St. Teresa of Lisieux (Parish Feast Day) 30.09.2012

Isaiah 66:10-14/ Matthew 18:1-5


Generally speaking, our hand has five fingers. And we can assume that each finger has a significant purpose.

First of all, there is the thumb. It is often used to give the “thumbs-up” to mean that things are good and alright.

It is also important for the thumb-print for some legal documents.

The index finger is generally used to point in the general direction of things. 

To index means to point out or to show something, so that is why the second finger is called the index finger.

The third finger, or middle finger, which is the longest of the fingers, is used to help delicate functions like writing and typing. 

Then there is the fourth finger which is also called the ring finger.

And the last, which is also the smallest of all the fingers, is called the little finger, or also called the pinkie.

That little finger has this unique name because it originated from the Dutch language where the word “pinkie” is used to describe something tiny or small.

Hence the word “pinkie” would best describe the little finger.

So those are the names of the five fingers of the hand – the thumb, the index finger, the middle finger, the ring finger and the pinkie.

Of course, all the five fingers have a purpose. But which finger would we assume that has the least important function?

Without thinking too much, we might assume that it is the last finger, the little finger, the pinkie.

After all, in the Japanese organized crime, or the Yakuza, there is the Yubitsume ritual, or the cutting of one’s finger, as a form of penance or apology.

The transgressor must cut off the tip of his little finger, and give the severed portion to his boss.

But why the little finger, or the pinkie, and not the other fingers? Is it because the pinkie is the least important, and hence not much of a use?

Actually, on the contrary, the pinkie is the strongest finger of the hand.

In the traditional way of holding the Japanese sword, the last three fingers of each hand are used to grip the sword handle tightly, with the thumb and index fingers holding it loosely.

The little fingers of the two hands must grip the handle of the sword tightly. Because, surprisingly, the little finger is the strongest finger of the hand, in terms of gripping.

So by cutting off part of the little finger, the hand loses the proper grip of the sword.

And that would also symbolize a form of penance and apology and also submission to the boss.

But even in practical terms, just try to hold a hammer without the little finger gripping the handle. It won’t be that easy to hit a nail into the wall.

So it is surprising how much strength and power the little finger has, isn’t it?

It may be the smallest of all the fingers, it may be the last finger in the hand, it’s just a little finger, but it certainly has considerable strength.

In fact, losing the little finger can be very inconvenient. It may mean losing the grip of things, practically as well as symbolically.

So with this, we may be able to understand what Jesus meant when He said in the gospel: The one who makes himself as little as a little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

It may not seem logical as to how the little ones are the greatest.

But that is the way of God. God’s ways are above man’s ways, His thoughts are above our thoughts.

In fact, God will cast away the proud and mighty, and He will raise up the little and the lowly.

Today we celebrate the feast-day of the patron saint of our parish, St. Teresa of Lisieux.

Her religious name is St. Teresa of the Child Jesus. And her way to holiness and eventually to sainthood is known as the “Little Way”.

She believed that God shows love by mercy and forgiveness. The way to approach God is to be like how a little child approaches its parent – with open arms and complete trust.

In fact, St. Teresa wrote that she could not understand how anyone could be afraid of a God who became a child in order to live among us.

St. Teresa showed how she lived out that “Little Way” by taking on all the lowly and humble tasks in her convent.

She worked as a sacristan taking care of the altar and chapel. She served in the refectory and in the laundry room. She took care of the old and sick sisters.

Her life was just so routine, mundane and ordinary. But she did small things with great love.

She even had another name – The Little Flower. Because in all she did, she offered it as a little flower to Jesus.

She was just so child-like in her faith, but within 28 years of her death, she was canonized and is now a great saint.

St. Teresa was like that last finger of the hand – small and little, yet strong and powerful.

St. Teresa of the Child Jesus, the Little Flower, has taught us and shown us that in the small, little and lowly, God’s mighty love and power is shown.

That will also remind us that in Psalm 8:2, there is this verse that says : From the lips of children and infants, you Lord, have built a fortress against your enemies and to silence the foe.

Hence it is of great importance to teach our children to pray and to help them pray in a simple and little way.

Yet it is in the simple and humble prayers of children and even of infants that will turn on God’s mighty love and power.

It is in their simple and humble prayers that we will find the solution to our problems and difficulties.

It is in their simple and humble prayers that we will realize that power is found not in the thumb but in the last little finger.

And that should make us want to be like little children because God favours the lowly, the little and the humble.

So all the more we should want to pray with our children because their prayer is mighty and powerful.

Jesus said that anyone who welcomes a little child in His name welcomes Him.

St. Teresa took that little way and she found Jesus.

As for us, it’s either the little way, or no other way.

25th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 23.09.2012

Wisdom 2:12, 17-20/ James 3:16-4:3/ Mark 9: 30-37


There is a peculiar phenomenon that is happening in the entertainment scene.

We see it in TV serials, in live concerts, in movies – it’s like an invasion on the entertainment scene.

I would just want to generally term this as the “K-pop”.

Well, it all began with Canto-pop in the 70s, followed by Mando-pop and then J-pop (Japan) and now K-pop from Korea is riding the waves.

In the similar styles of the “pop” tradition, K-pop usually features boy-bands and girl-bands, whose members are young and good-looking and with very slick dance moves.

What is amazing is that we may not even know they are saying or singing. Of course I presume that we do not know the Korean language.

Take for example the song “Gangnam Style”. I really don’t know what the singer is singing or rapping away with.

Yet, it is the hottest video on Youtube with more than 225 million hits.

But if the rise of the K-pop in phenomenal, then there is something else from the land of South Korea that is is also phenomenal, but it not on the entertainment scene.

The rise of Christianity in S. Korea has indeed been astonishing as well as amazing.

But that does not mean that it has been easy for Christianity to take root in that land, or that Korea has always been favorable to Christianity.

Because ever since missionaries entered Korea in the 17th century, there had been fierce persecutions against Christianity especially during the 19th century.

In 1984, Pope John Paul II canonized 103 martyrs of Korea, but it was estimated that there were more than 8000 who were killed for their faith.

In fact the relics of one of the martyrs St. Laurent Imbert, who was a French missionary, is entombed in our Cathedral of the God Shepherd.

Yet it must be remembered that the fierce persecutions were not because the Christians were causing social unrest or creating political trouble.

The Christians were just ordinary men and women who were fervently living out their faith.

But because their faith shaped their lives and actions and practices, they were viewed by their fellow countrymen as detractors of the national culture and even as insurgents.

The 1st reading gives the reason for this attitude towards Christians – The godless say to themselves, “Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life. Let us test him with cruelty and with torture, and thus explore this gentleness of his and put his endurance to the test.”
“Let us condemn him to a shameful death since he will be looked after – we have his word for it.”

It is very amazing how the 1st reading managed to read into the minds of evil people and express their evil intentions.

Yet it is also quite disgusting to know that such are the thoughts and the deeds of evil people towards good and virtuous people.

It is simply illogical, irrational and absurd. Yet it has happened in the past, and it is still happening and it will continue to happen.

In other words, evil does not need a reason to make the good suffer. 

Evil is just out to exterminate the good.

We often say that Jesus died to save us from our sins.

Yet it must also be said that it was evil which nailed Jesus to the cross and killed Him.

Jesus knew what evil could do to Him, and that was why He said in the gospel: The Son of God will be delivered into the hands of evil men. They will put Him to death but three days after He has been put to death, He will rise again. 

So Jesus knew that evil was out to get Him. In spite of all the good He does, He will be persecuted and persecuted unto death.

He came to save us but who will save Him? We may not like to hear this, but God did not save Jesus from death on the cross!

But that is not the end of it. Because Hebrews 5:7 says this -  During his life on earth, he offered up prayer and entreaty,
aloud and in silent tears, to the one who had the power to save him out of death, and he submitted so humbly that his prayer was heard.

Yes, God did not save Jesus from a horrible death on the cross. But God saved Jesus out of death. Jesus rose from the dead. That was God’s promise to Jesus.

So in the face of evil, or in the midst of tragedy, God will promise to save us, just as He promised to save Jesus.

In 1989 an earthquake measuring 8.2 almost flattened Armenia, killing over 30,000 people in less than four minutes.

In the midst of utter devastation and chaos, a father left his wife securely at home and rushed to the school where his son was supposed to be, only to discover that the building was as flat as a pancake.

After the traumatic initial shock, he remembered the promise he had made to his son: "No matter what, I'll always be there for you!"  And tears began to fill his eyes.  As he looked at the pile of debris that once was the school, it looked hopeless, but he kept remembering his commitment to his son.

He began to concentrate on where he walked his son to class at school each morning.   Remembering his son's classroom would be in the back right corner of the building, he rushed there and started digging through the rubble.

As he was digging, other forlorn parents arrived, clutching their hearts, saying: "My son!"  "My daughter!"  Other well-meaning parents tried to pull him off from what was left of the school saying: "It's too late!", "They're dead!", "You can't help!", "Go home!", "Come on, face reality, there's nothing you can do!"
"You're just going to make things worse!"

To each parent he responded with one line: "Are you going to help me now?"   

And then he proceeded to dig for his son, stone by stone.

The fire chief showed up and tried to pull him off of the school's debris, saying, "Fires are breaking out, explosions are happening everywhere.  You're in danger.   We'll take care of it.  Go home." 

To which this loving, caring Armenian father asked, "Are you going to help me now?" 

But no one helped.
   
Courageously he proceeded alone because he needed to know for himself: "Is my boy alive or is he dead?"

He dug for eight hours . . . 12 hours . . . 24 hours ... 36 hours . . . then, in the 38th hour, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son's voice.  

He screamed his son's name, "ARMAND!"  He heard back, "Pa!?!  It's me, Pa!  I told the other kids not to worry.  I told them that if you were alive, you'd save me and when you saved me, they'd be saved.  You promised me, 'No matter what, I'll always be there for you!' 

"What's going on in there?  How is it?" the father asked.

“There are 14 of us left, Pa.  We're scared, hungry, thirsty."

"Come on out, boy!". "No, Pa!  Let the other kids out first, because I know you'll get me!  No matter what, I know you'll be there for me!"

So it was a happy ending for that father and son. It was also a happy ending for Jesus and His Father. 

His Father saved Him out of death. His Father did not give up on Him or left Him for dead.

Neither did God the Father leave the martyrs for dead. Because they are now with God in glory.

As for us, the reality is that evil will make us suffer. But we don’t have to return evil for evil.

But like Jesus, let us return evil for good. And for the good that we do, God our Father will save us out of death and from every evil.

24th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 16.09.2012

Isaiah 50:5-9a/ James 2:14-18/ Mark 8:27-35


I am going to mention a few names and you tell me what their job-title is.

The names are Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, the Fantastic Four.

So what is their job-title? Answer – Superheroes!

And these Superheroes have been making a comeback on the movie scene, the latest was Batman with “The Dark Knight Rises”.

And a few months ago there was also a movie about Superheroes called “The Avengers” and it featured Superheroes like Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America and Thor.

Yes, those are the Superheroes, and they usually wear colourful tight suits over muscular contoured bodies.

So their job-title is Superheroes. And what about their job-description?

It is to fight against the bad guys and to save the world from some kind of devastating danger, and also to stop the bad guys from taking over the world.

Watching the Superheroes movies gives us a good feeling because it is always a happy ending.

Oh yes, the bad guys will seem to win a bit at the beginning and even give the Superheroes a tough time and cause some damage.

But in the end, the good guys will win and the bad guys get a trashing, and the Superheroes will continue to protect the world.

And that’s the way we like it. We feel good about it. Whether we admit it or not, we like the Superheroes.

That might be because we are looking for a real hero.

We want someone to fight our battles for us whenever we get bullied, we want someone to protect us whenever we are threatened, we want someone to save us whenever we are in danger.

And the need becomes more intense especially when the bad guys seem to be over-running and over-powering the good guys.

Such was the case during the time of Jesus. The people were waiting and yearning for the coming of the Messiah.

The belief was that this Messiah would free the people from the oppression of their enemies, which at that time was the powerful Roman army.

The Messiah would be a mighty and invincible warrior and he would trash the enemies and crush them thoroughly.

And this Messiah would bring the people to a glorious independence and live in peace and freedom.

Such were the thoughts of Peter when he proclaimed that Jesus was the Christ, which is another title for the Messiah.

Not only Peter had these ideas. The rest of the disciples, and the people too had similar ideas.

When people are desperate for a Saviour, they wouldn’t want anything less than a Superhero.

So we can imagine their reaction when Jesus began to teach them that the Christ was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and to be put to death. And after three days to rise again.

For the Christ, the Saviour, the “Superhero” to suffer and even to die was totally unacceptable to them.

So Peter began to remonstrate with Jesus. To remonstrate means to make a forceful protest and to object violently.

Because this cannot happen to the Christ! It should not happen. It goes beyond all logic and expectation.

Because if the Saviour were to suffer and die, then they would be finished. There will be no more hope.

That would not be a good ending, and that would not give a good feeling. Never mind about that “after three days will rise again”.

What the people, and also what we want to see, is that the bad guys get trashed and our enemies get hell for doing all that evil.

And better still, we stand victorious over the bad guys, and have them beg for mercy.

But if we really want to understand Jesus and about carrying the cross and following Him, then we have to let go of this illusion of victory.

The true victory does not belong to the make-believe Superheroes or to the mighty and powerful bad guys.

The true victory belongs to the humble and the lowly and also to the unlikely.

Well, recently, the arrival of two giant pandas brought about some kind of “panda-monium” in Singapore.

For me it made me recall an animated movie called “Kung Fu Panda”.

Somehow the title already tells us that it’s a joke because kung fu and pandas don’t go together, for obvious reasons.

The movie is about an obese, clumsy and bouncy giant panda who finds himself designated as the prophesied Dragon Warrior, much to his own disbelief and also the disbelief of the other highly trained martial arts exponents.

His master was tasked to prepare him to stop an evil powerful snow leopard from destroying the inhabitants.

The master thought that it was a hopeless and futile task but nonetheless there was this Dragon Scroll which was said to teach limitless power, and the evil snow leopard was out to get it too.

Well the master and the big fat panda managed to get to the Scroll first, but they were utterly disappointed because there was nothing but a blank reflective surface on the scroll.

With all hope lost, the master sent panda and the rest home, and the panda blamed himself for being a useless nothing.

When panda reached home, his adopted father, who is a goose and runs a noodle shop, consoled him and revealed that the secret ingredient to his famous noodle soup is actually “nothing”!

He explained that things become special only when people believe in them.

Then panda realized that this “nothing” is precisely the secret of the Dragon Scroll. (As for rest of the movie, please watch it :-P)

And that is also the secret of the cross – to be nothing.

In the words of Jesus it is to renounce oneself and take up the cross and follow Jesus. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it and anyone who loses his life for Jesus and for the sake of the gospel will save it.

No Super-hero can save us; after all they are just make-believe.

Yet salvation and victory comes in the most unlikely and unexpected form of the cross on which Jesus is crucified.

The cross is about emptiness and nothingness, and yet in that movie, the big fat panda discovered that nothingness is indeed the secret to the limitless power and victory.

But the secret to the limitless power of the cross and its victory over evil, demands that we empty ourselves of false hopes and expectations. 

It’s in being nothing that we will receive everything. Because power and victory will be given to those who have nothing. 
Let’s believe it because that is what Jesus and the cross is all about.

23rd Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 09.09.2012

Isaiah 35:4-7/ James 2:1-5/ Mark 7: 31-37


The mother-tongue is understood as the language that is learnt from birth.

It is also sometimes called the native language, but still the term “mother-tongue” is more endearing.

More than just a being a language that our mothers taught us, it is the language that resonates deep within us, it is the language of the heart.

Maybe that is why there is some debate over the issue of “mother-tongue” and dialects, especially for the Chinese in Singapore.

Because Mandarin is being taught as the Chinese language in schools.

But the elders and those of the older generation often speak dialects or what is called the “mother-tongue”, and that has resulted in some communication problems between the old and young, especially in traditional families.

But that is not as serious as when it comes to the conquest of a nation by a more powerful nation.

Besides tearing down the national monuments, the conquerors would enforce their language on the conquered people.

The aim is to make the people forget their own language by suppressing their mother-tongue.

When the mother-tongue is not spoken and heard anymore, people will slowly forget their identity, their origins and their culture.

And when they are forced to speak a new language, they will inevitably adopt another identity and another culture that is alien to them.

But in order to survive, they will have to speak the language of the oppressors.

And they will also have to accept whatever the oppressor calls them, and that may mean being called inferior and being treated as outcasts.

Such has happened throughout history, and such has happened during the time of Jesus.

During the time of Jesus, the Roman army has conquered and occupied Israel and the people were speaking a mixture of Greek, Latin and Hebrew.

That was why when Jesus was crucified on the cross, the sign that was nailed to the cross was written in Greek, Latin and Hebrew.

In the face of oppression and injustice, the Jews were trying to hold on to their mother-tongue, to their identity, to their origin and to their culture.

More critically, they were trying to hold on to their faith in God as their enemies flaunt their power and might.
They were trying to find their words of faith in order to express their trust in God and their hope for deliverance.

It was very tempting and also very convenient to speak the language of their oppressors and to abandon their faith altogether.

Today’s gospel passage tells us of Jesus healing a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech.

It could be seen as just a miraculous healing story. But it is more than just a miraculous healing.

It was interesting that Jesus used the Hebrew word “Ephphatha” meaning “Be opened”.

In the act of healing, besides putting His fingers into the man’s ears and touching his tongue, Jesus used the native language of the Jewish people.

It was the language of their fore-fathers, it was the language of their faith that expressed their identity and their origins and their culture.

In using the Hebrew word “Ephphatha”, Jesus made the people recall their mother-tongue, and also how God had spoken to them in the past.

As we all know, the mother-tongue or the native language is learnt by hearing it first.

It is from hearing that we can reproduce the sounds. It is from hearing it first, that we learn the language.

Romans 10:17 puts it very profoundly when it says that faith comes from hearing the message.

Indeed when we hear the language of faith, then we are able to speak the language of faith.

Yet in this world, the language of the world is louder than the language of faith.

The language of this world is not propagated by force or oppression.

Rather the language of the world rides on pleasure and desires and false impressions and empty promises.

For example, how often do we hear about the virtues of purity and chastity?

And that is because the world makes a joke out of purity and chastity.

Just mention the word “virginity” and the world would snigger and laugh, as if it is some kind of embarrassment.

Because the world says that purity and chastity are out of fashion and even obsolete, or maybe it is just for religious freaks.

And consequently, fidelity and faithfulness to marriage are also taken lightly.

And what have we to say about that? As a people of faith, what language are we going to use?

To be silent would mean that we have succumbed to the pressures of the world and to speak their language.

To be silent would mean that we have forgotten our language of faith.

In the Eucharist, we are gathered to hear the Word of God.

Our ears are opened to hear again the language of our faith.

Through the language of faith, Jesus tells us to live our lives with purity and chastity, with fidelity and faithfulness, with kindness and patience and humility.

And with faith, we open our mouths and speak about what we believe in and teach others the language of faith.

What God has opened, we must not close; what God has spoken, we must not keep silent.

Jesus has done all things well in making the deaf hear and the dumb speak. 

Let us continue to speak the language of our faith, so that we will know who we are, where we came from, and what we must do.

22nd Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 02.09.2012

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8/ James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27/ Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

One of the most fascinating developments of the technological age is the rise of robots and artificial intelligence.

With a complex combination of computer programs and mechanical attachments and electronic sensors, robots can mimic animal and even human movements and characteristics.

And lately robots have been in the news. Just a couple of weeks back, a Japanese electronics company unveiled a robot which weights 4 tons and is 4 meters tall.

This massive robot is called Kuratas and it can be fitted with futuristic weapons system and with guns that can fire 6000 rounds a minute.

So this monster can be like a heavily armed RoboCop, but when fitted with cleaning equipment, it can be like a RoboMop!

It cost US$1.5 million (without COE!) but it moves at a top speed of only 10kmh.

But when it comes to speeding robots, then we must be proud of our students in Singapore.

Because recently at the Federation of International Robotic Association’s Robo World Cup in Bristol, England, a robot created by our Nanyang Polytechnic team broke the world record for sprints with a time of 32 secs over 6 meters.

The BBC dubbed that Singapore robot the Usain Bolt of sprinting robots.

So you see, we now have robots that fight like soldiers, clean up like janitors, run like sprinters, and they are getting better and they are doing more.

But no matter how good they are and how much they can do, it all depends on one thing.

And that is that little chip called the “central processing unit” (CPU) and it runs the computer programs of the robot.

So robots and computers can’t choose to do whatever they like. They can only do what they are programmed to do, and you can’t tell them to do otherwise.

So there is no point shouting at your computer or calling it “stupid”. They are only following their programmed instructions and they will stick to it.

In a way we can call them “robots of habit” – they will just do what they have been programmed to do and they won’t ask why. They can’t.

In today’s gospel passage, we heard the Pharisees and scribes asking Jesus why His disciples do not wash their hands before eating, and hence not respecting the tradition of the elders.

Jesus called them hypocrites, because they were only interested in regulations and traditions.

Putting it in another way, the scribes and Pharisees are like “robots of rituals”.

They have been programmed by human regulations and human traditions which they follow meticulously.

And these “robots of rituals” can also talk – they criticize others for not following the programmed regulations and traditions.

And the quotation from the prophet Isaiah sums up the crux of the matter: These people honour me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me.

In other words, the scribes and Pharisees follow the regulations and traditions like “robots of rituals” and they can even talk.

But the heart is not there. Just like robots have no heart but only a CPU that runs the program.

While regulations and traditions have a useful purpose and rituals can help to sanctify, yet it must come from the heart.

Because it is the heart that gives life to regulations and traditions and rituals, and then they become expressions of love.

Without the heart, we become like “robots of rituals” that only give lip-service.

Talking about robots, I wonder if you have seen the animated movie “WALL-E”?

It is about a robot called WALL-E (which stands for Waste Allocator Load Lifter – Earth class). In simple terms, it means that it is a garbage collector.

In movie, WALL-E was the only robot left on earth to clean up the mountains of garbage due to decades of mass consumerism, while the earth’s population had migrated to another planet.

Yet the movie is not about the ecology or about environmental issues.

WALL-E continues faithfully its directive of cleaning up the earth even though it was a lonely and a thankless task.

Its only friend is a cockroach and the robot-cockroach relationship is amusingly human as well as humourous.

Then another more advanced robot EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Examiner) was sent to earth to assess the conditions of earth.

Initially EVE was task-oriented, cold and hostile, a true robot in every sense of the word.

But along the way, a love relationship slowly blossomed as EVE gradually softens and befriends WALL-E.

Maybe I shouldn’t tell you more so that you will get a copy of the movie and watch it with your family or with friends.

It may seem to be like a children’s movie, but actually it has many layers of reflections for adults.

Although the movie is about robots, yet strangely it is the robots that bring out the human characteristics and human emotions.

Among other things, it shows that we humans can be rather robotic in our lives.

We sink into monotony and routine and we become like “robots of habit” offering only lip-service.

We run our lives like a computer program that runs on a CPU.

But inside of us is not a CPU. We have a heart.

And our heart is “programmed” by God to run with love, peace, joy, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

When we put our heart into our relationships, into our traditions and even into our regulations, we become truly human and we will also become truly loving.

And like WALL-E, with hearts of love, we will be able to clean up this world of the garbage of sin and evil, and we will also help to turn robotic humans into persons of love.