Isaiah 2: 1-5/ Romans 13:11-14/ Matthew 24:37-44
Today is the first day of December. The month of December gives rise to a few pleasant thoughts that might bring a smile to our lips.
December means that Christmas is coming and we can start writing our wish-list, but it will probably just remain as wishes.
One of our wishes may be to go for a holiday overseas.
And that would mean that we take a flight out of Singapore for a holiday break.
Taking a flight out of Singapore for a holiday is convenient, and also we want to get as far away as possible so that our boss can’t reach us or make us go back to work.
But whether for a get-away holiday or for work, taking a plane is no big deal.
And we know what usually happens when we board the plane.
Before the plane takes off, the flight attendants will go through the safety instructions for us.
And that is one of the most challenging moments for the flight attendant.
As she goes through the instructions and demonstrations, like how to fasten the seat-belt, where to put the hand-carry luggage, how to wear the life-vest, etc., the only passengers who are paying any attention are probably those who are taking a plane for the first time in their life.
The rest will be sending out last-minute messages and emails (especially if you forgot to apply for leave), or flipping through a magazine, or talking away with someone, or just looking out of the window and dreaming away.
After all, nothing has ever happened, and it is unlikely that anything will ever happen … hopefully.
But let’s say, the plane has taken off and cruising along high in the sky, and then suddenly there is jerk, and the lights flicker and some strange noises are heard.
The seat-belt lights come on, and then the flight attendants appear with a serious look on their faces.
And then they start to go through the safely procedures again, telling us to sit straight and buckle-up and telling us where the life-jackets are and where the exits are, etc.
Now, would we be paying any attention, or would we continue to read our magazine, or keep chatting with our neighbor, or continue sleeping, or getting flustered that our in-flight movie is suddenly stopped?
Would we be suspecting anything, or would we think that it is a bad joke and no one is laughing?
In the gospel, Jesus recalled a story for the Old Testament that even children would know about – it was about Noah and the ark.
We know that Noah brought a pair of all the animals into the ark, before it started to rain for 40 days and 40 nights.
Yet Jesus said that when Noah was building the ark, the people suspected nothing.
They saw Noah and the ark as a big joke, and probably they were laughing at it, and they continued eating and drinking, taking wives, taking husbands.
They suspected nothing. Until it started raining, and raining, and raining, for 40 days and 40 nights it rained.
And then the people would have realized the reason for the ark. But it was too late. All because they suspected nothing. They sensed nothing. So in the end no one was left laughing.
So to say that God does not give warning signs is certainly not a fair statement to make.
Even though Jesus said that the Son of Man is coming at an hour we do not expect, it is to get us to be alert and ready always.
God will always give us signs; we only need to sense it and act on it.
The month of December may be a happy month for some, but certainly a busy month for many others.
There are accounts to be closed and the tedious stock-taking at the work place to prepare for next year.
And then at home, it is time to bring out the Christmas decorations and the yearly headache of shopping for presents and preparing for parties.
It seems to be more busy than happy, more stressful than joyful.
So we huff and puff, we push and rush to meet the deadline which is December 25.
It is strange to think that how December 25, which is Christmas Day, has become like some kind of deadline to meet.
But going back to that point in the gospel – do we suspect anything happening? Do we sense anything happening?
Advent is a preparation to celebrate that moment in time when God became man, i.e. the birthday of Jesus.
So all that we are doing is for the birthday celebration of Jesus. And who would not come for his own birthday celebration?
Oh yes, Jesus will come, He promised to come, and the imagery He used is that of like a thief in the night (although that is not a very comfortable imagery).
So Jesus will come in the midst of our preparations, our busyness, in our stress, in our anxiety. And He comes quietly and silently.
But we have to sense His presence. And to help us do that, the Church is offering us this Advent reflection booklet with the theme “Sensing Christ”.
It reminds us that Jesus is present in what we see, hear and touch.
And most of all Jesus is present in the persons around us.
So let us not take anyone for granted, as they are God’s gifts to us.
And let us also not take anything we see, hear or touch for granted, because that is how God is communicating with us.
Yes, Jesus is already present in those persons and things that we take for granted so often.
We only need to open our senses, and we will be able to see, hear and touch His presence.
Click the links under My Blog List to get to Chinese and English weekday homilies.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Christ the King, Year C, 24.11.13
2 Samuel 5:1-3/ Colossians 1:12-20/ Luke 23:35-43
One of the most anxious days of last week was probably last Friday, the 22nd of November.
In the midst of other top news like the massive relief efforts that are going on in the Philippines in the aftermath of the Typhoon Haiyan, last Friday had a particular top news in Singapore.
And that top news was the release of the PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examinations) results. It was an anxious day for students, parents and also for the teachers.
PSLE results, like the other crucial exam results, is a big thing in Singapore.
The PSLE results would determine which secondary school a student would be going to and probably the direction in life that the student would be heading towards.
And as the usual cycle goes for those who had done well there will be cheers.
But for those who did not do well, there could be tears and fears.
Of course, the limelight will be on those who scored “As” and “A-stars”.
They have done themselves proud, their parents proud, their schools proud.
They will be asked to share the secrets of their success, and maybe how they had gone against the odds to emerge the top.
We congratulate those students who had studied hard and done well, and we must affirm them for their diligence and toil. Indeed, they sweat for their success.
Yet, the PSLE results day is also like Judgment Day for some, and we don’t get to hear about them.
They are the ones who didn’t do well enough (comparatively) and maybe, at the bottom of the heap, are those who failed and, face the prospect of having to repeat the PSLE.
I can’t help feeling sorry for them, that at such a tender age of 12 years old, they already had the sour taste of disappointment and the bitter taste of failure.
We won’t get to see them or hear about them, and they also don’t want to be seen or heard.
Yes, the failures of the education system and the failures of society are not for public viewing and it would be better that they are not mentioned at all.
But in the gospel, three people are put up as failures for public viewing. They were actually put up for execution.
Two of them were criminals, and certainly their crimes were serious enough to warrant the death penalty of crucifixion.
Their lives had been a big failure. Their failure turned them into a life of crime and now they are paying for their failure on the cross.
It is said that failure is the mother of success, in that failure can spur a person to reverse the failure and make it a stepping stone for success.
But for the two criminals nailed to the cross and waiting for their final breath, there is no more chance of reversal. Their failure in life had led them to a dead end.
Between these two criminals was Jesus, also nailed to the cross and waiting for the final moment.
But why was Jesus crucified between the two criminals? He preached the Good News of the kingdom of God, healed the sick and worked miracles. He didn’t commit any crime!
However, He was rejected by the chief priests and elders and they conspired against Him and finally had Him nailed to the cross.
Though He had done nothing wrong, as one of the criminals would testify, His ending seemed to be one sad broken failure.
The inscription on His cross read: This is the King of the Jews. But was meant to mock Him and deride Him.
It’s one thing to be a failure, but quite another to have to die for having done nothing wrong and to be made fun of in that slow painful death.
His friends stayed at a distance, watching His execution, probably thinking silently: He had been our hope, but now …
The leaders jeered at Him and taunted Him: He saved others, let Him now save Himself.
The soldiers mocked Him: If you are the King, save yourself.
Even one of the criminals abused Him: If you are the Christ, save yourself and save us.
But, in the midst of all this jeering and taunting and mockery, only one person saw the reality.
The other criminal, often called the good thief, who defended the innocence of Jesus made this remarkable statement: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
But was an absurd statement, because Jesus, like him was in a hopeless situation.
Yet, somehow, the good thief and only the good thief, saw the truth and the reality: That Jesus was King and that He was the Savior.
So, despite the massive failure of his life, the good thief passed the final exam when Jesus told him: Indeed, I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.
It was a totally absurd conversation to the people who were there, but one condemned sinner received salvation from the King who is the Saviour.
We may know the story of the lion and the mouse but nonetheless we can hear it again with a slightly different perspective.
The lion, the king of the jungle, just had his meal and was dozing off.
Then a mouse came along, the smallest creature in the jungle, a scavenger, considered the scum of the jungle.
The mouse crept up to the lion’s half-eaten meal and hoped to have a bite of the remains.
The lion woke up and with his powerful paw caught the mouse and he roared: How dare you steal my food!
The mouse pleaded: Please let me go, please let me go, and I promise to help you whenever you need me.
The lion was amused that a tiny mouse can ever help him, so he let the mouse go.
Then one day the lion fell into a net trap laid by hunters. He couldn’t free himself from the net and he roared and roared in distress.
The mouse heard the lion’s roar of distress and ran over. With its sharp tiny teeth, it nibbled at the ropes of the net until the lion was able to break free.
The lion turned to the mouse and said: Small as you are, you were able to help me, the King of the jungle.
From then on, the mighty lion shared his meals with the tiny mouse.
On the cross, Jesus was King and Saviour, but the people saw Him as a hopeless failure.
Only the good thief, despite all his failures, saw Jesus as who He really is.
So, if we had experienced sour disappointments and bitter failures in life and we feel like a tiny mouse scuttling around for survival, then Jesus has a mission for us.
Like the mouse who nibbled at the net to set the mighty lion free, we need to nibble at the tears and fears of our disappointments and failures so that we can be free to proclaim Jesus as our King and Saviour.
Whatever difficult situations we face in life, there is only one answer, and the good thief has given us that saving answer: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
That answer proclaims Jesus as our King and Saviour.
One of the most anxious days of last week was probably last Friday, the 22nd of November.
In the midst of other top news like the massive relief efforts that are going on in the Philippines in the aftermath of the Typhoon Haiyan, last Friday had a particular top news in Singapore.
And that top news was the release of the PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examinations) results. It was an anxious day for students, parents and also for the teachers.
PSLE results, like the other crucial exam results, is a big thing in Singapore.
The PSLE results would determine which secondary school a student would be going to and probably the direction in life that the student would be heading towards.
And as the usual cycle goes for those who had done well there will be cheers.
But for those who did not do well, there could be tears and fears.
Of course, the limelight will be on those who scored “As” and “A-stars”.
They have done themselves proud, their parents proud, their schools proud.
They will be asked to share the secrets of their success, and maybe how they had gone against the odds to emerge the top.
We congratulate those students who had studied hard and done well, and we must affirm them for their diligence and toil. Indeed, they sweat for their success.
Yet, the PSLE results day is also like Judgment Day for some, and we don’t get to hear about them.
They are the ones who didn’t do well enough (comparatively) and maybe, at the bottom of the heap, are those who failed and, face the prospect of having to repeat the PSLE.
I can’t help feeling sorry for them, that at such a tender age of 12 years old, they already had the sour taste of disappointment and the bitter taste of failure.
We won’t get to see them or hear about them, and they also don’t want to be seen or heard.
Yes, the failures of the education system and the failures of society are not for public viewing and it would be better that they are not mentioned at all.
But in the gospel, three people are put up as failures for public viewing. They were actually put up for execution.
Two of them were criminals, and certainly their crimes were serious enough to warrant the death penalty of crucifixion.
Their lives had been a big failure. Their failure turned them into a life of crime and now they are paying for their failure on the cross.
It is said that failure is the mother of success, in that failure can spur a person to reverse the failure and make it a stepping stone for success.
But for the two criminals nailed to the cross and waiting for their final breath, there is no more chance of reversal. Their failure in life had led them to a dead end.
Between these two criminals was Jesus, also nailed to the cross and waiting for the final moment.
But why was Jesus crucified between the two criminals? He preached the Good News of the kingdom of God, healed the sick and worked miracles. He didn’t commit any crime!
However, He was rejected by the chief priests and elders and they conspired against Him and finally had Him nailed to the cross.
Though He had done nothing wrong, as one of the criminals would testify, His ending seemed to be one sad broken failure.
The inscription on His cross read: This is the King of the Jews. But was meant to mock Him and deride Him.
It’s one thing to be a failure, but quite another to have to die for having done nothing wrong and to be made fun of in that slow painful death.
His friends stayed at a distance, watching His execution, probably thinking silently: He had been our hope, but now …
The leaders jeered at Him and taunted Him: He saved others, let Him now save Himself.
The soldiers mocked Him: If you are the King, save yourself.
Even one of the criminals abused Him: If you are the Christ, save yourself and save us.
But, in the midst of all this jeering and taunting and mockery, only one person saw the reality.
The other criminal, often called the good thief, who defended the innocence of Jesus made this remarkable statement: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
But was an absurd statement, because Jesus, like him was in a hopeless situation.
Yet, somehow, the good thief and only the good thief, saw the truth and the reality: That Jesus was King and that He was the Savior.
So, despite the massive failure of his life, the good thief passed the final exam when Jesus told him: Indeed, I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.
It was a totally absurd conversation to the people who were there, but one condemned sinner received salvation from the King who is the Saviour.
We may know the story of the lion and the mouse but nonetheless we can hear it again with a slightly different perspective.
The lion, the king of the jungle, just had his meal and was dozing off.
Then a mouse came along, the smallest creature in the jungle, a scavenger, considered the scum of the jungle.
The mouse crept up to the lion’s half-eaten meal and hoped to have a bite of the remains.
The lion woke up and with his powerful paw caught the mouse and he roared: How dare you steal my food!
The mouse pleaded: Please let me go, please let me go, and I promise to help you whenever you need me.
The lion was amused that a tiny mouse can ever help him, so he let the mouse go.
Then one day the lion fell into a net trap laid by hunters. He couldn’t free himself from the net and he roared and roared in distress.
The mouse heard the lion’s roar of distress and ran over. With its sharp tiny teeth, it nibbled at the ropes of the net until the lion was able to break free.
The lion turned to the mouse and said: Small as you are, you were able to help me, the King of the jungle.
From then on, the mighty lion shared his meals with the tiny mouse.
On the cross, Jesus was King and Saviour, but the people saw Him as a hopeless failure.
Only the good thief, despite all his failures, saw Jesus as who He really is.
So, if we had experienced sour disappointments and bitter failures in life and we feel like a tiny mouse scuttling around for survival, then Jesus has a mission for us.
Like the mouse who nibbled at the net to set the mighty lion free, we need to nibble at the tears and fears of our disappointments and failures so that we can be free to proclaim Jesus as our King and Saviour.
Whatever difficult situations we face in life, there is only one answer, and the good thief has given us that saving answer: Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
That answer proclaims Jesus as our King and Saviour.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
33rd Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 17.11.2013
Malachi 3:19-20/ 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12/ Luke 21:5-19
Recently a company announced plans to launch its website in Singapore in 2014.
Its website membership has over 21 million members from over 30 countries (that’s quite impressive).
Essentially, it is an online dating service and a social networking service, but that is not all.
It is marketed, and targeted, to people who are already in a relationship; or putting it plainly, people who are already married.
There is no need to guess what it is all about, especially when the company’s slogan is this: Life is short. Have an affair.
However, the authorities have announced that it will not allow the company to operate in Singapore as it promotes adultery and disregards family values.
Hence, the company’s website is also blocked from any access.
Thanks be to God that the website was not allowed to infiltrate into our country and so we are safe, at least for now.
But its waves have already flooded our minds and drowned our innocence of thought.
Because its slogan has made our minds wander around a bit.
“Life is short. Have an affair!” And who doesn’t know that life is short?! If you ever live to be a 100, you can be sure that there will not much competition and there will be no peer pressure.
But because life is so short, there will be temptation to give in to peer pleasure.
Peer pleasure as in we see our friends having fun with life and enjoying the pleasures of life as it there is no tomorrow.
And why not! Even Jesus said in the gospel that not one stone will be left on another. Everything will be destroyed!
There will be wars and revolutions, great earthquakes and plagues and famines.
We have seen all that happen in our time. And Jesus continues by saying that all that must happen, but the end is not so soon.
And we may think: You mean there is more to come? You mean the worse is not over yet?
If that is the case, then indeed, life is short, so why care?
As that slogan says: Life is short. Have an affair.
And the ridiculous litany can continue. Life is short, so just don’t care! Pollute the air! Go ahead and swear! Do what others don’t dare! No need to be fair or square! Cheat and be a millionaire!
These may sound ridiculous but the tragedies of life can turn the mind into madness.
In the gospel, Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the famous temple and that happened in 70AD.
During the long siege, about a million people were killed or died of starvation.
Besides the carnage that was carried out when the city was conquered, the survivors were forced to look at the Temple being demolished and reduced to rubble.
A disaster and destruction of such a magnitude was enough to make the survivors go mad.
And as in some cases that we heard of, a person’s hair can turn white overnight.
In the gospel, Jesus painted for us a worst case scenario of disaster, destruction, persecution and betrayal.
It may not make our hair turn white overnight but it will make our hair stand.
Yet, in this worst case scenario, Jesus is also telling us to look at it with the eyes of faith.
Yes, faith will enable us to look at this terrible scenario and see it as an opportunity to bear witness.
As we know, the Philippines has suffered a tragedy and a catastrophe.
First there was a great earthquake resulting in the loss of lives, destruction of homes and churches that are centuries old.
Then came a super typhoon that caused more loss of lives and more destruction and disaster.
Yet, it is in this face of tragedy that we are presented with an opportunity.
It is an opportunity to bear witness to our faith in the sense that tragedy must not have the last say.
God will have the final say but He needs our faith to bear witness to that.
With faith in God we must support our brothers and sisters in the Philippines.
Besides material help, we must also give them spiritual help so that those who are suffering from the tragedy will not lose their minds and lose their faith.
Tragedies like these make us realize that life is short.
But just because life is short we must not and cannot subscribe to that slogan: Life is short. Have an affair.
Rather with faith, we will say: Life is short. Handle with prayer.
With faith in God and with enduring prayer, worst case scenarios will turn into blessed-case scenarios.
Recently a company announced plans to launch its website in Singapore in 2014.
Its website membership has over 21 million members from over 30 countries (that’s quite impressive).
Essentially, it is an online dating service and a social networking service, but that is not all.
It is marketed, and targeted, to people who are already in a relationship; or putting it plainly, people who are already married.
There is no need to guess what it is all about, especially when the company’s slogan is this: Life is short. Have an affair.
However, the authorities have announced that it will not allow the company to operate in Singapore as it promotes adultery and disregards family values.
Hence, the company’s website is also blocked from any access.
Thanks be to God that the website was not allowed to infiltrate into our country and so we are safe, at least for now.
But its waves have already flooded our minds and drowned our innocence of thought.
Because its slogan has made our minds wander around a bit.
“Life is short. Have an affair!” And who doesn’t know that life is short?! If you ever live to be a 100, you can be sure that there will not much competition and there will be no peer pressure.
But because life is so short, there will be temptation to give in to peer pleasure.
Peer pleasure as in we see our friends having fun with life and enjoying the pleasures of life as it there is no tomorrow.
And why not! Even Jesus said in the gospel that not one stone will be left on another. Everything will be destroyed!
There will be wars and revolutions, great earthquakes and plagues and famines.
We have seen all that happen in our time. And Jesus continues by saying that all that must happen, but the end is not so soon.
And we may think: You mean there is more to come? You mean the worse is not over yet?
If that is the case, then indeed, life is short, so why care?
As that slogan says: Life is short. Have an affair.
And the ridiculous litany can continue. Life is short, so just don’t care! Pollute the air! Go ahead and swear! Do what others don’t dare! No need to be fair or square! Cheat and be a millionaire!
These may sound ridiculous but the tragedies of life can turn the mind into madness.
In the gospel, Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the famous temple and that happened in 70AD.
During the long siege, about a million people were killed or died of starvation.
Besides the carnage that was carried out when the city was conquered, the survivors were forced to look at the Temple being demolished and reduced to rubble.
A disaster and destruction of such a magnitude was enough to make the survivors go mad.
And as in some cases that we heard of, a person’s hair can turn white overnight.
In the gospel, Jesus painted for us a worst case scenario of disaster, destruction, persecution and betrayal.
It may not make our hair turn white overnight but it will make our hair stand.
Yet, in this worst case scenario, Jesus is also telling us to look at it with the eyes of faith.
Yes, faith will enable us to look at this terrible scenario and see it as an opportunity to bear witness.
As we know, the Philippines has suffered a tragedy and a catastrophe.
First there was a great earthquake resulting in the loss of lives, destruction of homes and churches that are centuries old.
Then came a super typhoon that caused more loss of lives and more destruction and disaster.
Yet, it is in this face of tragedy that we are presented with an opportunity.
It is an opportunity to bear witness to our faith in the sense that tragedy must not have the last say.
God will have the final say but He needs our faith to bear witness to that.
With faith in God we must support our brothers and sisters in the Philippines.
Besides material help, we must also give them spiritual help so that those who are suffering from the tragedy will not lose their minds and lose their faith.
Tragedies like these make us realize that life is short.
But just because life is short we must not and cannot subscribe to that slogan: Life is short. Have an affair.
Rather with faith, we will say: Life is short. Handle with prayer.
With faith in God and with enduring prayer, worst case scenarios will turn into blessed-case scenarios.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
32nd Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 10.11.2013
2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14/ 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5/ Luke 20:27-38
Last week, there were two occasions which made us turn our attention to the dimension of the spiritual world.
First, there was All Saints Day, a day in which we ponder about the great company of saints in heaven.
The saints are in the spiritual dimension of the presence of God, a dimension that is beyond the here and now.
Yet, it is also a dimension that we are in touch with, and what we could term as “the communion of saints”.
And then on the next day, which is All Souls Day, we remember those who have gone before us and we offer prayers for them that God will grant them eternal rest.
So, whether it’s All Saints and All Souls, it is a spiritual dimension that calls for our attention and evokes our emotions.
But just the day prior to All Saints and All Souls, there is this peculiar event called Halloween.
Halloween is of western origins. Halloween actually means “Hallowed Evening” which means holy evening.
Because it is on the 31st Oct, which is the eve of All Saints Day, the Church termed it as a holy evening and a vigil for the celebration of All Saints Day.
But it was actually to counter a pagan festival of a Celtic religion called “Druid”.
In that “Druid” religion, it was believed that on that day, the 31st Oct, the spirits of all those who died during the year would rise up and roam around.
The Church tried to counter that by naming that day Halloween and propagated the teaching that the souls of the virtuous will rise to heaven and rejoice in heaven in the celebration of All Saints Day.
However, that didn’t quite succeed. The idea of a holy evening didn’t change the people’s fantasy of the scary and ghostly. (Sigh, just like how a talk on ghosts will always attract more people than a talk on saints!)
Hence, even nowadays, the general theme of the Halloween party is to dress up like the figures of the underworld.
So adults and even children will dress up as zombies, vampires, witches, warlocks, corpse, etc.
By and large, it is to be scary and ghostly, and all that is supposed to be for fun.
Yet, we may wonder where is the distinction between what is for fun and what is for real.
Is it real fun, or is that having fun with the real?
What we heard in the first reading was for real.
The seven brothers and their mother stood firmly in their faith against the temptations to deny God.
And with that, the persecution and torture began. One by one, the seven brothers were tortured and killed. They were skinned alive, dismembered and subjected to other grisly forms of torture.
And the mother who saw all her seven sons perish in one day was finally put to death.
Indeed it was a heart wrenching story of martyrdom and we cringe at the thought of how human beings can be so viciously tortured and executed just because of their faith in God.
In the Gospel, we heard about the Sadducees, who didn’t believe in the resurrection, posing a seemingly ridiculous and absurd scenario to Jesus.
The Sadducees would have known about the story of the martyrdom of the seven brothers and their mother.
However, they twisted that story around and made up a case of seven brothers and a woman and threw in a law from Moses about marriage and having children.
Their question was this: In the after-life, whose wife would she be, since all seven brothers had married her?
They were not asking that question for fun. But their question was funny or at least, it sounded funny.
But that is because they didn’t believe in the resurrection and hence to them, the after-life was some kind of shadowy, meaningless existence in a place called Sheol.
And because the after-life seemed so absurd and meaningless, then their aim was to enjoy a life of luxury and have their desires fulfilled.
That was why the Sadducees were rich and they hold high positions, because this life was all they had. Beyond the grave is a meaningless existence.
And here is where Jesus gave a teaching on the after-life and on the resurrection.
Beyond the grave is not a meaningless existence.
Rather, beyond the grave, we rise to be with the God of the living, the God who is life and who gives life.
If we believe in that, then it must have an impact in the present life, in the here and now.
We just can’t go around and dressing up and acting like zombies and vampires or get fascinated with the scary or ghostly.
That would be a mockery of the after-life, and an insult to the God of life.
If we truly believe in the Resurrection, then we would want to live a life of holiness.
We would want to be in communion with the saints in heaven by asking them for their intercession.
We would also want to be in communion with those who have gone before us, by praying for them so that they can be with God and have the fullness of life.
Halloween may have come and gone, and some might see it as a funny costume party that has no meaning.
But we know what it means – it means “Holy Evening”.
And if we truly believe in the Resurrection, we also want it to have in our lives, a holy meaning.
Then we would truly witness to God, who is God not of the dead, but of the living.
Last week, there were two occasions which made us turn our attention to the dimension of the spiritual world.
First, there was All Saints Day, a day in which we ponder about the great company of saints in heaven.
The saints are in the spiritual dimension of the presence of God, a dimension that is beyond the here and now.
Yet, it is also a dimension that we are in touch with, and what we could term as “the communion of saints”.
And then on the next day, which is All Souls Day, we remember those who have gone before us and we offer prayers for them that God will grant them eternal rest.
So, whether it’s All Saints and All Souls, it is a spiritual dimension that calls for our attention and evokes our emotions.
But just the day prior to All Saints and All Souls, there is this peculiar event called Halloween.
Halloween is of western origins. Halloween actually means “Hallowed Evening” which means holy evening.
Because it is on the 31st Oct, which is the eve of All Saints Day, the Church termed it as a holy evening and a vigil for the celebration of All Saints Day.
But it was actually to counter a pagan festival of a Celtic religion called “Druid”.
In that “Druid” religion, it was believed that on that day, the 31st Oct, the spirits of all those who died during the year would rise up and roam around.
The Church tried to counter that by naming that day Halloween and propagated the teaching that the souls of the virtuous will rise to heaven and rejoice in heaven in the celebration of All Saints Day.
However, that didn’t quite succeed. The idea of a holy evening didn’t change the people’s fantasy of the scary and ghostly. (Sigh, just like how a talk on ghosts will always attract more people than a talk on saints!)
Hence, even nowadays, the general theme of the Halloween party is to dress up like the figures of the underworld.
So adults and even children will dress up as zombies, vampires, witches, warlocks, corpse, etc.
By and large, it is to be scary and ghostly, and all that is supposed to be for fun.
Yet, we may wonder where is the distinction between what is for fun and what is for real.
Is it real fun, or is that having fun with the real?
What we heard in the first reading was for real.
The seven brothers and their mother stood firmly in their faith against the temptations to deny God.
And with that, the persecution and torture began. One by one, the seven brothers were tortured and killed. They were skinned alive, dismembered and subjected to other grisly forms of torture.
And the mother who saw all her seven sons perish in one day was finally put to death.
Indeed it was a heart wrenching story of martyrdom and we cringe at the thought of how human beings can be so viciously tortured and executed just because of their faith in God.
In the Gospel, we heard about the Sadducees, who didn’t believe in the resurrection, posing a seemingly ridiculous and absurd scenario to Jesus.
The Sadducees would have known about the story of the martyrdom of the seven brothers and their mother.
However, they twisted that story around and made up a case of seven brothers and a woman and threw in a law from Moses about marriage and having children.
Their question was this: In the after-life, whose wife would she be, since all seven brothers had married her?
They were not asking that question for fun. But their question was funny or at least, it sounded funny.
But that is because they didn’t believe in the resurrection and hence to them, the after-life was some kind of shadowy, meaningless existence in a place called Sheol.
And because the after-life seemed so absurd and meaningless, then their aim was to enjoy a life of luxury and have their desires fulfilled.
That was why the Sadducees were rich and they hold high positions, because this life was all they had. Beyond the grave is a meaningless existence.
And here is where Jesus gave a teaching on the after-life and on the resurrection.
Beyond the grave is not a meaningless existence.
Rather, beyond the grave, we rise to be with the God of the living, the God who is life and who gives life.
If we believe in that, then it must have an impact in the present life, in the here and now.
We just can’t go around and dressing up and acting like zombies and vampires or get fascinated with the scary or ghostly.
That would be a mockery of the after-life, and an insult to the God of life.
If we truly believe in the Resurrection, then we would want to live a life of holiness.
We would want to be in communion with the saints in heaven by asking them for their intercession.
We would also want to be in communion with those who have gone before us, by praying for them so that they can be with God and have the fullness of life.
Halloween may have come and gone, and some might see it as a funny costume party that has no meaning.
But we know what it means – it means “Holy Evening”.
And if we truly believe in the Resurrection, we also want it to have in our lives, a holy meaning.
Then we would truly witness to God, who is God not of the dead, but of the living.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
31st Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 04.11.2013
Wisdom 11:22-12:2/ 2 Thess 1:11-2:2/ Luke 19:1-10
The Bible has many interesting and amazing stories that fascinate our imagination and capture our attention.
One of those stories is about the city of Jericho in the Book of Joshua in the Old Testament.
After crossing the River Jordan into the Promised Land, the Israelites faced the fortified city of Jericho.
The walls of Jericho were fortified, not just to keep out the enemies but also to hold out the water when the River Jordan gets flooded.
So it seemed unlikely for the Israelites to easily break through the walls of Jericho and conquer it.
And this was where God instructed Joshua of an amazing battle plan.
Joshua was to lead the priests carrying the ark of covenant, together with the soldiers and they were to march round the city once, with the priests blaring the horns.
They were to do that for six days.
Then on the seventh day, they were to march round the city seven times and sounding their horns.
Then at the seventh round, as the priests were blowing the horns, Joshua was to instruct the Israelites to give a loud shout, and the walls of Jericho would collapse and the Lord will deliver the city to Joshua and the Israelites.
Joshua must have wondered at first about that weird battle plan.
Instead of using battering rams to break the walls and special troops to scale the walls, the Israelite warriors would seem like some kind of joke to the defenders of Jericho.
But on the seventh day and on the seventh round, with horns blowing and with a loud shout, the walls of Jericho collapsed and the Israelites conquered the city, and they had the last laugh.
That was certainly an unusual military strategy. But when the Lord fights for His people, it would always be in an unusual way, and amazing as well.
In the gospel, we heard that Jesus entered the city of Jericho, the same city that Joshua conquered many centuries ago.
There was nothing unusual about Jesus going to the city.
He was not going there to conquer the city and neither was He going to shout and make the walls collapse.
He was just an ordinary visitor, but He had an unusual observer.
A senior tax collector and a wealthy man by the name of Zacchaeus was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was.
Maybe Zacchaeus had heard that one of the tax collectors had become His disciple, and that this Jesus mixes around with the outcasts and the despised.
So maybe Zacchaeus was just curious to see what kind of man Jesus was, but he had no intention of getting to know him.
So anxious and curious was he that he climbed a sycamore tree just to catch a glimpse of Jesus.
He thought that no one would notice him. He had thought that after getting a glimpse of Jesus, he would climb down the tree and go home and life would go on as usual.
Did Zacchaeus ever expected Jesus to look up and noticed him?
Did he ever expected Jesus to call out to him and even want to go to his home?
By the way, the name “Zacchaeus” means pure, and it also means clean.
When Jesus called him by name, Zacchaeus might have suddenly realized what his name meant.
Zacchaeus was a wealthy senior tax collector which means that his reputation and his wealth were quite questionable.
But just like the walls of Jericho which had crumbled and collapsed many centuries before, the walls of the heart of Zacchaeus also crumbled and collapsed at the call of Jesus.
Zacchaeus let Jesus into his heart to clean it and make it pure again.
Today, as we come for Mass, Jesus is also telling us that He want to go and stay in our homes.
But we have to let Him into our hearts to clean it and make it pure again.
And like Zacchaeus, we have to do some letting go.
A man was sharing with his wife about his idea of living and dying.
He said to her: Never let me live in a vegetative state, totally dependent on medicines and liquid from a bottle.
If you see me in that state, I want you to disconnect all the contraptions that are keeping me alive. I would rather die.
The wife looked admiringly at him and said: Ok, I’ll do it.
And then she got up and went to disconnect the TV, the cable, the computer, the laptop, the handphone, the X-box, the playstation.
And then she went to the fridge and threw away all the beer.
As for the man… well, he nearly died. (Ask for it and you will get it)
Jesus came to seek out and to save what was lost, but we also must give up what is making us unclean and impure.
How the walls of Jericho crumbled and collapsed was amazing.
How Zacchaeus let Jesus change his life was also amazing.
Let us not go off from here without inviting Jesus to go back with us.
With Jesus, many amazing things are waiting to happen. Only if we invite Him into our hearts.
The Bible has many interesting and amazing stories that fascinate our imagination and capture our attention.
One of those stories is about the city of Jericho in the Book of Joshua in the Old Testament.
After crossing the River Jordan into the Promised Land, the Israelites faced the fortified city of Jericho.
The walls of Jericho were fortified, not just to keep out the enemies but also to hold out the water when the River Jordan gets flooded.
So it seemed unlikely for the Israelites to easily break through the walls of Jericho and conquer it.
And this was where God instructed Joshua of an amazing battle plan.
Joshua was to lead the priests carrying the ark of covenant, together with the soldiers and they were to march round the city once, with the priests blaring the horns.
They were to do that for six days.
Then on the seventh day, they were to march round the city seven times and sounding their horns.
Then at the seventh round, as the priests were blowing the horns, Joshua was to instruct the Israelites to give a loud shout, and the walls of Jericho would collapse and the Lord will deliver the city to Joshua and the Israelites.
Joshua must have wondered at first about that weird battle plan.
Instead of using battering rams to break the walls and special troops to scale the walls, the Israelite warriors would seem like some kind of joke to the defenders of Jericho.
But on the seventh day and on the seventh round, with horns blowing and with a loud shout, the walls of Jericho collapsed and the Israelites conquered the city, and they had the last laugh.
That was certainly an unusual military strategy. But when the Lord fights for His people, it would always be in an unusual way, and amazing as well.
In the gospel, we heard that Jesus entered the city of Jericho, the same city that Joshua conquered many centuries ago.
There was nothing unusual about Jesus going to the city.
He was not going there to conquer the city and neither was He going to shout and make the walls collapse.
He was just an ordinary visitor, but He had an unusual observer.
A senior tax collector and a wealthy man by the name of Zacchaeus was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was.
Maybe Zacchaeus had heard that one of the tax collectors had become His disciple, and that this Jesus mixes around with the outcasts and the despised.
So maybe Zacchaeus was just curious to see what kind of man Jesus was, but he had no intention of getting to know him.
So anxious and curious was he that he climbed a sycamore tree just to catch a glimpse of Jesus.
He thought that no one would notice him. He had thought that after getting a glimpse of Jesus, he would climb down the tree and go home and life would go on as usual.
Did Zacchaeus ever expected Jesus to look up and noticed him?
Did he ever expected Jesus to call out to him and even want to go to his home?
By the way, the name “Zacchaeus” means pure, and it also means clean.
When Jesus called him by name, Zacchaeus might have suddenly realized what his name meant.
Zacchaeus was a wealthy senior tax collector which means that his reputation and his wealth were quite questionable.
But just like the walls of Jericho which had crumbled and collapsed many centuries before, the walls of the heart of Zacchaeus also crumbled and collapsed at the call of Jesus.
Zacchaeus let Jesus into his heart to clean it and make it pure again.
Today, as we come for Mass, Jesus is also telling us that He want to go and stay in our homes.
But we have to let Him into our hearts to clean it and make it pure again.
And like Zacchaeus, we have to do some letting go.
A man was sharing with his wife about his idea of living and dying.
He said to her: Never let me live in a vegetative state, totally dependent on medicines and liquid from a bottle.
If you see me in that state, I want you to disconnect all the contraptions that are keeping me alive. I would rather die.
The wife looked admiringly at him and said: Ok, I’ll do it.
And then she got up and went to disconnect the TV, the cable, the computer, the laptop, the handphone, the X-box, the playstation.
And then she went to the fridge and threw away all the beer.
As for the man… well, he nearly died. (Ask for it and you will get it)
Jesus came to seek out and to save what was lost, but we also must give up what is making us unclean and impure.
How the walls of Jericho crumbled and collapsed was amazing.
How Zacchaeus let Jesus change his life was also amazing.
Let us not go off from here without inviting Jesus to go back with us.
With Jesus, many amazing things are waiting to happen. Only if we invite Him into our hearts.
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