17th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 25th July 2010

Genesis　10：20－32／Colossians　2：12－24／Luke　11：1－13

There is a local event happening now, but I think it’s coming to an end soon (in fact I think it’s ending today!)

It has been happening for two months already, and it would have caught our attention somehow.

Do you know what I’m talking about? Still thinking?
What if I say it’s connected to shopping?
Ahh … yes … it’s the Great S’pore Sale! Right?

Yes, the Great S’pore Sale, and it’s intended to spur us on to a shopping spree because there are supposed to be great discounts and bargains.

I can’t say much about the Great S’pore Sale because I don’t do much shopping, and I don’t have the time to go around comparing prices.

But I can say that there is something missing in the Great S’pore Sale.

Yes, there is something missing. What is missing is this very interesting activity called bargaining.

So as much as it is called the Great S’pore Sale, and the prices are slashed and discounted, yet that is the final price.

There is no further bargaining. The discounted price is fixed.

That is something that my mother and the women of her generation cannot quite understand, nor will they accept it.

For them, the displayed price, whether discounted or otherwise, is meant to be further reduced.

For them, the displayed price is a challenge for them to see how much more can be reduced, and their usual starting bid is 50% off the displayed price.

So at times, it can be quite difficult for me to go shopping with my mum at those classy departmental stores.

Because she will ask me to go and bargain with the salesgirl!

But if bargaining with the salesgirl at a classy department store can be embarrassing, then are we daring enough to bargain with God?

In the 1st reading, Abraham seemed to have the guts to do it.

The whole town of Sodom was to be destroyed because of their sinfulness.

Abraham pleaded with God not to destroy the just man with the sinner.

So he bargained with God, from finding 50 innocent persons to finding just 10 innocent persons, so that the whole town could be spared.

But in his bargaining with God, Abraham believed that God was merciful and compassionate.

So Abraham dared to persist further and further in his prayer bargain with God.

He did all that in order to try to save the people of that town.

In the gospel, Jesus teaches us to persist in prayer.

He told us to ask and we will receive, to search and we will find, to knock and it will be opened.

But we may need to look at what we are asking for in prayer.

Generally speaking, most of what we are asking for are valid needs.

So there are prayers for recovery from illness, for job stability, for peace in the family, for our children to do well in their exams, and maybe that our cars won’t be stuck in a flood, or whatever.

These are valid needs, and Jesus assures us that God knows what we need and He will provide for us.

In the gospel, Jesus told a parable about a man knocking on his neighbour’s door at midnight to ask for some bread because he had a guest.

Jesus concluded the parable by saying that if the neighbour does not get up and give it to the man for friendship’s sake, then persistence will be enough to make him get up and give the man what he wanted.

Jesus emphasized the need for persistence in prayer.

But there may be another side to this parable.

Now, let’s say, that your bank offers you this fantastic deal.

Each morning, the bank will deposit $86, 400 into your private account for your use.

But these are the following conditions.

Firstly, the money that you do not spend each day will be taken from you.

Secondly, you cannot transfer the money into another account.
Thirdly, only you, and you alone, can spend it.

Fourthly, the bank can end this deal without any notice.

At any time, it can say “Account closed” and you will not get a new account.

Now what would you do with the money in this account?

You would surely buy anything and everything you wanted right? No need Great S’pore Sale, just shop till you drop.

Not only for yourself, but also for the people you love and for your friends too, isn’t it?

Even for the people you don’t know, you will also spend it on them, because you couldn’t possibly spend it all on yourself.

You would try to spend every cent and use it all before the day ends, right?

Sounds like too good to be true, isn’t it?

Well, this is true, because each of us has such a bank account.

Everyday God gives us 86,400 seconds as a gift of life.

It cannot be brought forward. What we have not lived up to for that day is gone. Well, yesterday is forever gone.

Each new day, the account is renewed.

But the account can be terminated at any time, and without any notice.

Well, what are we going to do with our 86,400 seconds?

Certainly, those 86,400 seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars.

Well, God is knocking at our doors and persistently asking us how we are spending our time, and what are we doing with our lives.

We don’t have to ask for more. Whatever we needed, God has already given to us.

86, 400 seconds of life is God’s gift to us everyday.

How we use it, how we live it out, is our gift to God and our gift to others.

Abraham used his gift to plead for the innocent people of the town.

May we use our gift to bring life and love to others.

May our lives bring joy and peace to others.

Let that be our prayer, our persistent prayer.

14th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 4July 2010

First Reading: Isaiah 66:10-14

Second Reading: Galatians 6:14-18

Gospel: Luke 10:1-12.17-20

Among the species of animals, the one that gives us a sense of intrigue and enigma, and also fear, is the snake.

Actually the snake is an odd creature.

It has no hands or feet or wings, and it moves about by crawling on its belly.

But all this not withstanding, the snake has a reputation for being a deadly creature.

From constriction to venom, and from the time of Adam, the snake is like the scourge of mankind.

Though some snakes are not poisonous, yet there is just too much fear created about them.

A story has it that a preacher wanted to show his congregation that there is nothing to fear about snakes.

So he had a non-poisonous snake in a sack, and he told his congregation that there is nothing to fear about snakes and that they can even crush it with their heels.

So he let the snake out of the sack. Bad move.

Children started to scream and run, followed by the adults.

It was pandemonium, total chaos.

Well, if we priests try to do this kind of antics, we might just get ex-communicated!!

Yet, it is not a joke when Jesus said that He is sending us out like lambs among wolves.

But Jesus assures us that He has given us power to tread under foot snakes and scorpions.

He even tells us that nothing will harm us.

Well to that, a missionary can give testimony as he relates his encounter with danger.

This missionary was serving in a rural area where electricity was generated by a diesel generator.

One stormy night, the generator failed and his house was in total darkness.

He had no torchlight but he remembered that there were candles and matches in the church.

So he felt his way around, got out of the house and using the walls as a guide, made his way to the church, all this in pitch darkness.

Finally, he got to the candles and lighting a candle he made his way back to the house safely.

A few days later, there was another storm, and again the generator failed.

This time around, the missionary was prepared and he had a torch light.

So, with confidence, he made his way to the church to get some candles.

But as he opened the door to step into the church, his steps came to a sudden halt.

Because, as he shined his torch light ahead of him, he saw a snake coiled up in the church, taking shelter from the rain.

He turned back immediately and headed straight for his house, and when he got back, he went down on his knees to thank God.

As he thought about it, just a few days back, he made the same way in pitch darkness and, thank God, there was no snake.

This time around, he was not going to tread on the snake to see if it would bite; that would be crazy.

Putting it any way we want, we can be sure that Jesus was protecting that missionary, when he made his way to the church in pitch darkness.

And Jesus wants to protect us as we make our way in this world that is darkened by fear and danger, where the wolves howl, the snakes bite and the scorpions sting.

Jesus sends us forth into the world to be instruments and channels of His peace in the midst of fear and danger.

But let us also remember that peace is not the absence of fear and danger. There will always be fear and danger.

Peace is the presence of God, in the midst of fear and danger.

At every Mass, Jesus says to us – I leave you peace. My peace I give you.

So Jesus already gave us His peace. That’s what we have. That’s what we are – a people of peace.

Earlier on, I talked about a preacher with a snake.

I’d like to tell you now about a preacher with a $100 note.

So this preacher showed his congregation a $100 note and asked – Who would like to have this $100 note?

Of course, hands went up. Then he said, “OK, but what if I do this?” And he proceeded to crumple up the $100 note.

And then he asked, “So now, who would still like to have this?”

Well, the hands still went up.

And then the preacher said, “Ok, but what if I do this?”

And he dropped the note to the ground and started to grind it on the floor with his shoe.

He then picked it up, the crumpled and dirty note, then he asked, “Who still want this?” Would you want it?

Of course, we would still want it. Because no matter how crumpled and dirty it is, the value has not decreased. It is still a $100 note.

And that is the truth! In God’s eyes we will always have a value; and as God promised, we will always have peace.

It is a peace that the world cannot give; it is also a peace the world cannot take away.

Yet, we have to always ask ourselves: do we give others peace of mind, or do we give others a piece of our mind?

So, do we bring peace wherever we go?

Or do we bring peace whenever we go?

In this Mass, and in every Mass, peace is what Jesus gives to us.

It is this peace that we are to give to others.

May this peace give us the power and the strength ….

so that where there is injury, we bring pardon,
where there is doubt, we bring faith,
where there is despair, we bring hope,
where there is darkness, we bring light.
where there is sadness, we bring joy.