17th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 28.07.2013

Genesis 18:20-32/ Colossians 2:12-14/ Luke 11:1-13

It is certainly more convenient to watch a movie at home than at the cinema.

With TV screens that are 40” and more, and with Blue Ray format and with home theatre systems, we may not feel the need to go to the cinemas.

Even with a laptop, we won’t miss much when watching a movie like “Despicable Me 2”.

We don’t need to see those cute yellow minions on a big screen. 

They are so cute and small they will fit into any screen size.

And we don’t need great sound effects to listen to their minion language to try to understand it.

Because it may be obvious enough. Especially when one of the minions has alarm lights on its head, and goes around with "Bee Doo…Bee Doo…" (Either it’s a fire engine or an ambulance).

But some movies have to be seen on the big screen – in fact, the bigger the better.

One movie that I can think of is “Pacific Rim”, a science fiction movie in which action movie stars manned giant robots that fight against gigantic alien monsters. 

If you watch that movie on a laptop, then it’s going to be a waste, because you won’t be able to see clearly who’s who when the monsters and the robots clash.

And of course, the sound is much more explosive and pounding when you watch it in a cinema.

Yes, size does matter, and when we watch a movie in the cinema, we will get big picture and big sound. 

Yes, we will watch the movie in “big size”.

Yet, a number of us will say that we have not gone to the cinemas to watch a movie for quite some time already.

The reasons are that we are busy, we don’t have the time, the movie tickets are expensive, it is also inconvenient, because at the climax of the movie, we will also feel the urge to go to the toilet (and miss the best part!).

So, we settle for home theatre systems and we are contented with a “down-sized” movie.

Somehow, our movie watching experience may be similar to our prayer experience.

We downsize  our prayers when we are praying to God, the Almighty.

In the gospel, Jesus gave a teaching on prayer, and He also pointed out something about our prayer.

Jesus taught us a prayer – the “Our Father”, or the Lord’s Prayer.

He also told us to pray with persistence. In other words, we must be thick-skinned, we must not be ashamed to pray, to ask, to knock on heaven’s door.

We must not be shy or even ashamed to pray for small things, because we must believe that prayer changes things, even small things.

We may remember what Jesus said about small things. He said that if we can be faithful in small things, then we will be faithful in big things.

So, it also means that when we offer small things to God in prayer, then there is nothing too big that God will not answer.

Praying for a parking lot might seem like a small thing.

Once I went with a friend to the hospital to anoint his father who was critically ill.

When we reached the hospital car park it was full and it seemed like it was going to be a long wait for a parking lot.

Then my friend suggested that we pray the prayer for a parking space. He said that it was his father who taught him the prayer and it always worked.

So, I asked him what was that prayer and he said this: Hail Mary, full of grace, help me find a parking space.

I squirmed a bit when I heard that prayer, so I told him that he can say that prayer if he wants.

But he retorted that since I am the priest I should be the one saying the prayer!

Since I didn’t intend to sit in the car and waste time, I sheepishly and quite unwillingly said the prayer – Hail Mary, full of grace, help us find a parking space.

And then, almost immediately, a man came into the carpark, went into a car in front of us and drove out of the lot. And my friend rubbed it in by saying: See, it always works! Especially, when a priest says it.

Yes, we must not be shy. We must not hesitate, we must not be ashamed to offer up all things to God in prayer, yes, all things big and small.

But maybe that is where the crisis is. We may have neglected small things as well as big things and we choose to turn to our own reserves which inevitably will fail us.

Like the minion in the movie wearing the alarm lights and going “Bee Doo… Bee Doo…” our prayer life may be in crisis.

We may think that our prayer is some kind of minion language that God does not bother to reply.

But let us also remember that out of the mouths of children and babes (Psalm 8), out of simple and humble prayers, God will give us strength to foil our enemies and the monster problems that we face in life.

In all things, big or small, we must pray, for prayer changes things.
I want to share with you a poem about prayer and it’s called “The Difference”.

The Difference
I got up early one morning
And rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish
That I didn't take time to pray.
Problems just tumbled around me,
And heavier came each task;
"Why doesn't God help me?" I wondered.
He answered, "You didn't ask."
I wanted to see joy and beauty-
But the day toiled on, grey and bleak;
I wondered why God didn't show me,
He said, "But you didn't seek."
I tried to come into God's presence,
I used all my keys at the lock;
God gently and lovingly chided:
"My child, you didn't knock."
I woke up early this morning
And paused before entering the day;
I had so much to accomplish
That I had to take time to pray.

16th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 21.07.2013

Genesis 18:1-10/ Colossians 1:24-28/ Luke 10:38-42

Generally speaking, there are two types of personalities: the extrovert and the introvert.

But this is just a broad generalization. Between the extrovert and the introvert, there is also a mixture of both types of characters. 

And people may not really be what they seem to be.

For example, those who sit at the front seats may not be extroverts who like to be seen sitting there. 

Just that probably they were ushered to the front. And if they happen to be an introvert, then it is going to be awkwardly shy for them to sit there and to be seen there.

And those who are at the back may not necessarily be introverts. They may be extroverts who like to see everything (not a bird’s eye view but a back-eye view) 

And in a social gathering or meeting, there are those back-benchers who will voice their views aloud so that everyone can hear them and that everyone will have to turn their heads and look at them when they speak. 

That may not always be the case but introverts and extroverts have certain obvious traits that characterizes them as such.

One of which is that extroverts are expressive, like to talk and make their presence felt. The introverts would be quietly at the corner and hoping that they won’t be noticed. 

But the extroverts and introverts and all those in between make life interesting and there is a lot that we can learn from extroverts as well as from introverts.

We can assume that Jesus Himself showed traits of an extrovert. He preaches, He teaches, He heals, He eats with sinners and tax collectors.

He is always with people. And that is what He came for – to be with people and to show them the face of God as well as to show them how much God loves them.

As much as Jesus can be called an extrovert, He was also very sensitive to the needs of the painfully shy introverts. 

From the gospels, we know that Jesus reached out to those who spent their lives in dark corners and the back lanes of society.

During his time on earth, He reached out to sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, the despised and the discarded – He reached out to them all to show that God cares about them, and loves them.

Today’s gospel may not be talking about introverts and extroverts, but there is so much we can learn from Jesus about being caring and loving.

As we have heard in the gospel, Jesus was invited to the home of Martha and Mary.

And then we heard about Martha getting distracted with all the serving and then she complained to Jesus in these words: Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me. 

There is no need for us to analyze, but it is obvious that Martha is the extrovert type – she is expressive and impulsive, and even explosive.

And Jesus had to gently point out to her that she worry and fret over so many things, and yet few are needed; indeed only one.

And then comes the shocker when Jesus said: It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.

And just what is this “better part”. Martha would really want to know. Not just Martha, we too want to know.

And through all this exchange of words between Martha and Jesus, Mary was silent; there was not a word from her.

In fact, from the gospel accounts, Mary of Bethany didn’t seem to have much to say.

For example, in the gospel of John, about the account of the death of Lazarus, Martha went out to meet Jesus and said to Him: If you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask.

And that was Martha – bold and expressive and always have words ready on her lips, and strong words even.

Then Mary came along later, and when she saw Jesus, she fell at His feet and wept, and having no words of her own, she could only repeat what Martha said: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

And when Jesus saw her weeping, He was deeply moved and He even wept.

So, Mary didn’t say anything more than Martha, and didn’t have anything new to say.

But her tears said it all, and that moved Jesus to tears.

In a later episode, a dinner was given in honour of Jesus and Martha was serving and Lazarus was at table with Jesus.

Then Mary came in, and without a word, she poured expensive perfume on the feet of Jesus and wiped them with her hair.

When Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, criticized her action, it was Jesus who replied: Leave her alone. It was intended that she use this perfume for the day of my burial.

Well, it was that Mary, the one who does not say much, who somehow sensed the impending death of Jesus and she did what she could for him.

Indeed, Jesus was right. Mary had chosen the better part, because she could see what the better part was.

We may call Mary an introvert. She may not have many words, but she feels deeply for Jesus. She feels the heart of Jesus.

She sits at His feet; she weeps at His feet; she anoints His feet.

Extroverts may be at the head and shoulders and the introverts may be at where the lowly feet are.

But let us remember that Jesus is always with the lowly and the humble, and may I also say, that He is with the quiet and the introverted.

And as much as we may assume that Jesus is an extrovert, He may also be an introvert, in that He would often go off to a lonely place and sit at the feet of His Father in prayer to feel the love of His Father.

So let us also choose the better part. Let us sit at the feet of Jesus in prayer. 

And when words are lacking, let there be love. 

As long as we love with the heart of Jesus, we will not need too many words.

15th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 14.07.2013

Deuteronomy 30:10-14/ Colossians 1:15-20/ Luke 10:25-37

We can’t help it but we are always attracted to what is free.

Be it free service, free upgrade, free flow of drinks, free WiFi. Yes, whatever that is free, we will go for it, like bees to honey.

But as we may know by now, nothing in life comes for free. So we will just have to settle for what comes next, and that is whatever that is good, cheap and fast.

Especially when it comes to service. We would like to have cheap, good and fast service. 

But we know by now that good and cheap service won’t be fast.

And good and fast service won’t be cheap. And of course fast and cheap service won’t be good.

So, it means that in life, we can’t have it all, and much less can we ever have it free.

Yet, in the area of information technology, there are certain things that can come for free – free apps, which are available for free download.

It all started when some clever and generous people decided to use their talents and create some open-source programs and applications and offer it to those who might have use for it.

So now what is available free on the internet are programs and apps that really come for free – free anti-virus, free operating systems, free email (even free encyclopedia).

Yes, we have used these free programs and apps and they have benefitted us.

Whether we acknowledge it or not, these clever and generous people have given us an example that there are people in this world who are willing to help others – for free!

And that their contributions can make a difference and indeed have made a difference.

In the gospel, we heard Jesus telling the parable of the Good Samaritan.

The parable was a response to a lawyer’s question of “Who is my neighbour?”

And the parable shook the ground of the listeners because of the dramatic twist in the story.

Because the hero of the story is not one of their own people.

Rather, it was an outsider. In fact, an enemy of the Jews, someone who was despised and written off by the Jews.

But why would Jesus want to bring in a Samaritan into the parable and risk the possibility of turning away his listeners and maybe even hardening their hearts?

But the point of the parable was to awaken His listeners.

The implicit question here is that are they not going to help their own people in need? Can they just walk away from those who are half dead and let the outsiders and even enemies take care of them?

And that is also the question for us as the People of God. Are we not going to help our own people in need? Can we just walk away and leave them to outsiders?

Today we are reminded of the law that is written in our hearts – To love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength and with all our mind, and to love our neighbour as ourselves.

It is with that kind of love that we can restore the hope of our own people and the hope of humanity.

We may have heard of this word “ubuntu”. For those who are geeks among us, we know of it as a free, open-source operating system for computers and electronic devices.

But there is a story behind the word “ubuntu”.

An anthropologist had been studying the habits and customs of an African tribe, and when he finished his work, had to wait for transportation that would take him to the airport to return home. 

He'd always been surrounded by the children of the tribe, so to help pass the time before he left, he proposed a game for the children to play.

He'd bought lots of sweets in the city, so he put everything in a basket with a beautiful ribbon attached. He placed it under a tree, and then he called the kids together. 

He drew a line on the ground and explained that they should wait behind the line for his signal. And that when he said "Go!" they should rush over to the basket, and the first to reach it would win all the sweets.

When he said "Go!" they all unexpectedly held each other's hands and ran off towards the tree as a group. Once there, they simply shared the sweets with each other and happily ate it.

The anthropologist was very surprised. He asked them why they had all gone together, especially if the first one to reach the tree could have won everything in the basket - all the sweets. 

A young girl simply replied: "Ubuntu! - How can one of us be happy if all the others are sad?"

The anthropologist was dumbfounded! For months and months he'd been studying the tribe, yet it was only now that he really understood their true essence.

That also makes us think. How can one of us be happy if all the others are sad?

Ubuntu also means, "I am because we are." Ubuntu is a Zulu or Xhosa word, and a traditional African concept. It's a term for humaneness, for caring, sharing and being in harmony with others and all of creation.
If ubuntu means “I am because we are”, then how about the word Christian?

Christian would mean “I am love because God is love”.

Jesus had said : You received without charge, give without charge. In other words, we received love freely, we too must give love freely.

In loving God and loving our neighbour, we will truly understand the meaning of happiness.

Because when others are happy, then we in turn will be happy. As that little girl told the anthropologist: How can one of us be happy if all the others are sad?

So let us be a loving neighbour to one another and help those in need and share the happiness of life with one another.

Let us make a difference in this world that tends to be indifferent.

With that we will restore the hope that humanity can love freely and generously, just as God has loved us, freely and generously.

14th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 07.07.2013

Isaiah 66:10-14/ Galatians 6:14-18/ Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

We may remember one of the sayings of Jesus that goes like this: Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has its own worries. Today has enough worries of its own.

Yes, today has enough of troubles and worries of its own.

Yet, it seems that we have an addiction to worries and anxieties, not just for today, but for tomorrow also, and the day after, and the day after that, and so on.

Yes, we worry and get anxious about what will happen later on today, what will happen tomorrow, what will happen in the future.

That is why one of the things that we are often tempted to read is the horoscope, although we shouldn’t.

We can find it in the newspaper everyday or even just log in on the internet to read the horoscope for the day.

Whether we take it seriously or lightly, that’s another matter altogether.

But life is really no laughing matter especially when our future is at stake.

There is this conversation between a fortune teller and his client.

Fortune teller: For the first 40 years, your life will be hard and unhappy.

Client: Oh?! And then, after that?

Fortune teller: After that, you will get used to it.

Of course we shouldn’t consult fortune tellers or palm reader (or the horoscope), because our future is in the hands of God.

And in the gospel, we hear what Jesus has to say about our future.

Jesus tells us that we are going to be labourers for His harvest.

And going out there into the harvest, it would be like lambs among wolves.

And if we are going to be honest about it, we would surely be thinking: Is it going to be that difficult? Is it going to be that scary?

But if we really want to face the truth of discipleship, then the reality is that it is going to be that difficult, it is going to be that scary.

Yes, that is the truth of discipleship. Yet, that truth will set us free from our anxieties and worries.

And when we are freed from the grip of our worries and anxieties then we will have peace of heart.

And that is what Jesus wants us to be - messengers of peace. He sends us out into the harvest of the world to be witnesses of peace.

But it is hard to be a messenger of peace; it is difficult to be a witness of peace.

Because in this world, the wolves will be howling at us, the snakes will bite us and the scorpions will sting us.

It is said that “people can live through great hardships and yet perish from hard feelings” (Solzhenitsyn)

The hardness of this world can also harden our hearts.

And when our hearts are hardened, then instead of giving peace to others, we may end up giving them a piece of our mind.

Yet the hardness of heart can only be softened and healed by the waters of peace that flow from the heart of God.

As we heard God saying in the 1st reading : I will send peace flowing like a river.

The image of peace flowing like a river is indeed very fitting.

Because true peace is like a river – the deeper it is, the less noise it makes.

Also the image of peace flowing like a river is fitting because as a river glides along smoothly, it remains the same river flowing in the one direction.

The only thing that changes is the landscape on either side of the bank.

And it is the waters of a river that gives life and peace and softens the hardness of the world.

The hardness that we receive from the world is like a label that is stuck on a bottle.

The easiest way to remove the label from the bottle is to soak the bottle in water and leave it there until the label is softened and detaches from the bottle with little effort.

Similarly we come for Mass to be soaked in the healing waters of the river of God’s peace so that the hard labels of bitterness and resentment can be removed, and our hearts softened.

God wants to heal and comfort us just like a mother would comfort her child.

That is why we have to observe and respect the sacred ambience and the decorum and the solemnity of the Mass.

Because we have come to be healed and comforted by God, and to let God’s peace flow into our hearts like a river.

When we are healed and filled with peace, then we can go out into the world to be messengers of God’s peace and to be channels of peace that flows like a river.

The world is too used to hardness. It has heard too much of the howling of the wolves and felt the pain of the bite of serpents and the sting of scorpions.

But deep in the heart of every person is a longing for peace – the peace that can heal the pain of the world.

May that healing begin with us; may God’s peace flow into our hearts like a river.

And may that peace flow from us into the world to heal the world.