2nd Sunday of Lent, Year B, 25.02.2024

  Genesis 22:1-2, 9-13, 15-18 / Romans 8:31-34 / Mark 9:2-10  

When an important event is coming up, announcements would be made on all media platforms. 

Such announcements would be made in advance, with ample time ahead, so that adequate preparations can be made. 

So, events like concerts by the mega-stars, and the current Air Show, are announced way in advance to generate publicity and interest. 

Today's Gospel account is also known as the Transfiguration . For it to be recorded in three Gospels goes to show that it is of significant importance. 

But, unlike the prophecies of the coming of the Saviour, and Jesus foretelling His suffering and death, the Transfiguration happened quite unexpectedly. 

It began with Jesus bringing three of His disciples up a high mountain. The disciples didn't ask why they were going up that high mountain, and they thought that Jesus just wanted them to be alone. 

Then, in their presence, He was transfigured, and His clothes became dazzling white. And then Moses and Elijah appeared, and they were talking with Jesus. 

For the disciples, all that was amazing and astonishing, as well as frightening. And then a cloud came by and covered them in shadow, and there came a voice from the cloud: This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him. 

Then suddenly, when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore but only Jesus. 

All that happened so suddenly that they were probably dazed and speechless. 

But the experience of the Transfiguration was etched into their hearts, and eventually recorded in the gospels. 

As we listen to the gospel account, as well as the other two readings, is there anything that we can remember? 

And as we go forth after Mass, is there anything that we will carry along in our hearts? 

We didn't see any dazzling whiteness, or historical figures appearing, and no cloud covering us in shadow. 

But we may remember that voice from the cloud saying: This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him. 

So, how can we listen to Jesus, and how do we know it is His voice? 

There's a story of a father and his young son, and they were walking in the mountains. 

Suddenly the son tripped and fell and hurt himself, and he screamed: Aaahhhh …

To his surprise, he hears a voice repeating somewhere in the mountains: Aaahhhh … 

He yells: “Who are you?” The voice came back with: “Who are you?” 

Angered by that response, the boy screams: “Coward!” And the voice came back with: “Coward!” 

He looks to his father and ask: What's going on? 

His father smiles and says: “My son pay attention.” Then the father shouts to the mountains: “I admire you.” And the voice answers: “I admire you.” And the father shouts again: “You are strong.” And the voice answers: “You are strong.” 

The boy was amazed and astonished, and so the father explains: That voice is called the “echo”, but it is really about life. It gives back everything you say or do. 

Our life is simply a reflection of our actions. 

So, if we want to have more love in the world, then we need to have more love in our hearts. Life will give back everything you have given it. 

In the Mass we listen to the words of love, and we are fed with the greatest gift of love. And we go forth carrying God's love in our hearts. 

We become an echo of God's love. 

To listen to Jesus is to listen to the echo of our lives. 

Let us create a good echo to the voice of Jesus by doing this: 

Speak in a way that others would love to listen to you. And listen in a way than others would love to speak to you. 

In doing so, we will hear the echo of the voice of Jesus, the echo of love, and we will be transfigured, and others will also be transfigured.

1st Sunday of Lent, Year B, 18.02.2024

 Genesis 9:8-15 / 1 Peter 3:18-22 / Mark 1:12-15  

The season of Lent can be called a season of spiritual activities. 

We began the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday with the imposition of ashes on our foreheads as a sign of repentance. 

Ash Wednesday was also a day of fasting and abstinence, and we are reminded to do penance for our sins. 

And on Fridays, there is the Stations of the Cross. We are reminded that we have to carry our cross if we want to follow Jesus. 

All these extra spiritual activities in the season of Lent have a purpose. That purpose can be seen in today's gospel. 

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness and He remained there for 40 days. 

The Spirit is also driving us into the season of Lent with all those spiritual activities. 

The word “drove” may sound rather strange, especially if it is understood from the act of being of chased out.

But in the gospel, the word “drove” means that Jesus was driven by the power of the Holy Spirit to fight the devil and the temptations in the wilderness.

The wilderness is a harsh place of dry sands and heat. 

It is almost like the devil's territory, and Jesus is like charging at the devil, and it was going to be a 40 day battle. 

Besides the harsh conditions of hunger and thirst, there is also the danger of the wild beasts. 

It was similar to the experience of the Israelites in their 40 year journey in the wilderness. 

They complained about hunger and thirst, and they were also bitten by fiery serpents. 

But Jesus overcame the harsh conditions, the devil's temptations, and the fear of the wild beasts. 

Similarly, the Spirit is driving us with God's grace and power to face evil, to overcome temptations, and we are also assured of the protection of God's angels. 

When we think of the wilderness or the desert, one immediate image that comes to mind is the dry sands. 

The desert landscape changes because the sands move about with the winds. 

That brings to mind a story of two best friends walking through the desert, and they got into a quarrel. 

One friend punched the other in the face. The one who was punched was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: Today my best friend punched me in the face. 

They kept walking on until they came to an oasis, and they stopped for a drink. 

The one who had been punched, slipped and fell into the water and began to drown. 

His friend immediately went to save him. That evening, he wrote on a stone: Today, my best friend saved my life. 

The friend who had punched and save his best friend asked: After I hurt you, you wrote on the sand, and now you wrote on a stone. Why? 

The other friend replied: When someone hurts us, we should write it on sand where the winds of forgiveness can erase it away. 

But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone, where it will be long remembered. 

As we face the temptations of the devil, the wickedness and the viciousness of hurt and abuse, let us remember that these stand on desert sands. 

They will be erased and blown away by the winds of forgiveness from the Holy Spirit. 

And with prayer and penance, we will stand with God who is the Rock of our salvation. 

Our good deeds of kindness and forgiveness, humility and charity, will be written on stones of love.

And God will remember us when we call out to Him in our need.

6th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 11.02.2024

  Leviticus 13:1-2, 45-46 / 1 Cor 10:31 – 11:1 / Mark 1:40-45  

During this festive period, we would probably be doing two things, and that is visiting and feasting. 

We will be visiting our relatives and friends, and doing that once-a-year pilgrimage of paying respects to our elders. 

The children, especially the younger ones, will look forward to these visits, as it means that there will be “ang pows” to collect. 

As usual, during such occasions, people are busy, noisy as well as nosy. 

Yes, people will be busy eating till they can't talk. 

And if they still can talk, then they will be busy asking all those nosy questions, like … 

Which school are you studying in? 

Where are you working? 

When are you getting married? 

When are you going to have baby? 

If we are tired of entertaining those questions, then maybe we can put our replies online, and tell them to check it out, and even give a “like”. 

Well, festive occasions like these are usually busy, noisy and nosy, and that adds to the festive atmosphere.

But in the midst of the festive atmosphere, there are some people who will be left out. 

There are some elderly who stay alone, or reside in a nursing home, and maybe no one will visit them during this festive period. 

There are some who are homebound or hospitalized, and they can only wait for others to visit them. 

There are some who are just alone, for some reason, and they feel the loneliness especially during this festive period. 

But, even outside of the busy, noisy and nosy festive occasions, there are people who are left out and feeling lonely. 

The gospel reminds us of the presence of those who are left out and lonely, as well as those who are the least, the last and the lost. 

We don't often notice them because they are not often mentioned, and we don't see them in public. 

So, the leper in today's Gospel is a symbol of those who are left out and lonely, and those who are the least, the last and the lost. 

For the leper, just the feeling of being left out and lonely was more painful than the leprosy, and that made him seek out Jesus and to ask for a cure. 

In our modern times, leprosy may not be that widespread thanks to the advancement of medical science and health-care. 

But, there is the reality of people who are lonely and being left out, and those who are the least, the last and the lost. 

They may not be crying out loud for attention, but Jesus wants us to think about them and to care for them. 

And some of these people are as close to us as in our family members and loved ones. 

On Friday evening, I went home for the traditional reunion dinner with my mother. 

We already had a sort of reunion dinner with my brother and his family a week ago. 

But last Friday I knew I had to go home for that dinner as there was a significance. 

Usually, the reunion dinner with the family is held on the eve of Chinese New Year. 

This year was just my mother and me. My sister passed on exactly a year ago, and so it was a rather quiet dinner. 

During dinner, my mother mentioned that last year, we had a simple reunion dinner at the hospital where my sister was being treated. 

And after a while, my mother mentioned that my sister went on to see the 15 days of the Chinese New Year before returning to the Lord on the 16th day. 

Those bits and pieces of her recollection of my sister tells me that my mother still thinks about the loss of her daughter.

And I also thank God that I was with my mother in her moment of loneliness and that she didn't feel left out and forgotten on the significant occasion of the reunion dinner. 

So, let us look, and let us listen to the voices of those who are lonely and those who are left out. 

They may not cry out loud, and all they need is a little love and care. 

The gospel reminds us that Jesus came for the lonely, the left-outs, the least, the last and the lost. 

He came to show God's love to them and to give them hope that there are people who will listen to them and care for them. 

So, if we feel a prompting to visit someone, or to give a call to someone, then it could be Jesus who is showing us who are the lonely and who are those that are being left out. 

That little act of love, and that bit of time spent with them, will be enough for them to know that Jesus loves and cares for them.

5th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 04.02.2024

  Job 7:1-4, 6-7 / 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23 / Mark 1:29-39  

Human beings are weak and fragile. No matter how strong we are, we are not super beings. 

No matter how high a position or status we have in society, we are not indispensable. 

We are mere flesh and blood, and we can succumb to illness and diseases. 

And emotionally, we can be discouraged from failures, and hurt and suffer from arguments and criticisms. 

Some days we are up and about, other days we are down and out. And we are also aware that we can be here today and suddenly be gone tomorrow. 

Such is the fragility and the unpredictability of life, and we also lament that happiness is so short-lived, while sadness is so prolonged. 

In the 1st reading, what Job said may probably express some of our thoughts: Is not man's life on earth nothing more than pressed service, his time no better than hired drudgery? Like the slave sighing for the shade, or the work man with no thoughts but his wages. 

That reflection could possibly express the stark and blunt reality of our lives. 

And if that is not pessimistic enough, there is something else that we have to face and struggle with. 

And that is the scourge of sickness and diseases. 

There is no guarantee that we will not succumb to anything from aches and pains, to health issues and life threatening diseases. 

All this sounds dark and depressive, but that is the reality of life. 

Today's Gospel passage also reminds us of this reality of life. 

But the gospel gives us hope in the face of this dark and gloomy reality of life.

Jesus went about in His ministry of healing and deliverance. He cured Peter's mother-in-law of her fever, and those who are sick and possessed by devils were brought to Him.

Jesus cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another, and He also cast out many devils. 

The gospel shows the human need for comfort and healing being fulfilled by divine power and love. 

But the gospel also tells us a deeper aspect of life, and that is the power of prayer over the reality of human need. 

Jesus went off early in the morning to a lonely place to pray. 

It is in prayer that Jesus is empowered and strengthened in His mission of proclaiming the Good News through healing and deliverance. 

And that reminds us of this: Life is fragile handle with prayer. 

When the fragility of life is exposed by sickness and diseases, then prayer is the remedy and the necessity. 

More than just a remedy, prayer brings us to understand one of the fundamentals of our faith, and that is redemptive suffering. 

Redemptive suffering is what we see on the Cross.

Jesus suffered and even died to save us. 

Jesus called us to carry our cross and to follow Him as His disciples. 

When we face our cross of sickness, diseases and suffering, we too must follow what Jesus did.

Just as Jesus went off early in the morning to a lonely place to pray, we too must pray. 

And just as Jesus was empowered and strengthened to continue His mission, we too will receive divine power in our human weakness. 

That divine power will help us to understand what is redemptive suffering. 

That divine power will also give us hope that with our prayer, our suffering will lead us to salvation. 

And that is what the Cross promises us: 

That by His suffering and death on the Cross Jesus will heal us and save us.