Joshua 24:1-2, 15-18 / Ephesians 5:21-32 / John 6:60-69
One of the things that make human beings unique from the rest of the other creatures is that we have logic and we also have emotions. In other words, we are rational as well as emotional.
Although we are rational and emotional beings, the relationship between logic and emotions are often inversely proportional. In other words, if we handle a situation logically, we are less likely to be affected emotionally. But when emotions run high, the logic goes way down and we can act illogically.
But it doesn’t necessarily mean that what is cut and dry logical is devoid of anything emotional. An example could be this:
Wife: I have a bag full of used clothing that I would like to donate.
Husband: Why not just throw in the trash? That would be much easier.
Wife: But there are poor starving people who could really use all the clothing.
Husband: Look, anyone who can fit into your clothes is not starving.
(Husband is recovering from a head injury)
The conversation was logical and rational but somewhere emotions got involved. Now if something that is logical and rational can trigger the emotions, then something that is illogical and irrational will all the more disturb our emotions.
Not everyone is that logical and rational all the time, but everyone has emotions. In fact, our primary emotions can be put into the acronym H.A.S: Happy, Angry, Sad.
So, everyone HAS emotions.
And these emotions are stirred especially when we are confronted with something illogical and irrational.
And as we read the gospel, which is what seems to come across between Jesus and His listeners.
Jesus had been saying that He is the bread of life and that the bread He gives is His flesh for the life of the world.
His listeners began asking questions like: How can this man gives us his flesh to eat? They were not amused by it, on the contrary, they were confused by it and even angered by it and hence they said: This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?
Jesus was aware of it, but instead of quelling and resolving the situation, He prodded His listeners further with a provoking question: Does this upset you?
And in the end, many of His disciples left them and stop going out with them. They were certainly not happy with His intolerable language. They were angry and sad that it had to come to such an end.
If such intolerable language could cause such an upset, we can imagine the consequence of intolerable actions and behaviour.
Well, actually, there is no need to imagine. The recent reports of abuse by the clergy in the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania, USA has left many bitter, upset and angry.
It came out at a time when we thought that everything was flushed out and healing and reconciliation can begin, and then came this report. Is there any more reason needed to leave the Church?
Not only are the people of God hurt by what was stated in the report, the members of the clergy are also hurt, just that they can’t say or do anything about it and neither can they leave the Church although it is not impossible to do so.
But recently one priest wrote about his feelings and reflections about the repercussions of the reports and the following are excerpts from what Fr. Jonathan Slavinskas wrote:
Every morning when I put my collar on I pray for a deeper awareness of the great responsibility and magnitude of what it represents. I am aware of my sinfulness and unworthiness to even touch it. Some days more than others it should probably burn me.
Having been a high school and college student when the scandal first broke in the Northeast, I probably should have questioned my sanity on why I would move forward with a response of “yes.” Nonetheless, I knew the constant scrutiny and the shadow that would be cast. I knew firsthand the eyes of suspicion that would follow from the moment the title “Father” would be used. I knew it wouldn’t be easy.
As each year passed from the first initial reports, I felt as though healing had begun and the Church could move forward learning from the past and focusing on transmitting the light of Christ in a new way.
This week I have been walking around with a heavy heart. I have been completely angry and frustrated as a result of the Pennsylvania abuse reports and the McCarrick situation. My continual prayer has been with the victims. These feelings of disappointment and sadness have brought a feeling of paralysis. My honest questioning of “why stick around” has run through my head.
As each news story continues, my heart is torn more apart as I hear about the pain that was perpetrated. As a result of grave sin, the collar has become the complete opposite of what it is supposed to represent. As I walked around with the collar today, I wondered how many people had been keeping up-to-date with it all. How many people would glance at my collar and simply wonder, “Is this one too?”
This morning, I didn’t want to put my collar on. I was ashamed. I was tired. I was angry. I didn’t want to be painted with the same brush that it has now come to represent.
This morning, as I visited sick parishioners in the hospital, I walked by a room with a woman standing outside. As I continued to the elevator, she came from behind, asking if I was a Catholic priest. I was ready to take the hit... but as I turned and said “Yes,” with tears in her eyes, she asked if I would anoint her 50-something-year-old brother who was actively dying with cancer. No matter what I have thought about the collar these past few days, she saw it as a sign of hope and the presence of Christ. If I decided not to wear it, her brother would not have received the Sacrament he needed and her entire family might not have experienced a sense of comfort in Christ as we gathered in prayer around him.
The collar is not about me. It is about Jesus Christ. It is about us remembering that we are not journeying alone while in this world. Again, I am certainly unworthy to wear it, but I realize I’m called to wear it not for myself, but for the sake of others. As I put it on, I now must remember that I must fight harder and stronger to grow continually into a holy priest of God, being a bridge and not an obstacle.
Just some excerpts from Fr. Jonathan Slavinskas about how the scandal had affected the Church and him.
Yes what had happened was intolerable, we are upset, angry and sad. Is there any more reason to continue to stay with the Church?
We have logic and emotions, and with that we have to make decisions.
For Fr. Jonathan Slavinskas, he decided to stay. For Joshua in the 1st reading, and for Peter and the rest of the Twelve, they too decided to stay.
As for us, we know that the Church is not perfect, from the clergy to those in ministry, right down to the ordinary laity.
Yes, we know all that, we can even feel all that. But in the end, what is our decision?
Let us believe that the message of salvation and eternal life are still proclaimed by the Church, and let us stay on in the mission of healing and reconciliation.
Click the links under My Blog List to get to Chinese and English weekday homilies.
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Saturday, August 18, 2018
20th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 19.08.2018
Proverbs 9:1-6 / Ephesians 5:15-20 / John 6:51-58
Ever since the earliest human beings uttered a sound from their mouths in order to express something, the art of communication was born.
And that art of communication is constantly evolving and refined, from the oral to the written, together with the tools of communication, like letters, telephone, emails and video-conferencing.
But even with modern and advanced means of communication, there are those perennial problems of miscommunication and misunderstanding.
Although miscommunication and misunderstanding can be serious problems, there are also funny sides to it, like this one:
Wife asked her husband to give her the newspapers.
Husband: How backward you are! Technology has developed so much and you are still asking for the newspapers? Here, take my iPad.
Wife took the iPad and with it slammed it on a cockroach.
Husband fainted!
Moral: Whatever the wife ask, give her without arguing. Show your smartness in the office, not at home, otherwise there can be serious consequences.
Also, words may not be necessarily understood at face-value. When the mother or wife says “Fine”, better think again – it may not be that fine at all.
Or when the boss says “Up to you”, it actually means that you better ask him, because it is up to him, not up to you.
So with all the complexities of miscommunication and misunderstanding, we may get an idea of what was going on between Jesus and His listeners in the gospel. Well, actually not what was going on, but more like what was going wrong.
For the past couple of Sundays, we heard Jesus saying that He is the bread of life. His listeners understood it as ordinary bread, though they would have wondered why Jesus calls Himself the bread of life.
But in today’s gospel, Jesus goes on to say that the bread that He shall give is His flesh for the life of the world, and that His flesh is real food and His blood real drink.
That really stumped His listeners and hence their objecting question: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat.” Yes, how can it be possible?
On the logical and rational level, there seems to be some kind of miscommunication and a lot of misunderstanding. As it is said, the longest distance between two people is misunderstanding.
But Jesus said what He meant and meant what He said, and both in the literal and mystical sense.
While His listeners understood the bread in the ordinary sense, Jesus was talking about His flesh as bread in the mystical sense.
Because human intelligence can only grasp that much about the bread that Jesus was talking about. It was a case of understanding a bit and misunderstanding a lot.
And that was why the listeners asked that question “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” They have come to the edge of the cliff of their understanding, and they can’t go further, and they won’t go further. They just cannot believe it.
But we believe, and hence we can understand what Jesus said about the bread that He gives is His flesh. And that’s why when we come forward at Holy Communion to receive the Body of Christ, we respond with an affirmative “Amen”.
Yes, we believe that we are receiving the Body of Christ, we are receiving the flesh that is from the Heart of Christ.
But it is not just mere human intelligence and logical understanding that led us to believe. It is by the gift of faith and divine guidance that led us to believe.
And if we truly believe, then we would be coming for Mass every day to partake of this Divine Bread, so that our faith will be strengthened and we will let Divine Wisdom guide us to recognize the will of the Lord and to live our lives according to that will.
The will of God is that we come into communion with Him through Jesus our Bread of life, so that we can be in communion with the people around us.
But communion can only happen when we address the problems of miscommunication and misunderstanding. So we have to think before we talk. And there is a rather funny logical way to it:
If the person is junior to you, count to 10 and then talk.
If the person is equal to you, count to 30 and then talk.
If the person is your senior, count to 50 then talk.
But if the person is your mother or your wife, keep counting; better not talk.
The logical way is counting. But the mystical and spiritual way is praying.
And what better way to pray than to come for Mass daily.
When we believe that Jesus is our Bread of Life and when we come into communion with Him, we will live in Him and He in us.
Then we will be ready to face the miscommunications and misunderstandings of life and bring about an understanding and a communion.
Ever since the earliest human beings uttered a sound from their mouths in order to express something, the art of communication was born.
And that art of communication is constantly evolving and refined, from the oral to the written, together with the tools of communication, like letters, telephone, emails and video-conferencing.
But even with modern and advanced means of communication, there are those perennial problems of miscommunication and misunderstanding.
Although miscommunication and misunderstanding can be serious problems, there are also funny sides to it, like this one:
Wife asked her husband to give her the newspapers.
Husband: How backward you are! Technology has developed so much and you are still asking for the newspapers? Here, take my iPad.
Wife took the iPad and with it slammed it on a cockroach.
Husband fainted!
Moral: Whatever the wife ask, give her without arguing. Show your smartness in the office, not at home, otherwise there can be serious consequences.
Also, words may not be necessarily understood at face-value. When the mother or wife says “Fine”, better think again – it may not be that fine at all.
Or when the boss says “Up to you”, it actually means that you better ask him, because it is up to him, not up to you.
So with all the complexities of miscommunication and misunderstanding, we may get an idea of what was going on between Jesus and His listeners in the gospel. Well, actually not what was going on, but more like what was going wrong.
For the past couple of Sundays, we heard Jesus saying that He is the bread of life. His listeners understood it as ordinary bread, though they would have wondered why Jesus calls Himself the bread of life.
But in today’s gospel, Jesus goes on to say that the bread that He shall give is His flesh for the life of the world, and that His flesh is real food and His blood real drink.
That really stumped His listeners and hence their objecting question: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat.” Yes, how can it be possible?
On the logical and rational level, there seems to be some kind of miscommunication and a lot of misunderstanding. As it is said, the longest distance between two people is misunderstanding.
But Jesus said what He meant and meant what He said, and both in the literal and mystical sense.
While His listeners understood the bread in the ordinary sense, Jesus was talking about His flesh as bread in the mystical sense.
Because human intelligence can only grasp that much about the bread that Jesus was talking about. It was a case of understanding a bit and misunderstanding a lot.
And that was why the listeners asked that question “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” They have come to the edge of the cliff of their understanding, and they can’t go further, and they won’t go further. They just cannot believe it.
But we believe, and hence we can understand what Jesus said about the bread that He gives is His flesh. And that’s why when we come forward at Holy Communion to receive the Body of Christ, we respond with an affirmative “Amen”.
Yes, we believe that we are receiving the Body of Christ, we are receiving the flesh that is from the Heart of Christ.
But it is not just mere human intelligence and logical understanding that led us to believe. It is by the gift of faith and divine guidance that led us to believe.
And if we truly believe, then we would be coming for Mass every day to partake of this Divine Bread, so that our faith will be strengthened and we will let Divine Wisdom guide us to recognize the will of the Lord and to live our lives according to that will.
The will of God is that we come into communion with Him through Jesus our Bread of life, so that we can be in communion with the people around us.
But communion can only happen when we address the problems of miscommunication and misunderstanding. So we have to think before we talk. And there is a rather funny logical way to it:
If the person is junior to you, count to 10 and then talk.
If the person is equal to you, count to 30 and then talk.
If the person is your senior, count to 50 then talk.
But if the person is your mother or your wife, keep counting; better not talk.
The logical way is counting. But the mystical and spiritual way is praying.
And what better way to pray than to come for Mass daily.
When we believe that Jesus is our Bread of Life and when we come into communion with Him, we will live in Him and He in us.
Then we will be ready to face the miscommunications and misunderstandings of life and bring about an understanding and a communion.
Saturday, August 11, 2018
19th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 12.08.2018
1 Kings 19:4-8 / Ephesians 4:30 – 5:2 / John 6:41-51
Human beings have very simple and basic needs, and they are food, clothing, and shelter. When these needs are met, then the next level of needs come in and they are security, achievement and affection. And then finally it could be self-fulfillment and contentment. That’s a simple way to put it.
Understood in that way, the very basic needs in life is to have something to eat, something to wear and somewhere to go back to. Generally speaking, we all have that, so it can be said that our basic needs in life are met.
When these basic needs are met, then comes the longing and yearning for security and comfort, for achievement and success, for affection and love.
Come to think of it, the Singapore National Pledge has elements to these when it says: “to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation.”
So in life, we must know what the essential and primary needs are. When these needs are met, then we can be happy and contented and we will begin to realise who we are and understand the meaning of life.
So we know and understand the basic and essential needs of life and that will enable us to find happiness and fulfillment in our lives.
What is not so easy is to understand is this desire for more, this feeling of not having enough, and not being enough. As much as this “not enough” may drive us to strive for more, yet we must also be careful that it does not draw us down the slippery slope of greed and selfishness.
But in the 1st reading, we read that the prophet Elijah said this: Lord, I have had enough. Take my life.
Certainly, it was not because he was feeling contented, that he had enough, and so he wants to go back to the Lord.
On the contrary, he had no food, no shelter, no safety as the troops were hunting for him. As a prophet, he had his success – he worked miracles, he stopped the rain for 3 and a half years, he called down fire from heaven in his victory over the false prophets.
But now, being stripped of everything, except his clothing, and in danger of losing his life, he cried out to the Lord, “I have had enough”. With no meaning and direction, with no safety and security, with nothing left, then it would be better to end it all.
So he sat under the furze bush and he wished he was dead. He went to sleep and maybe wishing that he won’t wake up.
But an angel came along with bread and water woke him up and told him to eat. He ate but then he went back to sleep again. But the angel woke him up again and told him to eat and drink and get moving.
So he got up, ate and drank, and strengthened by that food he made that 40-day journey to Horeb, the mountain of God, where he will experience the power and might of God, and regain his direction and mission as the prophet of God.
When Elijah thought of ending it all, God provided him with a simple meal of bread and water and that was enough for him to get up and get going.
So if that simple bread and water was enough for Elijah, then what will it be to make us know that we will have enough and that there is nothing more we shall want?
Jesus tells us in the gospel that He is the living bread that has come down from heaven. He even says “I am the bread of life” and “anyone who eats this bread will live forever”, and “everybody who believes this will have eternal life”.
Now isn’t that more than enough? When we come up for Holy Communion, we partake of this living bread from heaven, this bread of life, and if we believe, we will have eternal life and live forever.
But that is if we believe. So do we truly believe? Because if we do, then we will also know that all our needs are fulfilled and we too would want to tell others about this living bread, this bread of life.
And the meaning and directions of our lives would also be clear, as we know where we are heading towards and who we are heading towards.
There is this story of a student who came before a holy man and asked him to pray for him for good exam results.
The holy man replied, “Sure, I will pray for you for good results. When you get the good results, then what?”
“Then I will go to the university.”
“Then what?”
“Then I will study hard and get a good degree.”
“Then what?”
“Then I will look for a good job with a good pay.”
“Then what?”
“Then I will work hard and get promoted.”
“Then what?”
“Then I will get married and have children.”
“Then what?”
“Then I will save up for my retirement and enjoy life.”
“Then what?”
“And then … and then …”
So when our physical and material needs are fulfilled and we have enough in life, can we truly say that we are contented and happy with life?
Jesus says that He is the living bread which has come down from heaven, that He is the bread of life.
So even if we have enough in life, or when we, like Elijah, feel like shouting “I have had enough!”, Jesus will come to us offering us the bread of life.
This is the only bread that will give us the strength to journey from this life to eternal life.
Let us receive worthily this bread from heaven, and let us also tell others about this bread of life.
Human beings have very simple and basic needs, and they are food, clothing, and shelter. When these needs are met, then the next level of needs come in and they are security, achievement and affection. And then finally it could be self-fulfillment and contentment. That’s a simple way to put it.
Understood in that way, the very basic needs in life is to have something to eat, something to wear and somewhere to go back to. Generally speaking, we all have that, so it can be said that our basic needs in life are met.
When these basic needs are met, then comes the longing and yearning for security and comfort, for achievement and success, for affection and love.
Come to think of it, the Singapore National Pledge has elements to these when it says: “to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation.”
So in life, we must know what the essential and primary needs are. When these needs are met, then we can be happy and contented and we will begin to realise who we are and understand the meaning of life.
So we know and understand the basic and essential needs of life and that will enable us to find happiness and fulfillment in our lives.
What is not so easy is to understand is this desire for more, this feeling of not having enough, and not being enough. As much as this “not enough” may drive us to strive for more, yet we must also be careful that it does not draw us down the slippery slope of greed and selfishness.
But in the 1st reading, we read that the prophet Elijah said this: Lord, I have had enough. Take my life.
Certainly, it was not because he was feeling contented, that he had enough, and so he wants to go back to the Lord.
On the contrary, he had no food, no shelter, no safety as the troops were hunting for him. As a prophet, he had his success – he worked miracles, he stopped the rain for 3 and a half years, he called down fire from heaven in his victory over the false prophets.
But now, being stripped of everything, except his clothing, and in danger of losing his life, he cried out to the Lord, “I have had enough”. With no meaning and direction, with no safety and security, with nothing left, then it would be better to end it all.
So he sat under the furze bush and he wished he was dead. He went to sleep and maybe wishing that he won’t wake up.
But an angel came along with bread and water woke him up and told him to eat. He ate but then he went back to sleep again. But the angel woke him up again and told him to eat and drink and get moving.
So he got up, ate and drank, and strengthened by that food he made that 40-day journey to Horeb, the mountain of God, where he will experience the power and might of God, and regain his direction and mission as the prophet of God.
When Elijah thought of ending it all, God provided him with a simple meal of bread and water and that was enough for him to get up and get going.
So if that simple bread and water was enough for Elijah, then what will it be to make us know that we will have enough and that there is nothing more we shall want?
Jesus tells us in the gospel that He is the living bread that has come down from heaven. He even says “I am the bread of life” and “anyone who eats this bread will live forever”, and “everybody who believes this will have eternal life”.
Now isn’t that more than enough? When we come up for Holy Communion, we partake of this living bread from heaven, this bread of life, and if we believe, we will have eternal life and live forever.
But that is if we believe. So do we truly believe? Because if we do, then we will also know that all our needs are fulfilled and we too would want to tell others about this living bread, this bread of life.
And the meaning and directions of our lives would also be clear, as we know where we are heading towards and who we are heading towards.
There is this story of a student who came before a holy man and asked him to pray for him for good exam results.
The holy man replied, “Sure, I will pray for you for good results. When you get the good results, then what?”
“Then I will go to the university.”
“Then what?”
“Then I will study hard and get a good degree.”
“Then what?”
“Then I will look for a good job with a good pay.”
“Then what?”
“Then I will work hard and get promoted.”
“Then what?”
“Then I will get married and have children.”
“Then what?”
“Then I will save up for my retirement and enjoy life.”
“Then what?”
“And then … and then …”
So when our physical and material needs are fulfilled and we have enough in life, can we truly say that we are contented and happy with life?
Jesus says that He is the living bread which has come down from heaven, that He is the bread of life.
So even if we have enough in life, or when we, like Elijah, feel like shouting “I have had enough!”, Jesus will come to us offering us the bread of life.
This is the only bread that will give us the strength to journey from this life to eternal life.
Let us receive worthily this bread from heaven, and let us also tell others about this bread of life.
Saturday, August 4, 2018
18th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 05.08.2018
Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15 / Ephesians 4:17, 20-24 / John 6:24-35
In a few days’ time, we will be celebrating National Day. That should be obvious enough as the Singapore flag makes its annual appearance and there are six flags fluttering prominently at the front of the church.
As Singapore marks its 53 years of independence, it can be said that Singapore has grown into a fine country, in almost every sense of the word.
And some would agree that it is a fine country, at least in a funny sense: “No littering – Fine $1000”, “No smoking – fine $1000”, “No eating and drinking – Fine $500” (inside MRT), “No jaywalking – Fine $1000”, “No spitting – Fine $1000”.
The law and order imposed with a fine, makes Singapore a uniquely fine country. Maybe that’s also a tourist attraction as others would like to see how fine Singapore is in carrying out its law and order. (What a fine way to put it).
Whatever we might want to say about it, it is a sort of legacy that we have inherited and it has shown results, in that we would think again before we throw something out of the window, or jaywalk across the road.
In short, when we are about to commit an offence, there is a “fine” way to deter us. It may be a uniquely Singaporean way but it works fine.
But can that also be applied to other aspects of Singaporean habits? Like for example: “No complaining – Fine $500”. Singaporeans give the impression that they are like spoilt brats and are always complaining about the ERP that never fails, and the MRT that often fails, and everything in between.
But we can have the consolation that to complain is a human tendency. We complain because there is something better to compare with. This so-callled “better” thing may just be an illusion or even an imagination, but still, it spurs us on to complain.
Even the Israelites in the 1st reading succumbed to this human tendency. We read that the whole community of the sons of Israel began to complain against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
The point of contention was that as slaves in Egypt they had enough to eat, whereas now they are freed, there was nothing to eat.
It is said that a hungry man is an angry man, but a hungry man can also be a crazy man. Hunger drove the Israelites to think that slavery with a full stomach is better than freedom on an empty stomach. Such is the delusive power of hunger – it makes a person angry and crazy.
But it doesn’t just stop there. Besides making a person angry and even crazy, hunger can also make a person greedy.
And that’s what Jesus told the people in the gospel – “I tell you most solemnly, you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs, but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.”
So at first, they were hungry for bread, but having been fed to the full, they are now greedy for more. They looked for Jesus because they wanted to see what else they can get out of Jesus. So at first, they were hungry, but now they are greedy.
And greed has a sibling called selfishness. Oh yes, they come together, just as angry and crazy come together. But whether it is being angry and crazy, or greedy and selfish, they have an appetite that cannot be satisfied. What’s more, they eat away at us until we become an ugly person, or an ugly Singaporean, or an ugly Catholic.
Jesus tells us not to work for food that cannot last, but to work for food that endures to eternal life.
And just as Jesus is the bread of life for us, then we are also called to share the bread of life with others. That will be the food that endures to eternal life.
This year’s National Day theme is “We are Singapore”, and in a competition held by The Straits Times, participants were asked to identify a hero in a photo and describe why the heroic act matters.
One of the submissions was from the 18 year-old Beatrice Chao, daughter of the late Dr Alexandre Chao.
Beatrice Chao lost her dad when she was just three years old - but she has taken comfort knowing he was a hero.
Dr. Alexandre Chao died from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) while serving in a hospital fighting the deadly virus.
Dr Chao, a 37-year-old Singapore General Hospital vascular surgeon, had voluntarily cut short his holiday in the United States to join his colleagues to fight SARS in 2003.
Beatrice said that when she saw her father's photo in the newspaper, she was very moved. She was surprised and touched that people still cared about her father's story and hopes that they will adopt his philosophy of always placing others before himself.
The legacy that Dr. Chao left for his daughter is also a legacy left for Singapore and for all of us.
It’s a legacy that will inspire more similar legacies that will turn us always from complaining about hunger to being a provider, to stop being a problem and to becoming a solution.
Jesus has given Himself to us as the bread of life; there is nothing more that we shall want.
And let us go forth to share the bread of our lives with others so that they too will know that besides the hunger in the stomach, there is a hunger in the heart that only Jesus can fill.
That will be the legacy that we will leave behind.
In a few days’ time, we will be celebrating National Day. That should be obvious enough as the Singapore flag makes its annual appearance and there are six flags fluttering prominently at the front of the church.
As Singapore marks its 53 years of independence, it can be said that Singapore has grown into a fine country, in almost every sense of the word.
And some would agree that it is a fine country, at least in a funny sense: “No littering – Fine $1000”, “No smoking – fine $1000”, “No eating and drinking – Fine $500” (inside MRT), “No jaywalking – Fine $1000”, “No spitting – Fine $1000”.
The law and order imposed with a fine, makes Singapore a uniquely fine country. Maybe that’s also a tourist attraction as others would like to see how fine Singapore is in carrying out its law and order. (What a fine way to put it).
Whatever we might want to say about it, it is a sort of legacy that we have inherited and it has shown results, in that we would think again before we throw something out of the window, or jaywalk across the road.
In short, when we are about to commit an offence, there is a “fine” way to deter us. It may be a uniquely Singaporean way but it works fine.
But can that also be applied to other aspects of Singaporean habits? Like for example: “No complaining – Fine $500”. Singaporeans give the impression that they are like spoilt brats and are always complaining about the ERP that never fails, and the MRT that often fails, and everything in between.
But we can have the consolation that to complain is a human tendency. We complain because there is something better to compare with. This so-callled “better” thing may just be an illusion or even an imagination, but still, it spurs us on to complain.
Even the Israelites in the 1st reading succumbed to this human tendency. We read that the whole community of the sons of Israel began to complain against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
The point of contention was that as slaves in Egypt they had enough to eat, whereas now they are freed, there was nothing to eat.
It is said that a hungry man is an angry man, but a hungry man can also be a crazy man. Hunger drove the Israelites to think that slavery with a full stomach is better than freedom on an empty stomach. Such is the delusive power of hunger – it makes a person angry and crazy.
But it doesn’t just stop there. Besides making a person angry and even crazy, hunger can also make a person greedy.
And that’s what Jesus told the people in the gospel – “I tell you most solemnly, you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs, but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.”
So at first, they were hungry for bread, but having been fed to the full, they are now greedy for more. They looked for Jesus because they wanted to see what else they can get out of Jesus. So at first, they were hungry, but now they are greedy.
And greed has a sibling called selfishness. Oh yes, they come together, just as angry and crazy come together. But whether it is being angry and crazy, or greedy and selfish, they have an appetite that cannot be satisfied. What’s more, they eat away at us until we become an ugly person, or an ugly Singaporean, or an ugly Catholic.
Jesus tells us not to work for food that cannot last, but to work for food that endures to eternal life.
And just as Jesus is the bread of life for us, then we are also called to share the bread of life with others. That will be the food that endures to eternal life.
This year’s National Day theme is “We are Singapore”, and in a competition held by The Straits Times, participants were asked to identify a hero in a photo and describe why the heroic act matters.
One of the submissions was from the 18 year-old Beatrice Chao, daughter of the late Dr Alexandre Chao.
Beatrice Chao lost her dad when she was just three years old - but she has taken comfort knowing he was a hero.
Dr. Alexandre Chao died from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) while serving in a hospital fighting the deadly virus.
Dr Chao, a 37-year-old Singapore General Hospital vascular surgeon, had voluntarily cut short his holiday in the United States to join his colleagues to fight SARS in 2003.
Beatrice said that when she saw her father's photo in the newspaper, she was very moved. She was surprised and touched that people still cared about her father's story and hopes that they will adopt his philosophy of always placing others before himself.
The legacy that Dr. Chao left for his daughter is also a legacy left for Singapore and for all of us.
It’s a legacy that will inspire more similar legacies that will turn us always from complaining about hunger to being a provider, to stop being a problem and to becoming a solution.
Jesus has given Himself to us as the bread of life; there is nothing more that we shall want.
And let us go forth to share the bread of our lives with others so that they too will know that besides the hunger in the stomach, there is a hunger in the heart that only Jesus can fill.
That will be the legacy that we will leave behind.
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