Pharisees

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Sunday, 23 February 2014 : 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus taught us the truth about God’s laws, as revealed first through Moses, which the people had often misinterpreted and took it at the face value and keep it just at that. Many failed to see the true intention of God’s laws and ordinances, and their true purpose. God did not intend for His laws to punish or pressure His people with burden, because He intended His laws for love.

That was why Jesus showed God’s people, that His laws should not be interpreted in a way that exclude love out of the equation. The ancient laws and customs of the Jewish people included the concept of vengeance and revenge, named accurately, ‘do ut des’, which means that one receives what one has given, or the concept of reciprocity.

That when translated into how the people carried out the laws of God means that a particularly harsh way of dealing with crimes and how to punish these lawbreakers. They had those who had committed a crime to pay back exactly what they had committed, and that is why the term, an eye for an eye and so on and so forth.

The result was clear, the community of the people of God, that is Israel, became a society governed with fear, prejudice and hatred, that is very far from what God intended for them, that is to build upon a community of love and inclusiveness. The people became boxed in into their obedience to the law, and the fear of God and His wrath should they disobey the law.

Yet, in doing so, under the guidance of the Pharisees in particular, the laws had been lost in its true meaning, often covered by false obedience and empty observations of the law. Jesus showed them that there is a need for the understanding of the purpose of the Law. The Law is about love, and in obeying the law, the people of God have to observe love in all their actions and deeds.

And this love is in fact not the same kind of love that we are often accustomed to in this world. The love that we know about in this world is often a very selfish love. Just as Jesus had said, we often love only those who love us back, and we do not love our enemies and those who hate us. We hate them back and even curse at them as best as we can.

And in our understanding of love, we even have it at an even more flawed level, one that is mingled with lust, greed and human desire. Our form of love is corrupted by desire and wickedness. We lust and desire for worldly pleasures, and that results in us failing further to understand what God truly intends for us.

We are often prejudiced and choosy in our love, and we give no love to those whom we do not love, and those who hate us. But the Lord shows us that when we love we cannot be prejudiced, and we have to be selfless in giving our love. Love should be given to all around us, and even to those who hate and persecute us. If we love only those who already love us, then what we do to them are not quite as meaningful as if we love those who hate us.

The Lord shows us that He knows about what it means to value-add our faith, and the love that is in this world. Loving our enemies and those who hate us will in itself help them to understand love, and hopefully that they will be awakened from their slumber in darkness and in the seas of hate. It falls upon us then, for us to show love to them. If we show them hate instead of love, then we are likely to end up dooming them to hate, and we will be held responsible for that too.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, in line with what Jesus had taught and shown us, we have to change our perspectives of those around us, our brothers and sisters. We must not be judgmental or be filled with prejudice. We have to show love to all, even when the other side does not want our love. Show them that to be children of God means to love. And when we love, we have to do so unconditionally.

Let us all deepen our faith in God and deepen our understanding of His will. Let us understand further the love He has for us, and let us hope that we mankind may learn to love more, and to devote ourselves truly to God, seeking God in all the things we do, and follow in His ways in all of our actions. May God walk with us and guide us, teach us how to understand His will and show us how to love each other and to love Him. Amen.

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Wednesday, 19 February 2014 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

James 1 : 19-27

My beloved, be quick to hear but slow to speak and slow to anger, for human anger does not fulfill the justice of God. So get rid of any filth and reject the prevailing evil, and welcome the Word that has been planted in you and has the power to save you.

Be doers of the Word and not just hearers, lest you deceive yourselves. The hearer who does not become a doer is like that one who looked himself at the mirror. He looked and then promptly forgot what he was like. But those who fix their gaze on the perfect law of freedom and hold onto it, not listening and then forgetting, but acting on it, will find blessing on their deeds.

Those who think they are religious but do not restrain their tongue, deceive themselves and their religion is in vain. In the sight of God, our Father, pure and blameless religion lies in helping the orphans and widows in their need and keeping oneself from the world’s corruption.

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Tuesday, 18 February 2014 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 8 : 14-21

The disciples had forgotten to bring more bread, and had only one loaf with them in the boat. Then Jesus warned them, “Keep your eyes open, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”

And they said to one another, “He saw that we have no bread.” Aware of this, Jesus asked them, “Why are you talking about the loaves you are short of? Do you not see or understand? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear?”

“And do you not remember when I broke the five loaves among five thousand? How many baskets full of leftovers did you collect?” They answered, “Twelve.” “And having distributed seven loaves to the four thousand, how many wicker baskets of leftovers did you collect?”

They answered, “Seven.” Then Jesus said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

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Monday, 17 February 2014 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Mark 8 : 11-13

The Pharisees came and started to argue with Jesus. Hoping to embarrass Him, they asked for some heavenly sign. Then His Spirit was moved. He gave a deep sigh and said, “Why do the people of this present time ask for a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this people.”

Then He left them, got into the boat again and went to the other side of the lake.

 

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Tuesday, 11 February 2014 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, World Day of the Sick (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Marian feast)

Mark 7 : 1-13

One day the Pharisees gathered around Jesus, and with them were some teachers of the Law who had just come from Jerusalem. They noticed that some of His disciples were eating their meal with unclean hands, that is, without washing them.

Now the Pharisees, and in fact all the Jews, never eat without washing their hands, for they follow the tradition received from their ancestors. Nor do they eat anything, when they come from the market, without first washing themselves. And there are many other traditions they observe; for example, the ritual washing of cups, pots and plates.

So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders, but eat with unclean hands?” Jesus answered, “You shallow people! How well Isaiah prophesied of you when he wrote : ‘This people honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. The worship they offer Me is worthless, for what they teach are only human rules.'”

“You even put aside the commandment of God to hold fast to human tradition.” And Jesus commented, “You have a fine way of disregarding the commandments of God in order to enforce your own traditions! For example, Moses said : ‘Do your duty to your father and your mother,’ and : ‘Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death.'”

“But according to you, someone could say to his father or mother, ‘I already declared Corban, which means ‘offered to God’ what you could have expected from me.’ In this case, you no longer require him to do anything for his father or mother, and so you nullify the word of God through the tradition you have handed on. And you do many other things like that.”

Alternative Reading (Mass of Our Lady of Lourdes)

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

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)

Mark 3 : 22-30

Meanwhile the teachers of the Law, who had come from Jerusalem, said, “He is in the power of Beelzebul : the chief of demons helps Him to drive out demons.”

Jesus called them to Him, and began teaching them by means of stories, or parables. “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a nation is divided by civil war, that nation cannot stand. If a family divides itself into groups, that family will not survive.”

“In the same way, if Satan has risen against himself and is divided, he will not stand; he is finished. No one can break into the house of a strong man in order to plunder his goods, unless he first ties up the strong man. Then indeed, he can plunder his house.”

“Truly, I say to you, every sin will be forgiven humankind, even insults to God, however numerous. But whoever slanders the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven : he carries the guilt of his sin forever.”

This was their sin when they said, “He has an unclean spirit in Him.”

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Saturday, 25 January 2014 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today is a great feast in the Church, and a day when we should really celebrate, that is because today we celebrate the conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, which was a great event that had repercussions and effects, even on all of us here. Today commemorated that day when God appeared to St. Paul, then known as Saul, and made him to have a total change of heart.

St. Paul was once Saul, a great sinner, the enemy of the Church and all the faithful of God, and the scourge of the Christians and all those who believed in Jesus. Saul was a typical zealot of the faith of the people of God, the Jews, educated in the courts and learnt the faith following the ways of the Pharisees and the scribes, and he developed a particularly hostile and violent opposition to the faithful ones of Christ.

In accordance with the stance of the Pharisees and the Temple against the followers of Jesus, Saul went even further and mercilessly imprisoned many of the faithful, without even showing mercy to women and children. In his burning zeal for the Lord and in his misguided state due to the teachings of the Pharisees, he mistook the purpose that God had for him, and instead committed great sins by condemning many innocents who kept their faith in God.

But it was also in Saul, later to be called Paul after his conversion, that God had a great plan of renewal. The conversion of Paul was accompanied with his baptism by Ananias, and indeed that experience of conversion was truly akin to that of baptism, with our own baptism, that is with total and profound change of the heart. God called Saul on the way to Damascus, in his hot pursuit of God’s faithful, and revealed to him the false way that he had been following all those while.

In Paul, God wants to show us that there is no sinner who is beyond salvation or hope. Yes, just as Christ Himself said that He came to seek sinners and to bring them back into the light of God, embracing those who were rejected and cast out of the society because of their sinfulness. The conversion of Paul showed that, even with the numerous sins he had committed by torturing and participating in the massacre of the faithful including that of St. Stephen, the first martyr, he was not beyond redemption.

God called him and he listened. He let the Lord to enter into his heart and spoke to Him. And he did not refuse to listen to the truth being transmitted to Him, either directly or through Ananias, who baptised him and marked him to belong in God and His Church. The Holy Spirit therefore came into Paul, and the blindness that had afflicted him for so long, that is the blindness of his heart and his spirit, was removed.

When Paul was healed from his blindness by Ananias, it was not just that he could physically see again, but through the water of baptism, he could then see the truth behind the Lord and His plan of salvation which He had brought via Jesus, which Paul had been mistakenly condemning and attacking, in blind obedience to the false and corrupted faith of the Pharisees.

Paul therefore, was turned from once the greatest enemy of the faith and all the Church of God, into its greatest champion, the bravest and most courageous defender of the faith, who daringly went to testify for the Lord, for the truth that had been revealed to him in his conversion, from the way to Damascus, and all the way to the end of his life in martyrdom in Rome.

St. Paul was a crucial persona in the era of the early Church, for it was St. Paul who helped to bridge the Church from its earliest foundations in Jerusalem and Judea, to be a truly universal Church, by spreading it throughout the Roman Empire, not least helped by St. Paul’s own extensive visits throughout the Empire, in his four journeys, which saw him travelling to cities across the Mediterranean, spreading the faith, correcting errors in the faith and guiding the people to God.

St. Paul and his letters to the various Church communities and peoples also helped further in this evangelisation of the Good News, especially to those who had never seen or experienced Christ before when He was still in this world. St. Paul built a stronger foundation and affirm the cornerstone, the prime foundation which Christ had placed on Peter, His Vicar, and together with Peter, he became the cornerstones of the Universal Church, enabling it to persevere through centuries of persecutions by the pagan Emperors and to eventually thrive and save countless souls from damnation.

But the works of St. Paul were not done there yet. Even though he and the other Apostles and disciples of Christ, with other innumerable martyrs met their end at the hands of their executioners, the mission that Christ had laid on them never ended. To proclaim the Good News to all creation, and to make all mankind the disciples of the Lord through baptism and faith, these are the missions which ring true even today.

Today the world is increasingly covered again in darkness, with many people turning their back on the faith and God, and many of them even actively and openly attack the Church through various means, that were meant to harm the Church directly or harm the faithful ones, that is us. It was on a way not much different from how it was in the early days of the Church, when the followers of Christ were looked at with suspicion and were hunted by the likes of St. Paul when he was still Saul, the enemy of Christ.

And following on the example of the conversion of Saul, from enemy to hero and defender of the faith, we too then can also draw the parallel to our modern day society. It is very easy indeed for us all to condemn and fight back against those who hated us and persecuted us, many of whom even were once our brethren in faith. Yet, is hatred and violence the way? No! That is because if we hate them, then we are no better than them.

Instead we should follow in the example of St. Stephen, who forgave his enemies and asked God not to take them into account for their sins. He and many other saints, and ultimately God Himself see in people like Saul and those who persecuted the faith, a hope, for their own redemption. Nobody is beyond redemption, and we too therefore should not close our gates to redemption. We should not exclude them or bar them from redemption through our actions.

Instead, follow in the example of St. Paul himself and other saints, loving these enemies of ours and turning them into our brethren. Welcome them into our hearts and open the gates of our love for them. Let them therefore experience the richness of God’s infinite love and mercy, that they may eventually see the light and repent, as St. Paul once did.

Forgiveness, mercy, and love can go a long way, brothers and sisters in Christ, and as disciples of Christ in this increasingly darkened age, we have lots of things to do, and much is expected from us. Let us pray therefore, that we will be strengthened in our resolve, and that through our deeds and actions we may proclaim the Lord and bring salvation to those who had abandoned God and His ways. God be with us all, always and forever. Amen.

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Wednesday, 22 January 2014 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Memorial of St. Vincent, Deacon and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Mark 3 : 1-6

Again Jesus entered the synagogue. A man, who had a paralysed hand, was there and some people watched Jesus : would He heal the man on the sabbath? If He did, they could accuse Him.

Jesus said to the man with the paralysed hand, “Stand there in the centre.” Then He asked them, “What does the Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To do good or to do harm? To save life or to kill?” But they were silent.

Then Jesus looked around at them with anger and deep sadness, because they had closed their minds. And He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was healed.

As soon as the Pharisees left, they met with Herod’s supporters, looking for a way to destroy Jesus.

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Tuesday, 21 January 2014 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red (Martyrs)

Today, brothers and sisters in Christ, we heard how God made a wonderful choice in the one whom He has blessing for, in the one whom the Lord is Himself pleased with, that is David, to be His vicar in the world, to govern His people as their king and ruler, and therefore lead them in the worship of Himself.

David was chosen, not because of his strength, abilities, or wonderful appearance. As the Lord made it clear to Samuel, that He did not see just with the eyes, but He sees also the hearts inside mankind. He chose David because He saw in him the true heart of devotion, which had great love for God and His ways.

As we all should well know, that good appearance does not equate good hearts inside. Appearance can often be deceiving, and it is important for us to be able to see what is inside and what truly makes up a person. And therefore, we should also not be quick to judge on others, especially if they do not behave in the same way as we do things, as the Pharisees had done.

Continuing from my theme on the true meaning of the Law of God from yesterday’s Scripture readings, it is important for us to note that superficial obedience of the law is no good, compared to the true understanding of the purpose of God’s laws that is to bring mankind closer to God, instead of giving them a great burden.

God wished that through His laws, mankind can be turned, and changed, and transformed to be more like Him. Yes, for all mankind to follow God’s laws in good faith and understanding means to be profoundly changed in our way of life and behaviour, that we become truly children of God. God wants from us our love, and sincere dedication, as well as full attention. He does not want from us blind obedience or self-praise.

God sees the heart and He knows everything, just as He saw into the hearts of the people of Israel and the sons of Jesse, discovering David, in whom He found true faith and dedication, one worthy to be the shepherd of His people. Therefore God also sees into our hearts, inside each one of us, that He sees whether we are truly faithful to Him or just paying lip service to Him, or worse, to self-glorify oneself that their ‘piety’ may be praised by those who see them.

The Sabbath is the holy day in the faith of the Israelites, according to the laws of Moses, where God ordered the people to keep the day holy, and to honour Him on that day. Yet, over time, until the time of Jesus, the true meaning of the Sabbath had been subverted by the people, and in the Pharisees, the Sabbath become a dreadful day, where nobody may work or do anything, violation of which was condemned by the rabbis of Israel.

But Jesus made it clear to them, as well as to His disciples and to the people of God, what the purpose of the law, that it was made to serve mankind, that is to help them on their way to reach the Lord. Yes, it is to help and serve them, rather than to punish them or burden them unnecessarily. The sabbath is made for mankind and not mankind for the Sabbath. To do otherwise would mean the idolisation of the sabbath, which was meant for mankind to spend precious time with their beloved God.

The purpose of the Sabbath was so that, mankind, ever vulnerable to the temptations of evil and the corruptions of the world, would find time to spend with their God. A day of rest indeed, dedicated to prayers and communications between oneself and their Lord, not unlike what we have today with Sundays, on which day we go for Mass, and celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

On the holy day, we spend our time with God, and we listen to Him. We should not rush it to return to our worldly dealings and businesses, but instead patiently and lovingly spend that time with God, that He may speak to us in the silence of our hearts, and we may get to learn what is His will for us, a way for us to follow. On that day, we do things for the Lord and dedicate ourselves to Him.

And in order to do this, it does not always mean through prayer and inaction. Doing good and doing things in accordance with the Lord’s will is also something that should be done on that day. Remember that Christ stressed the importance of doing good for our brethren and loving them. He stressed that doing good things is not forbidden on Sabbath, because doing good is tantamount to serving the Lord and glorifying Him, which is precisely what the Lord wants from each of His beloved people.

The Lord sees the truth in the hearts of all mankind. Again, blind obedience and lip-service does not do one good, and instead they bring mankind to condemnation. The Pharisees purposely tried during many Sabbath days to trap Jesus in His works, and did everything in their power to protest, complain, and resist the good works of Jesus, which was done for the greater glory of God. Their sins were truly great and numerous, despite their outward piety and actions, which supposedly done to draw praise and glorification from mankind.

Will we follow their path? Or will we do as Jesus had done? Jesus taught us that what the Lord wants from us is our love, and to show that love in our words, actions, and deeds. God has given us much love, and indeed had given us great capacity to love. It is now our chance to prove our love and dedication to Him, by showing it in what we do everyday. Let us no longer just see our faith, particularly that of the Mass, as something empty, and that we should also no longer just go for Mass because we are obliged to do so.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of St. Agnes, a well known virgin and martyr who lived at the time of the Roman Empire. She came from Rome, the heart of the Empire and therefore was also known as St. Agnes of Rome. St. Agnes was a secret Christian who was hiding from the persecutions of the pagan Roman Empire.

She was courted by a pagan centurion who tried many times without success to get her, and there were also many other suitors who did not succeed to get her attention. St. Agnes had devoted her life to a life of virginity and total devotion to the Lord. Thus, she refused to give in to the temptations of the centurion, who then reported her Christianity to the authorities, and had her imprisoned because of that. She was tortured and asked to renounce her faith by her prison masters.

St. Agnes suffered tremendously in prison, and reputedly she was even tortured greatly by the painful torture she had to go through, and even was dragged across the street naked without any clothing. She was then martyred for her faith, but unto the end, she would not recant her faith in God, and she remained faithful to the end.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Agnes showed us a way to follow the Lord, that is through total dedication and devotion of oneself. She loved God so much, that she did not hesitate to give up even her life to maintain her purity and faith in God. Some followed her way, and they became as we know, our priests, brothers and sisters, the nuns and monks, the friars, those who dedicated their lives wholly to God. Nevertheless, that does not mean that we cannot do the same too.

St. Agnes showed us that our faith cannot be an empty or dead one, or one of mere lip-service. Such faith would waver at times of great persecutions, one which our Faith is increasingly facing these days. We have to show our faith through concrete action, but one based on love. We do not have to go through martyrdom as St. Agnes had, but we certainly have to be ready to defend our faith, not by violence, but through love.

Yes, love one another, our brethren, and even those who hate and persecute us for our faith. Let us show the love of God to everyone, and may God who sees our love then love us back with His infinite love, and grant us peace, grace, and rich blessings! God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 21 January 2014 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red (Martyrs)

Mark 2 : 23-28

One Sabbath Jesus was walking through grainfields. As His disciples walked along with Him, they began to pick on the heads of grain and crush them in their hands. Then the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look! They are doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath!”

And He said to them, “Have you never read what David did in his time of need, when he and his men were very hungry? He went into the house of God, when Abiathar was High Priest, and ate the bread of offering, which only the priests were allowed to eat, and he also gave some to the men who were with him.”

Then Jesus said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Master even of the Sabbath.”