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Sunday, 19 January 2014 : 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, World Day of Migrants and Refugees (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brethren in Christ, today we heard how every reading proclaimed the glory of God in Jesus, His Son, who came down upon us, incarnate of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who walked in this earth, and who went on a blessed ministry of healing and purification of the people of God, after He was baptised in the Jordan by John the Baptist.

John the Baptist, who was also the relative of Jesus, was sent ahead of Him, to be the one who was prophesied in the first reading today, in the Book of the prophet Isaiah, who prophesied that the servant of God would come, and through him, prepared for such a ministry from the womb of his mother, the Lord would be known to everyone.

And that was precisely what John the Baptist did. He was prepared for a mission for the sake of the Lord ever since he was still in his mother’s womb. John the Baptist went on to live in the desert and became a great voice that shouted in the wilderness, calling the people of God to repent and forgo their old, sinful ways. He called for the repentance of peoples and for them to mark their repentance with the baptism of water at the Jordan.

John the Baptist baptised people and they came to him, seeking forgiveness for their sins. He therefore prepared the way straight for the Lord, who came immediately after him, Jesus, the Son of Mary, his relative. And John the Baptist, despite his popularity and his following, did not succumb to the usual weakness of human pride and arrogance. Instead, he did what he was supposed to do, that is to prepare and welcome the coming of the Lord the Saviour.

He proclaimed the Lord to his own followers and to the people after he baptised Jesus and witnessed the events which confirmed to him that Jesus was indeed the One he had been waiting for, and the One indeed whom John had done all those hard work for. John did not complain or hold any grudge against the Lord, for having received all the good fruits and benefits of his hard works. Instead, he joyfully proclaimed the Lord to all.

John the Baptist, as is often said, is a role model for all of us Christians who believed in the Lord. He humbly acknowledged the superiority of the Lord, who grew in glory and majesty, while he declined in importance. Even after his own disciples complained about the fact, he told them the truth about Jesus, who He was and what great things He would do, for the salvation of all mankind.

We should follow the examples of John the Baptist, that we also be humble before the Lord, especially in full awareness of our sins and our unworthiness, despite which our Lord and God Jesus Christ still came to save us. John the Baptist showed us how to lead a Christian life. We cannot be Christians if we do not proclaim Christ in our life, be it through our words, deeds, or actions. We should be always ever ready to confess that Christ is the Lord and the Saviour, that all will also believe in Him, much as how John convinced his followers that Jesus is the Christ and the Lord.

But today, there are even many more things we should talk about, because today is the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, commemorating the many millions today who are refugees away from their homeland, because of war, because of hatred and injustice, and because of prejudice and lack of love among mankind. Also commemorated today are the migrants who had gone away from their homeland to a new land, often far far away, for many reasons, most important of which are for economic reasons and also to seek peaceful life away from warfare.

As mentioned in the prophesy of Isaiah in the first reading, the coming of the Messiah was also associated with the reunion of the people of God who had been scattered throughout the world in exile. The coming of Christ was supposed to bring forth the peace and harmony, which would see that mankind no longer hate or despise one another, but instead live in harmony and love.

Yes, that is what we expect will happen, when the Lord who had come in Jesus Christ and died for our sins, comes again for the second time, when He will come as a victorious and conquering king, to bring all those who are faithful to Him into His eternal kingdom, where there will be no more hatred, divisions, or violence. Nevertheless, for us who are in this world, who still live in this world before this time, unfortunately this world is still very much in a mess.

If you follow the world news, you will realise that in many parts of the world, if not most, there are still much hatred, violence, and prejudice which existed between mankind, between one person and another, and between peoples. The world is rife with rivalry between human interests, either for land, or for more natural resources, and for many other reasons, including greed.

People were driven from their homes and their land, because violence often still ruled the day. As we all know what had happened recently in places such as Libya and Syria, especially what is still happening now in Syria, where thousands upon thousands die because of the violence there, because of the disregard for human life, and hatred for the others, that is hatred against those considered to be different to one’s group and therefore abominable.

Men fought one another and slaughter the innocent, because love has yet to take root in them, and many parts of the world if not most are still subject to this evil. And the result was pain, sorrow, and death. Many had to be driven from their homes and the land which they had inherited from their forefathers, and which they had lived in so peacefully until recently.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord is love, peace, and harmony, and He has given to us His peace and His love. While we await for His second coming in glory, it is actually our part to play, in order to bring peace and love to our brethren, especially to whom peace and love had been taken away, such as our migrant and refugee brethren. They need peace, as well as our love and care. For it is often that they lost everything when they were forced off their land, and they had nothing.

Therefore brethren, let us show our faith and dedication to the Lord who loves us all and wants us to be reunited to Him, by showing our love to the refugees and migrants of this world, especially if any of them are present in our societies. Let us not follow the trend of this world, that is to shun them and cast them out of our societies, making them into a ghetto of refugees and migrants. We should instead help them, and talk to them, and then we will understand better the difficulties they had faced.

Let us then not close our hearts to the plight of the migrants and refugees, and seek to welcome them as our fellow brothers and sisters, helping them in any way we can to help alleviate their sufferings. Let us proclaim the love of God to them and to all men, following in the footsteps of John the Baptist, who proclaimed Jesus as the Lord and Messiah to all people he taught.

May we all then proclaim the Lord as our God, as one people, and seek to heal any divisions, pains, or sufferings that exist among us, that we may let go of any hatred or negative feelings, and instead embrace the way of peace, the way of the Lord. May God bring us together, as fellow brothers and sisters in the unity of God’s loving family, and may we all be blessed forever. Amen!

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Thursday, 13 June 2013 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters, today we are reminded, as we should, on the importance of love and harmony in our relationship with one another. We are brothers and sisters to one another, as all of us are the same children of God. Before God, we are all the same, regardless of where we came from, our wealth, our possessions, our race, and other things that seems to divide us, and differentiate us.

That is why brothers and sisters, we must build a harmonious relationship between one another, and base that relationship in love and peace. But too often, we place ourselves and our greed before that, and we do not look at our brothers and sisters with love, not even those who are family to us, and therefore, less still those who are unknown to us.

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Anthony of Padua, a well-known saint, a Franciscan friar. He was a great teacher of the faith, and a humble man, but even more importantly, he was a man of peace, just as St. Francis, the founder of his order was. St. Anthony was committed to love and peace between individuals and reflected that in his life, which he gave into the service of mankind.

Like all the saints and other holy people of God, St. Anthony reflect the true life and offering that God wants from all of us. Yes, brothers and sisters, God wants our love, and He does not want the offerings that we place on the altar, like that of Israel of old. What He wants from us is the love from our hearts, a pure offering in His eyes, and that we live in perfect love and peace with one another, as we are brothers and sisters, all created by Him, our Creator.

That is what our faith is truly about, that we should reflect in ourselves the light of Christ, the light of love, hope, faith, and peace, that everyone who sees us, and all the things that we do will know that we are the children of God, because we practice what God has taught us through Christ, that is both to love Him with all our hearts, our minds, and our souls, and also to do the same to our neighbours, our brethren.

Sadly though, many of us in our world no longer preach the Gospel of love and peace through our deeds and our actions. We have been blinded by the evils of this world, that is hatred, jealousy, and greed, so that we no longer love our fellow brothers and sisters, but instead incite violence, anger, and hatred between one another. War, injustice, oppression, and vengeance are just some of the fruits of these evils, which today we know, brothers and sisters, are all around us.

I want to bring to your attention, the sufferings of our brothers and sisters in Syria, who had been in turmoil for many years, and whose people had been subjected to a civil war between competing politicians and the powerful ones, for their own purposes and objectives, but which cause immense suffering for the people. Brothers no longer look upon each other as brothers, and neither do sisters. Families and friendships are divided and devastated. Truly, our Lord would certainly be sad to look at all these.

Injustice is also rampant in our society today, brothers and sisters, how we often treat people unequally, favouring some while treating others unfairly and badly, just because of certain objectives and desires that we possess within us. Some because of greed, some because of lust, and some because of other desires and evils. Even I am sure, brothers and sisters, that some of us had often encountered these, and even be part of these in our own lives!

If we continue to walk down this path of evil and destruction, our God will not look kindly upon us, for He is a friend of the poor, the lonely, the unloved, and the hated ones, the least ones whom we often exploit and hate, but to the Lord they are beloved. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us reflect on our lives, on our actions, whether we have lived true to the Gospel of our Lord, and His call for us to be filled with love and peace.

May we follow in the footsteps of St. Anthony of Padua and the holy saints, that we can be transformed, from beings of evil, hatred, prejudice, and violence, into beings of love, justice, and peace. How wonderful will our world become, if only everyone dedicate themselves to the cause of peace and love. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 10 June 2013 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters, peace be with all of you! God is with us and He will take care of us, all the days of our life. His blessings are always upon us, if we walk in His ways and reflect His teachings in our lives. He takes care of our needs, and we do not need to worry, because He is with us, He walks among us, and He never leaves us behind.

Today, we heard Jesus’ teachings on the mountain, which is commonly known as the Beatitudes, in which Jesus praised those who are humble, lowly and those who has done good in God’s Name, for the good of God’s people, and that they will gain great things in their life, because of what they had done, and because of the things they had gone through for the sake of God.

It is not easy brothers and sisters in Christ, to belong to Christ in our world today. There are too many temptations and persuasions from this world for us to deviate from Christ’s way, into a way that is the world’s. Why so? Because the world is full of violence, injustice, and hatred, which the devil perpetuates in this world, so as to keep mankind away from God, through his agents which are always at work in this world.

Peace, my brothers and sisters, is not an easy objective for us to obtain. True peace requires all of us to be able to sit side-by-side and embrace one another as brethren in love, and in complete harmony that is of the Lord, despite our backgrounds, despite our racial profile, despite the differences that are between us, in our thoughts and in our actions. But clearly, as all of you can see, there is too much darkness and hatred in our world, that hinder peace and those who work for the sake of peace.

There are those who perpetuate hatred and violence in our world today, in our own societies, for their own gain and benefit. Why, brothers and sisters in Christ? Surely people will want peace right? But if through the perpetuation of violence and hatred it allows some to continue to gain in their own agenda, in their own efforts, these people will not stop spreading lies and hatred to keep the people of God from achieving the true peace that is our aim.

Too often, it is ourselves that are to blame as well, whenever we failed to do the things that God wants us to do, as He clearly told His disciples on today’s Beatitudes. That we should be bringer of peace, of comfort and justice, and also as bearers of God’s faith to all mankind. Let us reflect into ourselves, whether we have done these things that the Lord wants of us.

When we see those among us in feud among themselves, hitting each other verbally and even physically, causing hurt to one another, are we courageous enough to be the peacemaker? Too often, we are concerned of losing our ‘face’ to others, especially to those who are fighting, so that we are more often content to be the silent bystander.

The same also happens when we see someone who is hungry, who is unloved, and who has been unjustly treated. Very often we want to have nothing to do with any of them, because if we do any good to them, we will be considered ‘uncool’ by our friends and those whom we know. But let us see, do we ask for the opinion of men while doing God’s work? No, right? We should not be accountable to men for things that we do for the good of those around us, and for the glory of God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect on today’s Beatitudes, let us reflect on our own lives, and make a new commitment to be like those whom Christ blessed for being faithful disciple of the Lord, by practising His commandments as peacemakers, and bringer of love and justice to everyone. Let us not be afraid to lift up our fingers to help others around us who suffer, and surely God will guide us and bless us when we love those who are least among us.

May God be with us and bless us, and make us ever more like Him, who is Love, and reflect in ourselves and our lives, the light of peace, love, justice, and harmony, to all mankind, and with all of them, praise our God who loves us and who wants to bless us all our days. Amen.