13th Ordinary Sunday, Year A, 28.06.2020

2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16 / Romans 6:3-4, 8-11 / Matthew 10:37-42

That is a story titled “Whose job is it?”, but it is known by its more popular title “The story of Everyone, Someone, Anyone and No-one”. 

This is how the story goes: There was an important job to be done and Everyone was sure that Someone would do it. Anyone could have done it, but No-one did it. 

Someone got angry about that, because it was Everyone’s job. Everyone thought that Anyone could do it, but No-one realized that Everyone wouldn’t do it.

It ended up that Everyone blamed Someone when No-one did what Anyone could have done. 

The story may be candid but the message is clear, and that is, no one wanted to take responsibility so nothing was accomplished. 

Although it is just a story, the reality of the problem exists in organizations, companies, teams and in society. 

And we also know that at one point in time, we have been that “Everyone”, “Someone”, “Anyone” and “No-one”. 

In the gospel, there is a word that Jesus mentioned a number of times, 9 times to be exact. 

In a short gospel passage, the word “anyone” appears nine times and hence there is an emphasis on it. 

What Jesus said about what anyone can do ranged from anything that is difficult to that which is rather ordinary. 

But it also means that anyone could do it. It is not something that is impossible or out of this world. 

But like in that story, someone thought that anyone could do it, but no one realize that everyone wouldn’t do it. 

As disciples of Jesus, we are called to be responsible and accountable. We are called to be that “anyone” and to do what is right and just. 

To be that “anyone” may mean ending up with a messy thankless task that everyone will take for granted with no one coming to help and even with someone giving comments and criticisms. 

Let us be that “anyone” for the glory of God and for the good of others. 

Jesus knows what we are doing for Him and He will reward us.

12th Ordinary Sunday, Year A, 21.06.2020

Jeremiah 20:10-13 / Romans 5:12-15 / Matthew 10:26-33
Whenever we talk about fear, we are talking about something that affects all of us. Fear has no respect for status or personages. 

And fear is also not something that can be rationalized with. Because it is a natural and a powerful human emotion. 

The cause of fear can be anything from physical to psychological. Our response can also be anything from physical to psychological. 

Some people have a fear for creeping and crawling insects, or snakes, or even cats and dogs. 

Some have fears of the dark, or being alone, or of persons having certain looks and mannerisms. 

Some also have fears of failures, or being laughed at, or being gossiped about, or fear of public speaking or of being on stage. 

Whatever it is, the fear is a real emotion and it also makes us behave in a way that is not our usual and natural self. 

In the gospel Jesus tells His disciples and He also tells this: Do not be afraid. 

Jesus knows that we are afraid. But do we know what we are afraid of? 

Of course we are afraid of many things. We are afraid of the future especially in the midst of these times. We are afraid of losing our jobs, afraid of financial difficulties, afraid of serious illnesses or being infected by the virus. 

But when Jesus tells us not to be afraid, there is one person that He has in His mind, and that is, the evil one. 

Because the evil one will stir up our fears and the evil one will also use his agents to stir up our fears.

When we begin to fear, our faith gets shaken, we begin to act in an unloving way and we lose the hope of anything good that can come out of a bad situation. 

Just as in the 1st reading, the Lord God protected the prophet Jeremiah from his enemies, and Jeremiah was able to declare the justice of God and he even said: Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for He has delivered the soul of the needy from the hands of evil men. 

Jesus tells us not to be afraid of the evil one and those who do evil. 

Jesus tells us not to fear the worst case scenario but to have faith in Him and to have hope for the best case scenario. 

Let us ask the Lord Jesus to strengthen us with His love, so that we will be able to declare to others: Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord, for He will deliver us and save us.

Corpus Christi, Year A, 14.06.2020

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16 / 1 Cor 10:16-17 / John 6:51-58

The Feast of Corpus Christi, or otherwise known as the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, can be said to be the feast that expresses the fundamental doctrines of the Catholic faith. 

This feast expresses the truth of the discourse by Jesus in the Gospel, which is taken from the Gospel of John. The whole of Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John is dedicated to the “Bread of life” discourse. 

The feast is also an expression of the teachings, Traditions, practices and devotions of the Catholic Church. 

The doctrine of this feast can be found in the Mass, the teaching on the Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Holy Hour and other Catholic devotions. 

Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper, which started off as the Passover meal. 

But the Last Supper became uniquely the Institution of the Holy Eucharist when Jesus gave the Church His Body and Blood for the salvation of the world. 

So instead of a Passover lamb, Jesus is the Lamb of God who was sacrificed to take away the sins of the world. 

But going earlier than the Passover event in Egypt, we may remember that at the beginning of Creation, there were two trees in the Garden of Eden. One was the tree of Life, and the other was the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. 

Adam and Eve were instructed by God not to eat of the fruit of those two trees. 

But they fell into the temptation of the devil and ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. 

God drove them out of the Garden of Eden and in order to prevent them from eating of the Tree of Life, God set an angel to guard it. 

There was no further mention of that tree of Life after that. 

When Jesus was crucified on the Cross, the Cross was often referred to as a tree. (Acts 5:50) 

The connection between the Cross and the tree becomes profound when Jesus died on the Cross to save us and to give us a new life. 

Jesus now invites us to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life. And that fruit of the Tree of Life is none other than His Body and His Blood. 

Through the saving death of Jesus, we now have life and salvation through His Body and Blood. 

On this Feast of Corpus Christi, let us give thanks for such a great Divine Gift of Life.

May we always treasure this gift and may we never take this Gift for granted.

Trinity Sunday, Year A, 07.06.2020

Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9 / 2 Cor13:11-13 / John 3:16-18

The word “online” is not a new word. 

When Information Technology came into the scene more than 20 years ago, it was a technological advancement that made a great impact on the world. 

With that many resources began going online and there was no turning back. 

Nowadays, instruction manuals and hard copy materials have gone online. 

In fact, any product that does not have an online resource and information availability is either outdated or would not be around for long. 

But recently, the word “online” has taken over almost every aspect of our lives. 

So there are online meetings, online teaching, online shopping, online buying and selling, online praying, online worship services, online social gatherings and online entertainment. 

If one hasn’t gone online in the past couple of months, then we might think that that person is certainly not in touch with reality. 

But with that being said, it cannot be denied that online is just a virtual reality. 

Although there is audio and visual, there is no physical reality presents. 

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity in which we celebrate this Sunday, is certainly not an abstract reality. 

As we heard in the gospel, God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son. God sent His Son into the world so that everyone who believes in Him may not be lost but be saved and have eternal life. 

God is not a virtual reality. Jesus Christ His Son is the image of the unseen God, and to have seen Him is to have seen God the Father. 

The Holy Spirit is given to us so that we can be in union with the Father and Son and to be members of the Mystical Body of the Church in which Jesus Christ is the Head. 

For the love and union of the Holy Trinity is a spiritual as well as a physical reality that is manifested in the Church.

The celebration of the mystery of the Holy Trinity is also acknowledged in the reality of our faith in God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

The union and love of the Holy Trinity is also to be reflected in our lives and more so when we gather as the Church. 

Love and Union is what the Holy Trinity is all about. 

It is also what we are all about. 

Our mission is to go forth and proclaim that that is what the world should be all about.