6th Sunday of Easter, Year C, 26.05.2019

 Acts 15:1-2, 22-29 / Apocalypse 21:10-14, 22-23 / John 14:23-29

Our one main desire in life is to be happy. But that desire has also created an anxiety.

We can’t call it happy-anxiety. It sounds odd and rather contradictory. There is nothing so happy about anxiety.

For example, we want to have children, but with pregnancy comes anxiety. There are morning sickness, check-ups, gender of the baby, development of the baby. All this can be termed as pregnancy anxiety.

The current trade war between the two largest economies has brought about many anxieties.

One casualty in this economic dispute is a particular brand of mobile phone. It means that will be no more software updates for the operating system of the new models of this brand, leaving customers in a state of separation anxiety.

The pun about this is that although this brand has a hand-phone model with a camera that can zoom 50 times – it can even take clear pictures of the moon, but it didn’t see this coming. Well, what will this turn out eventually, we wait in anxiety.

The 1st reading recalled an anxiety in the early church over the issue of circumcision. That issue caused disturbance and unsettled minds.

That issue was critical enough for the apostles and elders to look into it and eventually resolved it.

So generally speaking, anxiety is a human problem and the problems are caused by humans themselves.

But in the gospel, we sense another kind of anxiety – a divine anxiety.

Jesus is anxious that we keep to His Word so that He can make His home in us. He is anxious to send the Holy Spirit who will teach us everything. He is anxious to give us His peace so that our hearts would not be troubled or afraid.

Yes, Jesus is anxious to fulfill what He has promised us. Because when He can fulfill what He has promised then we are able to believe; then we will be happy.

But this divine anxiety must also create in us an urgency, an urgency for true happiness and peace. The strange thing about human beings is that as much as we desire for peace and happiness in our lives, we don’t seem to be too anxious about it, there seems to be no urgency for it.

Call it indifference or procrastination, there is no urgency or anxiety because there is no scorching pain being felt immediately.

But whether we feel it or not, whether we are aware of it or not, the pain is growing within, and it is disturbing our peace and draining away our happiness.

And the pain can burn for a long time – 40, 50 or 60 years even – and yet the symptoms are there – we don’t feel peace in our hearts and no happiness in our lives.

Andrea Roncato is an Italian actor and comedian, known in his home country for being a playboy living the wild life. At the age of 80, he has apparently left drugs and the other vices behind.

He recently gave a moving pro-life testimony during a television interview. Roncato, who is childless, said this:

“I miss having a child. It was the worst mistake of my life that when I was very young, I had the chance to become a father, to have a child, but I had him aborted. Now, I’ve become very strongly against abortion.”

He also admitted that he constantly asks God to forgive him. 

Roncato has had a change of heart, and has come to appreciate life.
The following is a moving poem he wrote for the child he aborted so many years ago:

I would have liked you to be small, so I could hug you.

I would have liked you to be big, so I could lean on you.

I would have liked you to be looking out the window in winter, watching the snow falling.

I would have liked you to be lying under the covers during a storm, silent so you could hear the sound of the rainfall.

I would have liked you to be kind to dogs, so you could pat them,
and affectionate with the elderly, so you could love them.

I would have liked you to be handsome, so I could brag about you,
with big eyes, like your mother’s.

I would have liked to sing to you, to make you fall asleep, and continue the dream that woke you up.

I would have liked you to be shy, so I could see you blush,
and stubborn, so I could argue with you.

I would have liked you to be at my side, so the two of us could walk in silence,
trying to understand what the other was thinking inside but couldn’t manage to say.

I would have liked to teach you all the things I know how to do.

I would have liked you to leave someday, so I could have the pleasure of seeing you come back home.

I would have liked you to experience your first love.

I would have liked you to be near me on the day I must leave this world.

I wish I had wanted you, that time when I didn’t want you …

It was a long wait, maybe 50 or 60 years, but eventually the father and his aborted son were reconciled on the spiritual realm, and peace and happiness can now happen for them.

Jesus wants to give us peace and happiness in life. But we block it out with our sins of unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, hatred, jealousy, revenge and lustful desires.

All these and other sins feed the fire of pain in our hearts and yet we say that there is no peace and happiness in our lives.

But then the Lord Jesus continues to love us, so that one day when we realize the pain of our sins, then we will want to be reconciled with God and with others.

Then Jesus will make His home in our hearts, and then we will have peace and happiness in our lives.

With Jesus in our hearts, we will then realize that there is nothing to worry or to be anxious about.

5th Sunday of Easter, Year C, 19.05.2019

Acts 14:21-27 / Apocalypse 21:1-5 / John 13:31-35
There are these four words that are often printed on parcels, on packages and on boxes. These four words are “Fragile, handle with care”.

It obviously means that the contents in the parcel, or package, or box, needs to be handled carefully, otherwise it might be damaged or broken.

So if there are things in life that are fragile and they are to be handled with care, then, the same can be said about life.

Indeed, life is fragile and to be handled with care. More than just to be handled with care, life is fragile and must also be handled with prayer.

In life, there are health issues and illnesses, there are worries about financial sufficiency, there are troubles in family relationships and marriages, and the list goes on and on.

And there is literally nothing in life that is absolutely firm and secure. Even mighty fortresses are laid to ruins over the passage of time, and everything that is deemed strong and mighty will be put to the test.

We know that Jesus personally chose His 12 apostles; the Twelve were handpicked by Him. And yet despite being personally chosen, they all failed, all Twelve of them failed, when they were put to the test.

Today’s gospel passage began with these words “When Judas had gone…” With those four words, what came after showed how fragile and weak the 12 Apostles were.

One betrayed Jesus to His enemies, another denied Him, and the rest deserted Him in His hour of suffering.

Jesus had foretold all this, and as the crumbling began with the departure of Judas, Jesus did not launch into crisis management or damage control.

Rather, He looked beyond the fragility and the failure of the Apostles, and gave them a direction in the form of a commandment, a new commandment: “love one another just as I have loved you”.

So even when the fragility of the Apostles were eventually exposed and they were broken down by their fears, they still had to remember that new commandment that Jesus gave them. 

They had to remember that it was Jesus who loved them first, and they had to move on by loving others, in spite and despite their own fragilities, failures and brokenness. 

Nonetheless, the new commandment of loving others as Jesus loved them cannot be possibly carried out unless there is prayer. 

That’s why the early Christian community was always at prayer. They needed to be healed and strengthened by the love of Jesus in and through prayer. 

Indeed life is fragile, it has to be handled with care. And for us, life is fragile, and it has to be handled with prayer.

A parishioner called up the priest and related this incident to him. He knew of this business associate who was suddenly stricken with a critical illness.

When he came to know of the man’s condition, he called him up to express his concern and said that he will pray for him although he knew that the business associate wasn’t a Christian.

The man was depressed and desperate as he could no longer continue working. He told the parishioner that yes, he needed prayers.

Then the man asked the parishioner, “I also want to learn to pray. How do I pray?”

The parishioner, like any good Catholic, told him, “Let me ask my priest.” And so that was the purpose of him calling the priest.

So the parishioner asked the priest, “What prayers to teach him?” The priest had to think. With Catholics, it is easy to teach them prayers like “The Lord’s Prayer”, the “Hail Mary” etc., but what to teach a non-Catholic who had almost no knowledge about the faith?

The priest thought for a while, and then he remembered the two shortest prayer from the gospels. 

One was “Lord, help me.” That was said by the Syro-Phoenician woman to Jesus as she begged Him to heal her possessed daughter.
The other is “Lord, save me” which was by Peter as he was sinking into the water.

So the priest told the parishioner, “Teach this to your friend ‘Jesus, help me. Jesus, save me.’ Tell him to pray this when he feels the pain and when he is anxious about the future.”

It is a simple prayer “Jesus, help me. Jesus, save me” Calling upon the name of Jesus for help in time of need and for His saving grace in the fragilities of life will certainly bring about an outpouring of His love. 

Yes, life is fragile, handle with care. Life is fragile, handle it with prayer. The prayer can be as simple as “Jesus, help me. Jesus, save me.”

4th Sunday of Easter, Year C, 12.05.2019

Acts 13:14, 43-52 / Apocalypse 7:9, 14-17 / John10:27-30
In a world of sights and sounds, the combination of audio and visual is a powerful form of communication to catch the attention.

So whether it is advertisement or entertainment, for presentation or for relaxation, the audio and video will create an impact.

One without the other may not have the full effect as compared to the combination of both. But it also depends on the situation.

If we see the boss, and we cannot detour, then it would be better if he doesn’t say anything to us. Because if we were to see him and he says to us, “I want to talk to you” then it may not be sweet talk.

Or if we see the priest coming our way, he may not say anything, but we will tell our children “Father is coming, don’t be naughty.”

So sometimes, only the visual will do, no need for the audio.

But at other times, the audio is more effective than the video. Babies may be sound asleep with people around talking, but they will wake up when the mother calls out to them.

And even our pet dogs. They respond to our voice when we call out to them. Dogs as we know have a keen sense of hearing. That’s our experience.

In the gospel, Jesus said, “The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me.”

We don’t know much about sheep and shepherds. But when we do some reading up, what we will come to know is that sheep have a keen sense of hearing. They know the shepherd, not so much by sight (they seem to have poor eyesight) but by the voice of their shepherd.

It is said that three flocks of sheep may be mingled together and there is no distinction as to which sheep belongs to which flock.

But when the time comes to separate them, the shepherd of each flock calls out to the sheep and the sheep will follow the respective shepherd.

So when Jesus said “the sheep that belong to me listen to my voice” He is talking about an experiential reality. 
But for us who have no experience of sheep and shepherds, then this background information will be certainly helpful.

An interesting question at this point is that will a sheep ever follow another shepherd? A shepherd’s answer to this is that it is not likely that a sheep will follow another shepherd, unless it is sick, then it will follow anything that moves. And because of its poor eyesight it does not really know what it is following.

And that’s why Jesus said that the sheep that belongs to Him listen to His voice. Jesus calls us His sheep. So where is His voice, and how do we listen to His voice?

Today is also Vocation Sunday, and we also celebrate Mother’s Day. Vocation Sunday is about the promotion of priestly vocations, and Mother’s Day is linked to it in a profound way.

But just as babies respond to their mother’s voice, mothers have a deep influence over their children in what they say to them.

Mothers say a lot to their children (some call it nagging) and at times mothers don’t think that their children are listening.

But the children are listening and we bear testimony to that whenever we say “my mother once told me…”

So the mother’s mission is to be the voice of Jesus to her children, to do the right and just and the good thing. 

The mother has to be the voice of Jesus to lead them to Jesus and to teach them to follow Jesus. And mothers can also consider saying this to their children: “if God wants you to be a priest or religious, then think about it”.

My mother didn’t tell me to be a priest when I was young. She only told me to say my prayers and study hard, the two things which I didn’t like to do.

But she prayed for me, and her words were prophetic enough. Because when I was in the Seminary I had to study real hard, and when I became a priest, I had to pray real hard.

So mothers, keep the faith and be the voice of Jesus to your children. Teach them to pray and to always do what is right and just and good. 

For your children will remember what you tell them, and if they ever become a priest or a religious, your blessings will be great, on earth as in heaven

3rd Sunday of Easter, Year C, 05.05.2019

Acts 5:27-32, 40-41 / Apocalypse 5:11-14 / John 21:1-19
Whenever we talk about walking down memory lane, we talk about recalling the good old times and getting that warm nostalgic feeling.

We talk about how things used to be when life was simpler and slower. Whether it was better or not, that’s quite difficult to say. But life was certainly simpler and slower. 

Depending on whether you are the “pioneer” or the “merdeka” generation, or the millennial or strawberry generation, you may have differing views on the past and the present.

A story has it that a youngster asked his grandfather: Grandpa, how did you people live before without technology, no airplanes, no internet, no computers, no air con, no cars, no mobile phones?

Grandpa replied: It’s just like how your generation live today: no prayers, no compassion, no honour, no respect, no character, no shame.

This must really be just a joke, because to say that to the youngsters, a  war will start.

But whatever the present situation is, it would be nice to recall and reminisce about the times past and the days gone by, and to see things then and now.

In the gospel, we hear of a group of rather aimless and directionless disciples who still seem to be spiritually asleep, even though the Risen Lord Jesus had appeared to them twice.

In that dull state , Simon Peter wanted to go fishing and the rest followed. Maybe with nothing much to do, they just want to go back to the past.

And especially for Simon Peter, he wanted to go back to his former trade as a fisherman, and to think about how it was before and how life has changed. 

But it was like a “déjà vu” for him, with so many things that brought back memories of the past.

First, was the night of futile fishing, when once upon a time he too worked hard all night and caught nothing.

Then at the stranger’s prompting, there was a miraculous catch of fish and he remembered that first encounter with Jesus and the mission of being “fishers of men”.

And then that charcoal fire certainly brought back vivid memories. It was not that long ago and over another charcoal fire that Peter denied knowing Jesus, not once but three times.

So it was on that shore of the Sea of Tiberius that many memories came alive for Peter, and for the other disciples too.

And there at the centre of those memories is none other than the Risen Lord Jesus Himself.

And with the past coming alive in the present, Jesus put the question to Peter: Do you love me? It is not a question about the past, but more for the present as well as for the future.

It is a question not just for Peter to answer, it is also a question for us to answer. 

And before we answer with “Yes, Lord, you know I love you”, let us recall a bit about the past, especially when our love for Jesus was put to the test and how we have responded to the challenge.

No matter how we have responded in the past, there will always be troubled times and the trials of life.

But whether in troubled times or in times of trials, let us have a faith direction and may these four words help us in our direction. The four words are: First, Next, Then, Last.

First – It is God who has brought me to this situation. The will of God will never take me to where the grace of God will not protect me. In that I will be at peace.

Next – God will keep me in His love to behave as His child in this trial. God will never give us more than we can take. He will let us bend, but He will never let us break.

Then – He will turn the trial into a blessing and teach me lessons that He wants me to learn. God doesn’t just want us to go through it. He wants us to grow through it.

Last – In God’s good time, He will bring me out of it and let me rise and shine. Then we will realise that in order for the light to shine brightly, the darkness must be present. 

So just four words to give us a direction so as to make a decision – First, Next, Then, Last

We pray that like Peter, we will also say decisively: Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.

So whether in troubled times or in times of trial, may we know that it’s all God’s time.

And so with each time, may it always be: Yes, Lord, You know I love You.