Gratuitousness of grace

Fourth Sunday of Lent - Year C

We are a society which has grown acutely sensitive of our rights and sense of entitlement. Older people feel entitled to certain benefits from the government. Middle-aged people feel entitled to generous health and retirement benefits from their employers. Younger adults feel entitled to immediately enjoy the same standard of living their parents took years to achieve. And young people feel entitled to whatever material luxuries they desire. It surely seems appropriate in our culture where we believe we are now entitled to a whole host of things in life. Some believe that they are entitled to kick-backs and bribes, thus the rampant corruption that plagues our system. Others believe that they are entitled to a responsibility-free existence, thus when something goes wrong, someone else is to blame. And still others think they are entitled to a sacrificially-free existence, so they object over having to give up for the sake of another. Church going people are no different. Many Catholics believe that they are entitled to a whole range of benefits just by being members of the parish.  Any perceived curtailment of any of these rights or the denial of entitlements and you may have a riot on your hands.

Both sons in today’s famous parable had the impression that their father’s inheritance was a sort of entitlement. The younger son's sense of entitlement is obvious: he demands his inheritance so he can live as he pleases. He is claiming his birth ‘right’ – his argument is based purely on the strength of lineage. But the older brother displays a similar sense of entitlement in his condemnation and rejection of his brother. He believes that his hard work and good behaviour had earned him the right to the economic benefits and stability of his father's love. Both felt that the father ‘owed’ it to them. Both were deeply flawed.

In the case of the younger son, he equated personal freedom with his right to do whatever he wished. He desired a life free from discipline, from the norms of God’s commandments, from his father’s orders. He wanted to be his own man without any reference to his father or even God.  He was concerned only with his own selfish interest, a heart which had no place for the other, certainly none for his father. Also note the attitude by which the older son lives his life by. His whole attitude is about what he should get from what he has done and not about ‘Who am I becoming in the process?’ He’s about ‘doing’ what a son does and forgot about ‘being’ who a son ought to be. Simply put, the older son was about the Father’s house, but completely missed the Father’s heart.

Competition, bitter rivalry, envy and destructive conflict often arises from this entitlement mentality, the mentality that believes the world or someone or something owes it to us. People often fail to recognise that whenever the discussion of any issue descends to the level of mere assertion of personal rights, we often find ourselves trapped in a selfish self-serving delusional world blind to the needs of others. It is literally saying that our needs are more important than those of others. Few people understand that when someone asserts a right to something, very often someone else’s right is infringed. For example, let’s say that you and I are neighbours. You lead a group of rock musicians who can practice only in the evenings; while I, on the other hand, enjoy nothing more than quiet evenings. Presumably, you have a right to pursue your musical career, and I have a right quietly to enjoy my property. The problem is that your right is incompatible with mine. The conversation often gets so wrapped up in the championing of rights and entitlements that we quickly lose sight of grace.

This leads us back to consider the beautiful parable of the Prodigal Son, and especially the character of the father. The father expresses the gratuitousness of grace – it is given to those who do not merit it nor earned it. It is wholly the gift of the father; he does not ‘owe’ it to his sons. The “Father” in this story is undoubtedly characteristic of our Heavenly Father who forgives and restores us back to relationship with Him. Thus the gospel helps us understand who God truly is. He is the Merciful Father who in Jesus loves us beyond all measure. To the world, the father seems like a foolish foggy old man madden with love for his two sons – one an ingrate wastrel and the other, a resentful and reluctant worker. The errors committed by his sons do not corrode the fidelity of the old man’s love for them. In this way, he provides for us the example of how to liberate ourselves from the entitlement trap. We do so whenever we begin to consider the needs of the other, apart from our own rights and entitlements. The father invites us to move from a ‘give me’ mentality to that of personal responsibility. While there's a time and place for discussing rights, what's most helpful is the reminder that we need to extend grace to others, even to those who don’t seem to deserve it.

Furthermore, this parable helps us to understand who the human being is: he is not a an isolated being who lives only for himself and must have life for himself alone. On the contrary, we live with others, we were created together with others and only in being with others, in giving ourselves to others, do we find life. This revelation throws light on the real meaning of freedom. According to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, “freedom... is a springboard from which to dive into the infinite sea of divine goodness, but it can also become a tilted plane on which to slide towards the abyss of sin and evil and thus also to lose freedom and our dignity.” He said that in modern times we have seen theories proposing that human beings should be, “free, autonomous, and nothing else.” This supposed freedom from everything, including freedom from the duty of obedience to God, is a lie because human being does not exist on its own, nor does it exist for itself. If God is not the point of reference, then man will descend to the level of hedonistic immorality or addictive servitude.

During this season of Lent, most of the parishes in the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur will be celebrating the Parish Penitential Service. The Father invites us to return home.  Let us make this inner pilgrimage freely and without reservation. Christ wishes to set us truly free from the bondage of sin, of selfishness, of material illusions and addictions. We come without pretences, acknowledging that we are undeserving, not entitled to the graces we ask from him. We come with humility recognising that only when we have returned to the Father, both inwardly and outwardly, can we experience true freedom of the soul. Let us come to him to celebrate the feast prepared for us, for the one who is lost is now found, the one who is dead is now alive once more.

true wisdom? 智慧？

Thirty Third Ordinary Sunday Year A

Each culture has developed a whole collection of wise sayings and proverbs. We also grew up with lots of advice from our elders. "Don't judge a book by its cover" (人不可以貌相）; "Take care of one's need first before thinking of others", "Don't put all eggs into one basket" etc. 

Being ethically Chinese, I have come to realize how we have often equated wisdom with knowledge and also good business acumen. A man who knows how to save, how to make good investments, who become rich as a result of his own hard work of intelligence, he is regarded by society as a wise man. 

All these wise sayings have their place in our lives. However, holdings onto some of them may cause us to loose sight of the most important wisdom of all. The wisdom that tells us that all comes from God and will return to God. It is the wisdom that reminds us that the most important things in life are not just having friends, having lots of children, having lots of money, prosperity and luck. The most important thing in our faith in God who promised eternal life for us, and this is for eternity. To understand this is true wisdom. 

I remembered during my university days, lectures often remind us of this : University is a platform to prepare you for the outside world. Hence, word hard and be prepared! I guess this may be also one of the contributing factor that creates fierce competition among students. In today's world, society often judged based on your qualification, result and skill as a determination of getting a secure job-  as if these are the pass or gateway to paradise. A person's wisdom or perhaps the word which commonly known as intelligence often based on how great is your achievement in the past. But we fail to see that all these investment on earth are just temporary, and it will end at death.

Undeniably, many people are good at making investment- buying the right shares, making the right business assessment. However, many people are really bad at making spiritual investments. We work so hard in life in order to make life easier for ourselves and for our future generations and we end up at death with nothing. We are prepared for any eventuality in life - education, business, family life, but we are not prepared for eternal life.

Now my dear friends, I have a question for you.  Are you prepared to meet the lord at any time? It could be today, tomorrow, this week, next month or next year. Have you made the right investments? Have you invested for eternal life? Or have you put all your investments in looking for worldly pleasure, riches, ambition, fame, and power. You may have all these things - power, riches and fame - but they will serve you no good at your death.

When people tell us to be wise, and not be foolish, let us heed their call. But let us also understand what is true wisdom. True wisdom is investing for eternal life, not this life, not in riches, not in possessions. No! True wisdom is being always prepared to meet the Lord who may call us home at any time. So now, are you ready? Are you prepared?

This week's reading give us and insight on what it means to be ready. Being ready is not merely making sure that we have made our confession before our death. Being ready is not just merely avoiding wrong doing as much as possible. Being ready doesn't mean just waiting for death to happen. These are insufficient.

Being ready means that we must be constantly at our mission, fulfilling the vocation that God has given us. Each of us is entrusted with certain talents. Each of us have been given certain responsibilities - we have responsibilities as a parent or as a children or as a worker or as a member of the community or as Catholic etc. These talents are gifts from God and come with a responsibility. We are to use them for the mission which has been entrusted to us.

Many people go through their life without living out their full potential. Many people are satisfied with only doing the "bare minimum." Their philosophy is "why do more when you can do less!" God did not create us to live only a fraction of our lives. If we only live 10% of what we are capable of living, then the other 90%  is wasted.

Being ready means giving our all for the glory of God. We may not be able to do everything. We may not be able to do all things well. We may not even able to achieve within our  lifetime all our goals. Nevertheless, whatever we do, if we do it to the best of our ability and for the glory of God, is enough.

In today's first reading uses the symbol of a wise wife or perfect wife as the model of a disciple. A wise wife knows that "charm is deceitful and beauty empty" what is important is that she is able to fulfill her role and responsibility as a dutiful wife - bringing "advantage and not hurt to her husband all the days of her life." She is always busy at work and has no time for idleness, gossip of unfruitful activity. The wise wife is thus a model for all of us. We are made for the glory of God and not bring hurt to him or to others. We are created with gifts and talents  in order for us to realize our mission and vocation in this life.

Similarly, the Gospel tells us the story of the three servants who receive different amount of talents from their master. The amount that they received is not important. Sometimes we may feel that others have more than we have. We feel that this is unfair. We may never know the reasons for this. But we know that the one receives, the more is expected of that person. Those who have been given more greater responsibility to use those talents and gift for the good of others and for the glory of God. If we just complain that we do not have enough, if we do not do anything with the little that we have, then even what we have will be taken away.

Make the best of your life. You may be rich or you may be poor, you may be beautiful or you may look ordinary, make the best of your life. Use whatever talents or gifts the Lord has given you for his greater glory. Don't hesitate any longer because as St. Paul tells us in the second reading "the Day of the Lord is going to come like a thief in the night", so stay wide awake and sober. 

We are loved by God

Baptism of the Lord

Last week we celebrate the Feast of Epiphany, which the word "epiphany" comes from the Greek "epiphainen", a verb that means "to shine upon", "to manifest", or "to make known", Thus, the feast of the Epiphany celebrates the many ways that Christ has made himself known to the world, mainly the three events that manifested the mission and divinity of Christ: the visit of the Magi (Matthew 2:1-12), the baptism of Jesus (Mark 1:9-11), and the miracle at Cana (John  2:1-11). The visit of the Magi is emphasized on Epiphany Day, and Christ's baptism is celebrated this coming Sunday.

At the first glance, the Baptism of the Lord might seem an odd feast. Since the Catholic Church teaches that the Sacrament of Baptism is necessary for the remission of sins, particularly Original Sin, Why did Jesus, the Sinless One, submit himself to John’s baptism? After all, He was born without Original Sin, and He lives His entire life without sinning. Therefore, He had no need of the sacrament, as we do.

In submitting Himself humbly to the baptism of St. John the Baptist, however, Christ provided the example for the rest of us. If even He should be baptized, though He had no need of it, how much more should the rest of us be thankful for this sacrament, which frees us from the darkness of sin and incorporates us into the Church, the life of Christ on earth! His Baptism, therefore, was necessary--not for Him, but for us.

Many of the Fathers of the Church, as well as the medieval Scholastics, saw Christ's Baptism as the institution of the sacrament. His Flesh blessed the water, and the descent of the Holy Spirit (in the form of a dove) and the voice of God the Father announcing that this was His Son, in Whom He was well pleased, marked the beginning of Christ's public ministry.

In this humble submission we see a foreshadowing of the “baptism” of his bloody death upon the cross. He allowed himself to be numbered among sinners. Jesus submitted himself entirely to his Father’s will. Out of love he consented to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins. Gregory of Nazianzus, a seventh century Church father tells us: “Let us be buried with Christ by Baptism to rise with him; let us go down with him to be raised with him; and let us rise with him to be glorified with him." Examine Jesus’ humility and ask the Holy Spirit to forge this same attitude in your heart. We are called to be “light” and “salt” to those around us. The Lord wants his love and truth to shine through us that others may see the goodness and truth of God’s message of salvation. Let us ask the Lord to fill us with his Holy Spirit that you may radiate the joy of the gospel to those around you.

Happiness is a gift from God. It is a gift freely given by God to those open to receive it. Happiness is knowing in the depths of one’s heart that one is truly loved by God. Happiness is knowing that we are loveable and that we are precious in the eyes of God. No matter how others may see us, no matter how others may judge us, nothing can change this single reality – we are loved by God.

This knowledge was the driving force behind Jesus. At his baptism, Jesus received this beautiful words from God the Father – “This is my Son, the Beloved, my favour rests on him.” Knowing that he was loved by his Father in heaven, Jesus began his mission to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God. Although he faced many setbacks, although he was criticized and hated by many people, although he was rejected by his own relatives and neighbours, although he was betrayed by his own disciples, Jesus never waivered in his resolve. Only one thing mattered to him – knowing that he was loved by God and nothing … absolutely nothing can change that. On the cross, in the midst of his pain and loneliness, Jesus was sustained by the knowledge of God’s love for him and that God will never abandon him at this moment of his greatest need.

This is what God wants to tell each of you: “You are my Son. You are my daughter. You are precious. I love you very much!!!” We don’t have to prove ourselves to God. We don’t have to show him that we are good or that we are perfect. God loves us in spite of our sins and weaknesses.

If we live each day with this knowledge of God’s love for us, we will not easily give up especially when we are faced with criticism from others. Whenever we celebrate the Mass, we are reminded again and again that we are loved by God. It was because of love, that God sent his only Son to die for us. Jesus, who gives his body and blood, is living proof of this. The mass is proof of God’s love. Because we are loved by God, let us now share this love with every other person.

The day is coming

I remembered a priest in his homily once said this throughout a person's life, he/she is busy chasing after wealth. His/Her priority in life is much more concern about this material world instead of putting God as their first priority. Some people might even think that they can growth so proud that they can go without religion. However, when people are approaching to their deathbed, regardless of whether because of old age or terminal illness or some other diseases, they don't want to see the best surgeon or doctor in the world, but to see the priest so that they can receive their last holy communion. The question here is this, why do we need to wait until the very end then only we start realizing that we actually need God? We need God not because we are in a hardship now, we need God not because we are in a misfortune situation. We need God is because He is our creator and savior. He creates us in His image and His likeness, we will go back to him one day.

In today's first reading, Malachi prophesied about "the day." This is the last day of all, the day the world ends, the day of fire, the day of Jesus' final coming, Judgment Day. "The day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble" (Mal 3:19). However, for those who fear God's name, on the last day "there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays" (Mal 3:20). These Christians will definitely need these healing rays because prior to the final day they will be manhandled, persecuted, arrested, betrayed, hated, and some will even be martyred (Lk 21:12-17). "By patient endurance" they will save their lives and receive the healing rays of Jesus' final coming (Lk 21:19).

If Jesus returned today and the world ended or if you died today, would you be among the proud and the evildoers or among those who respect, love, obey, and fear the Lord? Are you the persecuted or the persecutor? Are you living for Jesus or for yourself? Are you going to be thrown into the fire or healed by the "Son-shine"? 

In today's Gospel, how would you respond if someone prophesied that your church or place of worship would be destroyed? Jesus foretold many signs that would point to God's action in the world to purify and renew his people. To the great consternation of the Jews, Jesus prophesied the destruction of their temple at Jerusalem. The Jewish people took great pride in their temple, a marvel of the ancient world. The foretelling of this destruction was a dire warning of spiritual judgment in itself. They asked Jesus for a sign that would indicate when this disastrous event would occur. Jesus admonished them to not look for signs that would indicate the exact timing of impending destruction, but rather to seek and pray for God's intervention of grace and mercy. Jesus said there would be many signs of impending conflicts and disasters such as wars, famines, diseases, tidal waves, and earthquakes which would precede the struggles of the last days when God's anointed King would return to usher in the full reign of God over the earth. In that day when the Lord returns there will be a final judgement of the living and the dead when the secrets of every heart will be brough to light (Luke 12:2-3; Romans 2:16).

Jesus' prophecy of the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem was a two-edged sword, because it pointed not only to God's judgment, but also to his saving action and mercy. Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the dire consequences for all who would reject him and his saving message. While the destruction of Jerusalem's temple was determined (it was razed by the Romans in 70 A.D.), there remained for its inhabitants a narrow open door leading to deliverance. Jesus said: "I am the door; whoever enters by me will be saved" (John 10:9).  Jesus willingly set his face toward Jerusalem, knowing that he would meet betrayal, rejection, and death on a cross. His death on the cross, however, brought about true freedom, peace, and victory over the powers of sin, evil, and death not only for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but for all both Jew and Gentile alike who would accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Do you know the peace and security of a life submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ?

Jesus warns his followers that they will be confronted with persecution, wickedness, false teaching, and temptation. The real enemy of the gospel is Satan whom Jesus calls a "murderer" and "father of lies" (John 8:44). Satan uses fear and hatred to provoke hostility in others towards those who follow Jesus Christ. And what is Jesus' response to this hostility and opposition? Love, truth, and forgiveness. Only love can defeat prejudice, intollerance, hatred, and envy. God's love purifies our hearts and minds of all that would divide and tear people apart. The truth is also essential for overcoming evil and tribulation in the world. Satan deceives and sin blinds the heart and mind. Only God's truth can free us from error and spiritual blindness. The gospel is God's word of truth and salvation. That is why Jesus tells his disciples to proclaim the gospel throughout the whole world (Mark 16:15), even in the midst of opposition and persecution.

Jesus tells his disciples that if theyendure to the end they will gain their lives  they will see God's salvation and inherit eternal life and happiness with God. Endurance is more than human effort and perseverance. It is a supernational gift of the Holy Spirit which enables us to bear up under any trial, temptation, and form of persecution. Endurance is strengthened with hope the supernatural assurance that we will see God face to face and inherit all the promises he has made. Jesus is our supreme model and hero who endured the cross for our sake (Hebrews 12:2). "God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Jesus willingly shed his blood for our sake and for our salvation and he calls us to lay down our lives for one another and to take up our cross in like manner (John 15:12-13; 1 John 3:16).

The word "martyr" in the New Testament Greek means "witness". The Book of Revelations says that "Jesus was the faithful witness ...who freed us from our sins by his blood" (Revelations 1:5). Tertullian, a second century lawyer who converted when he saw Christians singing as they went out to die by the hands of their persecutors, exclaimed: "The blood of the martyrs is seed." Their blood is the seed of new Christians, the seed of the church. The third century bishop, Cyprian said: "When persecution comes, God's soldiers are put to the test, and heaven is open to martyrs. We have not enlisted in an army to think of peace and to decline battle, for we see that the Lord has taken first place in the conflict." True martyrs live and die as witnesses of the gospel. They overcome their enemies through persevering hope and courage, undying love and forebearance, kindness, goodness, and compassion.

St. Augustine of Hippo wrote, "The martyrs were bound, jailed, scourged, racked, burned, rent, butchered and they multiplied!" Why is this the case? The Christian martyrs witnessed to the truth, joy, and freedom of the gospel, by their lives, their testimony, and by the shedding of their own blood for the name of Christ. Today we unfortunately witness many extremists and misguided individuals who will sacrifice their lives, and kill others in the process, out of hatred, revenge, prejudice, and envy. From a Christian point of view, they are not true martyrs because their sacrifice is not motivated by God's merciful love and forgiveness, truth and righteousness.

True martyrs pray for their persecutors and love their enemies. In their suffering and in their death they witness the truth of the gospel that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Jesus gave his life for all who would accept him as their savior whether Jew or Greek, Christian or Muslim, agnostic or atheist. Satan seeks to destroy our faith through the fear of death and he incites others to persecute Christians for their faith in Christ. Martyrs who shed their blood for Jesus Christ win great victory, not only for themselves, but for the whole people of God. The martyrs overcome Satan by enduring suffering and death through their faith in Christ who died and rose for us. And through their witness many others recognize the victory which Christ won on the cross. The martyrs witness to the truth the truth of Jesus Christ and his power to overcome sin, fear, hatred, violence, and prejudice, and even death itself. What gives courage and confidence to the martyrs is the firm hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal life and and unending happiness with God.

 Martyrs who bear testimony to the joy and power of the gospel in the midst of daily challenges, contradictions, temptations and adversities which come our way as we follow the Lord Jesus. What will attract others to the truth and power of the gospel? When they see Christians loving their enemies, being joyful in suffering, patient in adversity, pardoning injuries, and showing comfort and compassion to the hopeless and the helpless. Jesus tells us that we do not need to fear our adversaries. God will give us sufficient grace, strength, and wisdom to face any trial and to answer any challenge to our faith. Are you ready to lay down your life for Christ and to bear witness to the joy and freedom of the gospel? Repent, go to Confession, love Jesus, suffer for Him, rejoice in the present, look forward to the future. "The day is coming" (Mal 3:19). Come, Lord Jesus!

Terms of Repayment (Prayer meeting 4/11/2013)

There were once a priest said this "not many people can see the kingdom of God." It makes me ponder a while and reflect on this statement. Finally, I realized that is true. Not many people able to see and realized that God's kingdom is at hand. We tend to focus more on our earthy matters, because we think that the rewards is much more worthy for our priority in life. We tend to skip Sunday mass because we think job is much more important because the reward of it is money. I guess this is the matters that blured our vision to God. 

Most of you who knows me, know that working in the city of KL is no longer easy. I have to wake up early in the morning in order to beat the traffic. It will be quite tiring for me to travel up and down, yet I'm here to share with you my piece of reflection, my thoughts. Importantly, the good news of our lord Jesus Christ. I'm here to share with you not because I want God to reward me in certain things that I'm longing for, not because I want a great repayment from God, not because to show that I'm holy. In fact, I'm a poor sinner. I'm here today because of God's grace has given to me, it gives me strength to share my joy with you, my brothers and sisters who are presence here today.

In today's Gospel, Jesus is not against our being repaid for the good we do. His concern is when we will be repaid and by whom. Visiting "bomoh" or fortune teller, one may argue that the things that these fortune teller, whom they claim themselves as gods, speculate thing accurately. However, because of our human weaknesses and the greed that we have, we might not able to recognize whether that is god or devil. 

God the Father plans to personally repay us at our resurrection (Lk 14:14). Upon reading this, we might feel like God has paid for our service by using a layaway plan! Will our payment ever come? In His love, God does repay us to a certain extent during our time on earth. He begins His eternal repayment plan a bit early by "depositing the First Payment, the [Holy] Spirit, in our hearts" (2 Cor 1:22).

Once we receive the Holy Spirit, we serve Him with such devotion and power that the world opposes us. Next comes our second payment on earth. St. Teresa of Avila once remarked to God: "How true it is that whoever works for You is paid in troubles! And what a precious price to those who love You if we understand its value." (To read the fine print on the terms of this second payment, read Sirach 2:1, 2 Timothy 3:12, and James 1:2-4)

As always, the Lord wants to purify our motives for serving Him. If we serve Him to be repaid in the currency of this world, we should "expect no recompense from" the Father (Mt 6:1).

"Who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?" (Rm 11:35, RSV-CE) God does not owe us anything. Yet no one can outgive God. True, He might repay us with a lifetime of troubles. "Do not, then, surrender your confidence [in God]; it will have great reward" (Heb 10:35). "Look out that you yourselves do not lose what you have worked for; you must receive your reward in full" (2 Jn 8).

Mary, why Catholics honor her?

MARY, WHY CATHOLICS HONOR HER?

 Often, my friend from other christian denomination would ask me this, why do we need Mary? why should we pray through Mary, in fact, we can pray directly to God? Yes, Why would anyone want to honor Mary? After all, Jesus is paramount and we should go directly to Him. We do not need her.....or do we? Let us examine this question with Scripture and with our own GOD given powers of reason.

1. Who is the first person in Scripture to call Mary 'Blessed'?

The first place in the Bible where you will find the answer is Luke 1:28. If your answer is Gabriel, then it is the wrong answer. Gabriel is an Archangel, and the Greek word 'angel', means 'messenger'. So Gabriel was only a messenger for someone, but who? Gabriel was sent by GOD, so it was GOD's message that Gabriel delivered. If GOD was the first person to call Mary 'Blessed', can any of GOD's creatures do less? Dare you, or I, or anyone else refute a clear statement from GOD Himself? Anyone who attempts to do so is putting himself above GOD.

Others in Scripture called her "Blessed" also. Elizabeth did in Luke 1:42, and a "woman from the crowd" did in Luke 11:27. Mary herself said in Luke 1:48, "...for behold, henceforth all generations ‘shall’ call meBlessed." Can you dispute the fact that the word ‘shall’ is a command, and not a suggestion?

If you look up the word 'Blessed' in the dictionary, it means, 'Holy', held in 'Veneration', 'Revered'. GOD is telling us that Mary is Holy, and she should be venerated and revered. Why does any human try to refute the word of GOD?

2. Okay, so she is 'Blessed', but that does not mean we need her!

Well, what did GOD say through Gabriel in Luke 1:30-33? "You have found favor with GOD." Right there, GOD 'venerated' Mary over all other women. In verse 31 He tells her that she will conceive. Who will she conceive?None other than Jesus Christ, the second person of the Holy Trinity, who will manifest Himself as the 'Incarnate Word'. GOD Himself needed Mary to conceive and carry for nine months, His very own Son. GOD needed Mary to be the vessel to give birth to His Divine Son. If GOD needed her, can we not need her also?

3. So she gave birth to a male child! She is a mother like any other mother! Why does that make her special?

This brings us to a basic theological question. Who is Jesus Christ? We know that He is the second person of the Holy Trinity, the only Son of GOD. We know He is also the 'Incarnate Word' as explained in John 1:14, "...the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." John 1:1 teaches us that the "WORD WAS GOD." Mary gave birth to the 'Incarnate Word' and the 'Word' was GOD. I ask, to whom did Mary give birth? The only possible answer is that she gave birth to GOD. Some insist that she only gave birth to the 'humanity' of GOD, but what does that mean? Jesus Christ was the only person ever born with two natures, one human and one divine. He was but one person however, not two. He could not be a human person and a divine person, as that would make Him two persons. The question then becomes, 'was Jesus Christ a human person, or was He a divine person'? Back to John 1:1 and 14, the 'Incarnate Word' was GOD. Jesus Christ is a divine person. Mothers give birth to persons, each with a nature. They do not give birth to natures. GOD Himself,calls Jesus Christ His divine Son (Heb 1:5-8).

Yes she is a mother like any other mother, but what a difference between the sons.

4. Well, I am still not convinced you say?

We have established that Jesus Christ is GOD, that He was born of Mary, and that GOD needed her for this 'Incarnation'. Let us look at what Scripture says. Jesus Christ did not come to destroy the 'Law', but to fulfill it. In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus stated this and He also said in verse 18-19, "...not one jot or tittle shall be lost from the law till all things have been accomplished. Therefore whoever does away with one of these least commandments, and so teaches men, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven..." He very plainly said to 'keep the commandments'. Now don't you suppose Jesus Christ Himself, kept the commandments that He Himself wrote? Of course He did, all of them. Now what about 'honor thy father and thy mother'. Don’t you think He kept that one too? There is certainly ample evidence to show that He honored His Father, and there is evidence that He honored His mother as well. In fact, He, GOD Himself, must have obeyed His mother's, everyday living, 'mother to child' commands as He was growing up. This is shown in Luke 2:51, "And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was SUBJECT to them."

Jesus also obeyed her by performing His first miracle at her request at Cana when He turned the water into wine in John 2:1-5. Jesus Christ therefore kept the commandment 'honor thy mother'.

If Jesus Christ honored His mother, can we do less?

Jesus Christ loves His mother like any good son would. He will defend her from all attacks against her. If you have not honored Mary, what will you tell her Son when you eventually meet Him face to face, after you have taken your last breath, and He asks you why? Remember, at that point in time, the 'GOD of Mercy' becomes the 'GOD of Justice'.

5. In Summary:

a. GOD called Mary Blessed, and He venerated her.
b. GOD needed her to bear His Divine Son.
c. GOD chose Mary above all women.
d. Mary gave birth to the divine 'Incarnate Word'.
e. Jesus Christ honors His very own mother.
f. Jesus Christ will defend His mother as any good son would.

Doesn't that make Mary special?

Does not this make her worthy of our honor?

Can we do less than what GOD Himself did?

Does any man or woman have the right, or the authority, to say we should not honor Mary?

I have given you the Scriptural authority to honor her. Ask the person who tells you otherwise to show in Scripture where it says not to honor her.

Jesus Christ was the only person in history who was able to choose His own mother. Why did He choose Mary? Because she is special, that's why...

Why should I go to confession?

"Why should I go to confession? My non-Catholic friends tell me they're forgiven by praying directly to God; Why aren't Catholics? And if I do have to go, how often?" This is a question I have been asked several times over the years by my non-catholic and non-christian friends. Confession is one of the least understood of the sacraments of the Catholic Church. In reconciling us to God, it is a great source of grace, and Catholics are encouraged to take advantage of it often.

To understand why confession is important for Catholics, let us first understand how the church look at this sacrament. Confession is the Sacrament of Penance, one of the seven sacraments recognized by the Catholic Church. Catholics believe that all of the sacraments were instituted by Jesus Christ himself. In the case of confession, that institution occurred on Easter Sunday, when Christ first appeared to the apostles after his Resurrection. Breathing on them, he said: "Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sin you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained" (John 20: 22-23). You might be wondering what is the Sacraments mean to the Catholic Church. Sacraments are an outward sign of an inward grace. Since we are talking confession here, the outward sign is the absolution, or forgiveness of sins, that the priest grants to the penitent(the person confessing his/her sins); the inward grace is the reconciliation of the penitent to God.

The purpose of confession is to reconciling man to God. When we sin, we deprive ourselves of God's grace. And by doing so, we make it even easier to sin more. The only way out of this downward cycle is to acknowledge our sins, to repent of them, and to ask God's forgiveness. Then, in the Sacrament of confession, grace can be restored to our souls, and we can once again resist sin.

When we sins, we are not only hurting the relationship with God, it also injured the entire church-----------the body of Christ. I guess the first and biggest misconception we have seems to revolve around the idea that sin is somehow just about "me and God." However, we fail to recognized that humans are communal creatures and everything we do good or bad, reaches out and touches someone. Perhaps, the best analogy is to think of sin as a wild dog that we cut loose in a room full of people. Someone is going to get bitten and we have no control over that once the dog has gotten loose.

The most obvious example of this is in the basis of what we believe: We were all condemned by the sin of Adam and all saved by the obedience of Jesus. Beyond that, on a personal and practical level, let's think of how someone else's sin can change our day and the way we relate the rest of that day. We can look at the example of our lives. Just few years back, the high school where I studied before, we lost a student and his mom to a drunken driver. How tragic and horrible is that? The world was robbed on that day of gifts, talents and love of two beautiful human beings because of one man's sin. The effects of that are obvious.

Now, before we fall into any kind of self-righteous rage, how about our sins? How about gossip? That little tidbit you passed along to your friend about that guy or girl at your workplace? What were the effects of that? Do you ever wonder? Were there any positive ones? We even sometimes go so far as to try to call it something like "venting," so that it sounds healthy instead of sick. What a mess that can make! We've all been victims and we know how impossible gossip is to fight; yet we don't hesitate to pass along the bad news and our speculations about other people. The effects of just that one sin can really cause a world of damage and take people away from each other.

Using that example, we can see how that sin is never "just between God and me." It's between the wounded person, the whole world and me. The easiest response to this is to feel despair, but we've got good news that trumps all the bad. That is where confession comes into picture. God offers us a remedy and a beautiful one at that: The Sacrament of reconciliation. 

We go to reconciliation because we acknowledge that our sin is communal and God's mercy is boundless.He forgives us  for the horror that we inflict on his creation, whether we meant to or not. Not only that, but God offers it freely and with joy. Wow, awesome right?

Another great reason for us to go to the sacrament of reconciliation is because we are, ultimately, physical creatures. We were created with a need to see, to hear and to touch. I can sit here in my room and remind myself that I am forgiven, but when someone else, someone that I trust, someone representing Christ in the Church, tells me "God forgives you freely," there's some real power to that. We are all aware of our own ability to deceive ourselves, but the priest in the confessional has nothing to gain by lying to us about forgiveness. The conviction in his voice alone can, at times, be a big part of the healing.

As a personal testimony, I have to tell you that regular confession has changed my life. I'm learning more and more how deep the sin in my life goes. That sounds depressing or sad, but it's not. Connected to that knowledge is the realization that I am forgiven. More and more, I see that reconciliation is all about maintain my relationship with Jesus and allowing Him to remove everything that blocks me from receiving God's love.

So, with all that in mind, how often should you go? The church law is a little bit generous on this, so we'll have to look at it a couple ways. First of all, we are require to confess any serious sins at least once a year, so there is that. And it is recommended that we also confess our venial sins. But, beyond that, if we want to receive Holy Communion ( The Body and Blood of Christ), we need to make sure that if we have committed any mortal sins, first we need to go for confession.

Enjoy another day in God's presence!  Jesus loves you.

Lord, teach us how to pray?

I was once the president of the catholic society (now consider myself as the advisor to the society) in my campus. All of us (the members and I) will meet up every week to have prayers & devotion( eg: rosary, novena to the mother of perpetual help). Before we start our meeting on a particular day, usually, we will start it with an opening prayer. I think most of the students don't really like to lead in prayer, regardless of whether that is an opening prayer or closing prayer. The reason being is that most of us do not know what to pray or what to say in front of the crowd. Same like me, as a facilitator, when I first stand in front of the crowd to lead in prayer. I think most of us are facing the same problem together with the disciples in those day. we have the same commonality that "WE DO NOT KNOW HOW TO PRAY". Precisely, I guess most of us do not know what is the correct word that we should utter or using in our prayer. We want to pray, but how can we pray?

In today's gospel," Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”  He said to them, “When you pray, say:Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.” (LK11:1-4)

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray he gave them the disciple's prayer, what we call the Our Father or Lord's Prayer. What does Jesus' prayer tell us about God and about ourselves? First, it tells us that God is both Father in being the Creator and Author of all that he has made, the first origin of everything and transcendent authority, and he is eternally Father by his relationship to his only begotten Son who, reciprocally is Son only in relation to his Father (Matthew 11:27). All fatherhood and motherhood is derived from him (Ephesians 3:14-15). In the Lord Jesus Christ we are spiritually reborn and made new, and we become the adopted children of God (John 1:12-13; 3:3).

Jesus teaches us to address God as "our Father" and to confidently ask him for the things we need to live as his sons and daughters. We can approach God our Father with confidence and boldness because Jesus Christ has opened the way to heaven for us through his death and resurrection. When we ask God for help, he fortunately does not give us what we deserve. Instead, he responds with grace and mercy. He is kind and forgiving towards us and he expects us to treat our neighbor the same. We can pray with expectant faith because our heavenly Father loves us and treats us as his children. He delights to give us what is good. His love and grace transforms us and makes us like himself. Through his grace and power we can love and serve one another as Jesus taught with grace, mercy, and loving-kindness. 

Now, do you treat others as they deserve, or do you treat them as the Lord would with grace and mercy? Jesus' prayer includes an injunction that we must ask God to forgive us in proportion as we forgive those who have wronged us. Are you ready to forgive as Jesus forgives?

If a neighbor can be imposed upon and coerced into giving bread in the middle of the night, will not God, our heavenly Father and provider, also treat us with kind  and generous care no matter how troubling or inconvenient the circumstances might appear? Jesus states emphatically, How much more will the heavenly Father give! St. Augustine of Hippo (340-425 AD) reminds us that "God, who does not sleep and who awakens us from sleep that we may ask, gives much more graciously." The Lord Jesus assures us that we can bring our needs to our heavenly Father who is always ready to give not only what we need, but more than we can ask. God gives the best he has. He freely pours out the blessing of his Holy Spirit upon us so that we may be filled with the abundance of his provision. Do you approach your heavenly Father with confidence in his mercy and kindness towards you?

Pope John Paul II, at the end of his first encyclical letter, The Redeemer of Man, maintained that our prayer must be "great, intense, and growing." He also emphasized that the Lord wants our prayer to be combined with fasting, for the Lord has decided at this time to make prayer and fasting the first and most effective weapons against our culture of death (The Gospel of Life, 100). According to these criteria, is your prayer life satisfactory to the Lord?

To pray as the Lord wants us to pray, we must see God as our loving Father. That is the first thing Jesus taught us about prayer (see Lk 11:2). We must be aware that our Father sees our prayer and fasting (Mt 6:6, 18). Abraham stopped short in his prayer for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to be spared destruction. His prayer was limited because he:

• wasn't sure whether God was just (see Gn 18:25),
• was even less sure of God's mercy, and
• projected his own interior conflicts onto God and thereby accused God of being impatient (Gn 18:30) and angry (Gn 18:32).

Abraham had little concept of God being a loving Father, and he prayed and did not pray accordingly.

We who are in Christ can and must pray always with loving, tender confidence in our Father. In that way, we will pray as we ought (Rm 8:26).

Be Encourage! Be Encourage!

Today we celebrate the feast day of St.Barnabas. I'm sure some of you might heard before this positive and energetic saint. St Barnabas was first called Joses, but because of his positive, energetic and generous nature he was given the new name “Son of Consolation” or “Son of Encouragement.”

So today on his feast day why not stop and ask yourself how much encouragement you do of others? Ask yourself how much time you spend criticizing others, tearing them down and gossiping about them. What good does it do? If there is a problem, be a grown up and either solve the problem or shut up and bear the difficulty with dignity.

One of the worst things in community, in family, in parish, school or workplace is the constant negativity towards others. This takes several forms:

1. assuming the worst rather than the best about a person. Why do you do that? The other person didn’t get up in the morning resolved to be the next Darth Vader. If he messed up it was a mistake. He wanted the best–just like you. He wanted a good day. He just flubbed. Give him the benefit of the doubt. Assume that he wanted the best not the worst and therefore assume the best about him not the worst.

2. Not finding out the facts. When you think ill of another person almost always it is because you have got some information about them second or third hand and you’re dumb enough to believe it–just like you believe that stuff on the internet. Don’t believe everything you hear just as you hear it. There is always, always, always another side of the story. With hold judgement and take time to find out the facts.

3. Not dealing with people face to face. If you have a problem with someone be grown up enough to go to that person and talk to them face to face. It is very difficult to be nasty and gossipy straight to a person’s face. Very easy to be nasty and gossipy behind their back. If there is a negativity. Deal with it positively and pro actively.

4. Assuming the other person is there to serve you. No they’re not. You are there to serve them. When you go to solve the problem you ask them what you can do to put things right.

5. Blaming others. Don’t blame others. Take the blame yourself. Even if you are not to blame, take the blame. It’s amazing how that takes the wind out of their sails and de-fuses the argument. Be humble enough to accept the problem because if there is a problem you really are part of the problem and you are also part of the solution. Grown ups take responsibility  and they solve problems rather than causing them.

6. Being miserable. Some people like being miserable. That’s actually the way the make themselves feel important. This is what babies do. They cry and howl and whine to get attention, and it works. A lot of adults do the same. Stop it. Unless you’re suffering from clinical depression, you can decide to be happy. If you are unhappy either find out what the problem is and solve it or bear your suffering with dignity and grace.

7. Stop complaining. Babies complain. Adults get on and solve the problem and they encourage others to do the same.

St Barnabas would agree with all these bits of advice. He was full of the Holy Spirit and good grace. He was an encourager. He was generous and optimistic and trusting. He took the risk of going to meet St Paul when everybody else suspected him. He took charge of the situation at Antioch. He set out and preached the gospel and gave all.

Why don’t you today decide to follow in his footsteps and be an encourager too!

I encourage you to do so…

 

Prayer is the only way

Have you come across a difficult moment in your life? Have you ever feel hopeless? Feel sick with everything in your life? Perhaps, you might find that you are in a situation that no one in this world can truly understand your feeling and you feel yourself is abandon by the society. In this modern era, we are facing many different types of challenges,in term of economic and society challenges. The rewards of these challenges might lead the person to the dead end of the road in life. Undeniable, in every aspect of job that we enroll our-self in, we cannot escape from the word ''Pressure'. Pressure is a negative emotion to human beings, it harms a human emotion and bring them to the stage of depression. I'm pretty sure that none of us can escape from this experience in life. However, it is normal for human to have this experience in this modern era where everything require us to be fast.

Due to the high statistic shows that many people in this modern era are experiencing this types of pressure in life, we can see that in the market, there is a lot of psychology trying to making profit out of it by writing some books to teach people how to reduce and handle their stress when they are facing some difficulties in life. of course, I'm not a psychology writer who can produce psychology advice for those who are facing challenges in their life. But, as a lay person like me, the only way out of it is prayer. Prayer is the communication with God. We can lift up our problems to Him, who created us and know each of our strong points and weaknesses.

When I was a kid, I always find that by praying, it does not help me much. When the verb 'praying' appears in my mind, what comes after next is bored. However, I start to embrace this wonderful gift that God has given it to me after my baptism. I start to feel the power in it! I start to enjoy talking with my creator! I start to lift up my problems to Him (partially, at this point of them. Hope I can improve further on it.)

As a Catholic, I can pray at anytime and anywhere that I want because God is everywhere. We can talk to Him anytime when we feel like like doing so. They should seek God in the hope that they might feel after him and find him. Yet he is not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:27)

Often, people always thinking that praying in a one way communication with God. Actually that is not true! God often speaks to us. The problem is whether we can identify it or not. If you do not know how to pray, ask him to teach you, and ask your heavenly Mother to pray with you and for you (POPE BENEDICT XVI,  to the young people of Netherlands, November 21, 2005)

If you are seeking God but do not know how you should begin, learn to pray and make the effort to pray everyday (Blessed Teresa of Calcutta).

Besides praying alone, sometimes we might need someone to intercede for us. This is because we find that is better to call some other friends to pray for our own special intention or petitions that you need for that particular moment. Besides calling some of my friend to pray for me on certain occasion, I specially like to call the Blessed Mother (Blessed Virgin Mary) to intercede for me. This is what most of the Catholic like the most by calling the Blessed Mother to pray fro us in heaven. Mainly because she is the mother of the universe and she is the closest to Christ. Always, we find that her intercession is the most powerful in heaven.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened. (Luke 11:9-10)

So, have you pray today?

Merry Christmas Greetings

It's Christmas Eve today. What is your plan today? Going to church? Having party with friends? Some even are heading to the shopping mall for 'last minute Christmas Shopping'.

I hereby wishing everyone of you,  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2013.
Enjoy this nice and wonderful season.

Have a blessed Christmas.

Is that the meaning?

Since I uninstall my Facebook application on my phone, I hardly log in to my account to check on the latest buzz news on this popular media social. I guess, most of us first clicking on the log in button, what will appear first basically is about the event that the whole world are going to celebrate on the 25th of December. That is Christmas!

When we visit the mall, a huge big Christmas tree is standing in front of you to welcome you. When we meet our friends, most of us will remind each other to get them a nice and wonderful present during this Christmas season. Let us pause for a moment and think , is this what Christmas is all about? 

Early this morning, when I got up. Just before time for me to gym, I manage to log in to my account and saw a wonderful sentence which written by one of my friend. She clearly stated that, Christmas is not about Santa Clause (Present season---Santa Clause is coming to town.), Christmas tree, or even a new clothes or food. This season is just about one person, He is '' Jesus Christ'', who is the Son of God who saves us and free us from our sin, so that we may enjoy the everlasting life with God in heaven. 

In conjunction with the Year of Faith that launched by the pope, the church call us to reflect, spend more time in prayer to deepen our relationship with our Lord. For me, that is Christmas. Personally, I find that we should spend more time by doing some prayers and to strengthen our faith. 

Some of you might be skeptical with the statement that I mentioned above. One might think that am I not suppose to enjoy this season? Pray the whole day? 

No. That is not what I mean. Of course, we can still enjoy and have some gathering with our family members and relatives. However, try to spend a little more time by doing some prayers and reflection on the scriptures. Listen to what God telling us. 

Most of the Christian will be celebrating Christmas on the 25th of December.For me,  Celebrating Christmas can be an everyday affair. 

 How to do that? It's simple! Spend more time in prayer and deepen our relationship with Him. 

So, Christmas is not only celebrate once in a year. But, we can celebrate it daily by consistently looking for Him through Prayer.