Genesis 14:18-20 / 1 Cor 11:23-26 / Luke 9:11-17
The word “eat” is a popular word and for us it is a favourite word.
Because it forms our favourite question: “Where to eat?”. And it also forms our next favourite question: “What to eat?” Not that there is nothing to eat. Rather there is too much to choose from; we are really spoilt for choice.
And there are also many phrases that use the word “eat”: eat-and-run; dog-eat-dog; eat your own words; eat humble pie; eat like there’s no tomorrow; you can’t have your cake and eat it.
And then there’s this one that is rather amusing – eat your heart out.
The meaning is that if you say "eat your heart out” followed by the name of a famous person, you are jokingly saying that you are even better than that person.
The origin of that phrase means to suffer in silence from anguish or grief, or more graphically, to have the heart eaten out with desire, bitterness, or pain.
But on the funny side, when this is referred to the eating capabilities of teenagers, we can say that they can eat their hearts out without affecting their appetites.
So when there is an abundance of food, we can think of humourous sayings and even make philosophical reflections.
In the gospel, food was also the talking point.
But there wasn’t anything to laugh about, nor was it an occasion to make profound reflections about eating.
Simply because there wasn’t anything to eat. Or to put it more correctly, there were five thousand men and only five loaves and two fish.
The disciples proposed the most convenient solution – send the people away and let them solve the problem themselves.
Jesus counter proposed: Give them something to eat yourselves.
As the disciples stared at the five loaves and two fish and wondered how to solve the overwhelming problem, Jesus proceeded with the underlying solution.
He took the five loaves and two fish, raised His eyes to heaven, said the blessing over them, broke it and distributed it.
And a miracle happened. They all ate as much as they wanted and when the scraps remaining were collected, they filled twelve baskets.
Yes, a miracle happened, and as we look at Jesus blessing the food, breaking it and distributing it, it all pointed to one thing – He gave them something to eat, He gave His heart out.
Today the Church celebrates the feast of Corpus Christi, which means the Body of Christ.
Jesus feeds us with His Body, and it also means He gives His Heart out to us.
*But the weakening of faith in the Real Presence of the Risen Christ in the Eucharist is one of the most significant aspects of the current spiritual crisis. Jesus wants to strengthen our faith in His Eucharistic presence. That is why from time to time in the history of the Catholic Church He gives us signs - Eucharistic miracles that clearly point to the fact that He, the Risen Lord Himself in the mystery of His Divinity and glorified humanity, is truly present in the Eucharist.
The most recent Eucharistic miracle recognized by the Church authorities occurred in 1996 in the capital of Argentina–Buenos Aires.
In the evening on August 18, 1996, Fr. Alejandro Pezet was saying Holy Mass at a Catholic church in the commercial center of Buenos Aires. As he was finishing distributing Holy Communion, a woman came up to tell him that she had found a discarded host at the back of the church. Fr. Alejandro went and saw the defiled Host. Since he was unable to consume it, he placed it in a container of water and put it away in the tabernacle of the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament.
On Monday, August 26, upon opening the tabernacle, he saw to his amazement that the Host had turned into a bloody substance. He informed Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (who is now Pope Francis) who gave instructions that the Host be professionally photographed. The photos were taken on September 6. They clearly show that the Host, which had become a fragment of bloodied flesh, had grown significantly in size. For several years the Host remained in the tabernacle, the whole affair being kept a strict secret. Since the Host suffered no visible decomposition, Cardinal Bergoglio decided to have it scientifically analyzed.
In 1999, in the presence of the Cardinal’s representatives, Dr. Castanon took a sample of the bloody fragment and sent it to New York for analysis. Since he did not wish to prejudice the study, he purposely did not inform the team of scientists of its provenance.
One of these scientists was Dr. Frederic Zugiba, the well-known cardiologist and forensic pathologist. He determined that the analyzed substance was real flesh and blood containing human DNA. Dr. Zugiba testified that, “the analyzed material is a fragment of the heart muscle found in the wall of the left ventricle close to the valves. This muscle is responsible for the contraction of the heart, and it pumps blood to all parts of the body. The heart muscle is in an inflammatory condition and contains a large number of white blood cells.
This indicates that the heart was alive at the time the sample was taken. It is my contention that the heart was alive, since white blood cells die outside a living organism. They require a living organism to sustain them. Thus, their presence indicates that the heart was alive when the sample was taken.
What is more, these white blood cells had penetrated the tissue, which further indicates that the heart had been under severe stress, as if the owner had been beaten severely about the chest.”
When Dr. Zugiba was asked how long the white blood cells would have remained alive if they had come from a piece of human tissue, which had been kept in water, he replied that they would have ceased to exist in a matter of minutes. Then he was told that the source of the sample had first been kept in ordinary water for a month and then for another three years in a container of distilled water; only then had the sample been taken for analysis. Dr. Zugiba was at a loss to account for this fact.
There was no way of explaining it scientifically, he stated. Only then was he told that the analyzed sample came from a consecrated Host (white, unleavened bread) that had mysteriously turned into bloody human flesh.
Amazed by this information, Dr. Zugiba replied, “How and why a consecrated Host would change its character and become living human flesh and blood will remain an inexplicable mystery to science, a mystery totally beyond her competence.” * (Eucharistic Miracle in Buenos Aires, by Fr. Mieczysław Piotrowski S.Chr.)
So for those who have faith and believe, no explanation is necessary; but for those who do not believe no explanation is possible.
We who have faith must also ask the Lord Jesus to increase our faith and to always believe that in giving us His Body, Jesus also gave His Heart out to us.
As we receive the Body of Christ in Holy Communion, Jesus wants to heal us from eating our hearts out in anguish or grief, or in bitterness or pain.
Jesus gives His Heart out to us. May we in turn give our hearts out to others.
That is what the Body of Christ is about. And that is what being the Body of Christ is about.
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Trinity Sunday, Year C, 22.05.2016
Proverbs 8:22-31 / Romans 5:1-5 / John 16:12-15
It is said that knowledge is power. Learning new things every day help us grow in many ways. But whatever we have learnt or are learning, there is still a massive amount of knowledge out there that remains to be learnt.
Some facts can be just trivia, which can be interesting, or amusing, or just simply amazing.
Did we know that the sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the English alphabet? That’s why that sentence is used for typing lessons for beginners.
Did we know the the average person falls asleep in 7 minutes? That’s why the recommended time for the length of a homily is 7 minutes.
Did we know that apples are more effective at waking you up in the morning than coffee?
Did we know that money is the number one thing that people argue about?
Did we know that the most common mental illnesses are anxiety and depression?
And talking about anxiety and depression, it can stem from what we know, as well as what we do not know.
So knowledge of our present situation may lead us to depression, yet we are also anxious to know about our future.
A story goes that a young man was rather depressed about his current situation, and so he decided to go to a fortune-teller to see what his future is like.
So the fortune-teller studied his palm and then he told the young man, “You will be poor, unhappy and unmarried until you are 40.”
And so the young man anxiously asked, “After that? After that?” And the fortune-teller replied, “After that you will get used to it!”
Maybe the truth here is that life is difficult and even depressing at times, and we have to get used to that. Or at least we have to be prepared for that.
In the gospel, Jesus said to His disciples, “I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now.”
He could be referring to what was going to happen soon, i.e. He will be betrayed into the hands of His enemies, His disciples will desert Him, He will suffer and die on the cross.
But that would be too much for His disciples to handle for the moment. It would be too depressing for them.
Yet, Jesus also added this – But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth.
So as much as the reality of life is that it is difficult and even depressing at times, there is an even greater truth that is promised by God in the scriptures.
Because in the book of the prophet Jeremiah, God has this to say to His people. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
It is by trusting in the Lord’s promise of the future for us that we dare to look towards the future with hope and not with despair.
Some of us may remember Arthur Ashe. Arthur Ashe became the first, and is still the only, Afro-American male player to win the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. He is also the first Afro-American to be ranked No. 1 in the world. Always an activist, when Ashe learned that he had contracted AIDS via a blood transfusion, he turned his efforts to raising awareness of the disease, before finally succumbing to it on February 6, 1993.
When he was suffering from the disease, he received letters from his fans the world over, one of which conveyed: "Why does God have to select you for such a bad disease?"
To this Arthur Ashe replied with this one paragraph, and it is often quoted as the paragraph that explains life: "All over the world 50 million children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the Grand Slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to the semi-finals, 2 to the finals, and when I was holding the cup I never asked God “Why me?”. And today in pain I should not be asking God “Why me?”
For us, as the mystery of life unfolds before us, and especially when distress and turmoil swirl around us, we will be inclined to ask God “Why me?” But at the same time, another mystery is also unfolding before us, and it is the mystery of God who is Trinity.
Yes, we know who God is from the Bible and from what the Church taught us. We know that God is the Holy Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God the Father sent His Son to be like us in all things so as to teach us how to live life, and in turn Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be our Helper and Guide and to lead us the truth of life and even to the complete truth.
The truth of life is essentially the truth of God the Trinity. The truth of God is that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are united in love with one another.
And the truth of life is that we are to live our lives in love for God and for one another so that we can look to the future with hope and love.
Over the past couple of weeks, many of us have offered our time and love to fold these Jesus Invites for others so that they will come for the parish Triduum and Feastday and to experience for themselves the love of God for them.
Over the past week, many of us have prayed for Fr. Paul Tong’s recovery and offered our services to care for him after his discharge.
These are the facts of love that we need to know, and we can see God’s love being revealed in these acts of love. When we understand these facts and acts of love, then we will be ready to understand the love of God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When we understand, then we will also want to love others as God has loved us.
It is said that knowledge is power. Learning new things every day help us grow in many ways. But whatever we have learnt or are learning, there is still a massive amount of knowledge out there that remains to be learnt.
Some facts can be just trivia, which can be interesting, or amusing, or just simply amazing.
Did we know that the sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the English alphabet? That’s why that sentence is used for typing lessons for beginners.
Did we know the the average person falls asleep in 7 minutes? That’s why the recommended time for the length of a homily is 7 minutes.
Did we know that apples are more effective at waking you up in the morning than coffee?
Did we know that money is the number one thing that people argue about?
Did we know that the most common mental illnesses are anxiety and depression?
And talking about anxiety and depression, it can stem from what we know, as well as what we do not know.
So knowledge of our present situation may lead us to depression, yet we are also anxious to know about our future.
A story goes that a young man was rather depressed about his current situation, and so he decided to go to a fortune-teller to see what his future is like.
So the fortune-teller studied his palm and then he told the young man, “You will be poor, unhappy and unmarried until you are 40.”
And so the young man anxiously asked, “After that? After that?” And the fortune-teller replied, “After that you will get used to it!”
Maybe the truth here is that life is difficult and even depressing at times, and we have to get used to that. Or at least we have to be prepared for that.
In the gospel, Jesus said to His disciples, “I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now.”
He could be referring to what was going to happen soon, i.e. He will be betrayed into the hands of His enemies, His disciples will desert Him, He will suffer and die on the cross.
But that would be too much for His disciples to handle for the moment. It would be too depressing for them.
Yet, Jesus also added this – But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth.
So as much as the reality of life is that it is difficult and even depressing at times, there is an even greater truth that is promised by God in the scriptures.
Because in the book of the prophet Jeremiah, God has this to say to His people. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
It is by trusting in the Lord’s promise of the future for us that we dare to look towards the future with hope and not with despair.
Some of us may remember Arthur Ashe. Arthur Ashe became the first, and is still the only, Afro-American male player to win the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. He is also the first Afro-American to be ranked No. 1 in the world. Always an activist, when Ashe learned that he had contracted AIDS via a blood transfusion, he turned his efforts to raising awareness of the disease, before finally succumbing to it on February 6, 1993.
When he was suffering from the disease, he received letters from his fans the world over, one of which conveyed: "Why does God have to select you for such a bad disease?"
To this Arthur Ashe replied with this one paragraph, and it is often quoted as the paragraph that explains life: "All over the world 50 million children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the Grand Slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to the semi-finals, 2 to the finals, and when I was holding the cup I never asked God “Why me?”. And today in pain I should not be asking God “Why me?”
For us, as the mystery of life unfolds before us, and especially when distress and turmoil swirl around us, we will be inclined to ask God “Why me?” But at the same time, another mystery is also unfolding before us, and it is the mystery of God who is Trinity.
Yes, we know who God is from the Bible and from what the Church taught us. We know that God is the Holy Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God the Father sent His Son to be like us in all things so as to teach us how to live life, and in turn Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be our Helper and Guide and to lead us the truth of life and even to the complete truth.
The truth of life is essentially the truth of God the Trinity. The truth of God is that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are united in love with one another.
And the truth of life is that we are to live our lives in love for God and for one another so that we can look to the future with hope and love.
Over the past couple of weeks, many of us have offered our time and love to fold these Jesus Invites for others so that they will come for the parish Triduum and Feastday and to experience for themselves the love of God for them.
Over the past week, many of us have prayed for Fr. Paul Tong’s recovery and offered our services to care for him after his discharge.
These are the facts of love that we need to know, and we can see God’s love being revealed in these acts of love. When we understand these facts and acts of love, then we will be ready to understand the love of God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When we understand, then we will also want to love others as God has loved us.
Saturday, May 14, 2016
Pentecost Sunday, Year C, 15.05.2016
Acts 2:1-11 / 1 Cor 12:3-7, 12-13 / John 20:19-23
In today’s feast of Pentecost, the focus is none other than on the Holy Spirit.
As we heard in the 1st reading, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles like a powerful wind from heaven and in tongues of fire.
That day was a great happening for the Church and they began to speak in foreign languages as the Holy Spirit gave them the gift of speech. It was a dramatic day.
Another occasion that we hear about the Holy Spirit is during the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation for the teenagers.
The bishop will be there, relatives and friends will be there, the teenagers are all dressed up, many photographs will be taken.
But after that, something strange happens. The teenagers seem to go into secret service or they go undercover. Because they don’t seem to be seen around anymore.
It’s like the story about the two Christian pastors and a Catholic priest having a discussion about the problem of birds in their churches.
The first pastor said that he covered up all the holes in the roof of the church but the birds still managed to come in. The second pastor said that he called the pest control company but the problem persisted.
Then they asked the Catholic priest how he handled the problem, and he said, “Oh I just confirm them, and they never come back.”
So, the Sacrament of Confirmation seemed to have a strange effect on Catholic teenagers; they seem to have “gone off” after that.
Maybe the name of the Sacrament can be changed to something like “Sacrament of Confirmation and Last Rites”.
But what Jesus said in the gospel will make us think again about this feast of Pentecost, about the Sacrament of Confirmation, and maybe even about “Last Rites” (which is also called “Extreme Unction” or “Anointing of the sick”.
Before He breathed on His disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit, He said to them: As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.
And in the 1st reading, we hear what they were sent to do – they went out of that room and they began to proclaim the marvels of God, and those who heard them were amazed and astonished.
That’s the power of the Spirit working in the disciples. And if we were there witnessing it, we would say it in our own language – That’s the Spirit!
But that was then. What about now? Do we still see the Spirit working marvels in our day and age, and will we say: That’s the Spirit!
There is one prominent member of our community who would really want to be with us in this celebration of Pentecost, but he can’t.
I am talking about Fr. Paul Tong who is in hospital and recovering from an open surgery to remove his gall bladder.
Last Sunday evening, I went to the hospital to give him the “Anointing of the sick” to prepare him for the surgery the next day. It was a rather urgent surgery.
After the anointing, he said, “I’ll be ok, I’ll be ok”. At 9pm he waved his hand to tell us to go back, and when we still hung around he waved his hand again to tell us to go home, and he said this, “I want to sleep.” I was amazed by his calmness, and a few moments after that he snuggled himself to sleep. He was such a peaceful sight. Amazing.
The operation was successful but at 89 years-old Fr. Tong was worn down by it, and he slept through Monday and Tuesday.
On Wednesday I managed to catch him on one of his lucid moments and he asked me what day it was. When I told him it was Wednesday, he raised his hand and counted, “Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Can, can, I can come back on Sunday to do Mass!”
And before I could say anything, he dozed off. I was amazed by his spirit. Even though he was lying flat on the hospital bed, with tubes running here and there, he was already thinking of coming back to serve the community. What a spirit! But, that’s the Spirit.
Then on Thursday evening, the Archbishop informed me that he was coming to see Fr. Tong at 8.45pm. As the time was approaching, I could see that Fr. Tong was sound asleep and I just couldn’t bring myself to wake him up.
So I said a short prayer and then whispered into his ear that the Archbishop was coming to see him. But he was in deep sleep, and so I went down to meet the Archbishop.
When I met him, I tried to explain that Fr. Tong was resting, he was tired, he may not be awake to acknowledge the Archbishop and I hoped that the Archbishop won’t be disappointed that he couldn’t talk to him.
But when we went into the room, there was Fr. Tong, sitting up and wide awake and having his cup of Milo and biscuits. The Archbishop glanced at me and he probably wondered what I was talking about earlier. I could only say that the Spirit woke him up to meet the Archbishop.
We may think that Fr. Tong’s hospitalization and surgery was unfortunate, but God turned suffering into blessing and the Holy Spirit showed the mighty power of healing.
On Friday, after lying in bed for five days, Fr. Tong got up from bed and walked under the guidance of two physiotherapists. He did very well and won the praise of the physiotherapists.
The doctor said that Fr. Tong’s recovery was remarkable and he could be back in the parish by Monday. Certainly, it was the Holy Spirit gathering up our prayers for Fr. Tong that such a marvelous recovery and healing had happened.
The Holy Spirit was like a mighty wind moving our hearts to pray for Fr. Tong and moving the hearts of many members of our parish community to roster themselves to keep 24-hour vigil over Fr. Tong, so that someone will be around as and when he needed assistance.
So even though Fr. Tong could not be with us in this celebration of Pentecost, yet in his hospital bed, he already bore witness to the power and presence of the Holy Spirit working marvelously in his healing and recovery.
And it is also a testimony of how the Holy Spirit moved people to pray and to offer their service to those in need.
What the Holy Spirit did for Fr. Tong and through Fr. Tong, the Holy Spirit will also do for us and work marvels through us.
We only need to heed what the letter to the Galatians tells us (Gal 5:16, 22, 25): Learn to live and move in the Spirit. Then there is no danger of your giving way to the impulses of corrupt nature. The Spirit yields a harvest of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, forbearance, gentleness, faith, courtesy, temperateness and purity. Since we live by the Spirit, let the Spirit be our rule of life.
In today’s feast of Pentecost, the focus is none other than on the Holy Spirit.
As we heard in the 1st reading, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles like a powerful wind from heaven and in tongues of fire.
That day was a great happening for the Church and they began to speak in foreign languages as the Holy Spirit gave them the gift of speech. It was a dramatic day.
Another occasion that we hear about the Holy Spirit is during the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation for the teenagers.
The bishop will be there, relatives and friends will be there, the teenagers are all dressed up, many photographs will be taken.
But after that, something strange happens. The teenagers seem to go into secret service or they go undercover. Because they don’t seem to be seen around anymore.
It’s like the story about the two Christian pastors and a Catholic priest having a discussion about the problem of birds in their churches.
The first pastor said that he covered up all the holes in the roof of the church but the birds still managed to come in. The second pastor said that he called the pest control company but the problem persisted.
Then they asked the Catholic priest how he handled the problem, and he said, “Oh I just confirm them, and they never come back.”
So, the Sacrament of Confirmation seemed to have a strange effect on Catholic teenagers; they seem to have “gone off” after that.
Maybe the name of the Sacrament can be changed to something like “Sacrament of Confirmation and Last Rites”.
But what Jesus said in the gospel will make us think again about this feast of Pentecost, about the Sacrament of Confirmation, and maybe even about “Last Rites” (which is also called “Extreme Unction” or “Anointing of the sick”.
Before He breathed on His disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit, He said to them: As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.
And in the 1st reading, we hear what they were sent to do – they went out of that room and they began to proclaim the marvels of God, and those who heard them were amazed and astonished.
That’s the power of the Spirit working in the disciples. And if we were there witnessing it, we would say it in our own language – That’s the Spirit!
But that was then. What about now? Do we still see the Spirit working marvels in our day and age, and will we say: That’s the Spirit!
There is one prominent member of our community who would really want to be with us in this celebration of Pentecost, but he can’t.
I am talking about Fr. Paul Tong who is in hospital and recovering from an open surgery to remove his gall bladder.
Last Sunday evening, I went to the hospital to give him the “Anointing of the sick” to prepare him for the surgery the next day. It was a rather urgent surgery.
After the anointing, he said, “I’ll be ok, I’ll be ok”. At 9pm he waved his hand to tell us to go back, and when we still hung around he waved his hand again to tell us to go home, and he said this, “I want to sleep.” I was amazed by his calmness, and a few moments after that he snuggled himself to sleep. He was such a peaceful sight. Amazing.
The operation was successful but at 89 years-old Fr. Tong was worn down by it, and he slept through Monday and Tuesday.
On Wednesday I managed to catch him on one of his lucid moments and he asked me what day it was. When I told him it was Wednesday, he raised his hand and counted, “Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Can, can, I can come back on Sunday to do Mass!”
And before I could say anything, he dozed off. I was amazed by his spirit. Even though he was lying flat on the hospital bed, with tubes running here and there, he was already thinking of coming back to serve the community. What a spirit! But, that’s the Spirit.
Then on Thursday evening, the Archbishop informed me that he was coming to see Fr. Tong at 8.45pm. As the time was approaching, I could see that Fr. Tong was sound asleep and I just couldn’t bring myself to wake him up.
So I said a short prayer and then whispered into his ear that the Archbishop was coming to see him. But he was in deep sleep, and so I went down to meet the Archbishop.
 |
| Archbishop William Goh praying over Fr Paul Tong |
When I met him, I tried to explain that Fr. Tong was resting, he was tired, he may not be awake to acknowledge the Archbishop and I hoped that the Archbishop won’t be disappointed that he couldn’t talk to him.
But when we went into the room, there was Fr. Tong, sitting up and wide awake and having his cup of Milo and biscuits. The Archbishop glanced at me and he probably wondered what I was talking about earlier. I could only say that the Spirit woke him up to meet the Archbishop.
We may think that Fr. Tong’s hospitalization and surgery was unfortunate, but God turned suffering into blessing and the Holy Spirit showed the mighty power of healing.
On Friday, after lying in bed for five days, Fr. Tong got up from bed and walked under the guidance of two physiotherapists. He did very well and won the praise of the physiotherapists.
The doctor said that Fr. Tong’s recovery was remarkable and he could be back in the parish by Monday. Certainly, it was the Holy Spirit gathering up our prayers for Fr. Tong that such a marvelous recovery and healing had happened.
The Holy Spirit was like a mighty wind moving our hearts to pray for Fr. Tong and moving the hearts of many members of our parish community to roster themselves to keep 24-hour vigil over Fr. Tong, so that someone will be around as and when he needed assistance.
So even though Fr. Tong could not be with us in this celebration of Pentecost, yet in his hospital bed, he already bore witness to the power and presence of the Holy Spirit working marvelously in his healing and recovery.
And it is also a testimony of how the Holy Spirit moved people to pray and to offer their service to those in need.
What the Holy Spirit did for Fr. Tong and through Fr. Tong, the Holy Spirit will also do for us and work marvels through us.
We only need to heed what the letter to the Galatians tells us (Gal 5:16, 22, 25): Learn to live and move in the Spirit. Then there is no danger of your giving way to the impulses of corrupt nature. The Spirit yields a harvest of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, forbearance, gentleness, faith, courtesy, temperateness and purity. Since we live by the Spirit, let the Spirit be our rule of life.
Saturday, May 7, 2016
7th Sunday of Easter, Year C, 08.05.2016
Acts 7:55-60 / Apocalypse 22:12-14, 16-17, 20 / John 17:20-26
For whatever reason, the date Friday the 13th is being termed as unlucky in the mild sense and eerie in the extreme sense.
We may recall a horror movie series that has the title “Friday the 13th” that has plenty of blood and gore in it.
Although it may be seen as just some kind of superstition, some people are not taking any chances about it.
No one would consider getting married on a Friday the 13th. It is estimated that businesses, especially airlines suffer from severe losses on Friday the 13th.
And even if the Friday is taken out of the term, the number 13 does not go well with people and places.
There is this fear of the number 13, so much so that many high-rise buildings, hotels and hospitals skip the 13th floor and many airports do not have gates numbered 13. And having 13 people at the dinner table is considered bad luck.
The day Friday and the number 13 may be deemed as superstition and it has several origins. And surprisingly one of the origins is linked with Christianity.
The speculation was that Judas, who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th one to be seated at the Last Supper, and Jesus was killed on a Friday due to Judas and his evil doings.
Whatever we may think of Friday the 13th, it is impossible for a whole year to pass without a single Friday the 13th.
And for this year, Friday the 13th happens to fall in this month, the month of May.
Whatever the world may think or say about it, and whatever we may think or say about it, we need to remember what happened on May the 13th in the year 1917.
On that day in 1917, something astonishing happened in an obscure village in Portugal called Fatima.
There, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, appeared for the first time to 3 shepherd children; Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta, and she continued to make her appearances to them on the 13th of each month, with her last appearance on October the 13th.
Appearing to the children, the Blessed Virgin told them that She had been sent by God with a message for every man, woman and child living in that time.
Coming at a time when civilization was torn by WW I and bloody violence, Mary promised that Heaven would grant peace to the world if Her requests for prayer, reparation and consecration were heard and obeyed.
Our Lady of Fatima, as she is called, explained to the children that war is a punishment for sin and warned that God would further punish the world for its disobedience to His Will by means of war, hunger and the persecution of the Church, the Holy Father and the Catholic faithful.
Mary also prophesied that Russia would be God's chosen "instrument of chastisement," spreading the "errors" of atheism and materialism across the earth, starting wars, annihilating nations and persecuting the faithful everywhere.
Certainly it was a terrifying fire-and-brimstone kind of message. In a way, it forced the Church and the world to look up to heaven for the answer to the turmoil and distress the world was facing.
Today’s gospel opened with this line: Jesus raised His eyes to heaven and He said a long prayer to His Father.
He too was in turmoil and distress as suffering, pain and death was waiting for Him.
But even in His turmoil and distress, Jesus raised His eyes to heaven and prayed for His disciples that they will be united as one so that the world will may believe that God sent Jesus to pour out His love on the world.
Yes, Jesus prayed for His disciples that they will be united as one in their own turmoil and distress so that they can show the world how much God loves the world.
To raise up the eyes to heaven in the midst of turmoil and distress is to be have faith in God and to keep on loving so that the world can be saved.
In the 1st reading, Stephen raised his eyes to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus at God’s right hand, even though he was facing mortal danger.
Yes, we are called to raise our eyes to heaven in the midst of the turmoil and distress of our lives and the turmoil and distress of the world.
The message of Our Lady of Fatima tells us to do that through prayer and penance.
It has been almost a hundred years since Mary had appeared at Fatima. And how have we heeded her message and her call to prayer and penance?
In the turmoil and distress of our lives and as we see the world in turmoil and distress, will we raise our eyes to heaven in prayer and to pray as one?
This coming Friday, the 13th of May, is the 99th anniversary of the first appearance of Mary at Fatima. Her message then is still relevant now and maybe even more relevant for our time.
On that day, Friday the 13th, we will gather at Mary’s shrine and raise our eyes to heaven and pray the Rosary for peace in the world. It was at Fatima that Mary urged to children to pray the Rosary for peace in the world.
So we will gather to pray the Rosary for peace in the world, for peace and unity in the Church, and for peace and unity in our families.
For some, the combination of Friday and the number 13 may seem to be unlucky and fearful. But with Mary, we will raise our eyes to heaven and turn it into a day of joy and blessings.
For whatever reason, the date Friday the 13th is being termed as unlucky in the mild sense and eerie in the extreme sense.
We may recall a horror movie series that has the title “Friday the 13th” that has plenty of blood and gore in it.
Although it may be seen as just some kind of superstition, some people are not taking any chances about it.
No one would consider getting married on a Friday the 13th. It is estimated that businesses, especially airlines suffer from severe losses on Friday the 13th.
And even if the Friday is taken out of the term, the number 13 does not go well with people and places.
There is this fear of the number 13, so much so that many high-rise buildings, hotels and hospitals skip the 13th floor and many airports do not have gates numbered 13. And having 13 people at the dinner table is considered bad luck.
The day Friday and the number 13 may be deemed as superstition and it has several origins. And surprisingly one of the origins is linked with Christianity.
The speculation was that Judas, who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th one to be seated at the Last Supper, and Jesus was killed on a Friday due to Judas and his evil doings.
Whatever we may think of Friday the 13th, it is impossible for a whole year to pass without a single Friday the 13th.
And for this year, Friday the 13th happens to fall in this month, the month of May.
Whatever the world may think or say about it, and whatever we may think or say about it, we need to remember what happened on May the 13th in the year 1917.
On that day in 1917, something astonishing happened in an obscure village in Portugal called Fatima.
There, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, appeared for the first time to 3 shepherd children; Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta, and she continued to make her appearances to them on the 13th of each month, with her last appearance on October the 13th.
Appearing to the children, the Blessed Virgin told them that She had been sent by God with a message for every man, woman and child living in that time.
Coming at a time when civilization was torn by WW I and bloody violence, Mary promised that Heaven would grant peace to the world if Her requests for prayer, reparation and consecration were heard and obeyed.
Our Lady of Fatima, as she is called, explained to the children that war is a punishment for sin and warned that God would further punish the world for its disobedience to His Will by means of war, hunger and the persecution of the Church, the Holy Father and the Catholic faithful.
Mary also prophesied that Russia would be God's chosen "instrument of chastisement," spreading the "errors" of atheism and materialism across the earth, starting wars, annihilating nations and persecuting the faithful everywhere.
Certainly it was a terrifying fire-and-brimstone kind of message. In a way, it forced the Church and the world to look up to heaven for the answer to the turmoil and distress the world was facing.
Today’s gospel opened with this line: Jesus raised His eyes to heaven and He said a long prayer to His Father.
He too was in turmoil and distress as suffering, pain and death was waiting for Him.
But even in His turmoil and distress, Jesus raised His eyes to heaven and prayed for His disciples that they will be united as one so that the world will may believe that God sent Jesus to pour out His love on the world.
Yes, Jesus prayed for His disciples that they will be united as one in their own turmoil and distress so that they can show the world how much God loves the world.
To raise up the eyes to heaven in the midst of turmoil and distress is to be have faith in God and to keep on loving so that the world can be saved.
In the 1st reading, Stephen raised his eyes to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus at God’s right hand, even though he was facing mortal danger.
Yes, we are called to raise our eyes to heaven in the midst of the turmoil and distress of our lives and the turmoil and distress of the world.
The message of Our Lady of Fatima tells us to do that through prayer and penance.
It has been almost a hundred years since Mary had appeared at Fatima. And how have we heeded her message and her call to prayer and penance?
In the turmoil and distress of our lives and as we see the world in turmoil and distress, will we raise our eyes to heaven in prayer and to pray as one?
This coming Friday, the 13th of May, is the 99th anniversary of the first appearance of Mary at Fatima. Her message then is still relevant now and maybe even more relevant for our time.
On that day, Friday the 13th, we will gather at Mary’s shrine and raise our eyes to heaven and pray the Rosary for peace in the world. It was at Fatima that Mary urged to children to pray the Rosary for peace in the world.
So we will gather to pray the Rosary for peace in the world, for peace and unity in the Church, and for peace and unity in our families.
For some, the combination of Friday and the number 13 may seem to be unlucky and fearful. But with Mary, we will raise our eyes to heaven and turn it into a day of joy and blessings.
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