2nd Sunday of Easter, Year C, 24.04.2022

 Acts 5:12-16 / Apocalypse 1:9-13, 17-19 / John 20:19-31

The ability to see is indeed a wonderful gift that we must not take for granted. 

Some may need reading glasses, some may need spectacles of different specifications, some may use contact lens, some may have embedded visual aids. 

Whatever it is, to be able to see would mean that we can admire the beauty of this world, be able to perceive unspoken body language, be able to communicate by visual means and to interact in a visual world. 

As it is usually said, seeing is believing, although not absolutely. Our eyes can be tricked by illusions, or hampered by unclarity, whether it is the lack of light or when the light is too bright. 

So, visual clarity has its limitations, but still, our eyes are a great help in knowing what is around us. 

As Christians, we walk by faith and not just by sight. But that does not mean that we can walk around with our eyes closed. 

In fact, we need to use our eyes to look at what God is showing us, to judge with the eyes of faith and to act with love. 

But there are things that we do not see and yet we say we believe in it. We have not seen God and yet we say that we believe in him. 

In the Easter celebrations, we say that we believe in Jesus who rose from the dead, and yet we have not seen the Risen Jesus. 

In the gospel, Jesus appeared to His disciples after His Resurrection. The disciples were filled with joy, but whether they really believed in what they were seeing is another matter. 

They told Thomas, who was not with them that day, that they had seen the Lord. They didn't seem that convincing to Thomas, and he said that he would not believe unless he could physically touch the wounds of Jesus. 

Thomas may be called “Doubting Thomas”, but it was he who proclaimed his faith in Jesus when he said “My Lord and my God”. 

And it was through Thomas, that Jesus gave us a blessing when He said, “You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe”. 

And indeed, we are blessed because though we have not seen the Risen Lord, yet by faith we believe in the Resurrection. 

If it is said that seeing is believing, then for us Christians, in believing we will see, and we will see what God wants to show us. 

It had been a rough two years, but we have kept the faith and held on with hope. 

Now we are beginning to see God's blessings as we joyfully prepare for the celebration of the ordination of a Deacon Simon Ho in this church on the Feast of the Sacred Heart. 

We see God's blessings as the faithful come back to church and fill the pews in the Eucharist. 

We see God's blessings on our efforts to hold the faith of the community through the online initiatives during the past two years. 

Yes, let us believe, and we will see the signs and wonders that God wants to show us.

Easter Sunday, Year C, 17.04.2022

 Today we celebrate Easter Sunday. This Sunday's Mass has a slight difference from the other Sundays. 

Instead of reciting the Creed, we will be renewing our baptismal promises.

The Renewal of the Baptismal Promises has two parts. The first part is the Renunciation of Sin and the second part is the Profession of Faith. 

The Renewal of Baptismal Promises is that solemn part of the Easter celebration when each of us, and as the members of the Body of Christ will make a public declaration. 

Putting it simply, it is a solemn public declaration of “NO” to the devil and “YES” to God. 

And after that we will be sprinkled with Holy Water as a reminder of our baptism in Christ. 

The renewal of our baptismal promises brings us back to the core of our faith. 

What we declare will be heard on earth, in heaven and also in the underworld. 

Our promises will be put to the test but God will not allow us to be tested beyond our faith. 

Let us make the renewal of our baptismal promises with conviction and God will grant us the blessings to deepen our faith in the Resurrection of Christ. 

And as members of the Body of the Risen Christ, let us be witnesses of God's love in the world, and may we also share with others our hope in the Risen Christ who is our Lord and our Saviour.

Palm Sunday, Year C, 10.04.2022

 Isaiah 50:4-7 / Philippians 2:6-11 / Luke 22:14 – 23:56

We had stood for quite a while in that rather long gospel narrative of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We could have felt some discomfort and we could also have been distracted. 

Now that we are seated, let us take some time to reflect and think about what we have just heard. 

Besides reflecting on the suffering and death of Jesus, what may come to our minds could be our own discomforts and pains in life. 

These discomforts and pains could be physical, mental or emotional. 

But when we look at Jesus, we know that He suffered like us. 

Jesus not only suffered, He also died on the Cross to save us. 

The suffering and death of Jesus is something that we need to think about as we begin Holy Week. 

We will also think about our own discomforts, pains and sufferings. 

But as we look at the Cross, we believe that Jesus will give us strength to bear our pains and sufferings and to bear our cross with love. 

That is the saving power that Jesus wants to give us when we unite ourselves with Him in His suffering and death. 

Let us turn away from sin and turn to God as we begin Holy Week. 

May the celebrations of Holy Week also make us into a holy people for God.

5th Sunday of Lent, Year C, 03.04.2022

 Isaiah 43:16-21 / Philippians 3:8-14 / John 8:1-11

Whenever we talk about justice, we tend to understand it as a judgement between right and wrong. 

So, when we say “Let justice be done”, we would want to see the innocent being vindicated and the guilty punished.

We understand justice as it happens in the court of law, that following the process of investigation and with the presentation of the facts and evidence, a judgment is pronounced. 

With that judgement, the party that is guilty of wrongdoing will be given a sentence which could be anything from a fine, to imprisonment, to corporal or even capital punishment. 

It can be presumed that the judgment of the court is correct and unbiased, and the sentence is appropriate to the offence committed. 

That is how justice is generally understood, and it is a means of keeping law and order in a society. 

It is also a way to remind people that there are laws and regulations to keep, and it is also to protect the poor and the lowly. 

And of course, no one should take the law into their own hands. 

In the gospel, we heard that Jesus was in the Temple and the people came to Him and He sat down and began to teach them. 

The fundamental teaching of Jesus is the Law and the Commandments of God so that the people would know the ways of God and walk along the road of salvation. 

Then the scribes and Pharisees brought along a woman who was caught committing adultery. And they said that according to the law, that woman was to be condemned to death by stoning. 

Then they asked Jesus for His opinion, but the intention was to test Him in order to look for something to use against Him. 

But Jesus turned the situation around by showing the true meaning of the justice of God. 

The justice of God is founded on righteousness and peace, as well as mercy and compassion. 

God wants us to do what is right so that we can be at peace with God and with others. 

But when we do wrong, God who is merciful and compassionate, forgives us and helps us to repent so that we can walk again on the right part. 

Jesus did not say that the woman was innocent, but He didn't condemn her and told her to go and don't sin anymore. 

Jesus showed the true meaning of God's justice which is righteousness and peace, as well as mercy and compassion. 

In doing so, Jesus revealed the objective of justice, and that is God wants all to be saved, and in this case, it is not just the guilty woman but also the scribes and Pharisees. 

There is this story of a 24 year old man who was jailed for a crime that he did not commit, and he spent nine years in prison before he was proven innocent and released from prison. 

But he was angry and resentful about all that had happened and he was bitter about the 9 years of his life that was lost. 

He lived his life unhappily till he was 70 years old when he became seriously ill. He asked to see a priest, and before giving him the anointing, the priest asked the man if he wanted to make a Confession. 

The man thought for a while, and said that he was angry and bitter about being implicated and lost nine years of his life in prison. 

And all this while, he cursed at those people who were involved in the case, because of the injustice done to him. 

The priest thought for a while and said: You came out of prison when you were 33 years old and now you are 70. But you didn't really come out of prison. Because for 37 years you locked yourself in the prison of anger, resentment and bitterness. It is time for you to come out and be truly free. 

Although it is just a story, we know that we are gripping in our hands the stones of anger, resentment and bitterness and we want to throw these stones at others. 

Jesus is telling us that we are not without sin, and it is only for our good that we drop those stones. 

Yes, let us drop those stones so that we can hold on to the hand of Jesus and walk in the path of righteousness and peace, so that we can experience the healing love of God's mercy and compassion, and be freed from the prison of sin.