2nd Sunday of Lent, Year C, 24-02-13

Lk 9:28-36 2nd Sunday of Lent (C-2013)          24-02-13

Last Friday evening there was a big event happening for the Catholic Church in Singapore.
Of course we should know what this big event was. It was covered by the media and also there were announcements made over the weekends before that.

Yes, it’s the ordination of the Coadjutor Archbishop William Goh, who will be the future archbishop of Singapore.

Yes, it was a big event, a joyful occasion and a grand celebration for the Church.

There were about 12,000 people at the Singapore Expo, and also present were dignitaries, representatives from other religions, bishops and priests from neighbouring countries and also Catholics from all over Singapore.

If we were there, then we would also have witnessed the newly ordained archbishop walking down the aisles of the two halls of the Singapore Expo, and giving his blessing to all who were present.

Well, the blessing of the newly ordained archbishop was certainly very heart-warming, and also we get a close-up look of him as he walked along the aisle. He was like “transfigured”.

Certainly we would have liked to shake hands with him, or at least touch his vestments if possible.
Yes, people were clapping and cheering and taking photos and videos as the newly ordained archbishop walked along.

That somehow reminded me, that it was not that long ago, that there was this practice, but it was discontinued.

That practice was when a newly ordained bishop walked down the aisle to bless the people, walking just ahead of him would be a priest carrying a burning torch.

And that priest would be putting pieces of paper into the torch and chanting : All glory belongs to God. All this shall pass; from ashes to ashes, from dust to dust.

Of course this practice has been discontinued, because it was like a wet blanket on a joyful celebration.
But it does have its purpose and meaning.

Because in the midst of all the applause and euphoria, with all that attention and limelight, the bishop was reminded that all glory belongs to God, and he too must give glory to God in his ministry as a bishop.

Also he is reminded that whatever praise and applause and attention and limelight that he is surrounded with will also pass, and then it’s from ashes to ashes, from dust to dust.

But of course, this practice was discontinued, maybe because it sounded rather morbid and not apt for the occasion.

Yet the fact that the ordination of the future archbishop happening in the season of Lent is good enough a reminder for him that it is God whom he serves, and it is to God that all glory must be given and it is to God alone that glory belongs.

If that is so for the newly ordained archbishop, then so it is for us too.

Because we too are reminded of our mortality, that we too are from ashes to ashes, from dust to dust.
Hence, all our penance and fasting and prayer is to reduce our pride and humble our hearts, so that we will realize that when all has passed, we are mere ashes and dust.

Yet we are also reminded in Ps 113:7 that God raises the poor from the dust, and from the ash-heap he lifts up the lowly.

As we come to the 2nd Sunday of Lent, we heard about the glory of Jesus in His Transfiguration.
Jesus wants to share the glory of His Transfiguration with us; He wants us to be “transfigured”.
But before that can happen, we need to see what is in our heart that needs to be cleansed and purified.
The season of Lent is a time for purification and enlightenment.

The spiritual preparation of prayer, fasting and penance is to help us cleanse our heart of pride and greed and selfishness.

Our hearts that are tainted with sin must be burned with penance and reduced to ashes and dust.
Then with the glory of God, our hearts will be filled and made new and rise to a new life in Christ and be “transfigured”.

Let us ask the Lord for a gentle and humble and lowly heart, so that we will give glory to God always.
All glory belongs to God alone. Yes everything will come to pass, from ashes to ashes, from dust to dust.

But in God alone must our hearts trust, as we give glory to God.

四旬期第一周星期二 2月19日

依撒意亚55:10-11 / 圣玛窦福音 6:7-15

据说，牛顿说过：“凡升上去的必定要降下来。”(What goes up must come down) 

无论是物理或地心引力，我们都可以在现实生活中，看到这句话的真实性。

股票市场、人生的起落，甚至是生死，都应验这句话。没有事情是会持续同样的状态。

读经一也似乎是在说这点：譬如雨和雪从天降下，不再返回原处，只有灌溉田地，使之生长萌芽，……

读经一接着说道，圣言不会空空地回到天主那里，圣言必须完成天主的旨意，完成天主派遣它的使命。

耶稣就是成了血肉的圣言。在福音中，祂警戒人们，祈祷时不要唠唠叨叨，不注意祈祷的意思。

因此，祂教导人们《天主经》。

就如天主的圣言来到人间，奉行天主的旨意，完成使命，当我们念《天主经》时，同样的事情也在发生。

我们的话会上达天堂，我们的天父会俯听我们的祈祷。天父会降福我们，满足我们的需要，宽恕我们的罪过。

是的，凡降下的必定升上去，凡升上去的必定降下。因此，让我们注意自己说的话，让我们知道自己做的祈祷的真正含义。

1st Sunday of Lent, Year C, 17.02.2013

Deuteronomy 26:4-10/ Romans 10:8-13/ Luke 4:1-13


Last Wednesday, we began the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday.

Although Ash Wednesday is not a day of obligation, yet there were a good number of people who came for Mass.

Maybe after all that festive feasting, it was good to come for Mass and do some penance and fasting.

Or could it be that there was something fascinating about the ashes? After all we receive it only once a year.

Yes, only once a year on Ash Wednesday, there is the imposition of ashes.

Ash Wednesday marks the start of the season of Lent, in which the catechumens of the RCIA begin a more intense preparation for their baptism at the Easter Vigil.

As for us Catholics who are already baptized, we begin a period of penance and repentance.

The practice of the imposition of ashes has its origins in the Old Testament where people put ashes on their heads and wear sackcloth as a sign of repentance and doing penance.

So on Ash Wednesday, when the priest puts the ashes on foreheads of those who come forward to receive it, he will use either of these two forms of words.

He will say: Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.

Or he may say: Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

The second form may sound solemn and sober and maybe a bit morbid, yet it reminds us of a reality.

It reminds us that, in the book of Genesis, God created us in His image, and yet it was from the dust of the earth that He created us.

And hence when everything comes to pass, we too will return to dust.

That is the reality and finality of our passing lives here on earth.

In many ways, today’s readings remind us of that reality and finality.

In the gospel, we heard that Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, was being led by the same Spirit to the wilderness, to the desert.

There, for 40 days, He fasted and prayed, and at the same time He was being tempted by the devil.

After 40 days, He was hungry, and that was when the enemy attacked Him with temptations.

In His hunger, the enemy tempted Jesus to use His power as the Son of God to turn the stones into bread.

Then He was tempted with the power and glory of the kingdoms of earth.

And then finally, He was tempted to put God to the test to see if God will protect Him from harm.

As we look at the temptations that Jesus faced, we may come to one glaring realization.

These temptations are actually about the basic needs of our lives; not just basic needs but also the longings of our hearts.

Because in the depths of our hearts, we hunger for food to keep us alive, we long for safety and shelter, and when we have taken care of our hunger and shelter, we would begin to desire for luxury and pleasure.

So as we can see, what Jesus was tempted with is actually what we ourselves are also tempted with.

It is often said that there is a hole in our hearts that longs to be filled, but it cannot be filled with food, no matter how much we eat.

It cannot be filled with clothes no matter how much we wear.

It cannot be filled with riches, no matter how much we have.

Only God who created our hearts can fill that longing in the depths of our hearts.

Yet we are tempted to long for something else. And in our foolishness, we long for something that is earthly, something that is passing, something that will eventually turn to dust.

A story goes that a psychologist spoke to an audience about stress management.

Then she raised a glass of water, and everyone expected her to ask that "half empty or half full" question. 

Instead she asked : "How heavy is this glass of water?" The answers that came from the audience ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, "The absolute weight of this glass of water doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my arm. 
If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. 
In each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." 

Well, the stress and worries of life are like that glass of water.

Think about them for a while and nothing much happens.

Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt.

And if we think about them all day long, then we will feel paralyzed and incapable of doing anything.

What happens to us when we keep thinking of our stress and worries is similar to what happens to us when we keep longing and going after the things of this world.

We will also become paralyzed and incapable of doing anything.

We will be tempted to think that when we have satisfied our hunger, we won’t be hungry anymore.

Or that if we get this amount of money, then we won’t be in need anymore.

Or if we achieve this status or this position or have this authority, then we will be secure and in control.

But in today’s gospel, Jesus tells the devil that it won’t be; and Jesus is also telling us that it won’t be.

For Jesus, it is in God the Father that He trusts, for the things of this earth will pass and turn to dust.

As for us everything will also pass, and we will also turn to dust.

Yet in Jesus we must trust. As we heard in the 2nd reading: Everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved.

So in our temptations let us call on the name of Jesus. 

In our needs let us turn to Jesus.

And in the end, let us remember that we are dust, and we shall return to dust.

And when everything comes to pass, may we still have the faith to say that “In Jesus we trust.”

5th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 10.02.2013

Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8/ 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 or 15: 3-8, 11/Luke 5:1-11

So, today is the first day of the Lunar New Year (or Chinese New Year).

With the first day of the CNY falling on a Sunday, it means that Monday as well as Tuesday is a holiday.
And that means that there are two days for us to go visiting relatives and friends.

And it’s a time for feasting and collecting “ang pows” and dressing up and catching up with each other.
Yet there are also people who would take the opportunity of the CNY holidays to go overseas or just get out of the country.

The reason is that they find CNY quite boring with shops being closed and everywhere else is crowded.

But another reason is that they want to avoid relatives and friends asking them all those personal and sensitive questions.

Questions like “When are you getting married?” or “When are you going to have baby?” (usually asked by the aunties)

Yes, these are really personal and sensitive questions and more often than not we don’t want to answer them.

Besides questions about marriage and having babies, which are rather personal questions, there are also other questions which sound more social and professional.

And the questions are: Which company are you with? What is your profession? (What are you working as?)

So, year in, year out, at social gatherings, and also throughout the year, we are faced with those questions.

Hence, whether it is looking for spouse, or having children, or being in which company, or climbing up which corporate ladder, we know what it points to.

Yes, it points to hard work and more hard work; then we will have something to show others and something to talk about.

And it may also mean that it’s our turn to ask others those personal and sensitive questions.

But the reality of life is that hard work does not necessarily bear corresponding gains.

In the gospel, we heard of one such case. Peter the fisherman, had worked hard all night and he caught nothing.

Certainly, he wasn’t in a good mood. While others are comparing their catch, he had nothing to show. He had zero to show.

So, we can imagine how Peter felt when Jesus asked him to put out to deep water for a catch.

Because it was so absurd. It was the wrong time for fishing and also it was coming from someone who knows nothing about fishing.

Certainly Peter wasn’t in a mood for absurdities. Peter could have just told Jesus to “go and get lost!”. And being the impulsive person that he was, he could have said that.

But the strange thing was that as much as he tried to explain the situation to Jesus, in the end he relented and did what Jesus told him to do.

So into the depths he went, and out of the depths came an absurdity that brought him to his knees.

I mean, just where did all that fish came from, and it was so much that it filled two boats to sinking point!

But it seems that God would resort to such absurdities to make us realize who He is and who we are.

So it took two boats full of fish to make Peter the fisherman realize he was a poor fisherman, and a sinful man.

Yes, God has to make absurd things happen in order to tell us something, and it is still happening.

We may have heard of Bernadette Soubirous, a 14 year-old peasant girl, who lived in Lourdes, France.

Our Lady appeared to her at a grotto on the 11 Feb 1858 and after several apparitions, Our Lady asked her to dig a hole in the ground and drink the water there.

Any 14 year-old would have enough of common sense to think of this as absurd and a rather crazy thing to do.

Yet, with people watching her, Bernadette went on her knees and dug the ground with her bare hands.

And when the muddy water began to gather in the hole that she had dug, she scooped the water to drink.

Obviously, the people thought that what she did was absurd and  that she had gone mad.

And indeed, she was a messy and muddy sight and looking quite like a lunatic.

What Bernadette did was absurd and crazy. But from where she dug, the waters became increasingly clean and welled up into a spring.

And now, millions of pilgrims go to the Marian shrine at Lourdes to bathe in the healing waters and even drink the water.

So from what seemed to be an absurd act by Bernadette, God manifested His healing grace and the forgiveness of sins through the waters of the spring at Lourdes.

Yes, God can be called the “God of absurdities” and He would resort to absurdities to make us realize He is the God of Holiness and that His “absurdities” are much greater than our intelligence and our capabilities.

But all that is to make us realize that He is holy, and that like Peter and Bernadette, we can only kneel down in humility.

God may not call us to do absurd things like going fishing in the middle of the ocean at midday or to drink muddy water from the ground.

But He is calling us to do simple things with love and humility.

Simple things like offering peace and forgiveness and reconciliation as we meet up with relatives and friends during the festive holidays.

Simple things like being patient and tolerant when others probe into our lives with those sensitive and personal questions.

Simple things like attending to the absurd and ridiculous demands of the some people.

By doing simple things with love and humility, others will see the holiness of our God.

That may sound rather absurd, but let us remember, that with God, absurdities can become realities. 

4th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 03.02.2012

Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19 /1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13 or 1 Corinthians 13:4-13/ Luke 4:21-30

One of the most revered symbols of the Catholic Church is the crucifix.

On the crucifix are two symbols of the truth.

One is, of course, Jesus Christ, Son of God, crucified on the cross and died to save us.

The other symbol is the placard that has the letters “I.N.R.I.” which stands for “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum”, which means “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”.

Yes, these two are symbols of the truth, the bare truth, the stark truth, the truth of who Jesus is and what the cross stands for.

Yes, the crucifix is a revered symbol and on this revered symbol, these two truths are proclaimed.

There is also no denying it that this revered Christian symbol of the truth is subjected to denial and rejection.

Some say that the crucifix is focusing too much on the sufferings of Christ and not on the resurrection and hence it is not the correct symbol of Christianity.

Also not many people pay attention to the placard with the letters “I.N.R.I” anymore, and its truth and meaning are also slowly forgotten.

As much as we know that the truth will prevail, yet it is quite often that lies and half-truths seems to be running loose.

There is a story that truth and lie went for a swim. They took off their clothes and put them on the side as they went into the water.
Lie finished swimming and came out first and wore truth’s clothes and went off.

When truth finished swimming, and found that its clothes are gone, it refused to wear lie’s clothes.

And that’s why, to this day, people cannot accept the bare truth, the stark truth, the naked truth.

That’s also why it is said that a lie can go around the world  a couple of times while truth is still putting on its shoes.

With that we may understand why Jesus met with rejection and violence even in His own hometown.

Jesus preached the truth to them because they were His people and they were important to Him.

If someone isn’t important enough to tell them the truth, then there is no need to tell them anything at all.

Jesus preached the truth to His people because He cared for them, He loved them, and He knows that the truth will save them and set them free.

So at first they were astonished by His words and even gave Him their approval.

But when they realized the truth of what He was saying, they were enraged, and then turned violent and hostile, and even wanted to throw Jesus down the cliff.

So what was the truth that disturbed them so much? 

Well, the truth was that they were God’s Chosen People, and that He has blessed them and even sent prophets to keep reminding them to be faithful to His covenant.

Yet the problem was that they kept rejecting the prophets and even persecuted them.

Among those prophets was Jeremiah, whom we heard about in the 1st reading.

Jeremiah was also known as the “Weeping prophet” because he faced rejection, opposition and persecution from his very own people as he proclaimed God’s Word to them.

And now Jesus is telling them that God’s Word and His blessings are also for the pagans and the non-Jews.

He cited two well-known prophets from the Old Testament, Elijah and Elisha, and how God’s Word had gone to the people who were non-Jews and that they were even granted God’s help and blessings.

And that truth was like the pointed end of the spear head that was being stabbed into their hearts.

In effect, Jesus was saying that God’s Word and His blessings is not the private property of the Chosen People.

God’s Word and His blessings are for all peoples. And that is what the people of the hometown of Jesus cannot accept; it enraged them and even made them want to kill Jesus.

They wanted God’s Word and His blessings to be their sole privilege, since they were God’s Chosen People.

If the pagans and non-Jews are to get any blessings then it will be what falls off from their tables; but those pagans and non-Jews are not going to get an equal share.

And here Jesus tells them “No!” They already have had enough of God’s blessings. 

Also God’s blessings are for all peoples, in fact for the whole world, regardless of whether they are the Chosen People, or Catholics, or Christians or pagans.  And that is the truth.

And so can we accept that truth? That we, who are the Church, already have enough of God’s blessings. 

In fact we are the ones who should be giving thanks and gratitude to God, and we should teach others to do likewise.

There is this story of a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport as the daughter’s departure had been announced. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said, “I love you and I wish you enough.”

The daughter replied, “Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom.” They hugged and the daughter left.

The mother walked over to the window at the waving gallery, and she said to the friend who was with her, “Have you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?”

The friend replied. “Forgive me for asking but why is this good-bye forever?”

“I am old and she lives so far away. The reality is that the next trip back will be for my funeral,” she said.

The friend said,”When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, “I wish you enough.” May I ask what that means?”

“When we said ‘I wish you enough’ we want the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them”. 

That is the truth about life. We just need enough of God’s blessings to sustain us so that we can give thanks and teach others to do the same.

And with that, let me tell you my “wish-list” :

“I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your needs.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I just want to wish you just enough, and that you won’t long for more.