnation but eternal life, exists in the person of St. Maria Goretti, whose feast day we are celebrating today. Many of us know the story of the short life of St. Maria Goretti and her tragic death in defense of her faith and obedience to the laws and to the will of God.

St. Maria Goretti was still only 11 when she died, in a horrific attack in a rape attempt by Alessandro, a boy whose family lived together with St. Maria Goretti’s family. St. Maria Goretti rejected Alessandro’s advances and attempts, and constantly reminded him that what he was trying to do is a sin, and doing so would cause him to be condemned into hell. St. Maria Goretti also said that it is better for her to die rather than to betray her faith and dedication to the Lord, and rather than to sully her purity.

Despite being attacked and ravaged by Alessandro’s wrath, which eventually caused her death, St. Maria Goretti forgave her assailant, and prayed for his salvation, and for him to eventually join her in heaven. She died soon from her wounds, but her good works did not end there. Alessandro, her murderer, eventually regretted his deeds and renounced his past sinful ways and reformed himself in the Church, eventually dying in peace and love as one of God’s servants. He is now certainly with St. Maria Goretti in the glory of heaven and eternal life.

The example of St. Maria Goretti should inspire us and invigorate us, to keep ourselves pure and clean from all traces of evil. Turn away from our sinful past, and all the things detestable to the Lord, that we had done all these while. Let us abandon the old wineskin, and embrace the new wine with the new wineskin. Our Lord is merciful and loving, and if we repent our sinful ways, we will surely be welcomed in His loving embrace.

Therefore, following the example of St. Maria Goretti, and in obedience to God’s will and commandments, let us fill ourselves with Christ, and reflect Christ in our daily actions, in all the things that we say and do, that we truly belong to Christ, and Satan no longer has any power or hold over us. May the Lord who loves us strengthen the faith and love that is inside all of us, that we will be saved, and will be with Him for eternity in the bliss of eternal life in love, joy, and hope.

St. Maria Goretti, pray for us, and ask the Lord for His mercy for all of us sinners, still walking in this world, that we will not go astray from the path that the Lord had pointed out to us. Amen.

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Saturday, 6 July 2013 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

Psalm 134 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Alleluia! Praise the Name of the Lord. O servants of the Lord, praise Him, you who serve in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.

Praise the Lord, for He is good, praise His Name, for It is beautiful; for the Lord has chosen Jacob as His own, Israel as His possession.

I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, He does – in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in their depths.

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Saturday, 6 July 2013 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (First Reading)

Genesis 27 : 1-5, 15-29

When Isaac was old and his eyes so weak that he could no longer see, he called Esau, his older son, and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered. Isaac continued, “You see I am old and I don’t know when I shall die; so take your weapons, your bow and arrow, go out into the country and hunt some game for me. Then prepare some of the savoury food I like and bring it to me so that I may eat and give you my blessing before I die.”

Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went into the country to hunt game and bring it back. Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her elder son Esau that she had in the house and put them on Jacob, her younger son. With the goatskin she covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck, and she handed to him the bread and food she had prepared.

He went to his father and said, “Father!” He answered, “Yes, my son, who is it?” And Jacob said to his father, “It is Esau, your firstborn; I have done what you told me to do. Come, sit up and eat my game so that you may give me your blessing.”

Isaac said, “How quick you have been my son!” Jacob said, “YHVH, your God, guided me.” Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near and let me feel you, my son, and know that it is you, Esau my son, or not.”

When Jacob drew near to Isaac, his father felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” He did not recognise him, for his hands were hairy like the hands of Esau his brother and so he blessed him. He asked, “Are you really my son, Esau?” And Jacob answered, “I am.”

Isaac said, “Bring me some of your game, my son, so that I may eat and give you my blessing.” So Jacob brought it to him and he ate. And he brought him wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” So, Jacob came near and kissed him.

Isaac then caught the smell of his clothes and blessed him, saying, “The smell of My son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. May God give you the dew of heaven; and the richness of the earth; and abundance of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you and nations bow down before you. Be Lord over your brothers, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone that curses you and blessed be everyone that blesses you!”

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Monday, 24 June 2013 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (First Reading)

Isaiah 49 : 1-6

Listen to me, o islands, pay attention, peoples from distant lands. YHVH called me from my mother’s womb; He pronounced my name before I was born. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword. He hid me in the shadow of His hand. He made me into a polished arrow set apart in His quiver. He said to me, “You are Israel, My servant, through you I will be known.”

“I have laboured in vain,” I thought and spent my strength for nothing.” Yet what is due me was in the hand of YHVH, and my reward was with my God. I am important in the sight of YHVH, and my God is my strength. And now YHVH has spoken, He who formed me in the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him.

He said : “It is not enough that you be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob, to bring back the remnant of Israel, I will make you the light of the nations, that My salvation will reach to the ends of the earth.”

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

Mark 12 : 18-27

The Sadducees also came to Jesus. Since they claim that there is no resurrection, they questioned Him in this way, “Master, in the Scriptures Moses gave us this law : ‘If anyone dies and leaves a wife but no children, his brother must take the woman, and with her have a baby, who will be considered the child of his deceased brother.”

“Now, there were seven brothers. The first married a wife, but he died without leaving any children. The second took the wife, and he also died leaving no children. The same thing happened to the third. In fact, all seven brothers died, leaving no children. Last of all the woman died. Now, in the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife? For all seven brothers had her as wife.”

Jesus replied, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry, but are like the angels in heaven. Now, about the resurrection of the dead, have you never had thoughts about the burning bush in the book of Moses?”

“God said to Moses : ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is the God not of the dead but of the living. You are totally wrong.”

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Friday, 10 May 2013 : 6th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Psalm 46 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Clap your hands, all you peoples; acclaim God with shouts of joy. For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared; He is a great King all over the earth.

He brings peoples under our dominion and puts nations under our feet. He chose our inheritance for us – the pride of Jacob whom He loves!

God ascends amid joyful shouts, the Lord amid trumpet blasts. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

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Saturday, 27 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all the children of one God, the Lord our Father who came down to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. We are all His children, and because of that, all of us should indeed be like Him, both in appearance, because He created us in His own image, and most importantly in our behaviour and in all the things that we do.

But sadly, indeed, that many of us no longer do things which reflect that we are all the children of our loving God, and instead, many of the things that we had done, are representative of the fact that we are children of the evil one, Satan, the tricker and deceiver. He deceived us and our ancestors to do things in his own preferences, and in doing so, we are following Satan’s bidding.

Do we then serve the Lord or Satan, His enemy? It is indeed easy to say that we want to serve the Lord, but yet, serving the Lord our God is never easy, because this world itself is filled with the powers and agents of Satan, which will do his best to keep us away from true salvation and faith in God. He did not want us to be saved, because of his hatred against the Lord, he wants only that His children, the mankind, suffer for that.

God chose us, and He justifies us, and if we remain faithful in Him, we will indeed receive abundant blessings in Him, and we will gain the promised eternal life and eternal bliss in union with our God. He chose us, and not we choose Him, for not all the people will be saved, and many remained in rebellion against God’s love and compassion, which He offered to all mankind for free, by dying on the cross.

That was what happened to the Jews in the Gentile lands, that despite the disciples attempting to spread the Good News to them first, being the first chosen people of our Lord, they have failed to see through the shadow placed by the evil one on their eyes and the ‘eyes’ of their hearts, and because they did not have true faith in God, they were easily taken over by the evil one, and reject the salvation offered freely by our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

And today, we listened to the story of the evangelisations done by the apostles, by St. Paul and Barnabas, who were at the forefront of the attempts to bring the Word of God to all the nations, to the pagans and Gentiles, whom we often see that they embrace the faith in God openly, because God becomes a living spring in them, and He fills the emptiness that was once within their souls and their hearts.

Again, God justifies anybody who believes in Him, remain in His love, and obey His commandments, and actually do His will rather than just mere lip-service in their faith in God. He did not let Himself be biased, even against Israel, His people, whom He had chosen through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their forefathers. For there were many whom did not belong to the Jews, but actually having greater faith and love for God than the Jews ever were.

Therefore, the same also applies to us today, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that if all of us remain strongly in God’s love and favour, and that if we ensure that we do His will and commandments, and strive to be men of justice, love, and truth, we will be granted His graces and blessings, and truly becoming His beloved children, who are worthy of His kingdom and the eternal life. Let us go forth and make our actions and our words to reflect the love of God, and proclaim to all mankind that God is love, and God is life, and through Him we had been ransomed from death that is our fate. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 4 April 2013 : Thursday of the Easter Octave (First Reading)

Acts 3 : 11-26

While the beggar clung to Peter and John, all the people, struck with astonishment, came running to them in Solomon’s Porch, as it was called. When Peter saw the people, he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us as if it was by some power or holiness of our own that we made this man walk? The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified His servant Jesus whom you handed over to death and denied before Pilate, when even Pilate had decided to release Him.”

“You rejected the Holy and Just One, and you insisted that a murderer be released to you. You killed the Master of life, but God raised Him from the dead and we are witnesses to this. It is His Name, and faith in His Name, that has healed this man whom you see and recognise. The faith that comes through Jesus has given him wholeness in the presence of all of you.”

“Yet I know that you acted out of ignorance, as did your leaders. God has fulfilled in this way what He had foretold through all the prophets, that His Messiah would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out and the time of refreshment may come by the mercy of God, when He sends the Messiah appointed for you, Jesus. For He must remain in heaven until the time of the universal restoration which God spoke of long ago through His holy prophets.”

“Moses foretold this when he said : ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall listen to Him in all that He says to you. Whoever does not listen to that prophet is to be cut off from among His people.’ In fact, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel onward, have announced the events of these days. You are the children of the prophets and heirs of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors when He said to Abraham : ‘All the families of the earth will be blessed through your descendant.'”

“It is to you first that God sends His Servant; He raised Him to life to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

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Wednesday, 3 April 2013 : Wednesday of the Easter Octave (Psalm)

Psalm 104 : 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His Name; make known His works among the nations. Sing to Him, sing His praise, proclaim all His wondrous deeds.

Glory in His holy Name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always.

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.

He remembers His covenant forever, His promise to a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the promise He swore to Isaac.