Final Year Farewell Function

As I write this, the seminary community is celebrating the Farewell Function of the Final Year students. Each of the Final Years have a pacifier in his mouth so that they would not be able to vocalize their protests as they are being verbally roasted by their junior brothers. Rather than sharing deep dark secrets, the junior brothers share their experiences of encountering their most senior brothers. Their sharings are not only encouraging but also very inspiring. There are stories of appreciation as well as messages of thanks.

Dead Tired ... And Digging my own grave?

The new semester has started but instead of being fresh and raring to go, I am feeling extremely fatigued.

The reason is that I had had a short trip to Manila last week. When we landed, we were greeted by the periphery of a typhoon (which I believe to have become the terrific storm that hit Hong Kong). Although not very serious, it was rather significant to me, one who has not experienced a typhoon before.

I must confess that I left before completing spring cleaning and I reached home to a situation where there was much that still needed to be done. Needless to say, I have not recovered from my trip and the cleaning and packing tasks that I had given myself are facing increasing delays unless I buck up and start getting more rest and become more disciplined.

On to the main reflection. I saw so much potential in the Philippines when I visited Manila. Yet there are so many poor people. It is not that the economy is bad. From my observations, the culture is only Catholic and Christian in the cultic and ritual aspect. It would take an extremely courageous Christian to evangelise their culture. That individual would be called by God to be like Abraham: to abandon the familiar but problematic way of life that both rich and poor Filippinos are used to (see Gen 12:1); to take the risk to lose his own life but to gain the Kingdom for God (Mk 8:35-36). Would that individual would use up his riches to give the dignity of proper work to his less fortunate brothers and sisters? Could he make a break from unjust nepotism? Could he distance himself from irrational adherence to clannish and tribal ties? As a Catholic, would this person look at the people in his country as brothers and sisters, involving himself in God's righteousness rather than imperfect human justice?

Of course, we Singaporeans are far from perfect ourselves. Whenever someone asks for material help, I wonder if I have given the right thing. Could the Church in Singapore help by providing meaningful work rather than handouts? Would the Church in Singapore take the risk to do what was right in the eyes of God? It is definite easier to give in to popular opinions and call it justice. It is certainly easier to give an interpretation to the Word of God that everyone likes and attract lots of parishioners. However, we risk losing parishioners if we preach and live the truth (see Jn 6:60-66). I can see injustice about me, and, sometimes, in the Church but feel helpless because I am not sure if an immediate intervention would make the matter better or worse. It becomes more heart-wrenching when there is an abuse of authority and I cannot do anything about it.   I myself have authority given to me from above. I can only pray that I am exercising this authority rightly in the eyes of God. I also pray that God may provide me the courage, wisdom and discernment to act in God's righteousness.

Packing Before the Move

I am now with my mother and two brothers trying to put over forty years of memories into boxes. We keep much which have contributed significant memories. We had to let go of some stuff which were significant but could no longer fit into our lives as they are now. I would
Have loved to keep the chairs on which we sat forty years ago. Whilst there aren't any economical value attached to them, there was where I sat as a child watching
Buffalo Bill Ah! The memories of childhood! We can remember but we cannot allow those memories to stop us on our tracks unable to move on. We had to let go of our cherished childhood to grow up. We need to let go of some of our stuff so that we can grow into new and necessary stuff. In Christian life, we get rid off old habits to embrace the habit of God's grace.ô

Documentary and Indignance

Just heard a documentary about the overpopulation in Philippines and that the government there is about to give free contraceptives.  Of course, the Catholic Church in Philippines have protested.  However, in the mean time, families are getting larger and people are getting poorer.  The Church had been made a villain in the documentary.  Yet, the problem isn't about the use and non-use of contraceptives but family planning.  It is so like the secular and commercial world to consider the surface and not the deeper issues.  The Church has no objection to family planning.  Family planning means that faithfulness in marriage, and discipline and responsibility in marital life.  The use of contraception affects the amount of faithfulness, discipline and responsibility in family planning.  As I write this, I realise that some pro-contraceptive readers would object to that last sentence.  Yet, faithfulness in marriage is not just faithfulness between spouses.  Faithfulness means faithfulness to God as well.  Discipline could mean being mindful of using the contraceptive but being disciplined in marital life also means that abstinence is an intrinsic part of being a married couple.  Responsibility also means that making informed decisions as a couple, like when to stop having children by practising abstinence.

I was indignant because of the way the documentary was made.  It demonised the Church as only concerned with doctrine and not really interested in the lives of the people.   If the leaders of the Church in the Philippines have made adequate efforts to offer assistance to their people to live responsibly as Catholics, then we should not just look upon them as leaders out of touch with the reality in which the rest of the Church lives.  If, however, the leaders are just sitting there vending out doctrine without concrete assistance, they would be like the Pharisees in the time of Jesus who lay heavy burdens but do not lift a finger to help (see Matt. 23:4).

All right.  I have rambled enough.

First Day of Mid-2012 Break

After a semester of lecturing and teaching, I had looked forward to this break. However, the first day was not as enjoyable as I envisioned it. There were some small housework tasks that I had neglected due to the heavy workload during the semester. Furthermore, I am not good when it comes to housework. I usually take twice the time to sort out my stuff. So, I need to schedule twice the amount of time. Vacation? Let's see how much of relaxation I finally get. At the same time, the daily spiritual exercises continue, albeit in a different time slot.

A New Year Reflection

     “Mary, Mother of God”—Now that's a title that Christians had officially given Mary, mother of Jesus, in the 5th century as a result of the Council of Ephesus which dealt with the Nestorian heresy. More than a millennium later, years after the Western Schism that was called the Protestant Reformation, some Christians accuse the Catholic Church of deifying Mary, a mere creature of God.

     The Catholic Church dedicates the last day of the Christmas Octave to Mary with the title of “Mother of God” not because we have deified her but because we want to glorify God, who has graced her with the role of being the mother to His Son.  The title actually protects the integrity of the personality of Jesus the Christ. The Council of Ephesus affirmed that Jesus is only one person with two Natures.   A woman gives birth to a person, not to a nature.   Nestorius had claimed that Mary was "Mother of Christ" and not "Mother of God".  This, in effect, splits Jesus into two persons.  Jesus does not have a split personality.  Thus Mary cannot be said to be only mother of Jesus the Man and not Jesus, the second person of the Holy Trinity.

     I have started a reflection on today's feast and have digressed to give a brief account of one of the Christological doctrines.  (I think Mr. Tim Staples does a better explanation than me here.)  Let me get back to the reflection.

     We celebrate this feast because we want to glorify God for showing us His willingness to fill His creatures with grace. Although we hear that Mary is highly favoured in the Gospel, God does not have favorites. (Please see Luke 1:28.  Being highly favoured and being a favorite are two different things.)  He wants all of us to be saved. That is why he announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds and the shepherds, in their turn, told others.  In the Gospel today, we notice that people came to know about this significant birth.  Mary, who has been given a significant mention by the angels, did not become arrogant or proud. Instead, she quietly kept all that had happened in her heart, pondering over them (Luke 2:19).

     I believe that God wants us to look at the gifts and graces He has given us.  We must be grateful for them and humbly accept them. The good news is that He is ever willing to grace us. Every gift we have had is not something that we deserved.  Rather, they have been given us because God loves us unconditionally.

Can we not, like the shepherds that night, start the habit to tell others about the generosity of God that we have experienced? 

Who Do You Say I Am?

This week’s Gospel is from the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew. It is the well-known part in which makes his confession that Jesus is the Son of God.

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare'a Philip'pi, he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?”

And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli'jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

It is from these passages that Catholics believe that the ministry of the Pope came about. There are many homilies that would focus on the question, “Who do you say I am?” The congregation would be asked to reflect on what their answer would be if Jesus posed the question to them. I believe that my homily this weekend would go along the same lines. However, in my preparation, I discover another insight. Before we answer Jesus' question, we would need to answer another question, “Who does Jesus say I am?”

To the answer, “A child of God,” I ask myself if I had really lived with a childlike trust towards God.

To the answer, “a Catholic priest,” I ask myself if I had truly helped God’s people eople to connect to Him.

To the answer, “A Christian,” I ask myself if I have allowed myself to see Christ in others and others to see Christ in me.

Just a short reflection ...