love

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Friday, 1 February 2013 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Jesus mentioned plenty about seeds and how they grow today, just as in the days prior, in the readings He mentioned the parable of the sower, where the sower spreads the seeds onto different kinds of soil, and in the end only those that fall on the rich soil will grow and produce yield thirty, sixty, and hundredfold. So does too our faith, which in the beginning is just like a small seed, once nurtured and grown, will grow into a large tree just like the mustard tree.

Therefore, never be afraid of showing your faith to God, since no matter how small it is, what matters is that we truly put our trust in Him, and love Him with all our hearts, our souls, and our minds. If we truly put our faith in God who is faithful to us, He will reward us with great blessings and graces, that will allow our faith to grow ever stronger, and ever more vibrant, just like those seeds. In the first reading, again we see the importance of living our faith, and transforming our faith into real practice, that is doing the will of God.

What is the will of God? Well, Jesus Himself said, what you have done to the least of these, you have done it for Me. When we do our best to help those who are weak, those who are sorrowed, those who are lonely, those who are ostracised, those who are abused, and those who are rejected, we have done the will of God, and we shall be saved. To be saved is not just to be faithful in God, but also therefore to put it into practice in our daily lives.

Just as it was said in the letter to the Hebrews in the first reading that we are not among those who withdraw and perish, but among those who believe and win personal salvation, hence, let us not withdraw from those around us who need the love of God, which we can channel through ourselves, as we ourselves, if we are truly faithful, we have felt and seen the love of God. It is through us, through our speech and our hands that the Lord made His great works and love manifest in our world today. Many people still suffer and many are still in slavery of sin and evil.

Therefore, let us all, brothers and sisters in Christ, take up this mission, to bring God’s Good News to all who yearn to hear it, to bring God’s love and comfort to the sorrowful and to those who suffer, and to bring redemption to those who have fallen into the darkness of evil and sin. Do not let fear, laziness, and inaction to stop us in our works, in our mission to nurture our faith, through our mission and our good deeds in the name of God, and by doing God’s will, our seed of faith will blossom, and from the least of all seeds, indeed we can become the greatest of all in faith.

But do not let this come to competition, but rather, support each other and help one another to nurture each other’s faith. May God bless us all this day and all the days of our life, that our faith may be strengthened ever through our actions in His Holy Name. Amen.

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Tuesday, 29 January 2013 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Today, once again Jesus emphasized on the importance on doing the will of God, and obeying the commandments that God gave us, handily summarised by Christ into the two most important commandments of all, that is love. As Christ said, “Love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” and “Love your neighbour as yourself.”

Therefore, to do the will of God, is to do these commandments of love, to be loving to all around us, to be ready to help whenever someone is in need, and of course, to love God Himself, by spending some time for Him, with Him, everyday, even in our busiest days. We also love God through our dedication and active participation in the Holy Mass, to approach the Lord sincerely to receive Him into our being, into our hearts. And finally to also participate in charitable activities, and share the love of God to all mankind.

The Lord don’t just want sacrifices, rituals, and prayers from us. Although indeed, prayers, rituals, and others are important, and cannot be ignored, it is paramount that we make our faith alive by putting it into practice for the benefit of our fellow brothers and sisters, that all mankind can share in the love of God, and can be truly brought out of worldly suffering, so that bereft of these sufferings, all of us can truly focus our hearts of the Lord and worship, and love Him with all of our hearts, souls, and minds.

It may seem to those who take the passage literally that Jesus was rebuking and was being rude to His own family, and especially His own mother, Mary. But no, this is simply not the case, as Jesus truly loves all around Him, and most loved of all is His mother Mary, through whose dedication and obedience to God, Christ was born into our world. Rather, Christ through His words to the people at that time wants to tell all of them that, they too can be like His mother Mary, if they truly love God, and obey God’s commandments, and to truly focus all their beings towards God, just as Mary did. Mary is truly the role model for all of us, the greatest of all saints.

Then, we too are the brothers and sisters of Christ, and in Christ, since we are all become the children of God upon our baptism, when the Lord welcomes us as His. No longer Satan and sin have any power over us, since through the Lord, we are promised of eternal life. But again, this alone is not enough. We need to practice our faith, and show that we are worthy of being the children of God, through our good deeds to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Therefore, today, and indeed, all the days of our life, let us strive to do our best to spread God’s love through our own actions, and strive also to always listen to the will of God, and do what God asks of us. Let us pray that the Lord will send us His Holy Spirit to strengthen us in our ministry, and also pray for our priests that they too will be ever stronger in their faith and dedication, in serving the Lord and all of us, God’s children. Amen.

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Gun Ownership? Not necessary, seek God instead!

To all those who support gun ownership, why seek to make ‘peace’ by defending oneself with guns and all kinds of killing-capable machines and tools? Let us rather aim for true peace by instead working together to spread love and harmony to all, and to help one another, especially those amongst us who are ostracised, those amongst us who are misguided in their lives. 

If we help one another, and if we make ourselves available to others in need, although it may take time, there will be no more need for guns, and no more need to protect oneself, since nobody will be having any intentions on committing violence anymore. Do not fight hatred with hatred, but rather do what the Lord did, to confront hatred, with love and compassion. That is how Christ saved the world, by committing Himself to die on the Cross for us, His Sacrifice that brought about salvation, despite the hatred the world had on Him.