1 Sam 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23 / 1 Cor 15:45-49 / Luke 6:27-38
It is said that all men are equal. But in reality that may just be a notion.
Because in the reality of this world, there is always some kind of disparity.
Just like there is light and darkness, so there is the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, the proud and the humble, the quick and the slow.
In this kind of disparity, inevitably there will emerge a bully. A bully is someone who seeks to harm or intimidate those whom he thinks are vulnerable and cannot stand up against him or cannot fight against him.
It is acknowledged that bullying happens in school, at the workplace, and wherever we can think of.
And because of social media, bullying is not just confined to a physical locality. Because there is now cyber bullying, and the bully can torment his victim almost round-the-clock, 24/7.
But what makes a person become a bully and why does he not stop being one?
As it is, the disparity in society will tempt the stronger to flaunt his strength on the weaker, maybe just to boast to others, or just to show off.
Another reason can be like what happened to king Saul in the 1st reading. As the king, he was jealous of David for being more popular than he was, and we also remember David’s bravery and victory in the battle between David and Goliath.
So jealousy turned Saul into a bully, and even into a killer, as he took 3000 handpicked men to hunt down David and his companions.
It was a massive manhunt and David would not stand a chance, if not for his trust in the Lord.
David trusted in the Lord and took refuge in the Lord as his protector and his rescuer.
And this is where we can learn from David, who was not just bullied by Saul, but his life was in danger.
In the face of bullying and persecution, the Lord is our only help and refuge and our protector. There is no point in trying to stand up to a bully or fight a hostile persecutor. We can’t win and we might get badly hurt.
And as the 1st reading tells us, David, with the protection of God, eluded Saul’s attempts to capture him. But then one night the tables were turned.
David found himself standing over the sleeping Saul and a spear was at hand. Saul was a sitting duck (and a sleeping duck). Just one thrust of the spear into the heart of Saul and that would be the sweetest revenge for David.
But sweet revenge is just a notion. Can revenge ever be sweet? It is said that if you want to take revenge, then first you need to dig two graves – one for your enemy, and one for yourself.
In every act of revenge, at least two lives will be lost, whether literally or figuratively. So revenge can never be sweet. In fact, revenge is always sour and bitter.
So in the 1st reading, David wants to tell us all this. Taking the life of Saul might be easy but the consequences will be heavy.
So in short, if the Lord saved David’s life from Saul, then David had to spare Saul’s life. The hunted cannot turn into a hunter.
In the gospel, Jesus gives us a teaching about how we ought to treat our enemies.
When we think about our enemies, what comes to mind are those who bully us, those who do bad things to us, those who persecute us for no reason. And for some reason, we cannot get back, we cannot retaliate.
And so resentment, anger, bitterness and hatred begin to build up in us. But as it was for David, so it will be for us. One day, we will stand over our sleeping enemy, and all that anger, resentment, bitterness and hatred will make us want to grab that spear and thrust it deep into our enemy’s heart. But would that be sweet revenge?
This teaching of Jesus, “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly” is a very difficult teaching to follow.
Yet, that difficult teaching comes with a promise from the Lord, that He will be our refuge and protector, He will save us from those who bully us, who hate us, who curse us.
Yes, the Lord will save us just as He saved David. Let us not grab that spear and thrust it into the heart of the sleeping enemy. Let us not turn into a hunter and a persecutor and lose God’s protection over us.
Let us follow the teaching of Jesus and let Jesus fight our battles for us, so His blessings of a full measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into our hearts.
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Saturday, February 23, 2019
Saturday, February 16, 2019
6th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 17.02.2019
Jeremiah 17:5-8 / 1 Cor 15:12, 16-20 / Luke 6:17, 20-26
Compared with other years, this year the Lunar New Year celebrations can actually go on for 15 days for Catholics, as the season of Lent is starting later, in fact, in two weeks’ time.
Even Valentine’s Day is outside of the season of Lent. If we can remember, last year’s Valentine’s Day was smack right on Ash Wednesday. It’s kind of funny to think of trying to have a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner with bread and water.
And talking about Valentine’s Day, and the other days of the year, there is this reflection about days:
If you marry the right person, every day is Valentine’s Day.
Marry the wrong person, every day is Good Friday.
Marry a lazy person, every day is Labour Day.
Marry a rich person, every day is New Year’s Day.
Marry an immature person, every day is Children’s Day.
Marry a cheater or liar, every day is April Fool’s Day.
And if you don’t get married, every day is Independence Day.
It is understandable that we wish and desire that every day will be a good and happy day. But we also know that it’s not going to be like that.
And we know by now that there is no rainbow without the rain, and there is no gain without the pain.
So as much as we greet each other with those Lunar New Year greetings and well-wishes such as “xin nian kuai le”, and “gong xi fa cai”, and as much as we really mean it, we also brace ourselves for difficult and tough times.
But with the eyes of faith, we will see opportunity in adversity and creativity in difficulty.
So when we read about what Jesus is saying in the gospel, we need to read it with the eyes of faith, and it is with the eyes of faith that we can see the truth of what Jesus is saying.
In short, Jesus is saying blessed are those who are poor, hungry, weeping and hated. At the same time, Jesus also said that woe will come to those who are rich, full, laughing and praised.
A cursory reading of the gospel text may lead us to start wondering about a few things. Is Jesus propagating poverty and a masochistic life-style? Is He having something against riches and wealth?
But with the eyes of faith, we can see that Jesus is teaching a truth of life here. He is not just challenging the ways and values of the world. He is also showing how God blesses His people.
And God’s blessings come down on those who are poor, hungry, weeping and who are hated. God is there for them and will bless them because God knows that they have no one to turn to and nothing else to rely on.
Whereas for those who are rich, full, laughing and praised, they are so wealthy, there is no more hunger in them. Everything seems easy and smooth and they have the high ratings.
So will they ever need God? Maybe, but God is just one of the options. But that option will be the direction when there is desperation.
So as we think about it, if wealth equals happiness then the rich should be playing on the streets, but only the poor kids do that.
If power ensures security, then the high-ranking officials should walk around unguarded. But it is the simple and little people who sleep soundly.
And if beauty and fame bring about ideal relationships, then celebrities should have the best marriages and families.
So what Jesus said in the gospel today makes us look at the adversities and difficulties of life and look at them with the eyes of faith.
And we want to believe that it is in the adversities and difficulties that God is going to rain down His blessings. Because it is in our adversities and difficulties that we become the poor, the hungry, the weeping and the hated. It is the very people that Jesus said that God will bless and bless abundantly.
And we see these people in the Bible. God put a baby in the arms of the 99 year-old Sarah, He parted the Red Sea for Moses, He closed the jaws of the lions for Daniel, He opened the prison for Peter.
They were in some kind of adversity and difficulty. They had no one else to turn to but to God. And God blessed them abundantly.
And we also know of people who faced adversity but saw opportunity, people who faced difficulty but were blessed with creativity.
So as much as we wish to be rich, full, laughing and praised, let us not be obsessed by it and fret that we don’t have it.
And when we face adversity and difficulty, let us not be in distress about it. Let us rejoice actually. Because it is then that God is blessing us abundantly.
May we have the eyes of faith to see it and know that we need only God and God alone.
Compared with other years, this year the Lunar New Year celebrations can actually go on for 15 days for Catholics, as the season of Lent is starting later, in fact, in two weeks’ time.
Even Valentine’s Day is outside of the season of Lent. If we can remember, last year’s Valentine’s Day was smack right on Ash Wednesday. It’s kind of funny to think of trying to have a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner with bread and water.
And talking about Valentine’s Day, and the other days of the year, there is this reflection about days:
If you marry the right person, every day is Valentine’s Day.
Marry the wrong person, every day is Good Friday.
Marry a lazy person, every day is Labour Day.
Marry a rich person, every day is New Year’s Day.
Marry an immature person, every day is Children’s Day.
Marry a cheater or liar, every day is April Fool’s Day.
And if you don’t get married, every day is Independence Day.
It is understandable that we wish and desire that every day will be a good and happy day. But we also know that it’s not going to be like that.
And we know by now that there is no rainbow without the rain, and there is no gain without the pain.
So as much as we greet each other with those Lunar New Year greetings and well-wishes such as “xin nian kuai le”, and “gong xi fa cai”, and as much as we really mean it, we also brace ourselves for difficult and tough times.
But with the eyes of faith, we will see opportunity in adversity and creativity in difficulty.
So when we read about what Jesus is saying in the gospel, we need to read it with the eyes of faith, and it is with the eyes of faith that we can see the truth of what Jesus is saying.
In short, Jesus is saying blessed are those who are poor, hungry, weeping and hated. At the same time, Jesus also said that woe will come to those who are rich, full, laughing and praised.
A cursory reading of the gospel text may lead us to start wondering about a few things. Is Jesus propagating poverty and a masochistic life-style? Is He having something against riches and wealth?
But with the eyes of faith, we can see that Jesus is teaching a truth of life here. He is not just challenging the ways and values of the world. He is also showing how God blesses His people.
And God’s blessings come down on those who are poor, hungry, weeping and who are hated. God is there for them and will bless them because God knows that they have no one to turn to and nothing else to rely on.
Whereas for those who are rich, full, laughing and praised, they are so wealthy, there is no more hunger in them. Everything seems easy and smooth and they have the high ratings.
So will they ever need God? Maybe, but God is just one of the options. But that option will be the direction when there is desperation.
So as we think about it, if wealth equals happiness then the rich should be playing on the streets, but only the poor kids do that.
If power ensures security, then the high-ranking officials should walk around unguarded. But it is the simple and little people who sleep soundly.
And if beauty and fame bring about ideal relationships, then celebrities should have the best marriages and families.
So what Jesus said in the gospel today makes us look at the adversities and difficulties of life and look at them with the eyes of faith.
And we want to believe that it is in the adversities and difficulties that God is going to rain down His blessings. Because it is in our adversities and difficulties that we become the poor, the hungry, the weeping and the hated. It is the very people that Jesus said that God will bless and bless abundantly.
And we see these people in the Bible. God put a baby in the arms of the 99 year-old Sarah, He parted the Red Sea for Moses, He closed the jaws of the lions for Daniel, He opened the prison for Peter.
They were in some kind of adversity and difficulty. They had no one else to turn to but to God. And God blessed them abundantly.
And we also know of people who faced adversity but saw opportunity, people who faced difficulty but were blessed with creativity.
So as much as we wish to be rich, full, laughing and praised, let us not be obsessed by it and fret that we don’t have it.
And when we face adversity and difficulty, let us not be in distress about it. Let us rejoice actually. Because it is then that God is blessing us abundantly.
May we have the eyes of faith to see it and know that we need only God and God alone.
Saturday, February 9, 2019
5th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 10.02.2019
Isaiah 6:1-8 / 1 Cor 15:1-11 / Luke 5:1-11
During this festive season, besides the usual visiting and eating and weight-gaining, there is also one unique thing that we would have done, and it happens only during this festive season.
It is claimed to be a local creation, and it is called “lou hei” (Yusheng), and translated into English it means Prosperity Toss.
It is a pre-meal dish, like a sort of appetizer, and it usually consists of strips of raw fish or abalone, mixed with shredded vegetables and other sauces and condiments, each with some kind of symbolic prosperity meaning.
The practice is that all at the table would dig their chopsticks into this dish and toss the ingredients as high as possible and wishing each other good luck, prosperity, good health and everything good.
And even if we ran out of well-wishes, we can just say “Fatt!” or “Huat!” meaning “prosper!” That is why it is called a Prosperity Toss. And the restaurants and those selling it are certainly prospering from it.
Certainly, as we begin the Lunar New Year, we want life to be well and good and to be prosperous.
We are prepared to work hard for it because we know that good things don’t come easy. We also know that if it is easy come, then it is also easy go.
But if we had worked hard and yet we gained nothing and have nothing to show for all our effort then how are we going to come to terms with it?
Is it that we are unlucky, or we just missed those opportunities, or that at the “lou hei” there is always someone tossing higher than us, or what?
Maybe that was what Simon Peter was thinking about as he washed his fishing nets. He had worked hard all night long and yet caught nothing.
It was all just so wasted, with nothing to show for all the time, the energy and the effort. Was there something wrong that even the fishes avoided him?
Then came along Jesus who told him to go out into the deep and pay the nets out for a catch. For a carpenter to tell a fisherman how to catch fish, it does not make much sense.
Maybe Peter was desperate or despondent, or that he just wanted to prove that Jesus was wrong. Nonetheless, he did as Jesus told him, and behold, an amazing catch of fish that it filled two boats to sinking point.
More than just an amazing catch, it was also an amazing revelation for Peter as he went down on his knees and exclaimed, “Leave me, Lord, I am a sinful man.”
So we can see that when God blesses us with a fortune, there is also an accompanying revelation. The problem is that we can get so engrossed with the fortune that we missed the revelation and what God wants to say to us.
Now, let’s say as you begin the new year, you win a prize!
And these are the details of the prize:
Each morning your bank will deposit $86,400.00 into your private account for your personal use.
However, this prize comes with rules just like any game has certain rules.
The first set of rules would be this:
1. The money that you do not spend at the end of each day would be taken away from you.
2. You cannot simply transfer the money into some other account.
3. Only you can spend it.
So each morning when you wake up, the bank opens your account with $86,400.00 for that day.
The second set of rules is this:
1. The bank can end the daily deposits without warning. At any time it can say, “It’s over, the deposits are over!”
2. It will close the account and you will not receive a new one.
So with $86,400 what would you want to do with it?
You would buy anything and everything you wanted, right?
Not only for yourself, but for all the people you love and your friends as well, right?
Even for people you don’t know you would also want to spend it on them, because you couldn’t possibly spend it all on yourself, right?
You would try to spend every cent, and use it all, right?
Well actually the daily deposit is about life!
Each of us is in possession of such a “magical” bank account. Just that we don’t see it.
THE MAGICAL BANK IS TIME!
Each morning upon awakening, we receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life for that day, and when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us.
What we haven’t lived up to that day is forever lost.
Yesterday is forever gone. Last year is gone forever.
Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time ……. WITHOUT WARNING!
Well, what would you do with your 86,400 seconds?
Aren’t they worth so much more than the same amount in dollars? In fact they are worth much more.
So when Simon Peter looked at that huge catch of fish, he could have just been engrossed with it and think of how much money he could make from it.
But he caught the revelation of who Jesus is and who he is.
So as we continue with the Lunar New Year celebrations with the “lou hei” and toss up for prosperity, let us also listen to what God wants to tell us and see what He wants to show us.
Let us lift up our minds and hearts to Jesus to be His fishers of men and to be His workers in the harvest.
That will truly be our joy and happiness.
During this festive season, besides the usual visiting and eating and weight-gaining, there is also one unique thing that we would have done, and it happens only during this festive season.
It is claimed to be a local creation, and it is called “lou hei” (Yusheng), and translated into English it means Prosperity Toss.
It is a pre-meal dish, like a sort of appetizer, and it usually consists of strips of raw fish or abalone, mixed with shredded vegetables and other sauces and condiments, each with some kind of symbolic prosperity meaning.
The practice is that all at the table would dig their chopsticks into this dish and toss the ingredients as high as possible and wishing each other good luck, prosperity, good health and everything good.
And even if we ran out of well-wishes, we can just say “Fatt!” or “Huat!” meaning “prosper!” That is why it is called a Prosperity Toss. And the restaurants and those selling it are certainly prospering from it.
Certainly, as we begin the Lunar New Year, we want life to be well and good and to be prosperous.
We are prepared to work hard for it because we know that good things don’t come easy. We also know that if it is easy come, then it is also easy go.
But if we had worked hard and yet we gained nothing and have nothing to show for all our effort then how are we going to come to terms with it?
Is it that we are unlucky, or we just missed those opportunities, or that at the “lou hei” there is always someone tossing higher than us, or what?
Maybe that was what Simon Peter was thinking about as he washed his fishing nets. He had worked hard all night long and yet caught nothing.
It was all just so wasted, with nothing to show for all the time, the energy and the effort. Was there something wrong that even the fishes avoided him?
Then came along Jesus who told him to go out into the deep and pay the nets out for a catch. For a carpenter to tell a fisherman how to catch fish, it does not make much sense.
Maybe Peter was desperate or despondent, or that he just wanted to prove that Jesus was wrong. Nonetheless, he did as Jesus told him, and behold, an amazing catch of fish that it filled two boats to sinking point.
More than just an amazing catch, it was also an amazing revelation for Peter as he went down on his knees and exclaimed, “Leave me, Lord, I am a sinful man.”
So we can see that when God blesses us with a fortune, there is also an accompanying revelation. The problem is that we can get so engrossed with the fortune that we missed the revelation and what God wants to say to us.
Now, let’s say as you begin the new year, you win a prize!
And these are the details of the prize:
Each morning your bank will deposit $86,400.00 into your private account for your personal use.
However, this prize comes with rules just like any game has certain rules.
The first set of rules would be this:
1. The money that you do not spend at the end of each day would be taken away from you.
2. You cannot simply transfer the money into some other account.
3. Only you can spend it.
So each morning when you wake up, the bank opens your account with $86,400.00 for that day.
The second set of rules is this:
1. The bank can end the daily deposits without warning. At any time it can say, “It’s over, the deposits are over!”
2. It will close the account and you will not receive a new one.
So with $86,400 what would you want to do with it?
You would buy anything and everything you wanted, right?
Not only for yourself, but for all the people you love and your friends as well, right?
Even for people you don’t know you would also want to spend it on them, because you couldn’t possibly spend it all on yourself, right?
You would try to spend every cent, and use it all, right?
Well actually the daily deposit is about life!
Each of us is in possession of such a “magical” bank account. Just that we don’t see it.
THE MAGICAL BANK IS TIME!
Each morning upon awakening, we receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life for that day, and when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us.
What we haven’t lived up to that day is forever lost.
Yesterday is forever gone. Last year is gone forever.
Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time ……. WITHOUT WARNING!
Well, what would you do with your 86,400 seconds?
Aren’t they worth so much more than the same amount in dollars? In fact they are worth much more.
So when Simon Peter looked at that huge catch of fish, he could have just been engrossed with it and think of how much money he could make from it.
But he caught the revelation of who Jesus is and who he is.
So as we continue with the Lunar New Year celebrations with the “lou hei” and toss up for prosperity, let us also listen to what God wants to tell us and see what He wants to show us.
Let us lift up our minds and hearts to Jesus to be His fishers of men and to be His workers in the harvest.
That will truly be our joy and happiness.
Saturday, February 2, 2019
4th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 03.02.2019
Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19 / 1 Cor 12:31 – 13:13 / Luke 4:21-30
The Lunar New Year is just around the corner, with the usual festive frenzy, and with people busy with cleaning, cooking and shopping.
And with two public holidays to celebrate the Lunar New Year, there will be plenty of eating, as we go around visiting our relatives and friends.
But not everyone will be looking forward to it, because there will be the usual yearly questioning from those people whom we usually meet only once a year (usually it’s the aunties).
So for those who are thinking how to answer those questions, here are some snappy and not-so-polite answers to those irritating and not-so-polite questions.
When they ask: Why so old still collecting ang bao?
You can say: Why until now you still giving only $2 angbao?
When they ask: Why no girlfriend/boyfriend?
You can say: They heard about you and they ran away.
When they ask: When are you getting married?
You can say: Married already, didn’t invite you.
So, there it is, not-so-polite answers to those irritating and not-so-polite questions. But then it might end up as a not-so-happy Lunar New Year. So, better be polite to those who are not-so-polite.
But Lunar New Year or otherwise, we will always have to face those difficult questions that have no easy answers.
Those questions will irritate us, and it will be rather challenging not to be irritating in return. It would be even more challenging to answer it with truth and with love.
No doubt the truth will set us free but the truth can also make some people unhappy and even angry.
We heard in today’s gospel passage that Jesus preached in the synagogue and He won the approval of all and they were astounded by the gracious words that came from His lips.
So all was well until they started asking questions like “This is Joseph’s son, surely?” It was a rather intrusive question. They were not questioning about what He said. They were questioning about who He is and His family background.
Jesus replied by saying that they missed the point. They were not focused on the message but they were investigating the messenger. So it was not so much about what was said but who said it. So Jesus had to tell them that they missed the point.
And Jesus had to remind them that in the past their ancestors had also missed the point of God’s message.
And so the prophets who were sent to them, were sent to outsiders, the non-Jews, to proclaim the message of God and that the blessings and miracles were worked for outsiders and not for the people of God.
Obviously, they were not happy to hear that. They were not happy and they were so angry that they hustled Jesus out of town and to the brow of the hill and to throw Him from the cliff. In other words, they wanted to kill Jesus.
Nothing new actually. When people miss the point of the message, they turn on the messengers, the prophets and persecuted and killed them.
But of course, we are not so violent as to want to kill people for answering us impolitely or rudely. But of course we will get angry with them for doing that. And we may also get irritated when we are told truth about ourselves.
But we can spare ourselves of the cutting truth when we think a bit before we ask our questions. Because very often, those questions that we want to ask reveal very much about ourselves, our motives, our insecurities.
Just like in the gospel, when the people asked the question: This is Joseph’s son, surely?
Besides revealing that they missed the point of the message of Jesus, their question revealed their prejudice and biasness. Jesus is the son of Joseph the carpenter. Carpenters don’t preach and they cannot do so.
Or that occasion when Peter asked Jesus how many times must he forgive someone. Was 7 times enough? Peter thought that 7 times was already too much. And then Jesus had to tell him that it is not 7 times but 70 x 7 times. Poor Peter, just when he thought he was going to score high with Jesus, he got it really low.
So before we ask questions, let us think about what is the question that we are asking. Think as in:
T for truth. Is it as truthful question, or is it there an ulterior motive behind it?
H for helpful. Is it helpful to both parties to come to an understanding?
I for important. Is that question important for clarification? Or is it going to cause confusion?
N for necessary. Is it necessary to ask that question there and then, especially when there are others around.
K for kind. Is that question asked out of a genuine kindness and concern for that person?
So think before we ask those questions and we won’t get scorching answers in return.
Think and may the Lord bless us with a joyful and peaceful Lunar New Year.
The Lunar New Year is just around the corner, with the usual festive frenzy, and with people busy with cleaning, cooking and shopping.
And with two public holidays to celebrate the Lunar New Year, there will be plenty of eating, as we go around visiting our relatives and friends.
But not everyone will be looking forward to it, because there will be the usual yearly questioning from those people whom we usually meet only once a year (usually it’s the aunties).
So for those who are thinking how to answer those questions, here are some snappy and not-so-polite answers to those irritating and not-so-polite questions.
When they ask: Why so old still collecting ang bao?
You can say: Why until now you still giving only $2 angbao?
When they ask: Why no girlfriend/boyfriend?
You can say: They heard about you and they ran away.
When they ask: When are you getting married?
You can say: Married already, didn’t invite you.
So, there it is, not-so-polite answers to those irritating and not-so-polite questions. But then it might end up as a not-so-happy Lunar New Year. So, better be polite to those who are not-so-polite.
But Lunar New Year or otherwise, we will always have to face those difficult questions that have no easy answers.
Those questions will irritate us, and it will be rather challenging not to be irritating in return. It would be even more challenging to answer it with truth and with love.
No doubt the truth will set us free but the truth can also make some people unhappy and even angry.
We heard in today’s gospel passage that Jesus preached in the synagogue and He won the approval of all and they were astounded by the gracious words that came from His lips.
So all was well until they started asking questions like “This is Joseph’s son, surely?” It was a rather intrusive question. They were not questioning about what He said. They were questioning about who He is and His family background.
Jesus replied by saying that they missed the point. They were not focused on the message but they were investigating the messenger. So it was not so much about what was said but who said it. So Jesus had to tell them that they missed the point.
And Jesus had to remind them that in the past their ancestors had also missed the point of God’s message.
And so the prophets who were sent to them, were sent to outsiders, the non-Jews, to proclaim the message of God and that the blessings and miracles were worked for outsiders and not for the people of God.
Obviously, they were not happy to hear that. They were not happy and they were so angry that they hustled Jesus out of town and to the brow of the hill and to throw Him from the cliff. In other words, they wanted to kill Jesus.
Nothing new actually. When people miss the point of the message, they turn on the messengers, the prophets and persecuted and killed them.
But of course, we are not so violent as to want to kill people for answering us impolitely or rudely. But of course we will get angry with them for doing that. And we may also get irritated when we are told truth about ourselves.
But we can spare ourselves of the cutting truth when we think a bit before we ask our questions. Because very often, those questions that we want to ask reveal very much about ourselves, our motives, our insecurities.
Just like in the gospel, when the people asked the question: This is Joseph’s son, surely?
Besides revealing that they missed the point of the message of Jesus, their question revealed their prejudice and biasness. Jesus is the son of Joseph the carpenter. Carpenters don’t preach and they cannot do so.
Or that occasion when Peter asked Jesus how many times must he forgive someone. Was 7 times enough? Peter thought that 7 times was already too much. And then Jesus had to tell him that it is not 7 times but 70 x 7 times. Poor Peter, just when he thought he was going to score high with Jesus, he got it really low.
So before we ask questions, let us think about what is the question that we are asking. Think as in:
T for truth. Is it as truthful question, or is it there an ulterior motive behind it?
H for helpful. Is it helpful to both parties to come to an understanding?
I for important. Is that question important for clarification? Or is it going to cause confusion?
N for necessary. Is it necessary to ask that question there and then, especially when there are others around.
K for kind. Is that question asked out of a genuine kindness and concern for that person?
So think before we ask those questions and we won’t get scorching answers in return.
Think and may the Lord bless us with a joyful and peaceful Lunar New Year.
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