Satan

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Tuesday, 26 March 2013 : Tuesday of Holy Week (Gospel Reading)

John 13 : 21-33, 36-38

After saying this, Jesus was distressed in Spirit, and said plainly, “Truly, one of you will betray Me.” The disciples then looked at one another, wondering whom He meant. One of the disciples, the one Jesus loved, was reclining near Jesus; so Simon Peter signaled him to ask Jesus whom He meant.

And the disciple, who was reclining near Jesus, asked Him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “I shall dip a piece of bread in the dish, and he to whom I give it, is the one.” So Jesus dipped the bread and gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And as Judas took the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus then said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”

None of the others, reclining at the table, understood why Jesus said this to Judas. As Judas had the common purse, they may have thought that Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast, ” or, “Give something to the poor.” Judas left as soon as he had eaten the bread. It was night.

When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. God will glorify Him, and He will glorify Him very soon. My children, I am with you for only a little while; you will look for Me, but as I already told the Jews, so now I tell you : where I am going you cannot come.”

Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going? Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but afterwards you will.” Peter said, “Lord, why can’t I follow You now? I am ready to give my life for You.”

“To give your life for Me?” Jesus asked Peter, “Truly I tell you, the cock will not crow, before you have denied Me three times.”

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Sunday, 24 March 2013 : Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Holy Week (Scripture Reflection)

Christ, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whom we know as our Saviour, through His death on the cross at Calvary, had His story of the Passion He went through for our sake told today, beginning from the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and ending with the great Resurrection on Easter Sunday. It all began in what today’s commemoration called as the Palm Sunday, the beginning of the Holy Week, in which in this holiest of all weeks in history, the story of salvation of all mankind was unfold. It marked the culmination of Jesus’ mission on this world to save it and bring it back into unity with God the Father, who loves all.

Palm Sunday marked how Christ came into Jerusalem, welcomed as a ‘king’ and glorified with the palms and hymns, and all the people glorifying God and mentioned His descent from David, as a sign of His mission to make God’s promise fulfilled to David, that is to establish David’s throne forever through Him, and to mark the return of the true King to the people of Israel. He is indeed a king of glory who will lead His beloved people to glory and victory once again, and this victory is none other than that of the ultimate triumph over evil, Satan, and all his evil plots that had plagued all mankind since he brought Adam and Eve, our forefathers to evil and rebellion against God.

Yes, Christ had entered Jerusalem in order to bring about that triumph, that victory against Satan who had enchained mankind to slavery under sin since the beginning of creation. He came as the one to liberate mankind, as their king to lead them out of the darkness of evil. Yes, Christ is a king, king of all kings indeed. For in Him lies all authority and all power that is there on earth and in heaven. But yet, our Lord remains humble, a servant leader. For even He entered Jerusalem not on a mighty warhorse or elephants as kings and rulers of the earth would do or had done before, but on a humble donkey, widely considered as a dumb and weak animal.

Yes, and as Christ had mentioned in the Last Supper He had with His disciples, the greatest among all, the leader should be the servant of all, and show the leadership, not via strong arms, wealth, or power, but through example through service. That a leader truly is a leader only if he serves as an example of his leadership, for a leader is not made a leader to glorify that leader, but most importantly that he will do good for the sake of others, especially those upon whom he had been appointed as a leader for.

And remember, Jesus Christ Himself had said that His kingdom is not of this world, but is a kingdom of love and truth, and not of power, strength, and glory. For Christ had come into this world, to be that servant leader, that as its leader, being God, who created it and all mankind and creations on earth, He had come to show example through His teachings and His actions, and also showed example to other leaders on how they should be responsible on their duties entrusted to them, as well as showing them how to lead as He had done.

He came to Jerusalem to face His death, as we all know, that He was to die on that week, which we commemorate every year on Good Friday. From that jubilation and glorification that we see and commemorate today of His entry, within a short time, all that turned to lamentation, and worse, condemnation, when they shouted “Crucify Him!” at Christ when He was being condemned to death before Pilate. He shows that power and glory indeed are just temporary, and indeed things may just change as quickly as it would, as it was with Christ, who was hailed as King and then condemned to die like a criminal within the same week.

Jesus wanted to enter Jerusalem because He must do so in order to accomplish the mission that had been given to Him by the Father, and also because He is of the Father, He also loves us that He wants to save us, despite all the difficulties and the sufferings that He had to go through. Being human as Jesus is, He Himself too feel the suffering that all of us suffer from, and even He asked God the Father, to let that cup of suffering that He had to drink to pass from Him. Such is the extent of suffering that He had to suffer from that even Jesus, who is fully human and fully divine, was also pushed to the point of wavering in the face of such unprecedented and unimaginable weight that He had to bear.

Indeed, inside that cup of suffering, is all our sins, our faults, and our rebellions against God. That is all the weight of sin that Christ had to bear through His suffering until His death, in order to purchase us from Satan, our jailor, our slaver. He redeemed us from our slavery to sin by His own being, His own Precious Body and Precious Blood, which He freely gave to all of us, that we may have eternal life in Him.

It is up to us entirely whether to follow Christ, in taking up our crosses as Christ had asked of us and His disciples, and therefore in doing so, sharing in the cross of Christ and therefore in His glory upon His resurrection, or we can be like His accusers and like those who shouted for His death, or by continuing to live in our state of sin, and therefore adding more and more to that cup which Christ had to bear, and also therefore took part passively in scourging Christ and creating His wounds.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we begin this Holy Week and all the celebrations and Masses that we are going to have, let us keep our focus on Christ, on Christ crucified on the cross, for through that cross all of us were saved from sin and eternal damnation, and also on Christ Resurrected, which on Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday, and indeed through the entire Easter season we are going to celebrate. That despite the death of Jesus on the Cross, all is not lost, since on the third day, He was risen to life again, and was resurrected in glory, to show the final victory of God and light over Satan and his agents of darkness.

Holy Week is not just like any other week, but it is indeed a very important week, and should be the most important week in our calendar year, when there are so many events surrounding the salvation of the world are being commemorated. We should do our best and our utmost in order to make this Holy Week a truly holy and blessed week. Let us reflect on the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ as we begin this Holy Week, with today, reflecting over the entry of Jesus in Jerusalem, how Jesus, the king of all kings, and Son of God the Most High, entered Jerusalem, His Holy City on a donkey, a lowly animal, and readily welcoming the death that would take Him that same week in Jerusalem.

May God Almighty bless all of us and make this Holy Week a truly holy and blessed week for all of us. Happy Holy Week! Amen.

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Thursday, 21 March 2013 : 5th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

Jesus, our Lord, has been the harbinger of a new covenant between us and God, just as God had established His covenant with Abraham in the days long past. He made the covenant with Abraham because of Abraham’s great faith and love for God, and obedience to the point that he was willing to offer his own son, the promised son God had promised him, to be offered as sacrifice without hesitation. For his great faith, love, and obedience, he has been rewarded with God’s promise that he will be the father of a great nation and that his descendants be as countless as the stars, and his descendants will last forever.

This covenant made the people of Israel, God’s chosen people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through whom God repeatedly renewed and reiterated His covenant with Israel. Yet, despite the constant proof of His love and His obedience to the covenant that He had made, the people of Israel, after their liberation from Egypt’s slavery, constantly were in rebellion against God, and were unrepentant, despite the numerous prophets and signals He had brought to the people over the centuries.

They rebelled against Him, and murdered His prophets, and smeared their blood on the streets of Samaria and Jerusalem, that eventually made God abandoned the kingdoms that His people had chosen to make, starting with Saul, and ended with Zedekia in Judea, and were brought away to the seventy years in exile in Babylon. He, however, did not forget at all the covenant He had made all those years ago with Abraham. He remembered the covenant perfectly, and He brought His people back to their homeland.

Yet, they still rebelled and many years passed where the people of Israel abandoned God. Remember the Book of Maccabees, and the story of the struggle of the Maccabees against their Greek overlords who imposed pagan gods over the people of Israel, which saw many readily threw away their love and obedience to God and His covenant. Yet, God always remained true to His covenant at all times, and as we knew, that God has sent His one and only deliverance to His people, and this people counted it not only that of Israel, but that of all the descendants of Adam, all mankind He had created.

That salvation came through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Word of God, who is one with God the Father in perfect unity, and He is the only one worthy on heaven and earth, to end the chains of slavery of sin, to end the corruption of Satan and all his evil plans, and to bring all creation, all mankind, back towards God who loves them so much. Jesus Christ, is the harbinger of a new Covenant, in place of the covenant that God had made with Abraham.

No, not to replace that covenant, but rather to perfect that covenant. A new covenant not only to show God’s love and undying care for His people, but also to bring them to be once again fully reunited against Him. That love and that covenant came about and was fulfilled, as we remember it, in the events surrounding the Holy Week, in which the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ is celebrated every year. Through Christ’s suffering, death, and finally resurrection on the third day in glory, He made the new covenant fulfilled, which He gave to us, through His Precious Body and Precious Blood.

Remember the words when the Blood of Christ in the chalice is elevated at the Mass at the consecration, “Take this all of you and drink for it, for this is the Chalice of My Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins, do this in the memory of Me.” Indeed, the Body and Blood of Christ that He had offered through His sacrifice and death on the cross marked the new Covenant God made with all of us.

If we remain true to this Covenant and remain faithful to this Covenant, God will definitely also bless us, and will keep true to the Covenant, for He is ever faithful and ever loving. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us today pray for one another, that we will continue to keep our faith, hope, and love in God, and remain true to our part in this new Covenant of Christ. Remember this every time we take in His Body and His Blood at the Mass. May God remain with us always, and bless us, with eternal life. Amen.

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

Jesus taught us today that we need to become true witnesses and witnesses that are faithful and obsessed with the truth, just as He is truthful, the perfect witness with God the Father, who brought witness to the truth He taught while He was in this world, dispelling lies and all the evils that had ravaged our world since the beginning of time.

It is not easy to remain truthful, since our world itself is full of lies and deceit that is of the devil. He spreads lies and falsehoods so that we will be divided among ourselves, among fellow brothers and sisters in faith. This will weaken us in our struggle to fight against evil, and also reduce our resolve to life this life as God wants us, that is a life filled with love, truth, and faith in Christ.

Instead, indeed, many of us succumbed to the temptations of the world, and temporal pleasures, especially that of the flesh. This was what had happened to the two elders appointed over the people of Israel, given authority and responsibility, but failed in their given ministry, all due to the failure to restrain themselves and let themselves to be taken in by worldly temptation. Indeed, as we can see what unfolds for them in the end, they had given up the true happiness in heaven, as righteous and just servants of the Lord, for moments of temporary and unguarded lust, to seek the faithful wife, Susanna.

They have abandoned their duty and their ministry in search of what the devil offers for them, through lust and disobedience, they almost brought an innocent soul in the eyes of God, into condemnation to death. This is because they acted not as a witness based on love for justice and for the truth of God, but they acted as witness out of lies, and human selfishness, of self preservation and of greed and lust.

Because they wanted to gain the noble woman, which they failed, and in their minds, their lust turned into hatred and deceitful plot to destroy that woman before it can destroy them. It is as if they want to approach sinful actions, but they never realised the effects of those acts until they had already committed the acts.

Instead of humbling themselves before God and asking for forgiveness, they instead misused their power and the authority given to them as witnesses to persecute the weak and attempted to remove evidences against them. This is what the Lord wants us to avoid, so that we will not be witnesses of falsehoods and lies, but rather follow in the example of Christ, who taught the truth to the people of Israel, with God as His witness.

Today, we also celebrate the feast of a great saint of the early Church, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who was a distinguished theologian of the early Church, and he was very pious and zealous in defending the truth on his ministry, which his opponents constantly attacked with falsehoods in order to remove him from his position as Bishop of Jerusalem. He defended the faithful as a strong witness for the truth that Christ had brought into this world, and stood firm against false teachings of the heretics at that time, Arians, Monophysites, and many other false witnesses of the Lord.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, have we done our part in proclaiming the Gospel of our Lord? To be His witnesses in this world? That no one can say like the Pharisees did, that asking and questioning the Lord’s power through need of witness, which they themselves, blinded by those same human weaknesses and faults that had blinded the two elders at the judgment of Susanna.

Let us strive to love one another, and to be truthful and honest in all dealings that we make, so that we reflect the truth of our God, Jesus Christ, who came to bring the true witness of the love of God, as we have read in the Gospels. That we may also be able to follow the examples of St. Cyril of Jerusalem in being true witness of the truth, and stood firm against any form of falsehoods and lies about the Lord and our faith. May God bless us all. Amen.

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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.

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Thursday, 7 March 2013 : 3rd Week of Lent, Memorial of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Luke 11 : 14-23

One day, Jesus was driving out a demon, which was mute. When the demon had been driven out, the mute person could speak, and the people were amazed. Yet some of them said, “He drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons.” Others wanted to put Him to the test, by asking Him for a heavenly sign.

But, Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, “Every nation divided by civil war is on the road to ruin, and will fall. If Satan also is divided, his empire is coming to an end. How can you say that I drive out demons by calling upon Beelzebul? If I drive them out by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive out demons? They will be your judges, then.”

“But if I drive out demons by the finger of God; would not this mean that the kingdom of God, has come upon you? As long as a man, strong and well armed, guards his house, his goods are safe. But when a stronger man attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on, and disposes of his spoils.”

“Whoever is not with Me, is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me, scatters.”

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Sunday, 3 March 2013 : 3rd Sunday of Lent (Scripture Reflection) (First Scrutiny of Baptism)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is the story of salvation. First that of the people of Israel, and then all of us, who are saved, both by God, through His agents. The people of Israel suffered under great slavery in Egypt under the Pharaoh, who forced them to work day and night, to build the buildings and monuments for the Egyptians. God sent Moses, as His messenger to the Pharaoh to liberate His people from the chains of Egyptian slavery.

When Pharaoh refused, God sent the ten plagues to punish the Egyptians, who eventually let them go, but before they had even reached the Red Sea, the Pharaoh had yet changed his mind again and intent on re-enslaving the Israelites again. God split the Red Sea and brought His people across that sea and crushed the Egyptians under the waves as a sign of His faith and love to His people. And that He is not hesitant to punish those who had been ignorant and whose heart had been hardened against His love.

But yet, the Israelites rebelled, and had put the Lord to the test. They doubted His power and majesty, and even doubted His love. They complained against Him because of their thirst and hunger, despite God having constantly showing His kindness through the manna, the birds, and many other provisions along the way. They even mentioned going back to Egypt where they claimed that life under slavery would have been much better than to suffer and die in the desert. It is better to them they thought to live in slavery and hard work, but at least well fed by their slavemasters, than to be free and walking in the desert of death.

Then, it is the same, as the Lord Himself sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to be our Messiah, our Saviour, that all of us can be saved from certain death, under the slavery of sin and Satan, who is like Pharaoh, who is our slavemaster. We were servants of sin and were the thralls of Satan prior to our liberation through the waters of baptism, for through that living water of baptism, our thirst, the real thirst that we have, is quenched by the living water of Christ. Christ dwelled in us and became the living spring of water of eternal life.

For this living water of Christ quenches our real thirst and our real hunger and longing, that is not the physical thirst of water or hunger for food, but truly our thirst for the redeeming Word of God, and most importantly, the infinite love that God has for us. For separated from God, under the slavery of sin and evil, we are cut off from the love of God, and therefore, we suffer because of such separation.

We also constantly rebel against the Lord through our sins and our sinful ways, but the Lord is ever ready to forgive us, but only if we had not hardened our hearts against Him, and instead humbly asking Him for forgiveness. Let us not be like the Israelites who always complained that they did not have enough even though the Lord had provided them greatly, for who else in the world had ever received heavenly bread of manna as food every morning? And flocks of bird for them to eat? and crystal-clear water that satisfies thirst?

Let us therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, strive to be faithful to God, and most importantly, to know how to feel enough, and sufficient, and not to succumb to temptations and our greed, to have more, when we already have some that we need, and what is enough for us. This is what had driven the Israelites to rebel in the desert, because they felt that they did not have enough. Let us also open our hearts to God and His love, and let us be filled and satisfied by His love, through His dwelling in all of us and our hearts.

Pray brothers and sisters, that we will not fall back into the slavery of sin and evil. For evil will continue to try to put us back into slavery under him and sin, as all of us who are faithful in Christ and had been baptised, had been liberated by the living water of Christ, who died for us on the cross that our chains are broken, and we are freed, just like the lamb sacrificed on the Passover, the blood that marked the doors of the people of Israel that God would pass from them, so did Christ gave us His Precious Blood to mark us, that God knows that we belong to Him, and will not pass judgment of death upon us, but stay in Him and have eternal life.

May God keep us in His love, and keep us in His loving embrace, and protect us from the assaults of the evil one. That the chains that had been broken will not come back to chain us once again. For we are free and we now obey and love God and Him alone. Amen.

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Cardinal Keith O’ Brien of Edinburgh resigned amid controversy, and will not participate in Conclave

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/25/cardinal-obrien-resigns-full-statements

The resignation of Cardinal Keith O’ Brien, now Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of St. Andrews and Edinburgh in Scotland, UK, has been accepted by Pope Benedict XVI, and allegations of improper conduct have also arisen against him. As such, he found it wise not to participate in the Conclave, which will happen sometime in March 2013.

Therefore, at this moment, we will have 115 Cardinal-electors barring any other Cardinals who may also skip the Conclave due to poor health such as Cardinal-Patriarch Antonios Naguib of the Coptic Catholics who is reported to be in ill health.

 

With regards to Cardinal O’ Brien, it is easy for many within, and especially from outside the Church of Christ to accuse not only him, but the whole Church itself. Many would be very happy to see the Church destroyed, and therefore, crushing the last bastion of truth and light in our struggle against evil. The world does hate Christ and those who believed in Him. We in the Church, and our leaders are human, and we are all sinners. Indeed, to those who have been given the trust and authority, much responsibility is given too.

Whatever bad things Cardinal O’ Brien had done, much good he had also done as well, in the service of our Lord. We thank him for his long service to God and His Church and pray that he will cooperate in all matters necessary, so that our Church, indeed, will be purged from all evil that has encroached into it in recent years. Indeed, Satan has been so busy working against God and His people that not only that he is not satisfied with just turning the world against us, it also corrupts even those inside, to destroy us.

This is why, the Year of Faith is important, because we must remember first and foremost that no matter what Satan throws at us, our faith must ever be impeccable and strong, and we must always centre ourselves in the love of God, through the Church. So, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray that the Lord will send His Holy Spirit to cleanse, not only our Church, but also the whole world, from Satan the deceiver. Pray for our Pope Benedict XVI who will be retiring soon, and for his soon-to-be elected successor. God bless the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church!

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Pope Benedict XVI will always be with us, in prayer : A praying Pope is an even stronger enemy of Satan than before!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eKOW7GhNAM

Pope Benedict XVI, our Pope, who will retire from his position as our Pope effective this Thursday, 28 February 2013, will not leave us and will not abandon us. Rather, through life dedicated in prayer and good works through writing, our Pope will be a greater leader than he has ever been.

Even though we will no longer see him regularly as we could in the past 8 years, we know that he prays for us, and as our mediator with God. As the praying Pope in his retirement, he will be able to oppose Satan and his forces set to destroy God’s Church, even better. In prayer our Pope will give us strength and courage to rise up and crush Satan’s forces and his diabolical plans for this world.

Let us pray for our beloved Pope, Benedict XVI!

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Monday, 28 January 2013 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflection)

Today, once again we see Jesus in His role as the High Priest and the Messiah sent by God. He is the Son, one of the Trinity, whom the Father sent down to us, for our sake, out of His great love for us. He is filled with the Holy Spirit, unlike the slander of the teachers of the Law as mentioned in the Gospel, who accused and slandered Jesus’ miracle work to be the work of Satan and his evil spirits.

Then why was Jesus so angry with them such that He rebuked them mentioning that sinning against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven, although He said that even those who insulted God can be forgiven? The reason is because, we need to differentiate between those who does not know God, but can recognise good works and miracles, which eventually originated in God, and those who claim that they know and love God, but cannot even recognise the very work of the Holy Spirit, which is manifested in the good works and miracles, as Jesus did.

The teachers of the Law belong to that second group of people, who are supposedly very knowledgeable about the Law and thus about God, but failed to see the works of God and the Holy Spirit through Jesus, and instead slanders the Holy Spirit in Jesus by attributing the works to the power of Satan. This is a kind of ultimate hypocrisy on the teachers’ side and Jesus clearly did not tolerate this, for as much as God is indeed forgiving and loving, He also hates sin. These teachers of the Law were the guides of the people, and they set the moral standard of the people of God. If they themselves slander the Lord and His great works through Jesus, then they are not a good guides of the people, since instead of bringing the people to the Lord, they will make people fall into sin instead.

Jesus Himself said : “If anyone cause these little ones (also mean the people, the faithful) who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him to be thrown into the sea with large milestone around his neck.” This is why Jesus was very angry at the teachers of the Law due to their role in deceiving people on the works of the Holy Spirit. The same too should also apply to our priests today, as they too are human, and are subject to temptations as we are. Therefore, let us fervently pray for them, that all of them will remain faithful to their calling, and will commit themselves fully to God and His works, ministering to God’s people to the best of their abilities. Let them not to fall into temptation and thus sin, as what has happened to some of our wayward priests. Pray for these priests too, that they can return to the light, and do their best to atone for whatever evil they have committed. God truly loves all and forgives all, even the worst of sinners.

Then, Jesus also emphasized again on the unity of the Church, the Church He has established and entrusted to St. Peter the Apostle. He said that if Satan is divided against himself and has his followers divided against him in a civil war, he will not be able to stand and be vanquished. The same also applies to our own Church, as how are we going to beat Satan and his evil works, if our own Church is divided against itself?

Many people throughout the centuries, fueled by personal ambitions and selfish desires had led to the fracturing of the unity of the Body of Christ, the Church. As a result, today, although technically there is still only One Church that exist, our own Catholic Church, established by Christ Himself and entrusted to Peter, there now in our world exists thousands of churches, which are the splinters and fragments of this holy Body. Even worse that instead of working together, many of these churches attack one another’s faith, and many of them also even went astray from the true faith in Christ, preferring alternative sources and leaders than Christ and the Holy Scripture itself. Many of the attacks were even directed at the Church itself, and many believed in the falseness that arose out of misunderstanding of the faith, and through centuries of division and enmity, born out of human imperfections.

Today, we celebrate the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas, a great Doctor of the Church, who was called Doctor Angelicus, or the “Angelic Doctor” out of his great piety, his great faith, and most importantly, out of his great works of the faith and in the field of theology, that helps to define the basis of our modern Church, and also influenced many aspects of our modern world. He is the one person that we look up to, in the matters of the faith, and many aspirants to the priesthood should indeed read his great writings and learn more about the faith, to anchor themselves properly in Christ, that they will not be led astray like those wayward priests, or even worse to be like those teachers of the Law rebuked by Christ. St. Thomas Aquinas also defined many concepts of Christian virtues and ethics, which act as guidelines on how all of us Christians should strive to be. Let us all take some time to try and find the writings of this great Saint, read them, and reflect on them. In doing so, all of us, laity and ordained members of the Church alike, can gain great holiness.

Therefore, today, let us also strive to work for unity of all Christians, of all who believes in Christ. Let us stand up to our faith, and equipped ourselves with the knowledge of our faith and the Holy Scripture, to always be ready with answers, especially when a person who does not yet believe in Christ, or even our separated brethren in Christ came to us with questions about the faith, and about our Church, we are able to give a good answer, and may indeed help to dispel many misconceptions that others have on both the faith, and the Catholic Church, the One Church that God has established, that hopefully, one day, all Christians will be reunited again, and be able to call each other, brothers and sisters in Christ, once again.

Let us work to help fulfill the prayer of Christ to the Father : “That they may be One as we are One; I in them and You in Me. Thus they shall reach perfection in unity; and the world shall know that You have sent Me, and that I have loved them, just as You loved Me.”, and let the world truly know the Lord through our Christian unity, and stand up united against Satan and all his evil angels and supporters. God bless us all, and God bless our priests, and God bless our Pope, Benedict XVI, Amen.

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.

 

+Ut Omnes Unum Sint, ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam+

(That they all may be One, for the greater glory of God)