Reflection

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Saturday, 28 December 2013 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Jealousy and greed for power, as well as the fear of losing it, are just a few of the evil afflictions that affect mankind, and which many of us had succumbed to, many, many times. These evil afflictions affect us, because we have been made vulnerable to them, ever since our ancestors opened the way to sin through their disobedience to the Lord.

Today, as we continue into the Christmas season, and continue with the festivities and revelries, and all the joy and happiness that we have among us, all the gift exchanges and partying, we must not remember a great tragedy which we all remember on this day, that is the Feast of the Holy Innocents, a great tragedy that is filled with sorrow and wickedness of mankind.

On this day, we remember the great and merciless slaughter of the innocent infants of Bethlehem, the city of David, where our Lord Jesus was born. King Herod the Great, the then Roman appointed King of Israel and Judea, was so fearful and jealous of the authority and power of the promised King of Israel, the true King of kings, Jesus the Messiah, that he resolved to kill this Messiah, before the kingdom that was his is usurped from him.

You can clearly see this king’s hubris, jealousy and arrogance, that even though he knew about the coming of the Messiah, he was unwilling to part with his own authority and power and give it to the coming King. He was foolish and short-sighted, one which certainly brought him down to the deepest depth of hell. You see what desperation, fear, and wickedness can bring to men.

Yes, they brought downfall to man, and they bring nothing but death and destruction. And it is often that the innocent ones are the ones to suffer, such as what happened in Bethlehem. One may ask why God did not intervene in the case of what has happened, but indeed, if we look at it again, God gave everyone a free will to follow what he thinks is best to be done. One can choose to follow the Lord and be righteous, or give in to their human vulnerabilities and embrace what is evil and wicked.

And those infants were innocent, and Herod massacred them in order to ensure the continuation of his own power and authority. He took the quick way out of problems, and did not regard even the sanctity of human lives. Those innocent infants also deserved to live. They therefore, were holy martyrs of the faith by the virtue of their innocence. They were the victims of humanity’s disdain for the sanctity of life.

Today we all remember these Holy Innocents, whose massacre is a reality amidst the joy and the festivities surrounding Christmas. And that is why we have to always remember that Christmas is about life. Yes, the sanctity of life, which is also often under attack in today’s society, especially by those championing for the culture of death.

That is right, on this day, on this era, thousands of even unborn infants or more are being killed on daily basis. You all know about the controversy, and the voices crying out for and against the practice of abortion. It is sad indeed, that even among us who believe in the Lord, the source of life, even some of us agree, or participate in the killing of the innocents, either by our actions or by our silence.

Hence, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we celebrate Christmas, never forget that we have to celebrate life, and we cannot forget about the massacre of the innocents that had happened, and what is happening even now. Life is sacred, brethren, as is it not Jesus who came into this world that we may have life eternal. We cannot profess to be Christians and yet treat life as something trivial. It is a gift from God to all of us.

May the Lord therefore continue to inflame in us, the love for Him, as well as the love for all of God’s creations, treating with honour everyone, even to the least of all, the poorest of all, and the weakest of all, to the smallest of infants. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 22 December 2013 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters, today we enter into the last Sunday of Advent, the fourth one of all. We celebrate today the theme of love, after we had celebrated the themes of hope, peace, and joy. For indeed, these are all the things we rejoice and celebrate for in Christmas. And the most important of all, is love. That is because there will be no Christmas without love, and the greatest love is the love that God has for all of us.

For God so loved the world, that He gave us His only Son, that we who believe in Him shall not die nor suffer the effects of death, but receive life eternal in that Son. This well-known and well-read passage from the Gospel of John chapter three verse sixteen is that proof of the everlasting love and the ultimate form of love that God had shown us, and which was made manifest this Christmas.

Christmas is not just about Christmas lights, decorations, and about gifts. Christmas is not just about promotions, new goods, shopping opportunities, and something on the same line as those. Christmas is not the day preceding the Boxing Day if we think it in the terms of the gifts that we will receive and benefit from. Instead, indeed, it is all about love, about sharing the love that God had for all of us, and share it with one another in love.

Without love, our lives will not be perfect nor fulfilling. And without love, we will not have hope, peace, and joy. Love lies at the centre of our lives and is the centre of our faith. Our faith must always be based on love, because we believe in God, who is Love Himself. God is Love, and He cannot withhold His love for us, and that was why He wanted to be with us, and for us to be with Him.

Emmanuel, God is with us, is one of the many titles that Jesus Christ our Lord has. And His very presence in this world, as the Divine incarnate to the flesh of mortals, is a true example of this love. For as the omnipotent and all powerful God, eternal and limitless, God has no need for any worries or concerns because He has everything, and everything in creation belongs to Him. Yet, He concerned Himself with us, seeking our welfare and well-being.

Without this divine love, we would certainly have no hope whatsoever. Life will be meaningless and death will truly be fearsome. That is why the Lord came to us, to be with us, and to dwell with us, in Jesus Christ His Son. In Jesus lies all of our hope, and in Him we find true love, and this love is the joy of Christmas, the true joy that we should be celebrating.

So, brothers and sisters in Christ, do we come together to celebrate Christmas because we like to revel in the festivities and the partying, in all the merrymaking? Do we enjoy and look forward to Christmas because of the gifts we are to get from our friends and families? Do we look forward to Christmas because it is a time for us to travel around as it is the holiday period?

If our answers to these questions are yes, then we have missed the true intention of Christmas and the true joy of Christmas. That is precisely the problem with our modern world, where Christmas has been extensively and thoroughly transformed into a commercial property. Christmas is no longer about Christ, after which it was named for. Christmas which was about the birth of Christ, had become the fascination on Santa Claus, gift elves and all the pagan fantasies that mankind had indulged themselves in, submitting to the temptations of the world.

Every time we celebrate Christmas, we should always remember that it is about Christ, about the wondrous birth of Christ our Lord and Saviour, and about the perfect manifestation of love that God our Father showed us. He showed us all His favour, by choosing to be born of the Virgin Mary, to become one of us, and to be the lowest among us, born in a poor and dirty stable even though He was destined to be a King.

So are we ready now to celebrate the coming of Christ this Christmas? We have to bring Christ into Christmas, or otherwise our celebrations will be meaningless. Invoke Christ as we rejoice with one another, and use this opportunity to share our blessings and graces with those who have less. As people often said, that Christmas is a season of giving, but we must not limit this giving just to among ourselves and our own circle of friends.

Share the love of God this Christmas, and proclaim the joy of His coming to everyone. As we welcome Christ into our world, let us also welcome Him into our hearts, and share this Love incarnate, Christ Himself, with everyone we encountered, especially those who lack the sweetness of love.

May the Lord our God continue to bless us with love, that we will grow to love one another, and love Him more and more. May our Christmas be bountiful, peaceful, and be filled with love and joy, not for ourselves, but for the glory of God and the glory of all of God’s people! Amen.

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Saturday, 21 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Priests)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast day of one of the great saints of the past centuries, that is of St. Peter Canisius, also known as Peter Canis or Petrus Canisius. He was a German who joined the then growing and newly established Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola. St. Peter Canisius also happen to be the saint whose name, together with that of St. Peter the Apostle, I adopted as my own name at baptism, because both of them are truly inspiring role models to me.

St. Peter Canisius lived during a time of great difficulty for the Church, because at that time, numerous people were swayed under the heresy of Protestantism, which spread like wildfire, based on ignorant and fallacious teachings and ideas of men. These ideas were manipulated by some to gain followers and broke apart the unity of the Church. This was particularly bad in Germany, where numerous occurrences of the mentioned heresies happened.

Yet St. Peter Canisius was not to be daunted by challenges, and he put his full trust in the Lord and spearheaded the efforts countering the damaging effects of the Protestant heresy. He and several other leaders such as St. Ignatius of Loyola were crucial in the process of Counter-Reformation, where these courageous leaders fought to stem the tide of corruption on the faithful and return them to the one true faith in God.

The problem was that we have grown lax in our faith, and we no longer stay truly faithful to the Lord. And neither did we put our trust in the Lord, trusting rather more the forces of this world, and our own feeble abilities and desires. Faith is weakened when we no longer put ourselves completely in God’s hands, and evil may enter our hearts. The same, then, happened as it had, during the heresy, which sadly continues all the way until even today.

At that time, indeed, the Church had grown powerful, and it had gained many worldly properties and accumulated much influence and wealth. That was when human desires and the corrupting power of Satan entered into the Church. The Church became a nest of impurities, debauchery, and sinfulness, far from being the holy congregation of the Lord’s faithful ones. Popes, cardinals, bishops and priests were influenced by the forces of the world and quite a few of them were corrupted.

Indeed, many of those who had submitted themselves to Protestant heresies, would argue that the very reason why they broke away from the one and only Church of God was because of its impurities, such that as if the Church no longer had any legitimacy or spiritual authority over the faithful. They elected their own leaders and established their own so-called ‘churches’ in the delusion of righteousness that they experienced.

Yes, that delusion in fact served the purposes of the devil. Some of the proponents and leaders of the heresies had truly noble intents in their actions, but many if not all were eventually succumbed to the designs of the evil one. Instead of helping to reform the Church and purge the impurities out of the holy Church, they succumbed to their own human vanity, pride, and stubbornness, and broke apart the unity of the One Body of Christ, that is the Church.

Remember what the Lord had said, that He is the vine and we are the branches. In the unity of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, the one and only Church, that is our Church, we live in grace and love because of the love and life-giving strength that God bestowed upon us through that unity. Broken and torn apart from that unity, those splinters withered and died, just as history itself had proven to us.

“There were as many churches as there were heads.” Such was the sayings that time, when numerous churches were founded and established, and each with their own ideas and own way of interpreting the messages of the Lord, and therefore, confirming further the devil’s hold on many souls and on the hearts of mankind. Many of these ‘heads’ could not agree upon each other on what they were to believe in God and about God.

They quarrelled, fought, debated, and wasted much energy doing nothing but attacking each other and badmouthing each other, blaspheming that in doing so, they obeyed and followed God’s will. The devil sowed the seeds of distrust, division, and strife among the people of God. Instead of the intended good, only evil and division came out of the events.

That was what St. Peter Canisius was so eager to combat, the divisions within the Church and among the faithful ones. He championed both the reform within the Church as well as the deliverance of those who had lapsed and went outside of the saving grace of Christ in the Church. He led the Jesuit order to restore the faith in his native Germany. And he made great successes there, converting many thousands upon thousands back to the true faith.

St. Peter Canisius stemmed the tide of heresy, from what is an unstoppable wave into a controllable tide. He championed reaching out to those who had fallen away from the faith and explaining to them in great clarity and truth, the truth about the One and True faith, our Catholic faith. That was why St. Peter Canisius was also well known for his contribution to Catholic education. He educated the faithful of the future, as well as future zealous and dedicated teachers of the faith who would bring back the faithful back into the Church.

The Catechisms written by St. Peter Canisius helped many to return to their true faith in God, explaining the faith in clear terms to the people. His Mariology and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary was also exemplary, and in fact laid the foundations of much of the devotion to the Blessed Mother of God as we know today. It was he who included the phrase, ‘Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners” to the Hail Mary prayer.

Indeed, seeing the examples of the life of this saint, St. Peter Canisius, we see how much we need to come closer to God, and dedicate ourselves even more intimately to Him. We cannot separate ourselves from the Lord, or we risk the corruption of evil, through the ways of this world. To keep ourselves close to the Lord, with the help of His Blessed mother, is to keep our faith pure and acceptable to the Lord.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we come even closer to the celebration of Christmas, and as we rejoice in this feast day commemorating the great Doctor of the Church and the Defender of the Faith, St. Peter Canisius, let us heed the lesson on the importance of our faith, and how important it is to make sure that we adhere to the teachings and to the will of God, putting aside our human ego, our human weaknesses, and all the temptations of the world.

Instead, let us open ourselves fully and completely to the Lord, and the Lord who loves us completely and dedicatedly will grant us His endless blessings and graces. Let us also follow in the footsteps of St. Peter Canisius, preaching the truth about the Lord, especially to our separated brethren. Proclaim the truth to them and reveal to them the fullness of the Lord’s saving power, and what is true faith in the Lord, that is in the teachings of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, the one and only Church of God.

St. Peter Canisius, pray for us, and help us that we may be strong in our faith and remain vigilant against the powers and temptations of the evil one. May the Lord too watch over us, and love us dearly and tenderly as He had always done. May the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ, Ut Omnes Unum Sint, that they all may be one, come true, that all the faithful ones in God can be reunited once again, purging themselves of all the errors of human judgments, emotions, and thinkings. Amen.

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Thursday, 19 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the two related stories of how two great men were born, both of them the faithful and great servants of God the Most High, and each entrusted with great missions, to prepare the way for what was to come. They were prepared especially for that, and they were consecrated to God for that purpose.

They were prepared and destined for a life totally dedicated to God and His purposes, and that was why they were what is called the Nazirites, who did not give themselves to the corrupting influences of the world, and fully gave themselves to God and to His will. They were indeed Samson, one of the later judges of Israel, renowned for his strength and his exploits against the Philistines, and John the Baptist, the one who prepared the way for the coming of the Lord.

Although they lived in different era and time, and had different backgrounds and missions in general, but their missions are truly about the same things, that is about bringing the people of God back towards the Lord and to bring help and succour to the people of God living in the darkness and in the suffering of the world.

Samson used his strength and power given from God to fight against the Philistines who were oppressing the people of God at that time. And just as he wrestled lions and bears, he also wrestled against these pagans who oppressed God’s people. And even though he would later fall into temptation in the woman Delilah, eventually he repented, and with the last of his power, he made a building to crash down on the Philistines just as they were making fun of him, killing even more of them in death than when he still lived.

St. John the Baptist, who baptised many people in the Jordan was both the messenger of God’s Good News, proclaiming to the people of the imminent and impending arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and who brought many people to repentance through his repeated and ceaseless calls to the people to seek God’s forgiveness for their sins. He persevered even despite rejection and ridicule by the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

The examples given in the birth, life, and experiences of these two men of God highlighted to us of the nature of our faith itself. God is with us, and He loves us. He continued to repeat this over and over again to us, sending prophets after prophets and messengers after messengers to show His love for us. In Samson, He made His power manifest and liberate His people from persecution, oppression, and suffering.

In John the Baptist, God made clear His care and love for us, seeking our redemption, through our repentance, that we abandon our sinfulness and our sin-tainted past, and leading a new life dedicated solely to the Lord, just as these two men of God had been dedicated to the Lord. He did not want us to perish because of our sinfulness and our tainted selves, and that was why He sent John to us, to lead the way for Christ.

We all know of this love our Lord has for all of us and we should not spurn it as many of our ancestors had done in the past. They rejected the people He had sent to them, ridiculed them, persecuted them, and even spilled their blood. Should we do the same then, brethren in Christ?

No, we should indeed change our ways, repent and promise that we will turn our back on sin, and from now on follow a way of life acceptable and worthy of the Lord our God. We ought to heed what St. John the Baptist had called the people of his time to do, to repent and prepare for the coming of the Lord. Be liberated and be free from the power of sin, just as Samson broke free the bonds of Israel from their Philistine masters.

And ultimately, we too, brothers and sisters in Christ, who belong to the Church of God, have the same responsibility as these saints and holy men of God, to be the extension of God’s will, hands, and power in this world. We ought to go out and proclaim the Good News to others, and help bring God’s people back towards Him. It is through our mouths and through our hands, that we will bring great glory to God and to His people.

Therefore, today, let us renew our faith and our commitment towards the Lord. May the Lord who empowered John the Baptist and Samson, also empower us to do the same as what they had done, and bring the Lord and the Good News of His salvation closer and closer to many, especially to those who are lost. Amen.

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Monday, 16 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord is our teacher and our guide, the One who would bring enlightenment to this darkened world of ours, dark in the depth of the ocean of sin, which promotes ignorance, indifference, and even hostility against the infinite and gracious love and kindness of the Lord. He came in Jesus, incarnated into man, so that He might teach His own people directly, on the truth about God and His plan for all of us.

Jesus taught with clear authority, and He showed forth His infinite wisdom and intellect even as He taught the people. He showed them the revelation of the Lord’s Good News to mankind and showed them the truth about what God has prepared for all of us, that is salvation, and the promise of eternal life. He did not make up anything in His teachings, because all that He taught was the truth and is truth.

And although many things had been revealed through the prophets and the words in the Scripture, many still adamantly and obstinately refused to believe in Christ and in what He had taught them. They questioned Him and even His authority, even though they had eyes to see and ears to listen to what Christ had done, which would have been far more than enough to show the authority of the Messiah.

They doubted Him and refused to believe what He would tell them. They ignored His advice to them, and even plotted for His downfall. Such was the reception of a people for whom Christ Himself has come down upon this world for, to the point that He would even die to bear our sins and the consequences of our sins.

But was Jesus bothered by all these negative reactions, especially coming from the leaders of the people and the powerful ones in the society? No! Jesus brushed them aside, masterfully trapping them in their own queries, and He continued to teach the people. He found no point in arguing or debating with them, for after all, they were hell bent at trapping Him in His own words, and were adamantly against Him.

Similar situation also happened in the first reading taken from the Book of Numbers. In order to give all of you an understanding of what happened, one of the kings of the people of Canaan hostile to the people of Israel during their Exodus from Egypt and journey towards the Promised Land, was so terrified by the approach of the Israelites that he resolved to employ the service of a seer, named Balaam, a seer of God.

Balaam was employed to curse the people of Israel, that they would be cursed and destroyed. Is it not the same as the Pharisees who employed all their intelligence and knowledge for the wrong thing, that is wishing for the downfall of Jesus? But Balaam did not obey the orders of his employer, and instead of cursing the Israelites, he blessed them instead with rich blessings.

Balaam showed that we as the children and people of God should have no need to fear worldly authorities. Instead we all should obey the Lord, the One who has real and true authority over all creations. It is He who possesses all authority, the source of all authority that we have. We will not have any authority if we do not adhere ourselves to the Lord.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today, as we reflect on the readings we had heard from the Scripture, let us first acknowledge the authority of the Lord and place our full trust in Him. Let us not be like the Pharisees, the Sadducees and many other people who were so occupied with their own pride and arrogance, so as to refuse to accept the Lord and listen to His teachings, stubbornly clinging to their jealousy of the Lord for challenging their own authority.

Let us trust in the Lord, and pay close attention to His teachings. Let us not ignore His call to us, a call which He intended for us to heed, that we may be called to be closer and closer to His love and mercy, changing our once sinful ways, with the ways of the Lord. Make God our guide and our leader, and resolve to walk closely within His path, without turning left or right. Listen to His words and let His words come in and transform us all. God be with us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 15 December 2013 : Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or Rose (Gaudete Sunday)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today is Gaudete Sunday, or Joyful Sunday, where ‘Gaude’ or ‘Joy’ is the spirit of the day. We celebrate today, even as we anticipate the coming of Christ in this Advent season, the joy of the coming of Christ Himself. That is why, if you see the priests and the colour used today in the liturgy is rose, to signify this joy, the joy of the coming of the Messiah.

And today’s readings rightly reflect this nature of joy. That all creation ought to rejoice at the coming of Christ into the world. The world was in darkness and yet light has come into it, and made everything illuminated once again in the light of God. Jesus came and during His ministry in this world, He performed many miracles, healing the sick, touching the lepers, curing them, and making the lame walk, making the blind see once again.

You can just imagine the joy that these people experience, as their afflictions were removed by the power of God. For many of us, who are well endowed with excellent health and good life, it may not be easy for us to imagine the joy that these people experienced. Yet, let us take some time to think, to reflect, and to appreciate what we have around us, all of which are the gifts and graces of God.

We have beautiful environment around us, the wondrous mountains and valleys, rivers, lakes, and seas, the beauty of flowers and plants, the shining glory of the sun, the marvel of the moon and stars at night, and many other wonders of God’s creations in this world. We can enjoy all these, because we have normal and healthy vision, good eyes with which we can see all of these wonders and marvel at them.

Yet, what if our sight was taken from us? What if we could no longer see? The light that we see around us will be no more, and everything will be dark, truly dark. Imagine the suffering of those who had been born blind. They do not know what is light, because they never see light. They have known only darkness all their lives, and they do not know what are mountains, flowers, moon, stars, and others, because what they knew of them, is only what has been told to them, but they cannot directly know what they actually look like.

When Jesus opened their eyes, and light for the first time poured into them, imagine the joy experienced by those whose sight were restored. They could see again, and could marvel at God’s creations around them, seeing things they have never seen before. God did not leave them in darkness, and neither did He leave those who suffer in their suffering. Through Christ they were renewed and given new life of glory in Him.

How is this then relevant to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? Precisely because we too are people afflicted, with illness. We may think that we are free from any afflictions, illnesses and defects, because externally and scientifically we are clean from any physical defects, but in fact all of us has a defect in us. A very serious and dangerous defect indeed. A defect that if we do not correct it, will drag us into eternal suffering, one that is without end.

Yes, I think all of you somehow have gotten what I am trying to say. We are all afflicted with sin, the evil of sin. Ever since mankind rebelled and disobeyed the will and the laws of the Lord, we have ever been imperfect, tainted with the defect of sin within each one of us. Sin has afflicted us, and we are ill with it. The Lord came to heal all, including all of us. And the greatest of His healing came about when He took up His final mission, lifted up on the cross with all of our sins that He bore upon Himself.

Healing us from our sinful afflictions is the greatest joy that we can ever enjoy, and this is what Christ came into our world for, His divine mission, to fulfill the long-planned salvation that God had prepared for all of us. That is also the true message of Christmas, that is the joy in the coming of the One, who took it upon Himself to be born as one of us, and to eventually be the One who brought true joy, through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead.

Today is Gaudete Sunday, as we rejoice in the joy of the expectation of the coming of Jesus our Lord. This is why even though in this Advent season, where we are in a state of subdued celebration, in a preparation period before Christmas, this Sunday, the colour used is rose instead of the usual purple or violet, to signify this joy of Christmas, the joy in Christ that we celebrate.

What is this joy of Christmas that I had mentioned? This is not the joy of the secular Christmas celebrations that we have outside, in our malls and shopping centres. The joy of Christmas is not about the parties and revelries that accompany it. The joy of Christmas is not about the feast and the meal that we usually have on Christmas, with our family members. The joy of Christmas is not about buying new clothes and exchanging gifts. Neither does Christmas mean Christmas trees and Santa Claus for sure!

The joyous occasions and events that I had mentioned above are part of our celebrations, our human way to show our gladness and happiness for the true joy of Christmas. And yes, that true joy of Christmas, is about Christ. It is all about Christ and none other. The Lord who came into this world as a baby, and the same Lord who would give His own life for us, to heal us, and bring us into eternal glory, is the true joy of Christmas.

Therefore brothers and sisters, as we approach even closer to Christmas, to the celebration of the coming of our Lord, have we made Christ to be truly at the centre of our celebrations? Have we made Him as the focus of our joy this Christmas? If we have done so, then well done. It means that we have gotten what it means to celebrate the joy of Christmas, and it means that the true joy of all joy, will be ours. God bless us all with a wonderful Christmas joy. Amen!

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Saturday, 14 December 2013 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Priests)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard how Elijah, the great prophet of old, came once again into this world, in the form of John the Baptist, the messenger of God and the one who prepared the way for the coming of God. Indeed according to the Scriptures, both of them are likely to be one and the same.

While John the Baptist was not mentioned much in the Holy Scripture, and the details about his life and works are relatively scarce, gathering from what we have in the Holy Gospels, the story about the prophet Elijah, one of the greatest of the prophets, are plentiful. We can read many of his works in the Book of Kings in the Old Testament.

There are many parallels that we can find, between the prophet Elijah and John the Baptist, the last of God’s messengers before the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Elijah was sent to the people of Israel, when the people of God went through times of struggle, of an identity crisis, the crisis of their soul. The people of God had not been faithful to the Lord of their fathers, and they had turned away from His ways.

The people of the northern kingdom of Israel, whom Elijah was sent to, was under a rule of wickedness, under the king Ahab, whom many of you would know as one of the most wicked and unfaithful king of Israel. The people who remained faithful to the Lord suffered and even had to lose their lives. One of them was Nabot, whom the king murdered through false testimonies, and he was killed so that the king could have his land, fertile and rich.

Elijah lived through difficult times, where those who believe in God were persecuted. It was therefore even more difficult for one like the prophet and messenger of the Lord’s will. Elijah was persecuted and had to go from one exile to another, fleeing at times from the persecutioners and the forces of the king. Elijah yet persevered and with the power and guidance of God, he continued to work, calling the people to repent from their sinful ways and returned to the worship of the One, True God.

Elijah challenged the four hundred and fifty priests of Baal on Mount Carmel, and won against them, showing the people of God who is the One and only True God. He did many other works of wonders across the land, and even went to the land of the pagans, and found truly great faith there. He brought back to life the son of the widow, and feed them with oil when the land was in famine.

Elijah ended his works in this world and found in Elisha, a successor to his works. It was unique that he among the others, did not die, but was taken up on flaming chariots into heaven. Such was a spectacular and dramatic end for this great prophet of God. But no, that was not the end. Elijah was taken up into heaven to be at God’s side so that the Lord can entrust him to do an even greater work.

Yes, that is to be the one to prepare the way for the Lord, who would come as the Saviour of all, the long promised Messiah. As John the Baptist, what he did, were truly not different from what he had done as Elijah. He proclaimed to the people the need for repentance, and to change their ways, so as to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord Himself.

And just as Elijah had to suffer rejection and persecution, John the Baptist too faced mockery and rejection from the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who were too self-righteous to listen to the calling of John to repent and change their sinful ways. John the Baptist led the way for Christ, the Messiah, who came in Jesus, the One who finally came to liberate the people of God from sin. And finally both great servants did not hesitate to rebuke even worldly authorities, when they were faced with wickedness. Elijah rebuked king Ahab for his actions in causing the death of Nabot

And those who persecuted Elijah and John the Baptist, as opposed as they were against the Lord and His ways, would also be against the Lord, as was evident, when they opposed the Lord Jesus and all of His works during His earthly ministry. And if they persecuted Elijah, seeking to end his life, and which they succeeded in John, when through Herodias’ daughter, they ended the life of the servant of God. The Lord too, was rejected, reviled, mocked, and finally condemned to death, a death most shameful on the cross.

Yet, did the Lord give up on us? Did He turn away from us even after we have rejected so many of His prophets, and even murdered them? Did He give up the cross so that He no longer needed to suffer for the sake of our rebellious and sinful selves? No, He did not! And that is most important, for the actions of the two great servants of God, Elijah and John the Baptist, were ultimately designed after the examples of God Himself, who in His great love for us, was willing to lower Himself and die as slaves did, so that we can be liberated from our own slavery to sin.

And today, we celebrate a saint whose life has been dedicated to the Lord in much the same way. St. John of the Cross was born in Spain in the sixteenth century and joined the Carmelite order, and went on to be a famous preacher and teacher of the faith to many across Spain. And St. John of the Cross was known for his many works together with St. Teresa of Jesus, also known as St. Teresa of Avila, and both of them were declared Doctors of the Church for their numerous contributions.

St. John of the Cross took part in what was known to be the Reform of Avila, commenced by St. Teresa of Jesus herself, aimed at restoring the purity within the Carmelite order, restoring the venerable and holy traditions designed to keep disciplined and holy, dedicated lifestyle in those who had dedicated themselves to the service of the Lord.

And this was just one of the many contributions that St. John of the Cross had given to the Church. He has written many writings and books that helped greatly in the rediscovery of the purity of the faith among many people during the Counter-Reformation period. And just as many other holy people before him, as were Elijah and John the Baptist, he faced opposition, and even persecution and imprisonment.

There were many who were disgruntled and vehemently against the reforms initiated by both St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, and yet, regardless of all these, St. John of the Cross continued his hard work and did not give up despite the difficulties. He continued to labour for the Lord’s sake until his death.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is easy and often even inevitable for us to act like those who persecuted and condemned these holy people and messengers of God’s will, because simply they speak in a way that truly pierced us to the very depths of our souls.

We have grown decadent and complacent, and we have grown accustomed to the ways of this world. We find comfort in the ways of the world, no matter how wicked they actually are. We prefer to keep to our wicked ways rather than listening to the words of God that these holy people and messengers have brought with them.

That is why we persecuted these people appointed by God to be our help and our guide. Instead of persecuting them, should we not then begin to take this opportunity to reflect on what we had done? Should we not use this chance to begin our path towards salvation by taking even small steps but steps that are certain. We can no longer be ignorant of the faith we have in God. We have to embrace that faith and listen to what the saints and the holy people of God had done and preached, and suffered for in God’s Name.

May the Lord with the help of His saints, and through their intercession, help us to keep on track, on the path towards the Lord, that we will remain faithful, and will be blessed by the faith we have, that on the last day, the Lord will reward us together with His saints. Amen.

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Friday, 13 December 2013 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this world is never, ever satisfied with the ways of the Lord and His followers. They would always try to find criticism in the Lord, by using the misunderstandings and the lack of faith that is in this world. And that is the essence of what we had heard in the Gospel reading today.

That is sadly how we as a people act, think, and perform, just the same as what our predecessors had done long ago in the past. That is because of our lack of faith! It is often that our faith is only on the exterior, or in short, on paper, but we lack true substance to support that faith.

We always sway and change in our standards of righteousness and morality, because our anchor in God is weak. We always shift in our standings and in our way of thinking, following the ways and opinions of the world, to fit into them so that we can feel acceptance and belonging in the world. This is what we know as the evil of relativism, where everything, every moral standard and thoughts are relative to what the world thinks.

Relativism is great evil and sin that has corrupted many in our world. We always follow what the world thinks is right at the moment. If the way the world and the society perceives things change, then we too follow the sway of the world, and that is relativism. Social and moral relativism are the ills that are in both in the Church and in the world now.

Our faith in God cannot be subjected to relativism, because faith is constant and not changing. We cannot alter our faith and our beliefs in the Lord just because of certain developments and ideas in our world. To do so means that we had subjected our faith to relativism, where everything is relative to the world. And that is exactly where our Church had stood unchanged over the centuries, our faith, immoveable and true over all these times.

That is why the Faith and our Church has been ridiculed over the centuries, and even more so in these days. That is because, while our world changes and adopted new outlook of life and how our lives should be lived, we remained faithful to the teachings of the Lord and to the will of God. We did not change for the sake of pleasing the world, and we remained true to the Lord whom we serve.

Yet, many saw us and our faith as something of a bastion of backwardness and medieval mentality, because they think that we have not been up to date with the developments of this world. They failed to understand that the Church and our Faith is timeless and cannot be constrained by the feeble understanding of the world. We cannot demean our faith and bring it down to relativism, which threatens to unravel the very fabric of the understanding of our faith.

Our faith must remain constant, that is we must believe in the fullness of the faith in God. We cannot pick and choose what we want to believe, and take only what is convenient or good for us while ignoring what we do not like. We cannot be what is called ‘market Christians’, namely those who believe only in parts of the faith. This is sadly what many Christians do. They tried to fit in with the customs of this world and to suit with their own agenda and thinking, that they alter the faith as they see fit.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, while it does not mean that we should live in opposition to the world, but it does not mean that we should, in any way, discredit our faith by doing things that I had just mentioned. And this was what the saint we are celebrating today, that is St. Lucy, a martyr of the faith.

St. Lucy lived during the times of the early Church, at the mid-late Roman Empire, when the last persecution of Christians happened, under the reign of the Emperor Diocletian. St. Lucy was born in a noble Christian family, who met a persistent pagan suitor, who reported to the authorities about her Christian faith. The notably anti-Christian administration at the time tried to make her to abandon her faith, and even sent her to a brothel as part of her punishment.

And yet, St. Lucy remained ever faithful, and she was adamant in her dedication to the Lord. St. Lucy went through a miraculous event, where she was immovable as a rock when the soldiers tried to lead her to her punishment. Hence, the soldiers had no choice but to eventually kill her and thus, she received holy martyrdom for her continued and unchanging faith for the Lord.

As we have seen, brethren, St. Lucy did not try to adapt to the world not did she abandon her faith in its entirety. She did not subject herself to relativism, and she did not compromise her faith, for the sake of her own safety or acceptance in the world she lived in. She faced death openly and received therefore a crown of glory, for her unchanging and undeterred faith in God. Had she submitted to the will of the world, and allow herself to make compromises in her faith, she would not have received the glory and rewards God had promised those who kept their faith in Him.

Therefore, brethren, let us all be true to our faith, be true to our Lord and God, and be consistent always in our faith. Let not the temptations and the ways of this world affect us in any way or tempt us away from the way towards salvation in God. Do not let the perceptions of the world and mankind to affect us in any way. We have to stand strong for our faith in God just as St. Lucy had done.

May our Lord continue to strengthen our faith, and through the intercession of St. Lucy, may we continue to persevere despite the challenges awaiting us in this life. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Thursday, 12 December 2013 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Mass of our Lady)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of our Lady of Guadalupe, to commemorate the apparition of our Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of God, in the land of the New World, in Guadalupe, in the present day Mexico. The Blessed Virgin and her apparition that would come to be known as the Lady of Guadalupe appeared to several people including to a peasant named Juan Diego, whom first promoted the devotion to our Lady in that new land. Many miracles and healing could be attributed to our Lady of Guadalupe, even until today at the site.

The Lady of Guadalupe, was a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her Immaculate Conception, and also identified as the woman of the Book of the Revelation, that is the woman crowned by stars whom the devil in the form of a red dragon, would want to swallow whole. Therefore, our Lady of Guadalupe represented the vision of hope to the world darkened with evil, for it is through this blessed woman, that the hope of this world was to come from, in Jesus.

The devotion to our Lady of Guadalupe is widespread in the New World, even today, and many continued to ask for her intercession and for her guidance towards her beloved Son. Through her, as promised and prophesied by the prophets, the One Saviour, Immanuel, God-is-with-us, was brought into this world, to be its light and guidance, so that all of us will once again live in the light and not in darkness.

In Mary a great strength was present, in her character and in her faith to God. She did not question the will of God but obeyed fully and willingly. Mary accepted her part in the plan of salvation, saying to the Lord, that she is His handmaid and servant, and therefore everything ought to happen as God wills it. It is truly not easy to find a faith such as Mary’s, and we too ought to follow her examples.

For this woman, despite being conceived and born without sin, and remaining pure all of her life, did not boast of her purity and special status before others. Instead, she remained humble, even knowing if she would become the Mother of God Himself, incarnate into flesh through her participation. She was indeed Blessed, as Elizabeth her cousin proclaimed her during the visitation.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the fulfillment of God’s promise to mankind, when they first sinned against Him, that a woman would come to bring forth salvation to mankind, crushing the head of Satan under her feet. Not by her own power and might, but through the Son born from her, Jesus our Messiah, our Lord.

The Lord elevates her to a special position among mankind, not only because of her role as the bearer of the Messiah, but also because of her obedience and her attitude towards the will of God. But she is still human like us and not divine. It is a misconception for many, both outside and even inside the Church, that we worship her as a divine being. Yet, Mary is blessed among women, among all mankind, and she is our role model.

Mary is our role model, the greatest of the saints, and her life examples are exemplary. Her role in the plan of salvation is indeed intended for us to follow and emulate. So today, as we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and as we continue to proceed through the blessed season of Advent, we are reminded of the role that Mary has in the salvation of mankind, with our time now of preparing to celebrate the coming of Christ.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today, let us draw ever closer to the Lord, through the life and example of Mary His mother, who appeared to the people of Mexico in Guadalupe, that all of us will also be able to be like her, following the Lord, committing ourselves to the laws and precepts of the Lord, and be righteous and true in the eyes of God.

May the Lord our God who bless us with Mary His mother, whom He entrusted to us as our mother, continue to bless us, watch over us, and may through her intercession, we will be drawn ever closer to salvation in her Son. Amen.

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Wednesday, 11 December 2013 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of Pope St. Damasus I, Pope (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Popes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Lord lies our rest, and in Him lies our true joy and hope, and the hope of true happiness in Him. This hope of joy is not the same as the joy of this world, of that which is offered by the evil one to us, through the pleasures of this world. In God only lies all the comfort and satisfaction that the world cannot give.

It may seem to us that following the Lord is not an appealing option to us, and we would prefer indeed to follow the ways of the world, enjoying what is there in the world to give us, rather than troubling ourselves with the burdens of following the ways of God. But this is exactly where we are mistaken, for indeed, the burdens that are laid upon us if we follow the Lord, are temporary, but the burdens that we will have to endure, if we deny the Lord, is heavier and eternal.

Our God loves us in ways that all of us can never completely comprehend, due to the vastness and infinite nature of this divine love. He never gives up on us, even as we fell into sin and evil, and even as we betrayed Him and caused Him suffering, as He bore our sins down with Him on the way to Calvary, and onto the cross. He loves us all the same, even after all of that.

He is rich in mercy and great in compassion. We might have caused Him much sorrow, for our constant rebellions and disobedience against His will, but He did not give up His love and care for us all, unless we ourselves continue to defy Him, all the way to the end, and reject His offer of love and forgiveness. It is our defiance and arrogance that ultimately will lead us to ruin.

Following the Lord and to walk in His ways is not easy, not easy indeed for us. This is because we who have been tempted by Satan, in our ancestors, are predisposed to temptation by sin, and to be tempted to veer away from the true path towards salvation. We are easily swayed, by the goodness of the other way, that is the evil’s way, easier but deadly. We are also easily tempted by the offers of Satan, who gave us the offering of all the goods that he can give.

And as often mentioned, the ways of this world and the way of the Lord frequently do not match, and therefore, there will be displeasure and difficulties should we decide to follow the path of righteousness. There will be even jeers, mockery, and even hatred towards us, because we are different. Yet, such are the little price that we ought to pay, for the greater price of our salvation.

Today we celebrate the feast of Pope St. Damasus I, one of the saints who were also jeered, mocked, and opposed in his ministry. This is exactly as how the Lord Himself had been opposed and rejected by those who walked in the ways of evil. Pope St. Damasus I was opposed by his own people, many of whom supported a rival candidate as Pope, nominating him as an Antipope. Nevertheless, Pope St. Damasus I did not fear nor was he affected by all those negative opinions about him.

Pope St. Damasus I stood strong in the face of those oppositions and campaigned against them with the fury and wrath that is of the Lord Himself. He was particularly staunch in his opposition against heresy, particularly Arianism, which was truly widespread in Christendom at the time, poisoning the minds of many people against the true faith.

Pope St. Damasus I worked hard to strengthen the faith in many people and many areas under his care, as the Vicar of Christ. He was also credited with the codification of the Holy Scriptures and its translation of the Scripture into the Latin language in the Vulgate Bible as done by St. Jerome. Pope St. Damasus I was the patron of that great saint and Doctor of the Church.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, you have seen how walking in the way of the Lord and to be His servant, is by no means easy. There will be many challenges and opposition, precisely as what had been experienced by Pope St. Damasus I, and by many other saints and the Apostles themselves. But they did not let these to hinder them, and instead these oppositions helped to further push them on to work even harder for the sake of the Lord.

Pope St. Damasus I and the other saints showed us that, we should not worry or fear rejection from this world, for after all, it has first rejected the Lord Himself. Instead, we should put our complete faith and trust in the Lord, in whom we will have true joy and true rest. For indeed, the Lord did offer us a burden, because His path is not an easy one, but that burden is a light one, and at the end of the way, He will lift up that burden from us, and give us an unparalled crown of unending and heavenly glory.

May the Lord with the intercession of Pope St. Damasus I and other holy men and women who ceaselessly praise Him daily with the angels, continue to watch over us, strengthen us, and reinforce our faith in Him. God bless us all. Amen.