redemption

by

Monday, 18 March 2013 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor (First Reading)

Daniel 13 : 1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62

There lived in Babylon a man named Joakim, who was married to a very beautiful God-fearing woman, Susanna, Hilkiah’s daughter, whose pious parents had trained her in the law of Moses. A very rich man and greatly respected by all the Jews, Joakim was frequently visited by the Jews in his house adjoining a garden.

That year, two elders of the people were appointed judges, in whom this word of the Lord became true, “Wickedness has come forth from Babylon, through the elders appointed judges, who were supposed to govern the people.” These men frequented Joakim’s house, and all who had legal disputes used to come to them.

After the people had left at noon, Susanna would go into her husband’s garden for a walk. The two old men began to lust for her as they watched her enter the garden every day. Forgetting the demands of justice and virtue, their lust grew all the more as they made no effort to turn their eyes to heaven.

One day, as they were waiting for an opportune time, Susanna entered the garden as usual with only two maids. She decided to bathe, for it was a hot day. Nobody else was there except the two elders watching her from where they had hidden themselves.

She said to the maids, “Bring me oil and ointments, and shut the garden doors while I bathe.” When the maids had left, the two elders hurried to her and said, “Look, the garden doors are shut and no one sees us. We desire to possess you. If you refuse to give in, we will testify that you sent your maids away for there was a young man here with you.”

Susanna moaned, “Whatever I do, I am trapped. If I give in to your desire, it will be death for me; if I refuse, I won’t escape your persecution. I would rather be persecuted than sin in the eyes of the Lord.” Susanna shrieked, but the old men shouted, putting the blame on her. One of them ran and opened the garden doors.

Hearing the noises in the garden, the household servants rushed in by the side entrance to see what has happened. They were taken aback when they heard the elder’s accusation, for never had anything like this been said of Susanna.

The next day a meeting was held at Joakim’s house. The two elders arrived, vindictively determined to have Susanna sentenced to death. They ordered before all the people, “Send for Susanna, Hilkiah’s daughter and Joakim’s wife.” They sent for her, and she came with her parents, children, and all her relatives.

Her family and friends who saw her wept. The two elders stood up and laid their hands upon her head. Completely trusting in the Lord, she raised her tearful eyes to heaven. The elders started making their accusation, “We were taking a walk in the garden when this woman came in with two maids. She ordered them to shut the garden doors and dismissed them. Then a young man came out of hiding and lay with her. We were in the corner of the garden, and we saw this crime from there.”

“We ran to them, and caught them in the act of embracing. We were unable to take hold of the man. He was too strong for us. He made a dash for the door, opened it and ran off. But we were able to seize this woman. We asked her who the young man was, but she refused to tell us. This is our statement, and we testify to its truth.”

The assembly took their word, since they were elders and judges of the people. Susanna was condemned to death. She cried aloud, “Eternal God, nothing is hidden from You; You know all things before they come to be. You know that these men have testified falsely against me. Would You let me die, though I am not guilty of all their malicious charges?”

The Lord heard her, and as she was being led to her execution, God aroused the Holy Spirit residing in a young lad named Daniel. He shouted, “I will have no part in the death of this woman!”

Those present turned to him, “What did you say?” they all asked. Standing in their midst, he said to them. “Have you become fools, you Israelites, to condemn a daughter of Israel without due process and in the absence of clear evidence? Return to court, for those men have testified falsely against her.”

Hurriedly they returned, and the elders said to Daniel, “Come and sit with us, for you also possess the gifts bestowed by God upon the elders.” Daniel said to the people, “Separate these two from one another, and I will examine each of them.”

When the two elders were separated from each other, Daniel called one of them and said, “How wicked you have grown with age. Your sins of earlier days have piled up against you, and now is the time of reckoning. Remember how you have passed unjust sentences, condemning the innocent and freeing the guilty, although the Lord has said, “The innocent and the just should not be put to death. Now, if you really witnessed the crime, under what tree did you see them do it?”

The elder answered, “Under a mastic tree.” Daniel said, “Your lie will cost you your head. You will be cut in two, as soon as the Lord’s angel receives your sentence from God.”

Putting the first one aside; Daniel called the other elder and said to him, “You offspring of Canaan and not of Judah, you have long allowed yourself to be perverted by lust. This is how you have dealt with the daughters of Israel, who out of fear have yielded to you. But here is a daughter of Judah who would not tolerate your wickedness. Tell me then, under what tree did you catch them committing the crime?”

The answer came, “Under an oak.” “Your lie has also cost you your head,” Daniel said. “God’s angel waits to cut you both in two.” The whole assembly shouted and blessed God for helping those who hope in Him. They turned against the two elders who through Daniel’s efforts, had been convicted by their own mouths.

In accordance with Moses’ law, the penalty the two elders had intended to impose upon their neighbour was inflicted upon them. They were sentenced to death. Thus was life of an innocent woman spared that day.

 

Shorter version

 

Daniel 13 : 1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 41c-62

There lived in Babylon a man named Joakim, who was married to a very beautiful God-fearing woman, Susanna, Hilkiah’s daughter, whose pious parents had trained her in the law of Moses. A very rich man and greatly respected by all the Jews, Joakim was frequently visited by the Jews in his house adjoining a garden.

That year, two elders of the people were appointed judges, in whom this word of the Lord became true, “Wickedness has come forth from Babylon, through the elders appointed judges, who were supposed to govern the people.” These men frequented Joakim’s house, and all who had legal disputes used to come to them.

After the people had left at noon, Susanna would go into her husband’s garden for a walk. The two old men began to lust for her as they watched her enter the garden every day. Forgetting the demands of justice and virtue, their lust grew all the more as they made no effort to turn their eyes to heaven.

One day, as they were waiting for an opportune time, Susanna entered the garden as usual with only two maids. She decided to bathe, for it was a hot day. Nobody else was there except the two elders watching her from where they had hidden themselves.

She said to the maids, “Bring me oil and ointments, and shut the garden doors while I bathe.” When the maids had left, the two elders hurried to her and said, “Look, the garden doors are shut and no one sees us. We desire to possess you. If you refuse to give in, we will testify that you sent your maids away for there was a young man here with you.”

Susanna moaned, “Whatever I do, I am trapped. If I give in to your desire, it will be death for me; if I refuse, I won’t escape your persecution. I would rather be persecuted than sin in the eyes of the Lord.” Susanna shrieked, but the old men shouted, putting the blame on her. One of them ran and opened the garden doors.

Hearing the noises in the garden, the household servants rushed in by the side entrance to see what has happened. They were taken aback when they heard the elder’s accusation, for never had anything like this been said of Susanna.

The next day a meeting was held at Joakim’s house. The two elders arrived, vindictively determined to have Susanna sentenced to death. They ordered before all the people, “Send for Susanna, Hilkiah’s daughter and Joakim’s wife.” They sent for her, and she came with her parents, children, and all her relatives.

Susanna was condemned to death. She cried aloud, “Eternal God, nothing is hidden from You; You know all things before they come to be. You know that these men have testified falsely against me. Would You let me die, though I am not guilty of all their malicious charges?”

The Lord heard her, and as she was being led to her execution, God aroused the Holy Spirit residing in a young lad named Daniel. He shouted, “I will have no part in the death of this woman!”

Those present turned to him, “What did you say?” they all asked. Standing in their midst, he said to them. “Have you become fools, you Israelites, to condemn a daughter of Israel without due process and in the absence of clear evidence? Return to court, for those men have testified falsely against her.”

Hurriedly they returned, and the elders said to Daniel, “Come and sit with us, for you also possess the gifts bestowed by God upon the elders.” Daniel said to the people, “Separate these two from one another, and I will examine each of them.”

When the two elders were separated from each other, Daniel called one of them and said, “How wicked you have grown with age. Your sins of earlier days have piled up against you, and now is the time of reckoning. Remember how you have passed unjust sentences, condemning the innocent and freeing the guilty, although the Lord has said, “The innocent and the just should not be put to death. Now, if you really witnessed the crime, under what tree did you see them do it?”

The elder answered, “Under a mastic tree.” Daniel said, “Your lie will cost you your head. You will be cut in two, as soon as the Lord’s angel receives your sentence from God.”

Putting the first one aside; Daniel called the other elder and said to him, “You offspring of Canaan and not of Judah, you have long allowed yourself to be perverted by lust. This is how you have dealt with the daughters of Israel, who out of fear have yielded to you. But here is a daughter of Judah who would not tolerate your wickedness. Tell me then, under what tree did you catch them committing the crime?”

The answer came, “Under an oak.” “Your lie has also cost you your head,” Daniel said. “God’s angel waits to cut you both in two.” The whole assembly shouted and blessed God for helping those who hope in Him. They turned against the two elders who through Daniel’s efforts, had been convicted by their own mouths.

In accordance with Moses’ law, the penalty the two elders had intended to impose upon their neighbour was inflicted upon them. They were sentenced to death. Thus was life of an innocent woman spared that day.

by

Wednesday, 13 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is closely linked and intertwined with God the Father, our Creator. Together with the Holy Spirit, the third part of the Trinity, they form the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Many would misinterpret this, including the Jews at the time, that it means there are 3 Gods at the same time, and that Christians worship 3 Gods, and therefore polytheistic.

No, this is simply not the case, for The Three members of the Holy Trinity are indeed three distinct members, not the same from each other, and distinctively different between the three of them, but yet, at the same time, are also One, and indivisible. This is the mystery of the Holy Trinity, that God who is present in 3 Godheads of the Father Creator, the Son who is the Messiah and the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit the Advocate, are at the same time distinct as they are one. They are one because they are bound by the link that is immemorial and infinite in nature, that is perfect and divine love.

For Jesus Christ as the Son loves the Father perfectly, and so does the Father loves the Son in the same way, and the nature of this relationship to the Holy Spirit is none other but the same as well. And the Son does the will of the Father, because He obeys the Father, and even unto death, as our Lord Jesus Christ died for us on Calvary, on the cross, that we all can be saved, from death, and from sin.

Jesus Christ our Saviour, is the Word of God, which the Father had sent down to us, to be like us, sinful man, that he can teach all of us, as the Word, the Words of God, the love of God, and the true meanings of God’s commandments, that is love, and the very nature of God Himself, that is love, mercy, and compassion. He showed God’s teachings through His own examples, and through His ultimate dedication to the cause of the Lord. That is to die on the cross on Calvary, to give Himself up as the worthy sacrifice for all our sins. For He brought into Himself the sins of all men, and the contrite hearts of all those who believed in God, and became the worthy sacrifice, saving mankind from being doomed due to their rebellion against God.

Christ had suffered, and He had died on the Cross, and then he too had risen from the dead, and in glory He returned to the Father and left this world at the hands of His disciples, who continued to propagate His mission and His words, throughout generations, throughout many centuries and millennia, through good and hard times, through bountiful harvests of faith and persecution of the martyrs and the faithful in God, to all of us today who belong in God’s Church, which He established through Peter.

The Church today is the last and only bastion of truth, love, and light in this world increasingly eaten up by evil forces of consumerism, hedonism, secularism, and atheism. Many had abandoned God in search of temporary and worldly pleasures and temptations, and left God for their own reasons and their own ideas, and even thinking that they need no God, even though it’s the very God who had come down to us, in order to build a bridge between us and the Lord who created us, that we are finally able to return to God, through Christ’s death on the cross, His ultimate sacrifice, for all of us.

Our Church had been the greatest charitable body in the world, and had done much to help the poor and the suffering, and there are of course still much more that we can do to help, even every one of us, we can all contribute more to help those least and the weakest in our society. Let us all help the Church in its mission, help all who are involved in serving the weak, the poor, the ostracised, and the persecuted ones. Let us also of course strive to spread God’s Good News and message of love to all, especially those who had rejected Him, and those who even persecuted God’s holy people.

For Christ, the Son of God, will come to judge His people again at the end of time, at His Second Coming, which time and place we do not know about. But He always reminds us to be vigilant, and to be awake, lest we are caught unawares. He will judge those who had done acts of love, for one another, and for God, worthy, and worthy to join Him in eternal bliss of heaven. And to those whom had failed to love, those who failed to forgive and those who had forsaken Him, He will reject and drive away from His presence.

Let us not worry, since if we do what is good, God is on our side. Continue doing acts of love, mercy, and compassion, and begin to do charitable acts starting from small, little things we can help, like not refusing to help a beggar, and tried to spare a coin for them, and also to help one another in the society, and to be aware of the plight of our fellow brothers and sisters, that we will all remain strong, in God’s love.

Help one another to grow in faith, hope, and love, the three cardinal virtues of life. Let us pray that our faith in God will remain strong, that our hope in Him and mankind will be ever present, and be light to those who despair, and let our love burn within us, filled with God’s love, to show God’s love to all mankind, and to all the nations, that those who have yet bend their knees before the God who loves them and gave His life for them, will follow. Amen.

by

Sunday, 10 March 2013 : 4th Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday, 2nd Scrutiny for Baptism (Scripture Reflection)

Forgiveness. Something that is easy to be said, but difficult to be done. Something that we want to do, but hard to do, because either we lack love in our hearts, or have the hatred and darkness in our hearts that block us and prevent us from carrying out acts of forgiveness and mercy.

Today, our Lord Jesus Christ showed us the virtues of forgiveness and mercy, just as what God the Father had done for us, through the parable of the prodigal son. It shows the extent of God’s boundless and infinite love for us, who are sinners, but yet He is willing to take all of us as His children. After all, are we not His most beloved of all creation? The very beings created in His image? Though indeed, we were marred by our rebellion, beginning from the rebellion of our foreparents Adam and Eve, who fell into Satan’s temptation.

But God again shows that no sinner is beyond His mercy and salvation. That is why, out of His great love for all of us, the only One worthy to redeem us, His Son, Jesus Christ, was given to us as a ‘Sacrificial Offering’, the perfect offering that redeemed us every single cents of our debts, that is our sins and faults.

We who had been saved by Christ through His Sacrifice, and through our baptism, either when we were infants or when we were already adults, when God took us to be His sons and daughters, are like the elder son of the father in the parable, who had already had a share in the wealth and all the properties of the father, who is God represented. We should not act like the Pharisees, who thought themselves of worthy, and that others who had ‘erred’ in their eyes, they labeled as sinners and unworthy to share their salvation and faith.

For the Pharisees in the blind man case, represented exactly the sentiments of the elder son, where pride, arrogance, and power trumped over humility, love, and compassion. Just like the elder sons of Jesse, whom the Lord asked the prophet Samuel to visit to appoint the new king of Israel, they had been rejected although they were strong, powerful, and has that aura of command, being the elder and thus more mature sons according to the society’s norms.

No, the Lord seeks not these kind of strength, pride, and power, for these things often corrupted men and deviates their heart from their true love for God, and instead to love mankind, the world, and all the temptations of power and glory that Satan offered through the world. God desires indeed the qualities found in David, whom he chose as the new king of Israel to replace the disobedient Saul.

For David is humble and loving, and he truly loved the Lord with all his heart and after his anointing, he set out to do good throughout all his life, for God’s sake. And except for the sin he committed in murdering the husband of his future wife (he is still like us after all, a sinner), he was committed to a life of dedicated love to God, and to all his fellow men, whom he ruled justly.

It is through humility and love that we can learn the true nature of God, that is love, mercy, and compassion. For if we let ourselves be blinded by our pride, jealousy, our hatred, and all things of evil and sin, we blind ourselves, not only from the truth in our fellow men, but also blind ourselves from God. This is exactly what happened to the Pharisees and the people gathered, who condemned the blind man, cured by Jesus, failing to see God’s work in Jesus, and failing to listen to the testimony of the blind man, which is truth.

For they are too embroiled in their own self-vanity, pride, and preservation, and jealousy against all who intruded into their sphere of control and power (who was indeed Jesus), that they rejected God directly, out of these sheer darkness in their hearts. For them, these had closed their hearts from God’s love, but still, God gave His life to save all, including them, and He forgave them in the end at Calvary. This is how great the love that God has shown us, that He gave Himself for us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us strive that we will not be like the ungrateful and arrogant elder son, who think highly of himself and failing to see God’s love in all, and for all, even for the greatest sinners, represented by the younger son. Because he has been always with the Father as we are with the Father through Christ and through our baptism, but we have to reach out and help out those who are still struggling, and those who had lost their way to God.

Help one another, strengthen one another in faith, and bring the Good News to others who had yet to receive it. Let us, brothers and sisters in Christ, as One community, One Church in Christ, do our best to show God’s mercy, forgiveness, and love, through our charity and our actions, which will make God’s love manifest in this world. That more can be saved, through our action, not out of jealousy, not out of pride, but out of love, and humility, and let us rejoice together when anyone returns or comes to the Lord, acknowledging Him as their Saviour.

May God bless us all, and bless those who had rejected Him, those who had hated Him, and those who had closed their hearts to His love. Amen.

by

Saturday, 2 March 2013 : 2nd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Luke 15 : 1-3, 11-32

Meanwhile tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of the eager to hear what He had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering, “This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable.

Jesus continued, “There was a man with two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Give me my share of the estate.’ So the father divided his property between them. Some days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings, and started off for a distant land, where he squandered his wealth in loose living.”

“Having spent everything, he was hard pressed when a severe famine broke out in that land. So he hired himself out to a well-to-do citizen of that place, and was sent to work on a pig farm. So famished was he, that he longed to fill his stomach even with the food given to the pigs, but no one offered him anything.”

“Finally coming to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against God, and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me then as one of your hired servants.’ With that thought in mind, he set off for his father’s house.”

“He was still a long way off, when his father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.'”

“But the father turned to his servants : ‘Quick!’ he said, ‘Bring out the finest robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Take the fattened calf and kill it! We shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of min was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost and is found!’ And the celebration began.”

“Meanwhile, the elder son had been working in the fields. As he returned and approached the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what it was all about. The servant answered, ‘Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father is so happy about it that he has ordered this celebration, and killed the fattened calf.'”

The elder son became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and pleaded with him. The son, very indignant, said, ‘Look, I have slaved for you all these years. Never have I disobeyed your orders. Yet you have never given me even a young goat to celebrate with my friends. Then when this son of yours returns, after squandering your property with loose women, you kill the fattened calf for him.'”

“The father said, ‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But this brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found. And for that we had to rejoice and be glad.'”

by

Saturday, 2 March 2013 : 2nd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12

Bless the Lord, my soul; all my being, bless His holy Name! Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.

He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life with destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.

He will not always scold nor will He be angry forever. He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does He punish us as we deserve.

As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His love for those fearing Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove from us our sins.

by

Saturday, 16 February 2013 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday (Scripture Reflection)

Today Jesus, our Lord, shows us that no one is beyond redemption, and no one does not have hope for eternal life in Him, since all mankind, though sinners as they are, they do have the ability to listen and come towards the Lord, who will forgive them if only they would turn their hearts sincerely back towards Him.

We must make use of this Lenten season to take concrete steps in our path to return back to the Lord. Yes, the Lord calls us, and He wants us to return home with Him, and dwell no longer in our world of sin. This however, requires not just a sincere heart for repentance, but also through our actions of love and mercy, especially towards our fellow men, our brethren in Christ.  If we want to be forgiven by God, first we have to forgive those around us, who have offended us, and even caused us pain and suffering.

If we inflict pain and suffering back in return for the same pain and suffering, we are merely prolonging the endless cycles of hatred and evil. It is through the act of love and mercy that the Lord taught us, that we can truly liberate ourselves from this cycle, and thus release us from the bondage of the evil one, and then, and only then, we can be reunited with our Father in heaven who loves us.

If we do so, the Lord will bless us, and not only He will forgive us, but He will make us prosper in our lives, and also those around us. For God rejoices when a lost son or daughter of His is found once again, for is the shepherd not overjoyed when even a single sheep of his flock that was lost, is found? As the Scripture says, even if only one sheep was lost, the shepherd would go and look for it, and when he found it, he will be happier, even happier than having the other sheep that were not lost.

No, this does not mean that the Lord does not care for those who believe in Him and stayed faithful to Him. This means that the Lord comes especially to seek those who are lost, and have yet to receive His inheritance of love and everlasting life through Him, those who are still under the yoke of Satan, that is the yoke of sin and death. We who believe in Him are already saved, and already have a part in God’s inheritance, that is if we stay faithful. Let us help the Lord, to reach out to our brothers and sisters, particularly those who are still in darkness, those who still do not yet know the Lord, and have yet to receive the Good News.

Let us therefore this Lent, not be hypocrites and seek only to make ourselves holy and worthy, but rather, let us help one another to make ourselves worthy of God through penance and good works in Christ. Let us help this world become a better world, for everyone, that through our labour, the love of God is made manifest in this world, that many will see and then believe, becoming lost sheep no more, but one with the flock of Christ. Amen.

by

Friday, 15 February 2013 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (Scripture Reflection)

Today, and many other days in this season of Lent, we are asked to do penance, and repent, and truly focus our attention back to the Lord. Also today being friday, we usually do the practice of abstinence, that is to abstain from eating meat, particularly red meat today. We also have the practice of fasting, which all of us Catholics must do on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, on which day we fast, by eating only a full meal and up to two smaller meals or snacks.

Have we done our part in doing these fasting and abstinence practices? These are the practices highly recommended for us to be done during this season of Lent. One may ask, then why don’t we fast like those Muslims or other religions do? That when they fast, they do not eat for long hours of the day, and fast for a whole month, then why don’t we just fast for the whole of the 40 days, and eat only once per day? Does it not fit better with the description of Lent as a season for fasting?

No, the reason we do not fast for such periods is because, we do not want to lose the focus of fasting, that fasting should not be done for the sake of fasting, that fasting should indeed be done out of sincere love for God and desire to turn back fully to the Lord. Fasting should be a facilitator of our repentance and a vessel through which we can better focus our attention to God. For in the reading today, the Lord tells us that He do not desire our fasting and abstinence, but rather our hearts, our broken and sinful hearts, that truly change and repent into renewed and sanctified hearts through our complete transformation, not only physically, but most importantly, the transformation of what is inside us.

Therefore, what matters this Lent is that we strive to make changes in our life, from those things that we have done in sin, slowly and surely we turn these into things done for the glory of God. For when we fast, it is to actually turn our focus and attention into our hearts, to look inside, whether we have done what is concrete to change from our sinful ways and walk into the light. For it is wrong when we fast or abstain, but we end up doing the opposite, for example, there are some who abstain on Fridays of the Lent, but then gather together and have a seafood BBQ or seafood party. Well technically you are not eating meat indeed, and fish is the alternative allowed, but then you are missing the point of fasting if you do so.

The same is also when you fast, but then during the fast, you grumble and think why should I waste my time with this fast, and look forward to the meal time, and when the meal time comes, you just devour as much food as you can. This is also missing the point on doing fasting during this holy period of Lent.

Therefore brothers and sisters in Christ, in this Lenten period, do fast, and do abstain, and if you like even not only on Fridays, but also on other days of the Lent if you want to, but most importantly, do not forget that what matters is to make sure that we are changed internally, and that we make use this time, to bring ourselves closer to God, closer to Him who loves us, and willing to accept us back into His embrace, if only we reject our sins and turn our face back towards the Light. May God bless all of us in this Lent, and have a blessed fast and abstinence everyone! Amen.

by

Friday, 25 January 2013 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle (Scripture Reflection)

Today’s first reading is simply about the events surrounding the conversion of St. Paul, how he was completely transformed, from the Christian hunting Saul into eventually the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul. He even was martyred in Rome together with St. Peter the Apostle during the time of the Emperor Nero. This was the ultimate fulfillment of the Lord’s message to Paul, that he would suffer a lot for the Lord’s sake.

The Gospel today is about the Lord’s mission to His disciples, who was tasked with spreading the Word of God and the Good News to all mankind, to all parts of the world. No longer is salvation and hope limited just to the Jewish people, since through the new covenant of Christ, the old covenant of God with Abraham and the people of Israel is made more perfect, now that all the descendants of Adam can take part in the new covenant made by Christ, sealed by His Precious Blood poured from the cross at Calvary.

St. Paul is the main tool through which the Lord brought forth His Word to the people of the world, that he was given the title Apostle to the Gentiles, as evident from his numerous letters, which now become what we know as the Letters of St. Paul to the Corinthians, Romans, Ephesians, and many others, always exhorting the faithful in the different parts of the world, to remain faithful and true to the commandments of God and the new covenant of Christ.

Saul was once a cold-blooded Christian killer and prosecutor, if one would say so. He participated in the death of St. Stephen, the proto or first Martyr, and also captured and tortured many early Christians. But yet, God chose him out of all people, amongst so many, to be His Apostle to the non-Jewish people in particular. One can easily notice the wonder that the Lord has made, turning someone who was once His greatest prosecutor and enemy, into the very person that defended Him with his life and zeal.

St. Paul himself became the testament and the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to His disciples in the Gospel today, together with the other Apostles. The Apostles cast out demons, as St. Paul did, and speak different tongues, inspired by the Holy Spirit that came at Pentecost, and thousands were baptised in the name of the Lord, and the Church was born. St. Paul picked up snake during his sojourn in Malta before reaching Rome near the end of his life, and was bitten, but was not harmed by the snake’s poisons. There are many instances of the healing of the sick and the infirm throughout the Acts of the Apostles, where the Apostles, especially Paul, whose ministry is the backbone of the later Acts of the Apostles, went around the cities of the Eastern Mediterranean in particular, to bring both the Good News, and also to bring healing to those who are sick, both physically and spiritually.

Many of us today, are like Saul, and although we love God as Saul was, obedient to the Law and the old covenant of God, we are afraid to take the extra step, to dedicate ourselves further and truly to God, to be like Paul was, the bringer of God’s word and covenant to the people of the world. We too, still in our daily lives, through the little things that we do in our lives, inflict pain and suffering to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We are therefore no better than Saul was, but just as Saul was chosen and transformed, we too can be transformed into the new ‘Paul’, to fully commit ourselves to the cause of Christ. This is also to show that, no sinner is unworthy before God, as even the greatest sinner, when they turn their hearts to the Lord, can become great saints, just as St. Augustine was. Once a great sinner in his youth, through his mother, St. Monica, he was redeemed and became a great saint, saving thousands and millions, and many more souls through his ministry, and through his great writings, which we still read until today.

Let us therefore follow in the footsteps of St. Paul and the Apostles, to bring forth the Word of the Lord, and His New Covenant with all mankind, to all the mankind. That all mankind can be saved through the faith in Christ, which is made possible by our tireless and whole dedication of ourselves to Christ, becoming the apostles of this era, in the footsteps of the Apostles. Do not fear, for the Lord will provide, and He will guard you against the evils in this world, who are against God and His people. Speak for the Lord, and spread His love to all man.

St. Paul the Apostle, pray for us. Help us to become more like you in your zealous and humble service in God’s Name. That we can follow in your footsteps to bring God to all the people of this world, to all the Gentiles and the Jews alike. Amen.