observation

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Friday, 24 October 2014 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Luke 12 : 54-59

At that time, Jesus said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it happens. And when the wind blows from the south, you say, ‘It will be hot’; and so it is.”

“You superficial people! You understand the signs of the earth and the sky, but you do not understand the present times. And why do you not judge for yourselves what is fit?”

“When you go with your accuser before the court, try to settle the case on the way, lest he drag you before the judge, and the judge deliver you to the jailer, and the jailer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

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Tuesday, 15 October 2013 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we come together and listen to the words of Jesus, and that of St. Paul, heeding us to live righteously and in the spirit of true faith in God, and not in the belief of any human power or pride, that is what is very common for many of us to do.

Jesus warns us that we should not be hypocrites as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were, and we must truly practice what we preach, and practice what we believe in. And that our righteousness comes truly from the inside and not just the purity of the outside that makes us all righteous in the eyes of God.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law or the Scribes were entirely preoccupied in their own set of laws, rules, and regulations that were very strict and restrictive at the same time. They have rules regulating everything in the daily life of peoples, even to the most minute details regarding the washing of the hands before meals and how it is supposed to be done.

The washing of the hands before meals according to the laws of the Pharisees involve the thorough rinsing of both hands with water all the way to the elbow. While the intention was indeed good, that is for hygiene purposes, in its application, such rules and laws made by men often caused us to lose sight on what is truly important, that is to love and serve the Lord our God, and obey His commandments of love.

That is because the people become so preoccupied with the procedures and the rules, that they obey them for the sake of obeying the rules, instead of understanding the true meaning and purpose of those laws. The Lord did not have His Laws to punish or make the lives of the people to be difficult, as what He intended out of His commandments is that the people can remain in His righteous path and remain in His love, loving one another and loving Him as their Father and Lord.

Yes, brethren, for the commandments of God is the commandments of love, as Christ had aptly summarised it as the commandments to love God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our strengths, and doing the same to love our brothers and sisters, and our neighbours around us, all our fellow mankind.

The Pharisees did not do these commandments, and neither did they ‘do’ them for the love of God, but instead for the praise of men. They loved to show their great piety, their supposed full obedience to the laws of the Lord, while in fact, they were great sinners within. They cleaned the exterior but cared nothing for the interior, that is their heart and soul.

That is why Jesus rebuked them, that they were only beautiful to behold from the outside, but inside, they were truly rotten and corrupt. Worse still is that they did not just do this to themselves, but also to the people of God whom they were entrusted with, and therefore made them to fall as well. The Lord’s wrath is therefore justly raised against them, these deceivers and hypocrites.

That is what the Lord really wants us to avoid, that is to avoid being trapped by the devil and his temptations of this world. We must say those prayers meaningfully and with great sincerity and not just for the sake of being considered ‘holy’, as what those Pharisees had once done. True holiness comes not from the outside, but from the inside.

If we are truly holy inside, that is if we truly love the Lord and dedicate ourselves to Him, then it will certainly show through, and the light that is within us, will shine brightly through, and the Lord will recognise us as His possession. On the other hand, if we are truly wicked on the inside and tried to maintain a facade of purity and ‘holiness’ on the outside, the darkness inside us will also show through, and the Lord will cast us away from His presence.

Today, brethren, we also commemorate the feast day of St. Teresa of Jesus, also known as St. Teresa of Avila. St. Teresa of Avila was made a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970. She was made so, because of her own great piety and well-known faith in God, as well as through her numerous writings and works, many of which influence us even till today, and also played a significant role in addressing heresies and divisions among the faithful in her time and beyond.

St. Teresa of Avila received visions and experienced great joy in God through ecstatic experiences, through which the Lord especially revealed to her the nature and the result of sin, mortal sins, and how terrible they are. She went through much suffering and persecution throughout her life, with some even doubting her faith in God, as strong and great as it is. Nevertheless, with the strength of God, St. Teresa of Avila continued to march on, and persevered through those time of difficulties.

St. Teresa of Avila is our role model, that we ought to give ourselves in entirely to the Lord, and to open ourselves fully to His divine love and divine providence, that we will become truly the possession of Christ, and Christ becomes a possession of ourselves, that He will live in us, just as we live in His loving embrace. May St. Teresa of Avila intercede for us, asking the Lord to strengthen our faith, and deepen our commitment and conviction for His cause. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 7 September 2013 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White

Luke 6 : 1-5

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the corn fields, and His disciples began to pick heads of grain, crushing them in their hands for food. Some of the Pharisees asked them, “Why do you do what is forbidden on the Sabbath?”

Then Jesus spoke up and asked them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his men were hungry? He entered the house of God, took and ate the bread of the offering, and even gave some to his men, though only priests are allowed to eat that bread.”

And Jesus added, “The Son of Man is Lord and rules over the sabbath.”

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Saturday, 17 August 2013 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White

Joshua 24 : 14-29

So fear YHVH, and be sincere and faithful in serving Him. Set aside those gods your ancestors worshiped in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Serve only YHVH. But if you do not want to serve YHVH, make known this very day whom you shall serve – whether they be the gods your ancestors served in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites who formerly occupied the land in which you now live. As for me, I and my household will serve YHVH.

The people answered : “May God not permit that we ever abandon YHVH to serve other gods! For it was He who brought us and our ancestors out of Egypt, the house of slavery. It was He who did those great wonders that we have seen; He protected us on the way and through all the land where we passed, driving away before us all the nations especially the Amorites who lived in this land. So we shall also serve YHVH : He is our God!”

Joshua asked the people : “Will you be able to serve YHVH? He is a Holy God, a Jealous God who does not tolerate wickedness or faults. If you abandon YHVH to serve other gods, He will turn against you and just as He has done you so much good, so shall He punish you and destroy you.”

The people replied, “No, may it not be as you say. We will serve YHVH.” Joshua said : “You yourselves are witnesses that you have chosen YHVH to serve Him.” They answered : “We are witnesses.”

Joshua then said, “Remove now from your midst any other gods and serve YHVH, the God of Israel, with all your heart.” The people answered, “We will serve YHVH, our God, and obey His commands.” On that day at Shechem, Joshua made a covenant with the people and fixed laws and ordinances. He also wrote down everything expressed in the book of the Law of God; he chose a great stone and put it under the oak tree in the sacred place of YHVH.

Then Joshua said to the people : “This stone shall be a witness to all that YHVH said to us, for it heard all these words. It shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with YHVH.”

Joshua immediately sent the people away and everyone returned to his land. After all these deeds, Joshua, son of Nun and servant of YHVH, died at the age of a hundred and ten.

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Friday, 26 July 2013 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Exodus 20 : 1-17

God spoke all these words. He said, “I am YHVH your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Do not have other gods before Me.

Do not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, YHVH your God, am a jealous God; for the sin of the fathers, when they rebel against Me, I punish the sons, the grandsons and the great-grandsons; but I show steadfast love until the thousandth generation for those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Do not take the Name of YHVH your God in vain for YHVH will not leave unpunished anyone who takes His Name in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days, you will labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath for YHVH your God. Do not work that day, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your animals, nor the stranger who is staying with you. For in six days YHVH made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested; that is why YHVH has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

Honour your father and your mother that you may have a long life in the land that YHVH has given you.

Do not kill.

Do not commit adultery.

Do not steal.

Do not give false witness against your neighbour.

Do not covet your neighbour’s house. Do not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his servant, man or woman, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is his.”

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

Matthew 12 : 14-21

Then the Pharisees went out and made plans to get rid of Jesus. As Jesus was aware of their plans, He left that place. Many people followed Him, and He cured all who were sick. Then He gave them strict orders not to make Him known. In this way Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled : ‘Here is My servant whom I have chosen, the One I love, and with whom I am pleased. I will put My Spirit upon Him and He will announce My judgment to the nations.’

‘He will not argue or shout, nor will His voice be heard in the streets. The bruised reed He will not crush nor snuff out the smoldering wick. He will persist until justice is made victorious, and in Him all the nations will put their hope.’

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

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, we heard about how the Pharisees and the chief priests doubted the power and authority of Christ, questioning the origins of His authority and works, and in doing so, failing to see the work of God that is in Christ. For all the miracles and the wonders that Christ had done in this world, are the works of the Father, and in doing all that, He did not do it for His own glory, but for the Father who had sent Him.

Why did then, the Pharisees, and the chief priests, who are supposed to be people most knowledgeable in anything related to the Scriptures and the prophecies of the prophets regarding the Messiah failed to see that Christ is the Messiah, and failed even to see the works of God in Jesus? That is, brothers and sisters, because they are blind! They are blinded by their own weaknesses, by jealousy, by hatred, and by prejudice, and the pride they had in their own abilities, in their own intellect, and in their own worldly power.

The Pharisees claimed to serve the Lord and showed this through their external piety, through loud and well-recognised prayers in public places, and by their ultra-orthodox approach to the faith by very strict observation of the Law of Moses, and the norms of the society at the time, even to the little matters such as the washing of the hands prior to meals. But in their strict observation of that Law, they had in fact become corrupted by the power and authority that had been entrusted to them as priests of the people of God.

To them had been granted the authority, the same authority and priestly power as granted to Aaron, the brother of Moses, who became the first High Priest of the people of Israel after the Exodus from Egypt. To them had been granted also the responsibility of guiding the people to remain faithful in the path and ways of the Lord, that the people would not falter and stray in their lives, and remain in God’s grace.

Yet, they had, over the centuries, grown to trust men much more than they trusted God. They placed human glory and acclamation ahead of true, heavenly glory that only God can give. They had grown so accustomed to the privileges they had in their position of authority and power, that they themselves began to stray from the path that God has appointed for them and entrusted them to keep the people faithful in. They, the leaders of the people, out of all others had themselves been bought over by the evil one. Indeed, the saying cannot be further than truth, that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

In their position of authority, and with the privileges and honour they had grown so accustomed to, the priests and the elders had become arrogant, and jealous against anyone they see as rivals to their own authority and power, even if that rival is in fact the very Messiah that God had sent to save the people of Israel, and all mankind. This defiance against the Messiah was very evident today, given how they questioned the authority of Christ, which as God, has authority over all creation.

However, it is important to note that although it seems that those priests and elders look evil from how they were portrayed in the Gospels, but they themselves were not inherently evil. All mankind are inherently capable of doing what is good, and also what is evil. Ever since our ancestors, Adam and Eve, ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, we had been exposed to both good and evil, and therefore, are fully capable of doing both. Whether to do good or to do evil, is entirely within our own decision capacity.

That is why, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important that we keep our faith in the Lord strong at all times, and anchor ourselves firmly in His love, so that we will not go astray, tempted and bought off by the enticing offers of the evil one, who had in his possession, all the world and all its ‘good’ things, that can easily tempt and seduce those who are weak-hearted, and those without firm faith in the Lord.

Today, therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, and from here on, we should always be reminded on the evils of this world, and the dangers that we constantly face in our daily struggles against evil and all that he employed in this world against God’s children. Especially, brethren, if we had been entrusted with positions of authority and power, do not abuse that power that the Lord had entrusted you, and do not let the sheep entrusted to you, their shepherd, to go astray from the truth of God.

But we need not fear, brethren, for Christ is amongst us, and He is always with us, if only that we remain faithful and obedient to Him and do all the commandments that He had given us, we are safe. The devil will have no power over us, and we will truly become God’s children. And instead of jealousy, we will be in complete awe and wonder for the glory of God, and with the angels and saints, we shall glorify Him forevermore when we are reunited with Him once again, in the eternal bliss of heaven.

Today we also commemorate the feast of a great early martyr of the Christian Church, St. Justin the Martyr, who died for the faith in the second century after the coming of Christ, in the early Church times. St. Justin was born a pagan and a philosopher, with a great intellect and quality education, that made him a very well-educated person in the society at the time. St. Justin encountered many believers of Christ in his journeys and travels, and despite being involved in arguments and debates with them, in fact, gradually, it kindled in him the love for God, and the steadfast faith in Christ.

St. Justin, despite his great intellect and knowledge, did not give in to his pride and human weakness, and instead put himself in God’s love and place his full trust in Him. That is why He was glorified in death, out of his steadfast and unfailing faith, even unto death, because, unlike the Pharisees and the chief priests, he did not let human pride and arrogance to get in the way of salvation. May we be able to follow in the footsteps of St. Justin, and become truly the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Justin the Martyr, pray for us. Amen.

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

Acts 16 : 11-15

So we put out to sea from Troas and sailed straight across to Samothrace Island, and the next day to Neapolis. From there we went inland to Philippi, the leading city of the district of Macedonia, and a Roman colony. We spent some days in that city.

On the sabbath we went outside the city gate to the bank of the river where we thought the Jews would gather  to pray. We sat down and began speaking to the women who were gathering there. One of them was a God-fearing woman named Lydia from Thyatira City, a dealer in purple cloth.

As she listened, the Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. After she had been baptised together with her household, she invited us to her house, “If you think I am faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us to accept her invitation.