sloth

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Sunday, 12 October 2014 : 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the readings of this Sunday refers very, very clearly to the loving nature of our Lord, God and Father, who created all of us at the beginning of time, to be the most beloved of all His creations. He is truly like a father to us all, giving us life and all that we need, and He paved the path for us in our lives, guiding us in all the things that we do, that even though we often do not realise what He had done, but He is indeed there, watching over us and leading us towards Himself.

God who loves us has prepared all goodness for us, and He has blessed us with great riches, all the inheritance which are promised to us. This is shown by Jesus, when He told the people and His disciples, of the parable of the king and the banquet, where He told them of a king who prepared a great feast and invited many people to come to His banquet.

The banquet represented the promise of good life and eternal joy with God, and just as the king intended to celebrate and be merry with all those who had been invited to the feast, God intended for all of us, His beloved creations, to enjoy the fullness of happiness with Him. That was exactly also what He intended for us at the beginning. But like the guests who refused to come and listen to the king, our ancestors beginning from Adam also refused to listen to God and His will.

The guests might have a variety of reasons for not coming to the banquet prepared for them, and we may not know them, since it was never mentioned by Jesus. But certainly, by observing our own human behaviours and reactions, surely we are able to easily predict them. The guests might have had other businesses and commitments to handle, but then we can ask, has the king not given them the notice for the banquet in advance? And what is so important that they should skip the banquet of the king for something else?

Thus the same often happens to us, as we live our lives in this world. How often is it that when God calls us and guides us to His ways, that we said no to them and quickly go about worrying about our own selves? How often is it that we prefer to follow our own hearts’ desires and wants, rather than to listen to God and follow His will for us? We often complained that God interferes in our lives on one hand, saying that we prefer to do things on our own, but on the other hand, when we are in trouble, we are also quick to blame God for not helping us when we are in need.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, men are not easy to satisfy, and our hearts continue to lead us to listen to our own desires and wants. It is within our human nature to succumb to the temptations of our flesh, and as a result, like the guests, we tend to regard our own concerns as priority, thinking about ourselves first and how to please ourselves first before that of others.

And the other possible ‘reason’ for their disobedience is indeed their laziness and sloth, preferring to remain idle in the comfort of their houses rather than to travel to the king’s palace to attend the banquet. And this we can indeed relate to ourselves, on how we tend to be slothful in this life, refusing the apparently more difficult path which the Lord offered us, and prefer the ‘easy’ and happy life which this world apparently gives.

Thus I would also like to share with you what St. Faustina Kowalska, the one who introduced the devotion to the Divine Mercy, had seen in one of her visions. She saw two paths and men who walked along these two paths. One path is a path that is filled with flowers and wonderful things, wide and pleasant to walk on, while the other path is a path filled with thorns, obstacles, and both narrow and difficult to walk on.

But then, she saw that the easy and pleasant path hide a terrible secret, that at the end, the many people who walked on that path, fell into an endless chasm that suddenly arose on the path of the road, and many were unaware of the chasm, and fell into the chasm as they walked. Meanwhile, on the narrow and difficult road, much fewer people travelled through it, but even as those who persevered on continued, when they reached the end, they found a very beautiful garden filled with goodness, where they lived on ever after.

Thus, the vision presented us yet again, that the Lord offers us goodness and the promise of eternal happiness in Him, and He will not renege on the promise which He had made and renewed over the many generations again and again. It is our choice whether we follow Him and trust in Him, or instead trust in Satan who ought not to be trusted. He leads us into damnation with him, but he is very clever indeed, and as we know in how he tried to tempt even Jesus, he offered all the goodness which he can offer us, be it food, power, wealth or glory, or other things that fulfill and satisfy our desires.

Thus we must be vigilant, and we cannot let go our our guard against the possible assaults by Satan, who awaits at every corner hoping to deceive us and lead us into harm. And that was why Jesus continued His story, by saying that after the king in his anger had destroyed all those who had disobeyed and spurned his invitation, he invited many others who were brought to his banquet instead of the first invited.

This is to highlight first the fate that all those who refused to listen to God, and prefer to follow their own paths and desires is death and destruction, just as those who walked the easy path fell into the chasm of infinite suffering in the vision of St. Faustina Kowalska. The path which the Lord offers may not seem easy, and indeed that obstacles will be plenty, but if we remain faithful to the end, we will be richly rewarded.

And then, when Jesus mentioned about the man who came to the banquet not wearing the proper banquet garment, He was in fact referring to how we lead our faith life. In being faithful to the Lord, we cannot be half-hearted, and in our effort to seek the Lord our God we cannot be divided between Him and something else. Thus, when we come to the banquet of the Lord, we too cannot be divided in our hearts, our minds and our souls.

What is this banquet of the Lord which God had prepared for all of us? That is none other than the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, where we celebrate in unity with the singular act of God’s greatest act of love for us all, that is His sacrifice, suffering and death on the cross, where He bared Himself to all those whom He loved, offering Himself as the perfect offering for the reparation and the redemption of all of us from our sins.

And just as the king prepared lavish food and drinks in the banquet, so thus the Lord also gave the best of all food and drink to all of us, who comes to His banquet, that is His own Precious Body and Precious Blood. Remember when Jesus said that those who eat of His Body and drink of His Blood will not die but live eternally with God? And that is the case indeed. If we are to come to attend the banquet, that is the Holy Mass, should we not then be properly ‘attired’?

This attire does not mean just that we should be properly attired with proper clothing and wear when we come for the Mass. Certainly we do not come to the banquet of the Lord wearing clothes as if we are about to go for a picnic or a leisure walk. Instead we should wear our very best and look our very best to honour the Lord our God. However, if this is as far as we go, then it is not enough.

How many of us attend the Holy Mass and yet our minds are not in the Mass at all? How many of us prefer to talk among ourselves and with our friends, and also to pay attention to our phones and other communication devices, contacting persons even outside the Holy Mass, and not to focus our heart, mind and soul to the Lord, who should be at the centre of the celebration? Ought the king not be given his proper place in his own banquet? And thus, should we not indeed give the Lord the proper adoration and respect He deserve in the Mass?

Think about these, brothers and sisters in Christ. There are two key messages which our Lord Jesus Christ and His revelations through the Scriptures want to tell us all today. First is that, we have a choice, either to follow the easier way out, that is to follow what we want and disregard the Lord, or to follow Him, and walk in His ways, even though that path might indeed be difficult and challenging. But the reward is clear, while the first path leads to destruction in the end, the path of the Lord never disappoints.

And then second, that if we choose to follow the Lord, He who loves us so much that He gave us everything, and held back not even His own Son, to bear our sins and die for our sake, that we may have life in Him, we cannot be half-hearted or be divided in our hearts, in our souls, and in our minds’ desires to follow Him. We cannot serve both God and our own heart’s desire, that is the temptations of the flesh.

And thus, as I have mentioned, we have to give it all, at the banquet of the Lord where He had given His own Body and Blood to us, in the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Holy Mass, that we have to be fully prepared and properly attired in our body, in our mind, in our soul, and in our hearts. Our focus should be completely on the Lord. Look at Him who is in the Eucharist, and focus our entire being to Him! If we do so, then He, who is the King of all, will approve of us and our actions, and justify us in our faith.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we go on with our lives from today onwards, let us all dedicate ourselves anew and renew our commitment to the Lord. Let us from now on attend and fully participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, giving our Lord all of our love and devotion, just as He had loved us first to the fullness of His heart, that He even gave us His life.

May Almighty God be with us all, and may He guide us to Himself, that amidst all the difficulties and challenges which we may and will indeed encounter, we may remain faithful, and with our gaze fixed at Him, may we gain the promise of eternal life, which God gives freely to all who are true to Him in faith and love. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 7 September 2014 : Homily and Scripture Reflections

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Holy Gospel in which we heard about how Jesus Christ our Lord have made full ten lepers who were cast out from the society of their time because of their leprosy, and yet only one out of the ten healed lepers, a Samaritan, returned to Lord Jesus and gave thanks to Him, showing the faith that he had.

And in the Epistle we heard how St. Paul reminded the faithful in the Church in Galata on the inheritance of Abraham, and what God had in store for mankind, the descendants of Abraham, the father of nations, and who are also the children of God. St. Paul mentioned how the Lord tried to bring mankind back to His grace and love, and how He cared for these wayward children of His, that He desires to heal them from their afflictions, that is none other than sin.

For if the Gospel today talked about the healing of the ten lepers, who suffered from the physical condition called leprosy, then all mankind are also afflicted with leprosy, namely the leprosy of the soul, the corruption of our beings by sin and evil. These sins and darkness in the world are blemishes that keep us away from the goodness and perfection in the Lord, and prevent us from truly seeking Him and finding our way to Him.

We have to first understand, the importance and how leprosy was a serious condition and affliction for the people of Israel at the time. It was a contagious disease, one that caused someone to feel numb in the extremities of the organ, and eventually lose those limbs, be it fingers, toes, or even limbs without feeling the pain. And the leprosy disease also caused a visible change to the appearance of the parts that it infected, which allow others to tell of someone suffer from leprosy.

We now know that this condition is caused by a virus that affects and attacks the nervous system and the skin, which caused the symptoms shown above. And as such, this is also why this disease is contagious, as it can spread from one person to another. This disease was therefore seen by the society as a sign that someone is unclean and that these people should be cast out from the society to prevent them from infecting others.

Thus, if we look at the laws of Moses, in which the Lord made evident His Law and precepts to the people through Moses His servant, one dealt specifically with the issue of leprosy and what to do with those who were afflicted with them, the lepers. These people ought to leave their homes and their communities, and wonder away in the wilderness and the desert until they are healed, that is until when they no longer show a symptom of the disease.

If we look at it further, the purpose of the Law may seem to be quite harsh on the people, although indeed we can see how it is useful and beneficial for the society as a whole, as if not for this law and regulation, then more people might be affected and more lives might be lost, and thus the whole society itself might be affected. It is therefore there for a practical reason.

However, it over time led to the persecution and total rejection of these people afflicted with the disease, that even after they have been healed, the stigma would remain. In essence, this is no different from when in other societies, those who suffer from infectious diseases, some of them sexually transmitted, became a stigma in the society, and this stigma remains with them even if they are to be cured. They are ostracised and cast out of the society.

Thus, what Jesus today wanted to tell us is that all of the children of God are beloved by the Lord, as St. Paul mentioned, that everyone are the descendants of Abraham, and just as God had made the covenant with the faithful Abraham and his descendants, we too will enjoy the fruits of that covenant as long as we remain faithful to the Lord. And therefore, we should not be judgmental or be proud of our own achievements and goodness over others’ apparent lack or disabilities.

Lepers were highly looked down upon by the Jews of Jesus’ time, and the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law in particular had very low opinion on them. They were not welcome at the Temples and people fled in fear when a leper came towards them or even when a leper was merely in the vicinity. But Jesus did things differently, and He did not mind at all to be approached by the ten lepers, who openly asked the Lord for mercy and healing, and that He granted them, making them whole once again.

He blessed them and made them whole, for indeed He had authority over all things, even all diseases and afflictions of the body and soul. But what is interesting is what came next after Jesus told them to go and present themselves to the priests. They were not immediately made clean and whole by Jesus, but they were made clean as they proceeded to the priests. Yet, as they realised their wholeness and healing, only one out of the ten turned back and give thanks to the Lord, to Jesus, who is Lord and God.

How many times is it in our lives that we are given goodness and blessings by the Lord, and we did not give Him thanks? And instead we spite Him and became angry at Him whenever we did not get what we wanted. We always demanded the Lord to listen to our pleas, and even to our desires and wants, and yet we never stopped to listen and to give thanks to Him whenever He did something good to us.

In this, the ten lepers were different, in that only one of them were truly made clean and whole by Jesus our Lord, that is the Samaritan. The Samaritan recognised what God had done for him, and consequently, returned to give thanks first in joy to the Lord, and rejoice together with Him, while the other nine lepers went happily on their way, thinking that they have been made clean.

The other nine lepers represented many of us in this world, who are still often plagued not by the leprosy of the body and the skin, but by the leprosy of the soul, that is sin! And indeed, mankind are truly vulnerable to this leprosy of the soul, which is equally if not more contagious than the physical leprosy. Desire, greed, pride, arrogance, anger, wroth and other negative emotions and things in life are only some of the aspects of this leprosy.

Thus the nine other lepers did not return to give thanks, because in the leprotic state of their hearts and souls, their pride and selfishness grew strong, and therefore they were loath to lower themselves to give thanks to God for their healing. Instead, they gave in to their joy and pleasure, and forgot about God, just as many of us often did. We often became so engrossed in our joy and in the pleasures of the world, so as to forget the love of God, who so generously gave us everything we need.

And lastly, why the Samaritans are always portrayed on the good side? If we remember last Sunday’s readings on the Good Samaritan helping the man attacked by bandits on the way from Jerusalem to Jericho, while the priest and the Levite walked pass him by, and then link it to today’s readings on the grateful Samaritan, then we can see indeed, that Jesus wanted to make an example to others.

As we all should know, the nation of the Samaritans, known as the region of Samaria, was once the heart of the northern kingdom of Israel. It was where the ten tribes of Israel, the lost ones of the Lord were plucked out of their homes and cast into exile by the King of the Assyrians, who destroyed the northern kingdom seven centuries before the birth of Christ.

In their place, many nations conquered by the Assyrians were resettled on the area, together with some leftovers of the ten lost tribes of Israel. They intermingled and eventually became known as the Samaritans, based on where they resided in, in the land of Samaria. The Jews were the descendants of the exiles of the kingdom of Judah, the southern kingdom, who were jealously and proudly proud of their orthodoxy and in their vigilance in maintaining the faith of their fathers.

As such, they despised heavily the Samaritans to the point that no one ought to talk to them, and they were considered as pagans, barbarians and lesser than humans, to the point that they were seemingly condemned to oblivion and damnation, while the Jews thought of themselves as the chosen race of God and thus the only ones worthy of salvation. What Jesus did and what the example of the Samaritan served to break all that prejudice and false ideas.

As St. Paul put it clearly, that transgressions and sin had caused our separation from the Lord and His love, and it is this love that made God to send no one else other than Jesus, His own Son to be the Saviour of all mankind, to make whole again an entire people tainted by sin. It was stressed that salvation comes through the Mediator, who is Jesus Christ our Lord, who through His sacrifice on the cross had made us worthy, but only to those who believe in Him.

And the Samaritan believed, and he returned to give thanks, acknowledging what God had done for him, and in that he was saved. The others did not believe what God had done to them through Jesus, and as many others, including many of us whose actions do not represent our status as the children and servants of God, and therefore we are in danger of being cast out of salvation which God reserved only for those who truly believed and those who truly loved the Lord with the fullness of their heart and soul.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we gather together and celebrate with the Lord His sacrifice on the cross, let us all examine our own actions and deeds in this life. We have to ask ourselves, on whether we have lived according to the way the Lord had pointed to us, or whether we acted more like the nine other lepers who gave in to their carnal desires and to the temptations of the world? Shall we not rather do our best to resist the corruption of this leprosy of the soul that is sin?

Remember brethren, that this world is full of challenges, and although our divine inheritance is waiting for us, the covenant which God had established with us through Jesus, but we cannot be complacent. We must be ever vigilant, that our faith should remain strong and that we remain closely guarded against all the lies and temptations of the evil one, that we may not fall into damnation. Remember the Lord always in all things, giving Him thanks when it is due, for all the goodness He had showered us with.

May Almighty God clean us and make us whole once again, casting out the leprosy of our soul, that is sin which tainted our heart and mind, so that our body and soul cleansed, we may together rejoice in the Lord and be accepted with fullness of gladness and joy at the end of our road, when the Lord welcomes us back into His loving embrace, to enjoy the inheritance He had promised us through Jesus. Let us all do our best to live righteously and courageously, and to proactively protect ourselves and avoid committing any forms of sin that mag corrupt our soul. May God bless us forever and ever. Amen.

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Saturday, 30 August 2014 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

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

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the word of God, in which we are reminded of the need to be proactive in our faith and in how we live our lives, depending also on the graces and wisdom which He had granted us mankind, so that we may grow further and develop what He had given to us and entrusted to us. Yes, so that we may be like the hardworking and good servants rather than becoming like the useless and lazy servant.

In each and every one of us, God had given many gifts in various ways, some more than others in certain things and some less than others in certain things, and while some have more, some have less than others. But regardless of the amounts, the Lord had given us something, blessings and graces He gave us, no matter how small or how big they are.

This is perfectly represented by Jesus through His telling of the parable of the servants with the silver talents. There were three servants who were given five talents of silver, two talents of silver and one talent of silver respectively, and they exactly represented all of us who had been given the gifts and blessings of God in the form of our abilities, talents and other gifts that we had been endowed with, no matter how great or small they are.

But what is important here is to reflect on the words and the true meaning of the parable which Jesus had told us through His disciples, on why it is so important for us not to be passive and be ridden with inaction, as these are great sins, the sins of omission. For it is not just the sin of action that is truly debilitating against the soul when we committed something evil and foul in the presence of God, but when we fail to do something when we clearly have the means and ability to do it, then we also commit a sin.

The key here is to understand that it is not when we have less then we deserve to be punished or anything of the sort. The servant who had been given the one talent could have been praised and be rewarded as well, had he not hidden his one silver talent in fear of losing it or in fear of retribution from his master and instead if he had invested it and worked on it, he would have received his due reward.

How does this relate to us then? We often fear to use our talents to be of use to others, and to work and do good works as well as good deeds using whatever abilities and gifts that God had given us. And when we were baptised and accepted as the member of the Body of Christ, the Church, God had given us even more gifts, the gift of faith, the gift of hope and the gift of love. However, these gifts are mere seeds that will only grow and become powerful tools for the Lord to works His wonders in this world if we take action and do something to use them for the good of all around us.

Remember the parable of the sower and the seeds that fell on different locations and conditions? The seeds will only grow well and produce bountiful returns of thirty, sixty, hundredfold and more if they fall on the rich soil. And this cannot be automatic for all of us. We have to work and toil hard just like all farmers do, so that the seeds may grow healthy and strong. A good heart and a favourable environment, represented by the rich soil is necessary, but even this require work on our part, and after that, we still need to toil and work hard till the harvest season.

That means, we have to be actively engaged in living our faith. We must be open to others, in terms of opening our hearts filled with this faith, hope and love so that others too may benefit from them and therefore stand to gain from what we are doing. Thus, in our words, our actions and deeds must reflect the nature of ourselves, that is as the children of God, who is Love, and thus we must have love, and hope, and faith in all of the things we do and say.

It is only then that we will be able to grow our faith, hope and love, and all of the various gifts God had given us, so that just like the faithful and good servants, their silver talents grow and multiply as they invested them, so do our gifts and our strength in God. And therefore, the Lord who sees all that we do will reward us and keep us in His love and grace.

May Almighty God bless us on this day, and strengthen us that we may continue to persevere amidst the difficulties of this world and commit ourselves to greater acts of faith, hope and love, so that all those around us may benefit from them and we too may be found worthy of the everlasting heaven. God be with us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 30 August 2014 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 25 : 14-30

Imagine someone who, before going abroad, summoned his servants to entrust his property to them. He gave five talents of silver to one servant, two talents to another servant, and one talent to a third, to each according to his ability; and he went away.

He who received five talents went at once to do business with the money, and gained another five. The one who received two talents did the same, and gained another two. But the one who received one talent dug a hole, and hid his master’s money.

After a long time, the master of those servants returned and asked for a reckoning. The one who had received five talents came with another five talents, saying, “Lord, you entrusted me with five talents, but see, I have gained five more.” The master answered, “Very well, good and faithful servant, since you have been faithful in a few things, I will entrust you with much more. Come and share the joy of your master.”

Then the one who had received two talents came and said, “Lord, you entrusted me with two talents; with them I have gained two more.” The master said, “Well, good and faithful servant, since you have been faithful in little things, I will entrust you with much more. Come and share the joy of your master.”

Finally, the one who had received one talent came and said, “Master, I know that you are a hard man. You reap what you have not sown, and gather what you have not scattered. I was afraid, so I hid your money in the ground. Here, take what is yours!”

But his master replied, “Wicked and worthless servant, you know that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered; so you should have deposited my money in the bank, and on my return you would have given it back to me with interest.”

“Therefore, take the talent from him, and give it to the one who has ten. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who are unproductive, even what they have will be taken from them. As for that useless servant, throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

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Thursday, 30 January 2014 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 4 : 21-25

Jesus also said to them, “When the light comes, is it put under a tub or a bed? Surely it is put on a lampstand. Whatever is hidden will be disclosed, and whatever is kept secret will be brought to light. Listen then, if you have ears!”

And He also said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. In the measure you give, so shall you receive, and still more will be given to you. For to the one who produces something, more will be given, and from him who does not produce anything, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

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Wednesday, 20 November 2013 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, those who had been given more, will be given more, and those who have little, and do not utilise it, will be thrown out, and what he has will be taken away from him. That is what Jesus often told His disciples, through various parables, one of which is what we heard today, on the parable of the ten pounds.

All of us have been given with the rich gifts from the Lord. These are the gifts of faith, hope, and love. But these seeds will not grow if we just let them be. Yes, we have to nurture them and make them grow, that they will bear fruits. And that is what the Lord our God desires from us all. In this manner therefore, we are reminded of the parable that Jesus had used to bring this point across to the people.

The pounds of silver are likened to the gifts, each of the servants were given equal amounts of them. This is like all of us, all of whom are the servants of God, were given the same gifts of faith, hope, and love, which initially lie dormant within us. What we do with these gifts determine what these seeds will become, either to grow and multiply fivefold, tenfold, more or less, or remain the same as how it was when God gave these gifts to us.

The last one speaks about the action of the third servant, who admitted to his master, that he had the silver pound hidden, in fear and in idleness, that when his master returned, the pound of silver remains as it was, that is the same silver pound. He was duly chided, punished, and cast out, as an unworthy servant, who had squandered the gifts that had been given to him, and let those gifts go to waste.

That is what we should not do, brothers and sisters in Christ, that is to let these gifts God has granted us to go to waste. It is a waste if we do not use these gifts for others, and keep them hidden within ourselves. We must open ourselves and nurture those gifts, by spreading them with real action, real dedication, and real commitment, to do the will of God, at the centre of which is, love.

How to make sure that we truly be fertile and grow well, into creatures of faith, hope, and love? That is by putting into concrete action, these three cardinal virtues of our faith. Faith, by being not afraid to stand up against things that are in opposition of our faith, the things that are against the laws and precepts of the Lord. This has been shown by the seven brothers and their mother, who died martyrs of the faith, by their perseverance against the threats and tortures dealt to them by the king, Antiochus Epiphanes, and the wickedness he promoted among the people under his rule, including that of Israel.

These brothers and their mother endured grievous sufferings for standing up for the Lord, and remaining true and upright to the laws dictated by the Lord to mankind. They did not give up even when the king offered them wealth, possessions, the glories of the world, and all the pleasures and the beauty that the world could offer them. Instead, they, one by one, faced death willingly and joyfully, for they know that their rewards would be great with God, in heaven.

This is the kind of the living faith that God wants us to have. Not in the way that we should lay down our own lives for the Lord, but in the way that we should follow closely what the Lord had taught us, and uphold all of those values and tenets, and do not steer away from them. Our dedication to God should be as strong, or aspire to be like them. We should not be easily swayed by the fear of difficulties that will definitely be in our path.

Then comes hope. Hope is not just an abstract concept, but something that can be made concrete, through none other that our own actions. Our actions can indeed bring either hope, or its opposite, that is despair, towards others. We have been given love by our Lord, who planted in us the seeds of hope, together with that of faith and love. Have our own actions then, reflect this hope? Have we uplifted others who are without hope? And bring new hope to those who are in despair?

These are the questions that we should ponder upon, as we act in our daily lives. Have we show hope to others in need of it? Have we actually put down others or dampen the hope of others? Let us reflect on them. And finally, we go to the last of all virtues, and the greatest of them all, that had also been placed by God in us. This is love.

What is love? Love is the greatest expression of one’s care and affection to another, and this is modelled after the acts of the One who showed the greatest love of all, towards us. Yes, our Lord Himself is love, and His love for us is so great, that indeed, He gave us Jesus, through whom He made manifest His long planned salvation for all of us, that we will not die, but live eternally with Him.

So we all, as the children of God, should also reflect love in all of our actions. We must profess love, just as we have professed faith and hope. Without love, our faith in God is empty and meaningless. Our faith must be alive, and that is through love, and through hope. Similarly, we cannot love without first having faith and love, or that love will be grossly incomplete. They are all intertwined, and all are gifts of the Lord Most High to us.

We have a choice, brothers and sisters. The Lord has given all of us gifts and entrusted in our hands. Just like the pounds of silver given to the servants of the master. The Lord is our Master. We have a choice, whether we remain idle and do not let these gifts to grow, or invest in them, allow them to develop, through concrete actions, based in those values, namely faith, hope, and love.

Therefore, brethren, let us make a decision, and indeed, let us decide decisively, to follow the expectations of our Lord, that is through concrete dedication of ourselves to others in our actions, words, and deeds. May the Lord continue to watch over us, strengthen us, and bless us. Amen.

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Wednesday, 20 November 2013 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 19 : 11-28

Jesus was now near Jerusalem, and the people with Him thought that God’s reign was about to appear. So as they were listening to Him, Jesus went on to tell them a parable. He said, “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to assume regal authority, after which he planned to return home. Before he left, he summoned ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds of silver.”

“He said, ‘Put this money to work until I get back.’ But his compatriots, who disliked him, sent a delegation after him with this message, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.’ He returned, however, appointed as king. At once he sent for the servants, to whom he had given the money, to find out what profit each had made.”

“The first came in, and reported, ‘Sir, your pound of silver has earned ten more pounds of silver.'”

“The master replied, ‘Well done, my good servant! Since you have proven yourself faithful in a small matter, I can trust you to take charge of ten cities.'”

“The second reported, ‘Sir, your pound of silver earned five more pounds of silver.’ The master replied, ‘And you, take charge of five cities!'”

“The third came in, and said, ‘Sir, here is your money, which I hid for safekeeping. I was afraid of you, for you are an exacting person : you take up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow,'”

“The master replied, ‘You worthless servant, I will judge you by your own words! So you knew I was an exacting person, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow? Why, then, did you not put my money on loan, so that, when I got back, I could have collected it with interest?'”

“Then the master said to those standing by, ‘Take from him that pound, and give it to the one with ten pounds.’ But they objected, ‘Sir, he already has ten pounds!'”

“The master replied, ‘I tell you, everyone who has will be given more; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for my enemies who did not want me to be their king, bring them in, and execute them right here in front me!'”

So Jesus spoke, and then He passed on ahead of them, on His way to Jerusalem.

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Saturday, 31 August 2013 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the parable of the talents, the silver talents entrusted by the master of the house to his servants, his properties to be taken care of by them while he was away doing his business away from the house. The hardworking and industrious servants were rewarded, while the lazy and wicked servant was punished, and what he had was taken away from him and given to the trustworthy servant.

Yes, brethren, this parable precisely applies to all of us, to each and every one of us. We also have ‘silver talents’ within us, all gifts from God, in different ways and different colours, each with his and her own gifts. Some do receive more and some received less, but all are being equally gifted by the Lord our God who trusted us with these gifts, not to be left idle, but to be used, for the cause of good.

What are then these ‘silver talents’ we have within each and every one of us? These ‘talents’ are in fact the skills, abilities, and knowledge that we have within us, that makes every one of us special, all special and unique children of the same, one God. Some of us has certain abilities and skills that can be useful if we use them properly and efficiently. These, just like the silver talents in the parable, can ‘grow’ when we utilise them and invest on them.

We are urged to be like the faithful and industrious servants, the ones who made good use of the money and invest them that when the master returned, not only that the original silver talents had remained, but even it had grown and multiplied twofold. Therefore, the master’s investment in his servants had not been wasted, that after all the time, the money made a worthwhile return.

Yet, brethren, many of us tend to be more like the lazy and unproductive servant, who dug a hole and hid the silver talent there in the hole, from the day that the master left it with him to the day when he returned and expected a return from his servant. In the similar way, we tend to remain within our comfort zone and remain idle, and hence, the buried silver talent, just as buried as our talents and skills, the gifts God had given to us to use for our own good, and for the good of people around us.

There are many reasons for such failure to invest the gifts God had granted us, and they are not limited to things such as sheer laziness, fear of failure, and the temptations and allures of the pleasures of the world. We tend to prefer our comfort zone and do nothing, and even if we are to do something, many of us tend to be selfish, and do it for our own good, for our own benefits, often at the expense of others. The last servant’s fear is precisely also caused by this, by his own selfishness, that is fearing for his own safety and therefore succumb to his fear of losing the money if he invested it, and therefore did nothing to the silver talent he had been given with.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us rediscover our true purpose in life, especially if all these while we had not done anything yet to utilise the gifts we have within us, for the good of others, for the good of everyone around us. Let us be proactive in our faith and in our lives, not to fear loss or discomfort for our works and for our actions, and not to be idle and lazy in using the good and the gift God had placed in us, in purposeful ways that will bring happiness, fulfillment, and contentment to all of us.

Be active, brothers and sisters, be loving and show mercy in all our words, actions, and all the things we do, to our fellow men, that we can care for one another, and when the Divine Master comes, what we sow in love, through our actions, we will reap in heaps, in heaps of reward that is eternal life. The Divine Master, that is our Lord Jesus would reward us according to what we had done in our lives, whether we had been like his faithful and hardworking servants, or rather be like the ungrateful and lazy servant.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard the parable of the talents and the servants, let us be reminded of our mission in this life, that is to be true disciples of the Lord, ones that do not merely say, “Lord, Lord!” but do nothing, and instead take concrete actions, no matter how small or large it is, to make a difference for the better, for our fellow brothers and sisters, the children of the same, one God.

May the Lord our Master and our God be our guide, to lead us through the difficulties and challenges of this world, that we may work hand in hand, with one another, embracing one another with care, that all of us will reap together the fruits, the interests, and the benefits of our loving actions in this world. God bless us all forever. Amen.

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Saturday, 31 August 2013 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White

Matthew 25 : 14-30

Imagine someone who, before going abroad, summoned his servants to entrust his property to them. He gave five talents of silver to one servant, two talents to another servant, and one talent to a third, to each according to his ability; and he went away.

He who received five talents went at once to do business with the money, and gained another five. The one who received two talents did the same, and gained another two. But the one who received one talent dug a hole, and hid his master’s money.

After a long time, the master of those servants returned and asked for a reckoning. The one who had received five talents came with another five talents, saying, “Lord, you entrusted me with five talents, but see, I have gained five more.” The master answered, “Very well, good and faithful servant, since you have been faithful in a few things, I will entrust you with much more. Come and share the joy of your master.”

Then the one who had received two talents came and said, “Lord, you entrusted me with two talents; with them I have gained two more.” The master said, “Well, good and faithful servant, since you have been faithful in little things, I will entrust you with much more. Come and share the joy of your master.”

Finally, the one who had received one talent came and said, “Master, I know that you are a hard man. You reap what you have not sown, and gather what you have not scattered. I was afraid, so I hid your money in the ground. Here, take what is yours!” But his master replied, “Wicked and worthless servant, you know that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered; so you should have deposited my money in the bank, and on my return you would have given it back to me with interest.”

“Therefore, take the talent from him, and give it to the one who has ten. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who are unproductive, even what they have will be taken from them. As for that useless servant, throw him out into the dark, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

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Thursday, 30 May 2013 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters, God our Lord and Saviour created everything in this world, in this universe, and He made them perfect. Our world was perfect before it was tainted by sin and evil, which brought in imperfections to the world that was once perfect.

Evil and sin had blinded us from the goodness and the love of God, and they have brought us further and further from God our Father and creator. While today we heard about the miraculous healing of Bartimaeus by Jesus, who healed him of his physical blindness and made him able to see once again, in fact our world today is still blinded, not physically but spiritually.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, many of us if not most are still in darkness, in deep blindness, although we can physically very well and our physical eyes are perfect. It is our hearts, the eyes of our hearts that are blind, blind to the truth that God has brought through Jesus, and blind to His commandments of love, that we should love one another and love God with all our might and our beings.

And just like Bartimaeus, who was so desperate to be healed and by his faith in Jesus, called out loudly for Christ, the Son of David, the Son of God, to come to him and heal him of his afflictions, we too, are like him, in that we call out to the Lord to heal us from our own spiritual blindness, which is even worse than the blindness of the physical eyes.

Our hearts are darkened by sin, and darkened by our cardinal sins, that are most prominently, pride, lust, greed, and sloth. And sadly, because of these, many people do not even realise that they are blind, just like the Pharisees whom the Lord rebuked for being so deeply immersed in their own pride and vanity, that they became blind to the truth of the Lord, and did not keep faithfully what the Lord has commanded and entrusted them to do.

Therefore, it is very often, that many of us, did not realise that we are blind, and in our pride, we refuse to acknowledge our blindness, our afflictions and weaknesses, and ask the Lord, like Bartimaeus had done, to plead for His mercy and compassion, that He would heal us from our spiritual blindness, and allow us to be whole once again, no longer blind, physically and spiritually.

The Lord is willing to heal us, and save us from our afflictions. Because if we remain in our blindness and in this darkness, we will eventually be damned with the evil one, to the lake of fire that awaits us if we remain blind, blind to the love of God, and blind to the plight of the many people around us, who long for our help.

And the Lord did such a great thing that He sent His only Son, to die for all of us, so that in His death, He redeemed us from our sins, and offered freely that salvation which are given to all mankind, but if they do not accept this salvation, they will remain blind. All that we need is, to humbly ask our Lord Jesus, to save us, and to accept Him as our Saviour through baptism and therefore, through the Church.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, from today onwards, we have to ponder on this matter, and strive to open ourselves to the love of God, and allow Him to transform us with His love, and open the blinded eyes of our hearts, that we can then truly see, both the love that is God, and the love that is within us, which if we use this gift of love that has been given to us, our world would indeed had been a much better place today.

May the Lord, who cured Bartimaeus from his physical blindness for his faith in Him, also cure all of us from our spiritual blindness, that we can truly and perfectly see once again, all the creations of the Lord that is good, and to be able to embrace once again, the fullness of God’s love. Amen.