26th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 25.09.2022

 Amos 6:1, 4-7 / 1 Tim 6:11-16 / Luke 16:19-31

The five senses that we have help us to relate and interact with the people around us, as well as what is around us. 

From what we are able to see, hear, smell, taste and touch, we will react and respond accordingly. 

So, when we see something beautiful, we will respond with admiration. When we hear something pleasant and mellow, we will be delighted. When we smell a sweet fragrance, or taste something delicious, or feel something soft and smooth, we will be happy and excited. 

Yes, when we see, hear, smell, taste and touch the good things of life, we respond with good and positive emotions. 

But life is not always about the good and nice things. When we encounter something that calls for our attention, or something that is disturbing, or something that requires our immediate action, how will we respond, or how will we react? 

When we see a person in a desperate need, or come across a sad situation, we will be moved with kindness and compassion. 

The human heart can be moved to help those in need and to have compassion for those in despair. 

Because the human heart is created by God with love, and created to be loving. 

In the gospel parable, we heard of a rich man who cared only for himself and enjoyed life in a selfish manner. 

He seems to have no feelings for others, or care about others, even if they are poor and hungry, or sick and in a desperate need. 

At his gate was Lazarus, who was obviously poor and hungry, sick and needed help. But the rich man left Lazarus outside, at his gate.

He didn't let Lazarus come in, or let him into his comfort zone. 

Although it is just a parable, it reveals a number of divided human realities. So there is the rich and the poor, the powerful and the oppressed, the plenty and the needy, those who are inside and those who are outside.

As human beings, we have hearts of flesh, hearts that have the capacity for kindness and compassion, hearts that can move us into acts of love and to help others. 

But our hearts may have been hardened by disappointment and frustrations, by resentment and bitterness, by pain and hurt. 

So, we look, but we only see ourselves. We hear, but we listen only to ourselves. We want everything good, but only for ourselves. We look inward and not outwards. 

But we are not created to be like that. Whatever we see, hear, smell, taste and touch, are revelations and promptings from God, so that we will open our hearts to others, to love them, to help them and show them kindness and compassion. 

So, how does God reveal Himself to us and send signs into our hearts? The following is for our reflection: 

A man whispered, “O God, speak to me.” A bird sang, but the man did not hear. So, the man yelled, “O God, speak to me.” And the thunder rolled across the sky, but the man did not listen. 

The man looked around and said, “God, let me see You.” And a star shined brightly, but the man did not notice. And the man shouted, “O God, show me a miracle.” And a baby was born. But the man did not care. 

So, the man cried out in despair, “Touch me, O God, and let me know that You are here.” Whereupon God reach down and touched the man. But the man brushed the butterfly away and walked away in disappointment.

So, let us not walk away from a blessing just because it didn’t come in a way we expected.

Similarly, let us not walk away, or look away from others, in their need.

May we reach out to love them, to help them, to show them kindness and compassion and understanding.

When we reach out to those in need, we will be able to see that God is also reaching out to us in our time of need.a

25th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 18.09.2022

 Amos 8:4-7 / 1 Tim 2:1-8 / Luke 16:1-13

In life, we would have come across many wise sayings that are actually quite easy to remember. 

But when we don't hear them often enough, we will not remember them that easily. So, if out of sight may lead to out of mind, then when we don't repeat it, we will not remember it. 

One wise saying that has just five simple words, and it is this: Honesty is the best policy. 

When was the last time that we heard that saying? Or when was the last time that we said it? 

When a person has honesty as a principle in life, then he will do what is right and just, he will be responsible and accountable. 

That is the kind of person that we will put our trust in. 

But have we been able to find an honest person or a couple of honest persons to put our trust in? 

Or, turning the question around, do we think that we are honest enough for others to put their trust in us? 

And if honesty is the best policy, then is honesty also our policy, especially when it comes to money? 

In the gospel parable, we heard of a steward who was wasteful with his master's property, or in other words, that steward was dishonest. 

The master found out, and the steward was to be dismissed, but he quickly did something to secure his future, and it was at the master’s expense. 

But Jesus said something that is rather astonishing and maybe even confusing. Jesus said this: The master praised that dishonest steward for his astuteness. 

To be astute, is to have the ability to accurately assess a situation or a person and to turn it to one's advantage or gain. 

So, Jesus said that the master was impressed by the steward’s astuteness, even though he was dishonest. 

What Jesus is saying is that the world will be impressed when a person is able take advantage of others and to gain by crooked means, be it by lying or cheating, or by wheeling and dealing. 

But as Jesus emphasized, honesty is not just in big things; rather it begins with little things. 

One test of honesty is having to queue up. We don’t like to queue up. To cut queue may not be deemed as a moral issue, but it says a lot about the character of the person. 

We may have heard about the long queues of people who want to pay the last respects to the late Queen Elizabeth. 

There is an edifying story about a famous football player who queued for 12 hours to pay his last respects. 

He didn't use his celebrity status to get things his way, but he joined the rest of the people to wait for their turn to pay respects. And he got respected for that. 

Yet there were other stars or big names who used their status to cut the queue. They may have gotten what they wanted, but it came with the price of negative comments. 

As for us, we want to take honesty as our policy not because people are looking at us. 

We want to do what is right and just, and even when we falter, we want be responsible and accountable. 

Because, the 1st reading reminds us of what God said to His people: Never will I forget a single thing that you have done. 

But God is not watching us to see if we are doing the wrong thing. 

He wants us to believe in His love and goodness, so that if honesty is our best policy, it is because we believe that God loves us and that He wants us to do what is right and just and loving. 

So let us keep our eyes on the Lord, as we speak with honesty, think with sincerity and act with integrity.

24th Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 11.09.2022

 Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14 / 1 Tim 1:12-17 / Luke 15:1-32

Our country has a unique way of categorizing the age groups, and especially that of the seniors. A citizen who is above the age of 60 is termed as a “senior”. 

In that senior age group, are the “Pioneer” generation and the “Merdeka” generation. The percentage of seniors in Singapore is just below 20%. It means that one out of five Singaporeans is a senior. 

There is a saying that a senior or an elder in the family is valued as a treasure. If so for the family, then it is so for a country. 

So, is there anything that can be learned from these seniors? What are their contributions to society in their senior years? 

If anything, it will be this, and that is: Listen to your elders’ advice. Not because they are always right, but because they have more experiences of being wrong. 

Well, practically speaking, the seniors and the elders have crossed more bridges and eaten more salt, so some credit and respect must be given to them. 

And the scriptures also tell us something about the seniors and elders, that they have a deeper and wiser view of life. 

In the 1st reading, we heard how Moses pleaded for the people when God wanted to punish them for their disobedience and unfaithfulness. 

Moses himself knew what it was to be exiled and persecuted, and he didn't want his people to go through that painful experience. 

God heard his pleas, and God relented and did not bring on His people the disaster He had threatened. 

That tells us that when the elders plead for mercy and forgiveness, God will listen to them.

In the gospel, the parable of the Prodigal Son teaches us many things, but the central figure in the parable is not so much the wayward son but the compassionate father. 

The father sadly accepted the son’s leaving, but he also joyfully accepted the son’s return. The father also pleaded with the elder son to forgive his younger brother. 

So, the scriptures tell us about the comforting and consoling cries of the elders for the nation and for the family. 

So truly, God is teaching us to listen to our elders, because He can speak through them.

And on this Catholic Education Sunday, God is telling us, whether we are students or parents, to listen to the voice of the teachers, because He will speak through them. 

Teachers don't only impart the three R's of education, which is reading, writing and arithmetic. 

Teachers also want to impart the deeper aspects of the three R's of life, which is responsibility, respect and reverence. 

Responsible teachers will also want to form their students to be responsible for their actions and to be responsible to others by doing what is good, right and loving. 

Teachers want to instil respect in their students so that they will respect their parents and obey them, for that is the Commandment of God. 

And teachers also want to form their students in the faith, so that they will have reverence for God and walk in the ways of the Lord. 

So, teachers are not just about teaching the three R’s of Education. They also form the young in the three R’s of life, which is responsibility, respect and reverence. 

Like the seniors and the elders, teachers may not be always right, but they surely have learned from the experiences of being wrong. 

So let us listen to the seniors, the elders and the teachers. They stand together with Moses and father of the Prodigal Son to plead before God for the good of the people. 

Let us listen to them because God can speak through them. 

And when we listen to God, God will also listen to us.

23rd Ordinary Sunday, Year C, 04.09.2022

 Wisdom 9:13-18 / Philemon 9-10, 12-17 / Luke 14:25-33

There are many things that nature can teach us when we observe and reflect upon it. 

And there are many proverbs that are from the wonders of nature, like, “make hay while the sun shines”, “still waters run deep”, “time and tide wait for no man”, “nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished”. 

But we don't have to look that far and wide in nature to see the wisdom of life. 

When we look at the human body, then we may come to realize that the human body is a wonderful teacher of nature. 

The more we learn about it, the greater the appreciation we have about the human body. And every part of the human body has something to teach us. 

For example, our hands, besides being very useful, can be a subject of reflection and meditation. 

The fingers of the hand are of different lengths, but they are all joined together at the palm, and the fingers complement each other. So there is unity in diversity. 

Hands also speak a language of their own and it is called sign language. 

Hands can be creative as they can cook, sew, write, draw and play musical instruments. 

But hands can also be aggressive as they can be used to make vulgar signs, and slap and punch to hurt others. 

A sign of possessiveness is when the fingers of the hand curl inwards into the palm and clenched into a fist. 

That says a lot about possessiveness, and with the fingers of the hand clenched like a fist, it may also show that we can resort to violence in order to protect our possessions. 

When our hands are clenched into a fist, then we are not going to hold anyone's hands, and we don't want anyone to hold our hands either. 

Indeed, the fingers in our hands say so much of who we are and how we look at life. 

In the gospel, Jesus tells us that no one can be His disciple unless he gives up all his possessions. 

But our most precious possessions are not things. The most precious possession is none other than our self. It is about our freedom, our choices, about what we like and what we don't like. 

Yes, it is our self that is most difficult to give up. Because it is about giving up our freedom, giving up our choices, giving up what we want. 

And so, we hold on tightly to our self, like fists that are clenched tightly. But when we clench our fingers tightly into our palms, it will be painful. We are only hurting ourselves. 

Jesus is asking us not to hurt ourselves and open our hands. When we open our hands and let go, then God can do something for us. 

He will put His blessings into our hands so that we can see the wisdom of life with open hands. 

With open hands we can also touch and feel. With open hands, we let go of ourselves so that we can reach out to God and reach out to others. That is what loving God and loving others is all about. 

And with open hands, we can take up the cross and follow Jesus. 

The cross is illogical and foolish for those with clenched fists and they won't take it up. 

But when we open our hands to take up the cross, we take up the power and the wisdom of God. 

As the 1st reading tells us, it is by the power and wisdom of God that the paths of those on earth are straightened, and men are taught what pleases God and be saved. 

One more thing about hands. There are gaps between the fingers. 

Jesus wants to fill those gaps with His fingers by holding our hands as we carry to cross.

And when we have learnt about the power of the Cross, let us also reach out to hold others’ hands and to live life with love and wisdom.