30th Ordinary Sunday, Year A, 29.10.2023

 Exodus 22:20-26 / 1 Thess 1:5-10 / Matthew 22:34-40

Many things can only work when they have what is essential to make them functional. 

So, while all the other parts may be in tip-top condition, if that essential element is missing, then it can't do anything. 

For example, cars need petrol to run. Many electrical devices need electricity or batteries to make them work. 

So, other parts may be a bit defective, but with that essential element, that thing can still work. 

So, in life, we must know what are the necessary and essential elements of the things we see around us. 

While others are obvious, some other things need to be analysed, in order to see what is important and necessary. 

In the gospel, one of the Pharisees asked Jesus about which is the greatest commandment of the Law. 

We may wonder why that Pharisee asked Jesus such a question, because the answer is quite obvious. 

Was it because that Pharisee just wanted to disconcert Jesus, just to irritate Jesus? 

Jesus had earlier silenced the Sadducees about the question of paying taxes, which was a trick question for Jesus. 

That's when Jesus gave that thought- provoking answer of “give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God”. 

That left the Sadducees without any further questions, as they were silenced into reflection. 

The Pharisees could have learned from that and remained silent. 

But out of the folly of the lips of that Pharisee, we gained the wisdom to see the obvious and necessary. 

Let us be silent and reflect on that great commandment: You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. 

The word that is repeated three times is “all” -  all the heart, all the soul and all the mind. 

So, what God requires of us is to love Him with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind. 

And that is precisely where we fall short. 

Because, we don't love God with our all. 

Maybe three quarters, maybe half, maybe 1/4, which in any case is better than none at all. 

We may think that it is difficult, if not impossible, to love God with that “all”. 

But that also means we cannot be fully human if we don't love God with our all. 

Because, God created us with all His love and in all His love. 

So, we actually have all of God's love in us. 

We only need to love God with all our love. 

And then we will know how to love our neighbour with all our love. 

Maybe, one of the reasons why we can't love God and our neighbour with all our love is because we are too noisy within. 

The noise of envy and jealousy, the noise of anger and resentment, the noise of hatred and revenge, has suppressed our love. 

That noisy Pharisee led him to try to disconcert Jesus. 

Let us ask Jesus to help us to be still, and to be silent. 

To be silent is to be able to listen, to listen to all that love God has for us. 

And then, we will be able to love God and our neighbour with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.

Mission Sunday 2023, 22.10.2023

  Isaiah 2:1-5 / Ephesians 3:2-12 / Mark 16:15-20

As Christians, we believe that God created the world and humanity. 

God created all things good, and God created humanity in His image. 

So, God created humanity in the best of His love and with the best of His love. 

But when humanity sinned and disobeyed God, that image was tarnished and disfigured. 

So, humanity didn't look like God anymore. Humanity took on the face of sin and evil. And that is the reality we see around us and in us. 

But when humanity sinned and turned away from God, God did not abandon humanity or destroyed the world. 

Rather, God promised to save the world and humanity. 

God promised to save the world and humanity by coming into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. 

Jesus Christ is our Saviour, and we believe that Jesus Christ is truly God and truly man. 

Jesus Christ came to proclaim the Good News of salvation. 

Jesus preached about repentance and the forgiveness of sins. 

He forgave the adulterous woman, He forgave the sinful woman who anointed His feet and dried it with her hair. 

He forgave Peter for denying Him. He forgave His persecutors even when He was suffering on the Cross. 

The Good News of salvation was also expressed in healing and deliverance. Jesus cured the sick and those afflicted by diseases.

He cured the blind, the lame and the lepers. He cast out demons from those who were possessed. 

So, the Good News was proclaimed in word and in works. 

In doing so, Jesus brought humanity back to God through repentance and forgiveness. 

As it is said, God became man, so that man can come back to God. 

As the Church celebrates Mission Sunday, we are reminded of this fundamental mission of salvation. 

Just as Jesus sent His disciples to preach the Good News of salvation, we too are to proclaim the Good News to our generation. 

And this mission brings us back to the core of our Christian spirituality and identity. 

The proclamation of the Good News of salvation can only bear fruit when there is prayer and intercession. 

Prayer and intercession is the core of our Christian spirituality and identity. 

We pray because we know that God loves us, and God will hear our prayer and answer our prayer. 

If God sent His son Jesus Christ to answer the cries of His people, then Jesus Christ is the answer to our prayers. 

And we pray not just for ourselves. We pray for other people, for nations, and for the world. 

The Good News of salvation must reach to the corners and to the ends of the world, and to all peoples. 

The Good News has the power to change lives and bring about repentance and forgiveness. 

The Good News is the medicine that will heal the world of violence and bloodshed, and bring about peace. 

Mission Sunday is a call to prayer. 

We need to pray, and we must pray to be empowered and recreated in God’s love and with God's love. 

Because we are to be living images of the Good News of salvation to the peoples of the world.

28th Ordinary Sunday, Year A, 15.10.2023

 Isaiah 25:6-10 / Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20 / Matthew 22:1-14

We may think that life would be so nice if we can just do whatever we want. 

We like to have our freedom, and not to be restricted by duties and responsibilities. 

So, we may think that being free from all obligations, we would be worry-free and trouble-free.

Yes, we like to be absolutely free to live the way we want to live. We would like to laze around and snooze in bed and get up as and when we want. 

But would we be really happy with that kind of life? 

What are we saying about ourselves when we don't want to care about anything and anyone other than ourselves? 

What are we saying when we don't want any duties and responsibilities, and don't want to keep obligations and commitments. 

In the gospel parable, it was a king who gave a feast for his son's wedding. He sent his servants to call those who had been invited. 

For whatever reason, the invited guests did not want to come. It seems like they were not interested, and they even treated the king's servants with hostility and violence. 

The king got furious and dispatched his troops, destroyed those murderers and burnt their town. It was such a sad and tragic end for those invited guests. 

If only they had given due respect to the king. After all it was a king who invited them. 

We may think that the parable is rather absurd, but absurdity often reveals a reality. 

The reality is that when respect is not given, then the consequence will be tension. 

For invited guests in the gospel parable, the consequence was punishment. 

Even we might say that the invited guests behaved in a ridiculous and unacceptable way, and so, they deserved to be punished. 

The invited guests did whatever they wanted, and they paid heavily and tragically for that. 

In life, we just cannot do whatever we like and think that it is our freedom of choice. 

True freedom comes with duties and responsibilities, as well as obligations and commitments. 

In our freedom of choice, we ought to choose to live a respectable and disciplined life. 

We need to know what we must do and what we should not do. 

And God has already told us what we must do and what we should not do. 

The Ten Commandments spells out clearly our obedience to God and respect for others. 

So, we revere God for being our Creator and obey Him as our loving Father. 

We pledge obedience and honour our parents. We respect others, for where respect is given, respect is also earned. 

When we live our lives according to God's laws and Commandments, we will have true freedom in life. 

And Jesus will bring us to our seats at the heavenly banquet where we will rejoice freely forever.

27th Ordinary Sunday, Year A, 08.10.2023

  Isaiah 5:1-7 / Philippians 4:6-9 / Matthew 21:33-43

When we look at the world, and when we look around us, we may wonder what is wrong with the world, and what is wrong with humanity. 

Human beings are polluting the Earth and heading towards an ecological meltdown. 

There are wars, hostilities and violence, and there is also much bloodshed. 

And with nuclear power, the scale of destruction can turn the earth into a huge fireball. 

Even smaller issues like cheating and stealing have risen to mega levels. 

Scammers are no longer small-time conmen, because they are so high tech, so quick and so convincing. 

With emails, SMS and social media platforms, the scammers will brutally and ruthlessly empty out the bank accounts of those who fall into their scams. 

These scammers can even come knocking on the front doors of our homes. 

So, our security, in all forms and in all areas, are being threatened and violated. 

So, we are gripped with fear, and we want to lock our doors and hide inside, and it is difficult to trust anyone. 

Such is the sad and sorry state of our world, of humanity and of our lives. 

And we may wonder, why is God letting the world and humanity continue like this. 

Why must the good and innocent people be subjected and suffer such injustice and evil? 

And we are tempted, and may have even asked God to unleash punishment on the bad and evil people. 

Yes, we would advocate punishment to teach the bad and evil people an unforgettable lesson. 

Even in the gospel parable, when Jesus asked the chief priests and the elders, what will the owner of the vineyard do to the bad and evil tenants, their reply was that the owner will bring those wretches to a wretched end. 

That is also what we may like to think. 

But God's ways are not man's ways, and God's thoughts are not man's thoughts. 

If God withholds punishment, it is because He is thinking of salvation. 

We may think that salvation is for those who are good, and punishment is for those who are bad.

But that would mean that the way we, Christians think is no different from the way the world thinks. 

We need to reflect and ponder on what Jesus said in the gospel: 

It was the stone rejected by the builders that became the keystone. That was the Lord's doing and it is wonderful to see. 

As Church we must know what this keystone is. 

It may be so obvious that we may have taken it for granted. 

The keystone that God wants us to look at is salvation. 

With that comes along mercy and compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation. 

That is why God sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world. 

No matter how bad or evil human beings have become, God still wants to forgive and save them from their sins. 

In the gospel parable, there is greed, violence and even murder. That is also the reality in life. 

But sin and evil do not have the last word or the final say. 

God has the last word, and salvation is the final end. 

The Church in Singapore has a ministry called Roman Catholic Prison Ministry (RCPM). 

The members of RCPM minister to the prisoners to bring them God's Word of mercy and forgiveness, and also the Good News of salvation. 

Jesus chose them to be His messengers, and Jesus is also calling out to us to be messengers of the Good News of salvation, love and forgiveness. 

Let us remember that sin and evil can only spread when we Christians, when we who are disciples of Jesus, do nothing about it. 

Let us respond to sin and evil with goodness and kindness. 

Then there will be hope for humanity and for the world. 

Because God's love will be the keystone that will save humanity, and it will be wonderful to see.