Palm Sunday, Year B, 28.03.2021

 Isaiah 50:4-7 / Philippians 2:6-11 / Mark 14:1 -15:39

Today the Church begins Holy Week with Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday.

So, what is the correct title? Is it Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday? 

Well, it is both actually. At the beginning of the Mass, there is the blessing of the palm branches.

And then there is the long gospel narrative of the suffering and death of Jesus.

So, what does all these mean as we begin Holy Week and going on to Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter?

With Palm Sunday, we begin the yearly journey, and it is journey not so much towards a destination, but a journey into a sacred time.

We follow Jesus to accomplish His Paschal Mystery, which is His suffering, death and Resurrection, or in simple terms, the saving mission of Jesus.

Jesus wants to save us from our sins and bring us closer to God. 

From the depths of human weakness and sinfulness, Jesus wants to lift us up to God and to live a life of holiness, a life that God has created us to live.

So, let us follow Jesus from the agony of the Cross to the glory of the Resurrection, and with the power of the Cross, may our faith be renewed and strengthened.

May the celebration of the sacred feasts also bring us God’s blessings and protection.

5th Sunday of Lent, Year B, 21.03.2021

 Jeremiah 31:31-34 / Hebrews 5:7-9 / John 12:20-33

When it comes to the basic needs of life, there is no need to refer to some theory of the hierarchy of needs to have an idea. 

We should know what the basic needs in life are. Essentially, they are food, clothing and shelter. We need food for sustenance, clothing for warmth and modesty, and a shelter that we can go home to. 

And when these needs are met, then what is next? And here it is where it may get a bit fuzzy. Because here is where needs and wants get a bit mixed up. 

When the basic needs in life are met, then what we may desire next is comfort and maybe even luxury. 

We may turn our attention to accumulating wealth so as to fulfil our desire for comfort and luxury. 

Well, the current situation that the world is facing has literally stripped us down to our bare essentials. 

All the wealth and prosperity, all the power and might, all the fame and fortune, all the science and technology, cannot guarantee the thing that we need most, and that is protection, and protection from a virus. 

So, what we need now is protection and safety, and it has to take a virus to make us realize that. 

So, safety and protection have become priorities for us, not just for us but for the world. 

So, we wear face masks, we avoid close contact, we get our vaccinations, we comply with contact tracing requirements, but still there can be no absolute guarantee. 

And that should make us realize that we must turn to God for safety and protection. Certainly God loves us and cares for us and He wants to protect us and keep us safe. 

And God only ask this of us, and that is to be humble and to obey. 

In the gospel, we hear Jesus saying, “Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say: Father, save me from this hour?” 

Jesus was troubled, He was feeling afraid, He may even be in distress. This is a side of Jesus that we don't often see, but we also know how fear gripped Him in His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, that His sweat became like drops of blood. 

But then Jesus also said, “It was for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” 

So did God save Jesus and protected Him from suffering and death? 

The 2nd reading tells us that during His life on earth, Jesus offered up prayer and entreaty, to the One who had the power to save Him out of death, and He submitted so humbly that His prayer was heard. 

Although He was Son, Jesus learnt to obey through suffering, but having been made perfect, He became for all who obey Him the source of eternal salvation. 

So yes, we pray and ask God to protect us and keep us safe. And God is only asking two things from us, and that is to be humble and to be obedient. 

But to be humble and to be obedient goes against our human tendencies to be self-reliant and to think that we know better. 

There is this story of a man who went trekking. He wondered deep into the forest. But then he got lost and he tried to find his way back. 

It was getting dark and he was desperate and so he went on and on even when darkness had fallen. 

As he rushed on desperately in the darkness, he couldn't see what was ahead and he fell off the cliff. 

As he was falling, he tried to clutch at something and he managed to catch hold of a branch. 

As he hung on to the branch, he cried out, “Oh God, help me, help me!” And then he heard a voice saying, “You called me?” And the man said, “Oh Lord, is that you? Please save me!”

And the voice answered, “Yes I will. But you must do what I tell you.” And a man said, “Yes, yes, I will.” 

And the voice said, “Alright then, let go of the branch.” And there was silence. 

Now if we were that man, would we let go of the branch? Would we dare to trust in that voice, or would we trust in the branch and keep holding on to it? 

Well, as the story goes, the next morning, the rescuers saw a strange sight. The man was hanging on to the branch but he was frozen to death. And his feet were just a few inches from the ground. 

Well, just a story to let us know that letting go of our security is really difficult. 

But if we are humble and obedient to God and trust Him enough to let go, then we will fall not into empty darkness, but into the safety of God love. 

Jesus showed that to us through His Cross and Resurrection. In the cross is our safety and protection. May we also grow in humility and obedience.

4th Sunday of Lent, Year B, 14.03.2021

 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23 / Ephesians 2:4-10 / John 3:14-21

It is not too far-fetched to say that there are many mysteries in life, and some of these mysteries are really baffling and remained as unsolved mysteries. 

So there are stories of amazing coincidences, strange encounters and many other stories that either make us wonder or make us puzzled. 

While some stories can be really amusing, there are also other stories that can be rather creepy and disturbing. 

However mysterious a story may be, the fact is that while we know some of the details, the rest of it have unanswered questions. 

Even in the Bible, there are many mysteries that can be classified as “unsolved cases”. 

We may have heard about Noah's Ark in the Bible. It must have been a rather big ship to be able to hold all those animals. 

So where did the ark land after the flood? Were there any remains of the ark that are still around? Probably there are no more remains, but there are some people who are still looking for the remains of that Noah's Ark. 

From Noah's Ark we go to the Ark of the Covenant that was carried by the Israelites for 40 years in the desert. 

In that Ark were the two tablets, the 10 Commandments, that Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai. It was a revered object as it was a sign of God's presence among His people in their journey through the desert. 

The question is, where is it now? Was it captured by the enemies and destroyed? Or was it hidden from the enemies and the information of its whereabouts is lost? 

Many stories surround its whereabouts and even movies were made about it. But whether it still exist, no one really knows. 

Today's Gospel presents yet another mystery. And that is the bronze serpent that Moses put on a standard. 

The story was that the people complained against God, and to punish them, God sent fiery serpents to bite them and many died from the serpents’ bites. 

The people repented, and God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a standard, and anyone who was bitten by a fiery serpent just had to look at it, at that bronze serpent, and he would be cured. 

Whether that bronze serpent still exists or not, is not so much of the question, as to why is it such a strange thing that God ask Moses to do. 

The question is that, why make an object or something that caused pain and death, and then that very object becomes the source of remedy. 

It is certainly one of those mysterious ways of God that we are still trying to comprehend. 

But that mystery maybe clearer when Jesus said: The Son of Man must be lifted up, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. 

When Jesus was nailed and lifted up on the cross, everybody thought that it was a tragic end. But with His Resurrection, the Cross became a sign of life and salvation. 

When Moses lifted up that bronze serpent, and when the people looked at it, they were reminded of their sins and punishment. 

It was only with repentance that they were cured. It was not the bronze serpent that cured them. Rather it was their repentance and God's mercy that cured them. 

When we look at the Cross, we are reminded that Jesus died to save us from our sins. 

Although it is said that our sins nailed Jesus to the Cross, but it was God's love that lifted Jesus high on the Cross. 

It was with Jesus on the Cross that God is proclaiming this: I love you. 

As the 2nd reading puts it: God loved us with so much love that He was generous with His mercy. When we were dead through our sins, He brought us to life with Christ, and raised us up with Him and gave us a place with Him in heaven. 

So the mystery of the Cross is this: it is a stumbling block, and foolishness for those who do not accept the cross. 

But for those who accept the Cross, it is the powerful love of God, a remedy for our sins, and a sign of salvation. 

If we want to be saved, let us carry our cross. If we want to love God and our neighbour, let us carry our cross. If we want to understand the mystery of life, let us carry our cross and follow Jesus.

3rd Sunday of Lent, Year B, 07.03.2021

 Exodus 20:1-17 / 1 Cor 1:22-25 / John 2:13-25

One of the most fascinating objects in this world is art. For some of us, or maybe most of us, art is just a piece of drawing or painting. 

Some art pieces are beautiful, some are ordinary-looking, some are abstract, and some are just mysterious. 

What is so fascinating about art pieces is the price of some of the paintings. Art pieces in the museums are termed as “priceless” as those art pieces are deemed as a national treasures or heritage. They are for exhibition only. 

Art pieces in the art galleries are for sale and the price ranges from a few hundred dollars to a few million dollars. 

What is fascinating, and intriguing, is that why would people pay a huge sum of money for a piece of painting by some renowned artist?

When we look at paintings like the “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci, or “Sunflowers” by Vincent van Gogh, or paintings by Rembrandt and Picasso, we may wonder why the paintings are either priceless or so pricey. 

But let us listen to what some people say about art. 

“The aim of art is not to represent the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” (Aristotle) 

“Art is not what you see but what you make others see.” (Edgar Degas)

So, art speaks where words are unable to explain. In other words, art is like a sign. It points to something else much deeper. 

Those who understand the art or the painting and what it is pointing to, or its significance and deeper meaning, will be willing to pay the price for it. 

In the gospel is the account of the occasion when Jesus cleansed the temple. It was an act that certainly angered those who are doing business there and hence they asked Jesus, “What sign can you show us to justify what you have done?”

The reply of Jesus was astonishing, and in intriguing, when He said, “Destroy this sanctuary and in three days I will raise it up.” 

Of course, at that moment, no one really understood what Jesus meant, until much later after His Resurrection. 

It is like looking at a priceless painting and wondering why it is so valuable. But those who have the insight will be able to understand and see the significance and meaning. 

There is this story of a wealthy man and his son who loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works. 

Then the son was called up to go to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and he grieved deeply for his only son. 

Sometime later, that was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, “Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you and your love for art.”

The young man held out his package. “I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.” 

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by that young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting especially the son’s eyes. The father was so drawn to the eyes of his son in the painting. 

He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. “Oh no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It is a gift for you.” 

The father hung the portrait in the living room. Every time visitors came to his home, he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them the other works of art. 

Sometime later the father died. There was to be a great auction of his collection of paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection. 

On the platform was the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. “We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?” 

There was silence. A voice from the crowd shouted, “We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one!”

But the auctioneer persisted. “Will someone bid for this painting? $100, $200?” Another voice shouted angrily, “We didn't come to see this painting. We came to see the valuable paintings.” 

But still the auctioneer continued, “The painting of the son, the painting of the son, who will take the painting of the son? 

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the long-time gardener of the man and his son. “I will give $10 for the painting.” Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

The crowd shouted, “Give it to him for $10!” The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son. They wanted to see the more valuable paintings. 

The auctioneer pounded the gavel. “Going once, going twice, sold for $10 to that gardener.” The crowd shouted, “Now let's get on with the collection.” 

The auctioneer laid down his gavel. “I'm sorry, but the auction is over.” “What about the paintings?” the crowd asked. 

“I'm sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the painting of the son gets everything.”

This story reminds us that God sent His only Son to save us by dying on the Cross.

The Cross is certainly not a piece of art or an ornament. 

It is a sign of God’s saving love for us in the person of Jesus.

When we truly embrace the Cross, then we will experience the power and the wisdom of God.

If we truly believe in the Son of God, we will take up our cross and follow Him from the agony of life to the glory of the Resurrection.