4th Sunday of Easter, Year B, 26.04.2015

Acts 4:8-12 / 1 John 3:1-2 / John 10:11-18 

One of the most prominent Church figures in the 20th century is Pope John XXIII. He was canonized on the 27th April 2014.

Besides the fact that it was he who got Vatican II Council started when nobody expected a 78 year-old Pope to do so, he was also prominent because of his figure.

Before he was elected Pope in 1958, one of his appointments was being papal nuncio to France. It was then that one of the French diplomats described him as “a sack of potatoes”. And if we look at photos of John XXIII, we will somewhat agree.

But one of the prominent characteristics of John XXIII was his sense of humour. Once he went to a school and there he asked the boys what they would want to become when they grew up, and one of them said that he would want to be a pope.

The pope smiled and said: Oh anyone can be a pope. Look at me! If I can become a pope, anyone can become a pope.

Such was the humour of John XXIII. But jokes aside, he knows that not anyone can be a pope, just as not anyone can be a priest.

This Sunday, the Church also celebrates Vocation Sunday and the Church is called to pray for more vocations to the priesthood.

We are called to reflect upon Jesus as the Good Shepherd, and the reflection is focused on the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep.

The reflection goes further for those whom Jesus is calling to be His priests and to follow Him to lay down their lives for His sheep.

It is often said that God will provide. And so it can also be said that God will provide priests for His Church.

But the crisis that the Church is facing is the falling numbers in vocations to the priesthood, and at present there are only 10 seminarians in the Major Seminary, and that is already ringing the alarm bells for the future.

Added to that are the scandals that have rocked the Church and smeared the dignity of the priesthood.

With all those factors weighing in heavily on the Church, the resultant is that there is a growing skepticism and cynicism about the priesthood.

This skepticism and cynicism is reflected in this so-called poem and the title is none other than “No one wants to be a priest” and it goes like this.

It goes like this: 

No one wants to be a priest because …If he begins Mass on time, his watch is fast;If he begins a minute later, he keeps people waiting.If he preaches too long, he makes people get bored;If his homily is too short, he is unprepared.If his voice is strong when preaching, he is shouting;If his voice is normal,people do not understand what he is preaching about;If he goes to visit families, he is always out:If he does not, he does not care for them.If he asks for donations, he is a money-face;If he does not do it, he is too proud and lazy.If he takes time in the confessional, he is too slow;If he makes it too fast, he has no time for his penitents.If he renovates the church, he throws away money;If he does not do it, he allows everything to rot away.If he is with the youth, he forgets the old.If he warms up to old aunties, he must be missing his mummy.If he keeps distance from all of them, he has a heart of stone.If he is young, he has no experience;If he is old, he should retire.As long as he lives, there are always people who are better than him;BUT IF THE PRIEST DIES....THERE IS NOBODY TO TAKE HIS PLACE!Because no one wants to be a priest!!!

But God will provide and the Church must keep praying that those who are called will respond.

And the Church must also pray for those who have responded to the call to be good shepherds who will lay down their lives for the sheep.

As for myself, having been a priest for 17 years, when I was appointed parish priest of this parish, I knew that the sacrifice will have to go one notch higher.

And this sacrifice is best expressed in the Eucharist where I lead the community into prayer with the sign of the cross at the beginning and call upon God’s blessings on the community at the end of the Eucharistic celebration.

In between, I pray that we will be delivered from every evil and that we will have peace and be safe from all distress.

The fundamental task of a priest, as the 2nd reading would put it, is to form his people to be God’s children and to be like Him.

And if his people do not behave like God’s children, then the priest is called to do penance and pray for them because he is accountable for their souls and their salvation.

So I am accountable for your soul and your salvation. And do I want to be held accountable? 

I can only firmly say “Yes” because I am doing this for God who has lavished His love on us by calling us His children.

And God wants all of us His children to be with Him in heaven. And it is my mission as the priest and the spiritual father of this parish community to do that.

Pope John XXIII died on the 3rd June 1963 and his last words were these: "I had the great grace to be born into a Christian family, modest and poor, but with the fear of the Lord. My time on earth is drawing to a close. But Christ lives on and continues his work in the Church. Souls, souls, may they all be one.”

I had the great grace to be a priest serving in this parish community. I also hope to teach you the fear of the Lord and to love Him. 

May you pray for us priests that we continue the saving work of the Lord so that we will all be one in Christ … on earth, and in heaven.

3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B, 19.04.2015

Acts 3:13-15, 17-19 / 1 John 2:1-5 / Luke 24:35-48

If we had to keep watch at a funeral wake, there is not much that we can do but to wait for people to come and pay respects.

And if the wake is at the void deck of a block, then when it comes to the late hours of the night, there can be some things to keep us occupied.

Some might gamble the night away; some might be occupied with their hand-phones; some might just watch TV or whatever.

But when I was growing up, when it comes to the late hours of the night, that will be the time when the uncles and aunties will start to tell ghost stories.

And we the kids will be huddled together in terror as we listen and we won’t even dare to go to the toilet.

Some ghost stories sound so ridiculous as I think of it now, but still it made a deep impression on me and my cousins then.

One story is that we have to keep watch around the coffin and to prevent any black cat from jumping over the coffin.

Otherwise the body will rise and start jumping all over the place. 

So the legs of the deceased will be tied together so that they can only jump around and can’t chase people. That’s what we kids were told.

It sounds so ridiculous, right? But when we were kids we just believed everything that was told to us. And we even remember it until now. And maybe even until our dying day.

But seriously, ghost stories only instill fear and at times death and darkness become bigger than our faith in God.

In the gospel, the two disciples told their story of what had happened on the road to Emmaus and how they had recognized Jesus at the breaking of bread. But then He vanished from their sight.

To the rest of the disciples, that sounded like some kind of ghost story. So when Jesus appeared and stood among them, they were in a state of alarm and fright, and they thought they were seeing a ghost. 

And if Jesus had vanished from their sight again, then what we would end up with is a ghost story. After all, it seems that ghosts would appear here and there and then disappear.

But Jesus calmed their fears when He showed them His hands and feet. He invited them to touch Him and He even ate a piece of grilled fish before their eyes.

He proved to them that He was no ghost, and that He was alive. 

And they were overjoyed though they were dumbfounded.

And as He opened their minds to understand the scriptures, there is one truth that came across profoundly.

And that is the God that they believed in is the God of the living and not of the dead, for in God, all are alive.

And the proof is that Jesus is standing right there before them, and certainly more alive than they are.

When death strikes and takes a loved one away, it is difficult to think about that person in the other world.

We might wonder where that person is and other questions that seem to have no answers.

My father, my papa, passed on in June last year. He is the first in my immediate family to pass on and with no experience of a death in the family it was quite chaotic.

Nonetheless, a wake was held, the funeral was conducted, he was cremated and we continued to offer Masses and pray for his soul.

Then at All Souls Day last year, my mum asked me if papa was already in heaven.

I was a bit stumped for an answer and so I told her that I will try to find out, although I didn’t know how.

And then I was told, at short notice, of my posting here. So I squeezed some time to visit my papa at his niche. 

Well, I told him that I am coming here, and I might as well tell you that this was the church of his baptism and also my parents were married here.

Anyway I told my papa that I need to tell my mum whether he is already in heaven so I asked him to pray for my intentions as I begin my ministry in this parish.

As we may know, in the canonization process, at least two miracles must have been performed through the saint's intercession after his or her death, besides an additional miracle for granting beatification. So all in all, it’s three miracles.

Of course, I am not going to put up a cause for my papa’s canonization, but if he is in heaven then I would need his prayers. 

So I asked my papa to pray for my intentions for this parish, not just for three intentions, but I think by now it’s already three thousand and still counting.

To say the least, all my petitions were answered – difficulties were eased, things got started and going, problems had solutions. 

And I will keep asking my papa to pray, not just for me but also for you.

And I want to share with you one sign that enabled me to confidently tell my mum that my papa is in heaven.

About a month or so after coming here I had to fill up a form and I needed to know Fr. Paul Tong’s birthdate. So I asked him and then I had to ask what year was he born in and he told me it’s 1927. He was born in the same year as my papa. And indeed Fr. Paul Tong is like a father to me.

And as if that is not enough, only recently I had to ask Fr. Vincent Chee what year he was born in, and he told me it’s 1937. It’s the same year as my mum! I doubt no more!

It’s not an awesome sign but it’s enough for me to say that my papa is alive and interceding for me and for you and for the parish.

Yes, my papa and all our deceased loved ones are alive and share in the Resurrection of Christ.

So ask your deceased loved ones to intercede for you in your struggles and difficulties of life.

And when we have our prayers answered, then let us give thanks to God.

Let us forget about those ridiculous ghost stories and be witnesses of the Resurrection of Christ and His presence among us.

And rising from our sinfulness, let us also be witnesses to repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

It has to begin with us; it has to begin from us.

2nd Sunday of Easter, Year B, 12.04.2015

Acts 4:32-35 / 1 John 5:1-6 / John 20:19-31

Just taking a moment to look around, are we able to see who is missing?

We may wonder what kind of question is that. How would we know who is missing? In the first place we may not even know the names of the persons sitting in front of us or behind us or even beside us.

Of course that is something that needs to be worked at – getting to know each other by name – instead of feeling like a stranger in Church, of all places!

But even if we really know each other by name, are we able to see who is missing?

Well, we may say that those who are missing are those who have chosen not to come here.

But having said that, there is a certain group of people who are missing because they can’t come here.

One of them is my relative who has a chickenpox infection and the rashes broke out on Tuesday so she has to be confined at home.

And because chickenpox is contagious, she can’t come to Church even if she wants to. 

And also she certainly won’t want to come to Church with all those rashes and blisters on her face and hands.

I asked if she would want me to go over and pray for her.

She declined and said that I might get infected, although I already had chickenpox.

And she also said this – If I am missing from Church nobody will notice; but if you are missing from Church everybody will know. 

And nobody will go near you if they know you have chickenpox.

In the gospel passage, when the Risen Christ appeared to His disciples, we know who was missing from among them.

Thomas didn’t have chickenpox, he also didn't have a bad bout of flu nor was he on medical leave.

He chose not to be with the disciples. We were not told why he chose to stay away.

But when the disciples told him that they had seen the Lord, he refused to believe and he demanded that he would want to put his finger into the holes into those hands of Jesus and even his hand into His side, before he could believe.

It could be that his faith was so shattered and he was so devastated that nothing short of touching those wounds of the Risen Christ could make him change his mind.

Well, Thomas got what he asked for. Eight days later when he was with the rest of the disciples, the Risen Christ appeared again, and He came specifically for Thomas.

Whether Thomas put his finger into those holes and his hand into the side of Jesus is left to us to speculate.

But it was not so much for Thomas to put his finger and his hand into those wounds of Jesus. 

Rather it was for Jesus to touch the wounds of the shattered and devastated Thomas.

Thomas has often been called the “Doubting Thomas” and that is because Jesus said to him “Doubt no longer but believe.”

But the “Doubting Thomas” may also be the “Hurting Thomas” in that his shattered faith at the death of Jesus was too much for him to bear and so he didn’t want the rest of the disciples to see him at his worst. And so he stayed away from them. 

The missing Thomas was not just a doubting Thomas but also a hurting Thomas.

So as we look around we may begin to “see” who is missing. Some can’t be here because of they are aged and home-bound or ill or hospitalized.

But some are not here by choice. They may have been disappointed or angry with God or had a bad experience with a church member or with a priest (sigh …)

But we who are here may also not be that steadfast in faith either. 

We may have “spiritual chickenpox” with rashes and blisters that are painful and hurting. But it is all within.

But just as chickenpox is contagious, we too spread our pain and hurt onto others resulting in more pain and hurt.

Today the Risen Christ comes to us and touches our wounds to heal our pain.

More so, today is also called “Divine Mercy Sunday”. Jesus is the mercy of God and He wants to heal us so that we can believe in Him and in His love for us.

We are not asking to put our finger and our hand into those wounds of Jesus. 

We are asking Jesus to put His hand into our hearts to heal our pain and hurt.

When we are healed of our doubting and our hurting, then we will be able to reach out to those who are missing.

May our prayer be that we bring back those who are missing so that together we will proclaim Jesus as “My Lord and my God!”

Easter Sunday Year B, 05.04.2015

Acts 10:34, 37-43 / Col 3:1-4 / John 20:1-9 

If we had watched the state funeral last Sunday, we would have remembered that the Prime Minister was the first to give the eulogy.

His beginning words were these – “This has been a dark week for Singapore. The light that has guided us all these years has been extinguished”. He was, of course, referring to the late Mr. Lee Kuan Yew.

Yes, it had been a dark week for Singapore. But even in that darkness, there arose many little lights that showed the emotional side of Singaporeans and also the best side of Singaporeans.

At least it can be said that Singaporeans were united as a nation in bidding farewell to her founding father.

One light was extinguished, but the fire burned on in many other little lights.

Tonight we began our Easter Vigil with the blessing of the fire, a ritual that happens only once a year actually.

The fire was blessed, and from it the Easter Candle was lighted, and it continues to burn in the sanctuary lamps and in the votive candles in the parish house.

The fire is also a symbol of the divine presence of Christ who is the Light of the world. 

We also receive that light at our baptism when we were given a lighted candle to symbolize that we are enlightened by the light of Christ and that we are to live as children of the light.

But here is where, if we reflected deeper, there seems to be a contradiction and an opposition of symbols.

We were baptized with water and then we are enlightened by fire.

Water and fire don’t go together. Water extinguishes fire, but fire can also boil water and can eventually evaporate the water.

But in the divine mystery, water and fire take on a combined spiritual purpose in our lives.

Water permeates into stone structures and hence no matter how sturdy a building may be, there will eventually be a leaking problem somewhere. 

And in the confrontation between a stream of water and a rock, the stream of water always wins, not through strength but through persistence.

Later we will renew our baptismal promises – we will renounce sin and evil and the devil, and we will also profess our belief in God. 

And then we will be sprinkled with holy water. The spiritual significance is that God will shower His love upon us until His love permeates into our hearts until we turn into fountains of living water that will in turn flow to others.

But just as education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of the fire of wisdom, the cleansing water of God’s love makes us shine with the light of Christ.

The Easter celebration of the Resurrection of Christ also reminds us spiritual powers of fire and water.

Fire gives light and it also radiates warmth. The fire of God’s love is in us so that as children of the light, we radiate the warmth of God’s love to others, and that’s just by being who we truly are – the children of the light.

Being baptized with water, we also take on the spiritual meaning of water, in that clean water is essential for life and so we must be life-giving to others.

Also water is considered as the universal solvent, and so we pour out our lives for others so that we can help them to solve their problems in life.

We will bless the water later and it will be distributed in Holy Water bottles. But the blessed water is not to be kept in those bottles for display or for it to evaporate.

We bring it back to bless our homes, our workplace, bless our children, and also bless ourselves so that God’s love will continue to permeate into our hearts and into our lives.

Last week the light that guided our nation was extinguished and on the day of the state funeral there was, ironically, a heavy downpour, and it was challenging for those who lined the streets to bid their last farewell.

But there was a quote from the blogger Mr. Brown, (who usually makes candid comments and remarks).

He wrote – The rain came down in torrents. No one ran. No one left.

The light may have been extinguished, but it lighted fires in the hearts of Singaporeans.

For us, the light of the Resurrection of Christ is shining into our hearts to light up the fire of love in us.

May the fire of love warm up the waters in which we are baptized and may we go forth and be the life-giving waters for the world.