17th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 29.07.2012

2Kings 4:42-44/ Ephesians 4:1-6/ John 6:1-15

For whatever occasion it might be, there must be this one essential and important element, and that is none other than food.

Yes, for whatever occasion it might be, the presence of food will make things look good.

For example, at weddings, besides the bride and the groom looking very good, there will also be the wedding reception where there will be at least some catered food, or better still a 10-course sumptuous dinner.

For birthday celebrations, there will at least be a sweet rich birthday cake.

Even for funeral wakes, there will be at least some simple food.

But the presence of food is not just to make the occasion look good.

Food is for our good. Because food is the first necessity of life. We eat to live (and not the other way round).

In fact, the first human activity in the Bible is eating!

In the book of Genesis, after God created man, He told him that he may eat of all the fruit trees in the garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

So even God is concerned about our need for food, and what we are eating.

So the basic question in life, and for life, is this – What do we really need? And do we have it?

That was the question that Jesus asked when He saw the crowds – “Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat?”

The need was for food – bread for the people to eat.

And from the small boy’s five barley loaves and two fish, a miracle happened and the crowd of five thousand ate as much as they wanted.

Yes, it was a miracle, a sign and a wonder, all pointing to divine providence.

Yes, God cares for His people. He is concerned about their need for food and He provides.

Yes, food is good, because it points to the Lord who is good.

And hence eating must also be an act of thanksgiving. That’s why we say Grace before meals, to give thanks to God for the food.

Yes, give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for He provides us with food.

Yet, we see something strange happening in the gospel.

The people seeing this sign, this wonderful miracle that Jesus had given, were having ideas of taking Him by force and making Him king.

And so Jesus had to make a quick exit to the hills by Himself.

It was strange, because instead of giving thanks to God, the people’s need turned into greed.

Jesus had healed the sick; now He had provided bread for the hungry.

For the crowds, they could only see in Jesus the one who could give them food and health, and hence their problems in life are going to be solved.

So they wanted to make Him their king, so that He will have to provide for them always.

For the crowd, they thought that they had found the man who would take care of all their physical wants and needs.

They thought that they had found the one who would make everything right again – there will be no more hunger, no more sickness, no more problems, no more worries.

Yes, it began with a need, but it turned into greed.

The crowd was not able to see that the miracle of the multiplication of loaves was a sign of the goodness of the Lord’s providence.

When a need turns into greed, thanksgiving will be forgotten, and there will only be selfish desires and agendas.

As we come to Mass, we have come to the Eucharist which means “thanksgiving”.

So we have come here to thank God. But are we aware of what to thank God for?

Oh yes, the first thing that comes to mind is that we thank God for giving Jesus to us in Holy Communion.

But the consecrated host is a small piece of wafer that hardly satisfies us if we are really physically hungry.

Yet, as we receive Jesus in Holy Communion, we also open our eyes in thanksgiving.

And certainly, one of the things we must thank God for is the food that is so easily available in Singapore, and that we can eat as much as we want.

Do we see any miracle there? Yes it is a miracle in that for a country like Singapore which hardly produces what it consumes, we have so much of fresh food.

And the food that we consume has certainly gone through the labours of many hands and many people before it appears as delicious warm food for our enjoyment.

So right before our eyes, a miracle has happened! And when we see it as a miracle, we would certainly give thanks to God for that.

Yet at the same time, we can also simply take it for granted, that there will always be food on demand, and that we can even waste food.

If that is the case, then our need has become a greed.

We will cease to see miracles and cease to give thanks.

And then like the crowd, we would begin to put our selfish desires and agendas on demand, and expect Jesus to fulfill it.

Yet, as we come to the Eucharist, let us also realize how poor we are.

There is nothing that we can offer to the Lord which He has not given to us in the first place.

Yes, in this Eucharist, let us give thanks to the Lord for providing for our needs.

Let us also remember to always say the “Grace before meals”.

And with thankful and grateful hearts, we will be able to see the wonders and miracles that the Lord works for us always.

16th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 22.07.2012

Jeremiah 23:1-6/ Ephesians 2:13-18/ Mark 6:30-34


I am sure we know what the initials “RIP” stand for.
We see these initials on tombstones and on niches – and of course we know it stands for “Rest in Peace”. (Not Rise if Possible!)


It seems that only for those who have passed, those who have died, only they are entitled to “rest in peace”.


But for the living (and that means us!), we can go around wearing T-shirts with the big letters RIP – and they would stand for “Rest if Possible”.


Well, in an urban society like Singapore, we are plagued with nothing less than busyness.


In fact, we can be so busy that RIP can also mean “ripped into pieces”.


Maybe that is why we like to go overseas for holidays. We want to get away from it all, to have some rest and some peace. (As if it is possible!)


Even when we are in the toilet (sometimes it is called the restroom), we still cannot rest in peace.


Because someone will come along and knock on the door and say things like: You are still in there? Can you hurry up?


And we can also forget about Sunday being a day of rest.


Sundays can be so filled with busyness, that we need to recuperate from Monday to Saturday.


But whatever day it might be, we are always busy, we are always “on the go”. But where are we going?


We heard in the gospel that Jesus had sent his disciples “on the go”, to go on the mission of preaching repentance and deliverance and healing.


They had been busy, and no doubt they liked it because they saw how the authority of Jesus worked in them – people repented, evil spirits were cast out, the sick were cured.


And also there was so much more to do that the disciples didn’t even have time to eat.


But they were high and they wanted to go on for more.


And that’s when Jesus jammed the brakes and told them to come away to a lonely place and rest.


Yet, the irony was that it was Jesus Himself who ended up “on the go” – He set Himself to teach the crowds.
In other words, Jesus ended up being busy.


And the so-called “rest” that He wanted for His disciples was certainly short-lived, if ever there was any at all.


So, what is it that Jesus is teaching us in the Gospel?


Is it that there will be no rest and peace all the days of our lives, until we are over and done with life?


Come to think of it, rest and peace is so elusive, isn’t it?


For example, parents will never rest from their responsibilities and they will always worry about their grown up children.


Married couples would long for some peace between each other.


Those who are sick would long for a good night’s rest without pain.


Those who have done something wrong would long for peace and reconciliation.


So we may be longing for a good rest, but we better not say we are dying to rest. (Because we might just end up in eternal rest!)


But just like that short amount of respite that Jesus and His disciples had in the boat before they reached the other side, God will also give us just enough of rest so that our hearts will have just enough of peace.
Because our God who gives us rest is also restless.


Because He cares for those who are like sheep without a shepherd.


As I reflected on the Gospel, I remembered that there was one particular weekend that was unusually taxing.


But I was also looking forward to Sunday evening because some of my friends had called me along for dinner.


So, after the evening Mass, though I was very tired, but I was relieved that the weekend is over, and I looked forward to having a good relaxing dinner.


I wanted some rest and peace, so I even switched off my handphone.


So, when I met up with my friends, I was happy and relaxed and of course very hungry.


We ordered our food and as we were tucking into the first dish, my friend’s handphone rang.


He answered the call,  and although I was busy with my food, I somehow felt he was glancing at me.


And then I heard him saying: Yes, Fr Yim is with me.


I must say my heart froze. I chilled. I suspected something coming up.


Well, to cut the story short, his relative was critically ill in hospital and his family members were trying their luck to see if he could contact me and there I was in front of him!


Needless to say, I couldn’t continue the dinner, and I have to admit that my face was like a combination of burnt toast and bitter gourd.


I had to go back to church to get dressed, get the hospital kit, and get the Blessed Sacrament.


I was angry, and I was complaining: Why? Why? Why can’t I have a quiet relaxing dinner after a long tough weekend? Why?


On my way to the hospital, I really had to pray that I would be gracious and have a heart of compassion for the sick, instead of giving them a taste of burnt toast and bitter gourd.


Anyway, when I reached the hospital, and met the family members, my heart softened because of their tears and I did whatever I could as a priest.


They were the sheep looking for the shepherd, and God sent me there.


Initially I didn’t understand why God wanted to “spoil” my evening and my dinner.


But when I got back to church, I saw that it was about 9.30pm, there was some food in the fridge which I quickly ate, and I could call it an early night because I have morning Mass the next day. 


But more importantly, my heart was at peace. 


Because I have done God’s work.


The lesson that I learnt is this: Do God’s work first, and God will take care of the rest, and I will be at peace.


Jesus and His disciples needed some rest and peace, but Jesus saw the needs of the crowds and set Himself to teach them.


So Jesus did God’s work first and God took care of His needs as well as that of His disciples.


So in all our busyness, are we doing God’s work?


And what is God’s work? When parents teach their children to pray and also pray with them, that is God’s work; when married couples pray together so that they will be in love and in communion with God, that is God’s work; when we visit the sick and pray with them, that is God’s work; when we pray with those who are troubled and burdened, that is God’s work.


When there is misunderstanding, we pray for reconciliation, and where there is conflict, we pray for peace, that is God’s work.


Or like how the gospel puts it, where the sheep is without the shepherd, there God’s work is waiting to be done.


And when we set out to do God’s work, then rest is possible, and we will also be able to rest in peace.

15th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 15.07.2012

Amos 7:12-15/ Ephesians 1:3-14/ Mark 6:7-13

The Lord’s Prayer is a powerful prayer that we are all very familiar with. Not just familiar, but we should know by heart.

It’s a simple prayer, yet it is also a very deep prayer, a prayer that can and must be used for any occasion and in any kind of need.

Yes, we need to pray that prayer seriously and also understand the meaning of that prayer.

Talking about serious praying, tell me who prays more earnestly? Is it the prayer of the one in church or the prayer of the one in the casino?

Jokes aside, the prayer of the one in the casino may be more earnest?!?

Nonetheless, we need to pray the Lord’s Prayer seriously and even slowly, because haste is the death of devotion (St Francis de Sales).

And when we begin to reflect and meditate on the Lord’s Prayer, we may come to one particular portion that we might find rather mysterious and intriguing.

Have we ever wondered about that part of the Prayer that says: Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil?

The immediate question would be: Why would God want to lead us into temptation?

To begin with, God cannot be tempted and He tempts no one. That must be made clear first.

Yet, when we ask God not to lead us into temptation, it means that we are asking God “not to allow us to enter” or “not to let us yield to” temptation.

It also means that we are asking God to block our way into temptation and to give us the Spirit of discernment.

And because temptations can just spring up all of a sudden, we need God’s help to stop us from consenting to temptation and from falling into sin.

One example would be that you are on the Titanic which was sinking fast, and there is one more place in the life-boat and you are about to take it, when you see a pregnant woman next to you.

So what are you going to do? Let the pregnant woman take your place? Or just think about saving yourself first? That springs up the temptation which requires an immediate decision.

Or, we may remember 9/11, and the crumbling Twin Towers (World Trade Center). People were running out of the building to save their lives, but there were also people running INTO the building to save lives.

What would we have done there and then?

That is just another case of temptation that requires an immediate decision.

So, when we pray “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil”, it means that in that critical moment of temptation, we ask God for His help and salvation.

In the Gospel, we heard that Jesus sent forth His disciples. He also instructed them to bring practically nothing with them.

His power and authority will be the source of their preaching of repentance and deliverance and healing.

All that will sounds challenging enough as the disciples listened to Jesus in the safety of their comfort zone.

But when they are out there in pairs, when they experience discomfort and rejection, when they face difficulties and danger, things will be different.

Any sensitive situation can explode into a temptation.

Well, they can get into a disagreement with their travelling companion and end up parting ways.

They can get homesick, discouraged, frightened, disillusioned…anything.

Anything can happen the moment they give into temptation.

More so in the face of fear and terror we can all snap easily and turn from our cherished beliefs and principles and turn into something else.

In the first reading, we heard of Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, and the religious leader of the people.

Yet, in the moment of temptation, he chose to rely on the support and acceptance of the king and the people; hence he drove away the prophet Amos.

If it can happen to priests and religious people, then it is obvious that no one is spared.

Yet, let us also remember that the prayer “Lead us not into temptation” is also immediately followed by “deliver us from evil”.

In that moment of temptation, where fear and even terror may besiege us, God is also there to deliver us from the evil one.

We just have to reach out for God and trust in Him, otherwise we will be consumed by fear and terror.

There is this movie titled “Of Gods and Men”, which gives us a glimpse of religious life and its mission.

Based on a true story of a group of French Trappist monks who lived among the people in a rural village in Algeria.

All was well and peaceful until fundamentalist terrorists started creating terror in the country in 1996 and began targeting and killing foreigners.

That was when the faith and unity of the Trappist monks was put to the test.

As fear and terror began to grip that religious community, the temptations were clearly expressed in statements like:

“I didn’t become a monk to end up being killed by terrorists” or “I am not going to stay and get killed in a foreign land”.

The immediate instinct was to leave and go back to their home country.

Yet, they eventually stayed on and in the end, they lost their lives.

The words of the Prior was profound as he told his fellow monks: When we became a monk, we have already given our lives to God.

Yes, the disciples were called not just to follow Jesus but to give their lives to Jesus so that they can be sent to preach repentance, to cast out evil spirits and to heal the sick.

The temptation will be to take the easy and safe road, and to look for support and acceptance from people.

The temptation would be to follow the desires and dictates of their own hearts instead of trusting and relying on God’s grace and power.

The repentance that we need to undergo is from self-reliance to relying and trusting in God.

The evil that we need to cast out is the selfish desires of our heart, so that our heart will be healed and recreated to love.

May God save us from being overwhelmed by temptation, especially when fear and terror wants to pull us away from relying and trusting in God.

May Jesus deliver us from all evil and also cast out all evil from us, so that we belong to Him and Him alone.

Our lives are already safely in the hands of Jesus. Let us not turn to anything else.

14th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 08.07.2012

Ezekiel 2:2-5/ 2 Cor 12: 7-10/ Mark 6:1-6


About a week ago, some of us woke up at about 2am to switch on the TV. I wondered how many of us did that.

Well, there was this European Cup final between Italy and Spain and of course we know that Spain won 4-0.

Seems like Italy was really outplayed and got trashed,  despite their reputation of having a rock solid defense.

In a game where there can be any one winner, the Italians would have to creep back home and try to avoid their countrymen who are fanatical over football.

But certainly not so for the Spaniards. They are the winners, they have the Cup to show, they are the heroes, theirs is the glory and victory.

A homecoming like this, as winners, is certainly sweet, with everyone cheering and clapping for them.

Yes, they are the champions of Europe, and with that the money will also roll in.

As the song goes: The winner takes it all, the loser standing small… Actually the loser has nothing to stand on.

Yes, this world does not acknowledge losers, the world only looks at winners.

More so if you leave your hometown in search of a fortune elsewhere.

Because when you go back home, you better make a name for yourself, as well as a fortune.

In the gospel, we heard that Jesus went back to His hometown of Nazareth.

He already had a reputation: that He taught with authority and He worked miracles.

With such a reputation, we would expect the people of His hometown to cheer and clap for Him.

Yet they questioned His wisdom and His miracles.

So what is the problem? Or where is the problem? Or who is the problem?

Well, Jesus pointed out the problem. Yes, He made a name for Himself.

But that name is not winner, not hero, or champion.

That name is prophet! And Jesus pointed out a prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own relations, and in his own house.

Yes, Jesus went back to His hometown as a prophet but He did not bring any profits for the people.

Anyway, prophets and profits do not mix!

So, when the people saw that there was nothing to gain from Jesus, that there was nothing they would benefit from Him, they just rejected Him.

If Jesus had multiplied their food, their crops, their livestock, their wealth, then perhaps they would have welcomed Him.

But inn their minds, carpenters are not supposed to preach.

And certainly, Jesus had preached about things that they didn’t want to hear.

Things like faithfulness to God, forgiving enemies, praying for those who wrong them, helping the poor and needy, honesty and humility.

Even we ourselves would not be very excited about hearing those kinds of things.

Yet, these are divine truths, and divine truths are also the truths of life.

Jesus preached to His people those divine truths but He was like a thorn in the flesh for them.

And those truths He taught only increased the pain for them.

So, the most convenient thing to do was to label Him a carpenter and reject Him. Case closed.

Jesus would have certainly felt the pain of their rejection, so much so that He could work no miracle there.

To say that He was amazed by their lack of faith may be an understatement.

The rejection was painful and it was like a thorn in the flesh for Him.

We also heard in the 2nd reading of St Paul complaining about his “thorn in the flesh”.

What was it, we are not told, but like Jesus, St Paul also faced rejection in his ministry.

He even pleaded with the Lord, three times, to remove this “thorn in the flesh”, but he was told:

“My grace is enough for you; my power is at its best in weakness”.

And with that, St Paul continued to face the insults, hardships, persecutions and agonies for the sake of Christ.

In the latest edition of Catholic News, there was an article on the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

It was about his beatification. He is recognized for his heroic Christian virtues.

In fact, he was the forerunner of TV evangelization back in the 1950s and his talks are very inspiring and his books are still widely read.

Yet, there is something we must know about Fulton Sheen. When he was in college, he was told by his college debate coach: You are the worst speaker I ever heard.

That must have been a deep thorn in his flesh and caused him much pain.

How he managed to overcome that pain and rejection, nobody knows but he certainly believed in those words: “My grace is enough for you, my power is at its best in weakness”.

In life, we will be hurt with many painful thorns of rejection and criticism.

Some may think that we are of no use or of no benefit to them.

And then there are the thorns of failure, defeat, humiliation, and also the thorns of pride and sin.

But as St Paul had taught us and this indeed is a divine truth: those thorns in the flesh are to stop us from getting too proud.

Yet at the same time, Jesus tells us: My grace is enough for you, my power is at its best in weakness.

Yes, it is when we are weak that we are strong.

Let us deepen our faith in Jesus, our healer and Saviour.

Even with the thorns in our flesh, we can still be His prophets, powerfully proclaiming the wonders that God works in us.