Jesus

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Sunday, 3 February 2013 : 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Luke 4 : 21-30

Then He said to them, “Today these prophetic words come true, even as you listen.”

All agreed with Him, and were lost in wonder, while He spoke of the grace of God. Nevertheless, they asked, “Who is this but Joseph’s son?” So He said, “Doubtless you will quote Me the saying : ‘Doctor heal yourself! Do here in Your town what they say You did in Capernaum.”

Jesus added, “No prophet is honoured in his own country. Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens withheld rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in the country of Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet, and no one was healed except Naaman, the Syrian.”

On hearing these words, the whole assembly became indignant. They rose up and brought Him out of the town, to the edge of the hill on which Nazareth is built. intending to throw Him down the cliff. But He passed through their midst and went His way.

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Monday, 28 January 2013 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflection)

Today, once again we see Jesus in His role as the High Priest and the Messiah sent by God. He is the Son, one of the Trinity, whom the Father sent down to us, for our sake, out of His great love for us. He is filled with the Holy Spirit, unlike the slander of the teachers of the Law as mentioned in the Gospel, who accused and slandered Jesus’ miracle work to be the work of Satan and his evil spirits.

Then why was Jesus so angry with them such that He rebuked them mentioning that sinning against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven, although He said that even those who insulted God can be forgiven? The reason is because, we need to differentiate between those who does not know God, but can recognise good works and miracles, which eventually originated in God, and those who claim that they know and love God, but cannot even recognise the very work of the Holy Spirit, which is manifested in the good works and miracles, as Jesus did.

The teachers of the Law belong to that second group of people, who are supposedly very knowledgeable about the Law and thus about God, but failed to see the works of God and the Holy Spirit through Jesus, and instead slanders the Holy Spirit in Jesus by attributing the works to the power of Satan. This is a kind of ultimate hypocrisy on the teachers’ side and Jesus clearly did not tolerate this, for as much as God is indeed forgiving and loving, He also hates sin. These teachers of the Law were the guides of the people, and they set the moral standard of the people of God. If they themselves slander the Lord and His great works through Jesus, then they are not a good guides of the people, since instead of bringing the people to the Lord, they will make people fall into sin instead.

Jesus Himself said : “If anyone cause these little ones (also mean the people, the faithful) who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him to be thrown into the sea with large milestone around his neck.” This is why Jesus was very angry at the teachers of the Law due to their role in deceiving people on the works of the Holy Spirit. The same too should also apply to our priests today, as they too are human, and are subject to temptations as we are. Therefore, let us fervently pray for them, that all of them will remain faithful to their calling, and will commit themselves fully to God and His works, ministering to God’s people to the best of their abilities. Let them not to fall into temptation and thus sin, as what has happened to some of our wayward priests. Pray for these priests too, that they can return to the light, and do their best to atone for whatever evil they have committed. God truly loves all and forgives all, even the worst of sinners.

Then, Jesus also emphasized again on the unity of the Church, the Church He has established and entrusted to St. Peter the Apostle. He said that if Satan is divided against himself and has his followers divided against him in a civil war, he will not be able to stand and be vanquished. The same also applies to our own Church, as how are we going to beat Satan and his evil works, if our own Church is divided against itself?

Many people throughout the centuries, fueled by personal ambitions and selfish desires had led to the fracturing of the unity of the Body of Christ, the Church. As a result, today, although technically there is still only One Church that exist, our own Catholic Church, established by Christ Himself and entrusted to Peter, there now in our world exists thousands of churches, which are the splinters and fragments of this holy Body. Even worse that instead of working together, many of these churches attack one another’s faith, and many of them also even went astray from the true faith in Christ, preferring alternative sources and leaders than Christ and the Holy Scripture itself. Many of the attacks were even directed at the Church itself, and many believed in the falseness that arose out of misunderstanding of the faith, and through centuries of division and enmity, born out of human imperfections.

Today, we celebrate the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas, a great Doctor of the Church, who was called Doctor Angelicus, or the “Angelic Doctor” out of his great piety, his great faith, and most importantly, out of his great works of the faith and in the field of theology, that helps to define the basis of our modern Church, and also influenced many aspects of our modern world. He is the one person that we look up to, in the matters of the faith, and many aspirants to the priesthood should indeed read his great writings and learn more about the faith, to anchor themselves properly in Christ, that they will not be led astray like those wayward priests, or even worse to be like those teachers of the Law rebuked by Christ. St. Thomas Aquinas also defined many concepts of Christian virtues and ethics, which act as guidelines on how all of us Christians should strive to be. Let us all take some time to try and find the writings of this great Saint, read them, and reflect on them. In doing so, all of us, laity and ordained members of the Church alike, can gain great holiness.

Therefore, today, let us also strive to work for unity of all Christians, of all who believes in Christ. Let us stand up to our faith, and equipped ourselves with the knowledge of our faith and the Holy Scripture, to always be ready with answers, especially when a person who does not yet believe in Christ, or even our separated brethren in Christ came to us with questions about the faith, and about our Church, we are able to give a good answer, and may indeed help to dispel many misconceptions that others have on both the faith, and the Catholic Church, the One Church that God has established, that hopefully, one day, all Christians will be reunited again, and be able to call each other, brothers and sisters in Christ, once again.

Let us work to help fulfill the prayer of Christ to the Father : “That they may be One as we are One; I in them and You in Me. Thus they shall reach perfection in unity; and the world shall know that You have sent Me, and that I have loved them, just as You loved Me.”, and let the world truly know the Lord through our Christian unity, and stand up united against Satan and all his evil angels and supporters. God bless us all, and God bless our priests, and God bless our Pope, Benedict XVI, Amen.

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.

 

+Ut Omnes Unum Sint, ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam+

(That they all may be One, for the greater glory of God)

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Sunday, 27 January 2013 : 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Luke 1 : 1-4, Luke 4 : 14-21

Several people have set themselves to relate the events that have taken place among us, as they were told by the first witnesses who later became ministers of the Word. After I myself had carefully gone over the whole story from the beginning, it seemed right for me to give you, Theophilus, an orderly account, so that your Excellency may know the truth of all you have been taught.

Jesus acted with the power of the Spirit, and on His return to Galilee, the news about Him spread throughout all that territory. He began teaching in the synagogues of the Jews and everyone praised Him.

When Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, as He usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed Him the book of the prophet Isaiah.

Jesus then unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written : “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, and new sight to the blind; to free the oppressed and to announce the Lord’s year of mercy.”

Jesus then rolled up the scroll, gave it to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. Then He said to them, “Today these prophetic words come true, even as you listen.”

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Saturday, 26 January 2013 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops (Gospel Reading)

Luke 10 : 1-9

After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place, where He Himself was to go. And He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to His harvest. Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals, and do not stop at the homes of those you know.”

“Whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.”

“When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them : ‘The Kingdom of God has drawn near to you.’

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Thursday, 24 January 2013 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor (Scripture Reflection)

Once again, we focus on Jesus as our High Priest in today’s readings, and how He as the High Priest, offered Himself, once and for all, which we witness in our celebration of the Holy Mass, the Sacrifice offered by the priests, united and one, and the same as the Sacrifice of Christ on the cross. While the priests of the Jewish people of the past were humans, and sinners like us, they too have to offer the sacrifices of animals to God for their own sins too, as they are not like Christ, who as the High Priest, and the perfect priest, is sinless, although He is just as human as we are, just as He is God.

Christ also offered the best that He had, just as Abel offered the best of his animals as sacrifice to God. While the offering of the priests can be compared to the offering of Cain, who offered grains, an imperfect offering in the eyes of God, and the priests of the Old Testament offered animals and their blood, while physically unblemished as ordered by the Law, they were imperfect, as they had to be repeated, and did not cover sins of all, did not serve all purposes.

But like Abel, who offered his very best to God, Christ, offered Himself, the very Lamb of God, and God Himself, whose Precious Blood is the only worthy sacrifice to redeem ALL mankind from their sins, once and for all. Through the Holy Mass that we should frequently participate in, we take part in Christ’s Sacrifice, and partake His Precious Body and Blood, that all of us truly take Christ into ourselves, and our beings become God’s Holy Temple. But, Christ’s offering is not just Himself and His being, as the Psalm clearly demonstrates the point. It is Christ’s ultimate and perfect obedience to God’s will, and His heart which is ever directed towards the Father, that He fulfills the will of God, that all of mankind can be saved from the slavery of sin and death. And who is more worthy of worship, than God who just like Abraham, willingly sacrificed His own Son, out of His love for us, that we too can be reunited with Him again in Heaven?

For the most important thing is not only the act and the externals of our being, but even more important is our hearts, whether we truly direct them towards the Lord, and the Lord alone, and to obey the will and the teachings of the Lord, as Jesus has taught us. This is why it is important to read the Scripture, and understand the very commandments of love that Jesus has given us, as the perfection of the Law and the Commandments of God. Let us therefore, align our hearts to God, lift up our hearts to the Lord, and always keep Him in our hearts, in whatever we do, wherever we are, and at all times.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_de_Sales

Today we also celebrate the Feast of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church. He is the patron saint of journalists and the press, and today is also the 47th anniversary of World’s Communications Day, in honor of St. Francis de Sales and his patronage. St. Francis de Sales was a very faithful and a very gentle priest, who eventually became Bishop of Geneva and wrote many books on the tenets of the faith. His deep faith and wisdom was made evident through his books, which influenced many even long after his death in 1622. He spearheaded many evangelism campaigns to return many Protestants in his time back into the true faith of the Church, and through his great preaching abilities and faith, many returned to the Church.

We may think that it is difficult to evangelise to others, especially those who are strangers to us. But let us begin from the place nearest to us, within our own families, and with our friends. We may be surprised to find that there are many people close to us, who are still in the darkness, and truly yearn to learn about God, to find God, and to reach out to Him. Let us not shut our ears to them, and let us gently approach them, just as St. Francis de Sales had done, to bring the Word of God to those who hunger, and to bring them into full understanding of the faith in God.

Communication requires at least two people, and we cannot just keep the faith to ourselves. Let us therefore today, renew the commitment to share our faith with others, that everyone too can be closer to God as we are, and together, we will worship Him, who is our High Priest, who through His great obedience to His Father, and through His offering of Himself, we are all promised of eternal life, as long as we remain true to Him. Amen.

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

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Thursday, 24 January 2013 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor (Gospel Reading)

Mark 3 : 7-12

Jesus and His disciples withdrew to the lakeside, and a large crowd from Galilee followed Him. A great number of people also came from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, and from the region of Tyre and Sidon, for they had heard of all that He was doing.

Because of the crowd, Jesus told His disciples to have a boat ready for Him, to prevent the people from crushing Him. He healed so many, that all who had diseases kept pressing towards Him to touch Him. Even the people who had evil spirits, whenever they saw Him, they would fall down before Him and cry out, “You are the Son of God.”

But He warned them sternly not to tell anyone who He was.

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Thursday, 24 January 2013 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor (First Reading)

Hebrews 7 : 25 – Hebrews 8 : 6

Consequently He is able to save for all time, those who approach God through Him. He always lives to intercede on their behalf. It was fitting that our High Priest be holy, undefiled, set apart from sinners and exalted above the heavens; a priest who does not first need to offer sacrifice for himself before offering for the sins of the people, as high priests do.

He offered Himself in sacrifice once and for all. And whereas the Law elected weak men as high priests, now, after the Law, the Word of God with an oath appointed the Son, made perfect forever.

The main point of what we are saying is that we have a High Priest. He is seated at the right hand of the divine Majesty in Heaven, where He serves as minister of the true temple and sanctuary, set up not by any mortal, but by the Lord.

A high priest is appointed to offer to God gifts and sacrifices, and Jesus also has to offer some sacrifice. Had He remained on earth, He would not be a priest, since other offer the gifts according to the Law. In fact, the ritual celebrated by those priests is only an imitation and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary.

We know the word of God to Moses with regard to the construction of the holy tent. He said : “You are to make everything according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain.” Now, however, Jesus enjoys a much higher ministry in being the mediator of a better covenant, founded on better promises.

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Tuesday, 22 January 2013 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent, Deacon and Martyr (First Reading)

Hebrews 6 : 10-20

God is not unjust and will not forget everything you have done for love of His name; you have helped and still help the believers. We desire each of you to have, until the end, the same zeal for reaching what you have hoped for. Do not grow careless but imitate those who, by their faith and determination, inherit the promise.

Remember God’s promise to Abraham. God wanted to confirm it with an oath and, as no one is higher than God, He swore by Himself : I shall bless you and give you many descendants. By just patiently waiting, Abraham obtained the promise.

People are used to swearing by someone higher than themselves and their oath affirms everything that could be denied. So God committed Himself with an oath in order to convince those who were to wait for His promise that He would never change His mind. Thus we have two certainties in which it is impossible that God be proved false : promise and oath. That is enough to encourage us strongly when we leave everything to hold to the hope set before us. This hope is like a steadfast anchor of the soul, secure and firm, thrust beyond the curtain of the Temple into the Sanctuary itself, where Jesus has entered ahead of us – Jesus, High Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

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Sunday, 20 January 2013 : 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

John 2 : 1-11

Three days later there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus was also invited to the wedding with His disciples. When all the wine provided for the celebration had been served, and they had run out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus replied, “Woman, what concern is that to you and Me? My hour has not yet come.” However His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”

Nearby were six stone water jars, set there for ritual washing as practiced by the Jews; each jar could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them to the brim. Then Jesus said, “Now draw some out and take it to the steward.” So they did.

The steward tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing from where it had come; for only the servants who had drawn the water knew. So, he called the bridegroom to tell him, “Everyone serves the best wine first, and when people have drunk enough, he serves that which is ordinary. Instead you have kept the best wine until the end.”

This miraculous sign was the first, and Jesus performed it at Cana in Galilee. In this way He let His glory appear, and His disciples believed in Him.

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Saturday, 19 January 2013 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

First I would like to apologise, since due to some problems, the first reading somehow went missing. Therefore, I reupload this reading with this post.

Hebrews 4 : 12-16

For the Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and judges the intentions and thoughts of the heart. All creation is transparent to Him; everything is uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we render account.
We have a great High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God, who has entered Heaven. Let us, then, hold fast to the faith we profess. Our High Priest is not indifferent to our weaknesses, for He was tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sinning. Let us, then, with confidence approach the throne of grace; we will obtain mercy, and through His favour, help in due time.