Scripture Reflection

by

Wednesday, 20 March 2013 : 5th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

Sin and the evil that comes with sin and rebellion against God has indeed enslaved us, even when many of us don’t realise that we are being enslaved. That is also because we adopt a rather open attitude at sin, and even embrace sin and evil, to the point that we are indeed almost glad at being slaves of sin and evil. We have been enslaved by sin as our forefathers were, since the days of rebellion of Adam, the first man, and Eve, the first woman.

Sin is evil, and is a state of rebellion against the love and authority of God. That is why God, who loves us so much, being the greatest of His creations, would want to send His own Son in order to save us. For slavery under sin is costly indeed, for anyone who want to liberate those slaves, that is us, from that mountains of sin. Imagine the amount of sin that we accumulate daily, not even counting yearly, or even our whole lives!

Imagine the weight of sin that Christ had to bear on Golgotha, that is Calvary, and on His journey towards there. When we do devotions especially in the form of the Stations of the Cross this Lent, indeed we would have heard and would have been reminded of the physical sufferings and burdens that Christ had to carry, with His heavy cross onto Calvary from Jerusalem. Yet, the heaviest weight, is not that of the visible and physical, but in fact, those that are invisible, and these were the mountains of our sins, all of us, past, present, and future.

Yes, in order to free us from our slavery, as Christ had mentioned in the Gospel today as what He wanted, a perfect and worthy sacrifice and exchange is necessary. No amount of animal blood and sacrifices will ever be worthy or enough to alleviate our sins, no matter how many times they were offered to God, as per the Law of Moses.

It is the very Precious Body and Blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, that is worthy of cleansing us from our sins and ‘purchasing’ us to free us from the slavery of sin. He has to die on the cross for that to happen. And yet so many people wished for His death, not because they want to be freed from their sins, but because they had grown so comfortable in sin, that they did not want sin to end enslaving them, but continue to dominate them in perpetuation.

So blinded were the people that they failed to see the freedom that God had brought them. Remember the rebellion of Israel against Moses and God at Massah and Meribah? When they grumbled that God had led them to the desert to die? That the life under slavery in Egypt were much better and much more suitable to them? That is the same, but now the Lord, through Jesus Christ had come to liberate all mankind, not just Israel, from the slavery of sin, but yet, there were still those who rejected our Lord just like at Massah and Meribah.

God offers His salvation and liberation of all of us from sin for free, for the price of His Body and Blood, which we receive regularly at the Mass, as the result of the Sacrifice offered by the priest, in union with the Sacrifice on Calvary. It is readily offered and available for us, if only our heart and our being are open to this freedom by the Lord.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray, that we will remain strong in our faith and in our conviction to remain in the Lord, and be free from sin and the chains of slavery it brings. May we remain in God’s love and remember always His love and sacrifice on the cross for our sake. God bless us all. Amen.

by

Tuesday, 19 March 2013 : 5th Week of Lent, Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of Blessed Virgin Mary (Scripture Reflection)

Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, and Mother of God, was not the natural and biological father of Jesus, our Lord, but legally and in all understandings, he is a father of our Lord, the foster father, who took care of Jesus while He was still young, and also protected Mary, His mother, in the Holy Family. He is the role model of how a father should be like, a loving and caring person, who put their family at their utmost care and attention.

Joseph was an upright man, and he was also righteous in the eyes of God. This is why, in the addition to Mary and her ultimate obedience to God, why God decided to come into this world through them, through Mary, as His mother, whose womb would be where He would come forth, and through Joseph, whose character and personality, made him as good as a foster father as one can be for Jesus, the Son of God Most High.

For Jesus was human as much as He is divine. Fully human yet also fully divine, all united in the person of Jesus, the Christ. He needs a father figure who can love Him and care for Him in the human and earthly manner, just like God His Father in heaven is His true Father provides for Him through the Holy Spirit. This father figure is Joseph, who by that virtue, is also the ‘father’ and patron of our Church.

For our Church was established by Christ Himself, and which He built on Peter His Apostle. This Church can therefore be considered to be under the protection and patronage of Joseph, God’s foster father. For he protected our Lord when King Herod chased after Him after His birth, and by the initiatives given by the angel in the dream, he brought the Holy Family to Egypt.

He cared for our Lord in His early years and teach Him all the trades that he knew, that is as a carpenter, that is why Jesus was also known as the ‘Son of a carpenter’, for his foster father Joseph, was neither a rich, influential, nor a powerful man. He was just a righteous man of God, dedicated to his family, as well as to whatever God has given him the hands for, that is to make good works with the wood, and from there perhaps bring glory to God.

Many of us today are shy about our upbringing and our backgrounds. Worse still, many of us are reluctant to tell people about who our parents are and what they are like, especially when we have become successful, influential, powerful, and rich. Many of us tend to prefer to forget our past and ‘move on’, to enter the world as new men and women, forgetting our parents who had brought us up to who we are today. Through their hard work, just as Joseph’s hard work and care as the father, and Mary’s nurturing love, they had brought us up, to be strong men and strong women we are today.

Jesus learnt His lessons on humanity and what it is like directly from His parents, who prepared Him for His eventual ministry after His baptism at the Jordan. Joseph particularly taught Him the virtues of hard work and being upright just as he was upright before the eyes of God, just as Mary showed Him the love and care that a mother would have on her son.

How many of us, in our families had done as what the Holy Family had done? and how many of fathers out there who had shown their care for their sons, their daughters, and their wives? Yes, indeed, I can say that there are many amongst us who had done so, or at least aspired to do so, but there are yet still many out there who ignored all these noble examples of Joseph, in bringing up the child Jesus to be whom we eventually know Him to be, the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

Just as Abraham is faithful, and even to the point of giving his only son as a sacrifice to God, when he was tested, therefore even greater is the love and faith that God has in us, that as the perfect Father, He gave us His being in His only Son, a third of the Holy Trinity, to be a worthy sacrificial victim, worthy to redeem all of us from all our sins and our rebellions from Him. Why? Because we are also His children, as Christ is human just like us, He has lowered Himself to take the form of a lowly and humble Man, that we can be saved. They and Joseph, are indeed a role model to all fathers, but even not only just to the fathers, but also to all of us. Since all of us are called to love and care for one another.

Let us remember all this as we approach the Holy Week which will happen next week. As we approach the memorial of our Lord’s endless and unconditional love for us, to give Himself up for our sake. Also let us remember of course Joseph, His father, who gave so much to his Son and family, through his protection and his righteousness, protecting them from harm and showering them with love. Let us pray to St. Joseph, that we can be as loving as him, that we can be as righteous as he is, and we can take care and love for our families, friends, and all the people around us, just as he did, and just as our Lord did.

St. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us sinners. Amen.

by

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.

by

Sunday, 17 March 2013 : 5th Sunday of Lent (Third Scrutiny for Baptism) (Scripture Reflection)

Love, faith, hope, and forgiveness. These are the virtues that the readings taught us today. Faith, hope, and love being the three most important virtues being taught by Christ to all of us, and forgiveness or mercy, being the extension of love into the faults and sins of others. These virtues make our faith in God alive and manifest, and through these virtues, our world can indeed be made better, despite the ever-presence of sin, darkness, and evil.

For in our world today, it is too easy for people to judge one another, to condemn one another, to have no love for one’s fellow men, and rather to destroy one another through endless litanies of curses, personal attacks, and condemnations. It is in our human nature to seek out the faults in others, and to condemn others when they fall. But yet, as the case of the condemned woman in adultery in our Gospel today showed, we are often blind to our own faults and predicaments in that case.

So focused we are in the faults of others that we forgot that we too, are sinners before the eyes of the Lord, equally if not more unworthy to stand in front of our God who hates sin, than even the one whom we are condemning and judging against. For sin had been in the hearts of men, and had always corrupted mankind’s actions and behaviour ever since the day of the first rebellion of our forefathers.

This is why God, our Father, sent His only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, to be our redeemer, to redeem us from our certain death, that is our destiny for having sinned against God. It is through Him that God’s works became manifest in this world. Through healing of the blind, the deaf, the paralytic, the possessed, and even Lazarus, whom He resurrected from the dead. Nothing is impossible for God, only if we believe in Him, and have faith in Him.

Through the power of God too, we learn the value of forgiveness, for He forgave the woman who was accused of adultery from her sins, providing that she truly repented and that she led a virtuous life from then onwards. He did not accuse, for He, who will be the great Judge of all at the Last Judgment, sees into the hearts of all the people, and in this case, He looked into the hearts of all, the condemned woman, and those who condemned her.

Indeed, she had been sinful in His eyes, and her sin of adultery was plain for Him to see, but even more so were the sins of those who had brought her before Jesus, so that they could test Him, find a mistake in Him, and then arrested Him. These motives clearly did not escape the attention of our Lord, who found them to be wanting, even more than that of the women.

This is why we have to learn not to judge others and condemn others, especially without base, without proper reasoning, and with malice in our hearts, intent on the destruction and downfall of others. For hatred, jealousy, and vice can eventually bring our judgment to be corrupted, and we are no longer wise judges just as Christ was, when He judged both the woman, and the people who shouted for her death, but in fact was testing Jesus.

Christ has the power to forgive, just as the power to heal, as He is after all the Son of God. But those people in Israel at that time, particularly the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, blinded by jealousy and by their hatred of Him, as well as by their rigid and unreasonable attachment to their human laws, prevented them from approaching the Lord for healing and forgiveness, and instead, they persecuted Him, and eventually brought Him to His death on the cross.

Nevertheless, notice that Christ, despite all these oppositions, still wanted to save them, and forgave them for what they had done, even until the very end. We should imitate Christ’s example, and begin, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, to forgive one another, no matter what pain and faults the other one has done for us. It is time to forgive, to let go of our anger, hatred, jealousy, and whatever negative and evil feelings we may have.

Instead, let us cultivate love and compassion in our hearts, that we can grow to love God further and more, and also to love all men as we have loved Him, who also loves us all. Let us set aside our differences, and embrace one another as brethren, and pray for those who persecutes us, for those who judges us unjustly. Do not judge them back, and do not despise them, but instead worry about the salvation of their souls. Pray for them.

We will therefore grow in our compassion and our love, and our hearts will no longer be hardened like that of the Pharisees. Instead we will have hearts like a contrite man and a humble tax collector, who came bowing low before God, fully aware of the extent of his sins. And also to be like Christ, to be moved by the plight of others, with a heart of compassion, to love others, to care for them, and to listen to their needs and cries.

Today, let us also pray for our brethren who has decided to join God’s Church, through the calling that each of them had received from the Lord, that God will strengthen them in their journey, that as they approach their baptism on Easter Vigil, they will grow ever stronger in faith, hope, and love, from now on, and forever.

May God guide us and bless us, to ever be loving children of His, to ever bring glory to His Name, through our loving and forgiving actions in this world, deprived of such love, mercy, hope, and compassion. Amen.

by

Saturday, 16 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s readings we see how, the righteous ones and the ones sent by the Lord, the prophets, and even our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, received slander, persecution, and were actively rejected by many in the society, not least by those who indeed should have been closer to God than that of the rest of the society.

These people are the Pharisees, the priests and the experts in the Law of God, passed through Moses, they are also expert in the Torah and the writings of the words of the prophets, that it is why they could say that no prophet is ever said to come from Galilee, because basically they really know the prophets, their sayings, and the Law itself. But yet, they have failed to see God, and failed to see His works, when it was already in fact right in front of their eyes.

The reason for their failure to see the good works of the Lord is that they have been blinded, their eyes had been blocked by the very arrogance and pride that clouds their heart and hardened that heart against the love of God. Jealousy became the order of the day, as these priests, instead of being happy and supportive of Christ’s good works, they slandered Him, accused Him of using the devil to perform miracles, and plotted against Him to kill Him. They would eventually succeeded in capturing Him after the Lord’s Last Supper, put Him on trial, and brought Him to Pilate to be condemned to death, death on the cross.

We should not follow their examples, and we too should lower our pride and our selfishness before God. We must put the Lord ahead of men, and put our attention on the Lord ahead of any personal glorification through majesty, wealth, or even simplification, and publicity. Priests and leaders of the Church must strive to remain humble in their ministry.

But remember, very importantly, never dabble in the false sense of humility through excessive display of humility or simplification, especially and certainly, we must never let the Holy Mass be simplified to the point that it loses the sanctity and meaning, as the Holy Sacrifice where Jesus offers us His Most Precious Body and Blood.

Very often people has misunderstood the noble simplicity as mentioned in the Vatican II document, Sacrosanctum Concilium, focusing way too much on the simplicity, that it is no longer noble. There is a need for balance, that the liturgy does not become too flagrant a display of excessive wealth and worldliness, but at the same time also there should be proper decorum and avoidance of insertion of non-liturgical elements into the Mass, and also avoidance of stripping the Mass so much that it ceases to be solemn and devout.

Instead, the way is to live a life of prayer and dedication to God, and strive to put the Lord ahead of ourselves, and to make God the centre of our lives. Through the Mass, the centre of our faith, we can make the Lord indeed as the centre of our life, via the solemn and magnificent liturgy and execution of the Mass, that the Lord is glorified at the Mass.

Remember that the Mass is not about self, and it is not to be centred at the priest-celebrant, but to be centred to the Lord Himself. The vestments, the beautiful adornments, and the solemn atmosphere in the Mass is dedicated entirely to God, that we glorify the Lord, and through these external glorification, we bring mankind closer to God, simply by unearthly experience that all of us can experience in the Mass, through a solemn and devout liturgy of the Mass.

We humble ourselves before the Lord, and focus our attention on the glorious cross of Christ, both for us behind the altar, and for the priest, the altar cross, according to the Benedictine Altar arrangement, that all of us will put our full attention in Christ, and not on men. The cross must be the centre of our focus, our attention, and also be the focus of our hearts, that we continue to keep Christ in all things that we do, so that in whatever good that we do, God will be present, and will justify us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us rediscover our faith, particularly in this Holy Year of Faith, that we can grow much deeper in our understanding of the Mass and its liturgical contents, and learn to place the Lord at the centre of our lives, and grow stronger in our faith and love of God day by day. May we follow in Christ’s footsteps and not be proud, neither be vain, by discarding the darkness and veil of pride that blocks our heart from truly receiving the love and grace of our God. Amen.

by

Friday, 15 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

We have to be humble, brothers and sisters in Christ, and not to be engulfed in our personal pride and arrogance, that we will be able to truly see the Lord and His good works in our world today, which He had done through the Church, with our assistance.

So how is this humility like? Is it by lowering ourselves before others physically, or by mentioning it verbally? or by acting it out so that others can see this humility in us? No, as that would not be right, in fact not true humility.

True humility is rather shown by our hearts, and our being, in how we listen to God’s will, and accept the advice made by others, which in this case, is exemplified by the prophets who told the people of Israelites of the coming of the Messiah, that is Jesus Christ.

Instead, the people of Israel hardened their hearts, filled with pride and arrogance, rejected the Lord and plotted against Him, that is because of their refusal to settle down and open their hearts. both to God, and to listen to the words of their fellow men, the prophets who had been chosen to speak the words of our God.

These people in their pride thought that they knew the Lord, and through their great faith, they had been saved. But it is exactly this pride that covered the true humility that is in the heart, and brought about veil on their eyes, that they fail to see Christ, the Chosen One of God, and failed to recognise Him and His works as the works of that Divine Messiah.

Therefore brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray that our eyes can be opened, and the veil of pride and vanity that we have in us can be lifted from us, that we no longer focus on ourselves, but now can see clearly the graces and works of our God, and at the same time, also capable of sensing and seeing the sufferings and the troubles facing our fellow brethren in this world, and do our best to help alleviate their suffering. Physically, yes, but even more importantly, to help others in a spiritual manner.

For physical nourishment is finite and one will always be hungry again, but spiritual nourishment, through the love of God poured into them through us, will satisfy them and make them hungry no more. For spiritual hunger is more sinister and worse than that of the physical hunger, which bread can solve, but not for spiritual hunger.

May God bless us in our daily lives, that all of us will remain humble, in true humility that is of the heart and not of the shedding of externals, and true humility that humbles our souls before God instead of hypocrisy before others. May God bring our works for the good of others, make them greater, and bring them to complete fulfillment, Amen.

by

Thursday, 14 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

It is not easy to believe in God. Too often we are distracted by other things, by temptations, and those that offer items that seems to be better than what God can offer. Many would think, why do we believe in God, who we can’t see and who we can’t touch? Is it not better to put our faith in something more tangible? Something that is closer to us?

That is the exact argument of the people of Israel, when they thought that God has abandoned them, on the Mount Horeb, when He called Moses up the mountain for a long time. The people of Israel chose to turn to worldly god, the golden calf, because it can be touched, it can be seen, and it can be said as ‘present’ among the people of Israel. Then God was angry, and He wanted to wipe this rebellious people out of the face of the earth, but Moses begged God for their sake and God relented.

How is this then different from what is happening in our world today? Many of us today also have our own false gods, not in the form of a golden calf, but in the form of the distractions that we have in our world today. From materialism, consumerism, emphasis on wealth and affluence, worldly power, and many other different forms of temptations.

With all these things surrounding us, we become less perceptive of the Lord God, and His presence in our world today. The attention which we should have given Him alone, is now divided towards the things that keep us away from His love. These are the golden calves that we have to face in our lives. Those false gods that have kept us away from enjoying the fullness of God’s love and graces.

That is why, at the time of Jesus, the people of Israel have failed to open their eyes and see, and even if their eyes were open, they could not see, because their hardened hearts have kept the Lord away from them. For Jesus, the Son of God, had been sent into this world, so that through Him, all the works and love of God will be made manifest to all mankind. Those who believe in Him and believe in the prophets who proclaimed His coming would believe, but many would not.

That is because for the many people, their pride and their arrogance had become their golden calves, that prevented them from seeing the Lord in truth, and instead accused and mocked Him. They preferred something tangible, like miracles and wonders, which they can see and believe in, so that they will worship Jesus as their Lord. But they have failed to realise that the true mission of the Lord is not such, and as we knew, God has shown many signs and others through His prophets before the comng of Jesus, but yet they have failed to listen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us gathered here today have the benefit of listening the word of God, through the Holy Scripture, and through our priests, who teach us about the Lord and His mission in this world. And to all of us who had been baptised in the faith, we all have been promised great inheritance in heaven, if we remain faithful in God.

However, let us not be complacent, and let us strive to be not like the people of Israel, that is to remain faithful to God, and to turn not onto the false gods, in manner similar to that of the worship of the golden calf by most of the people of Israel. We should distance ourselves from these false gods, and began the path towards renewal in our faith towards our God.

To do that is to first be humble and be ready to lower ourselves before God, and not to blind ourselves with pride and arrogance, that with humility and faith in God, we will be able to see and recognise the Lord and His works in our daily lives. How to do this? None other than to have a constant prayer life, to pray continuously at all times, that God will empower us with faith in Him, that we can remain strong despite all the temptations the world places in our path.

And perhaps the best way is so that we will not be tempted to abandon God for something more ‘manifest’ and ‘tangible’ as in the false gods and the golden calf of Israel, is to make God truly manifest in our lives as well. There is nowhere better to make the Lord manifest, other than through the proper and solemn celebration of the Holy Mass. For in the Mass, we take part in the celebration of the Sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, in which the bread and wine are truly transformed into the very Precious Body and Blood of our Saviour, that the Lord becomes manifest, and this manifested Lord is who we receive into ourselves when we receive Holy Communion.

This is why it is important to have a proper and solemn celebration of the Mass, tainted as little as possible from external and worldly distractions, such as loud music, improper behaviour and conduct, and even the way we dress is important, since coming to the Mass is like coming to the Banquet of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Master of the Banquet, who is manifest in the Mass. As we are coming to be at God’s banquet, then we truly should prepare ourselves well, dress well and appropriately, and behave properly.

Remember the term ‘Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi’, which is when translated means, the way we worship determines the kind of faith that we have in us, and the faith that we have determines the kind of life that we will lead. If we do not approach the worship of the Mass with proper decorum and behaviour, how are we then to have a good faith in our Lord, who is indeed truly made manifest in the Mass through the Eucharist? Then if we have no faith, or little faith, our lives too will be barren, and we will be easily swayed and persuaded by the temptations of this world, to distance ourselves from our God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today, let us pray that we will be strengthened by God in our resolve to know Him better, to love Him more, and to have greater faith in Him. That we will be able to lead a strong prayerful life, that is supported by active participation in the Holy Mass, that we finally will know that we serve the living God, made manifest in the Eucharist, which He gives us to eat and drink, that we may have a part in His salvific mission. Amen.

by

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by

Tuesday, 12 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

Today, we see Christ, who bring upon us the living water, the water that satisfies all thirsts, in His miraculous healing of the sick man, on whom He had mercy and through His mercy, the sick man was healed and cured of his afflictions.

Yet again, we hear about the Jews and their laws on the Sabbath day, that is the day when the Lord completed His creation and rested. However, we must understand, the reason, and indeed the true reason behind having such a rule of the Sabbath, for the people of Israel, God’s chosen people.

The people of Israel was indeed a rebellious people, especially during the time when they escaped from Egypt on God’s providence, and crossed the Red Sea. Already they exhibited much doubts in the very God who saved them from the slavery of Egypt since then, and even forced Aaron, Moses’ brother to make for them a ‘replacement’ god in the shape of the golden calf.

They too had rebelled against the Lord often, and like at Massah and Meribah, again doubted God and His promise of delivering them into the Promised Land of milk and honey. They even complained that their lives in Egypt, though in slavery, had been much better than the present life, their lives in the desert. They refused the Lord’s offer in fearing the Canaanites, and was punished for forty years to wander in the desert, until all those who had defied the Lord had perished, and a new generation had come forth.

It is against this background of constant rebellion, pride, and arrogance of the Israelites at the time, that the laws of the Lord, and that of the Sabbath was made, when God delivered these laws to Moses on the Mount Horeb. Over time, these laws were enshrined by the people as the basic tenets and obligations (also prohibitions) that the people had to follow, otherwise they would be expelled or exiled from the society.

Sadly however, the Law eventually becomes a huge list, supposedly numbering 613 in total, of rules and regulations, that govern many aspects of the society’s life, even to trivial manners such as washing of the hands before meals, which had to be done to the precise and minute details exactly as it was said how it must be done.

This is how the law concerning the Sabbath was also made, that as the Lord has said that no one should work or labour on that day in honour of the Lord, and to make holy that day before God, just as we now make holy our first day of the week that is Sunday, and celebrate the Mass together as one Church on Sundays, to bring ourselves and offer ourselves as the offerings of prayer to God.

Nevertheless, this law and the other rules and regulations in the Law, were not created to constrain or restrict mankind, and definitely to enslave men to these laws, as what the situation at the time of Jesus was. It was well noted that Judas Maccabee, the leader of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucids, who tried to erase the worship of God in Israel and replaced it with pagan Greek gods, had decided with the leaders of the people that they be allowed to defend themselves on Sabbath, as the enemies had taken advantage of the Sabbath law to massacre many Israelites on the day of the Sabbath.

And King David too ate the bread for the sacrifice that is reserved only for the priests, when he and his companions were hungry. Clearly it shows that God did not create this Law to punish or enslave His beloved people, but rather to shape them and to ensure that they remain faithful to Him, by keeping His laws and keeping themselves in good order. It is not to restrain them, and as Jesus said, that the Law is made for man and not man for the Law.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us not be like the Israelites and be embroiled too much on societal rules, but instead, through the Church, strive to do more loving acts and good works for the benefit of others, because, in doing so, we glorify the Lord far more than mere profession of faith by words, or by fulfilling laws, rules, and regulations.

It is by making our faith alive through action, that we are justified, not enough by just how pious we are in fulfilling and adhering ‘strictly’ to laws of the Lord and men who made these laws of God into tangible laws that we see today. Nevertheless, we do still have to obey the laws and fulfill them. Jesus did not give us an excuse to do away with the laws, since did He not come to perfect the Law? and not destroy it? So that the Law that had once lost its true meaning, was given full meaning in love by Christ.

We are also taught the value of humility and accepting God’s divine providence and mercy today. Christ asked the sick man, “Do you want to be healed?” This shows that God gives His love and blessings freely, only if we ask Him, and forgiveness will be given to us if we are sincere and if we truly humble ourselves before God, we are sure to receive His welcoming embrace and healing, as what had happened to the sick man.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us then pray for humility, that despite all our human achievements and greatness, and worldly strengths, we will remain humble, and will use our best resources for the purpose of helping those others around us who need them, and those who are in great disadvantaged, those who are hated, and those who are prejudiced against. Pray too for those who had persecuted the righteous, like what happened when the Jews persecuted Jesus and His followers. That they too will learn about the true wonder of God, and repent from their sinful ways. Amen.

by

Monday, 11 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

Jesus shows today that faith in God is important, for God shows pity and mercy on all of His children, and those who believe in Him, He will save and protect. Those who put their trust in the Lord will not be disappointed. Jesus rewards the man’s faith with the healing of his son from certain death.

However, we must indeed be careful, for the Lord also warned us against believing only by entrusting in miracles and what we see. For such a faith is not a true faith, as we believe because we see great things that unravel in front of our eyes, and then we believe that this supernatural works must have been done by a divine being, that is Christ. This kind of faith is weak and is no true faith, for, as shown when Jesus was arrested and brought before the people after He was arrested.

The people who were there mocked Him and also called for His death. Why? Even though these were likely the same people that have listened to His preaching, His parables, and also witnessed His miracles and healings? That is because their faith is shallow, shallow and have not grown well, just like in the case of the parable of the sower, where the seed had been sown on a rocky and barren ground. The seed of faith found it difficult to grow in them, as their faith came mainly because of awe in the miraculous powers of Jesus.

When Jesus seemed to ‘falter’, which is by being arrested and accused by the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin, the Jewish religious body at the time, as being a heretic and blasphemer, these people lost their faith, and Satan took away their seeds of faith, just like those seeds that were eaten by the birds on an open road, a clear and easy opportunity for the evil one to come and take the faith away from them.

This is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, I would like to highlight to all of you, the very importance of nurturing our faith, of maintaining our faith, that not only that it will remain strong and unbroken, but even also bear fruit manyfold, like the seeds that fell on the rich soil, and produced much fruit. How to do so? By acts of love, justice, and compassion, that is by doing what God has commanded us to do, the commandments of love Christ had given us.

The commandments of love says that we have to love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls, with all our beings, and therefore not just with our eyes and senses, which will then lead into a true faith in God. But this is not enough, as we also have to love our neighbours, our brethren as much as we love ourselves, and as much as we love God. These are the good works that the Church has encouraged us to do, to live and make our faith in God manifest, in our good works for the sake of the less fortunate, the suffering, and the poor around us.

Remember that the Lord said that all that we do for the sake of these around us, we also do it for the Lord. That is because, through our actions, He can see indeed all our living faith, that is not dead, not superficial, and not mere words, and not mere profession of faith. For faith and service are inseparable, and bound to each other tightly in our journey towards the Lord, as the two pillars of strength supporting us in salvation.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us strive, especially in the perfect chance in this Year of Faith, strive to learn more about our faith, about the teachings of the Church, and the traditions of the Apostles passed down through the Church to us. By understanding all these, we can strive to grow deeper in our faith, and even more so through a solemn and active participation in the liturgy of the Mass, as do not forget that the liturgy of the Mass, when done properly and solemnly, can only serve to strengthen our faith in God our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

As the Mass is the very representation of the Holy Sacrifice Christ had made on the cross in Calvary, and united with that Sacrifice, through which we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, transformed from the bread and wine that we offered, we receive Christ into ourselves, that He will live in us, and reside within us, to transform us from within, that our faith in Him will ever be stronger. This is why it is important for us to participate fully and actively in the Mass by seeking to understand more the liturgy and the Mass.

Then of course, after that, let us all strive to make concrete and visible our faith in God through our service to our fellow brethren around us. It will not be easy, but little by little, beginning within even our own homes, our own families, our own friends, we can slowly begin to propagate acts of love, and acts in accordance with God’s will, that will make us justified before God, that is through our living faith, proven by our good works, and not just empty and dead faith, shown only by words and not true dedication.

May God bless all of us today, and bless our Holy Church, and of course, bless the Cardinal-electors and send the Holy Spirit to them that our new Pope will soon be elected. Amen.