13th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 01.06.2018

Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24 / 2 Cor 8:7, 9, 13-15 / Mark 5:21-43
One of the most profound expressions of faith is when we pray. The act of prayer shows to others who we believe in and what we believe in.

So coming for Mass in worship and prayer shows who we truly are as Church.

At the same time, it is also in prayer that we tell ourselves who we truly believe in and what we believe in. However a cheeky question has been asked: Who prays more fervently – the one in Church or the one in the casino? 

But as much as prayer is a profound expression of faith, it is also a critical examination of faith. Because it is in prayer that our faith is put to the test.

So it is obvious that prayer is not just some kind of spiritual activity of the mystics. No doubt some mystics experience some kind of ecstasy in prayer, like levitation, as if they are rising up to heaven.

But some mystics are also really down to earth and their prayer seems like some kind of confrontation with God. Like St. Teresa of Avila, who reformed the Carmelite Order but had to suffer much persecution. She also felt that Jesus didn’t care about her
So she complained to Jesus as she said to Him: You know why you have so few friends. It’s because You treat those who love You so badly!

So prayer can be a profound expression of faith, and at the same time it is also a critical examination of faith.

More so when we come face to face with suffering and pain and illnesses. It is in times like these that we will see for ourselves who we believe in and what we believe in.

In the gospel, we come across two stories of suffering and pain and also death. One was a woman who suffered haemorrhage for 12 years. Another was a 12-year-old girl who was desperately sick and eventually died from her illness.

In both cases, life was draining out, one was slowly draining out, and the other desperately draining out. Both were not getting any better. And with that, both, as well as their loved ones were getting bitter as their faith was put to the test and their prayer were not getting anywhere.

But here is where prayer is also the profound expression of faith. Jairus, the father of the 12-year-old girl, being a synagogue official would have prayed desperately for his daughter. 
That prayer led him to seek out Jesus for help, which was a rather unexpected and surprising move. Some may even ask as to why would a synagogue official turn to an unofficial street-preacher. But as it is, desperate situations will look for desperate options.

That can also be said of the woman suffering from haemorrhage. Her desperate prayer produced one last option of a desperate action, and that is to touch the clothes of Jesus. With nothing more to lose, she was prepared to do it despite all the risks.

There was only one thing left in her mind as she said to herself: If I can touch even his clothes, I shall be well again.

And there was also one thing left in the mind of Jairus as he said to Jesus: My little daughter is desperately sick. Do come and lay your hands on her to make her better and save her life.

They had no guarantees, not even any probabilities, but they had one thing that Jesus also affirmed them of – they had faith in Jesus. To the woman, Jesus said “Your faith has restored you to health”. To Jairus, Jesus said “Do not be afraid; only have faith”.

Like Jairus and the woman in the gospel, our experiences in life also have many desperate situations that make us pray desperately. 

Besides pain and suffering and sickness, there are also financial difficulties, relationship tensions, work problems, marital problems, family problems and a whole lot of other desperate problems.

Oh, certainly we prayed and we will pray, but after a while we begin to ask questions like “Why is God not answering my prayer?” or “What’s the point of praying if God is not listening to my prayer?” And of course, we get angry and we get bitter with God. 

And here Jesus tells us not to give up but to have faith in Him. To have faith also means to be prepared to make a desperate act of faith like what Jairus and the woman with the haemorrhage did.

But it need not be some kind of unusual or strange act of faith. Rather it can be as simple as writing a petition to the Sacred Heart or praying in front of the statue of the Sacred Heart or touching the pictures of Mary and Jesus.

It is a simple act of faith but it takes a lot of humility and trust in God to do it and not think about what people might say about it.

Because in our desperate prayer, we believe what the 1st reading tells us – Death was not God’s doing, he takes no pleasure in the extinction of the living. God did make man imperishable, he made him in the image of his own nature.

That’s the God that we believe in – that He loves us and cares for us, and no prayer will ever go unanswered, especially a desperate prayer.

We only need to hold on the faith that in within us, the same faith that Jairus and the woman with the haemorrhage had in Jesus.

Nativity of St. John the Baptist, Year B, 24.06.2018

Isaiah 49:1-6 / Acts 13:22-26 / Luke 1:57-66, 80

The birth of St. John the Baptist is one of the three nativities that the Church celebrates in the liturgy. The other two are the birth of Jesus at Christmas and the birth of our Lady which is on the 8th Sept.

These three births are of important significance because all three point to an appointed time, a time in which God’s plan of salvation is to be fulfilled, a time of blessings, a time of abundant graces.

This weekend we celebrate the birth of St. John the Baptist. On this special occasion, it would be appropriate to have a statue of St. John the Baptist for veneration. Actually we do have a statue of St. John the Baptist. It is at the 2nd floor office. But unfortunately, it needs quite a bit of restoration and we are waiting for God to send the appointed person to do it.

Anyway, the name “John” means “God is gracious” or “the graciousness of God”. So we just wait and see how the grace of God is going to work from here.

St. John the Baptist was a prophet, the greatest of all the prophets because it was he who pointed out to the people who the Saviour is. And of course the Saviour is Jesus. The name “Jesus” means “God saves”.

So when we combine the meanings of the name of John and the name of Jesus, then we get this wonderful revelation : It is by the grace of God that we are saved.

So John the Baptist turned out to be a prophet, a great prophet, even the greatest prophet. And that answered the people’s question: What will this child turn out to be?

So John the Baptist turned out to be a prophet. But his father, Zechariah, was a priest. But whether a priest or a prophet, both have the same purpose and that is to be in service to God for the salvation of the people.

And here, I would like to share some reflections on my service to God and to His people over the last 20 years as a priest, and especially in my three and a half years at the Church of the Sacred Heart.

This church has a special significance for my parents because they were married in this church, and now I am serving in this church, so it is only right and just that I give thanks for the priesthood.

My parents had three children, and I am the second child. Some people have asked me if I have heard the call to the priesthood when I was young. I can’t be sure, but maybe there were some indications when I was in my mother’s womb.

She was about 7 months pregnant (quite heavily pregnant already) when she went to the wet market wearing those flimsy rubber slippers. After doing the marketing, she was going down the steps when she slipped and landed heavily.

We know that St. John the Baptist leapt for joy in his mother’s womb when Mary greeted Elizabeth.
When my mother slipped and landed heavily, I could have leapt out prematurely. But thanks be to God, the water bag was not broken, there was some pain, but I didn’t come out. 

Maybe I was too stubborn to come out. But it was more like my appointed time has not come yet, so I remained in my mother’s womb till full term.

The drama didn’t end there. When I was about two months old, my mother put me on the bed because she had to look after my sister and do some chores. 

She was quite sure that I wouldn’t roll around or turn over because babies don’t do that at two months. Anyway, she had the experience of my sister so she left me on the bed, and went on to do her chores, expecting me to fall asleep.

Then as she was doing the cooking, she heard a sound from the bedroom where I was, a sound like something fell to the ground. She quickly dropped her cooking and rushed to the bedroom and found me on the floor faced down.

Of course she panicked and quickly picked me up, but I was silent. But after a couple of nudges, then I started crying (probably because I was too shocked at first to cry). 

There was a big swelling on my forehead. Seems that my head hit the floor first. Till this day, my mother couldn’t figure out how I double-turned and rolled off the bed and fell. 

But thank God there was no permanent damage (I think so). And don’t ask me what happened to what my mother was cooking. Ask my mother.

But of course, these things happen, but they happen at the appointed time and for a purpose. So the appointed happenings continued, with my breaking the news to my parents about going to the Seminary and then finally getting ordained.

Fast forward to the appointed happening of my posting here as the parish priest, and three and a half years later I am here with you giving thanks for the priesthood on the celebration of the birth of St. John the Baptist.

And on this joyous celebration of the birth of St. John the Baptist and giving thanks to God for the priesthood, I want to summarise everything in just three words – blessings and graces.

We are blessed with a little and beautiful church, as well as a holy and mystical church where people can find rest and peace in a busy and noisy Orchard Road area. 
So let us in this holy place always give thanks and with love in our hearts offer a pure and worthy sacrifice to the Lord as the priestly People of God.

We also have a devotion that brings us right into the heart of Jesus. What we need to ask of Jesus is to make our hearts like His, and with Jesus in our hearts, we will truly see signs and wonders.

But we also need to be aware of the “adverse spirit”, which wants to deform our hearts from being holy into a divided, broken and wounded heart. 

Oh yes, we have to keep that “adverse spirit” out and keep our hearts united in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

So as we gaze into the future and think about our purpose in life and our mission, and what we will turn out to be, let us also remember our prophetic role and that is to make the way straight for the Lord, so that we can lead others along the way of salvation.

So my duty is to prepare for the Lord a people worthy to be called a priestly People of God, offering a pure and holy sacrifice for the salvation of the world. And that is what you are – a holy people and a priestly people.

Yes, the appointed time has come and it is now. We celebrate, we give thanks, and with the prayers of St. John the Baptist, let us go forth to make the Sacred Heart of Jesus known and loved.

That is our prophetic mission; that is also our priestly mission. 

11th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 17.06.2018

Ezekiel 17:22-24 / 2 Cor 5:6-10 / Mark 4:26-34

The month of June can be called a feverish month. Firstly, in terms of the weather, it was feverishly hot, although the last couple of days seem to have cooled down a bit.

But even if the weather cools off, it is still a feverish month. There was the feast-day fever, those three days of the triduum and then the feast-day itself. Well may the fire keep burning in our hearts with the love of Jesus.

And then there was the summit fever. Those foreign journalists and security personnel experienced how hot Singapore can be. For the leaders of the US and North Korea to agree to meet in Singapore says much about Singapore, a tiny but hot dot.

And now the latest fever is the World Cup fever. All those TV sets that are switched on for the “live” matches are certainly raising up the temperature.

The World Cup is the show-case of the game of football. Like the Olympics, it is held once every four years. But unlike the Olympics, which has a variety of sports, the World Cup is all about football and only about football.

Set on the world stage, the countries that qualified converge in Moscow where the players will display their skills before the millions who will be watching them on their TV sets.

For some of the younger players, it will probably be their first World Cup experience. For some of the older ones, it may be their last.

But whether first or last, these players have come a long way and this is the world stage where they will show how good they are and whether they are good enough to lift the prize of the World Cup of football.

Of course we may not be told or we will not know what sacrifices they made or how hard they trained just to get there, and if luck is on their side, it will be their moment of glory.

So what we see is the final result. What we don’t see is the training, the sweat and the pain. Some may shoot to fame. Some may, because of a mistake, walk away from the pitch in shame.

Like the gospel parables that we have just read, the players are like the seeds that a man throws on the land. Night and day, while the man sleeps and wakes and goes about his business, the seeds grow and sprout.

And now at the World Cup, the time of harvest had come, and some will bear fruit of thirty, or sixty, or a hundred fold. But some may bear nothing at all.

Some will be like the mustard seed, unknown and unheard of, but on that world stage, will rise to the greatest heights of fame in the game.

Whatever it may be, but like the gospel parables, there is the human involvement. The seeds were sown on the land by the man. Similarly, the mustard seed was sown in the soil by somebody.

Once the seeds are in the soil, nature takes it course, and the grace of God will shape the development of the seeds into what they will become.

Similarly, for those footballers at the World Cup arena. Somebody would have helped them to be sown into the game and helped them in their development.

Maybe for some of them, their fathers were footballers or were somehow involved in the game. Or maybe their fathers just loved watching the game (like most of our fathers) and as little boys they wanted to show their fathers that they can play the game, and would desire that their fathers would watch them play the game too.

Well, today as we also celebrate Fathers Day, we want to acknowledge that our fathers had also played an influential part in our lives.

We may not have turned out to be footballers, but maybe one present we can get for them is one of those World Cup deals offered by the telcos.

Fathers are quite easy to please. Just let them watch the football matches peacefully, and even food may not be necessary. But just don’t walk in front of the TV. Fathers can get angry in such sensitive situations.

Well, I need not get any present for my father, as he had passed on exactly four years ago. He never expected me to be a footballer, neither did he expect me to be a priest, and he also never thought I could be one.

He didn’t teach me how to be a priest. But he taught me how to be a father. He was just an ordinary father, who liked to watch football matches, wrestling, and the TV series in the ‘70s called “Combat”.

From him I learnt how to be the head of the family, to make sacrifices, to live simply and to be contented with the little things of life.

He taught me that prayer is essential, so every day the family would say the Rosary, and that God’s blessings cannot be taken for granted, so he will bless the home and incense it every week.

He never expected me to be a priest, nor did he thought that I would eventually be one. But he gave his silent consent and support. If he were still alive, he would come every Sunday, just to make sure that I preach properly and don’t scold the people.

Well, I didn’t lift up the World Cup, but whenever I lift up the Cup for the world at the altar, he would know that he had done his part as a father.

So to you my dear fathers, and as a father to a father, do continue to form your children in faith and in the ways of the Lord.

Your presence is all they need, even if you are just sitting there silently watch some World Cup match. 

For all you know, some may lift up the World Cup, and some may lift up the Cup for the world.

10th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 10.06.2018

Genesis 3:9-15 / 2 Cor 4:13 – 5:1 / Mark 3:20-35

What is the hottest news in this hot and humid weather? The most obvious thing to say is that it is only going to get hotter and hotter.

And to add on to this heat is this super-hot summit between the leaders of the US and North Korea next week. And that is already making things hot under the collar for everyone, with road-blocks and checks and super-tight security measures.

There ae many reasons why Singapore is chosen as the venue for this summit. But maybe the heat might help to melt the icy tension and bring some warmth to the summit and some hope for a more peaceful world. 

Well, there were some uncertainties and obstacles but things are moving and we pray it will move in the right and good direction.

But only until recently, it was thought that a meeting of this level was not that possible, if not impossible. There was even talk of the summit being called off.

So this is something really momentous, and we in Singapore are really privileged to host this, to witness this and more importantly to pray for a blessed outcome.

So to say that things won’t change and that things can’t change is a fallacy of sort, an untruth. It is like saying that God has no control over the events of the world and the events of life.

It is easier to say that it is impossible than to think that things can and will change for the better.

Like Adam and Eve in the 1st reading, we would rather hide from God, than to come out and face the truth and be free.

Today’s readings brings up the point of the sinfulness present in our world. It also brings us the presence of the devil who wants to freeze up the truth and make us hide with his lies.

If there is anything that can’t change, it is the devil and his gang. The devil is the father of sin and the father of lies. He is death, absolute death, and he wants nothing less than our death.

The death that he is looking for is the death of goodness, that we don’t see the good in anything and that even what is good is seen as bad and evil.

And we see this happening in the gospel. Jesus casted out devils, but instead of recognizing the power of God in Him, the scribes can say ridiculous things like it was through the devil that Jesus casts out devils.

We may think that what the scribes said was ridiculous. But Jesus would call that blasphemous.

Because to see goodness and yet call it evil is not just a grave sin but a blasphemy. Because it is actually speaking against the Holy Spirit who is the source of all good.

Only the devil and his gang would do that and they couldn’t care less about forgiveness because they won’t ask for it and they also don’t want to be forgiven.

To see good as evil, and not to repent and ask for forgiveness is what Jesus meant by blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Only the devil and his gang are like that. They will never have any forgiveness because they also don’t want it.

So for the devil and his gang, they are condemned to an eternal death. But they don’t want to die alone. What they want is our death. That is how vicious the devil can be.

But we don’t want to exist in death. We don’t want to be like the devil. We know the difference between good and evil, and we don’t want to see good as evil.

But the power of the devil is really something to be reckoned with, and he will strike the heel of our wounded fallen nature.

Hence, like Adam and Eve, the devil will be out to tempt us and like Adam and Eve, we fall into sin.

Sin makes us hide from God and from ourselves, but we don’t scamper away and hide in a dark hole. Rather we hide under the guise of pride and we criticize others for whatever good that they do, we slander and resort to falsehood to discredit others.

In short, we see any good as bad and evil. When we are like that, then the devil has trapped us.

Last Friday, we celebrated the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the devotion to the Sacred Heart, we are urged to go for confession monthly so that Jesus can clean and heal our hearts, so that He can make our hearts like His.

Confession is not useless and no sin is too great that it cannot be forgiven at Confession. To say that Confession is useless is also rather blasphemous.

We need to believe that nothing is impossible with God and we only need to come out of hiding from our sins and to encounter the healing love of Jesus.

Yes, we can change for the better, we will be able to see the good in all things, and even if things or people are bad, we want to believe that we can help them change for the better.

And we who want to be good and want to see goodness in everything, we want to call down God’s blessings on our world, on the coming summit, on those we care about, and especially on those we don’t feel like caring about. 

Jesus wants us to cast out the evil from this world and restore goodness to it. Let us begin with prayer and by going for confession first. God’s blessings will follow soon after.

Corpus Christi Year B, 03.06.2018

Exodus 24:3-8 / Hebrews 9:11-15 / Mark 14:12-16, 22-26
Whenever we talk about horses, we would image those elegant, swift-footed creatures that heroes sit on in action movies. Of course some might think of the Turf Club and all those kind of things.

Whenever we talk about donkeys, we will think of all those donkey jokes, name-calling (calling someone a donkey isn’t much of a compliment), dull and stubborn beasts-of-burden, without much graciousness or elegance.

Now what happens when a donkey and a horse come together, the offspring is called a mule. A mule is a cross-breed of a male donkey and a female horse. Mules are reputed to be more patient and hardy than horses and are less obstinate and a bit more intelligent than donkeys.

It is difficult to say whether a mule is the best of both worlds, or the less of both worlds. Mules are not featured much in stories, but here is one and it is in a way connected with the feast of Corpus Christi.

But before bringing in the mule, let us talk about St. Anthony of Padua. He is often invoked as the Patron Saint of lost articles. But actually it is more like he is the Patron Saint of the lost, meaning to say, those who have lost their faith, or lost in obstinate thinking.

St. Anthony lived during the 13th century, and he had a great zeal for the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. During his travels through a city called Rimini, Saint Anthony engaged in a conversation with a particularly stubborn heretic called Bononillo.  This man obstinately refused to admit the mystery of the Real Presence in the Eucharist.

In vain, St. Anthony presented proofs drawn from both Scripture and Church teaching. When his efforts failed before the stubborn obstinacy of Bononillo, he decided to change his strategy.

St. Anthony said to him, “You possess a mule that you ride often. I will present a consecrated host to it; if it falls on its knees before the Blessed Sacrament, will you recognize the Real Presence of the Saviour under His Eucharistic appearance?” “Certainly,” responded the unbeliever, who felt confident that the outcome would be to the shame of the saint.

The two men agreed to meet again in the market square three days later. They then went their separate ways, each to prepare for the spiritual showdown in his own way.

Bononillo, in order to insure victory, deprived his mule from all food for the three days. St. Anthony  prepared with prayer and fasting. At the set day and time, St. Anthony left the Church, carrying a ciborium in his hands. Bononillo arrived leading the famished mule by the bridle.

A considerable crowd had gathered on the square, curious to attend such a remarkable sight. With a smile on his lips, Bononillo, believing victory already to be his, set a sack of oats and hay before the mule.

As all watched in breathless anticipation, the hungry mule turned away from the food and turned toward the Sacred Host held high by St. Anthony. With a graceful motion uncharacteristic of its breed, the mule bowed low to the ground, giving due reverence to its Creator. It did not straighten or stand up again until it had received permission from the St. Anthony to do so.

As much as this story is inspiring, it makes us wonder who is more stubborn? Man or mule?

Today as the Church celebrates the feast of Corpus Christi, we are reminded again of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
The Eucharistic presence of Jesus can be said to be miraculous as well as supernatural. By miraculous, it is meant that the laws of nature take an exception, that although the forms of bread and wine remained unchanged, the essence of is changed and the essence takes on the presence of Christ.

By supernatural, it is meant that this is the work of God, and not the reasoning of man, and faith in the divinity of Jesus is required to believe that He is truly present in the consecrated host and wine.

The gospel passage recounts for us what Jesus said at the Last Supper when He took the bread and said “This is My Body”, and then He took the wine and said “This is My Blood”.

And we hear in the words of consecration, “This is my body, which is given up for you” and “This is the chalice of my blood, which is poured out for you” and “Do this in memory of me”.

So we come to the Eucharist, and we remember what Jesus did to save us, and we partake of His Body and Blood.

And as we come forward to receive Holy Communion, the priest will hold up the consecrated Host and say “The Body of Christ” and we respond with “Amen”. We have to say “Amen” because it is an act of faith. We don’t have to shout it out loud, but still we have to say it with affirmation and conviction.

Now when it comes to the Body of Christ, it may sound like a crude and silly question to ask “Which part of the Body of Christ is it?”

It may sound crude, but a further reflection will lead us to the realization that this Body of Christ is none other than the Heart of Christ!

So in short, the Eucharist is an invitation to come into communion with Jesus and to enter into His Heart. 

And that’s why we have distributed these “Jesus Invites”. Jesus is inviting us to come to the triduum and to the feast of the Sacred Heart so that we can come into union with Him and at the same time to put the things of our hearts into His Sacred Heart through the petition slips that are in these “Jesus Invites”.

Indeed the Eucharist is a miracle and it is supernatural. Jesus gives us His Heart so that He can make our hearts like His. He answers our petitions so that we can continue to believe.

The horse, the donkey and the mule may not understand this, but they can sense the divine presence. Whereas we can understand it. Not only can we understand, but let us also believe and adore the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.