Ecclesiasticus 3:2-6, 12-14 / Colossians 3:12-21 / Lk 2:22-40
If we are from a traditional Catholic family, then our homes would have been blessed by a priest already.
For traditional Catholic families, it is important, and even necessary for the home to be blessed.
So it is the usual practice to invite a priest to come over to the home to bless it.
And the priest would say some prayers, asking God to bless the house as well as the members of the family.
And then he will go around the house, even going to each room, to sprinkle holy water.
In the prayer book for the blessing of the home, there is even a prayer of blessing for the bathroom.
Some people thought it was rather funny, you know, to bless the bathroom.
But why not. After all, we have heard of many cases of people slipping and falling in the bathroom.
And, if we have a case of constipation or diarrhea, then the bathroom somehow will become a prayer room.
So it would be a consolation to know that that the bathroom has been blessed.
Well, back to the priest going round the house to say prayers and sprinkle holy water.
That would be the normal ritual for a house blessing. But not many people know or understand the meaning of the ritual.
Practically speaking, the priest just have to say the prayers, and that ought to be sufficient, isn’t it?
Why sprinkle holy water all around? Especially if there is a new parquet flooring, and people would step on the water and leave their footprints all over the place.
Well, in the first place, when people are asked why they want to have their homes blessed, there would be various kind of answers.
Some say that if there is any kind of evil spirits around the house, then the blessing would drive out all the evil spirits.
Oh surely, the blessing will certainly drive out all the evil spirits.
But if it is the people in the house who want to act like evil spirits, then the blessing can only do so much.
Or, if it is a new house, then they will say that the blessing will cleanse the house, because they don’t know what had gone on during the construction of the house.
So the house blessing will make the house “clean”. So it seems like the house blessing is to ask God to do house cleaning.
Or when they feel that the family is having a string of bad luck lately, (children fail exam, mahjong always lose), or always quarreling, then they might want to ask for a house blessing, so that the priest will come over and say some prayers for them.
Well, all these reasons for asking for a house blessing are well and good.
But what is the main purpose and reason for a house blessing?
As in the usual house blessing, the priest will say some prayers and sprinkle holy water around the house.
Some families will even light the candles at the family altar.
Now, holy water and lighted candles will remind us of the symbols of a particular sacrament – the sacrament of baptism.
So how is the house blessing connected to baptism? The connection and the meaning here is that the first place to live out our baptism commitment, is none other than in our homes.
Yes, the home is indeed the first place to live out our baptism commitment. Because the home should be where love is, and where there is love, there is God.
And if our home is the dwelling place of God, then our home is to be like a domestic church – meaning to say, our home is to be a house of prayer.
But the awkward reality of some homes is that they are a dwelling place of many gods. Meaning to say that everyone wants to be served, but not everyone wants to serve.
Maybe that’s why it is necessary to bless the bathroom because some family members use it as a prayer room – they do their Holy Hour in there.
And we would knock on the door every 3 minutes and ask: Are you still in there? We are like visiting those who are in prison.
Yes, many strange and comical things happen at home, not to mention other things that cause friction and brokenness with the family members.
It cannot be assumed that where there is a house, there will be a home, and where there is a home, there will be family love.
In fact,, it is the other way round – where is there is love, then the family will be at home.
So that is why we must remember to live out our baptismal commitment to love, and first and foremost, at home.
But the home can be a challenging place to be in when the family members are gathered together.
There is this interesting story about porcupines. An extremely cold winter was coming and the porcupines had to find a way to survive.
At first, they decided to group together to keep warm and protect one another.
But unfortunately, their sharp spiky quills poked at each other as their huddled together, so they dispersed.
Of course this left them exposed to the bitter cold and they started to freeze to the point of death.
So they had to make a fundamental life or death choice – either they stay apart and die, or they tolerate and accept each other’s thorns and survive.
And to think of it, we are a bit like porcupines. We have our own “spiky quills” and with that we hurt others and others hurt us too.
At times, living as members of the family can be so painful and hurtful, that we think it might be better off living alone.
But if the porcupines know how to stay together in order to survive, then we must also learn to accept and live with the spiky quills of others.
The Holy Family showed us how to live together in love and to bear the pain together.
And let us also call upon the grace of our baptism so that our families will be a blessing for the Church and for the world.
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Saturday, December 27, 2014
Saturday, December 20, 2014
4th Sunday of Advent Year B, 21.12.2014
2 Sam7:1-5, 8-11, 16 / Romans 16:25-27 / Luke 1:26-38
Today is the 21st December. In the month of December when the date begins with a “2”, then it means one thing.
It means that Christmas is nearly here. After all it is just a few more days away. That would sound scary if we haven’t even put up the Christmas tree yet!
How can we not be aware that Christmas is nearly here?
In fact, for the rest of the world, Christmas is not nearly here; Christmas seems to be already here.
Since mid-November, the shopping malls and the supermarkets are already playing Christmas music.
And by now, most companies would already have had their Christmas parties and all that.
So it seems that Christmas Day, the 25th December, is the final day for Christmas celebrations.
And Christmas presents are already given out before Christmas Day. Not only given out but maybe opened already before Christmas Day.
So even though Christmas is nearly here, for the rest of the world, Christmas is already here, and maybe over and done with.
But whether it is nearly here or already here, the Christmas event, whether religious or otherwise, seems to have been taken for granted.
It is taken for granted in the sense that we expect it to happen, and that it must happen.
But today’s gospel passage reminds us that Christmas nearly did not happen.
Today’s gospel passage is commonly known as the “Annunciation” and we are familiar with the dialogue between the angel Gabriel and Mary.
We take it for granted that Mary will say yes to all that the angel Gabriel told her.
But when we take a closer look at the passage, then we may realize that Christmas nearly did not happen.
Because when the angel Gabriel greeted Mary, she was deeply disturbed by his words and she wondered what it could mean.
And then she questioned the possibility of her conceiving a child since she was a virgin.
Even though the angel Gabriel told Mary that nothing is impossible with God, that did not necessarily and satisfactorily answer her questions.
But in the end, Mary accepted what was told to her by the angel Gabriel.
So as we can see, Christmas nearly did not happen. And if Mary had said no, then Christmas would not have happened.
For Christmas to happen, Mary had to lay aside her plans and go
along with God’s plans.
Similarly in the 1st reading, king David had to lay aside his plans to build a house for God. Instead God would build a house for him, and that house and David’s sovereignty will always stand secure before the Lord and David’s throne will be established forever.
Yes, God’s ways are higher than man’s ways and God’s thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts. When we go along with God’s ways, then the Christmas event is happening again.
But that would mean that we have to let go of our ambitions and directions and go along the way of God.
There is this story of a teacher, Miss Hazel, who had ambitions of being a principal and even a superintendent of schools.
But in her class was this boy, Teddy, who certainly qualified as the last and the least. He was disinterested, untidy, messy, with a deadpan face, expressionless and with a glassy unfocused stare.
Whenever Miss Hazel spoke to Teddy, he always answered in monosyllables.
But Miss Hazel played her cards carefully. Although she would say that she cared for all in her class, deep down inside her she wasn’t being completely truthful. She disliked and resented Teddy.
Even then, she knew more about Teddy’s family background than she wanted to admit. The records read like this:
Teddy shows promise with his work and attitude but poor home situation.
He could do better. Mother seriously ill and he receives little help at home.
Teddy is good boy but a slow learner. His mother died this year.
His father shows no interest in him.
Well, it was Christmas time and the boys and girls in Miss Hazel’s class brought her Christmas presents.
They piled their presents on her desk and crowded around to watch her open them.
Among the presents, there was one from Teddy. She was surprised that he had brought her a gift. It was wrapped in brown paper and held together with scotch tape, and written with these words: For Miss Hazel, from Teddy.
When she opened Teddy’s present, out fell a gaudy jade-stone bracelet, with a couple of stones missing, and half a bottle of cheap perfume.
The other children began to giggle and smirk over Teddy’s gifts, but Miss Hazel had enough of sense to silence them by putting on the bracelet and spraying some of the perfume on her wrist.
And then holding her wrist up for the children to smell, she said, “Doesn’t it smell nice?”, and the children taking the cue from her, nodded with “oohs” and “aahs”.
At the end of the day, when the other children had left, Teddy lingered behind. Then he slowly came over to her desk and said softly, “Miss Hazel … Miss Hazel … you smell just like my mother … and her bracelet looks real pretty on you too. I’m glad you liked my presents.”
When Teddy left, a stunned Miss Hazel got down on her knees and begged God to forgive her.
The next day when the children came to school, they had a “new” teacher. Miss Hazel had become a different person. She was no longer just a teacher; she had become an agent of God.
She was now a person committed to loving her children and doing things for them that would live on after her. She helped all the children, especially the slow ones and especially Teddy.
By the end of the school year, Teddy showed dramatic improvement and had caught up with most of the students.
Well, Teddy moved on to another class and Miss Hazel had a new class of students to teach.
Then one day, she received a note that read: Dear Miss Hazel, I wanted you to be the first to know that I came in second in my class. Love, Teddy.
Four years later, another note came: Dear Miss Hazel, they just told me that I will be graduating with honours in my class. I want you to be the first to know. The university has not been easy but I liked it. Love Teddy.
Another four years later – Dear Miss Hazel, I wanted you to know to be the first to know that I am getting married. I want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now. Dad died last year. Love, Teddy.
Well, Miss Hazel went to Teddy’s wedding and sat where Teddy’s mother would have sat, and of course, wearing that bracelet and that perfume.
She deserved to sit there; she had done something for Teddy that he could never forget.
And as she sat there, she thought to herself, “This is better than being a school superintendent.”
Certainly it is. When we let go of our ambitions and our plans and our directions, and go along the way of the Lord, we become gifts to ourselves and we become gifts to others.
Mary showed us how to do it. When we do what she did, then Christmas is not only nearly here, it is also already here.
Today is the 21st December. In the month of December when the date begins with a “2”, then it means one thing.
It means that Christmas is nearly here. After all it is just a few more days away. That would sound scary if we haven’t even put up the Christmas tree yet!
How can we not be aware that Christmas is nearly here?
In fact, for the rest of the world, Christmas is not nearly here; Christmas seems to be already here.
Since mid-November, the shopping malls and the supermarkets are already playing Christmas music.
And by now, most companies would already have had their Christmas parties and all that.
So it seems that Christmas Day, the 25th December, is the final day for Christmas celebrations.
And Christmas presents are already given out before Christmas Day. Not only given out but maybe opened already before Christmas Day.
So even though Christmas is nearly here, for the rest of the world, Christmas is already here, and maybe over and done with.
But whether it is nearly here or already here, the Christmas event, whether religious or otherwise, seems to have been taken for granted.
It is taken for granted in the sense that we expect it to happen, and that it must happen.
But today’s gospel passage reminds us that Christmas nearly did not happen.
Today’s gospel passage is commonly known as the “Annunciation” and we are familiar with the dialogue between the angel Gabriel and Mary.
We take it for granted that Mary will say yes to all that the angel Gabriel told her.
But when we take a closer look at the passage, then we may realize that Christmas nearly did not happen.
Because when the angel Gabriel greeted Mary, she was deeply disturbed by his words and she wondered what it could mean.
And then she questioned the possibility of her conceiving a child since she was a virgin.
Even though the angel Gabriel told Mary that nothing is impossible with God, that did not necessarily and satisfactorily answer her questions.
But in the end, Mary accepted what was told to her by the angel Gabriel.
So as we can see, Christmas nearly did not happen. And if Mary had said no, then Christmas would not have happened.
For Christmas to happen, Mary had to lay aside her plans and go
along with God’s plans.
Similarly in the 1st reading, king David had to lay aside his plans to build a house for God. Instead God would build a house for him, and that house and David’s sovereignty will always stand secure before the Lord and David’s throne will be established forever.
Yes, God’s ways are higher than man’s ways and God’s thoughts are higher than man’s thoughts. When we go along with God’s ways, then the Christmas event is happening again.
But that would mean that we have to let go of our ambitions and directions and go along the way of God.
There is this story of a teacher, Miss Hazel, who had ambitions of being a principal and even a superintendent of schools.
But in her class was this boy, Teddy, who certainly qualified as the last and the least. He was disinterested, untidy, messy, with a deadpan face, expressionless and with a glassy unfocused stare.
Whenever Miss Hazel spoke to Teddy, he always answered in monosyllables.
But Miss Hazel played her cards carefully. Although she would say that she cared for all in her class, deep down inside her she wasn’t being completely truthful. She disliked and resented Teddy.
Even then, she knew more about Teddy’s family background than she wanted to admit. The records read like this:
Teddy shows promise with his work and attitude but poor home situation.
He could do better. Mother seriously ill and he receives little help at home.
Teddy is good boy but a slow learner. His mother died this year.
His father shows no interest in him.
Well, it was Christmas time and the boys and girls in Miss Hazel’s class brought her Christmas presents.
They piled their presents on her desk and crowded around to watch her open them.
Among the presents, there was one from Teddy. She was surprised that he had brought her a gift. It was wrapped in brown paper and held together with scotch tape, and written with these words: For Miss Hazel, from Teddy.
When she opened Teddy’s present, out fell a gaudy jade-stone bracelet, with a couple of stones missing, and half a bottle of cheap perfume.
The other children began to giggle and smirk over Teddy’s gifts, but Miss Hazel had enough of sense to silence them by putting on the bracelet and spraying some of the perfume on her wrist.
And then holding her wrist up for the children to smell, she said, “Doesn’t it smell nice?”, and the children taking the cue from her, nodded with “oohs” and “aahs”.
At the end of the day, when the other children had left, Teddy lingered behind. Then he slowly came over to her desk and said softly, “Miss Hazel … Miss Hazel … you smell just like my mother … and her bracelet looks real pretty on you too. I’m glad you liked my presents.”
When Teddy left, a stunned Miss Hazel got down on her knees and begged God to forgive her.
The next day when the children came to school, they had a “new” teacher. Miss Hazel had become a different person. She was no longer just a teacher; she had become an agent of God.
She was now a person committed to loving her children and doing things for them that would live on after her. She helped all the children, especially the slow ones and especially Teddy.
By the end of the school year, Teddy showed dramatic improvement and had caught up with most of the students.
Well, Teddy moved on to another class and Miss Hazel had a new class of students to teach.
Then one day, she received a note that read: Dear Miss Hazel, I wanted you to be the first to know that I came in second in my class. Love, Teddy.
Four years later, another note came: Dear Miss Hazel, they just told me that I will be graduating with honours in my class. I want you to be the first to know. The university has not been easy but I liked it. Love Teddy.
Another four years later – Dear Miss Hazel, I wanted you to know to be the first to know that I am getting married. I want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now. Dad died last year. Love, Teddy.
Well, Miss Hazel went to Teddy’s wedding and sat where Teddy’s mother would have sat, and of course, wearing that bracelet and that perfume.
She deserved to sit there; she had done something for Teddy that he could never forget.
And as she sat there, she thought to herself, “This is better than being a school superintendent.”
Certainly it is. When we let go of our ambitions and our plans and our directions, and go along the way of the Lord, we become gifts to ourselves and we become gifts to others.
Mary showed us how to do it. When we do what she did, then Christmas is not only nearly here, it is also already here.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
3rd Sunday of Advent, Year B, 14.12.2014
Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11 / 1 Thess 5:16-24 / John 1:6-8, 19-28
As we began the Mass, we lighted the third candle of the Advent wreath, which is the rose-colored candle.
It also signifies that the third Sunday of Advent is also called "Gaudete Sunday". "Gaudete" means rejoice.
Yes, the first reading tells us to exult for joy in the Lord and to rejoice in God.
The second reading also tells us to be happy at all times and to pray constantly.
Yes, a rose-coloured candle standing in the midst of three dark- purple candles tells us that life can have its joyful moments amidst disappointment and sadness and sorrow.
Similarly, life can also have its funny and surprising moments amidst the serious and stiffness of life, and I hope we can smile a bit from this following story.
From the shadows in the distance, the man watched as the family packed their bags in the car, locked the doors and then drove off for their holidays.
The man waited till it was dark and then he emerged from the shadows and he went to the front door and rang the door-bell of the house.
When there was no answer, the man, a seasoned burglar picked the lock of the front door and got in.
Then just to be sure that no one was in the house, he called out, "Is there anyone in?"
Hearing nothing, he was about to move on, when he was stunned by a voice, "I see you, and Johnny sees you!"
The burglar panicked and called out, "Who's that?"
And again, the voice came back, "I see you, and Johnny sees you!"
Terrified, the burglar switched on his torchlight and pointed it towards the direction of the voice.
He was relieved to see that it was a parrot in a cage and it recited once again, "I see you, and Johnny sees you!"
The burglar laughed to himself and said, "Oh, shut up stupid bird.
Anyway, who is this Johnny? Is it another bird friend of yours?"
And the parrot replied, "Johnny is right below me!"
And the burglar shined his torch at what was below the parrot's cage.
And there he saw Johnny, a huge Doberman, looking at the burglar with those eyes, and growling.
And then, the parrot said, "Go Johnny, go!"
Well, it is good to have a little laugh on this "Rejoice Sunday".
Back to something serious. In the gospel, we heard of a man sent by God, and his name was John.
So who is the John? Of course we know he is John the Baptist. But the gospel passage tells us more about who John is.
John is a witness, a witness to speak for the light, so that everyone might believe through him.
And John would say this about himself: I am, as Isaiah prophesied – a voice that cries out in the wilderness: Make a straight path for the Lord.
That is who John is. And the next question would be – who are we then?
The 1st reading tells us that the Spirit of the Lord has been given to us, and that the Lord will make integrity and praise spring up in the sight of the nations.
So the Spirit of the Lord will make us into persons of integrity and walk the straight path of Lord so that God will be praised.
So what is integrity? Once upon a time, there was a selfish and greedy man. He liked everything to be his own. He could not share his belongings with anyone, not even his friends or the poor.
One day, the man lost thirty gold coins. He went to his friend’s house and told him that he lost his gold coins. His friend was a kind man.
As his friend’s daughter was coming back from an errand she found a bag that contained thirty gold coins.
When she arrived home, she told her father what she had found. The girl’s father told her that the gold coins belong to his friend and he sent for him.
When the selfish and greedy man arrived, he told him how his daughter had found his thirty gold coins and handed them to him.
After counting the gold coins, the man said that ten of them were missing and had been taken by the girl as he had forty gold coins.
He further demanded that he will recover the remaining amount from him. But of course the girl’s father refused.
The man left the gold coins and went to the court and informed the judge there about what had taken place between him and the girl’s father.
The judge sent for the girl and her father, and when they arrived the judge asked the girl how many gold coins she found. She replied thirty gold coins.
The judge then asked the selfish man how many gold coins did he lose and he answered forty gold coins.
The judge then told the man that the gold coins did not belong to him because the girl found thirty and not forty as he claimed to have lost.
And then the judge told the girl to take the gold coins and that if anybody is looking for them he will send for the girl.
The judge then told the man that if anybody reports that they have found forty gold coins he will send for him.
It was then that the man confessed that he had lied and that he lost only thirty gold coins but the judge would not listen to him.
Just a story about integrity and honesty and that truth will prevail.
But that is also who we are and when we are who we should be, then we will truly rejoice in the Lord.
As the 2nd reading says – never try to suppress the Spirit; think before you do anything, hold on to what is good and avoid every form of evil.
With that we will receive joy from the Lord and then the joy of the Lord will be our strength.
As we began the Mass, we lighted the third candle of the Advent wreath, which is the rose-colored candle.
It also signifies that the third Sunday of Advent is also called "Gaudete Sunday". "Gaudete" means rejoice.
Yes, the first reading tells us to exult for joy in the Lord and to rejoice in God.
The second reading also tells us to be happy at all times and to pray constantly.
Yes, a rose-coloured candle standing in the midst of three dark- purple candles tells us that life can have its joyful moments amidst disappointment and sadness and sorrow.
Similarly, life can also have its funny and surprising moments amidst the serious and stiffness of life, and I hope we can smile a bit from this following story.
From the shadows in the distance, the man watched as the family packed their bags in the car, locked the doors and then drove off for their holidays.
The man waited till it was dark and then he emerged from the shadows and he went to the front door and rang the door-bell of the house.
When there was no answer, the man, a seasoned burglar picked the lock of the front door and got in.
Then just to be sure that no one was in the house, he called out, "Is there anyone in?"
Hearing nothing, he was about to move on, when he was stunned by a voice, "I see you, and Johnny sees you!"
The burglar panicked and called out, "Who's that?"
And again, the voice came back, "I see you, and Johnny sees you!"
Terrified, the burglar switched on his torchlight and pointed it towards the direction of the voice.
He was relieved to see that it was a parrot in a cage and it recited once again, "I see you, and Johnny sees you!"
The burglar laughed to himself and said, "Oh, shut up stupid bird.
Anyway, who is this Johnny? Is it another bird friend of yours?"
And the parrot replied, "Johnny is right below me!"
And the burglar shined his torch at what was below the parrot's cage.
And there he saw Johnny, a huge Doberman, looking at the burglar with those eyes, and growling.
And then, the parrot said, "Go Johnny, go!"
Well, it is good to have a little laugh on this "Rejoice Sunday".
Back to something serious. In the gospel, we heard of a man sent by God, and his name was John.
So who is the John? Of course we know he is John the Baptist. But the gospel passage tells us more about who John is.
John is a witness, a witness to speak for the light, so that everyone might believe through him.
And John would say this about himself: I am, as Isaiah prophesied – a voice that cries out in the wilderness: Make a straight path for the Lord.
That is who John is. And the next question would be – who are we then?
The 1st reading tells us that the Spirit of the Lord has been given to us, and that the Lord will make integrity and praise spring up in the sight of the nations.
So the Spirit of the Lord will make us into persons of integrity and walk the straight path of Lord so that God will be praised.
So what is integrity? Once upon a time, there was a selfish and greedy man. He liked everything to be his own. He could not share his belongings with anyone, not even his friends or the poor.
One day, the man lost thirty gold coins. He went to his friend’s house and told him that he lost his gold coins. His friend was a kind man.
As his friend’s daughter was coming back from an errand she found a bag that contained thirty gold coins.
When she arrived home, she told her father what she had found. The girl’s father told her that the gold coins belong to his friend and he sent for him.
When the selfish and greedy man arrived, he told him how his daughter had found his thirty gold coins and handed them to him.
After counting the gold coins, the man said that ten of them were missing and had been taken by the girl as he had forty gold coins.
He further demanded that he will recover the remaining amount from him. But of course the girl’s father refused.
The man left the gold coins and went to the court and informed the judge there about what had taken place between him and the girl’s father.
The judge sent for the girl and her father, and when they arrived the judge asked the girl how many gold coins she found. She replied thirty gold coins.
The judge then asked the selfish man how many gold coins did he lose and he answered forty gold coins.
The judge then told the man that the gold coins did not belong to him because the girl found thirty and not forty as he claimed to have lost.
And then the judge told the girl to take the gold coins and that if anybody is looking for them he will send for the girl.
The judge then told the man that if anybody reports that they have found forty gold coins he will send for him.
It was then that the man confessed that he had lied and that he lost only thirty gold coins but the judge would not listen to him.
Just a story about integrity and honesty and that truth will prevail.
But that is also who we are and when we are who we should be, then we will truly rejoice in the Lord.
As the 2nd reading says – never try to suppress the Spirit; think before you do anything, hold on to what is good and avoid every form of evil.
With that we will receive joy from the Lord and then the joy of the Lord will be our strength.
Saturday, December 6, 2014
2nd Sunday of Advent Year B 07.12.2014
Is 40:1-5,9-11/ 2 Pt 3:8-14/ Mk 1:1-8
If there is one word to describe the month of December, it will be this word – shopping!
Ever since early November, the media on all platforms have been bombarding us with sales, sales and sales, and urging us to buy, buy, and buy.
All of that is under the cover of Christmas – buy presents, buy gifts, buy for yourself, buy for your loved ones, buy for your friends.
We may tend to think that commercialism has made Christmas into a great shopping event.
But guess who started this “shopping for Christmas”?
If you were to ask me, I would say that it was those wise men.
And what they bought were not cheap stuff. In those days, gold, frankincense and myrrh were commodities of great value.
So they “shopped” for those things to present them to the infant king of the Jews.
And they may not have gone shopping with their wives. Otherwise, there would be more than three gifts.
If their wives had gone along shopping with them, then probably there would be diapers and milk powder for the baby, and essence of chicken and bird nest for the mother.
So there it is, the origins of Christmas shopping and it has not stopped ever since.
But from the way the gospel described John the Baptist, it was quite obvious he didn’t do any Christmas shopping.
He wore a garment of camel skin, like as if he was going for some fancy dress party.
What he ate was far from the food that is usually associated with Christmas. Whatever wild honey might taste like, the locusts look like something from “Fear Factor”.
And instead of a backdrop of winter wonderland with evergreen Christmas trees, it was the dry and hot desert sands of the wilderness.
On this 2nd Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist makes his appearance and he is waking us up from dreaming of a white Christmas.
He was that messenger who prepared the way for the Lord, and making His path straight.
What John the Baptist did then, he also wants to do now as we enter into the 2nd week of Advent.
He calls out for repentance and for the forgiveness of sins.
And the target here is to make straight the paths of our hearts for Jesus to enter.
But very often the paths of our hearts are twisted and make crooked by the voices of the world.
Christmas time is also an occasion that children make use of to dictate to their parents what they want for Christmas.
And what they want may not do any good for them, and many parents find it difficult to explain to their teenagers why some music or movies or magazines or clothing are not acceptable.
There is this story of a father whose teenage son wanted a computer game for his Christmas present.
The son said that although it was expensive, it had high ratings and reviews and it was a gamer’s choice.
But it has a lot of violence and blood and gore, as well as some sex here and there and also foul language.
The father said no, the son pestered for an explanation. The father tried to explain but in the end it was still “NO” and the son sulked.
The next day, the father baked some brownies and asked his son if he would like to try some.
But he told his son that he needs to tell him what were the ingredients used before he can eat it.
It was a family recipe and the best ingredients were used, but the father added something new.
When the son asked what it was, the father calmly replied that he added dog poop.
The father stated that it was just a teaspoonful and he had taken great care to bake the mixture at the right temperature and for the exact time. The father said that the brownies will taste superb.
Even with all the assurances that the brownies will taste great, the son reeled and frowned and refused to take any.
The father acted surprised. There was only one additional ingredient and it would barely be noticed, but the son stubbornly refused to try the brownies.
Then the father explained that the computer game that the son wanted was just like the brownies.
Evil would mask itself in the voices of the world to say that the computer game is exciting and thrilling to play, and some violence and sex here and there is just part of the game.
But just like the brownies, just a bit of an extra ingredient makes all the difference between a great brownie and a repulsive one.
So whenever the son wanted to do something or get something or see something that he should not, the father would merely ask him if he would like some of his special dog poop brownies. No explanation or argument would be necessary.
Yes, the voices of the world of commercialism would twist and turn the paths of our hearts to get us to buy something we should not and eventually block out Jesus from entering into our hearts.
We need to shop, but let us shop wisely. The wise men bought gold, frankincense and myrrh to present them to the infant Jesus to symbolize His royalty, divinity and humanity.
May what we buy be used for the service of the Lord and to make the paths of our hearts straight for Jesus to enter.
If there is one word to describe the month of December, it will be this word – shopping!
Ever since early November, the media on all platforms have been bombarding us with sales, sales and sales, and urging us to buy, buy, and buy.
All of that is under the cover of Christmas – buy presents, buy gifts, buy for yourself, buy for your loved ones, buy for your friends.
We may tend to think that commercialism has made Christmas into a great shopping event.
But guess who started this “shopping for Christmas”?
If you were to ask me, I would say that it was those wise men.
And what they bought were not cheap stuff. In those days, gold, frankincense and myrrh were commodities of great value.
So they “shopped” for those things to present them to the infant king of the Jews.
And they may not have gone shopping with their wives. Otherwise, there would be more than three gifts.
If their wives had gone along shopping with them, then probably there would be diapers and milk powder for the baby, and essence of chicken and bird nest for the mother.
So there it is, the origins of Christmas shopping and it has not stopped ever since.
But from the way the gospel described John the Baptist, it was quite obvious he didn’t do any Christmas shopping.
He wore a garment of camel skin, like as if he was going for some fancy dress party.
What he ate was far from the food that is usually associated with Christmas. Whatever wild honey might taste like, the locusts look like something from “Fear Factor”.
And instead of a backdrop of winter wonderland with evergreen Christmas trees, it was the dry and hot desert sands of the wilderness.
On this 2nd Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist makes his appearance and he is waking us up from dreaming of a white Christmas.
He was that messenger who prepared the way for the Lord, and making His path straight.
What John the Baptist did then, he also wants to do now as we enter into the 2nd week of Advent.
He calls out for repentance and for the forgiveness of sins.
And the target here is to make straight the paths of our hearts for Jesus to enter.
But very often the paths of our hearts are twisted and make crooked by the voices of the world.
Christmas time is also an occasion that children make use of to dictate to their parents what they want for Christmas.
And what they want may not do any good for them, and many parents find it difficult to explain to their teenagers why some music or movies or magazines or clothing are not acceptable.
There is this story of a father whose teenage son wanted a computer game for his Christmas present.
The son said that although it was expensive, it had high ratings and reviews and it was a gamer’s choice.
But it has a lot of violence and blood and gore, as well as some sex here and there and also foul language.
The father said no, the son pestered for an explanation. The father tried to explain but in the end it was still “NO” and the son sulked.
The next day, the father baked some brownies and asked his son if he would like to try some.
But he told his son that he needs to tell him what were the ingredients used before he can eat it.
It was a family recipe and the best ingredients were used, but the father added something new.
When the son asked what it was, the father calmly replied that he added dog poop.
The father stated that it was just a teaspoonful and he had taken great care to bake the mixture at the right temperature and for the exact time. The father said that the brownies will taste superb.
Even with all the assurances that the brownies will taste great, the son reeled and frowned and refused to take any.
The father acted surprised. There was only one additional ingredient and it would barely be noticed, but the son stubbornly refused to try the brownies.
Then the father explained that the computer game that the son wanted was just like the brownies.
Evil would mask itself in the voices of the world to say that the computer game is exciting and thrilling to play, and some violence and sex here and there is just part of the game.
But just like the brownies, just a bit of an extra ingredient makes all the difference between a great brownie and a repulsive one.
So whenever the son wanted to do something or get something or see something that he should not, the father would merely ask him if he would like some of his special dog poop brownies. No explanation or argument would be necessary.
Yes, the voices of the world of commercialism would twist and turn the paths of our hearts to get us to buy something we should not and eventually block out Jesus from entering into our hearts.
We need to shop, but let us shop wisely. The wise men bought gold, frankincense and myrrh to present them to the infant Jesus to symbolize His royalty, divinity and humanity.
May what we buy be used for the service of the Lord and to make the paths of our hearts straight for Jesus to enter.
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