5th Sunday of Easter, 28.04.2013

Acts 14:21-27/ Apocalypse 21:1-5/ John 13:31-33, 34-35



Have we ever wondered what it feels like to be a bird? It would be nice to fly in the sky and see things from on high.

I think that there is also a song that goes like: I rather be a sparrow than a snail, yes I would, if I really could, I surely would.

But we won’t want to be just a sparrow. We want to be an eagle, the king of birds, a symbol of majesty and might.

The Bible mentions about sparrows and eagles for various reasons.

Yet the Bible also mentions about an unattractive black scavenger bird that makes an irritating cawing sound.

That bird is the raven. But it is mentioned for a revered reason.

The first bird that that Noah sent from the ark after the 40 days of rain was a raven. It was only later that he sent out the dove.

It was also a raven that brought bread and meat to the prophet Elijah when he was taking refuge in the mountain. (1 Kings 17:6).

In the stories about the saints, when St. Benedict made the sign of the cross over a poisoned loaf of bread that was meant for him, a raven flew by and carried the poisoned bread away, thus saving St. Benedict’s life.

In Singapore, we don’t have ravens but we get their smaller cousins, the crows, which are equally unattractive.

If people say you got crow’s feet around your eyes, then that’s really bad news.

Crows and ravens are unattractive and they make an unpleasant sound, but the crows have something to teach us.

The younger crows will take care of their parents when they are old and unable to fly around much to look for food.

The younger crows will bring food to their aging parents until they expire.

So crows may be scavengers and look ugly, but they show us a profound lesson in filial piety.

We may say that it’s in their bird-brain instinct. But then their bird-brain instinct can’t match our supreme human intelligence.

Yet, with all our supreme human intelligence, we may not have fully understood and fulfilled the commandment that Jesus gave us in the gospel.

Yes, Jesus gave us a new commandment – to love one another just as He has loved us.

It is with this love for one another that others will know that we are His disciples.

A commandment is not an option or a suggestion. It means that as disciples of Jesus, it’s either we love or we love.

It is a commandment that Jesus Himself carried out as He went all the way to the cross to show His love for us.

We can speak of love in its many ways and forms, but when love is expressed as a sacrifice that saved us, then love becomes a compelling motive.

Love becomes the way of life, the rule of life and the commandment of life.

There is a story of an elderly man who would walk to the pier in the late afternoon just when the sun is starting to dip into the horizon.

With a bucket of shrimps in his hand, he would walk to the end of the pier. By that time, not many people would be around and the old man, who is wearing a military cap, is alone at the end of the pier with his bucket of shrimps.

But soon he is no longer alone. Up in the sky a flock of birds are flying in, screeching and squawking, towards that lanky old man.

And in no time, dozens of seagulls would surround and envelope that old man, their wings fluttering and flapping.

Then he would toss the shrimps to the hungry birds and he and the seagulls would seem to be in another world.

Soon the bucket is empty but the old man does not leave. The seagulls still surround him, some perched on his shoulders, and at times one would perch on his old military cap that he has been wearing for many years.

After a time, he begins to walk back and a few of the birds would hop along with him.

It is an intriguing sight  - that old man wearing an old military cap, with a bucket of shrimps feeding the seagulls.

Well, that old man is Eddie Rickenbacker (October 8, 1890 – July 23, 1973), a WW I ace pilot and hero.

But during WW II, he was sent as an advisor to the Pacific front.

While flying in a B-17 bomber as a passenger, the plane went off course and ran out of fuel and crashed into the sea.

The eight member crew survived the crash and climbed onto a life raft.

They floated for days on the rough sea in a remote part of the Pacific.

They fought the sun and the sharks. But by the eighth day, their rations ran out – no food and no water.

They were far from land and no one knew where they were. Hopes of being rescued were fading fast.

They prayed and prayed for a miracle. One afternoon after prayer, Eddie leaned back and pulled his military cap over his eyes and tried to nap. Time dragged by. All he could hear was the waves slapping against the raft.

Suddenly Eddie felt something land on his cap. It was a seagull! He lay perfectly still and planned his next move.

Then with a flash of his hand and a squawk from the seagull, he managed to grab it and killed it and he and the rest made a meal out of it.

They used the intestines for bait, caught fish with it which gave them more food and more bait and the cycle continued.

After 24 days at sea, and by some dramatic events, they were found and rescued.

Eddie Rickenbacker lived many more years after that ordeal but he never forgot that seagull and how it was sacrificed to save his life.

Hence he made it a routine and a ritual to go to the pier and feed the seagulls. And all he could say was: Thank you.

We too have come to the Eucharist to say: Thank you. We thank the Lord Jesus for sacrificing His life for us so that we can be saved.

More than just a routine and a ritual, the Eucharist is a celebration of love – God’s sacrificial love for us.

Let us love the Lord in return. 

May we also love others and offer that love to them as a loving sacrifice.

We are certainly more than just ravens and crows and seagulls.

Because by our love for others, they will know that we are disciples of Jesus. 

4th Sunday of Easter, Year C, 21.04.2013

Acts 13:14, 43-52/ Apocalypse 7:9, 14-17/ John 10:27-30


One of the easiest presents to give a child is a stuffed toy.

Children love stuffed toys and one of the most popular stuffed toy is the teddy bear.

But of course there are other stuffed toys that take on animal shapes, like for example, Mickey Mouse, Hello Kitty, Pink Panther, Ninja Turtle.

Children generally love these soft stuffed toys because they can become imaginary playmates and they can also cuddle them to sleep.

Well, not only children love stuffed toys. Adults love them too, and some even have a collection of soft toys. After all there is a child in all of us.

But as much as we love animals, we only want to cuddle them when they come in the form of a stuffed toy. The real thing, as in the real animal, is just too much to handle.

Just imagine trying to cuddle a real tiger to sleep. I wish you a good night and sweet dreams.

Another soft toy that can be seen in Catholic and Christian bookshops is a stuffed toy lamb, and it holds a little banner with the words: The Lord is my shepherd.

It is a really cute toy, especially since it is white and soft and fluffy. It’s so cute.

And that is very often our popular and romantic idea of lambs and sheep – they are white, soft and fluffy and cute.

Oh yes we like our lambs and sheep to be white and soft and fluffy and cute as well.

But the reality is very different, especially if we had been near a flock of sheep.

As like the other animals, sheep have a smell. Not that they are smelly, but it’s just that peculiar unwashed smell.

We wouldn’t really want to cuddle a real lamb or sheep to sleep.

And unlike the pictures of Jesus with a lamb on His shoulders, we would at most pat the lamb, and nothing more.

Yet, Jesus calls us His sheep, and with that He also calls Himself the Good Shepherd.

And even our idea of the shepherd is a popular and romantic one that we see in pictures.

But pictures don’t give out any smell. A real shepherd would have a smell, and it’s none other than the smell of the sheep.

And like the sheep that he is always with, he would also have the smell of that peculiar unwashed sheep smell; and he is not someone we would want at our dining table. (Lamb chops – yes; sheep and shepherd – no!)

Even during the time of Jesus, shepherds were regarded as religiously unclean, obviously because of their peculiar smell.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Yet He is also the Lamb of God. So He not only looks like the sheep, He also smells like the sheep.

The 4th Sunday of Easter is also called “Vocation Sunday”.

The word “vocation” has its root in the Latin word “vocare” which means “to call”.

Jesus the Good Shepherd calls out to us. And if we are His sheep, we will be listening to Him and we will also follow Him.

And Jesus said in the gospel : I know my sheep and they follow me. 

I give them eternal life and they will never be lost. And no one will ever steal them from me.

Vocation Sunday can also be called “Listening Sunday”, because Jesus the Good Shepherd calls out to us to follow Him.

Yet the call of Jesus also goes further and deeper to those for whom He has a particular calling.

Vocation Sunday focuses on the call to the priesthood.

It is for those young men who are thinking of the priesthood because the call of Jesus has stirred their hearts.

It is for the seminarians in the major seminary undergoing training for the priesthood, that they keep listening to the call.

Last but certainly not the least, it is for priests who have heard the call, answered the call, and to remain faithful to the call.

So whether they are thinking about the priesthood, studying for the priesthood, or serving in the priesthood, the call of Jesus is to be shepherds who have the heart of the Good Shepherd.

Pope Francis in his Chrism Mass homily has this to say to those who are shepherds or preparing to be shepherds of God’s flock.

He said that priests are to bring the healing power of God’s grace to everyone in need, to be close to the oppressed, and to be “shepherds living with the smell of the sheep”.

Yes, God’s flock is not a collection of stuffed toy lambs and sheep that look soft and white and cute and cuddly.

God’s flock, God’s people, have the underlying hope and desire for divine comfort and healing and protection, so that our souls can become white as wool and a pure offering to God.

And more so for God’s priests. We priests are reminded that if we really want to serve God’s people, then we have to be like the shepherds living with the smell of the sheep.

We priests cannot think of God’s people as a collection of stuffed toys that look clean and soft and fluffy and cute and cuddly.

God’s people are like a flock of sheep that needs protection and healing. 

God’s people are like a flock of sheep that hunger and thirsts for none other than the living God.

So humbly I ask you, my dear people of God, to pray for us priests that we will lead you to hear the voice of Jesus and to follow Him to the green pastures of eternal life.

Yes, pray for us priests and pray for those who are preparing for the priesthood and for those who are thinking about the priesthood.

May we lead you to believe this, which is taken from Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want”.

Yes, with the Lord as our shepherd, there is indeed nothing we shall ever want.

All we want is to listen to Him and follow Him.

3rd Sunday of Easter, 14.04.2013

Acts 5:27-32, 40-41/ Apocalypse 5:11-14/ John 21:1-19


One of the most fascinating organs that we have is our skin, although we seldom think of it as an organ.

From the top of the skull right down to the soles of our feet, our skin is like a membrane that covers our flesh.

It is rather unimaginable not to have any skin. More than just looking rather gruesome, we will die if we were skinned alive, or suffered from severe burns in the skin.

But moving away from the medical and scientific understanding of our skin, there is also a way that we use to describe the skin of a person.

We know what it means when a person is described as “thick-skinned”.

To call a person “thick-skinned” certainly does not mean that he has more skin than flesh.

It means that the person is insensitive or not easily affected by criticism and hence not easily upset or offended.

That may be quite a good thing in that we won’t care much about the negative things that people say about us, if we are that “thick-skinned”.

On the other hand, being “thick-skinned” could mean that one is insensitive to hints, and hence one is not bothered about the needs and feelings of other people.

Such “thick-skinned” people are like a block of wood and they have no EQ, and that’s not what we like to be either.

So having understood the meaning of “thick-skinned”, let us see if we can answer this question.

Which of the apostles do we think is the most “thick-skinned”?

If we are want a clue, then it is one of the characters that is in today’s gospel.

Well, by now, we would have certainly guessed that it is none other than Simon Peter (who incidentally was the first pope!)

Simon Peter is certainly quite thick-skinned. We will remember that passage when Jesus asked His disciples who they said He was.

Simon Peter proclaimed Him as “the Christ, the Son of God”.

But almost immediately, Peter tried to talk Jesus out of His suffering and death, and Jesus rebuked him sharply by saying to him: Get behind me Satan! Because your ways are not God’s ways but man’s ways.

Frankly, to be rebuked like that by Jesus would probably mean that we better disappear and hide our face forever.

Yet, Simon Peter still followed Jesus along the way, as if nothing had happened.

Not only is Simon Peter thick-skinned, he also has a big mouth, big enough for both feet to go in.

At the Last Supper, when Jesus talked about His impending suffering and death, Simon Peter boasted that he would stay with Jesus and even die with Him.

And yet it was he who denied knowing Jesus, and he did it three times, all within one day, and within the span of a couple of hours.

For such a thick-skinned and big-mouthed person, we may wonder what it would take to pierce through that thick skin and shut that mouth.

Well, the ways of God are indeed simple and humble and yet powerful enough to pierce any thick skin and shut any big mouth.

All it took was the crowing of a rooster, and that brought Peter to tears.

Hence the rooster became the mascot of Simon Peter and that is why some pictures have him with the rooster.

Yes, the rooster was God’s instrument to give Simon Peter the wake-up call.

Yet in today’s gospel, it seemed that Simon Peter as well as the rest of the disciples had not fully awakened, despite the fact that the Risen Christ appeared to them twice already.

Thomas may still be doubting; Nathanael might still want to sit under the fig tree; James and John might still be wondering if they could still sit on the left and right of Jesus.

As for you and me, we might still be caught up in our worldly worries and anxieties.

And it was in this dreamy state that Simon Peter suggested that they go fishing.

And as it turned out, history repeated itself, they fished all night but caught nothing.

But it was in catching nothing that they got the wake-up call.

And this is the lesson that we must learn: When we are down to nothing, then God will come up with something.

No matter how thick-skinned we might be, when we are down to nothing, we will have to go down on our knees.

No matter how big-mouthed we might be, when we are down to nothing, our mouths will also have nothing to say.

Yet, it is when we are down to nothing, that God will give us our wake-up calling.

In the 1st reading, we could see that the thick-skinned and big-mouthed Simon Peter was really awakened.

When threatened by the authorities, Simon Peter retorted: Obedience to God comes before obedience to man.

Simon Peter’s thick skin and big mouth is now used to glorify God and to give others the wake-up call from God.

So whether our skin is thick or thin, we can’t deny that we have been proud and arrogant.

Also, with our mouths, we have been boastful and spoken words that were harmful.

But Jesus rose from the dead to conquer sin and to give us a wake-up call so that we can rise from sinfulness to holiness.

God is giving us this wake-up call: That we can do nothing without Him, and that we are nothing without Him.

When we can wake up and realize that we are truly nothing, then God can raise us up into something.

2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday), 07.04.2013

Acts 5:12-16/ Apocalypse 1:9-13, 17-19/ John 20:19-31


It is only natural that we like things neat and tidy.

After all, there is also a saying that goes: Tidiness is next to godliness (and of course, messiness leads to craziness).

So even when it comes to our faith, we like it neat and tidy.

More so when it comes to the expressions of our faith, for example, in things like statues, holy pictures, stained glass and other representations of saints.

These are collectively termed as “sacramentals” and they serve as reminders of the blessings of God and for us to keep growing in faith and holiness.

As such, they must be decent representations which are “neat and tidy” and not too fancy or gaudy.

Hence, the statues (that we see here), of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Madonna with the Holy Child, St Teresa and the stained glass representations of her life, are tastefully portrayed and appealing to the senses.

Yes, we like our sacramental “neat and tidy”. We won’t be too keen on anything that is too disturbing or repulsive.

Yet, these images may be rather sanitized and glossed over (makeover).

Because, the reality (or the personality) behind the images can be too stark for our comfort.

In the gospel, we heard that the Risen Christ came into the room where His disciples were huddled together in fear.

When He appeared to them, His first words were “Peace be with you.” And then He showed them His hands and His side.

There is no doubt that He showed them the wounds of His crucifixion in His hands and side.

And what would those wounds look like? Certainly those wounds would not look like those that on the Risen Christ statue that is at the back of the church.

Those wounds on that statue are just too “neat” and too “nice”.

On the contrary, when the Risen Christ showed them His hands and His side, those wounds would have “shocked” His disciples.

Because those mortal wounds pointed to the pain and suffering of Jesus on the cross and to His death.

His wounds were for real. It wasn’t something neat and nice. In fact it would be horrible and shocking.

But as much as those wounds were ugly and repulsive, there was also something about those wounds that filled the disciples with peace and joy.

The Risen Jesus had overcome the pain and suffering and death caused by those wounds.

Jesus had risen from the dead; He is alive!

And that was enough for the disciples because they knew that they had been forgiven, and through the wounds of the Risen Christ, they were healed.

Yes those wounds were not neat and nice; there was no makeover, no plastic surgery.

Those wounds were stark and irksome, with torn flesh and gaping holes that make people turn away. There was certainly no beauty in them.

Yet by looking at the wounds of the Risen Christ, the disciples were healed and they found peace.

And Thomas (poor Thomas) who wasn’t with the disciples when the Risen Christ appeared, obstinately refused to believe.

He not only wanted to see those wounds, he even wanted to touch those wounds.

Simply because those horrible wounds were the marks of death. For Thomas, no one with those kind of wounds would ever be alive.

He just can’t believe that the Risen Christ would still have those wounds that were the marks of death.

Eight days later, when the Risen Christ appeared again to the disciples, He came specially for Thomas.

And there was no need to put his finger or his hand into those gaping wounds.

He saw, he believed, and he proclaimed: My Lord and my God.
Well, eight days after Easter Sunday, we are gathered here again for the Eucharist.

There are no gaping wounds to make us squirm and turn away.
In fact, as we look around, all seem quite neat and nice and tidy.
But let us not think that there are no wounds.

It would not be too presumptuous to say that each of us have our own wounds.

There are wounds of bitterness and unforgiveness;  there are wounds of greed and lust; there are wounds of envy and jealousy.
Some of those wounds are gaping and festering, causing us much pain and sorrow.

Yet we try to look nice and neat. We try to do plastic surgery on ourselves, but the plastic cracks and our wounds get worse.

The Risen Christ showed His disciples His wounds so that they can be healed and be at peace.

We in turn must show the Risen Christ our sinful wounds so that we can be healed.

But how are we going to do that?

Well, shortly after the election of the Pope, the Vatican revealed what the then cardinal Jorge Bergoglio said in the Sistine Chapel when he was formally asked if he accepted the outcome of the vote.

He answered: I am a big sinner. Trusting in the mercy and patience of God, in suffering, I accept.

Pope Francis was honest and sincere to say that he is a big sinner and unworthy to be the Pope.

But he also trusted in God’s mercy and love, and with humility he accepted the vote.

The Pope has given us the example of showing his wounds and being healed by God’s mercy and love.

We don’t have to tell the whole world what our sins are and show them our sinful wounds.

We only need to be honest and recognize our own wounds.

Wounds like: I am proud; I am possessive; I am insecure; I am envious and jealous; I am lustful and greedy; I am bitter and unforgiving.

Yes by our wounds we know that we have sinned. Yet by His wounds we know that we can be healed.

This Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday. From His wounds, mercy and forgiveness flow into our wounds to heal us and grant us peace.

And blessed are we who dare to look at our wounds, and yet believe that we will be forgiven and healed by the mercy and love of God.