3rd Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 27.01.2019

Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10 / 1 Cor 12:12-30 / Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
There are some words which have more than one meaning, and they are called homonyms. Some examples are:
- Point: The pencil has a sharp point. / It is not polite to point at people.
- Right: You were right. / Make a right turn

And then there are some words which may have a clear meaning but we respond and react to it differently.

For example, the word “tomorrow”. It may give us a kind of hope and something to look forward to, eg. Tomorrow we can try again / Tomorrow the parcel will arrive / Tomorrow it will be completed. 

So the word “tomorrow” gives a sense of continuation, as well as, a sense of progress and growth and expectation.

But tomorrow can also generate an attitude of complacency and a lack of urgency.

We may put off to tomorrow what we can or must do today. Since we think there is a tomorrow, then we will think that we still have plenty of time. We daydream about tomorrow and we forget about reality of today.

So we begin to procrastinate and we push to tomorrow what we can really do today. So we procrastinate and we get lazy, and we become careless, and things begin to pile up from yesterday and the day before, and it gets more and more.

Even when it comes to paying a debt, some people can say “Tomorrow I’ll pay”.  But for them, there is always another tomorrow. Meanwhile today we see in their Facebook, photos of them having fine dining or having a holiday in some exotic place.

So for some people, tomorrow is another word for procrastination. Tomorrow is another word for wait. Tomorrow is just another word for “no time”, “no hurry”, “no urgency”. 

But for St. Luke, the author of today’s gospel passage, that was not his attitude. As much as many others have undertaken to draw up the accounts of Jesus, he decided to write an ordered account for Theophilus.

But he didn’t wait for that perfect time, that perfect environment, that perfect setting to do it. He listened to the promptings of the Spirit and then he got down to doing it.

As it is said: When you pray, God listens. When you listen, God speaks. When you act, God works.

St. Luke acted on the promptings of the Spirit and with power of the Spirit, we have the gospel according to St. Luke, to give us an understanding of the life and mission of Jesus.

But St. Luke got his inspiration from none other than Jesus. He wrote that Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in Him, began preaching and teaching and His reputation grew.

He then came to Nazara, His hometown, and at the synagogue, He read that passage from the prophet Isaiah, that the Spirit had anointed Him to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, and to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.

And then finally Jesus stated the purpose of His mission and the urgency when He said this text is being fulfilled today even as they listened.

So it is clear that for Jesus, the healing and the salvation of souls is not for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. It is for today and here and now.

And even as we listen to what Jesus is saying the Spirit is already anointing us and prompting us.
Because we know of someone who is in need of Jesus and yet are we procrastinating, are we dilly-dallying, are we dreaming about it and not acting on it? But today is the day and the time is now!

Or for that matter, maybe it is we ourselves who need Jesus. We may be saying: Tomorrow then I start praying / Tomorrow then I stop watching porn / Next month then I go for Confession.

The bigger the spiritual problem, the longer we wait, the longer we procrastinate, the longer we delay, then the deeper and bigger the problem will be.

We always assume that there will be a tomorrow but we forget that God did not promise us tomorrow.
What we have is today and the Spirit is prompting us to bring Jesus to those in need of Him.
• To our aged parents who are waiting for a visit from us.
• To our children who are waiting for us to teach them how to pray.
• To that lapsed Catholic who is waiting for someone to bring him/her back to Church.
• To that person who is having an immoral life and waiting to be shown the way of truth with love.

So there are these people who are waiting to hear the good news and waiting to experience peace and joy in their lives. 

For ourselves, and for them, tomorrow might be too late. Salvation is urgent and there cannot be any procrastination. 

The Spirit is prompting, so let us listen and let us get going – not tomorrow, not the day after, but today.

2nd Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 20.01.2019

Isaiah 62:1-5 / 1 Cor 12:4-11 / John 2:1-12

There is this interesting and amusing thing that is trending on social media. It goes by the heading #10yearschallenge.

Essentially, it has two photos of the same subject, but the time gap between the two photos is 10 years apart, meaning to say that one photo was taken recently while the other was taken about 10 years ago.

With the two photos placed side by side, we will immediately notice the interesting and amusing change, especially when the subject is a person.

The background may be similar, the posture may be similar, but the difference is in the hairstyle (bushy hair vs receding hairline), the physique (skinny vs pot-belly).

What comes across obviously is change. For better or otherwise, the change is obvious as well as relentless. Almost everything will have to undergo some kind of change.

As much as change is relentless and unavoidable, the question is about the expectation of the change. For example, in a marriage, the wife might expect the husband to change from his bad old habits of smoking, drinking and gambling. But he does not and maybe even change for the worse. Or that the husband might expect the wife to remain pretty, shapely and docile. But whether she remains like that or not depends.

But whether with persons or with situations, change is inevitable. The question is about our expectations about what will happen with the change.

The gospel passage is about the event known as the Wedding at Cana, and among the guests were Mary, as well as Jesus and His disciples.

All was going well and expected to go on well when something happened – the wine ran out. Those four words “They have no wine” were certainly anxious words spoken by Mary to Jesus. 

At the happy wedding celebration, something changed, and that change brought about an anxiety and possible embarrassment for the wedding couple. It was certainly not a good way to start the first day of a marriage.

Other nasty things could also have happened, like finger-pointing, blame-pushing, voice-raising, but none of these would change the fact that there is no more wine.

So how? There were possible options but Mary chose the best option and that is to let Jesus know with those four words “They have no wine”.

The reply of Jesus was quite unexpected – “Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not come yet.” Jesus was almost saying that He can do nothing about it.

But the response of Mary is even more unexpected, as she tells the servants “Do whatever He tells you”. Just what was Mary expecting?

As it is, change is constant and inevitable, and change is either for the better or for the worse.

To say that things cannot change is like saying that things can only change for the worse.

To say that things can change and change for the better is to have hope. And that hope is in Jesus who changed water into wine at the wedding in Cana when they ran out of wine, although He had said that His hour has not come yet.

But what is it that made Jesus change His mind? So the miracle is not so much the water changing into wine but rather Jesus changing His mind. So what made Jesus change His mind?

One reason could be what Mary said to the servants – Do whatever He tells you. Jesus would have heard that and so maybe He reconsidered His earlier decision. 

The other reason could also be that the servants took the trouble to fill those six big stone jars with water. It was an ordinary and even mundane task but the servants did as He told them to.

And with that Jesus changed His mind and water changed into wine.

What we can learn from the wedding at Cana is that, like Mary, let us have faith and hope in Jesus that things can change and things will change even if we think that Jesus is saying “No” to our prayers. Well, at the wedding in Cana, Jesus showed that He can change His mind.

The other thing that we can learn is from the lowly servants. They did as they were told. In a way, we can say that they helped Jesus change His mind. If they didn’t fill up the water, there will be no wine.

And so we may have prayed and prayed and prayed, but we have no answer. But we must keep on praying. And have we tried all possible means?

How about writing in a petition? It is surprising that some people have desperate needs but did not think of writing a humble petition form to Jesus.

Well, let us keep praying and writing and things will change and change for the better. 

Jesus will not take 10 years to answer our prayers or take that long to change His mind.

He is just waiting for the jars to be filled with water and with our prayers.

Baptism of the Lord, Year C 13.01.2019

Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7 / Acts 10:34-38 / Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
There are many important days in our lives, important days that we will always remember, and important days that we should not forget.

Certainly, we will remember our birthdays, the day that we came into this world. So whether we celebrate our birthday in a big way or just quietly, we will remember that day for as long as we can.

That’s why on the first weekend of every month, we have birthday blessings for those who are celebrating their birthdays in that month. We give thanks to God for the gift of life and we also invoke God’s blessings of love on those celebrating their birthdays.

The other important days that we should not forget are the spouse’s birthday, especially the wife’s birthday (otherwise it is going to be D-Day), or the wedding day and other significant days. 

But it is said that the two most important days in our life are the day that we are born and the day we find out why (Mark Twain).

It is interesting to say that the other most important day after our birthday is the day we find out why we were born.

And we can see why that day is important as we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord.

We celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas, which has a more festive feel to it, but nonetheless, a birthday celebration fitting of Jesus.

Today, as we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus, it is more solemn and has a more spiritual feel to it.

After His Baptism, and when He was at prayer, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him, and the voice of God proclaimed Jesus is. 

John the Baptist would describe the mission of Jesus as baptizing with the Holy Spirit and fire.

So it can be said that the two most important days in the life of Jesus is His birthday and the day of His baptism. Because the day of His baptism is the day of revelation.

In the 2nd reading, we heard that Jesus came to do good and save all who have fallen into the power of the devil.


And the 1st reading has this to say of Jesus: He does not break the crushed reed, nor snuff out the wavering flame.

Which brings us to this question. We can remember our birthdays, but do we know when is the day of our baptism?

If we don’t know, then it is good to find that out from our baptism certificate, and if we have misplaced that baptism certificate, it would be good to get a copy of it.

Actually, it is called a “Baptism Extract” and that would be needed for marriage, for priesthood, for entry into religious life, for school registration and catechism class registration. Oh, and also for booking of niche in the columbarium.

So it means that the day of our baptism is an important day, not just in the administrative sense, but also in the spiritual sense.

At our baptism, Jesus washes us clean from sin and saved us from the snares of the devil. That’s why it’s said the baptism is necessary for salvation - we are saved from evil and become united with Jesus. 

And with that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do good and to proclaim the Good News that Jesus is our Saviour.

So the good that we do is not just out of human compassion, but with the power of the Holy Spirit, what we do will lead others to Jesus and to salvation.

But a deeper question to ask ourselves is this: Is Jesus my Saviour? Do I know why I am born and what my baptism is all about?

More so if our life is like a crushed reed and a wavering flame, all the more we need Jesus to save us.

We just need to cry out like how Peter cried out when he was sinking in the water: Jesus, save me!

And Jesus will save us. He will not break the crushed reed nor snuff out the wavering flame.

And when we acknowledge Jesus as our Saviour then we will know what our baptism is all about.

Because we will be empowered by the fire of the Holy Spirit to go out and bring Jesus to those “crushed reeds” and “wavering flames”.

We don’t have to shout aloud or make our voices heard in the streets.

A simple and non-intrusive statement to those “crushed reeds” and “wavering flames” like “ I think Jesus can help you” would be enough for the Holy Spirit to bring them to Jesus.

When we begin to proclaim Jesus in word and in action, then we will know that the two most important days in our lives are the day that we are born and the day that we are baptized. 

Epiphany, Year C, 06.01.2019

Isaiah 60:1-6 / Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 / Matthew 2:1-12

We are already 6 days into the new year. And if we had made those New Year resolutions, then I hope that they are coming along well.

But what really is a New Year’s resolution?
Some say that it is a “To Do” list for the first week of January. After that we can forget about it.
Some say New Year’s resolutions are the same as last year’s because nothing will ever change.

I made a New Year’s resolution, and that is to simply remember to write 2019 instead of 2018 on the date. The success rate is so far 95%.

So actually, making resolutions, whether New Year or otherwise is a good thing, as long as we keep it simple and achievable, we will hit our targets.

But maybe the problem comes from the understanding of the word “resolution”. Its original meaning is “a breaking into parts” and “a process of reducing things into simpler forms”.

When we understand resolution as such, then we can see that we actually have the solution to our problem. But if the solution doesn’t seem to work, then we may need to “re-solution” – meaning that we need to relook at the solution and simplify it further.

But of course, it may not be as easy as it sounds. The question is how to simplify the solution further in order to make it work.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany means a revelation or a manifestation. It means that the newborn Saviour was revealed to the whole world through the wise men.

But it was not as simple as it sounds. The wise men saw the star and they knew it was a special star – it was the star of the infant king of the Jews.

So where is this infant King of the Jews? Well, just follow the star. The solution is as simple as that. But not really that easy!

Because obviously at times, they couldn’t see the star and that is why they ended up in Jerusalem because they supposed that the infant King would be born in a big city.

Well, at least the wise men were wise enough to ask for direction. Their question of where is the infant King of the Jews had its answer with the help of the star. Now they just need a bit of help from the Jewish scripture scholars.

The search of the wise men began with a question “where?” – the answer was to follow the star. But that answer also needed to be reduced to a simpler and relevant form – the prophesies of the Jewish scriptures.

In this whole Epiphany event, the wise men are the real heroes. Because without them, there will be no Epiphany. Without them, Jesus would not be revealed as Saviour of the whole world.

In the Nativity scene, the three of them look so royal, so finely dressed, so elegant and dignified, compared with Mary and Joseph and the shepherd, and not to mention the cow and the donkey.

But in reality, they would be worn out as well as stressed out. Having made the journey of a thousand miles over desert sands, they were foreigners in a foreign land, and they were taken advantage of by King Herod to be his agents and informants of the whereabouts of the Infant King of the Jews.

As we come to think of it, the wise men can be called our ancestors-in-faith. Because they, like us, were non-Jews, but they embarked on a search for the king who will give meaning to everything.

They had a resolution when they started off on their search, and that is to find this king.

This feast of the Epiphany celebrates who they have finally found and what was revealed through them. Indeed, the wise men are the essential characters in this feast of the Epiphany.

But the Epiphany continues, and like the wise men, we are now the essential characters in this on-going Epiphany.

But the question for us goes further back. Have we found Jesus? Or are we even searching for Him? Do we even believe that Jesus is the King who would give meaning to everything?

And even if we are searching and finding for this king, would we give up because of the obstacles and difficulties?

On this feast of the Epiphany, it would be a good faith practice to incense the home since one of the gifts offered to Jesus is frankincense.

Just as the scent of the incense permeates into all corners of the house, the scent of incense also permeates into the corners of our faith.

The scent of incense will also make us recall the journey and the quest of the wise men.

Their resolution was to follow the star and find the king. May we too, like them, find the king we are searching for. And then we will find meaning to everything.