Holy Family, 28.12.2019

Ecclesiasticus 3:2-6 / Colossians 3:12-21 / Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23
As the year 2019 come to a close in a couple of days’ time, prominent news agencies have already made a review of what are the top news of the year, i.e. the most read and the most watched news.)

Certainly, there are much top news both in the international scene and on the local scene.

There are just so much news flooding the air waves and on our mobile screens every day, and the news come by the hour, and maybe even by the minute. 

But if we were to take a moment and ask ourselves, what is the news that had an impact in our lives, we may have to think for a while.

Of course, we may have our own pick of what is the top news of 2019, but how a piece of news has an impact on us depends very much on one thing.

And that is how much we are affected by it and how it unites us closer to one another. In other words, the impact of a piece of news on a group of people, regardless of whether good or bad, depends on its unifying effect. 


We the church, may remember certain events of 2019 that united us in solidarity.

We may remember that in April this year, there were two tragedies that happened. One was the raging fire at Notre Dame Cathedral. The other was the Sri Lanka church bombing.

Both events had an impact on us and although there is nothing much that we can do about it, in an emotional sense, it made us feel united as a family in the faith. It was like a family tragedy.

On this feast of the Holy Family, the gospel passage had the spotlight on Joseph.

The gospels have no quotes from him and he seems to be that silent father-figure whose actions spoke louder than words.

But if we were to ask Joseph, what were the events that had an impact on him and changed his life, he would have quite a list to share.

Firstly, after a dream in which he had a vision of an angel telling him what to do, he took Mary home to be his wife.

Then he and Mary had to go to Bethlehem for the census. It was there that Jesus was born and since there was no room, the infant Jesus was laid in a manger.

And then another dream, and he had to take Mary and the Child to flee to Egypt in order to escape from King Herod who wanted to kill the Child.

After Herod’s death, came another dream, and he brought Mary and Jesus back to Israel, but as there was still danger in Judaea, he brought them to Galilee and settled in a town called Nazareth.

Those were not just mere impactful events. Those were crisis moments and life-endangering moments. But those were moments that Joseph remembers. Those were also moments that he showed his true character and also brought the family together.

So today, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. They are called the “Holy Family” and not the “Happy Family”, or the “Lucky Family”, or “Healthy Family”.

They are the Holy Family because in dangerous crisis moments, they stayed together in faith and love and they gave us a model of what a family should be.

The top news of 2019 would probably not have anything about the family. The world-changing events do not seem to have anything to do with our families.

But it is said, and very profoundly so, that if you want to change the world, go back home and love your family (St Mother Teresa).

It is love that can change the world and it has to start with the family. 

And usually it is in dangerous crisis moments that family love and unity is built, as the following story will show us.   

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold.

The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together. They had quills, but the quills of each wounded the closest companion. 

After a while, they decided to distance themselves, and they began to die, alone and frozen.

So they had to make a choice: Either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by their close relationships because the most important part was the heat that came from the others. With that, they were able to survive.

For a family to stay together there are two things that are necessary: pray together and to eat together.

That is what the Mass is about – as God’s family, we come to pray together and to partake of Holy Communion so that we can become like the Holy Family.

The Holy Family won’t be featured as the top news of 2019. Nor will the family that prays together and eats together and stays together make any waves in the news.

But it is not the news that changes the world. It is the simple and humble family that will change the world. 

And the family can change the world by simply praying together, eating together and staying together. 

4th Sunday of Advent, Year A, 22.12.2019

Isaiah 7:10-14 / Romans 1:1-7 / Matthew 1:18-25
As we come to the last few couple of days before Christmas, our thoughts are on many things.

It may be about the presents we have prepared for our loved ones, the parties that we will be attending, the food that we will be eating, the weight that we will be gaining.

In our minds are many thoughts. But in our hearts, there is one longing, and it is that we want to be home for Christmas. As it is often said: Home is where the heart is.

And there is even a song that goes “I’ll be home for Christmas”.

Already quite a number of people have wished me “Merry Christmas” in advance because they will be going back to their own countries to be home for Christmas.

Anyway who doesn’t want to be home for Christmas. As the song goes: I’ll be home for Christmas. And for those who can’t be home for Christmas, then they can only dream about being home for Christmas.

But besides the time of Christmas, thoughts of home give us a warm and nice feeling.

Because home is where we feel secure and where we can be ourselves. Home is our refuge and our shelter from the cold hard world.

Home is private space and not open space. We don’t really welcome a stranger to our home, nor can we treat other people’s homes like ours, even though they may say “make yourselves at home” (say only).

The Christmas story is about the birth of Jesus Christ, and the gospel begins with this line “This  is how Jesus Christ came to be born”.

But after that was an incredible story: Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but then she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph thought of divorcing Mary, and then an angel appeared in his dream and then Joseph woke up he did what the angel told him to do. It was really an incredible story.

But the most incredible thing in this is that Jesus, the Son of God, left His home in heaven to make His home in the immaculate womb of Mary, and He also needs a place to call home.

And so it was Joseph, the man of honour, after that dream in which the angel appeared to him, made that important decision of taking Mary to his home. And with that, Jesus, the “God-is-with-us”, is now at home with us.

Truly the Christmas story is a dramatic story about how the Son of God made His home with us.

There are many stories about being home for Christmas. But looking for a movie with that “home for Christmas” theme, what we will get is “Home Alone” and the two other sequels.

I accidentally came upon this movie although it is not a movie about being home for Christmas. The title of the movie is “The Way Home”. It is a 2002 Korean movie and we can watch that movie with English subtitles on the Internet.

The story is about a 7 year-old boy from the city whose mother had to be away to look for a job and so took him to live with his 78 year-old, mute but not deaf, grandmother who lived in a remote and rural village.

That 7 year-old boy came with his junk food and electronic toys and had not desired to stay with nor respect his grandmother, especially as her house has neither electricity nor running water.

Alone with his grandmother, the boy ignores her and calls her names and detested her.
When his Game Boy ran out of batteries, he pestered his grandmother for money to buy batteries, and when she couldn’t give him money, the boy caused havoc in the house.
One day the boy demands Kentucky Fried Chicken. The grandmother only understood “chicken” and so she took some melons from her little garden and trudges off to the market to buy a chicken. Bringing back a live chicken in the rain, she prepares a home-made boiled chicken instead of fried chicken. The boy sees the boiled chicken and got angry and threw it away.

The boy remains angry and confused by the unfamiliar environment and repeatedly rejects his grandmother’s attempts to appease him. But her unconditional love slowly touches his heart. One day, the boy gets up early and goes with his grandmother to the market where he sees how hard his grandmother persuades passers-by to buy her vegetables.

Eventually the boy begins to love his grandmother, but because she is unable to read or write, he makes some simple greeting cards, so that she has some letters from him. His depth of love for his grandmother is revealed when he has to leave and he bid his grandmother a tearful farewell.
The film closes with the grandmother continuing to live alone in the thatched-roof house but with the letters of love from her grandson.

The movie is not about Christmas, but as the title goes “The Way Home”, it is about how an arrogant young boy found his way home and it was his 78 year-old mute grandmother who showed him the way. It is a very touching movie, and we can watch as a family or alone. 

It may make us think about how Jesus came to be with us and to make His home among us, but what He faced was rejection and persecution.

It may make us think about our family relationships. We may stay in the same house but is it a home where there is kindness and forgiveness, understanding and patience?

If home is where the heart is, then let charity and the spirit of Christmas begin at home.

We turn to Joseph, who gave us this courageous example of taking Mary to his home and thereby letting Jesus be part of his life.

May we also let Jesus make His home with us this Christmas.  

3rd Sunday of Advent, Year A, 15.12.2019

Isaiah 35:1-6, 10 / James 5:7-10 / Matthew 11:2-11
Life is like a cycle with its ups and downs. And if life is like a cycle, then nothing is stable in the sense that life is not a straight line. 

Because if life is a straight line, then it may seem that there is no more life. So in the cycle of life we may find ourselves sometimes at the upper half and sometimes at the lower half.

So, one month ago, we remember our departed loved ones. This month we prepare for the celebration of birth and new life.

Only last month we were complaining how hot and dry it was, and one month later we are saying how cold and wet it is. 

One month ago, the students were stressed out by their exams. And one month later, they are posting photos of places that they are having holidays.

So life is indeed like a cycle of ups and downs, and these cycles can be so quick, such that it can be said that what a difference a day makes, or what a difference a week makes, or what a difference a month makes.
And in the gospel, we can also see how quickly things can change.

Just last week, we heard of John the Baptist preaching and baptizing in the wide open spaces of the wilderness.

He was on fire as he called the people to repentance, spoke against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Sadducees. He was like thunder and lightning.

But in this week’s gospel, we see a very different picture of John the Baptist. Reduced to the shackles and darkness of his prison cell, he was disturbed by doubts.

Still he managed to contact his disciples and sent them to ask Jesus this question: Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?

John the Baptist had expected the one to come to be serious business. If he was thunder and lightning, then he expected the one to come to be like fire and brimstone.

He thought that the one who is to come would be like an axe that would chop down trees bearing rotten fruit and a winnowing fan that will gather the chaff and throw them into the fire that will never go out.

But in the darkness of the prison, he was disturbed and he doubted. So that Jesus, is he or is he not the one?

Maybe it was a question of expectations, and John the Baptist did not expect Jesus to be like that.

To that question of John the Baptist, Jesus did not give a direct answer. Rather, he replied with this: Go back and tell John what you hear and see – the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life and the Good News is proclaimed to the poor. And happy is the man who does not lose faith in me.

That’s the same with us too. When people or situations go against our expectations, we too get disturbed.

We too need to see and hear so that we can understand the reality and not what we think or expect it to be.

A teenage boy and his father got into a train and the boy took the window seat and he seems to be enjoying the travel and the nature, as if he is seeing it for the first time. 

Once the train started moving, the boy started shouting at what he was seeing outside the window.
“Dad, see these trees are moving to the back,” His father just gave a smile.

A young couple sitting nearby this boy looked at his childlike behaviour and started talking between themselves about that boy. 

Suddenly, again the boy called his father with an excitement and said, “Dad, see the clouds are running with us.” Again the dad smiled and kept quiet.

The young couple couldn’t understand why this boy was talking like this, and so they asked his father who is sitting nearby, “Why don’t you take your son to a hospital to have a good check-up?”

The father gave a smile and replied, “We just came from the hospital.” And he also added that his son was blind from the birth, and  he just got his eyes yesterday and this is the first time he is seeing the world. The young couple was stumped when they heard that.

So we may have our expectations in life. We may expect life to be quiet and comfortable, like the young couple in the train.

But when we get disturbed, let us see and hear what God is showing and telling us.

In the cycle of life, a dark disturbance comes before a bright revelation. 

That is the cycle of life. So when we get disturbed, let us not fret and complain. 

Because in the cycle of life, a disturbance comes before a revelation.

Let us see and let us hear with open hearts and the Good News will be revealed to us. 

2nd Sunday of Advent, Year A 08.12.19

Isaiah 11:1-10 / Romans 15:4-9 / Matthew 3:1-12
This time of the year is often called “Christmas Shopping” time. And the advertisements on all media platforms are making us go to the shopping malls (or online shopping) to get something.

But if it is Christmas shopping here, then in other places, there is what is called “Christmas Chopping”.
Because in countries where there are evergreens like the fir and pine trees, there is “Christmas Chopping” as these trees are chopped and exported all over the world to those who want a real tree for Christmas.

So even in Singapore, we can get a real tree for Christmas if we want to, although it is a chopped down one.
Of course, a real tree is somehow more “credible” than a fake tree. A real tree has a nice scent and real look, whereas a fake tree is plastic and with tinsel and fake snow.

There is one person who is rather interested in trees, regardless of whether they are real or fake.
He also usually comes around this time of the year. But we won’t find him in the media advertisements nor will he appear in our Christmas decorations or even in the Nativity scene.

So obviously, we are not talking about Santa Claus or some celebrity. He looks like a misfit for the season, wearing a garment made of camel hair and a rough leather belt round his waist.

He does not eat turkey and ham, but locust and wild honey. He does not say “Season’s greetings’ but “Repent!” He is such an odd figure for this season.

But needing no introduction, and with serious business, is John the Baptist. He is an uncomfortable figure in the midst of the festive mood and decorations.

John the Baptist looks at our Christmas trees, whether real or fake, and then he says: Any tree that fails to bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

And we know what he is talking about – the trees of our lives, and whether we are bearing real good fruit, or bad rotten fruit. 

And with that, we will understand his message about repentance in these days of Advent. Because without repentance, there can be no real good fruit.

Without repentance during Advent, our Christmas is going to be plastic and tinsel.

As we listen to the call for repentance, let us bring before Jesus the trees of our lives and to let Jesus cut off all that is rotten and bad, so that we can truly realise what is real and good.

There is this story that once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up.
The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: “I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I’ll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!”

The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean, and said, “I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I’ll be the strongest ship in the world!”

The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. “I don’t want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me, they’ll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world.”

Years passed, and the little trees grew tall. One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain.
The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, “This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me.” With a swing of his axe, the first tree fell.
“Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest. I shall hold wonderful treasure!” the first tree said.

The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, “This tree is strong. It is perfect for me.” With a swing of his axe, the second tree fell.
“Now I shall sail mighty waters!” thought the second tree. “I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!”

The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven.
But the woodcutter never even looked up. “Any kind of tree will do for me,” he muttered. With a swing of his axe, the third tree fell. 

The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought her to a carpenter’s shop. But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feedbox for animals.
The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold, nor with treasure. She was coated with sawdust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals.

The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ship was made that day. Instead, the once strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail on an ocean, or even a river; instead, she was taken to a little lake.

The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard.
“What happened?” the once tall tree wondered. “All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God...”

Many, many days and night passed. The three trees had forgotten their dreams.
But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feedbox.
“We wish we could make a cradle for him,” the parents whispered to each other, but they also said, “But this manger is beautiful.”
And suddenly the first tree knew she was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveller and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveller fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake.
Soon a thundering and thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She knew she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through with the wind and the rain.
The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, “Peace.” The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun.
And suddenly the second tree knew she was carrying the king of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man’s hands to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel.
But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth tremble with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God’s love had changed everything.
It had made the third tree strong.
And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God.
That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

So the next time we feel angry and disappointed because we didn’t get what we want, let us stand firm in faith and believe that God has something better to give us.

But we must also let Jesus cut off what is rotten  and bad in our lives, so that we can bear real good fruit, fruit that we offer to Jesus and to others.