17th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2020

This Sunday we hear parables about extreme behaviour and reasonable behaviour. The first two is speaks of people who would sell everything to get something precious. I remember asking myself, after getting the treasure and the pearl, how is the man going to eat? He has sold everything! The third parable is rather reasonable. Fishermen with a huge haul of fish would need to sort the fish out to sell them. So what was that about? God sorting those who are fit for heaven and those who are not? It seems so. The fourth parable seems similar and yet it is not the same. There is mention of different things: old and new, but there is not mention of which is the one kept and the one thrown away. Yet, how are these parables connected to the first two?

We see that all the parables are about possession. The man wants to possess the treasure in the field. The merchant wants to possess the precious pearl. the dragnet possess the fish by trapping the fish in itself. The householder possesses things old and new. All these are connected to the Kingdom of Heaven.

The first parable tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven is a precious treasure that we should acquire at all costs. We should allow God to rule in our hearts. The second parable tells us that the Kingdom of Heaven looks for precious things. We are the precious pearl, meaning that God would do everything to rule in our hearts, and we know that the rule of God is a rule of real and true love. Despite gathering everyone into itself, the Kingdom of Heaven is not accepted by everyone. So those who despise God would be allowed to leave it. However, outside the Kingdom of Heaven is the blazing furnace. Despite that, the Kingdom of God is meant for everyone, as the things both old and new in the storeroom.

This last point is also what the second reading is about. God chooses everyone. He sent His Son so that all would be justified and saved. However, he also allows us to make up our own minds. Thus, the third parable reveals to us the fact that there would be those who choose not to be justified and saved. How do we know we have chosen correctly? Our first reading tells us of the choice of Solomon. He asked for a heart to discern good and evil according to the dictates of God. In the world today, there are so many shades of good and evil because they do not follow the dictates of God but according to one’s own choosing. That is why one gets arguments like, “it is better to terminate a pregnancy than to bring a child into a world of suffering,” or “we need to be permissive to show the young that we love them, so we should not deny them anything.” More tragic is the argument that “I believe this is the right thing to do because it feels right.” Notice how the last one is dependent on oneself and not on what God has taught?

Today’s parable tells us to let the kingdom of heaven rule our hearts with love. The kingdom of heaven is precious; it welcomes all peoples. However, we enter the kingdom of heaven because we choose to follow God. We should ask God to give us wisdom so that we can be discerning, choosing the kingdom of heaven and rejecting that which is evil.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2020

Today we are confronted with two more parables that deal with farming. Last Sunday it was about sowing the seed. Today the first two parables is about plants and the third is about yeast.

The first speaks of darnel and wheat and how they look similar to each other when young but then they act differently when mature. The parallel here in our region here (at least in Singapore) would be the two grasses we find in undeveloped areas: elephant grass and lallang. Both look similar when young but the latter catches fire easily when mature. Obviously we would prefer to have the less dangerous grass. In the gospel, wheat is a food plant and darnel is actually toxic to humans.

The second parable speaks of mustard, which has really small seeds but can grow into rather sturdy plants. We actually eat quite a bit of their leaves and stems as the vegetable mustard green. The third talks about the small amount of yeast added to a dough and it permeates all of the dough.

The common thread here is growth. How does growth occur? Today, science can explain and describe the processes that give rise to growth, but at the time of Jesus, there were no microscopes and laboratories to explain the growth. People simply accepted the fact that there is growth. The last two parables explain to us that the kingdom of God will grow but we don’t know how. The fact is that the Kingdom will grow. It is then not difficult to attribute the growth to God Himself. 

The first parable tells us that besides the kingdom, there is something else that grows. This other thing that grows is the opposite of what the kingdom is. Many would say that this other thing belongs to Satan. I would add that sometimes it is we ourselves who oppose the growth of the kingdom. Our pride and egos can be obstacles to the kingdom as well. There is a saying: the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

When we evangelise, we are doing a good thing. However, we must not have the idea that we are the cause of the growth of the kingdom. God gives growth to the kingdom. When we serve God we should discern regularly, asking if what I am doing is for the right motives. The discernment might not be clear at the early stages of our service, but as time passes, we should be able to discern. We should be humble enough to ask God to help us to weed out all wrong motives in our service of God.

We might have gone for courses to help us serve God better. However, we must regularly discern if what we have learned was for the service of God or was in fact to feed our own ego. We might have started to visit the less fortunate because we genuinely cared for them. Along the way we might have allowed our egos to taint our motives. After all, when someone praises us for doing good work, we feel good. If we do not discern and purify out motives, we might find ourselves visiting others so that we might be recognised for our efforts. We have allowed the darnel to overtake the wheat in the field. In our quiet time this week, let us ask God to help us do some weeding. We should weed out the darnel in our lives and allow the Lord to give growth to the wheat.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2020

 We are familiar with the parable of the sower. Perhaps we are so familiar that it does not impact our lives as much as it did before. Jesus understood the human heart well because he explained why he taught using parables.

You will listen and listen again, but not understand,
see and see again, but not perceive.

(Mt. 13:15, Jerusalem Bible)

At the end of the quote from Isaiah 6, Jesus tells us that God wants to convert and heal us, but we seem to be resistant to it. Our pride is the problem: we want what we want, not what God suggests. God’s word comes to us to remind us of what is truly important. Yet, we would prefer to understand it from our perspective.

Some years ago, there were advertisements on TV showcasing a Radio station. The adverts showed a tennis coach telling a man that his son was hopeless in tennis, but the man simply heard what he wanted to hear: that his son would one day be a champion. It was about selective hearing.

The Bible contains God’s word and we read it to get to know God. In it we would also come to discern God’s will for us. Do we allow our pride to only read what we want to read? Are we selective in our hearing of God’s word. This is what it means about listening and listening again and not hearing. Sometimes, we are so preoccupied with our own concerns that we cannot see or refuse to see the needs of others. It is not to say that we would like is immoral or wrong. It is just that God’s view would show us a better way to looking and dealing with the issues we have in our lives. When we have decided on a course of action and are not open to God’s recommendation, we end up short. We could have done better but did not.

So in line with the parable of the sower we have heard this morning, do we want to receive the word on rich soil? We will have to open our hearts, not just our ears and eyes. We need to open our hearts to God. We should not expect God to do our bidding. Rather, we should think of discerning God’s purposes. If not, we might end up thinking we have done well when we were actually like the the rocky ground or the ground with thorns. We listen but it does not produce fruit.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2020

Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. (Mt. 11:25, Jerusalem Bible)

If we read a little before this verse, we would realise that Jesus was lamenting at the towns that had refused to listen to the Good News. It sounds strange, does it not that Jesus praises His Father after experiencing the stubbornness of those towns! When we consider that Jesus tells us in a later chapter in St. Matthew’s Gospel that unless we become like little children, we cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven (see Mt. 18:3), we may be able to see a little light. Jesus reminds us today that it is not learned and clever adults, with all our experience in life that will accept the simple mystery of the kingdom of heaven.

During these difficult months when we are not able to do things we used to, we begin to question God about our discomforts. We would like answers but cannot seem to find any. We murmur against rules about taking risks and such. I should know. I have done my share of complaining to God. If only I could remember that the learned and clever in this world won’t be able to understand what God is trying to communicate to us these days. Whatever God gives is a blessing. Even if it means that we cannot receive holy communion! 

I still remember that growing up, I did not have as many toys as many children do these days. We had a set of plastic soldiers and animals. My younger brother and I would use these animals and soldiers to make up stories and have adventures. A tiger would be a hero one day and a villain the next. We accepted what we had and made use of the few toys we had. I don’t remember complaining to my father for our lack of toys. On the other hand, I do remember getting many earfuls when we did not put back our toys after playing them.

Can we not see what our situation here as blessings? I may need to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation, but do I see it as a right that God has to give me, or a blessing that God gives at His own time. While I yearn to receive the grace that comes from the sacrament, can I not see the present situation as a blessing that we can begin to treasure the sacrament more?

Jesus tells us to shoulder his yoke for it is easy and light in burden. I believe because we do not see this time as a blessing, we tend to shoulder our own yokes. We have yokes of desire and wants, Jesus’s yoke is one where we will find rest for our souls. Jesus tells us to shoulder his yoke and learn from Him. Many times we shoulder yokes but forget the second part: learn from Him. Like Jesus’s not being able to convince the towns of Chorazin and Bethsaida to accept the Good News, things may not go the way we wish despite our best efforts. We still would bless and praise God because what happens is also a blessing and gift from Him. The registration system for Mass will not satisfy many who want to come to Mass every Sunday. Yet, if they follow what Jesus does today, they should look at everything as God’s blessings and give thanks to God.

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2020

Anyone who prefers father or mother to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who prefers son or daughter to me is not worthy of me. Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. (Mt. 10:37–38, Jerusalem Bible)

Today’s Gospel passage begins with the conditions of being worthy of Jesus. It is actually the ending of a long set of instructions for the apostles who were being sent to preach the kingdom. Having told the apostles the manner of which they are to preach, Jesus ends with a reminder that by accepting the mission of preaching, the apostles assent to renouncing everything for Jesus and that the recipients of the preaching would be blessed.

Jesus is not telling us to reject father or mother, son or daughter in favour of Himself. Rather, in the mission of preaching, we need to get our priorities right. If we accept the mission of preaching, then preaching the word should take priority, even to that which is closest to our hearts as human beings. When we consider our general vocation as Christians, and personal vocations as priest, parents, sons or daughters, we need to understand the priorities we have to adhere to. For example, a Christian parent’s vocation is the bringing up of the children as Christians. This means that the child’s welfare has priority. At any one point of time, there must be clear priorities. Toddlers are brought to church to help them understand the importance of Sunday worship. So, the child should be taught to prefer coming to Church on Sunday rather than spend his or her time watching cartoons at home. Once in Church, the child should be taught to prefer focussing on worship in community than on other activities. This is easier said than done. When a two year old is hungry at the time of Mass and wants to be fed, does feeding him or her in the church help him or her make the proper preference? It is probable that feeding him or her in church gives the impression that proper worship is not as important as eating. Bringing him or her out to the proper place to be fed would show that the church is a sacred place where eating is not the respectful thing to do. Yes, the two year old won’t understand the difference. However, the impression given is that if he or she prefers to be fed, he or she should learn to prefer to move out of the sacred space. In this way he or she respects the sacred space and the community who is worshipping in there. What about the parent fulfilling his or her obligation as a Catholic? I can only reply with another question: Is fulfilling the personal Christian obligation preferable to living out the vocation as a Christian parent that one has assented to? 

The inconveniences that Christian parents have to bear can be considered the taking of one’s cross and following Jesus’s footsteps. How often have I heard parents lamenting that with their child arriving at the terrible twos and threes, they had to dispense with the privilege of worshipping God on Sundays as one family? How often have I heard of that one child who played in the pews at Mass and disrupted the prayerful ambience the worship space should have?

Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet's reward; … (Mt. 10:41, Jerusalem Bible)

What about the recipients of the message? When we encounter a person, do we consider that person a blessing? Usually when we get a positive experience from it, we think of it as a blessing. What about when it was a negative experience? Can we not think of it as a blessing from God as well? A prophet is called by God to be His mouthpiece. When God sends someone to us, that person may not even be aware of it. If we welcome that person as sent by God, and see his actions and words as a message from God, we are actually welcoming that person as a prophet because he is a prophet. The prophet who obeys God and transmits God’s message will be in a right relationship with God. That result is the prophet’s reward. When we receive the message of God and act properly on it, it will also result in a right relationship with God — the same as the prophet’s reward. 

Thus, when we consider our general and personal vocations, we will need to consider the priorities at every given time. Fortunately, God will send people to encounter us to give us advice so that we would be able to arrive at the right relationship with Him. Let us be thankful to such a loving God.

2020年常年期第十三主日

谁爱父亲或母亲超过我，不配是我的；谁爱儿子或女儿超过我，不配是我的。谁不背起自己的十字架跟随我，不配是我的。（玛 10:28）

今天的福音关于是否配是耶稣的。实际上，这段福音是在耶稣派遣宗徒去宣讲王国所指示的结尾。耶稣告诉了宗徒要传讲的方式后，提醒他们接受了传教使命后，宗徒们同意为耶稣放弃一切，并且接受传道的人将会受到祝福。

耶稣不是在告诉我们拒绝父亲或母亲，儿子或女儿才配是祂的。在传教的使命中，我们需要正确地安排优先事项。如果我们接受传教的使命，那么宣传福音便应该被优先考虑，即使是与我们人类当着最重要的相比。当我们考虑我们做基督徒的召叫或个人的召叫时，如，师铎、父母、儿女，我们需要了解我们必须坚持的优先事项。例如，基督徒父母的召叫是抚养孩子，因此孩子的福利是重中之重。在任何时候，都必须有明确的优先级。幼儿被带到圣堂，以帮助他们了解主日弥撒的重要性。因此，孩子应该被教选择到圣堂出席主日弥撒，而不选择在家里看卡通片。到了教堂，应该教小孩选择集中精力认真地参与弥撒，而不是其他的活动。说起来容易做起来难。一个两岁的小孩在弥撒时饿了，在教堂里喂小孩是否有助于他做出适当的选择？在教堂里喂他可能给他一种印象，即适当的敬拜不如吃饭重要。在教堂外的一个适当的地方喂小孩将表明教堂里是一个神圣的地方，吃饭不是一件尊敬天主的事情。是的，两岁的孩子不懂事，不了解其中的区别。但是，给人的印象是，如果他选择吃饱，他应该学会选择移出神圣的空间。这样，他就会尊重神圣的空间和在场崇拜的基督徒团体。父母履行天主教徒义务怎么办？我只能以另一个问题回答：哪一个比较重要：履行个人的基督教徒的义务或是履行基督徒父母的义务？

基督徒父母必须承受的不便之处可以当作是背着十字架跟随耶稣。我有多少次听到父母为自己的孩子到达两三岁时，不得不放弃在主日一家人一起参与弥撒的特权。我有多少次听说小孩在圣堂的长椅上玩耍，破坏该有的祈祷气氛围？

谁接纳一位先知，因为他是先知，将领受先知赏报；
（玛 10:21）

喜讯的接纳者呢？当我们遇到一个人时，我们会将这个人视为祝福吗？通常，当我们从中获得善好的经验时，我们会将它当作一种祝福。但是不好的经验呢？我们不能也把它当作天主的祝福吗？先知被天主呼召为他的喉舌。当天主差遣某人给我们时，那个人甚至可能都不知道。如果我们欢迎天主所派遣的那个人，并且将他的作为和言语当作天主的讯息，那么我们实际上是在欢迎那个人作为先知，因为他是先知。顺服天主并传达祂的讯息的先知将与天主保持正确的关系。这就是先知的赏赐。当我们收到天主的讯息并采取正确的行动时，我们也取了与天主的正确关系—与先知的报酬一样。

因此，在考虑天主给我们的召叫时，我们将需要考虑优先事项。幸好的是，天主会派人与我们相遇，向我们提供建议，以便我们能够与天主建立正确的关系。让我们感谢这样一位慈爱的天主。

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2020

St. Paul the Apostle, Unknown author / Public domain

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. (Mt. 12:28, Jerusalem Bible)

I used to be terrified of this passage because I thought that the one that Jesus was referring to was the devil. Yet Jesus was not talking about the evil one. He was talking about the Father because reply he gives for the next two questions he posed referred to His Father. In the Jerusalem Bible, the title given to this passage of scripture is: Open and fearless speech. What was Jesus speaking of just before this passage? He was talking about the persecution those who follow Him would suffer. Taking that into account, Jesus is encouraging his disciples to have the courage to speak the truth. As disciples, we should have the courage to declare Jesus is Lord before people. 

When the circuit breaker ended three weeks ago, many thought that Mass would be celebrated in a restricted manner. However, that was not the case. Private worship was allowed but there were safe management plans that needed to be submitted to the authorities. I was trying to work out the plans with the parish task force so that we can submit a proper safe management plan. Before that came to pass, a new advisory was issued a few days ago, which meant that we had to relook at the plans and make adjustments. So our parish is still not ready to resume any activity yet. As our church is also going through restoration, there are added factors to consider. Please be assured that we are doing the best we can.

I mention this because there are many who are upset and angry because things don’t seem to be moving as quickly as they would like. A thought did cross my mind: the virus only causes harm to the body but the unavailability of Masses harms the soul. It was only a split second before another thought came: irresponsibility also harms the soul. This ties in with the Gospel passage I had quoted above.

While it is true that only God can destroy the soul in hell, He will not because he loves us. However, there is another who can harm our souls: we, ourselves, can cause harm to our souls. Let me use a simple analogy. Assassins can kill me. However, if I neglect my health, I am also slowly killing myself. Our soul’s health depends on love. We maintain our soul’s health by loving God and we express our love of God by loving our neighbour. When we are only concerned about our own needs and wants that we forget about the needs of our neighbour, can we say that we are loving our neighbour? All the regulations that are given to us are for the purpose of reducing the risk of infection of the people around us. Loving our neighbour means that I must be responsible for acting in such a way as to reduce that risk of infection. I have heard someone remark that the Church is too kiasu. Does that remark show a responsible attitude? If everyone is knowledgeable and responsible, there would be no need to set out directives. Ironically, it is because of the few irresponsible Catholics that the church needs to be cautious. It is true that we cannot consider all possibilities to act. However, it would neither be responsible nor loving on the part of the church to disregard the real probability that a few irresponsible Catholics would end up being the cause of a new cluster of infection to occur.

The title of today’s passage in the Jerusalem Bible: Open and fearless speech, is not about being unafraid to proclaim anything we think to be true. It speaks of an attitude to be open to the truth of any situation before speaking with courage. In truly loving my neighbour, I am declaring myself for Jesus. Apart from that, could I truly say I am authentically declaring myself for Jesus? Perhaps we could reflect on our motives and ask God to help us to be open to the truth from God, rather than demands from elsewhere.