1st Sunday of Advent, Year B, 29.11.2020

 Isaiah 63:16-17; 64:1, 3-8 / 1 Cor 1:3-9 / Mark 13:33-37

Whenever we talk about memory, we would presume that it is associated with the mind. 

Yes, the mind has a memory, but it is not about how much memory and certainly different from the computer memory which can be measured in gigabytes. 

The memory of the mind is about how deeply things are remembered, as well as how often things are repeated, so that they go deeper and deeper into the memory. 

It is from the memory of the mind that our habits and routines are formed and the more we do them, the more our lives are shaped accordingly. 

That is how dancers remember the choreography. They listen to the music, they learn the steps and the movements, and then they practice until the dancer and the dance become one. 

Sometimes it is called “muscle memory” where each part of the body responds to the music accordingly. 

But it is not just in dancing. It is also in speech and in singing. The mind remembers how the words are pronounced, or what the note sounds like, and then subsequently and consequently the tongue and the vocal cords produce the sound. 

So we see “muscle memory” being activated in speaking, in singing and in dancing, and also in the wider spectrum of our habits and routines. 

And with repetition, there will come about a union, where the person and the action become one. 

Today’s Gospel passage is so appropriate as we begin the new liturgical cycle of Year B. 

Jesus says this: Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come. 

That message of Jesus is so appropriate for us the Church, because for a number of months this year, our habits and routines have been drastically disrupted. 

It is not just our daily habits and routines that are disrupted and changed. Our spiritual habits and routines have been disrupted and changed.

The churches have been closed for some time earlier this year, and we can’t come to church for our weekly Sunday Mass or for other religious activities. 

Even though Masses have resumed, we can come only once or twice a month for Mass. 

And even then, Mass is not like before. There is no singing and we can’t sit at our favourite pews. 

Yes, so many things have changed and things keep changing, so much so that we are forgetting what it was like before. 

Yes, we are slowly forgetting our spiritual habits and routines. We are also slowly forgetting the names of our fellow parishioners because we have not met them for some time already. 

Yes, we are forgetting and forgetting, and then with nothing much to remember, we are slowly getting sleepy and then we start sleeping and sleeping. 

So on this 1st Sunday of Advent, Jesus does not ring the “Jingle Bells”, but He rings the alarm bells. 

Jesus tells us to be on our guard, to stay awake, to keep watch and prepare for a joyful renewal of our faith and our lives. 

And we must cry out to the Lord in the words of the 1st reading: Lord, do not leave us to stray from Your ways and harden our hearts against fearing You. 

And we also implore the Lord: Oh that You would tear the heavens and come down. 

So let us remember the Advent hymns, and we cry out: “O come, O come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel”. Oh yes, remember how we have been like captives in our own homes. 

We remember as we sing “O Come Divine Messiah, the world in silence waits the day, when hope shall sing its triumph, and sadness flees away. 

The Lord will hear our cries and He will tear the heavens and rain down abundant blessings. 

So let us not sleep and forget. Let us stay awake and remember. 

Let every tongue cry out to the Lord, and let us prepare to sing “Joy to the World” as we look forward with hope that our hearts will dance in celebration of the birth of Jesus our Saviour.

Christ the King, Year A, 22.11.2020

 Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17 / 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28 / Matthew 25:31-46

One of the things that can be said about food is that everyone likes to eat but not everyone likes to cook. 

One of the reasons is that it may just take 3 minutes to eat something but 30 minutes to cook it. 

Of course, the exception is instant noodles. But if we were to take 30 minutes to cook instant noodles, then we need to go back to basic cooking class, and start to learn how to boil water first. 

But if we are the type who like to cook and think that we can cook quite well, then we need to watch the people who are eating the food that we cooked. 

If they have to say “Grace before meals” before eating, and then they have to say “Grace after meals” after eating, then we will know what our cooking tastes like. 

But seriously. If we think we can cook, and can cook quite well, then we may want to compete with those stalls at the hawker centres. 

Hawker food may be considered as some kind of staple food, often sold and eaten in a practical but not necessarily a comfortable environment, and affordable to the pocket of the ordinary man in the street. 

Being a hawker may not be considered a high status, and also requires long hours of hard work. 

Obviously it is a sweaty job, and we have to make sure that the sweat doesn’t go into the cooking and the food. 

But a few days ago, the humble hawker culture was in the news, as it was sent in as an application to be inscribed in the official UNESCO intangible cultural heritage, with a recommendation by an expert body. 

So there is a high chance for the Singapore hawker culture to be recognized internationally.

Where once the hawker culture is seen as lowly and often taken for granted, it is now looked upon as a national heritage, a lifestyle and a shared experience among Singaporeans.

Although not glamorous in cooking or dining styles, hawker food is comfort food for the hungry tummy. 

Today as the Church celebrates the feast of Christ the King, the gospel reminds us of the poor and lowly and needy. 

The Feast of Christ the King is not about pomp and ceremony but about simplicity and humility. 

In the gospel parable, Jesus looks at the simple and humble deeds like feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and those in prison. 

Those are not specifically religious and pious deeds. In fact, they are more like ordinary and mundane. 

But in the gospel parable, the king highlights these deeds as important and even essential in this life, as well as for entry into eternal life.

These simple and humble deeds point out once again that spiritual saying, and that is, doing little things with great love. 

It also points out the existence and importance of the poor, which is obvious but often overlooked and left aside. 

And just like how the hawker culture is raised to prominence, Jesus our King, tells us to love the poor and how to serve them, for the poor will inherit the kingdom of God. 

And like how Pope Francis said it, the poor will guarantee our eternal income. That is his way of saying it, but we get the image. 

Yes, the poor will be the ones who will tell Jesus Christ our King about the people who have helped them on earth to go through life in spite of their difficulties and poverty. 

So, we are reminded to treat the poor with respect and with love. 

Jesus wants us to do that, because when it comes to loving our neighbour, the poor is the first on the list. 

Yes, let us love and serve the poor, for in the Kingdom of Heaven, the poor will be cooking for us the feast of the eternal banquet. And what a joyful feast it will be.

33rd Ordinary Sunday, Year A, 15.11.2020

 Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 / 1 Thess 5:1-6 / Matthew 25:14-30

Every situation has pros and cons. Every situation has advantages and disadvantages. In other words, there is no perfect situation. 

Besides pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, there are also conveniences and inconveniences. 

For example, attending Mass online is convenient. We don’t have to dress up and get out of the house, we don’t have to take the transport to church and go through the trouble of booking for Mass and to scan this and scan that. 

But of course, coming to church for Mass is an experience. We get to see familiar faces (or at least familiar eyes), we get to pray in a conducive environment, we get to receive Holy Communion and we get a feel of some spiritual normalcy. 

So the fact is that there is no perfect situation, there are pros and cons, advantages and disadvantages, conveniences and inconveniences. 

And no matter how we try to solve or reduce the disadvantages and inconveniences, we also need to remember that if that is no perfect situation, then there is no perfect solution. 

And since there is no perfect situation and no perfect solution, then obviously there are no perfect persons. 

The first reading has this to say: A perfect wife - who can find her? 

Oh yes, can we ever find a perfect wife, or perfect husband, or perfect children, or perfect in-laws? 

Everyone has their flaws and imperfections. That’s the reality of the situation. 

Even the gospel parable gives an example of an imperfect situation. 

The master entrusted his three servants with a large sum of money, or talents, each in proportion to his ability. 

The first servant went and traded with them and made double the amount. The second servant did the same. 

It would have been a perfect ending if the third servant had done likewise. However, that servant went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 

And when the time for the accounting came, the master denounced that third servant for being wicked and lazy. 

So, among other things, the gospel parable shows the imperfection of the situation, and also the imperfection of persons. That is the reality of life. 

The attention is often drawn to that third servant and his deserve punishment for being wicked and lazy. 

But let us not forget the first and second servants for their goodness and faithfulness and that they were faithful in little things. 

They used whatever they were given and they made it into a better situation. 

We too are entrusted with the goodness of God and we are called to make it better.

There is this story of a boy had a very bad temper that was getting out of hand.

His father thought about it and prayed about it and came up with this idea to help him.

He gave his son a hammer and a bag of nails, and he told his son: Every time you lose your temper, go to that wall and hammer in a nail.

So the boy did just that – every time he lost his temper he took the hammer and hit a nail into the wall.

And if you have tried hitting a nail into the wall, you will know it is not that easy. Because you often end up hitting your thumb.

After a while, the boy thought that it was easier to control his temper than to keep hitting nails into the wall.

Then one day, the boy told his father that he could now control his temper because he had stopped hitting nails into the wall.

The father said: Well done, my son.  Now for every occasion that you felt like losing your temper but managed to control it, pull a nail out of the wall.

The son thought it was strange but did as he was told. So slowly the nails came out of the wall. And after some time, all the nails were pulled out of the wall.

The son reported this to his father, and the father brought the son to look at the pock-marked wall.

He said to his son: My son, every time you lose your temper, it is like a nail being hammered into someone’s heart.

You may have apologized and the nail taken out, but the crack and the hurt remain, like this pock-marked wall. But learn this lesson, and you will be a better person.

It is interesting to note what the father did. He thought about it, prayed about it, and then he called upon whatever wisdom and experience he had to help his son overcome his bad temper. 

Today’s Gospel parable reminds us that God has given each of us all the goodness, wisdom, experience that we need to make the most out of life.

That is God’s gift to us. Our gift to God will be to use His gifts to us to help others make the most of their lives.

In other words, we are not called to bury hopes and joys. Rather we are called to share life and love.

Life and love are God’s gifts to us. What we do with that life and love is our gift to God and to others.

32nd Ordinary Sunday, Year A, 08.11.2020

 Wisdom 6:12-16 / 1 Thess 4:13-18 / Matthew 25:1-13

We have heard about people who say how God speaks to them. We heard it and we wonder and ponder about it. 

Some people say that they hear the voice of God telling them what to do. That is quite unique and unusual. 

Others would say that they heard an inspirational talk or something profound from someone, and they kept thinking about it. 

Others would say that as they read the Bible, a verse would catch their attention and they would meditate deeper about it and sense that God is speaking to them. 

Oh yes, God speaks to us in many ways so as to show us how to carry out His will and His plan for us. 

But what concerns us is that when we pray, we want to know how our prayer is answered. 

We want to know if God has heard our prayer and what He will do about it. 

But let us also believe that every prayer uttered is also every prayer answered. 

If God says “Yes” then the answer is obvious. We get what we asked for and maybe even get it immediately. 

If we pray and then we have to wait for our prayer to be answered, then God is telling us to be patient and to trust in Him. 

If we pray and don’t get what we are praying for, then maybe God is telling us that instead of giving us what we are asking for, He has something better for us. 

But the question is, what is God saying in His answer to our prayer? 

In the gospel parable, we heard of 10 bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 

The parable tells us that five were foolish and five were sensible. The foolish ones took the lamps but they brought no extra oil, whereas the sensible ones took their lamps as well as flasks of oil. 

And there lies the lesson. The foolish bridesmaids would have seen the sensible ones bring flasks of oil. But they did nothing about it, until it was too late. 

The sensible ones thought about it and prepared themselves for the unexpected and they were rewarded. 

The sensible ones can be said to be wise enough to know what to do to be prepared. 

But as we think about it, we are all given that wisdom to be sensible enough to see what God is showing us and even to hear what He wants to say to us. 

There are many good examples to follow but do we want to see it? There are many good advices to listen to but do we want to hear it? 

It is the foolishness in us that blinds us from seeing what God is showing us and also blocks our ears from listening to what God is saying to us. 

Foolishness, in the spiritual sense, is actually a turning away from God. Foolishness, as we heard in the gospel, has a disastrous end. 

One of the main causes of spiritual foolishness is unforgiveness. Because unforgiveness hardens our hearts, blurs our eyes and blocks our ears.

Unforgiveness is really foolishness and that is why fools can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the sensible and the wise, because they have learnt it from God. 

As the 1st reading says: For those who love wisdom, she is readily seen, and found by those who look for her. Quick to anticipate those who desire for wisdom, she makes herself known to them. 

Let us be sensible, let us be wise, let us be forgiving and loving.

And let us pray for wisdom with this prayer:

God, grant me the serenity 
to accept the things I cannot change; 
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference. 

Living one day at a time; 
Enjoying one moment at a time; 
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; 
Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it; 
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life 
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.  (Reinhold Niebuhr)