painful death

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Sunday, 2 February 2014 : Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today is a great feast day which marks the official end of the Christmas season, forty days after Christmas, when we celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, when Jesus Christ our Lord was presented according to the custom of the laws of Moses, at the Temple, as the firstborn of His family, the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

This feast of the Presentation of the Lord has deep symbolic and real meaning in our faith, because Jesus Christ was indeed special in all things, as the Lord divine incarnate into the flesh as Man. As the One who became one of us and dwell among us, He was destined to become the High Priest of all creation, over all of us mankind.

Yes, as the High Priest He was to be the One in between us and our Lord, Our Father and Creator. The high priests of Israel offered the offering of mankind, the people of God to the Lord, as the mediator and intermediate, that the sins of mankind may be absolved and forgiven. The same too therefore happened with Jesus Christ, who was the High Priest, the One and only High Priest, who offered nothing else but Himself as a perfect offering for the absolution of mankind.

And if the high priests and priests of Israel continued to offer animal sacrifices, in the blood of lambs and goats for the temporal absolution of the people’s sins, Christ as the High Priest offered Himself as the only worthy Lamb of sacrifice, to once and for all liberate mankind from the sins of their ancestors, that through Him mankind may have hope once again in salvation and eternal life.

As the sacrifice for the sins of all mankind for all times and ages, therefore Jesus and His death on the cross marked our liberation from the power and tyranny of sin. Never again would death have unchecked power over us, as we have been given a new hope of life through Jesus. His death and sacrifice justified us and we who accept His sacrifice and recognise Him through baptism receive eternal life and redemption.

Then you may ask, if He was to be the Saviour of the world and the High Priest of all, why then He was presented to the Lord at the Temple? Why was Jesus presented to the Lord as the firstborn Son of Mary? That is because Jesus indeed came to this world not to destroy the Law revealed through Moses, but to make it perfect through God’s love.

As all the people of God offered their firstborn son and consecrated them to YHVH, their Lord and God, so was Jesus offered, both as the firstborn Son of Mary, the Son of Man, and as the Son of God, the Word of God incarnate into flesh. The Presentation event that we are celebrating today showed to the world, in a revelation, who Jesus was, and what He was going to bring into this world, that is salvation.

Simeon the seer had been waiting for long, expecting for the coming of the Messiah in Jesus, and he was indeed fortunate among many prophets and servants of God, that he was given the opportunity to see the salvation of the world even a small, little Baby. Many longed to see the Messiah and His coming, and did not see Him, and Simeon as well as Anna was fortunate among them, not only because they were able to witness the coming of the Messiah, but both of them also became the heralds of the Lord’s coming by revealing Him to the people of God.

They told the people that the Baby being offered to God at the Temple, as frail and fragile and weak He was, Jesus was destined to be the One who was to bring liberation to a world immersed in darkness. He was offered as the unblemished and perfect sacrifice, that would free mankind from their slavery to sin and evil.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is imperative for all of us to take note of this occasion and rejoice for the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom God our Father had given us all as the gift for our salvation. He offered Himself to redeem us from our sins, and despite our constant rebellion and disobedience, He wants equally constantly for us to be reunited with Him in faith and love.

Today we also commemorate, fittingly, the Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life, that is we pray for the sake of all those who had dedicated and consecrated themselves to the Lord, be it as priests, religious, or consecrated people, who forsook the world and all its goodness, to be with God, and to serve Him and His people.

Just as Jesus had been dedicated to the Lord, to be the Saviour of the world, and the liberator of mankind, therefore, the priests and the religious also dedicated themselves to God their Lord and Master, professing solemnly their faith and dedication to Him, till the end of their lives. They become our intermediary with the Lord, much in the same way as how Jesus, as our High Priest, is the mediator between God and all of us.

The works of our consecrated priests and the other servants of the Lord are heavy and burdensome. They have many challenges and trials to go through daily, especially opposition to their works and rejections to their teachings. Many also do not appreciate their works, and even put themselves in the way of their ministries.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore today, as we recall the Presentation of our Lord Jesus, let us also pray for our priests and religious brothers and sisters, that they may stay faithful and dedicated to the flock and the works they have been entrusted with. May they persevere despite the increasing opposition against their works and persecutions against the faithful in general.

And we too, brothers and sisters in Christ, also have our own roles to play. We are also called by the Lord in baptism, to be the messengers of His Good News. Even though we do not dedicate ourselves as closely as that of our priests and religious, we can also take part in the Lord’s work aimed at the salvation of all mankind. In order to do that, we need to love and love tenderly.

Yes, through our actions and deeds, we can show God’s love to everyone, and make them to understand God’s love for them and so that they may believe in Jesus, in the love He had shown to all of us that He did not even mind to doe a humiliating and painful death on the cross for our lives and salvation. He turned that cross of shame into a triumphant cross of victory.

May the Lord Jesus deepen the faith within our hearts, that we too may commit ourselves, our lives and all our actions, for the sake of our Lord, and out of love for our brothers and sisters who are still separated from God’s love. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 27 January 2014 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s theme is again continuing from the past few days’ theme on unity. That the words of Christ ring very true, how something divided against itself and each components opposed against each other, cannot survive or stand. He meant that for the devil, to show the Pharisees, how it was not possible for devil to exorcise evil spirits as they had accused Jesus of doing.

But He also meant it for us, for His faithful, that, we all should also not be divided against each other. We should seek on what unites us, or what may unite us rather than focusing on our differences and enmities. This ties in perfectly woth the theme of yesterday’s sunday readings, which focuses quite a lot on the avoidance of division and the importance of unity.

It is very true what Jesus had said, that a house divided against itself will not be able to stand. And our Church, that is the combination of all the faithful ones of God, will not be able to stand, if the faithful community is divided within, and divided along different lines of confrontations, we will end up be like that divided house, and we will not be able to stand against the forces of evil arrayed before us.

The first reading today from the second book of the prophet Samuel also took on a distinctive tone on unity, telling the story of what happened after the civil war that divided Israel after the death of their king Saul, and the ascension of David as king of Judah in Hebron. The people were divided between the descendants of Saul, and David who had been chosen by God Himself to be the new, rightful king over Israel.

That civil war for the kingdom of Israel was bitter, and they cost many lives. Some good warriors of both Judah and Israel were killed, and the war disadvantaged both sides. Today we saw how at the end of the conflict, the people of Israel came together to accept David as their king, and to recognise his kingship over them, and ultimately to overcome the bitterness of division which had taken its toll over them.

The kingdom of Israel would not be strong before the unity was achieved, and it was only after that civil war was ended that the nation would grow strong, and under the rule of both King David and Solomon, his son, that kingdom would grow to be very powerful, wealthy, and influential indeed. But, the bitter lesson of division continued to apply, and after another round of conflicting interests and feuds, the kingdom was split permanently in two, and the two halves were greatly weakened, ending with their subsequent destructions at the hands of their enemies, and the scattering of the people of God among many nations.

That is exactly what division can do to us, the faithful ones of God, if we are not careful. And Jesus also rightly pointed out that the devil cannot be divided among itself, and it means that the devil’s forces are united, against us! And they are united against us for a singular purpose, that is to bring about the fall of God’s people and to keep them away from the salvation awaiting them and instead join these forces of darkness in the eternal damnation that awaits them.

That is why it is important, and also appropriate, for us to avoid being divided ourselves, and for all of us to present a united front against the forces of Satan arrayed against us. That is why it is important, and very important for us, indeed, that we seek and fight for unity among us and put this as the first priority before everything else. Only when our house is in order, then we can go ahead and confidently fight the force of darkness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of St. Angela Merici, a dedicated religious and virgin, who lived her life in great holiness and purity. St. Angela Merici was apparently very distressed when her sister passed away not in a state of grace and peace. She prayed and prayed hard to the Lord, and she saw a vision in which she saw her sister being in heaven among the saints.

St. Angela Merici also devoted her life to prayer and a devoted religious life, and she established a community of similar minded people, called the Company of St. Ursula, of women dedicated in a celibate life and pure virginity before God while committing themselves in service towards their brethren and neighbours around them.

St. Angela Merici might not have done great deeds in human terms, but her contributions to the faithful were indeed invaluable and great. St. Angela Merici showed us the model of Christian life, of how we should live our lives according to the precepts of the Lord. Yes, first is prayer, genuine and constant prayer, so that we will be ever attuned to the will of God and will remain true to His ways.

And secondly, that is to give of oneself in love and dedication, both to God and to the community of the faithful. This means to follow what the Lord asks of us, that is to love one another just as we should also love the Lord our God. In doing so, we will share God’s love with all those around us and make our communities and societies a more beautiful and loving ones.

And in order to tie this with the theme of today’s readings and reflections, as I often mentioned that divisions and feuds rose frequently because of our natural human tendency and vulnerabilities for sin. It is in our nature to be fearful, to be jealous, and to have pride and arrogance in our hearts, as well as greed and desire, that we tend to disobey the precepts of the Lord, and seek for our own greater glory.

In the history of the Church, divisions and conflicts most widely happened when the people of God, one or many among them, chose to ignore the true teachings and wisdom of the Lord, and instead rely on their own feeble and corrupted human mentality and emotions, resulting in conflicts of interests that often ballooned to conflict, not quite unlike what had happened in Israel during king David’s time.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, following the example of St. Angela Merici, let us first dedicate ourselves ever more strongly to our God, and promise to lead more holy lifestyle from now on, abandoning our human jealousies, pride, greed, and anger, and in exchange, receive the love and peace from God. Then, let us continue to persevere and seek the unity of all the faithful ones of God, that our Church will stand united again and will not be divided against itself, such that we may be able to stand against Satan and his forces. God be with us all. Amen.