Apocalypse 11:19; 12:1-6, 10 / 1 Cor 15:20-26 / Luke 1:39-56
Can you make a guess what is the happening news over the past week?
There is also the National Day celebrations held for the first time at the Sports Hub. There is the Olympics in Rio with the Singapore swimmers making some waves.
But earlier in the week, the thing that is capturing all the attention is a game, a game that is played using the mobile phone, a game that is called “Pokemon Go”.
And the craze over that game is almost like incredible. There are hordes of people walking around looking at their mobile phones, instead of looking out for the traffic, and then stopping all of a sudden and then swiping on their phones.
I see this as I stand at the front of the church. Then I was told that the church is one the Pokestops. In fact, the whole stretch of Tank Road has Pokestops at the Teochew Building and the Hindu temple and also the SHRM college.
And then I was told that all landmarks are Pokestops, and that includes religious, cultural and historical places. It seems like the purpose is make people go to these places and to learn more about these places and also to make friends along the way who are also playing the game. So that’s why the game is called Pokemon Go – to go to these places and catch those Pokemons and make friends.
Pokemon Go is an augmented reality game, meaning it meshes the virtual world with the real world on the smartphone. Players navigate their neighborhoods and parks using the game's built-in maps. The maps are real, based on Google Maps. On the map, virtual characters known as Pokemons appear. Players try to catch these Pokemons by traveling to the character's location on the map.
Once there, they must "capture" the Pokemons by hitting it with a virtual ball. The entire virtual world is experienced through the smartphone.
It is interesting that people get so caught up with this game, maybe because it is the blending of the virtual reality and the real world.
But if people get so caught up with this augmented reality, then do they know of another reality, and that is the mystical spiritual reality?
The 1st reading gives us a glimpse of this mystical spiritual reality.
The sanctuary of God in heaven opened, and the ark of the covenant could be seen inside it. A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, adorned with the sun, standing on the moon, and with twelve stars on her head for a crown.
What would we think about that? Is it real? Just as the game would need a smartphone in order to enter into the augmented reality, we also would need something to see and enter into that mystical spiritual reality. We need to have eyes of faith to see what the 1st reading is telling us.
We not only need eyes of faith, but we would also need to have ears that would listen to the sound of the Good News.
In the gospel, when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb, and filled with the Holy Spirit, she made this pronouncement to Mary: Of all women, you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
Today we celebrate this blessedness of Mary in her Assumption into heaven. Having completed the course of her earthly life, Mary was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory by the grace of God.
Jesus, by His Resurrection, conquered sin and death, and He ascended into heaven to open the gates for us and Mary is the first to receive the fruit of His salvation. Mary believed that the promise made to her by the Lord would be fulfilled. That promise is also made to us who believe.
But just as Elizabeth proclaimed that Mary is blessed, we too must ask for that blessing and be a blessing for others.
Last Saturday, the Pokemon Go game was launched in Singapore and there were people at the front of the church doing their catching.
One of our Year of Mercy helpers was at the front waiting to receive a pilgrimage group coming to our church. She saw a young man doing his catching, and not being too sure what he was doing, asked him what it was about.
It turned out that he is a Catholic and his family lives in Oxley Rise but they don’t come to this church.
He himself has not stepped into this church before and so she gave him a “tour” of the church and explained a few things to him. He noticed the statue outside but he didn’t realise it was the statue of Mother Mary until she told him. And he kept commenting how beautiful the church is and that he will come here for Mass since it is so nearby.
It is not an unusual story of conversion or miracle, but that young man came here for an augmented reality. But he left here with an experience of a mystical spiritual reality.
That Year of Mercy helper was a blessing for him and I believe that God will also bless her for her service to God and to the church for being a helper in the Year of Mercy.
Being one of the Pokestops has its pros and cons. Some of us might think that it would be a nuisance when these gamers wonder around outside the church. (We made it clear that they can’t do their catching in church).
But can we also be a blessing for them by helping them to realize that there is more to life than just that augmented reality in their smartphones?
Yes, there is the mystical spiritual reality that is waiting to be encountered and we can help them experience this reality by being a blessing to them.
Let us pray that we be blessed just as Mary is blessed. Let us serve the Lord and do whatever He tells us so that we will receive His blessings. And with God’s blessings, let us also be a blessing for others.