Deut 4:32-34, 39-40 / Romans 8:14-17 / Matthew 28:16-20
We know what a plank is. Or at least we know what the initial meaning is.
It is a long, thin, flat piece of timber, used especially in building and flooring.
But words have a tendency to morph from its initial obvious meaning to some other meanings that might make us wonder where they come from.
The latest meaning of plank is actually an exercise. It's hard to believe that the plank exercise could provide such a great workout, until you try it. Some trainers would even recommend conquering the plank before attempting any heavy weight exercise.
It seems quite easy. Just get into pushup position on the floor. Bend your elbows 90 degrees and rest your weight on your forearms.
Your elbows should be directly beneath your shoulders, and your body should form a straight line from your head to your feet. Hold the position for as long as you can. Your goal should be to hold it for two minutes.
So even though you are not moving or lifting weights, you have to constantly squeeze your abs to hold the position.
The surprising thing is that most people can't last 30 seconds on their first attempt.
The longer you can hold the plank, the more resilient your lower back will be to injury, and the better your abs will look once you tone up the muscles.
Sounds too good to be true and it seems too simple, until we try it.
And when we actually get down it, the initial motivation will slowly wear off when we don’t see immediate results and then the exercise will be like those fancy exercise machines that end up as a clothes rack.
It’s not that we doubt the effectiveness of the exercise. It’s that we just don’t have the persistence and perseverance and we want immediate results with the least effort.
Well, today we celebrate a Sunday called “Trinity Sunday”. So what is it about this Sunday?
Oh we will say the usual things like God is Trinity, Three Persons in one God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
But with God who is Trinity, what is the meaning in it for us? Do we really understand the meaning of Trinity? Or has that word morphed into other meanings?
If we have some difficulty in finding meaning in God as Trinity other than what we have been told, we are not alone.
The great Doctor of the Church St. Augustine of Hippo spent over 30 years working on his treatise ”De Trinitate” [about the Holy Trinity], endeavoring to conceive an intelligible explanation for the mystery of the Trinity.
He was walking by the seashore one day contemplating and trying to understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity when he saw a small boy running back and forth from the water to a spot on the seashore. The boy was using a sea shell to carry the water from the ocean and pouring it into a small hole in the sand.
St. Augustine approached him and asked, “My boy, what are you doing?” “I am trying to bring all the sea into this hole,” the boy replied. “But that is impossible, my boy, the hole cannot contain all that water” said St. Augustine.
The boy paused, stood up, looked into the eyes of the Saint, and replied, “It is no more impossible than what you are trying to do – to comprehend the immensity of the mystery of the Holy Trinity with your small intelligence.”
The Saint was absorbed by such a keen response from that child, and turned his eyes from him for a short while. When he glanced down to ask him something else, the boy had vanished.
Some say that it was an Angel sent by God to teach St. Augustine a lesson on pride in learning. Others affirm it was the Child Jesus Himself who appeared to the Saint to remind him of the limits of human understanding of the great mysteries of our Faith.
Through this story, the sea shell has become a symbol of St. Augustine and the study of theology.
And this story, together with today’s gospel passage, reminds us of the mystery that we have been immersed into, and that is the mystery of Baptism.
We are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Like the shell, we can only understand so much of the mystery of God.
But like the shell, we also hold the mystery of God and that mystery is that of God’s love.
We scoop up God’s love with the shell of our hearts and we pour it out into the sands of the world around us.
The water of God’s love seeps into the sands and we don’t seem to see any results immediately, and we think it is futile.
And so we begin to doubt God’s love, and we hesitate, as we heard in the gospel that some of the disciples hesitated.
Over the past week, a handful of people had been folding these invitations that will be given out later. It is an invitation to the triduum and the parish feast-day Masses.
It’s rather labour intensive and about 3000 invitations have to be folded and given out this weekend.
Will there be a response to the invitations, or will they end up in the trash?
But these invitations were folded with love, and where love is sown, there will be a harvest, maybe 30, maybe 60 and maybe 100.
Whatever it may be, the mystery of the Trinity is the mystery of God’s love.
The meaning of God’s love has not changed and yet at the same time it is also growing, and will continue to grow, and as Jesus promised us in the gospel, it will continue to grow until the end of time.
Like the plank exercise, we must not doubt its effectiveness; we only need to persist and persevere in God’s love.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Pentecost Sunday, Year B, 24.05.2015
Acts 2:1-11 / 1 Cor 12:3-7, 12-13 / John 20:19-23
The living proof of Singapore’s cosmopolitan status is her adoption of four official languages, namely Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and English.
English is the medium of education and business – it is the first language taught in school and the main language used in the workplace.
But English is certainly not a language that is easily mastered.
Some say that English is a funny language; others say it’s a crazy language.
It is funny as in the examples of an oxymoron, which is a phrase in which two words of contradictory meaning are brought together:
Clearly misunderstood; small crowd; act naturally; found missing; pretty ugly; seriously funny; only choice; original copies. But somehow we understand what it means.
Actually I came across all this when I was trying to be sure of what a continuous tense is all about. In the end I was clearly blur.
Let’s just say that a continuous tense is about verbs that end with “ing”, like talking, looking, eating, etc. It usually refers to an action that is continuous.
Of course, it is obviously not a surname, nor is it used as one. But in church there is an “Ing” family.
We may know some of them but they may need some introduction.
There is “Miss-ing” but she is not here. There is “Complain-ing” but he usually writes a lot. There is “Gossip-ing” and she is often with others. “Argu-ing” and “Quarrel-ing” usually hang out together. “Ly-ing” is out to con somebody. And the leader of the gang is someone called “Sinn-ing”.
But that’s just one side of the “Ing” family. The other side of that family has “Lov-ing” and “Car-ing” and they are working hard to protect the family reputation.
“Encourag-ing” and “Inspir-ing” is giving them support because it is often a thankless task. “Almsgiv-ing” is reaching out to those in need and “Fast-ing” and “Pray-ing” are creating opportunities for “Forgiv-ing”.
And so that’s the “Ing” family. So, now that we know who they are, then we must also decide on which side of the family we want to be with.
Today as the Church celebrates the great feast of Pentecost, the Church also comes together as a family.
In the 1st reading, we heard that on that Pentecost day, the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles and filled with the Holy Spirit, they spoke foreign languages.
And the peoples of different nationalities heard them speaking in their own languages and preaching about the marvels of God.
And with that, something was changing. Diversity was changing into unity. The Spirit was working and the Church was manifesting.
The 2nd reading gives a good imagery of the Church as a human body made up of many different parts but united as a single unit.
And it is the same Spirit working in these different parts, in different people in different ways, but all for a good purpose and for God’s purpose.
With the Spirit working, things can change and will keep changing for a good purpose and for God’s purpose.
In the gospel, we heard that the disciples were in a room with the door closed and in fear, but Jesus came and stood among them.
From then on, things began to change, as Jesus said to them, “As the Father sent Me, so am I sending you.” After saying this, He breathed on them the Holy Spirit.
Today, Jesus is also breathing on us the Holy Spirit. And just as He sent the disciples, so is He sending us.
So where is Jesus sending us to and what are we supposed to be doing.
At that Pentecost day when the Holy Spirit came down upon the disciples and they went forth speaking different languages and preaching about the marvels of God, something was changing.
The hearts of those who were listening to them were changing.
Similarly, we are sent forth to bring about a change and it must be a change for a good purpose and for God’s purpose.
And we must go forth with one member of the “Ing” family called “Pray-ing”
And “Pray-ing” will teach us about PUSH. PUSH is an acronym for Pray Until Something Happens.
Earlier this week, I opened the petition boxes and read those petitions that were not marked “Private & Confidential”. I read those petitions so that I can pray for those who have offered their prayer petitions.
I came across a letter from a lady who wrote to Mother Mary to say that she is having a difficult pregnancy and that she was contemplating to terminate the pregnancy.
Of course, I immediately activated all my prayer advocates to pray for this lady and I told them to PUSH.
We will pray until something happens, and we pray that it will be for a good purpose and for God’s purpose, and I call upon you to join me in prayer for that lady.
And I look forward for a Thanksgiving letter from her.
Yes, we must keep PUSHing and believe that things can change and will change and keep changing.
We keep praying that those who are arguing and quarreling, those who are complaining and gossiping, those who are missing, those who are lying and sinning, will eventually change to become loving and caring, forgiving and inspiring and encouraging.
Those disciples in that room changed from fearing to proclaiming.
With the power of the Holy Spirit, we too will change and keep changing.
And it must be for a good purpose and for God’s purpose.
The living proof of Singapore’s cosmopolitan status is her adoption of four official languages, namely Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and English.
English is the medium of education and business – it is the first language taught in school and the main language used in the workplace.
But English is certainly not a language that is easily mastered.
Some say that English is a funny language; others say it’s a crazy language.
It is funny as in the examples of an oxymoron, which is a phrase in which two words of contradictory meaning are brought together:
Clearly misunderstood; small crowd; act naturally; found missing; pretty ugly; seriously funny; only choice; original copies. But somehow we understand what it means.
Actually I came across all this when I was trying to be sure of what a continuous tense is all about. In the end I was clearly blur.
Let’s just say that a continuous tense is about verbs that end with “ing”, like talking, looking, eating, etc. It usually refers to an action that is continuous.
Of course, it is obviously not a surname, nor is it used as one. But in church there is an “Ing” family.
We may know some of them but they may need some introduction.
There is “Miss-ing” but she is not here. There is “Complain-ing” but he usually writes a lot. There is “Gossip-ing” and she is often with others. “Argu-ing” and “Quarrel-ing” usually hang out together. “Ly-ing” is out to con somebody. And the leader of the gang is someone called “Sinn-ing”.
But that’s just one side of the “Ing” family. The other side of that family has “Lov-ing” and “Car-ing” and they are working hard to protect the family reputation.
“Encourag-ing” and “Inspir-ing” is giving them support because it is often a thankless task. “Almsgiv-ing” is reaching out to those in need and “Fast-ing” and “Pray-ing” are creating opportunities for “Forgiv-ing”.
And so that’s the “Ing” family. So, now that we know who they are, then we must also decide on which side of the family we want to be with.
Today as the Church celebrates the great feast of Pentecost, the Church also comes together as a family.
In the 1st reading, we heard that on that Pentecost day, the Holy Spirit came down upon the apostles and filled with the Holy Spirit, they spoke foreign languages.
And the peoples of different nationalities heard them speaking in their own languages and preaching about the marvels of God.
And with that, something was changing. Diversity was changing into unity. The Spirit was working and the Church was manifesting.
The 2nd reading gives a good imagery of the Church as a human body made up of many different parts but united as a single unit.
And it is the same Spirit working in these different parts, in different people in different ways, but all for a good purpose and for God’s purpose.
With the Spirit working, things can change and will keep changing for a good purpose and for God’s purpose.
In the gospel, we heard that the disciples were in a room with the door closed and in fear, but Jesus came and stood among them.
From then on, things began to change, as Jesus said to them, “As the Father sent Me, so am I sending you.” After saying this, He breathed on them the Holy Spirit.
Today, Jesus is also breathing on us the Holy Spirit. And just as He sent the disciples, so is He sending us.
So where is Jesus sending us to and what are we supposed to be doing.
At that Pentecost day when the Holy Spirit came down upon the disciples and they went forth speaking different languages and preaching about the marvels of God, something was changing.
The hearts of those who were listening to them were changing.
Similarly, we are sent forth to bring about a change and it must be a change for a good purpose and for God’s purpose.
And we must go forth with one member of the “Ing” family called “Pray-ing”
And “Pray-ing” will teach us about PUSH. PUSH is an acronym for Pray Until Something Happens.
Earlier this week, I opened the petition boxes and read those petitions that were not marked “Private & Confidential”. I read those petitions so that I can pray for those who have offered their prayer petitions.
I came across a letter from a lady who wrote to Mother Mary to say that she is having a difficult pregnancy and that she was contemplating to terminate the pregnancy.
Of course, I immediately activated all my prayer advocates to pray for this lady and I told them to PUSH.
We will pray until something happens, and we pray that it will be for a good purpose and for God’s purpose, and I call upon you to join me in prayer for that lady.
And I look forward for a Thanksgiving letter from her.
Yes, we must keep PUSHing and believe that things can change and will change and keep changing.
We keep praying that those who are arguing and quarreling, those who are complaining and gossiping, those who are missing, those who are lying and sinning, will eventually change to become loving and caring, forgiving and inspiring and encouraging.
Those disciples in that room changed from fearing to proclaiming.
With the power of the Holy Spirit, we too will change and keep changing.
And it must be for a good purpose and for God’s purpose.
Saturday, May 16, 2015
7th Sunday of Easter, Year B, 17.05.2015
Acts 1:15-17, 20-26 / 1 John 4:11-16 / John 17:11-19
Last Thursday was the feast of the Ascension of the Lord and it was a day of obligation.
A day of obligation means that we come for Mass, and before that we go for Confession if necessary and of course we receive Holy Communion.
And of course for all the effort that we make to come for Mass on a weekday, the blessings that we receive is certainly beyond measure.
Indeed blessed are those who make the offering of their time for God.
But then again, there were some who forgot. They forgot that it was a day of obligation. Still God will be gracious to them because there is the availability of Confession.
And just in case they forgot to come for Confession before Mass, then the “special offer” is that after Mass it is also available : )
It is understandable if some forgot because of the busyness of life and the stress of a working day.
But there is also this “selective remembering” – we make a tick in our minds on what we want to remember because it is important, and the rest we just let them hang loose in our minds.
So we may remember the news that we heard on the radio but we may not be able to remember what the readings of today were all about.
In the 1st reading Peter remembered what the scriptures foretold about Judas – that someone else must be chosen to replace him as one of the Twelve apostles.
For us it may not be that important whether it is eleven or twelve.
But the meaning of the number 12 is considered a perfect number, in that it symbolizes God's power and authority, as well as a perfect governmental foundation. It also symbolizes completeness, or the nation of Israel as a whole.
And so for the Church it symbolizes completeness and unity and hence Matthias was chosen to complete the 12 apostles.
And it is for this completeness and unity of the Church that Jesus prayed for in the gospel.
Yes, Jesus prayed for us on the night before His death and this gospel passage is a passage that we ought to remember.
Jesus prayed for us that we won’t be lost in the world since we do not belong to the world. Because we belong to God.
As the Beatitudes would say, blessed are those who are poor in spirit, for the kingdom of God belongs to them.
But Jesus also prayed that we will be protected from the evil one.
As much as Jesus taught us the Beatitudes, the devil has his own set of “better-titudes” and it goes something like this:
"Better are those who are too tired, too busy, too distracted to spend an hour once a week with their fellow Christians in church; They are my best workers.
Better are those Christians who wait to be asked and expect to be thanked; I can use them.
Better are the touchy; with a bit of luck, they may stop going to church; They are my missionaries.
Better are those who are very religious but get on everyone's nerves; They are mine forever.
Better are the troublemakers; They shall be called my children.
Better are those who have no time to pray; They are easy prey for me.
Better are the gossipers; For they are my secret agents.
Better are those critical of church leadership; For they shall inherit a place with me in my fate.
Better are the complainers; I will encourage them.
Better are you when you read this and think it is about other people and not yourself; I've got you!"
So if the world thinks better or highly of us, it may not necessarily mean that we are blessed.
In fact, Jesus prayed that we will be protected from the evil one so that we don’t let ourselves belong to the world.
Even though we are in the world, we belong to God and Jesus prayed for our protection.
Yes, life is fragile, and we need to handle it with prayer and pray for protection.
On Friday morning there was a fatal accident at Ponggol. A 30-year-old woman was knocked down by a bus and died from her injuries.
I know that lady. She journeyed in the RCIA class, I officiated her marriage and blessed her house. And now I am going to do her funeral.
No words can really console her husband and the 4 year-old son she left behind.
For those who journeyed with her in the RCIA and her friends in Church, they will grieve and they might ask those hard questions.
I pray that God will protect them from a faith crisis and I ask you to join me in prayer too.
My obligation to them will be my presence and prayers.
And that is what the 2nd reading is telling us to remember – No one has ever seen God, but as long as we love one another, God will live in us and His love will be complete in us.
To love one another is our obligation. Love is our only protection.
Because where there is love, there is God.
Last Thursday was the feast of the Ascension of the Lord and it was a day of obligation.
A day of obligation means that we come for Mass, and before that we go for Confession if necessary and of course we receive Holy Communion.
And of course for all the effort that we make to come for Mass on a weekday, the blessings that we receive is certainly beyond measure.
Indeed blessed are those who make the offering of their time for God.
But then again, there were some who forgot. They forgot that it was a day of obligation. Still God will be gracious to them because there is the availability of Confession.
And just in case they forgot to come for Confession before Mass, then the “special offer” is that after Mass it is also available : )
It is understandable if some forgot because of the busyness of life and the stress of a working day.
But there is also this “selective remembering” – we make a tick in our minds on what we want to remember because it is important, and the rest we just let them hang loose in our minds.
So we may remember the news that we heard on the radio but we may not be able to remember what the readings of today were all about.
In the 1st reading Peter remembered what the scriptures foretold about Judas – that someone else must be chosen to replace him as one of the Twelve apostles.
For us it may not be that important whether it is eleven or twelve.
But the meaning of the number 12 is considered a perfect number, in that it symbolizes God's power and authority, as well as a perfect governmental foundation. It also symbolizes completeness, or the nation of Israel as a whole.
And so for the Church it symbolizes completeness and unity and hence Matthias was chosen to complete the 12 apostles.
And it is for this completeness and unity of the Church that Jesus prayed for in the gospel.
Yes, Jesus prayed for us on the night before His death and this gospel passage is a passage that we ought to remember.
Jesus prayed for us that we won’t be lost in the world since we do not belong to the world. Because we belong to God.
As the Beatitudes would say, blessed are those who are poor in spirit, for the kingdom of God belongs to them.
But Jesus also prayed that we will be protected from the evil one.
As much as Jesus taught us the Beatitudes, the devil has his own set of “better-titudes” and it goes something like this:
"Better are those who are too tired, too busy, too distracted to spend an hour once a week with their fellow Christians in church; They are my best workers.
Better are those Christians who wait to be asked and expect to be thanked; I can use them.
Better are the touchy; with a bit of luck, they may stop going to church; They are my missionaries.
Better are those who are very religious but get on everyone's nerves; They are mine forever.
Better are the troublemakers; They shall be called my children.
Better are those who have no time to pray; They are easy prey for me.
Better are the gossipers; For they are my secret agents.
Better are those critical of church leadership; For they shall inherit a place with me in my fate.
Better are the complainers; I will encourage them.
Better are you when you read this and think it is about other people and not yourself; I've got you!"
So if the world thinks better or highly of us, it may not necessarily mean that we are blessed.
In fact, Jesus prayed that we will be protected from the evil one so that we don’t let ourselves belong to the world.
Even though we are in the world, we belong to God and Jesus prayed for our protection.
Yes, life is fragile, and we need to handle it with prayer and pray for protection.
On Friday morning there was a fatal accident at Ponggol. A 30-year-old woman was knocked down by a bus and died from her injuries.
I know that lady. She journeyed in the RCIA class, I officiated her marriage and blessed her house. And now I am going to do her funeral.
No words can really console her husband and the 4 year-old son she left behind.
For those who journeyed with her in the RCIA and her friends in Church, they will grieve and they might ask those hard questions.
I pray that God will protect them from a faith crisis and I ask you to join me in prayer too.
My obligation to them will be my presence and prayers.
And that is what the 2nd reading is telling us to remember – No one has ever seen God, but as long as we love one another, God will live in us and His love will be complete in us.
To love one another is our obligation. Love is our only protection.
Because where there is love, there is God.
Saturday, May 9, 2015
6th Easter Sunday, Year B, 10.05.2015
Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 / 1 John 4:7-10 / John 15:9-17
The game of tennis is a quite popular game. People follow the game, watch the game on tv (which can last for a few hours) and of course some play the game.
But tennis is certainly more than just a play-play kind of game.
Because top professional tennis players can become millionaires, and the top names are Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, etc.
And these top players play in top tournaments like Wimbledon, US Open, French Open, etc.
But for all the big names and the big money, the game of tennis is actually quite a simple game. All you have to do is to hit the ball back into your opponent’s court. That’s all you need to do to win the game. It’s as simple as that; but it requires a lot of skill to do that.
And you know what it is said about life and tennis? Life is like a game of tennis. The player who can hit every ball across seldom loses.
So the simple logic about tennis is that when the ball comes to you, you don’t keep the ball. You always return the ball, so to speak.
And that is also the simple logic about life and love. In life whenever love comes to us, we don’t keep it for ourselves. We have to return it. So in a way, life is like a game of tennis – we return the love, just as we return the ball.
And that is what Jesus is telling us in the gospel – As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.
For Jesus, love is not for keeps. The love that He received from His Father, He gives to us.
And the love we receive from Jesus, we in turn must give to others.
And Jesus even makes a commandant out of it – Love one another as I have loved you.
In other words, as Jesus has loved us, so must we love one another.
It’s a commandment; it’s not a suggestion, nor is it an option.
We often hear of this phrase “love offering”. It is often written on boxes in church events and it is a way of asking for donations to offset the cost of holding the events.
It gives us the notion that we can give whatever we wish and we are not obliged to give a large sum nor are we required to give all we have.
But for God, when it comes to a love offering, it is nothing less than all.
As we heard in the 2nd reading, God’s love for us was revealed when God sent into the world His only Son so that we can have life through Him.
So it is not our love for God, but God’s love for us when He sent His only Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.
Yes, love is a sacrifice, and a love offering is a total offering because God’s love for us is a total sacrifice.
Today we also celebrate Mother’s Day and in so many ways we see how our mothers’ love is like a total sacrifice.
In their love for us, we see how God has loved us.
There are many inspiring and heart-warming stories about how mothers love their children with a total sacrifice.
There is this story of a mother’s love for her son, but it’s a rather sad and it is narrated by the son, and it goes like this.
My mom only had one eye. I hated her… She was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students and teachers in school to support the family.
There was this one day during primary school where my mom came to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed.
How could she do this to me? I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school one of my classmates said, “EEEE, your mom only has one eye!”
I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear. I confronted her that day and said, “If you’re only going make me a laughing stock, why don’t you just die?”
My mom did not respond… I didn’t even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger. I was oblivious to her feelings.
I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with her. So I studied real hard, got a chance to go abroad to study.
Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts. Then one day, my Mother came to visit me. She hadn’t seen me in years and she didn’t even meet her grandchildren.
When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I yelled at her for coming over uninvited. I screamed at her, “How dare you come to my house and scare my children! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!”
And to this, my mother quietly answered, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address.” – and she disappeared out of sight.
Then one day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house, and after much thought, I decided to go for that reunion.
After the reunion, I went to the old shack where my mother lived, just out of curiosity.
My neighbors said that she died a few days ago. I did not shed a single tear. They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have.
“My dearest son,
I think of you all the time. I’m sorry that I came to your house and scared your children.
I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you. I’m sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up.
You see, when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn’t stand watching you having to grow up with one eye. So I gave you mine.
I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye.
With all my love to you,
Your mother.” (Author Unknown)
A rather sad story for Mother’s day but it serves to remind us not to take our mothers’ love for granted.
And that would also remind us not to take God’s love for granted.
God’s love for us is seen in how our mothers give their love to us.
And that love is not meant for us to keep. Just as in the game of tennis, we don’t keep the ball; we return it.
Let us love our mothers, let us love God, let us also love others.
It’s a commandment; not a suggestion, nor an option.
The game of tennis is a quite popular game. People follow the game, watch the game on tv (which can last for a few hours) and of course some play the game.
But tennis is certainly more than just a play-play kind of game.
Because top professional tennis players can become millionaires, and the top names are Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, etc.
And these top players play in top tournaments like Wimbledon, US Open, French Open, etc.
But for all the big names and the big money, the game of tennis is actually quite a simple game. All you have to do is to hit the ball back into your opponent’s court. That’s all you need to do to win the game. It’s as simple as that; but it requires a lot of skill to do that.
And you know what it is said about life and tennis? Life is like a game of tennis. The player who can hit every ball across seldom loses.
So the simple logic about tennis is that when the ball comes to you, you don’t keep the ball. You always return the ball, so to speak.
And that is also the simple logic about life and love. In life whenever love comes to us, we don’t keep it for ourselves. We have to return it. So in a way, life is like a game of tennis – we return the love, just as we return the ball.
And that is what Jesus is telling us in the gospel – As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.
For Jesus, love is not for keeps. The love that He received from His Father, He gives to us.
And the love we receive from Jesus, we in turn must give to others.
And Jesus even makes a commandant out of it – Love one another as I have loved you.
In other words, as Jesus has loved us, so must we love one another.
It’s a commandment; it’s not a suggestion, nor is it an option.
We often hear of this phrase “love offering”. It is often written on boxes in church events and it is a way of asking for donations to offset the cost of holding the events.
It gives us the notion that we can give whatever we wish and we are not obliged to give a large sum nor are we required to give all we have.
But for God, when it comes to a love offering, it is nothing less than all.
As we heard in the 2nd reading, God’s love for us was revealed when God sent into the world His only Son so that we can have life through Him.
So it is not our love for God, but God’s love for us when He sent His only Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.
Yes, love is a sacrifice, and a love offering is a total offering because God’s love for us is a total sacrifice.
Today we also celebrate Mother’s Day and in so many ways we see how our mothers’ love is like a total sacrifice.
In their love for us, we see how God has loved us.
There are many inspiring and heart-warming stories about how mothers love their children with a total sacrifice.
There is this story of a mother’s love for her son, but it’s a rather sad and it is narrated by the son, and it goes like this.
My mom only had one eye. I hated her… She was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students and teachers in school to support the family.
There was this one day during primary school where my mom came to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed.
How could she do this to me? I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school one of my classmates said, “EEEE, your mom only has one eye!”
I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear. I confronted her that day and said, “If you’re only going make me a laughing stock, why don’t you just die?”
My mom did not respond… I didn’t even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger. I was oblivious to her feelings.
I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with her. So I studied real hard, got a chance to go abroad to study.
Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts. Then one day, my Mother came to visit me. She hadn’t seen me in years and she didn’t even meet her grandchildren.
When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I yelled at her for coming over uninvited. I screamed at her, “How dare you come to my house and scare my children! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!”
And to this, my mother quietly answered, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address.” – and she disappeared out of sight.
Then one day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house, and after much thought, I decided to go for that reunion.
After the reunion, I went to the old shack where my mother lived, just out of curiosity.
My neighbors said that she died a few days ago. I did not shed a single tear. They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have.
“My dearest son,
I think of you all the time. I’m sorry that I came to your house and scared your children.
I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you. I’m sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up.
You see, when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn’t stand watching you having to grow up with one eye. So I gave you mine.
I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye.
With all my love to you,
Your mother.” (Author Unknown)
A rather sad story for Mother’s day but it serves to remind us not to take our mothers’ love for granted.
And that would also remind us not to take God’s love for granted.
God’s love for us is seen in how our mothers give their love to us.
And that love is not meant for us to keep. Just as in the game of tennis, we don’t keep the ball; we return it.
Let us love our mothers, let us love God, let us also love others.
It’s a commandment; not a suggestion, nor an option.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
5th Sunday of Easter, Year B, 03.05.2015
Acts 9:26-31 / 1 John 3:18-24 / John 15:1-8
The definition of awareness is this: knowledge or perception of a situation or fact; concern about and well-informed interest in a particular situation or development.
That’s the dictionary’s definition of awareness. Or putting it plainly, it can be as simple as asking if we remembered which foot it was that stepped into the church as we entered. Is it left foot? Or right foot?
While we are still thinking and trying to remember which foot it was, here comes another question. Is there anything different or is there anything new that we see today in church?
Well, we may have noticed two statues at the side altars. And if we looked closer, we will see that the statue of Mary has a new coat of paint [a makeover? : P : )]
And if we are trying to make out who the other statue represents, a good guess would be St. Joseph, and so indeed it is.
The statue of Mary was brought down from the loft about three months ago and had to be cleaned and it took two months for it to be restored to what it is.
The statue of Joseph, however, was nowhere to be found and so presumably it was damaged and thrown away.
Until we were alerted that it could be at another church and so indeed it was.
So we had it taken back on Thursday, had it cleaned and we tried to remove as much of the peeling paint as possible. It looks ragged and worn out but nonetheless it is intact and sturdy and hardy.
Then on Friday, the 1st May, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, we had the statue blessed. It was so timely.
Putting the statues on the side altars seems like a mismatch. One looks so new and clean, while the other looks like it’s covered with mud and rather dirty.
But for those of us who are with the parish long enough, we will know that the two statues are at their rightful place.
They were there since the church was built in 1910 but for whatever reason they were removed some time back.
But now that they are back in place, it does seem that everything is connected again. At least for those of us who are in the parish long enough, it does seem that all is at last connected again.
And if statues can talk, they would be saying “It’s nice to be back.” And if the statue of St. Joseph can talk, he would say “I want to be restored!” (He will be …)
The fact is that when things are in place, then they can be connected.
Similarly, when we are in place, then we will also be connected.
And the place that we need to be in is none other than in the heart of Jesus.
That is our home and that is where we get connected with Jesus and with each other.
Jesus used the imagery of the vine and branches to express this connection with Him. He even said that cut off from Him we can do nothing at all.
As we heard in the 1st reading, it was so with Saul, who would later take the name of Paul. At first he tried to join the disciples, but they viewed him with suspicion and he could do nothing at all.
It was only when Barnabas took charge of him and introduced him to the apostles that he began to preach fearlessly and bear fruit in his ministry.
So it was only when Saul was connected with the rest of the disciples and found his home with them that he was able to bear fruit.
As for us, we need to come to an awareness of the spiritual realities as we enter into the house of God. Because without awareness, nothing can change.
Awareness is not about which foot steps into the church first.
Awareness is that we have stepped into the house of God, the home of Jesus.
And coming to the home of Jesus, the connection begins as Jesus makes His home in each of us and connects us together.
And as we look at the statues of Mary and Joseph at where they belong, we can also see they have come home to Jesus.
Their being now at their proper places is certainly not just the work of man but more so the work of God.
Because it is Jesus who has brought them back to their places in church.
And through Mary and Joseph, Jesus is also telling us that He wants us to come and make our home in His heart.
And connected to Him and connected with each other, we will bear fruit. We must bear fruit.
So there is this Service Offering form that was distributed last week.
There is something that we can offer to Jesus in service of His church and for this parish.
The strongest principle of growth lies in the human choice.
It is for us to decide whether we want to offer our service and bear fruit for Jesus.
Mother Mary and St. Joseph are here to make us aware of that. They will be praying for us. May their prayers bear fruit in us for Jesus.
The definition of awareness is this: knowledge or perception of a situation or fact; concern about and well-informed interest in a particular situation or development.
That’s the dictionary’s definition of awareness. Or putting it plainly, it can be as simple as asking if we remembered which foot it was that stepped into the church as we entered. Is it left foot? Or right foot?
While we are still thinking and trying to remember which foot it was, here comes another question. Is there anything different or is there anything new that we see today in church?
Well, we may have noticed two statues at the side altars. And if we looked closer, we will see that the statue of Mary has a new coat of paint [a makeover? : P : )]
And if we are trying to make out who the other statue represents, a good guess would be St. Joseph, and so indeed it is.
The statue of Mary was brought down from the loft about three months ago and had to be cleaned and it took two months for it to be restored to what it is.The statue of Joseph, however, was nowhere to be found and so presumably it was damaged and thrown away.
Until we were alerted that it could be at another church and so indeed it was.
So we had it taken back on Thursday, had it cleaned and we tried to remove as much of the peeling paint as possible. It looks ragged and worn out but nonetheless it is intact and sturdy and hardy.
Then on Friday, the 1st May, the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, we had the statue blessed. It was so timely.Putting the statues on the side altars seems like a mismatch. One looks so new and clean, while the other looks like it’s covered with mud and rather dirty.
But for those of us who are with the parish long enough, we will know that the two statues are at their rightful place.
They were there since the church was built in 1910 but for whatever reason they were removed some time back.
But now that they are back in place, it does seem that everything is connected again. At least for those of us who are in the parish long enough, it does seem that all is at last connected again.
And if statues can talk, they would be saying “It’s nice to be back.” And if the statue of St. Joseph can talk, he would say “I want to be restored!” (He will be …)
The fact is that when things are in place, then they can be connected.
Similarly, when we are in place, then we will also be connected.
And the place that we need to be in is none other than in the heart of Jesus.
That is our home and that is where we get connected with Jesus and with each other.
Jesus used the imagery of the vine and branches to express this connection with Him. He even said that cut off from Him we can do nothing at all.
As we heard in the 1st reading, it was so with Saul, who would later take the name of Paul. At first he tried to join the disciples, but they viewed him with suspicion and he could do nothing at all.
It was only when Barnabas took charge of him and introduced him to the apostles that he began to preach fearlessly and bear fruit in his ministry.
So it was only when Saul was connected with the rest of the disciples and found his home with them that he was able to bear fruit.
As for us, we need to come to an awareness of the spiritual realities as we enter into the house of God. Because without awareness, nothing can change.
Awareness is not about which foot steps into the church first.
Awareness is that we have stepped into the house of God, the home of Jesus.
And coming to the home of Jesus, the connection begins as Jesus makes His home in each of us and connects us together.
And as we look at the statues of Mary and Joseph at where they belong, we can also see they have come home to Jesus.
Their being now at their proper places is certainly not just the work of man but more so the work of God.
Because it is Jesus who has brought them back to their places in church.
And through Mary and Joseph, Jesus is also telling us that He wants us to come and make our home in His heart.
And connected to Him and connected with each other, we will bear fruit. We must bear fruit.
So there is this Service Offering form that was distributed last week.
There is something that we can offer to Jesus in service of His church and for this parish.
The strongest principle of growth lies in the human choice.
It is for us to decide whether we want to offer our service and bear fruit for Jesus.
Mother Mary and St. Joseph are here to make us aware of that. They will be praying for us. May their prayers bear fruit in us for Jesus.
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