redemption from sins

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Tuesday, 29 July 2014 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martha (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of St. Martha, whom we know from the Holy Gospels as both the sister of the dead Lazarus risen to life by Jesus, as well as the one who were very busy with her servings to the Lord even though her sister Mary sat down listening attentively to the Lord speaking and teaching.

St. Martha is one of the holy women mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, and she was one of the very loyal followers of Jesus, who followed Him around as He ministered to the people of God. And it is likely that she together with her sister Mary and her brother Lazarus also followed Jesus through His last moments in life, when He went on His Passion and died on the cross.

But she was not perfect and was not a super woman as we all had noticed, and which I had pointed out just earlier on. She had her imperfections, and she was indeed the same as all of us, who have our own weaknesses in life. But regardless of this, she managed to overcome her weakness and fears, and following God, she found the love of God which had been manifested through none other than Jesus Christ our Lord.

St. Martha reminded us through her examples and her shortcomings that we all often in life are too busy to spend some time with God, and carrying on with our daily routines and businesses, we often forget about God and lose our focus in life. Instead we ended up like St. Martha who ended up losing the perfect opportunity to listen to the word of God just because she was busy serving the Lord and ensuring the food and drinks are all properly served.

At least we have to credit St. Martha that she had a good intention, as she wanted to serve the Lord and be as good a host as she could to this important and amazing visitor, Jesus Christ the Saviour Himself. However, she forgot that in doing all the busy things, she might end up losing the perfect opportunity of encountering the Lord, just as Mary her sister took up the best opportunity for.

And for us who are in this world today, how many of us are even worse than St. Martha? That we forget about the Lord and shunned Him without even any good intentions to welcome Him? Remember that St. Martha believed in Jesus wholeheartedly, and when Lazarus her brother died, she trusted in Jesus and put her faith in Him, that He would have the power to bring her brother back into life.

We live today in a world where daily businesses and occupations with so many various things often interfere in our relationship with God, and not just with God but in fact also in terms of our relationship with one another. We live at a time when faith is often forgotten for the sake of our achievements and obtaining of worldly pleasures. And these things prevent us from finding God in our lives and ultimately can serve as a great obstacle in our attempt to attain salvation in God.

Following the example of St. Martha, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be true disciples of the Lord, and no longer be distracted by our busy activities in life that prevent us from appreciating the Lord who had come personally to save us from certain death in sin. Let us all be truly devoted to God and be focused on Him, that in all of our actions we proclaim the Lord alone and walk faithfully and tenderly in His path.

St. Martha, pray for us all, that our faith may be always strong and that our minds and hearts will be always focused to the Lord, to His laws and precepts. Let us never be separated from Him and be ever devoted. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 19 July 2014 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

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

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear how in Jesus Christ, the long awaited Saviour of this world had finally come into it, and through Him, we received great graces and blessings. But at the same time, through the Holy Scriptures, we also heard how the opposition against the Lord did not remain silent, but rather this opposition grow in strength and threatened to strike againsf God and all those who followed Him.

Jesus was not welcomed by the Pharisees, the Scribes, and the elites and leaders in the Jewish society. He was constantly followed, hounded, and harassed by them, and in all the things that He did, they tirelessly tried to find something to fault Him against and to accuse Him in front of the people although they failed to do so, no matter what they had done.

The happenings in the Gospel of today is a clear link to the prophecy of the prophet Micah, who mentioned how the wicked and those who walked on the path of evil would lay evil plans and plotted against the faithful, seeking the destruction of the righteous and the good, for their own benefits in selfishness and greed. They cared not for the innocent in obtaining their goals, and would stop at nothing for their own gain.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that was why our Lord was angry at those who are in this world, who attached themselves to the corrupted ways of this world, and to all the corruptions of sins and worldly attachments that kept them away from God. To those who continue to refuse to listen to Him, and those who continuously rebel against His will, there will be no mercy and no quarter given when the time comes for God to announce His judgments to all.

But for those who listen to Him, and those who repent from their sinfulness, God will show His rich mercy and love, baring open His loving heart for all to see. And He had made it plain in sight for all through the loving sacrifice of Jesus Christ His Son, which sadly many people simply failed to realise and notice how much love God showed them, and how much He cared for them.

So much love God had shown us indeed, that He was truly willing to come personally to deal with our issue. Yes, we truly had an issue, that is an issue with sin and wickedness on our parts, and that of our constant disobedience and ignorance of God’s laws and precepts. And Jesus came into this world to open our eyes, open our ears, and make us see and hear the truth about God and His love for us, and so that we may emerge from the darkness that engulfed our souls.

God came into this world in Jesus, not to punish or destroy us. It was never in His intention to condemn us to death or eternal damnation in hell. It was truly our own actions and our own constant disobedience which has cast us body and soul into hellfire. God does not wish our destruction but rather our salvation and our reunion with Him in grace and love. He wants us to be totally changed and transformed from our ways of old and into a new way based on true faith and true love.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we all recognise the love of God, and resolve to love Him back too? Shall we be truly children of God who walk in the same way as our Father in heaven? If we are truly beloved children of God, then let us all follow Him with all of our hearts, without hesitation, and continue to do the will of God just as how Jesus taught us through His disciples.

May Almighty God strengthen the faith in us, the hope in us, and the love in us, so that we may be saved just as He had intended for us, and therefore be reunited in perfect love with Him and never be separated again. Let us rebuke and reject the devil in all totality. Never doubt God’s love again, brethren! Amen.