Holy Family, Year C, 27.12.2015

Ecclesiasticus 3:2-6, 12-14 / Colossians 3:12-21 / Luke 2:41-52

Today’s feast of the Holy Family brings back for me many childhood memories, especially childhood memories about going to church.

When my siblings and I were still kids, my parents would usually bring us together as a family for Mass every Sunday.

We would go for the early morning Mass and my parents would have a hard time waking us up on Sunday mornings.

I can’t remember how but I think my family would make it in time for Mass, although my parents had to drive us out of the house as if the house was on fire!

Then at Mass, I also don’t know if we were actually praying but all I could remember is that if I was not dreaming, then I would be playing a fool.

I remembered on one occasion, I went to church with a safety pin on my shirt because a button had come off.

But during the homily, I felt bored, so I took out the safety pin and poked my brother.

Of course, we got into a bit of fight, and my mum intervened, and she “prophesied” that I would get it after Mass, and the “prophecy” was fulfilled.

Of course, besides Sunday Mass, my parents would make sure that we have our family rosary prayers every evening.

As I think about it now, I must say that it is my parents who formed my religious upbringing.

It was not easy for them to make me behave in church and to say my prayers, because I was the naughtiest of my siblings.

They were strict with me in my religious upbringing but now I really thank them for that, otherwise I would have gone way out.

No doubt they prayed for me, but I guess they never expected how far their prayers would go, especially when I became a priest!

Today’s Gospel presents us Jesus and His parents going to the Temple.

This is the only time we hear about Jesus as a 12 year-old.

Being the Holy Family does not mean that they have no worries or anxieties or problems.

In today’s gospel, we see the problem between parents and children.

It is not about who is right or wrong. Rather it is about a family going through the struggles and difficulties of life together.

Nowadays parents have a difficult time bringing up their children, especially in giving them a religious upbringing.

Getting them to come on time for Mass on Sunday is already difficult enough.

Trying to have family prayers is really challenging because of the busyness of everyone in the family.

Yet, without the religious dimension of the family life, then it is almost impossible to have family values.

The 1st reading talks about the filial piety of children but this cannot be fostered if the children have no knowledge of God.

Hence, if parents want children to respect them then they have to teach their children to respect God first and then the children will know what to do.

Parents have to be firm with their children in their religious upbringing like coming for Mass on Sundays and praying together as a family.

It is not easy especially when parents themselves are so busy and children are so independent nowadays.

But if there is to be any family love, warmth and unity, then God must be in the center of the family.

The family that prays together will stay together in difficult and challenging times.

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph showed us in this aspect.

Mary and Joseph will   pray for us and our families that there will be love, unity, understanding, forgiveness in our families.

Yes, Mary and Joseph will pray for us but we too need to do our part.

On this feast of the Holy Family, the Archbishop William Goh has composed a “Prayer for the family in the Year of Mercy”.

In that prayer, he prayed for the healing of family brokenness through God’s mercy and forgiveness.

His prayer is inspired by what Pope Francis said about the family:
“Husband and wife, have you quarrelled? Children with parents? It’s not right, but it isn’t the problem. The problem is that this sentiment must not be there the next day... The day must never end without making peace in the family.”

Yes, we need to pray for peace in the family. But it can only come about through God’s mercy and forgiveness.

The Archbishop has given us the prayer. It is for us to decide whether we really want to pray for peace in the family.

Family peace begins with prayer. And Mother Mary and St. Joseph will be there in prayer with us for our families.

A family that prays together will stay together in peace.

4th Sunday of Advent, Year C, 20.12.2015

During this time of the year, the two words that are quite often used are “Merry Christmas”. At least it is often used in Church. And although Christmas is only five days away we just can’t wait to keep saying it, as if Christmas is already here.

But this year, another word seems to have surfaced and have come into prominence, along with the traditional “Merry Christmas”.

With the opening of the Year of Mercy on the 8th December, the word “mercy” has generated other connected terms like “Door of Mercy” and “works of mercy” and also the theme of the year “Merciful like the Father”.

But the word “mercy” seems to have dropped out of use in our everyday language. It seems to be out of fashion.

It seems to be restricted to Church language in the form of prayers and preaching. 

But now the word “mercy” is brought up into prominence and the Pope, echoing his predecessors, declared the centrality of mercy in the Church’s mission and message.

Along with that, and among other things, is the re-emphasis of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

The understanding of mercy has its foundation in the opening lines of Psalm 50 – Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness, in your compassion blot out my offence.

So mercy is expressed in two forms – kindness and compassion.
Kindness is an act of charity to those in need and compassion is sharing in the suffering of others.

And that’s what we saw in the gospel account of what is commonly known as “The Visitation”.

The gospel account began by saying that Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah to visit her cousin Elizabeth.

Certainly it was not a casual or ordinary event. Mary has just conceived Jesus in her womb and she had her own worries and anxieties to handle.

It was certainly not a time to go travelling over the country side.

But having known that her cousin Elizabeth was already in her sixth month of pregnancy, Mary knew that she must be there for her.

It was a call to an act of mercy – to show kindness to Elizabeth in her time of need, and to share in her joy and anxiety of pregnancy.

The gospel passage reminds us that there is always something that we can give, even if it is only kindness and compassion. (Anne Frank)

Because life’s most persistent and urgent question is: “What are you doing for others?” (Martin Luther King Jr) 

Some time ago, there was this rather touching and inspiring article in the papers.

A single mother Noriza A. Mansor gets only one day off a week from her job as a bedsheet promoter.

Most would use that day to rest, but she spends it looking after an old man she met by chance as he stood in a Toa Payoh supermarket soiled by his faeces.

Noriza, 49, made headlines last October when she stepped forward to help Tan Soy Yong, 76, who had soiled himself while buying groce¬ries with his wife, who was in a wheelchair.

Others had recoiled from the old man and his stench. However, Noriza not only bought him new shorts but even knelt to wipe the dried faeces off his legs – an act which moved a bystander to tears.

Since that day, she has made it a point to visit Tan for at least six hours a week at his three-room flat in Potong Pasir.

Tan has lived there alone since the start of the year when his wife, Lee Bee Yian, also 76, was hospita¬lised for cancer.

During her visits, Noriza cleans up Tan, who cannot control his bowels, and washes his soiled laundry. She also mops the floor and tidies up the flat while chatting with him in a mix of Malay and Hokkien.

Some days, she will accompany him to visit his wife in hospital.

On other days, she will take him out in his wheelchair to the hawker centre to eat his favourite wonton noodles.

“I only wish I could see him more often. Sometimes if I finish work at 8pm, I will go to see him. But I don’t always have the time,” said Noriza.

She often works 12 hours a day, taking home around S$2,000 a month. She has three sons and two daughters aged 11 to 26. Four of them still live with her.

Yet she has no qualms about ma¬¬king time for the elderly couple. “In my life, I am never tired,” she said.

Tan told her he has a son and a daughter but Noriza said that according to social workers, the couple have no children.

Noriza believes Tan was sent into her life by God, as she lost her pa¬rents when she was 21.

Her father succumbed to cancer and her mother wasted away in depression eight months later.

She said she treated the couple as “my own father and mother”.

Tan once asked her if she had a passport. “I said yes. He said when his wife is discharged, we can go on holiday together as a family.”

She smiled wistfully. “I know this kind of thing is very hard with their conditions. But of course I told him we would.”

Certainly that was a very touching and remarkable act of kindness and charity. 

It is said that kindness goes a long way. But where does it go to?
Let us remember that every act of kindness, every act of compassion, every act of mercy, is a stepping stone towards heaven. 

Every corporal and spiritual work of mercy is to make us be merciful, just as the Father is merciful.

May this Christmas be a “Merry Christmas” for us. And may this Christmas also be a “Merciful Christmas” for us as we give to others the gifts of kindness and compassion.

Have a "Merciful Christmas"

3rd Sunday of Advent, 13.12.2015

Zephaniah 3:14-18 / Philippians 4:4-7 / Luke 3:10-18

It has been said that when God closes the door, He opens a window. 

Whatever we think about that, it somehow sounds rather ridiculous.

It seems that God closes the door that we can walk through and makes us climb in through the window. Just how can God be like that?

Certainly, God is not like that! Because God never shuts a door without opening a few other doors.

God has His reasons for closing a door, but we look so long and so sadly about a closed door without realizing that there are many other open doors.

But of course, an open door is like a mystery. Because between the things that are known and the things that are unknown, there is the door.

We may have this experience of walking through a door and into a room and then we forget why we have come into the room for. 

Somehow when walking through the door, something has changed. It’s like we have entered into another dimension or into another domain.

Last Tuesday, on the 8th December, Pope Francis blessed and opened a special door at St. Peter’s Basilica. It is called the Holy Door of Mercy.

And with that he declared the opening of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, as he entered through that door.

On that same day, Archbishop William Goh also blessed the Holy Door of Mercy at the Church of Divine Mercy.

The Pope has also decreed that the following Sunday, the 3rd Sunday of Advent, in every diocese, whether at the cathedral or another church of special significance, a Door of Mercy will be opened for the duration of the Holy Year.

Our parish, the Church of the Sacred Heart, is designated as one of the five churches in Singapore to have the Holy Door of Mercy and a pilgrimage church for the Holy Year.

Today, the main door of the church is blessed and we are called to cross the threshold of the Holy Door.

But the door can only have meaning when we associate the door with Jesus, who is the Door. There is only one way that opens wide the entrance into the life of communion with God, and that is Jesus.

To pass through that door is to profess our belief that Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour.

To pass through that door means that it is a decision and a choice to leave the worries and anxieties and our sinfulness behind and to enter into the divine life of God.

Our parish is designated as one of the pilgrimage churches because it is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which represents the love and mercy of God.

And more than that, we pass through the door and into the mystery of the Heart of Jesus.

In other words, we pass through the door and we enter, not just into God’s house; we enter into a divine domain, we enter into the Heart of Jesus who is full of love and mercy.

Love is what God gives us when we don’t deserve it. But because of our sins, we deserve punishment. Yet because God is merciful, He spares us from the punishment due to our sin.

But the mercy of God cannot and should not be taken for granted.
As we heard in the gospel, the people asked John the Baptist, “What must we do?” we too ask the same question – What must we do to ask for God’s mercy?

Now if we want something we never had, then we must be prepared to do something we have never done.

In this Year of Mercy, we cross the threshold of the Holy Door of this church, and we ask for the strength to embrace God’s mercy and dedicate ourselves to being merciful with others as God the Father has been merciful with us.

So we will have to relook at the corporal and spiritual works of mercy which we can find in the pamphlet printed by our parish for the Year of Mercy.

Since we are one of the pilgrimage churches, we must be prepared to provide refreshment and hospitality to the pilgrims who will be coming to our church.

We priests must be prepared to be available to hear confessions and to provide spiritual guidance and healing for those seeking God’s forgiveness.

We must quickly organize ourselves to be of service to those who will be coming to our church to make their pilgrimage.

So in the weeks to come as we plan out what to do as a pilgrimage parish, we will also ask you to come forward to serve so that we can show the face of God’s mercy.

But first and foremost, let us familiarize ourselves with the spiritual program as laid out in the pamphlet.

We ourselves must experience the mercy of God before we can lead others to experience God’s mercy.

Indeed, God has opened the door of mercy for us and inviting us to enter through it and experience mercy and in turn be heralds of God’s mercy.

This is a special year in which the doors of mercy are fully opened to everyone. Let not our sinfulness close these doors.

2nd Sunday of Advent, 06.12.2015

Baruch 5:1-9 / Philippians 1:3-6, 8-11 / Luke 3:1-6

As we are about to come to end of another year, we can begin to look back and see what were the news that made headlines.

To begin with let’s look at the local scene. In March this year, we mourned the passing of our country’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew. 

We remember the crowds that went to pay their last respects at the Parliament House and the moving and emotional funeral.

Lee Kuan Yew was certainly missed as Singapore celebrates SG50 and at the National Day Parade, the chair that he usually sat on was left empty, and a bouquet of flowers was placed on it, in remembrance of him.

Nonetheless, the SG50 celebrations was indeed an occasion to remember as our country unites itself in recalling what makes it uniquely Singaporean.

Then there was the General Elections in September which was hotly contested and we wondered about the outcome, which of course we now know already.

That was certainly enough of the local big news that we can remember and enough to say that 2015 is a happening year for Singapore.

On the international scene, there was much to recap but enough to say all will be history soon.

The gospel began with the recalling of a bit of history – “In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign, …”

And following that were the big names of that year – Pontius Pilate the governor, the tetrarchs Herod, Philip and Lysanias, the chief priests Annas and Caiaphas.

They were in big positions and in high places. It’s enough to say they were the high and mighty ones who called the shots.

Though they were high and mighty, this is what history remembers of them:
Tiberius was one of Rome's greatest generals. But he came to be remembered as a dark, reclusive, 
and somber ruler who never really desired to be emperor, and he was called "the gloomiest of men."

Pontius Pilate is best known from the biblical account of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. It was he who sentenced Jesus to be crucified. 

Herod (Antipas) is best known today for accounts in the New Testament of his role in events that led to the executions of John the Baptist and indirectly the crucifixion of Jesus.

So they were big names and they held positions of power and authority. But what they were known for was certainly nothing big to talk about.

History remembers them not for any legacy but as tragedy.

But last on that name list is John, son of Zechariah, aka John the Baptist.

What sets him apart from the earlier ones was that the Word of God came to him in the wilderness, a barren and lowly place.

John the Baptist then went through the whole Jordan district proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

He was the voice that cried out in the wilderness to prepare a way for the Lord.

Though he was eventually executed, John the Baptist left behind a legacy. He was the one who prepared the way for the Saviour by pointing out who He was.

And during the season of Advent, John the Baptist is remembered for his legacy.

During this time of the year, what we hear is “Season’s greetings” and “Happy holidays”.

But the reason for the season is none other than Jesus; Jesus is the reason for the season.

John the Baptist and his message of repentance and forgiveness of sins remind us of that.

But John the Baptist also reminded us that when the Word of God came to him, he accepted it and he did what God wanted of him. He didn’t say he was a nobody who stayed in the wilderness. He didn’t make any excuses.

He was the greatest of all prophets because he didn’t make excuses, nor compared himself with those other big names.

In fact, John the Baptist continued the legacy of the other biblical characters when the Word of God came upon them and they did what God wanted of them.

For example, Abraham was too old, Moses stuttered, Jacob was a liar, Gideon doubted, Elijah was burned out, David had an affair and even had someone killed, Isaiah had unclean lips, Jeremiah was too young, Jonah didn't like the job, Amos only knew how to prune trees, Paul was a persecutor, 
Timothy had ulcers, Lazarus was dead, Martha was a aunty-worry.

But the Word of God empowered them to rise to the occasion and become some of the greatest models of our faith.

We are to carry on this legacy of accepting the Word of God as John the Baptist and the rest of the biblical figures did.

The repentance that is required of us is to stop making excuses and to let the Word of God empower us.

Because if we want it, we will find a way. If we don’t want it, then we will find an excuse.

When we don’t make excuses, we will see the salvation of God and  the reason for the season. 

Otherwise this season will not be worth remembering.

32nd Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 08.11.2015

1 Kings 17:10-16 / Hebrews 9:24-28 / Mark 12:38-44

Just about a month back, the most talked about abbreviation is the PSI. PSI stands for Pollutant Standards Index, which is a number used to provide the public with an easily understandable indicator of how polluted the air is.

But now that the air has cleared, the PSI is no more a burning issue (literally).

But even when it was at a record high of 300+, some people can still make some humour out of it:

“Haze is so bad, when I ordered some raw sashimi, it turned into smoked salmon when it reached my table.”

“The Singapore Flyer was built to blow the haze away.” “Gardens by the Bay became Gardens by the haze!”

A chocolate maker had this slogan: "Haze driving you nuts? Have a Haze-lnut."

And when the PSI was indicating a serious problem, then the solution was the N95.

The N95 mask was like the most sought after commodity, and when demand exceeds supply, then the price hike kicks in.

So it seemed that for a health hazard like the haze which affects everybody, the question of protection lies in affordability – we get an N95 mask if we have the money for it.

And if we were living near the source of the haze where the PSI is in the range of 1000, would we ever think of giving the mask to someone who needs it? 

In the 1st reading, we heard about the prophet Elijah asking for food and water from a widow.

We must remember it was a time of famine, there was a severe food shortage because there was a severe drought for 7 years. So there was no rain, no crops and no food.

As for the widow, she was going to prepare the last meagre meal for herself and her son and after that there will be nothing left to eat. They will just wait to die of hunger.

Yet when Elijah asked for food, that widow, despite her desperately hopeless situation, shared the last of what she had to eat.

For her generosity in that kind of extreme situation, she was rewarded with the miracle of a jar of meal and a jar of oil that would allow her and her son to survive the famine.

Yes, miracles happen in extreme circumstances, but only when people are willing to make the sacrifice.

In the gospel, we heard of yet another widow who gave all she had to God - just two small coins, two small coins of the smallest denomination.

Jesus acknowledged her generosity, saying that from the little she had, she gave it all, even what she had to live on.

We do not know what happened to that poor widow as the gospel made no further mention of her.

But what do we think? Will God bless her for her generosity? Will God provide for her needs now that she has nothing left?

We might be thinking, that poor widow should have kept at least one coin for herself in order to buy some food, isn't it?

Whatever we might be thinking, the widow in the 1st reading and the poor widow in the gospel certainly gave us an example of radical generosity.

What the two widows gave was hardly anything of value in normal circumstances - just a bit of food and two small coins that hardly worth anything.

But what was given was desperately needed by the two widows. It was a sacrifice because they had to let go of it.

Very often, we who have much more, somehow believe very little in God's promise of providence. Because letting go is so hard to do.

There is a story that is simply titled "The Rope". It begins with a mountain climber who wanted to climb the highest mountain.

Since he wanted the glory just for himself, he decided to climb the mountain alone.

So he climbed and climbed, and even right into the night he climbed, even though he couldn't see much in that pitch darkness.

As he hastened his climb to the summit, he suddenly slipped and fell into thin air. Great fear seized him as his life flashed before him.

As he kept falling into certain death, suddenly he felt the rope that was tied to his waist pulled him very hard.

His body was hanging in the air with only the rope holding him, and in desperation he cried out "Help me, O God, help me!"

Suddenly in that pitch darkness, a deep voice came from the skies "How do you want me to help you?"

The man was surprised but he quickly answered "Save me, O God, save me!"

The voice said "Do you really believe that I can save you?"  The man answered, "Yes, yes, I believe, I believe!"

The voice said, "Then do as I tell you. Cut away the rope that is tied to your waist."

There was a moment of silence. The man decided to hold on to the rope with all his might.

The next day, the rescue team saw an intriguing sight. The climber was found dead and frozen, his body hanging from a rope with his hands holding it tight. His body was only 10 feet from the ground.

Indeed, letting go is hard to do. But it is in letting go that we live and become alive.

Jesus had said that he who tries to save his life will lose it, but he who gives up his life for Jesus will save it.

The widow of Sidon in the 1st reading tells us this truth. We can also say the same of the widow in the gospel that God will provide for her.

And we can also say that God will provide for us. Yet like the two widows, we have to learn to let go.

We have to learn to let go of ourselves and give ourselves to others - our life, our love, our time, our energy.

Every little sacrifice is appreciated by Jesus, just like how He commended that poor widow on her offering.

When we surrender everything into God’s hand, then we will see God’s hand in everything.

No matter how hazy it is, we will see God’s hand in everything.

All Saints Day, Year B, 01.11.2015

Apocalypse 7:2-4, 9-14 / 1 John 3:1-3 / Matthew 5:1-12
The Church of the Sacred Heart was built in 1910 and so it’s already 105 years old.

And when we look around at the interior as well as the exterior, we can say that it is solidly built.

To build a church like this in 1910 is certainly no easy task but the funds came in not just from generous donors but also from the humble widow’s mite. 

So everyone contributed, regardless of how big or how small the sum was.

So if building a church is no easy task, then how about building a university?

Back in 1953 when the idea was mooted by the Chinese community leaders in Singapore to build the then Nanyang University, there was no government funding.

But the plan to set up the university received overwhelming support from the Chinese community, with both the rich and the poor donating generously to the building fund. 

Contributions were received from the working class, and that included the taxi drivers, the hawkers, the trishaw pullers and … the cabaret dancers.

Who would expect this group of the working class to contribute to the building of Nanyang University.

It was surprising and also unexpected that the trishaw pullers and the cabaret dancers would do their bit for an institution that they would probably never benefit from.

But to this day, when the story of how Nanyang University was built is told, the big donors were acknowledged, but so were the working class of the taxi drivers, the hawkers, the trishaw pullers and the cabaret dancers.

It goes to show that when people see a higher objective and purpose, they will bring themselves to work towards it and to fulfill it.

Today the Church celebrates All Saints Day. We honour all the saints who form “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) for us and for the whole Church.

We acknowledge the countless men and women who are in heaven and who saw the higher objective and purpose of their lives when they were on earth.

Now that they have attained their eternal reward, they take on another objective and purpose but it is no more for themselves.

They want us to join them in heaven and they are praying for us as we journey on earth with all our challenges and difficulties.

Those saints are people just like us and they have gone through what we are going through – worries and anxieties, doubts and failures, desires and sinfulness.

So if we going through a difficult time with a wayward spouse and children who have fallen away from the faith and from the path of life, know that we are not alone.

St. Monica prayed continuously with tears for the conversion of her husband and then for her son St. Augustine.

Her prayers were answered and she will pray for us too that our prayers will be answered.

If we feel stressed at work and have a difficult boss, then let us turn to St. Joseph, patron saint of workers.

He knows how stressful it was to protect and provide for Mary and Jesus and yet he didn’t utter a word of complaint and he is a model for workers.

And when we find ourselves in a desperate situation, be it financial or emotional or spiritual, there is St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of desperate cases.

He knows how exasperating it was to share the same name as that apostle who betrayed Jesus. He was almost forgotten until people in desperate situation turned to him for his intercession, and he has never failed them.

And talking about forgotten saints, today is also a day that we remember our patron saints.

Most of us go by our baptism names which is usually a saint’s name.

It would be good to find out more about our patron saint because besides being a model of holiness for us, our patron saint is also praying for us.

So today as the Church celebrates All Saints Day, there is an outpouring of prayers from heaven for us.

The saints in heaven are asking God to grant us His blessings so that we can live our lives in the spirit of the Beatitudes that we heard in the gospel.

Beatitudes is not about attitudes. Beatitudes means blessings so that in gentle and merciful, in being pure of heart and poor in spirit, in being peacemakers and in doing what is right and just, we become a blessing for others.

The contribution of the saints is their prayers for us and for the Church.

Our lives of holiness will be our contribution to the world as we bring about God’s blessings to our world.

Life is difficult. People may abuse us and persecute us and speak all kinds of calumny against us.

But we are assured of the prayers of the saints and the blessings from God.

Let us rejoice and be glad, and look forward and upward to our reward in heaven.

30th Ordinary Sunday, Year B, 25.10.2015

Jeremiah 31:7-9 / Hebrews 5:1-6 / Mark 10:46-52

One of the peculiarities of the Catholic Church is this fervent devotion to saints.

Needless to say, the most popular of devotions is to Mary, the Queen of all Saints.

That is quite evident especially in the month of October, which is traditionally called the month of the Rosary, and the Rosary is a form of devotion to Mary.

Following that the many other devotions to saints would look like some kind of international buffet spread.

And there are also patron saints for all kinds of needs and situations and vocations in life.

St. John Vianney is the patron saint for confessors and priests.

For a safe journey, there is St Rafael the Archangel to turn to. For throat ailments we can turn to St. Blaise (3rd February). 

We invoke the intercession of St. Anthony of Padua for lost articles (keys, passport, mobile phone, etc.) 

But if ever that all else fails, then there is one more option to invoke, and that is St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of desperate situations.

The feast day of St. Jude Thaddeus, who was one of the 12 Apostles, is on the 28th October.

St. Jude is a popular saint; sometimes he is called the patron saint of hopeless cases.

Maybe “hopeless” is not quite the correct word to use here.

But certainly the word “desperate” is something we are familiar with and that we can identify with.

In the Catholic Church, St. Jude is venerated as the patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes.

St. Jude is invoked in desperate situations because his New Testament letter (Letter of Jude) stressed that the faithful should persevere in the environment of harsh and difficult circumstances, just as their forefathers had done before them.

So it is a very encouraging and consoling letter.

That is just one of the reasons why St. Jude is invoked as the patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes.

But in the past, many Catholics have mistakenly confused St. Jude with Judas Iscariot because their names sound similar in Latin as well as in other languages.

As a result, the faithful avoided venerating him or invoking him for prayers.

Therefore, St. Jude Thaddeus is also called the “Forgotten Saint”.

But because veneration of St. Jude was minimal, hence only people in the most dire of circumstances would call upon him, those that are termed as a “lost cause”.

And surprisingly, when those in a really desperate situation or a lost cause turned to St. Jude, their petitions were answered.

Hence, the veneration of the “Forgotten Saint” was revived, and St. Jude has become one of the more “popular” saints.

In the gospel, the blind man Bartimaeus (or son of Timaeus) was a desperate case as well as a lost cause.

Regardless of whether he was born blind or afflicted with blindness, his blindness was a lost cause – there can be no cure.

Besides his blindness, he also had quite a desperate situation.

He was “forgotten”. He was only known as Bartimaeus, or son of Timaeus. People had forgotten his name!

His blindness had enveloped him in darkness, and his “forgotten” status pushed him into desperate loneliness.

So here is a classic desperate case and a lost cause – a blind beggar, with a forgotten name, only known as the son of Timaeus.

But when he, whose name was forgotten by people, heard that Jesus was passing by, he cried out to Him by an ancient and royal name: Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!

It was an acclamation – Jesus, Son of David, and followed by a lamentation – Have pity on me!

And for that, he got scolded by the crowd and told to shut up.

Because people like to hear acclamations, but they frown upon lamentations. People get disturbed by the cries of lamentation.

It seems that the afflicted are to suffer in silence.

To cry out aloud in lamentation is rude, it is not proper and it disturbs the peace. And it doesn’t sound religious.

But that is not what the Bible teaches. In fact, in the Bible, there is a book called the Book of Lamentations.

In other words, the Bible teaches that the religious response to suffering is not to suppress it or hide it or to keep quiet about it.

Because remaining silent and hiding it is as good as making suffering a hopeless case, and that there is no possibility of change, because God doesn’t care at all.

But that is not true! Because when that son of Timaeus called out to the Son of David, something happened. Yes, Jesus stopped and called for him.

Yes, God listens to the lamentations of His people, the cries of suffering, the groans of anguish and distress, the screams of pain.

Lamentations express the hope that God will listen and that things will change.

Certainly God does not forget those who are suffering and who cry out to Him.

God will stop and listen, just as Jesus stopped and called for the son of Timaeus, that blind beggar whose name was forgotten by people.

Well, St. Jude Thaddeus knows what it feels like to be forgotten. 

And as the patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes, St. Jude reminds us that those who are suffering in pain and anguish must not be forgotten.

St. Jude will gather the prayers of those who are suffering and present them to Jesus.

And what better day to pray to St. Jude Thaddeus than on his feast day, the 28th October.

Better still to come for Mass on that day and spend some time in thanksgiving, and to ask St. Jude to pray for us.

We have our desperate situations and high anxieties, especially as our children are having their exams, and not only they are stressed out, we are also stressed out.

Or, we may also know of persons whom we think are “hopeless cases” – they are addicted to gambling, drinking or in some kind of sinful attachment.

Let us remember that with God, there is no such a thing as a hopeless case. 
But of course, without God, then everything is hopeless.
Let us ask St. Jude to pray for us. We will face desperate situations, but there is hope that things will change.
Because God won’t leave us desperate and hopeless. 
God will not forget us. Because our names are carved in the palm of His hands (Isaiah 49:16)

P.S – When we are going through something hard and wonder where God is, let us remember that the teacher is always quiet during a test.