stubbornness

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Wednesday, 26 March 2014 : 3rd Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jesus in the fulfillment of the law of old, and He made the old covenant of God complete. He fulfilled God’s promise to Abraham, David, and all His people, including even to Adam and Eve, our first ancestors. Jesus then made a new covenant with all of us, whom He had chosen to be the partakers of that new covenant, which He sealed with His own blood.

Thus, that is the message that Christ brought with Him, as written in the Gospel today, to bring completion to the Law of God, and to teach all the children of God, all the true meaning of God’s Law likely long forgotten by the people, many generations after it has been revealed through Moses, the servant of God.

Over the generations, the true meaning of the Law had been lost, as they were told from mouth to mouth down the generations. Over time, those in charge of protecting the Law changed the law as they saw fit, and they corrupted the true law and turn it into something else. That is why Jesus came, and why He apparently changed the Law, that is because the law itself was no longer the same Law which God had given through Moses.

Jesus came to fulfill the Law, to make it true and pure once again, He explained the truth about the Law and its real purpose, thus bringing the people of God once again to true obedience to God. True obedience to God does not mean blind obedience or extremist attitudes, which in fact blocks the path to salvation, because the people were distracted from truly obeying God, and instead serve mankind’s purposes.

That is how it is important for us not to follow our own wisdom and intelligence in understanding and following our faith. Often this had led to misunderstandings and corruption of the true faith, becoming something that is misshapen and evil instead of something that is good.

Jesus had fulfilled the past covenant, and in its place, is a renewed and upgraded covenant, which He made with all of the human race. This new covenant promised us eternal life and salvation in Jesus if we stay faithful to Him by actively fulfilling our part of that covenant. This new covenant was brought to us through the shedding of His blood, that we are made once again worthy and cleansed of our sins.

This He conveyed to us through His Apostles and disciples, who in turn passed the teachings and the knowledge of the new covenant through the Church over the centuries and millennia, until this very day. Therefore in the Church, there exists a deposit of faith which keeps our faith in God like an anchor, preventing us from corrupting it and causing what had happened to the people of God and the past covenant.

Many people over the centuries had given in to the temptations of the world, the temptations of power and glory, to establish their own invalid and heretical ‘churches’ and gatherings, breaking apart the unity of the Church and bringing many to sin and condemnation by splitting them away from the deposit of faith that is in the Church of God, One and only Church.

They followed their own ways, and interpret God’s message as they like, in their own limited human wisdom and understandings, which resulted in various interpretations and teachings that no longer bring salvation to those who believe in them, just like what had happened to the people of God at the time of Jesus, and their misunderstandings about what the law of God truly means.

Brothers and sisters, therefore, today let us reflect on these readings and how important our faith is to us. May our Lord Jesus Christ continue to guide us, and strengthen our faith and devotion to Him through the Church, that we may keep His new covenant with us at all times, and seek to understand it through the teachings of the Church, that we will not falter or fall away. Be with us, Lord Jesus, and love us all, always. Amen.

 

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Friday, 28 February 2014 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the law of God which He first revealed through Moses had been adapted, changed, and suited to the uses and means of the people of God, that is the Israelites, which they had often misunderstood in its true purpose, that is to serve God’s purpose rather than the purpose of men. Yet, in reality, the laws had been made subservient to the will of men.

And no other time was this more evident, than at the time of Jesus, when the abuse was at its relative maximum. The Pharisees, the scribes and the teachers of the law, who were the leaders of the people in the matter of faith, misused their teaching authority and gave the people of God a much improvised version of the true law of God.

The strictness of the law of God which was revealed through Moses, was indeed due to the thick-headedness of the Israelites, who constantly grumbled and disobeyed the Lord on their way through the desert to the Promised Land. They ignored the precepts and way of the Lord, preferring instead to submit to their own emotions and human desires, rather than obeying the Lord their God.

But was the intention of the Lord truly to punish and burden them with such laws? No! These laws were there because God loved and cared for them, and He dreaded the most if any of His beloved were to fall into the hands of Satan and evil, and be separated from Him by the eternal agony of hell. God loved mankind and all of His children, and that is why He bothered to give them His laws to help them.

But what the people had done by the time of Jesus was that of blind obedience, which can be as bad as thick-headedness and plain disobedience of their ancestors. That is because if their ancestors refused to believe in the Lord and His ways, the people at the time of Jesus believed only at the surface, through the various observations of the complicated rules and regulations as established by the Pharisees.

And the result is that they were as wayward as their ancestors were, and first of all would be the Pharisees and the leaders of the people themselves, who led the people in their obstinate state, refusing to listen even to the Holy One of God, the promised Messiah. When God came down upon us to explain the truth about what He desired in mankind, they refused to believe in Him and preferred to trust in their own human wisdom and judgment.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, these people saw the Lord, and yet they did not realise, as the first reading today mentioned, that the judge is already at the door, ready to mete judgment against them. But He still gave them chance for repentance, and some did repent, accepting His mercy and love.

The same too applies to us, brethren. Do we recognise the Lord and His Presence? Do we recognise Him in our faith, and do we truly believe in what we believe? Are we like those who only prefer to believe what they want to believe and discard the rest, the so-called cafetaria Christians? If we do so then we are no better than the Pharisees who chose to believe in their own human wisdom rather than in the Lord.

Are we genuine in our love and devotion for the Lord? Our devotion and faith cannot be just merely mean going for Mass every Sunday and that is it. It cannot also mean just saying our prayers without real action, and neither can it be just plain works and good deeds, without prayer and proper devotion to the Lord. If we are to dedicate ourselves to God, then we must be genuine in our faith, and we cannot be half-hearted in it.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us resolve from now on to deepen our faith in God ever further, that our faith may grow ever stronger in the Lord, and that we no longer be hampered by our own human pride, arrogance, ambitions and stubbornness, that we may listen to the Lord and know what He truly wants from us.

May we all become good and faithful children of God, resolving not to disobey the Lord by following our own path, as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done. Let us dull the edge of our pride and sharpen the edge of our humility, and open wide the doors of our heart, and put up our ears, that we may listen to God as He speaks to us, and follow His ways, always and till the end of our lives. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 28 February 2014 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 10 : 1-12

Jesus then left that place and went to the province of Judea, beyond the Jordan River. Once more crowds gathered around Him and once more He taught them, as He always did. Some Pharisees came and put Him to the test with this question, “Is it right for a husband to divorce his wife?”

He replied, “What law did Moses give you?” They answered, “Moses allowed us to write a certificate of dismissal in order to divorce.” Then Jesus said to them, “Moses wrote this law for you, because you are stubborn. But in the beginning of creation God made them male and female, and because of this, man has to leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body. So they are no longer two but one body. Therefore let no one separate what God has joined.”

When they were indoors at home, the disciples again asked Him about this, and He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against his wife, and the woman who divorces her husband and marries another also commits adultery.”

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Thursday, 17 October 2013 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red (Martyrs)

Luke 11 : 47-54

Jesus said, “A curse is on you, for you build monuments to the prophets your ancestors killed. So you approve and agree with what your ancestors did. Is it not so? They got rid of the prophets, and you build monuments to them!”

“For that reason the Wisdom of God also said : ‘I will send prophets and apostles and this people will kill and persecute some of them. But the present generation will have to answer for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, the people of this time will have to answer for them all.'”

“A curse is on you, teachers of the Law, for you have taken the key of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you prevented others from entering.”

As Jesus left that place, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to harass Him, asking Him endless questions, setting traps to catch Him in something He might say.

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Sunday, 15 September 2013 : 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Exodus 32 : 7-11, 13-14

Then YHVH said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a molten calf; they have bowed down before it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of Egypt.'”

And YHVH said to Moses, “I see that these people are stiff-necked people. Now just leave Me that My anger may blaze against them. I will destroy them, but of you I will make a great nation.”

But Moses calmed the anger of YHVH, his God, and said, “Why, o YHVH, should Your anger burst against Your people whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with a mighty hand?”

“Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the promise You Yourself swore : I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land I spoke about I will give to them as an everlasting inheritance.”

YHVH then changed His mind and would not yet harm His people.

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Monday, 2 September 2013 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear about how Christ was rejected and mocked by His own people, the people of Nazareth His hometown. They rejected Him when He came to proclaim the truth about Himself, as the perfect fulfillment of the prophecy of the prophets of God, including Isaiah, who made a lot of predictions about His coming, which was indeed fulfilled at that moment when Christ proclaimed the very completion of that prophecy to His own townspeople.

Why so? Why did they reject Christ? Why did they reject the very Messiah sent to save them? Precisely because of familiarity and their failure to look beyond what is apparent to them, and the failure to overcome their own prejudices and judgements, which they imposed on Christ without mercy. They knew Him to be the lowly son of a carpenter, though an upright job, but a job of the poor, and therefore, in their minds, prophets, even less so the Messiah could ever come from such backgrounds.

Yet, indeed, the Lord who is King of kings and the Messiah of all mankind, was born of a humble carpenter’s family, of Joseph His foster father, and of Mary, the humble and loving mother He had. Yet, He is truly the Messiah, the Anointed One of God, whom His own people had rejected. Yes, the people of Israel had often rejected their own prophets sent to them by God over the centuries before the coming of Christ, and they turned deaf ears to their warnings and reminders of the need to follow the Law of God and turn from their evil and wicked ways.

The same too therefore happened to Christ, that He was rejected in Nazareth, His own hometown, and even long before that, before His birth, He was rejected everywhere in Bethlehem, because all the inns were full, and He had to be born in a humble and dirty stable. He was rejected even by the people, by the Pharisees and the chief priests who saw Him as a threat to their authority and their power over the people, as a rival.

And just as the people had tortured and slaughtered the prophets of old without mercy, they too slaughtered the Lamb of God, the Messiah who was sent to ensure their own salvation and redemption from death. They had rejected Him for a lowly criminal, Barabbas. They preferred a criminal to a king, a criminal to the One who had to suffer for all of their sins, He who forgave them even fully knowing of their actions in bringing about His suffering.

Yes, brethren, our Lord Jesus bared His love and mercy to all of us, and as He lay hanging on that cross, looking with great love and mercy upon all of His people, even those who called for His death, thos who crucified and tortured Him. Why so? That is because He loves all of us so much, that He does not want us to be separated from Him by our sins, our wickedness, and our unworthiness. He died for us and shed His blood that through that sacrifice, our sins may be erased from us and that we have a new hope for a new life, a new life, eternal life of joy in Christ our Lord.

Just as St. Paul had elaborated in the First Reading that the faithful, both those who are still alive and those who have already passed away when the Lord comes again, will rise with Him into heavenly glory He had promised us who believes in Him and accepted Him as Lord and Saviour. However, the question here is, are we ready? Are we ready to welcome and greet our Saviour, when He comes again, or during our lives? Or are we going to be like the people of Nazareth, the Pharisees and the chief priests in rejecting Him?

It is clear, brethren, that we have need to open our doors for Christ, and to welcome Him into out hearts, that He may remain in us, just as we remain in His love and grace. Do not harden our hearts with prejudice, stubbornness, and fear, as the Lord comes and approaches us, and reveals to us the truth about His glorious and yet humble self. Do not be like the people of Nazareth who dismissed Him merely because he’s familiar to them as a carpenter’s son.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today in our world, there are still many people who do not welcome Christ into their lives, and even many among those are they who call themselves as Christians, which I am sure including some of us here. Let us introspect ourselves and look into ourselves, whether we have kept the doors of our heart locked tight against the love of Jesus.

If the doors are closed, then let us have the courage to open it, let Christ in, bare everything to Him, just as He had bared all of His heart and love as He lay dying on the cross out of His great love for all of us. Let the Lord come into our hearts, healing it of our afflictions, of our wickedness, of our unworthiness, erasing from them the spirit of pride, of wrath, of gluttony, of lust, of greed, of hatred, of desire, and of all evils.

In their place may the Holy Spirit of love, peace, hope, and compassion come and reside within each one of us, that we may be truly and completely transformed into a people of love, a people of hope, and a people of faith, belonging to the Lord our God who will be pleased at our faith and who will raise us up on the last day. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 4 August 2013 : 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 12 : 13-21

Someone in the crowd spoke to Jesus, “Master, tell my brother to share with me the family inheritance.” He replied, “My friend, who has appointed Me as your judge or your attorney?” Then Jesus said to the people, “Be on your guard and avoid every kind of greed, for even though you have many possessions, it is not that which gives you life.”

And Jesus continued with this story, “There was a rich man, and his land had produced a good harvest. He thought, ‘What shall I do, for I am short of room to store my harvest? Alright, I know what I shall do : I will pull down my barns and I will build bigger ones, to store all this grain, which is my wealth. Then I will say to myself : My friend, you have a lot of good things put by for many years. Rest, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be taken from you. Tell me who shall get all you have put aside?’

This is the lot of the one who stores up riches for himself and is not wealthy in the eyes of God.”

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Saturday, 6 April 2013 : Saturday of the Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Mark 16 : 9-15

After Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary of Magdala, from whom He had driven out seven demons. She went and reported the news to His followers, who were now mourning and weeping. But when they heard that He lived, and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

After this He showed Himself in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. These men also went back and told the others, but they did not believe them.

Later Jesus showed Himself to the Eleven while they were at table. He reproached them for their unbelief, and stubbornness, in refusing to believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. Then He told them, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.”