13th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 26.06.2022

 1 Kings 19:16, 19-21 / Galatians 5:1, 13-18 / Luke 9:51-62

In life, we need to have some convictions, or at least a conviction. 

When there is a conviction, then there will be goals and objectives in life. When there is a conviction, then what we think and what we do will be focused and directed. When there is a conviction, there will also be determination. We won't waste our time doing nothing or just lazing away. 

But convictions need not be lofty or profound. They can be simple and practical, so that in every situation, we will have recourse to our convictions and move on in life. 

For example, a simple practical conviction in life can be this: Walking is a good exercise. 

That sounds simple and practical enough. Walking is good for our health and physically it is an exercise that we can maintain in our senior years.

In the emotional aspect, it would be good to walk away from anger, resentment and bitterness, so that we will be at peace with ourselves. 

And in the spiritual aspect, we walk away from sin and we walk towards God. 

So, convictions in life can be simple and practical and achievable, yet it does not make us look obsessive or compulsive. 

The first line of the gospel passage begins with this: As the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem. 

To be resolute is to be admirably purposeful, determined and unwavering. 

Jesus knew what His mission was. He came to save sinners. He came to teach the truth, to show the way of love, and to give us life to the full on Earth and also eternal life in Heaven. 

That was His conviction, and He was focused, determined and unwavering. So, when He faced rejection from the Samaritans, He did not retaliate. 

Even when His disciples wanted to call down punishment on the Samaritans, Jesus turned and rebuked them and they went to another village. 

And even for those who wanted to follow Him, Jesus asked them if they were resolute enough. 

To follow Jesus, one has to be focused, determined and unwavering. To follow Jesus is to have the conviction that He is the Saviour. To follow Jesus, we too need to have a conviction and to be resolute about it, just like Jesus was resolute. 

And just as Jesus walked away from the rejection of the Samaritans, and walked resolutely to Jerusalem, we too need to do some thinking and to do some walking.

Yes, walking is a good exercise. 

We walk away from arguments that lead to anger. We walk away from people who put us down. 

We walk away from anyone who does not see our worth. 

We walk away from mistakes and fear so as to learn from them. 

The more we walk away from the things that poison our souls, the healthier and happier we will become. 

Jesus walked away from rejection and walked towards the Jerusalem and to the Cross for our salvation. 

Let us walk away from sin, let us walk with Jesus, let us walk in the way of truth and love.

Let us walk with life and walk towards eternal life in heaven. 

Corpus Christi, Year C, 19.06.2022

  Genesis 14:18-20 / 1 Cor 11:13-26 / Luke 9:11-17

There are things in life that goes without saying because it is the most natural thing to do. Things like: when sleepy, - sleep; when tired – rest; when thirsty – drink; when hungry - eat. 

These things don't need much thinking as it is obvious what needs to be done next. 

And then there are some things that should not be done concurrently. Things like: when driving don't drink, as in drinking something that will impair judgement and response; when walking don't dream, or accidents will happen. 

All that sounds obvious and sensible and logical. And it is helpful to live life with some things we are certain about or at least have a set of beliefs to go on with life. 

But there are some other things in life that can be difficult to figure out. Like, when living, what should we be doing or having. 

Well, it could be, when living there must be a meaning. In other words, we need to live life with a meaning. 

In today's feast of Corpus Christi, the gospel passage is about the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish and the feeding of the five thousand men. 

There are a few shades of meaning in the gospel passage. One is that God can use whatever little to work a miracle. Another is that God cares for the hungry and feeds them with plenty. 

But what is the meaning of the passage in connection to the Feast of Corpus Christi, which is also known as the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ?

The meaning could be in the five loaves and two fish, and we can look at that in relation to our life and our faith. 

The humble five loaves and two fish became the means of a miracle, because Jesus made something wonderful out of it. 

In the same way, the bread and wine on the altar became the Body and Blood of Christ because Jesus made something wonderful out of it. 

Similarly, when we partake of the Body of Christ, our lives can have a wonderful meaning because Jesus lives in us and makes us His Body. 

There is a story of a poor family and when they ran out of money, the father told the son to take one of his old t-shirts and try to sell it for $2. The boy obeyed but he doubted if anyone would buy an old t-shirt for $2. 

So, he squatted at a corner in the marketplace, put on a sad look and tried to sell the T-shirt. Along came a passer-by who took pity on the boy and bought the t-shirt for $2. The boy went home happily and gave his father the money. 

Then the father told the boy to take another t-shirt and to sell it for $20. The boy cracked his brains and came up with the idea of asking a friend to draw a superhero figure on the T-shirt. 

He then went to a school that is well known to have rich students and he waited outside the school as the students were coming out. 

One student took a fancy to the drawing on the t-shirt and paid $20 for it. The boy was delighted and went home to give his father the money. 

Then the father told him to take another t-shirt and to sell it for, the boy was expecting the price of $200, but the father told him to sell it for $2,000. 

The boy was stunned. Who would buy an old t-shirt for $2,000? As he thought hard about this impossible task he happened to hear that a pop star was in town and will be making an appearance at a famous shopping mall. 

Then he had an idea. He took a t-shirt and went to the mall and he squeezed through the crowd to get to the front until he could see the pop star. 

Then he begged the pop star to autograph the t-shirt. The pop star obliged. Later the boy went to auction the autographed T-shirt and he got the $2,000. 

The proud son went home to give his father the money. And the father asked him, “Son, what did you learn from all this?” 

As the son wondered about what his father meant, the father explained that the t-shirts got the value from the meaning that the boy has put into them. 

So, the value of a t-shirt depended on the unique meaning the boy puts into them. 

Similarly, our lives have a special meaning because of Jesus. 

He gives us His Body in Holy Communion, so that our lives will have a special purpose and meaning. 

The five loaves and two fish became a means of a miracle and fed the 5000 men. 

Our lives in Christ will also have a special meaning and purpose in God's plan. 

May we discover that meaning and may we be a miraculous blessing for others.

Trinity Sunday Year C, 12.06.2022

Prov 8:22-31 / Romans 5:1-5 / John 16:12-15

The one thing that we can say about life is that life is difficult. Yes, life is difficult to understand, especially when we are faced with difficult problems. 

There are all the problems of the world like diseases and viruses, war and violence, injustice and poverty. 

And we have our own problems to deal with, and we don't seem to have the solutions. There are serious problems, and they are also quirky ones like: 

Why is it that what can go wrong will go wrong? Why is it that when we dialled the wrong number, we won't get an engaged tone? 

Why is it when we changed queue, the one that we left moves faster than the one we are in now? 

That is enough of whys and problems, and we also don't quite have the answers. 

But if life is difficult to understand, then God can seem to be even more difficult to understand. 

Today, the Church celebrates Trinity Sunday. Trinity means Three Persons One God. 

That can be difficult to understand. Why is God Three Persons? It would be easier to understand and to believe that God is just one. 

But Jesus came to reveal to us that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

The most important thing about the Trinity is the love relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

It is because they love each other so deeply and they are so united in love, that in God is true peace and joy, kindness and goodness, compassion, mercy and forgiveness. 

The happiness that we desire so much in life is found in God. 

When we understand that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit love each other and are so united in love, then we can begin to see the solution to all problems in life. 

Essentially, the problems in life spring from our relationships. When we don't love God, and when we don't love others as much as God loves us, then problems will begin and there will be unhappiness and sadness. 

When we can love one another as how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit love one another, we will find happiness in life. 

Life is like an echo. Even though there can be an explanation for echoes, we can’t really understand how an echo happens. 

But the echo can be an example of how we can find happiness in life. 

We are like an echo of God's love. God created us in love. We are to echo God's love in this world by loving others. 

It is in loving others that we will find happiness. When we become like God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who created us and loves us, then we too must love like God by being an echo of God's love and loving others. 

The problems of life are difficult but the solution is simple, and it is love. 

Love may be simple to understand but it may not be that easy to live out. 

But when we decide to love, then God will help us to be living images and echoes of God's love. 

And we will also find happiness in life.

Pentecost Sunday, Year C, 05.06.2022

 Acts 2:1-11 / 1 Cor 12:3-7, 12-13 / John 20:19-23

There are many things which exists, but just that we can't see them, or that they are not visible to the eye. 

One common element that we can't see but we know it exists is the wind. We can feel the coolness of a gentle breeze, and we see how the leaves of the trees rustling in the wind, and we are amazed at the power of the wind in a storm or typhoon. 

So, if seeing is believing, then we also need to know that there are things that we believe, although we may not have seen or unable to see it yet. 

In the Creed, we profess that we believe in God who created the visible and invisible. And then we also profess our belief in the Holy Spirit, who is the Lord and Giver of Life. 

As much as we profess our belief in the Holy Spirit, we find it rather difficult to describe who the Holy Spirit is, and what He really looks like. 

In the 1st reading, there were signs that manifested the presence of the Holy Spirit - the powerful wind from heaven, the tongues of fire that rested on the heads of the disciples, and the gift of speaking foreign languages. 

In the gospel, Jesus said to His disciples: As the Father sent me, so am I sending you. 

Then He breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit. 

This action of Jesus recalls the creation story when God blew into the nostrils of man and man became a living being. 

God blew the Spirit of life into man in the creation story. And in the gospel, Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into His disciples and sent them out to proclaim the good news of salvation. 

In the 1st reading, we heard how the disciples courageously proclaim the Good News and the marvels of God with the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Today on this Feast of Pentecost, we are reminded that the Holy Spirit is in us, that we are the temples of the Holy Spirit, and that we are to go forth with the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the good news of salvation. 

As we think about the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, we reflect on the 2nd reading when St. Paul describe how the Holy Spirit works using the example of the human body. 

When we think about the human body, we see it as a healthy physical body, and one part is connected to the rest. 

But what happens when one part is injured, what happens when a bone is broken? 

In primitive times, when the bone if the leg is broken, it spells certain death for the injured person. 

But when the injured person is cared for, and the broken bone is healed, and that the injured person is able to walk and function again, when people can care for one another, we can say that mankind has developed into a civilization. 

Although we say that we live in a civilized world, we cannot deny the brokenness of our civilization. 

As Christians we are sent forth to bring civilization to salvation. 

And with the power of the Holy Spirit, we will bring healing and peace to our world. 

The world may not be able to see the Holy Spirit, or know that the Holy Spirit exists. 

But we have the breath of life, the breath of the love of the Holy Spirit. 

We are called to be living images of the Holy Spirit. 

And we are also called to bring salvation to our civilization.