pride

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Saturday, 23 August 2014 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rose of Lima, Virgin (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how the Lord spoke to the people on the need for us all to be humble and true in our faith, and that a question is actually posed to us, namely, whether we are able to realise if what we do in this life truly serve the Lord or to serve our own purposes, and whether these bring benefits to our salvation through the good intentions we had, or if we merely feed the sense of our own ego and pride.

And in the first reading we read about the vision of Ezekiel who saw the glory of God in heaven, to whom God had granted His favour, allowing him to see the marvels of the Lord, and the true nature and glory of God, who is Almighty and All-Powerful. After all, He is the Lord of all, and the Creator of all things, living and non-living. Therefore, it is only right that He and His majesty ought to be praised, honoured and worshipped.

That comes therefore to the point when Jesus pointed out the contrast between this and the behaviours and attitudes of the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and the elders of the people. They wore elaborate garments and ornaments, praying loudly and visibly in public places, not because they had God in their hearts and minds, but instead, they were truly serving their own glory, their own ego and their own desires.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is easy for us mankind to be tempted by the goodness around us, and it is easy for us to be tempted to bring goodness and glory to ourselves. However, we should neither be quick to judge others, in particular when this concerns what we have in the Church. Many these days do not truly understand what the Church had done, and what we especially used to commonly do in the past, before the flaw-filled implementation of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

We are often quick to judge when we look at the past and saw the greatness and opulence of the celebration of the Mass of the Ages, that is the Usus Antiquior or the Ancient Use of the Mass according to the rites approved by the Council of Trent. We who live in this modern world and time are often not aware of the tradition of our faith, and we end up accusing those who remain faithful to the rites of our fathers in the same way they accused the Pharisees and the elders of Israel.

However, if we understand the true beauty of the celebration of the Mass as it was according to the rite of the Council of Trent, we will realise how much honour, praise and adoration this way of worship offers to the Lord. All the beauty and the honours present in the celebration of the Mass, all of them are not for men, but for the sake of God. On the other hand, the Pharisees and the elders of Israel, when they pray and work, they do them to gain the praise and adoration from men, and therefore their hearts are not filled with God, but instead with the desire and greed of men.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Rose of Lima, or St. Rosa of Lima, the first saint of the Latin American region and in fact the very first saint which was born in the Americas or the New World. She was a very beautiful woman, who out of great piety and love for the Lord, refused to listen to the will of their parents who wanted her to marry, and despite many suitors who chased after her, she purposefully splashed dust and pepper on her face to make herself look ugly to deter her numerous suitors.

St. Rose of Lima had such a great devotion to the Lord, that she wanted to join the religious life to dedicate herself completely and fully to God. This was opposed by her father, but she did not give up. Instead, she continued to grow stronger in her faith and love for God, and took up a perpetual vow of virginity to show her total dedication towards the Lord.

St. Rose of Lima even resorted to wear a heavy silver crown with thorns in the memory of the suffering of Christ as He wore the crown of thorns on the way to Calvary. She remained pious and holy, and she received visions throughout her short life, and many were inspired by her great zeal and faith for God. In her, we see an exemplary model, who showed us that human beauty, greatness and ego should have no place or value at all. Rather, we should all be humble, and do not flaunt or be proud of our achievements and greatness.

If we have a good trait or something that God had given us, then all the more we should humbly use them for the benefit of others around us, and dedicating them to the greatness of the Lord, just as St. Rose of Lima and many other saints of God had done. Let us all work hard for the Lord and for all of us ourselves, helping one another to reach our Lord and God. May Almighty God bless us all in everything we do and guide us to Himself. Amen.

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Tuesday, 19 August 2014 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Ezekiel 28 : 1-10

The word of YHVH came to me in these terms, “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre : You are very proud and self-satisfied : ‘I am a god, I sit like a god in the heart of the sea.’ Yet you are a man and not a god; would you hold yourself as wise as God?”

“You consider yourself wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you. Your wisdom and know-how have earned you a fortune, gold and silver flowed to your treasury. Clever in trade, you became wealthy and as your fortune increased, your heart became prouder.”

“But now YHVH has spoken to you, to the one who is like God : I am bringing foreigners against you, the most feared of all the nations. Their sword will challenge your wisdom and debase your refined culture.”

“They will bring you down to the pit and you will die in the depths of the sea. Will you be able to say ‘I am a god’ when your murderers are killing you? You are a man and not a god. You will die the death of the uncircumcised and perish at the hands of aliens, for I have spoken – word of YHVH.”

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Saturday, 2 August 2014 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop and St. Peter Julian Eymard, Priest (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops or Priests or Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the story of the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, the herald and messenger of God, the one who came and went before our Lord to straighten His path in this world. St. John the Baptist preached God’s mercy and love, urging the people to repent before it was too late, while the gate to salvation and forgiveness is still wide open.

However, it did not mean that he had an easy task or life. He met with many oppositions and challenges, just as the prophet Jeremiah encountered in the reading from the Old Testament we heard today as well. The prophet Jeremiah had a different mission, but of the same nature, urging the people to repent and turn away from their path of sin, and return into the light of God. And he rightly met the same kind of opposition by those who did not want to listen to the word of God.

The same opposition had been encountered by many other prophets who spoke the truth about the decadence and wickedness of men, when mankind had forgotten their true purpose in life, which is to serve God and to show that we truly are the children of God. That means we should not be defiant in our actions and follow wickedness of Satan over the love of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast day of two saints, namely St. Eusebius of Vercelli and St. Peter Julian Eymard. Both of them were truly holy men who followed the will of God and walked righteously in God’s path. They lived in a very different time period, with St. Eusebius living at the time of the Roman Empire during the early days of the Church, when the Church was assailed by heresies and divisions, while St. Peter Julian Eymard lived at the dawn of the modern era, in the nineteenth century.

Nevertheless, both of them were equally devoted and dedicated in their lives of service to God, and they worked hard in their respective lives to enlighten many of those who had fallen to the trap and darkness of the evil one. St. Eusebius of Vercelli fought hard against the great heresy of Arianism, which was widespread during his time at the fourth century after the birth of Christ. This heresy denied the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and claimed that He was just a mere man and creation of God.

St. Eusebius painstakingly and patiently worked to bring back many of those who had been seduced by the lies of evil into the true faith. These people were misguided by many things, and some of which include their own human frailties and weaknesses, such as pride, ego, desire and many other similar evils. These were no different from what had afflicted the people who rejected Jesus, and which had afflicted Herod.

Herod was seduced by the temptation of the flesh, in the beauty of his own stepdaughter, to the point that he made a vow without good consideration that eventually led him to a great sin, that is the murder of the prophet and messenger of God, St. John the Baptist. This is what St. Eusebius, as well as St. Peter Julian Eymard tried their best to eradicate from mankind.

St. Peter Julian Eymard had a strong desire to join the religious life since his youth, and despite the opposition from his father and others, he eventually made it to the desire of his life, to serve God. And St. Peter Julian Eymard did many good works for the Lord among the people, and he established two and more religious orders dedicated to the prayerful life to God, and in particular a strong and close devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist.

St. Peter Julian Eymard and St. Eusebius of Vercelli were both great role models for us all. Therefore, all that we need to do now is indeed to look at our own lives and reflect, whether we have been rejecting our Lord as the people had done so many times throughout the ages. And as we all have sinned and walked away from the Lord, let us use this opportunity to renew our devotion to God and strengthen our spiritual life, that we may always be close to God and His ways.

May Almighty God bless us all this day, and keep us in His love, that we may reflect in all of our words, deeds and actions, a true discipleship and proof of all of us being the children of our loving Father and God. Amen.

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Friday, 25 July 2014 : Feast of St. James, Apostle (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red (Apostles and Martyrs)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of a great saint of the Church, one of the Apostles of Christ Himself, namely St. James the Apostle, also known as St. James the Greater or St. James, son of Zebedee, who together with his brother, St. John the Evangelist are among the Holy Apostles of Christ our Lord.

Yet, it may seem that in today’s Gospel, our Lord Himself admonished the two brothers, the sons of Zebedee, when their mother asked for their favoured positions at the kingdom of heaven beside Jesus. Such attitude were prevalent, and in fact not only just then, but over all ages past, present, and as it will also be in the future. Mankind are predisposed to pride and greed for position and privileges.

What Jesus wanted to teach His disciples and all of us mankind, in tandem with the Scriptures that we heard today, is that mankind should be humble and unassuming, following the will of God in all things, putting obedience and service in humility ahead of our personal ambition and glory. Jesus taught us that the way to God is not one wrought by power or ambition, but through full obedience to the will of God and through a heart devoted to the service of both God and men.

And that exactly what He had called His Apostles for, and who He expected them to be, just as the same had been expected, and performed by their successors, who are none other than the bishops and the priests, including those who are present with us today, and guiding us in these uncertain days in this world. The Apostles were not called for a life of glory and plenty, but instead for a life of difficulty and challenges, of rejection and hatred by the world, and many other obstacles.

And for St. James the Apostle, that did not come too soon, for he was one among the first of the Apostles to be martyred for his faith and devotion to Jesus Christ, our Lord. St. James the Apostle was killed by King Herod in prison, in order to please the religious leaders of his subordinates, the Pharisees and the elders of Israel. He was truly one of the first to die for the faith in Christ.

The tasks entrusted to the Apostles were truly daunting and challenging to any who look and know those tasks and what they truly mean. They went about the entire known world, walking in the path of God, and spreading the Good News to all mankind. Through their hard work and commitment, many people came to hear their testimony about God, who came into this world through Jesus Christ.

Yet, it is through their great service filled with humility, that the Apostles gained eventually the eternal glory promised by Christ, who assured them of the final victory and glory over those who are up against God and His people. It is not through glory that God had given glory to mankind, but through love and through service. And the words of Christ certainly ring very clearly in our minds, that those who are called to be greater should indeed be lower and greater in their humility.

True leadership and greatness comes when mankind realise that power, arrogance, greed and ambition does not lead to true greatness in life. All these lead only into an endless cycle of greed and hatred, as well as desire for more and more. This is precisely the reason for tyranny and dictatorial rule, when men care only about themselves and not about the others around them, particularly those who are under their authority, those entrusted to their care and leadership.

Christ wanted to teach us that the way to greatness is through the Lord, and through obedience to the will of God. To lead is to serve, just as the great Leader of all, Lord Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords and King of Kings Himself had done. Although He was so great and Almighty, Lord over all creations, but He was not boastful nor prideful, and instead, He lowered Himself to the lowest possible position, made concrete in His own actions, as we all know it.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, God did not hesitate at all to come down from His great throne to be one of us, and to dwell among us. To this extent, and such greatness is His love, that He was willing to empty Himself completely and became a servant, and not just a servant, but a servant of all servants, and the lowest and most shameful of all creations.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus had also taught His disciples to follow His examples and serve one another, especially when at the Last Supper as He washed the feet of the disciples. He taught them to pass on the knowledge and the practice, and so they did, down to us today. That is what we ought to do as well, brothers and sisters. The Apostles and the saints all gained great glory, that is everlasting glory that survives even the ending of the world, by their loving service of both God and mankind.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we too walk in the same path as St. James the Apostle and the other Holy Apostles and saints of God? Let us no longer be disobedient and rebellious against the Lord. Let us no longer dwell in our pride, arrogance, greed and desire. Rather, let us learn to let go of our unquenchable desire, and so gain for ourselves a greater glory than what the world can give us.

It is no doubt that things will not be easy for us. Challenges will be on our way, and the devil and his forces will be arrayed against us. But if we trust in God, we should have nothing to fear, for He will surely guide us and protect us on our way. Let us be like St. James in his faith, and let us devote ourselves to God ever more in our lives. May God be with us always and lead us to live always in His light. Amen.

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Friday, 20 June 2014 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s readings from the Scripture tell us a strong message that God wants all of us to know. He wants us to realise that we should not crave for human glory and power, or in any form of worldly glory and earthly recognition, but rather instead, we should rely on the Lord and on His precepts, building up our spiritual account rather than piling up our earthly and material wealth.

It is not necessarily wrong for us to gain and accumulate wealth or possession, as the material and the goods themselves are neutral and are capable indeed for both good and evil, as I have often mentioned. We do need them to satisfy the basic needs of our life, and we also can use them to accomplish many good things for others around us.

The problem and the danger comes when we begin to lose sight on the purpose of our lives and the purpose of what we have with us. We end up succumbing to our own personal emotions and human vulnerabilities, which end up in us committing sins before men and before God. Such is what had happened in the first reading that we heard today, on the story of the rise and fall of Queen Athaliah of Judea.

Queen Athaliah was the wife of King Joram of Judea, who met his end together with King Ahaziah of the northern kingdom of Israel, when God meted out His punishment to the house of Ahab, who had brought much wickedness to the northern kingdom. With the death of the king, then one of his sons should have taken over his position as king of Judea. However, as we saw and heard, that was not how things turned out to be.

Queen Athaliah decided to take matters and power into her own hands. As she was not of the House of David, she had absolutely no right to rule in her own right as the Queen of Judea. Yet, she did what she did, and she took power into her own hands after murdering many sons and children of her husband the deceased king, and then installed herself in power, thinking that she had removed all obstacles and were then secure.

Her example was a clear-cut example of how things will go if we allow pride and human desire, in our greed and want, to take over our being, our heart, mind and soul. It corrupted her and many other people throughout history, causing them to fall into the trap of power which the devil had set up to attack us at our most vulnerable, that is our pride, ego and our desire.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we must not let our pride, ego and desire to get the better of us, and we have to learn to control them, so that we may avoid what had happened to men and women throughout the centuries, as exemplified by Queen Athaliah, making them to fall into sin and committing things evil in the sight of God and mankind. We must forgo our pride and allow God to come into our love, and speak within our hearts. We have to listen to Him and find out what His will is for us.

In our world today, we are inundated with many things of the world, where achievements, glories, and the power among men are preeminent. Those who have more of all these will receive human approval and praise, and those who have less or none of those will be looked down upon and rejected by the society. This is the hard reality of the world we are living in now.

So what are we to do, brothers and sisters? What should we do? Most importantly, we need to do something that many of us had often not done, in the midst of our busy life schedules, that is to pray, and pray genuinely to the Lord our God. This prayer is not just empty prayers and a prayer without meaning or understanding. A prayer is a conversation with God, a two-way conversation in which we speak with God and He speaks with us.

That is how we should act, to bring ourselves ever closer to God and keeping ourselves always in touch with Him, and there is no better way to do this other than through prayer. Yes, prayer that is made with the heart and through the heart, when we open the doors of our hearts and minds to God who then may keep in touch with us and touch our heart with His love.

May the Lord guide us in our ways and our lives, so that we may not follow the path of decadence and evil, controlling our emotions and avoid falling into the temptation of power and pride, and give ourselves totally to God’s love and providence. May He bless us all always and forever. Amen.

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Saturday, 7 June 2014 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Pentecost (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Genesis 11 : 1-9

The whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved from east, they found a plain in the country of Shinar where they settled. They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them in fire.” They used brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. They said also, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top reaching heaven; so that we may become a great people and not be scattered over the face of the earth!”

YHVH came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of man were building, and YHVH said, “They are one people and they have one language. If they carry this through, nothing they decide to do from now on will be impossible. Come! Let Us go down and confuse their language so that they will no longer understand each other.”

So YHVH scattered them over all the earth and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel, because there YHVH confused the language of the whole earth and from there YHVH scattered them over the whole face of the earth.

Alternative reading

Exodus 19 : 3-8a, 16-20b

The Israelites camped there in front of the mountain, but Moses went up to God and YHVH called to him from the mountain, saying, “This is what you are to say and to explain to the Israelites : You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to Myself. Now if you listen to Me and keep My covenant, you shall be My very own possession among all the nations. For all the earth is Mine, but you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

And He added, “This is what you are to say to the people of Israel.” So Moses went and summoned all the elders of the people and related to them all that YHVH had commanded him to say. All the people responded with one voice, “All that YHVH has said, we will do.”

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning and a dense cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast was heard. All the people in the camp trembled. Moses then made the people leave the camp to meet God and stand at the foot of the mountain.

Mount Sinai was completely covered in smoke because YHVH had come down in fire, and the smoke rose as from a furnace. The whole mountain shook violently, while the blast of the trumpet became louder and louder. Moses spoke and God replied in thunder.

When YHVH had come down to the summit of Mount Sinai, God called Moses who went to the summit.

Alternative reading

Ezekiel 37 : 1-14

The hand of YHVH was upon me. He brought me out and led me in spirit to the middle of the valley which was full of bones. He made me walk to and fro among them and I could see there was a great number of them on the ground all along the valley and that they were very dry.

YHVH said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live again?” I said, “Lord YHVH, only You know that.” He then said, “Speak on My behalf concerning these bones; say to them : ‘Dry bones, hear the word of YHVH! YHVH says : I am going to put Spirit in you and make you live. I shall put sinews on you and make flesh grow on you; I shall cover you with skin and give you My Spirit, that you may live. And you will know that I am YHVH.'”

I prophesied as I had been commanded and then there was a noise and commotion; the bones joined together. I looked and saw that they had sinews, that flesh was growing on them and that He was covering them with skin. But there was no Spirit in them.

So YHVH said to me, “Speak on My behalf and call on the Spirit, son of man! Say to the Spirit : This is the word of YHVH : Spirit, come from the four winds. Breathe into these dead bones and let them live!” I prophesied as He had commanded me and breath entered them; they came alive, standing on their feet – a great, immense army!

He then said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all Israel. They keep saying : ‘Our bones are dry, hope has gone, it is the end of us.’ So prophesy! Say to them : This is what YHVH says : I am going to open your tombs, I shall bring you out of your tombs, My people, and lead you back to the land of Israel.

You will know that I am YHVH, o My people!, when I open your graves and bring you out of your graves, when I put My Spirit in you and you live. I shall settle you in your land and you will know that I, YHVH, have done what I said I would do.

Alternative reading

Joel 3 : 1-5

In the last days, I will pour out My Spirit on every mortal. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even upon My servants and maidens, I will pour out My Spirit on that day.

I will show wonders in the heavens, and on earth blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun will darken and the moon turn to blood at the approach of the great and dreadful day of God. Then all who call upon the Name of YHVH will be saved.

For on Mount Zion there will be a remnant, as YHVH has said; in Jerusalem some will be saved – those whom YHVH will call.

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Saturday, 31 May 2014 : Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Zephaniah 3 : 14-18

Cry out with joy, o daughter of Zion; rejoice, o people of Israel! Sing joyfully with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem!

YHVH has lifted your sentence and has driven your enemies away. YHVH, the King of Israel is with you; do not fear any misfortune. On that day they will say to Jerusalem : Do not be afraid nor let your hands tremble, for YHVH your God is within you, YHVH, saving Warrior. He will jump for joy on seeing you, for He has revived His love.

For you He will cry out with joy, as you do in the days of the Feast. I will drive away the evil I warned you about, and you will no longer be shamed.

 

Alternative reading

 

Romans 12 : 9-16b

Let love be sincere. Hate what is evil and hold to whatever is good. Love one another and be considerate. Outdo one another in mutual respect. Be zealous in fulfilling your duties. Be fervent in the Spirit and serve God.

Have hope and be cheerful. Be patient in trials and pray constantly. Share with other Christians in need. With those passing by, be ready to receive them. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not wish evil on anyone. Rejoice with those who are joyful, and weep with those who weep. Live in peace with one another. Do not dream of extraordinary things.

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Saturday, 19 April 2014 : Easter Vigil of the Lord’s Resurrection, Easter Triduum (Fifth Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 55 : 1-11

Come here, all you who are thirsty, come to the water! All who have no money, come! Yes, without money and at no cost, buy and drink wine and milk. Why spend money on what is not food and labour for what does not satisfy? Listen to Me, and you will eat well; you will enjoy the richest of fare.

Incline your ear and come to me; listen, that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, I will fulfill in you My promises to David. See, I have given him for a witness to the nations, a leader and commander of the people. Likewise you will summon a nation unknown to you, and nations that do not know you will come hurrying to you for the sake of YHVH your God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has promoted you.

Seek YHVH while He may be found; call to Him while He is near. Let the wicked abandon his way, let him forsake his thoughts, let him turn to YHVH for He will have mercy, for our God is generous in forgiving.

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, My ways are not your ways, says YHVH. For as the heavens are above the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return till they have watered the earth, making it yield seed for the sower and food for others to eat, so is My Word that goes forth out of My mouth : It will not return to Me idle, but It shall accomplish My will, the purpose for which It has been sent.

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Saturday, 12 April 2014 : 5th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

God desires the love of mankind, and He loves them very much. That is why He gave us all of His attention and focus, and He offered Himself to them to open for them the pathway to salvation. In a sense, He had granted them great favour, only for them to refuse Him and reject Him, and even reject the salvation which He had freely offered them.

In today’s first reading God promised His beloved people that He will love them and care for them, freeing them from the grip of death and sin, and will provide for them once again as He had once had. We can see indeed how great is God’s love for us, that He gave us chance after chance, and opportunity after opportunity. He gave us hope even when we are in the greatest darkness.

Yet mankind were selfish, and are still indeed selfish even today. We thought only for ourselves and for our own benefits and we complain when things do not go our way. That is our nature, and we often succumb to it. The Pharisees rejected Jesus because of His teachings and ways that oppose their own authority and positions of privilege and honour within the society.

How about the people then? They also rejected Christ because they were reluctant to abandon their former way of life and follow what Christ taught them, and they were also easily swayed by the offer of money and goods of the world, that we can easily see in tomorrow’s Palm Sunday Gospel and Passion readings, how the same people who cheered for Jesus as King when He proceeded into Jerusalem, within less than one week would be condemned to death by the same people. Yes, the same people who acclaimed Jesus as King also cried out for His death.

And it is a fault that we have as we tend to blame the Jews on what happened to Jesus, in how they condemned Him to death and rejected Him and His offer of salvation, because it is always convenient and easy to blame someone else. We think of the Jews to be the ones to blame for the death of Christ, but we conveniently forgot that Jesus Himself was and is a Jew, born son of David, the heir of David and the descendant of Abraham.

And Jesus when He suffered and died on the cross, He did so for all of us, and also including the Jews, both those who had no part in His death and those who had hated Him and condemned Him. He Himself remembered them even in His suffering, asking the Father to forgive them and overlook their sins for their ignorance and lack of knowledge of who He truly was.

God Himself had forgiven them, and He had forgiven us. So for those among us who thought to blame the Jews, the very people the Lord had chosen to be born into, and to those of us who like to put the blame on others, let us from now on reflect on our own actions first. Before we even judge or condemn others, have we been sufficiently pure and worthy in our own actions that we will not be judged? We often forget that when we judge others, we therefore also open the door for us to be judged ourselves.

God did not wish to punish anyone, as indeed, He wanted all of us to be reunited with Him in love. He wishes for us to be perfected in love, that we may leave behind our past sinfulness and wicked behaviour, and become more like Him and be more loving as He is. That was why He sent Jesus to be with us, to be both our Saviour, to break the chains of sin and death, and at the same time also show us how to love, like God has loved us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we approach the pinnacle of our preparation, as we proceed towards the holiest week of all our celebrations, the Holy Week of Jesus’ Passion, let us resolve to be more like God, in becoming more loving and forgiving, in being more inclusive and compassionate, helping one another to approach the Lord rather than condemning or judging each other. Let us reserve no place for Satan in our hearts! For it is in a darkened heart that Satan is happy to dwell in. Let the light of God instead be within us, that He may also guide our ways, that our ways will always be pleasing to God.

May the Lord forgive us our sins and show us how to love Him just as He had loved us first. Let us never be separated again from You, o Lord our God. Be with us always, till the end of time. Amen.

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Friday, 11 April 2014 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Stanislas, Bishop and Martyr (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we often like to presume many things, even those that we have no right to. We like to think that we know it all and refuse to believe if we face any kind of criticism or feedback from others. We especially do not like if we are questioned on our way of doing things. We resist and make complaints when things do not go our way.

That is, brethren, what happened to the people of Israel, the Jewish people of Jesus’ time. They had forsaken the truth of the Lord for human conveniences, and had rejected the Lord in favour of the devil and his worldly pleasures and temptations. They refused to see the truth that came with Jesus, and obstinately kept to their wicked ways.

They failed to understand the Christ and the purpose of His coming, as they did not understand God’s ways or the Scriptures in the first place. They put their trust in their human ways and observances, rather than seeking to know more about God and what He had intended for them. They failed to see how Jesus is the Messiah, the very One who would liberate them from the grip of sin and death.

Why so? That is because they have grown complacent and accustomed to the ways of the world, that they end up rejecting any attempts to make them change their ways. But again, as we see from the readings today, not all of them were such as that. Not all of the people of God were set in their wicked and rebellious ways, as there were indeed those who would listen to God and repent their sinful ways.

Those who refused to listen to Jesus and His words likely came from those who stood to lose the most by following Jesus and abandoning their wicked ways. These were the people in positions of power and influence, and they committed evil deeds through their positions and occupancies, leading many others to follow them into sin.

That was why the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the teachers of the Law were the ones who were most adamant against Jesus and His teachings, because they  looked upon Him as a rival and a usurper to their power and influence. The irony is such that they were the ones who by right should have the greatest knowledge of the Scriptures among the people of God, and thus should have been the ones who would have first noticed the Messiah and the Lord when He comes.

Thus, they refused to open their hearts to listen to the wisdom of God and instead succumb themselves to the temptations of Satan in their hearts, opening themselves to evil, such as pride, anger, wrath, jealousy and hatred which led them to act in a way that opposed the Lord and His ways, even as He came into the world to be the light to those who are in darkness, including they themselves.

That is what happened if we too allow ourselves to be taken over by our desires and human weaknesses, by our pride and arrogance, and by our jealousy and insecurities which lead us to disobey God and block His attempts and offers which He gave to us freely for our sake and for our salvation. That makes us to sin even more and to fall deeper into damnation.

So, today, we have to change our ways if we have acted like the Pharisees, and today, we celebrate the feast day of St. Stanislas or St. Stanislaus, a martyr of thr faith and one of the first pioneers of the faith in the kingdom of Poland, a thousand years ago. The martyrdom of St. Stanislas is well known even today, both in Poland and abroad.

St. Stanislas was the Bishop of Krakow, the same diocese from where our late Blessed Pope John Paul II came from originally before he became our Pope. St. Stanislas brought about a vigorous evangelisation of the then still largely pagan peoples of Poland, bringing about a real transformation of the society and bringing them to know the ways of the Lord.

St. Stanislas fought against many vices in the society, one of the most serious ones involve the very king of Poland himself, Boleslaw II also known as the Bold. King Boleslaw the Bold was known for his many good deeds, but he was also corrupted by the many vices of the world, and he did many things that were immoral and evil in the sight of God.

St. Stanislas did not fear of even rebuking his own superior, the king. St. Stanislas rebuked the king and eventually excommunicated him, casting him outside the communion of the Church into damnation. Yet instead of changing his ways and repenting for his sins, King Boleslaw chose the quick way out and murdered St. Stanislas with great cruelty and without fear of God for murdering one of His faithful servants.

As a result, King Boleslaw lost his throne, overthrown and eventually died in great infamy, because he disobeyed God and refused to listen to His will. He followed in the footsteps of the Pharisees who were adamant in their rebelliousness, that they refused to listen to God. This is what we have to avoid, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Yes, we cannot be complacent, and we have to open our ears, and the ears of our heart wide, so that we may listen to God and obey Him. Let us not be like King Boleslaw, the Pharisees and all those who acted to preserve their own selves and as a result end up in condemnation, which threw them into eternal suffering in hell. Let us all be faithful servants of our God, and continue to serve Him and listen to His will.

May God be with us always and guide us till the end of time, God bless us all. Amen.