priest

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Wednesday, 23 January 2013 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

In today’s readings, Jesus. as our High Priest and Lord, has come for us to heal us from our afflictions, especially the afflictions of our soul. In the first reading, He is associated with Melchizedek, a mysterious figure who greeted Abraham and blessed him after his victory in rescuing his nephew, Lot, who was abducted by a group of kings during their raid.
Who is this Melchizedek indeed? These few days in the readings we have heard many things about him, and particularly in this Letter to the Hebrews, he is frequently mentioned. This is because Melchizedek was a High Priest, and it is indeed possible that He belongs to God, and just like Jesus, or even Jesus Himself, as He was a High Priest of God, without known mother and father, and no genealogy, just like our Lord Jesus, born before all ages, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the union of the Holy Trinity.

It is emphasized today that the priestly authority ascribed to Melchizedek is divine in nature, from God Himself, and not bound by any human laws and restrictions. Therefore, Jesus Christ too, as our High Priest, also has His authority from the Father Himself, authority to heal, and authority to forgive sins, and these authority too He passed to our priests today, through the Apostles. The priests receive their authority from God, not limited by human laws and obstacles, since in God alone all authority resides.

Yet, there are many who blindly follow the rules, and become blinded by that, and instead of aiding the mission of the ones chosen by God, especially Christ Himself, they tried to hinder their mission by all means necessary. In the Gospel, the Pharisees purposely waited to see if Jesus would heal the paralytic and thus commit ‘sin’ in their eyes by breaking the law, instead of extending a helping hand themselves. Truly, the Psalm today represents the very thoughts that Jesus have, how sad He is that these supposedly learned priests and scribes of the people of Israel had attacked the cause of the Lord, out of jealousy and hatred, despite the Lord’s wish to extend His love to all, even to those who hate Him.

Yet, Jesus made clear His reason and His perfection of the Law, by saying that it is truly rightful to do what is good even on Sabbath, as when one is about to do things pleasing to God, the laws of the Sabbath should not be a barrier, as the law actually was made to condition the people of Israel to always keep a time for God, to commemorate His holy day, but if all of us are already doing this in our hearts, keeping the Lord close to us at all times, there is no longer need to adhere very strictly to the rules of the Sabbath, and why we no longer follow the Jewish law on Sabbath today, but we still honour the Lord on Sunday, His Holy Day, through our active participation at the Holy Mass and receiving the Eucharist.

Let us pray therefore, that our faith in God will be strengthened, that our resolve to do what is good for the sake of others, and for the sake of those who suffer around us be ever strengthened too. That we will not stay silent, whenever there are those who persecute others, and will not stay dormant, when our brothers and sisters require our help, no matter how small and insignificant that is.

Let us also pray for our priests, that they will stay faithful to their calling, forever priests in the order of Melchizedek, that the Lord will give them His authority through them to forgive us from our sins, and to heal us from our spiritual afflictions, and to feed us with the spiritual food of love, and the Word of God. Amen.

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Wednesday, 23 January 2013 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Hebrews 7 : 1-3,15-17

Scripture says that Melchizedek, King of Salem, priest of the Most High God, came out to meet Abraham who returned from defeating the kings. He blessed Abraham and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything.

Let us not that the name Melchizedek means King of Justice, and that King of Salem means King of Peace. There is no mention of father, mother, or genealogy; nothing is said about the beginning or the end of his life. In this he is the figure of the Son of God, the priest who remains forever.

All this, however, becomes clear if this priest after the likeness of Melchizedek has in fact received his mission, not on the basis of any human law, but by the power of an immortal life. Because Scripture says : You are a priest forever in the priestly order of Melchizedek.

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Two new seminarians at the Major Seminary of St. Francis Xavier, Archdiocese of Singapore, and Challenges to Vocations

http://www.catholicnews.sg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8309:new-journeys-in-the-new-year-for-two-young-men-&catid=326:january-27-2013-vol-63-no-02&Itemid=78

The Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Singapore has welcomed two new additions to their number, Gerard Robert (29) and Shawn Wong (22).

Pray for both of them that they will stay faithful in their calling, and will persevere through until their ordination and beyond. May God’s love always be upon them.

However, I cannot help but feel sad at how quite a few people reacted negatively to them offering themselves to God.

Quote CatholicNews :

“Reactions from people regarding their decision have been varied, both shared. Some were shocked at their decision, finding it illogical. Others were worried the two could have made a wrong decision, while others wondered if the young men would be able to live without worldly attractions.

Yet others were respectful while some kept silent, apparently unsure of how to respond.”

Why illogical? why worry? why wrong? and why wonder? 

That’s because they do not understand what being a priest is, who a priest is, and especially for among some Chinese, those who emphasize on establishing family (especially heavy for eldest sons) and carrying the family name, and I am sure that although we do pray often for vocations, there are many amongst us who think, yes I pray for new priests, but not my own son, ok? His future is in his career and his prosperity, not to become simple, poor priest.

This way of thinking in our modern world, especially imbued with materialism and worldly temptations is what exactly hinder vocations. Already there are so few who wants to even contemplate joining the sacred priesthood, and even amongst those who want, there are oppositions, not least from friends, and most importantly, from the parents and the family. Let us pray for both the two new seminarians, and for all those inspired by God’s calling, that they will persevere despite oppositions of those around them, and not to give up their calling to submit, since although we do obey our parents, but ultimately we have to obey and love God even more, for the sake of all mankind.

Let us not just be fishers of fish (read : money and material well-being), but if we are called, as St. Peter was, let us be the fishers of man!

+Ut Omnes Unum Sint, ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam+

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Saturday, 19 January 2013 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Today, the first reading shows us that Christ is our great High Priest, and the Gospel tells about the story of the calling of Levi, the tax collector.

Christ, is our great High Priest, and similar to the ancient Jewish custom, the priest is the one offering sacrifice to God. Most important is the sacrifice for sins, for which, the people who sin must present animals like bulls, sheep, and goat, which the priest will kill before the altar and let the blood be poured on it, that symbolised the reunion of the person with God, through the forgiveness of sin.

Why then Christ is the great High Priest? Since He is not just any High Priest, or any priest, since it is through Him that all mankind, Jews and Gentiles alike, were saved from the chains and tyranny of sin, the Original Sin, forever. It is through His Precious Blood, the very Blood of the Son of God, poured on the ‘altar’ of Calvary while hanging on the cross, that just like the blood of the animals, our sins are forgiven. But while blood of animals require constant sacrifices to God, the Blood of Christ require just one singular moment of the Ultimate Sacrifice, as the Lamb of God was slain, for the redemption of all mankind for all times.Then one might ask, why then do Catholics celebrate the Mass? The Mass is known as the Sacrifice, and thus people may ask, why do Catholics crucify the Lord again, and sacrifice Him again, when Christ died only once for our sake? Yes, the Mass is a Sacrifice, where the bread and wine truly turns into the Precious Body and Blood of our Saviour upon the Consecration by the priests, but this Sacrifice is not a separate Sacrifice from the very Ultimate Sacrifice that God has made on Calvary. 

Rather, this is one and united with the Ultimate Sacrifice, just as God has given His Body and Blood for His disciples on the Last Supper, through the priest’s authority and power, given by God, we too receive our share in this Body and Blood, which saves and renews us. We should aim to frequently attend the Mass, and frequently receive our Lord’s Body and Blood, that we are always constantly reminded of His presence in us, with our bodies as His Holy Temple. Let us therefore strive to keep ourselves holy and unblemished, as best as we can. We are sinners and our flesh in weak, even though our spirit is strong. As God is within us, just as He is omniscient, He will know everything that we did, good or bad. There is no need to hide before God, since everything is truly known to Him. Rather than be afraid and hide our sins before Him, let us rather allow Him to speak to us, He, as the Word of God, has power to heal us through His words, just as in yesterday’s Gospel He healed the paralytic through the faith of the people around him. We too therefore can be healed.

Healing is not only for the body, but also, very importantly, for the soul. Jesus did not come to save those already healthy in body and spirit, those who already merited Heaven, but He truly came to save all those who are in danger of separation from God. In the Gospel, we see that nobody is beyond redemption, just as Jesus called the tax collector, Levi. In the time of Jesus, the Jews saw the tax collectors in a very bad light, calling them traitors as they collected taxes for their Roman masters from the people, and sinners as they deal with money and material goods that was held to have tainted them.

Yet, if one is to compare the reactions from the tax collectors, particularly Levi, and the supposedly clean and incorruptible Pharisees and the priests, we can truly see who has the heart filled with humility to approach the Lord and ask for His forgiveness, and who truly has the Lord in their minds and their hearts.

The Pharisees were too busy with their laws and customs to have time for God, and indeed, they were in the forefront of those who rejected Christ, and called Him a blasphemer for claiming to be the Messiah and the Son of God. On the contrary, Levi, despite his good and stable job as a tax collector, while vilified by the people, readily leave everything that he had and followed Jesus when He called him. No sinner is beyond redemption, as long as the sinner is ready to leave all that he had, his sins and his sinful ways, and be humble to ask God for His mercy. For the Lord is merciful as much as He hated sin. It only takes humility for us to admit that we have sinned before Him, and He will gladly forgive us and take us back into His embrace. Do not let pride get the better of us.

In this Year of Faith therefore, let us strive to be closer to God, to listen to God through our prayers, and to help one another in our journey towards the Lord. Let us like Levi, be humble and be ready to respond to God’s call whenever He calls. Help one another, that all of us sinners, can all be forgiven by God, and not a single soul will be lost. Isn’t it better for all of us to be in Heaven one day, than to have one of us separated from us for eternity just because we did not stretch our hands to help? Through our baptism we have also been called to be priests, to help bring the Word of God to those who are still living in darkness. Let us therefore joyfully take up this mission and spread the love of God to all mankind, that all people will be saved. Amen.

(Addition : Please pray for the victims of the terrible flooding which is still ongoing in Jakarta, Indonesia. Countless thousands or tens of thousands or more are still suffering from the immense flooding that had caused many deaths and losses. Let us help our fellow brothers and sisters in whatever way we can, either financially, or even just a single prayer. For the Lord hears our prayer, especially those that are made with pure and sincere heart).