Easter Sunday, Year C, 27.03.2016

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

Most of us who were at this church last Easter are here again this Easter.

We may have noticed some things being moved and some things were changed.

Well, things being moved and things being changed are a sign that there is life, there is growth, that it is not stagnating or lifeless.

So can we remember what were the changes or additions to this church since last Easter?

One of the first additions (actually it is a restoration) is the statue of Our Lady at the left side altar.

She was brought down from the loft, cleaned up and touched up after last Easter but she didn’t take her place yet at the side altar because we had to find back St. Joseph.

When we finally found him, and it was by God’s grace we did, we had Mother Mary and St. Joseph back to their original places at the side altars.

So almost all was restored. Except for one more thing – the baptism font.

It seems that the baptism font used to be at somewhere near the Confessional. There were no accounts of why it was removed. But it seems that it was a rather small and inconspicuous baptism font, more like just a holy water font. And there was no proper baptism font after that.

But today, may I introduce to you an item that is our latest addition to our parish.

On your right, weighing 800kg, is our parish’s new baptism font.

The baptism font is
the spiritual womb of the Church

It came in on Thursday, just before the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, and it has been sitting there quietly, observing the Lord’s Supper, the Good Friday services and the Easter Vigil rituals.

And soon, it will fulfill its role as the Elects of our parish come forward for baptism.

But for an 800kg stone item (marble actually), it would actually take quite a lot of manpower to move it.

To move a stone item twice that weight (1600kg) would be certainly more difficult.

That was roughly the weight of the stone that covered the tomb of Jesus. Rolling the stone over the tomb is difficult enough. Rolling the stone away to open the tomb would be more difficult because of the weight of the stone and also because there is a deep groove for the stone to sit on to seal the tomb. Certainly it was not an easy task to roll away the stone.

The gospel accounts about the Resurrection of Jesus, all mentioned about the stone being rolled away from the tomb of Jesus. 

Whatever human possibilities there can be, e.g. the disciples rolled away the stone and took away the body of Jesus and faked His Resurrection, and whatever theories there can be to debunk the Resurrection, we can be certain of one thing.

It is by faith that we believe that the stone was rolled away by the power of the Risen Jesus.

It is by faith that the Elects will come forward to be baptized by Jesus and to share in the power of His Resurrection.

It is by faith that we will renew our baptismal promises and with the power of the Resurrected Christ we will move the stones of our lives.

It is said that faith will move mountains. But in order to move mountains it must begin with the first stone.

And to create mountains, it must also begin with the first stone.

The baptism font is the newest addition to our parish and it may not be the last.

But more importantly are the newest additions of the members of our community – those that are baptized.

And Jesus has given us the task to build His Church and our community.

And by the power of His Resurrection, we will move the stones of our hearts, the stones formed by sin.

Yes, we will move those stones and put those stones into the hands of Jesus, and He will turn those stones into living stones to build the Church of Christ.

The stone that closed the tomb could not stop the Resurrection of Christ. Sin and evil could not stop the Resurrection of Christ. What is impossible for man is not impossible for God.

May we have faith in the Resurrection of Jesus, and as we renew our baptism promises later, let us also believe in the power of the Risen Christ.

It was by the power of His Resurrection that the stone of the tomb was rolled away and the tomb turned into the womb that gave birth to new members of the His Body the Church, and that will also give new life to all of us.

Palm Sunday, Year C, 20.03.2016

Standing for so long during the gospel reading can be quite tiring.

We get tired and after a while we get bored. And then we begin to get distracted. It is certainly difficult to keep focused.

In a way, we are like the disciples who were sleeping while Jesus was desperately praying in the garden of Gethsamane.

And even if we were wide awake, we may just be like Peter, who said the wrong things and did the wrong things.

But just as the Lord Jesus turned and looked straight at Peter, the Lord Jesus is also looking straight at us.

And just as Peter immediately remembered all that Jesus said to him, may we also begin to remember.

May we remember how much Jesus loved us, even to the extent of laying His life on the cross to save us.

May we not sleep through while Jesus suffered for us.

In His suffering, Jesus is offering us healing. In His dying, He is giving us life.

May we then, let the precious blood of Jesus flow into our hearts to heal our wounds and to forgive us our sins. Then with hearts and minds fully awake and remembering how much Jesus loves us , we will be united with Jesus in His suffering, death and resurrection.

5th Sunday of Lent, Year C, 13.03.16

Isaiah 48:16-21 / Philippians 3:8-14 / John 8:1-11

Can you name one gadget that has gone through more evolution than the other gadgets?

We may think it’s the mobile phone. Yes, that might be one of the contenders. Hint: this gadget has even crept into the mobile phones.

Yes, we are talking about cameras, and most mobile phones have not just one but even two cameras – one to take a selfie.

When we talk about cameras, there are just so many categories to it. There is that traditional camera that photographers use.

Then there is the surveillance camera, the security camera, the traffic light camera, the video camera, hidden camera, spy camera, etc.

And these cameras are almost everywhere. At traffic junctions, shopping malls, supermarkets, lifts, cars, offices and even at home. 

No doubt, these cameras serve to prevent mischief and can be a deterrent to crime and other offences.

But at times we feel that we are being watched and we also don’t know who is watching us.

So when we know that a surveillance camera is around, we become like actors – we put on our best pose.

And with high resolution cameras and handy video-cam, we also wouldn’t know who is taking our photos, or who is filming us.

It would be rather scary and embarrassing to see our photo or a video of us in the internet doing something silly.

During the time of Jesus, there were no cameras or video-cam, but there was something more sneaky – human spies.

In the gospel, the scribes and Pharisees brought before Jesus a woman who was caught committing adultery.

How they caught her in the act is really questionable, and we also don’t want to know how they did it.

Presumably, they spied on her and then caught her in the act and then dragged her before Jesus.

What the scribes and Pharisees did was really deplorable. Besides putting the woman to public shame and humiliation, they were also using the situation as a test to look for something to use against Jesus.

And these kind of deplorable acts continue to this day and age. 

There are some people who use social media to publicly shame and humiliate others who make a mistake.

We may wonder on what grounds and with what rights do they have to do this.

Maybe that’s why Jesus bent down and starting writing on the ground. Jesus could be telling us that we all stand on the same ground and we have no right to judge and condemn others.

And with that, He also gave a ground-shaking teaching – If there is one of you who have not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.

The gospel passage also highlighted the tendency to make shame and humiliation a public affair, but when it comes to forgiveness, nobody seemed to be interested. It was just between Jesus and the woman; everyone has left.

But we need to hear about forgiveness. The world needs to hear about forgiveness. Because forgiveness is the sign of God’s love and mercy in the world.

There is this story that happened during WWII, in a jungle where fierce fighting had taken place.

A soldier and his buddy were separated from their platoon during the crossfire.

This soldier and his buddy were from the same hometown and they looked after each other, gave each other comfort and encouragement as they trekked through the jungle in the days that followed. 

They were not able to get in touch with their platoon, but thankfully, they managed to shoot a deer and survived on the deer meat.

One day, they ran into enemy forces in the forest and engaged in another gun fight. They managed to escape.

Just as they thought they were safe, a gunshot rang through the air. 

The soldier who was walking in front fell to the ground. He was shot on his shoulder. 

His buddy who was behind him frantically ran towards him, he was so scared of losing his friend that he started mumbling nonsense and cried hysterically as he hugged his injured friend. 

That night, the soldier who was not injured muttered to himself the whole night, talking to his mother as if she was with them. Both of them thought their lives would be ending. That day, none of them touched the remaining deer meat.

The next day, their platoon found them.

After thirty years, the soldier who was injured said: I knew who shot me that day. It was my buddy. He had passed away last year. 

On that day in the forest thirty years ago, I touched the barrel of his rifle when he hugged me. It was hot. That very night, I forgave him. I knew he shot me to keep the deer meat for himself. But I also knew that he wanted to keep himself alive for his mother. 

Unfortunately, war is cruel, his mother died before we came back. 

After we returned from the war, I went with him to pay our last respects to his mother at her grave. 

Then, he had knelt before me and asked me to forgive him. I didn’t let him continue talking nor did I let him explain anything, for I had long forgiven him and I had no reasons not to. We remained best of friends till he passed away last year.

Just a story about forgiveness and we need to hear and tell of these stories of forgiveness.

The world would be a more beautiful place when we talk to each other about forgiveness instead of talking about each other’s failings.

Where there is forgiveness, no more stones will be thrown.

And it was because God forgives us that the large stone over the tomb was rolled away. Because no stone is large enough to block the power of God’s love and mercy.

4th Sunday of Lent, Year C, 06.03.2016

Joshua 5:9-12 / 2 Cor 5:17-21 / Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

There is a traditional saying that goes like this: Like father, like son. And with that, the other saying is “Good fathers make good sons”.

Those are familiar sayings and they may just be in theory or they may be in reality.

Nonetheless, it can be said that a father wants his son to be like him, to follow in his footsteps and to carry on his legacy.

But in life things don’t usually work out that way.

Maybe this amusing “A Letter to Dad” will tell us why.

A father passing by his son's bedroom was astonished to see that his bed was nicely made and everything was packed up. Then he saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow that was addressed to 'Dad.'

With the worst premonition he opened the envelope with trembling hands and read the letter. 

Dear Dad:
It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom and you.

I have been finding real passion with Stacy and she is so nice. But I knew you would not approve of her because of her piercing, tattoos, tight motorcycle clothes and the fact that she is much older than I am. But it's not only the passion ... Dad … she's pregnant.

Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a trailer and has enough food till the baby comes. We share a dream of having many more children.

In the meantime we will pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so that Stacy can get better. She deserves it.

Don't worry Dad. I'm 15 and I know how to take care of myself. 

Someday I'm sure that we will be back to visit so that you can get to know your grandchildren.

Love, your son John                                            

PS. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Tommy's house. I just wanted to remind you there are worse things in life than the Report Card in my desk drawer. I love you. Call me when it's safe to come home ok.

So much for like father like son, and good fathers make good sons.

In the gospel, Jesus told a parable about a father and two sons.
In that parable, it seems that for all that the father is, the two sons don’t seem to be.

The younger son wanted and got his future inheritance and then squandered it away. The elder son was certainly not as forgiving as the father.

Although the parable is often called the parable of the ‘Prodigal son’, the parable is more like the parable of the ‘Sacrificial father’.

Most fathers may one day realize that his children, whether son or daughter, will follow his example instead of his advice.

It was the father’s kindness and generosity that made the younger son come to his senses and realize that his father’s paid servants had more food than they wanted and there he was dying of hunger.

On the other hand, whether the elder son came to realize his father’s kindness and generosity and forgiveness is left open-ended.
And that’s where we come into the parable. What have we realized in this parable?
Maybe this story might help us to come to some realization.

An 80 year old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45 year old highly educated son.

Suddenly a crow perched on their window. The father asked his son, “What is this? The son replied “It is a crow”.

After a few minutes, the father asked his son the second time, “What is this?” The son said “Father, I have just now told you “It’s a crow”.

After a little while, the old father again asked his son the third time, “What is this?”

At this time, some expression of irritation was felt in the son’s tone when he said to his father with a rebuff. “It’s a crow, a crow, a crow”.

A little after, the father again asked his son the fourth time, “What is this?”

This time the son shouted at his father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again, although I have told you so many times ‘IT IS A CROW’. Are you not able to understand this?”

A little later the father went to his room and came back with an old tattered diary, which he had maintained since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page. When the son read it, the following words were written in the diary:-

“Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa, when a crow was sitting on the window. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied to him all 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question again and again for 23 times.
I did not at all feel irritated. I rather felt affection for my innocent child”.

As a little child, his son asked him 23 times “What is this”, and the father had felt no irritation in replying to the same question all 23 times.

But now when the father asked his son the same question just 4 times, the son felt irritated and annoyed and even shouted at his father.

But still, the story left it open-ended. There was no conclusion to say whether the son came to any realization.

But it is not about the son in the story or the two sons in the gospel parable.

It’s about us. Did we realize anything? And what is it that we have realized?

Jesus came to show us who God the Father is. Jesus is more than just like the Father. He is one with the Father.

May we be one with Him, so that we too can be merciful like God the Father is merciful.