1 Kings 3:5, 7-12 / Romans 8:28-30 / Matthew 13:44-52
If there is anything that we need now, probably the first thing that would come to our minds is a vaccine against the virus that is causing this pandemic.
And it is not just we who need it. The whole world needs, but it doesn’t seem that a vaccine will be available so soon, although it is needed urgently.
This pandemic is just too disruptive. It has disrupted the life of the whole world right down to our personal lives.
Oh yes, we want a vaccine and we want it urgently so that our lives can go back to normal.
But what is this normal life that we have in our minds that we are thinking of?
Is it a life where we can have more time with our loved ones, to have family meals together, to have time for conversation with our family members and even to pray together as a family?
But isn’t that what is happening now, or at least it is possible now.
What seemed so difficult to achieve in the past, now it is possible. But do we want it?
So, the fundamental question is: Do we know what we really want? Do we know what we really need?
And if we are still thinking about that question, let us recall the conversation between God and Solomon in the 1st reading.
God appeared to Solomon in a dream and said: Ask what you would like Me to give you.
Many things could have crossed the mind of Solomon, but he asked for this - he asked for a heart to understand how to discern between good and evil so that he can govern the people of God.
And that pleased the Lord God because what Solomon asked for was not for himself but for the good of the people and for the glory of God.
In prayer we ask for many things. Some are for ourselves and some are for others.
But like what Solomon asked for, may what we ask for be for the good of others and for the glory of God.
Because the glory of God shines brightly when people live out the goodness in themselves and when they understand the ways of the Lord and walk by it.
Let us ask the Lord to give us the heart to understand, the heart that was given to Solomon so that we will be able to discern the signs of the times and to know what the Lord is asking of us.
But let us understand that in these times God wants us to love Him by loving others.
When we do that, then we will receive treasures from above, and we will be given what we need.
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Saturday, July 25, 2020
Saturday, July 18, 2020
16th Ordinary Sunday, Year A, 12.07.2020
Wisdom 12:13, 16-19 / Romans 8:26-27 / Matthew 13:24-43
Every generation had a crisis to face.
For the Pioneer generation it was the crisis of war, where life and death are separated by just a thin line.
For the Merdeka generation it was the crisis of the independence of the nation where the future hung on the balance.
For this generation, it was the crisis of a pandemic, where a viral infection has brought about a great disruption.
But whatever the crisis might be, it is a matter of survival.
A crisis also shows character. It brings out the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the brilliant and ignorant, the best and worst.
When things are going smoothly, a lot of good is taken for granted, and the not-so-good are often overlooked and ignored.
But it takes a crisis to uncover everything above and everything below.
In the gospel parable, a man sowed good seed in his field and all was well and good.
But then the enemy came and sowed darnel all among the wheat.
For a while all seemed well and good until the wheat sprouted and ripened and the darnel appeared as well.
And so the crisis began. Questions were asked and solutions were offered.
The gospel parable seems to give a rather simple solution: Let them grow and then at harvest time they will be separated.
But the teaching point of the parable is this, and we hear it in the 1st reading: God is mild in His judgement and governs us with great lenience.
The 1st reading continues with this: You have taught a lesson to Your people, how a virtuous man must be kind to his fellow men, and You have given Your sons the good hope that after sin You will grant repentance.
So in this current crisis of the pandemic, we see the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the brilliant and ignorant, the best and the worst, all being exposed before our eyes.
It’s not just around us that we see these; we see these in ourselves.
For all the goodness and growth that we’ve seen in ourselves, let us give thanks and praise to God for His blessings.
But for all our failings, our shortcomings, our weaknesses, our sinfulness, we turn to God who is mild in judgement and governs us with great lenience.
We put our hope in God that He will grant us repentance and let us produce a good harvest for God and those around us, so that in this crisis of the pandemic, we will grow in love and that we will help others rise above this difficult times.
Every generation had a crisis to face.
For the Pioneer generation it was the crisis of war, where life and death are separated by just a thin line.
For the Merdeka generation it was the crisis of the independence of the nation where the future hung on the balance.
For this generation, it was the crisis of a pandemic, where a viral infection has brought about a great disruption.
But whatever the crisis might be, it is a matter of survival.
A crisis also shows character. It brings out the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the brilliant and ignorant, the best and worst.
When things are going smoothly, a lot of good is taken for granted, and the not-so-good are often overlooked and ignored.
But it takes a crisis to uncover everything above and everything below.
In the gospel parable, a man sowed good seed in his field and all was well and good.
But then the enemy came and sowed darnel all among the wheat.
For a while all seemed well and good until the wheat sprouted and ripened and the darnel appeared as well.
And so the crisis began. Questions were asked and solutions were offered.
The gospel parable seems to give a rather simple solution: Let them grow and then at harvest time they will be separated.
But the teaching point of the parable is this, and we hear it in the 1st reading: God is mild in His judgement and governs us with great lenience.
The 1st reading continues with this: You have taught a lesson to Your people, how a virtuous man must be kind to his fellow men, and You have given Your sons the good hope that after sin You will grant repentance.
So in this current crisis of the pandemic, we see the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, the brilliant and ignorant, the best and the worst, all being exposed before our eyes.
It’s not just around us that we see these; we see these in ourselves.
For all the goodness and growth that we’ve seen in ourselves, let us give thanks and praise to God for His blessings.
But for all our failings, our shortcomings, our weaknesses, our sinfulness, we turn to God who is mild in judgement and governs us with great lenience.
We put our hope in God that He will grant us repentance and let us produce a good harvest for God and those around us, so that in this crisis of the pandemic, we will grow in love and that we will help others rise above this difficult times.
Saturday, July 11, 2020
15th Ordinary Sunday, Year A, 12.07.2020
Isaiah 55:10-11 / Romans 8:18-23 / Matthew 13:1-23
The word “destiny” is a powerful word and it is also a thought-provoking word.
But what is the meaning of destiny? There are many shades of meaning but not one that can really express it in its essence.
Destiny can be said to be events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future.
Destiny can also be understood as a future scenario determined by decisions an individual will make.
There are certainly more shades of the meaning to Destiny and so it can be quite difficult to define destiny given that there are many other factors involved.
But what is the Christian understanding of destiny?
We would have heard before that Jesus said this of Himself: The Son of Man is destined to suffer, die and rise again.
So the Christian understanding of destiny is connected to God’s will.
Jesus came to show us how to do the will of God. And in doing the will of God, Jesus understood His destiny as having to suffer, die and to rise from the dead.
In the 1st reading we get a glimpse of the will of God and how it directs the destiny of nature:
Thus says the Lord: ‘As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.’
So the rain and the snow fulfilled their destiny by watering the earth. In turn the earth gave growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for eating.
But in the gospel, we hear of a parable in which some of the seeds that were sown were not able to fulfill their destiny of bearing a harvest.
But it is a parable that shows us that quite often we are the obstacles of our own destiny.
The Word of God leads us to know and do the will of God. And the Word of God are like seeds that are sown in our hearts.
When our hearts are hardened by pleasures and desires, or by resentment and disappointment, God’s Word cannot take root.
When our hearts are distracted or disturbed by worries and anxieties, God’s Word cannot take root.
When our hearts are poisoned by sin and unfaithfulness, God’s word cannot take root.
But like the sower, God continues to sow His Word on our hearts.
May we listen, may we see, so that we will be forgiven and healed, and then we will be able to do God’s Will and fulfill our destiny in our lives.
The word “destiny” is a powerful word and it is also a thought-provoking word.
But what is the meaning of destiny? There are many shades of meaning but not one that can really express it in its essence.
Destiny can be said to be events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future.
Destiny can also be understood as a future scenario determined by decisions an individual will make.
There are certainly more shades of the meaning to Destiny and so it can be quite difficult to define destiny given that there are many other factors involved.
But what is the Christian understanding of destiny?
We would have heard before that Jesus said this of Himself: The Son of Man is destined to suffer, die and rise again.
So the Christian understanding of destiny is connected to God’s will.
Jesus came to show us how to do the will of God. And in doing the will of God, Jesus understood His destiny as having to suffer, die and to rise from the dead.
In the 1st reading we get a glimpse of the will of God and how it directs the destiny of nature:
Thus says the Lord: ‘As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.’
So the rain and the snow fulfilled their destiny by watering the earth. In turn the earth gave growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for eating.
But in the gospel, we hear of a parable in which some of the seeds that were sown were not able to fulfill their destiny of bearing a harvest.
But it is a parable that shows us that quite often we are the obstacles of our own destiny.
The Word of God leads us to know and do the will of God. And the Word of God are like seeds that are sown in our hearts.
When our hearts are hardened by pleasures and desires, or by resentment and disappointment, God’s Word cannot take root.
When our hearts are distracted or disturbed by worries and anxieties, God’s Word cannot take root.
When our hearts are poisoned by sin and unfaithfulness, God’s word cannot take root.
But like the sower, God continues to sow His Word on our hearts.
May we listen, may we see, so that we will be forgiven and healed, and then we will be able to do God’s Will and fulfill our destiny in our lives.
Saturday, July 4, 2020
14th Ordinary Sunday, Year A, 05.07.2020
Zechariah 9:9-10 / Romans 8:9, 11-13 / Matthew 11:25-30
The donkey may be quite a famous animal but it may not be that glamorous.
Certainly, the donkey is not as glamorous as compared to a horse.
It doesn’t have that good looks either. Its head is not proportionate to its body, it’s ears stick up awkwardly, it can’t run that fast, and it makes an annoying “hee-haw” sound.
And to add to that, it is also called by a derogatory name, “beast of burden”. So it seems like it is even less than an animal, it is a beast!
But all that aside, its strong point is that it can carry heavy burdens, almost three times its weight.
As a beast of burden, the donkey is used in many countries to carry heavy loads, especially in places where motorized vehicles cannot access.
The 1st reading begins with a build-up to what was expected to be a glorious mighty figure: “The Lord says this: Rejoice heart and soul, daughter of Zion!
Shout with gladness, daughter of Jerusalem!
See now, your king comes to you;
he is victorious, he is triumphant,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Somehow, it seems like an anti-climax when the king comes victorious, triumphant, humble and riding on a donkey!
We would expect the king to ride on a glorious and glamorous horse but not on a lowly donkey aka beast of burden.
But the word that should prepare us for what is to come is that word “humble”; yes, victorious, triumphant, humble and riding on a donkey.
And Jesus tells us in the gospel: Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest.
This is the only instance in the gospels that Jesus talked about His heart – it is a gentle and humble heart.
A gentle and humble heart possesses great strength and that is why Jesus tells us to come to Him when we are tired out by our labours and are overburdened.
We may feel like we are a beast of burden, carrying other people’s loads and doing their work and they get the credit.
We may feel that others have the easier and glorious tasks while we get the low-end laborious dirty jobs.
But let us learn from Jesus to be gentle and humble of heart.
With a gentle and humble heart, Jesus will give us strength to bear the heavy burdens of life.
The donkey may be quite a famous animal but it may not be that glamorous.
Certainly, the donkey is not as glamorous as compared to a horse.
It doesn’t have that good looks either. Its head is not proportionate to its body, it’s ears stick up awkwardly, it can’t run that fast, and it makes an annoying “hee-haw” sound.
And to add to that, it is also called by a derogatory name, “beast of burden”. So it seems like it is even less than an animal, it is a beast!
But all that aside, its strong point is that it can carry heavy burdens, almost three times its weight.
As a beast of burden, the donkey is used in many countries to carry heavy loads, especially in places where motorized vehicles cannot access.
The 1st reading begins with a build-up to what was expected to be a glorious mighty figure: “The Lord says this: Rejoice heart and soul, daughter of Zion!
Shout with gladness, daughter of Jerusalem!
See now, your king comes to you;
he is victorious, he is triumphant,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Somehow, it seems like an anti-climax when the king comes victorious, triumphant, humble and riding on a donkey!
We would expect the king to ride on a glorious and glamorous horse but not on a lowly donkey aka beast of burden.
But the word that should prepare us for what is to come is that word “humble”; yes, victorious, triumphant, humble and riding on a donkey.
And Jesus tells us in the gospel: Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest.
This is the only instance in the gospels that Jesus talked about His heart – it is a gentle and humble heart.
A gentle and humble heart possesses great strength and that is why Jesus tells us to come to Him when we are tired out by our labours and are overburdened.
We may feel like we are a beast of burden, carrying other people’s loads and doing their work and they get the credit.
We may feel that others have the easier and glorious tasks while we get the low-end laborious dirty jobs.
But let us learn from Jesus to be gentle and humble of heart.
With a gentle and humble heart, Jesus will give us strength to bear the heavy burdens of life.
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