worldly

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Saturday, 4 May 2013 : 5th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

John 15 : 18-21

If the world hates you, remember that the world hated Me before you. This would not be so if you belonged to the world, because the world loves its own. But you are not of the world, since I have chosen you from the world; because of this the world hates you.

Remember what I told you : the servant is not greater than his master; if they persecuted Me, they will persecute you, too. If they kept My word, they will keep yours as well. All this they will do to you for the sake of My Name, because they do not know that One who sent Me.

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Tuesday, 23 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr (Scripture Reflection)

The Church is growing, in just barely years after the death and resurrection of Christ our Lord, the number of Christians grew exponentially. They were called Christians because they were of Christ, because they declared the life and death of Christ, and His resurrection, that brought hope of salvation to all mankind, that all who believe in Him may be saved.

Christians are unique because we believe in God, in a sacred and Holy Trinity, of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in an indivisible union of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. One God undivided with three natures, that complements one another, each being perfect on their own. We believe in Christ and in His teachings, because He came from the Father, and being the Son, He is one with the Father.

Now that Christ had risen from the dead, and liberated all mankind from the slavery of sin by Satan, and that He has returned to the Father, we can no longer see Him physically in this world, and yet, Christ’s presence is unmistakably clear in our world today, that despite the world’s hatred for Christ and His truth, He remained in our world ever since the day of the apostles, through the teachings that the apostles passed down to us through our priests and the ministers of the Lord’s Gospel.

We believed in Christ because of His good works and His ultimate work for the sake of us, that is His death on the cross. Had He not been of God, and one with God, His sacrifice would have been in vain, since the blood of mortal man has no power to save mankind from their fate of death, for having rebelled against the Lord, but because Christ is of God, and is God, His death made us all worthy of God by the shedding of the Precious Blood of the Lamb of God.

God our Father had given us all to Christ His Son, and as He Himself has said that no one that the Father has given Him was lost, and therefore, we, who had been saved, if we remain faithful to God and Christ His Son, we will gain eternal life in heaven with God. It is this promise of redemption and salvation that gave so many people a new reason for their life, and a new impetus for life, a new sense of purpose that drove them to embrace the Lord.

For without the Lord, we are nothing, and without the Lord we are empty. That is why our bodies, without a good soul anchored in the Lord, is just an empty husk of flesh, and a soul without God in it, is an empty and meaningless soul. God who gave us life through the Spirit He breathed into us when He created us made us perfect only if we keep Him always in our hearts.

Too often we forget about the Lord, and went on about our daily lives and schedules, and in the noisy world of our lives, we simply shut the Lord out, shut His soft whispers and words, and instead, involved ourselves with worldly distractions and desires, instead of listening to the Lord. No, this should not be the way. We should always keep the Lord at the centre of our lives, and put our ears, our minds, and our hearts ever ready to listen to Him and what His will is.

Today, we also commemorate the feast day of St. Adalbert, a bishop, and a martyr, who lived in the late first millennium, and who was martyred in his attempts to convert the pagans in Prussia. He converted many in Poland, Hungary, and the Baltic nations, bringing to many pagan peoples, the true faith and light of Christ, that many received salvation through the tireless preaching of St. Adalbert. He tirelessly worked for the sake of Christ, and spread the Gospel in many mission areas in Central and Eastern Europe, and did not show fear against the pagans and their beliefs. He was martyred for standing fast to his faith in Christ, in his attempts to bring Christ to them.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us return to the Lord, and place Him into the most important part of our lives once again, and that when the hectic schedules of our daily lives begin to take over us, let us remember to take a step back and remember the Lord, and keep Him always in our mind.

Do not let this world and its temptations deviate us from our true path, that is towards God. May God almighty strengthen us and our faith in Him, and allow us to listen at all times to His will, He who is our Good Shepherd, He who has chosen us and made us worthy, and He who had died for the sake of all of us. Let us follow the example of St. Adalbert, who worked hard and ceaselessly for the sake of God and the spreading of his Good News. Through his efforts, many who were chosen by God were saved. St. Adalbert, pray for all of us, and may God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 12 April 2013 : 2nd Week of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to a great story from the Gospel today, a great deed done by our Lord Himself. This very deed proves to us that God is a God who provides, and who cares for all the people whom He had taken under His protection. Just like a shepherd loves and cares for all of his sheep, therefore Christ, as the Good Shepherd cares for all the children of God, especially those who believe in Him and put their complete trust in Him.

He did provide for us indeed, no, not just our daily bread and food, that sustained us to life, but also the spiritual food, that is the Word of God, through His teachings passed down to us through the apostles. He Himself had countered the devil in the desert, when he tempted Him in hunger to abandon His fasting, to please Himself with the temporary food, that is not the true food that fulfills all, both our body and our spirit, that is the Word of God.

We should not worry about what we are to have today, what we are to eat today, and what kind of clothes that we are to wear today, as these are not the true things that we need. Yes, we still need to eat and fulfill our human needs, but that is exactly why we should not worry, since as long as we believe in the Lord, He will provide for us, and protect us from harm.

Then one may ask, why then there are still hunger and famine in this world, because if God loves us so much, why then did He let so many people suffer from the lack of food and resources? Why did He let so many people die from famines and diseases? Is the Lord not a good God? The answer is yes, but it is exactly because God also wants us to not be dependent on Him at all times in our lives.

Yes, as the Lord has commanded us, that we should love one another just as we love ourselves and love God who loves us so much too, therefore, we should be the ones responsible for the wellbeing of our fellow men, our impoverished brethren, who lacked food and other basic necessities for a decent life. There are also many people out there, while they lack no food or needs, they hunger for love, for even if they have every material goods that they desired, but lacking love, they would not be truly satisfied.

God showed us the miracle of the feeding of many with bread, showing His care and love for His people. Therefore, we too, should follow in His footsteps, indeed not only in providing physical food and sustenance, but even more importantly in providing our love and care for our brethren, particularly those who lack them.

May God bless all of us, and shower us with His grace and love, that we too can share His love and grace to our less fortunate brethren. Let us strive to make our world, a better, and more loving place. Amen.

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Thursday, 11 April 2013 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Stanislas, Bishop and Martyr (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today, we commemorate the memorial and feast of a great Saint, that is Saint Stanislas or Stanislaus of Poland, who proudly defied the King of Poland and chastised him for his improper behaviour in his governance. He earned martyrdom for his bravery and uprightness, and despite offers from the King for him to stand down his accusation and opposition, St. Stanislas remained firm in his morale standing and ideals, fearing neither death nor persecution.

Indeed, in Christ, the Son of God, had been given all the authorities in heaven and on earth, by God the Father, who entrusted to Him the authority as King of all the universe. In this, then, as we have observed in many situations, we see the conflict, that is ever present in obedience and authority, for in God we have our great and only true King, but in this world too, we see an earthly ruler either appointed to rule over us, or elected as a leader, and therefore in them too, lay a kind of authority vested in them and their office.

Who to obey then? The earthly ruler or the heavenly ruler? Our worldly king or the king of heaven, who is also our Saviour and our God? It is indeed difficult, especially because it is very often that the world does not conform to that of heaven, and the ideals of the teachings of God were often abandoned for the earthly pursuits of temporal fame, glory, and wealth, which many kings coveted and desired to possess.

King Boleslaw the Bold, who had slain Saint Stanislas, did exactly that, gathering authority and power to himself, and although he ruled rather well, but he often abused his powers at the expense of his subjects entrusted to him. That was why Saint Stanislas, one of the founders and pillars of the Church in Poland, which then had just recently converted to Christianity, stood up against the excesses of his king and his liege, disobeying the earthly ruler, so that he would not disobey the teachings of the Lord.

It is not that we should disobey our rulers in this world, appointed or elected to lead over us. But we must not take for granted whatever decisions and policies they had decided to select and impose over us all, but we must, in consultation with these rulers, ensure that they keep the teachings of God and maintain the justice that is of the Lord, in their rule, that they would not abuse the power and authority entrusted to them.

Christ, our King, was a humble and unassuming man, and indeed, exactly the opposite of the characteristics that a king would have according to the common people. He did not flaunt His authority and His power, but yet, when He exercised His authority in His teachings, it is undeniable that everyone could feel the great presence of His authority. Yet, many still refused to listen to Christ and follow His teachings, preferring the other ‘king’, that is the worldly king, the evil one, who deceived this world, and controlled the powers of this world, and used them against the works of Christ.

When we refused Christ and rejected His teachings and commandments, essentially we profess that our king is not the True King, who is Christ, but rather, the worldly king, that is the devil. When our rulers and those in the position of authority abused their power or neglected their duties, they too, profess that they follow the evil one, as kings modeled after this evil, instead of Christ, whom we should emulate indeed.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us take this time to reflect, whether we had reflected Christ in our life through our actions, that especially when we are given responsibilities, power, or authority, whether we had exercised them with prudence and justice, as our king, Jesus Christ would, or whether we had abused the authority entrusted to all of us, preferring to follow the evil one instead, and causing pain to others through our actions.

Let us strive then, to be more like St. Stanislas, that we will not be afraid to stand up against injustice and abuse of power by the authorities, and that we will be brave to defend our faith in God as well. May God bless us with strength and courage, to continue the good works which had began in the apostles and continued down to us today. Saint Stanislas, pray for all of us, that we may truly be inspired by your life and your actions. Amen.

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Wednesday, 10 April 2013 : 2nd Week of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today in the Gospel reading, we heard the passage which many of us surely knew very well, that shows the degree of the love our God had shown us, that in His infinite love and mercy, He sent down to us a helper, a salvation, none other than His own Son, part of His Godhood, Jesus Christ, to be our Messiah and Saviour.

Yet, even though God loves us so much to this extent of allowing His only Son to descend to this world as a humble man as we are, and even unto death, persecuted and condemned by His own people, the Jewish people, God did not back down, and continued with the plan of salvation. On the hill of calvary, on that fateful day, when Christ was crucified, lifted high between the heavens and the earth, He completed the plan of salvation and snatched the final victory from the evil one.

But sadly, many still reject the words of our Saviour and His teachings, which He passed to the apostles, and from them to us through our priests and bishops who are their successors. The opposition to Christ was evident in the first reading that we heard today, on the capture and arrest of the disciples when they taught in the Temple on the truth about Christ and our salvation in His Resurrection.

The chief priests and the Sadducees represented the very words mentioned in the psalm, that despite the light sent by God to us, through Christ our Lord, who is indeed the Light of the world, many people still live in darkness, and prefer darkness to light. They preferred the entitlements and enticements made by the evil one, who offered them worldly glory, wealth, and honour, that in gaining these, they rejected Christ who is the true font of glory, honour, and salvation.

Even in our own world today, many people hate Christ, and hate the truth that He had brought upon us. They prefer to be mastered by the devil, and rejected the offer of eternal life that Christ had offered, for the sake of temporal enjoyment and temptations that this world has to offer them. Not only content on corrupting them, but the evil one is always at work, and they even entice many against those who believe in Christ, and ridicule us for our faith in God.

But fear not, dear brothers and sisters in Christ! For remember that the Lord is always with us, and He will always protect us from harm. Remember that in the first reading, we were told that the disciples were aided by God through the angels who released them from their captivity, that they can continue to work the mission God had entrusted to them.

Let us therefore, today, pray for our brethren in faith, who risked themselves and even their lives for the sake of the Gospel, and for the sake of our God. May God be with them and protect them against harm and the devices of the evil one. And may we also grow strong and courageous in our own faith, that we too can follow the footsteps of the apostles, in delivering the Good News of our Lord to all mankind, without fear, especially of the evil one. Amen.

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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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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