Tuesday, Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year C

Hebrews 6:10-20 / Mark 2:23-28

Read the second chapter of Mark’s Gospel and you will find a series of confrontations that Jesus had to deal with very early in His ministry of restoring mankind to its lost dignity. First it was the issue of Him forgiving the paralytic before healing Him. Then they accused Him of eating with tax-collectors and sinners. Yesterday, it was the question of His disciples not fasting, and today, the confrontation is pushed even further. According to the Pharisees, Jesus’ disciples were breaking the law of the Sabbath by plucking corn and eating on that day, and the fact that Jesus did not stop them makes Him an accomplice. The good Lord took His time to prove to them from Scriptures that there was nothing wrong with what His disciples were doing and that moreover, “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath”.

I think this can be said as well for all the other commandments: they were made by God for the good of man and not to enslave him. They may inconvenience us at times but in the final analysis we will appreciate how much they were for our own benefit. The other side of the coin is that all man-made laws must, like the divine laws, also serve the ultimate good of man. Anyone that does not meet this criterion is not worthy of its name. It is on this ground that we must condemn such legislations that promote the culture of death in all its ramifications. Abortion, for example is wrong and no senatorial declaration can make it right. And in our country, where the social sins of bribery and corruption are causing more and more damage to the dignity of the human person, Christians ought to stand out as signs of contradiction to what the others consider normal.

Have a nice day and God loves you.

Monday, Second Week of Ordinary Time, Year C

Hebrews 5:1-10 / Mark 2:18-22

I wonder if I ever told you about Saint Agnes. Well, since today is the day Christians set aside to celebrate her life and legacy, it may be well to recall her story.

Agnes was a Roman girl who was born into a Christian family in those days when it was not very fashionable and favourable to be a Christians. It was in the early days of our faith, during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. Then the gospel message of Christ was treated as a social malaise and opposed with force and swords. We were told Agnes was a ravishingly beautiful fille, the type that every young man in the area wanted to date. Unluckily for them, the girl had already made a promise to God never to stain her purity, such was the extent of her love for God. But there was one guy who wouldn’t take no for an answer. Procop was the Governor’s son. He saw in Agnes his dream woman and tried by every persuasive means to win her over. He bought her rich gifts and made her richer promises. None of these moved the angelic damsel; she would always reply respectfully: “I am already promised to the Lord of the Universe. He is more splendid than the sun and the stars and He has said He will never leave me.” Her steadfastness was getting Procop frustrated. His frustration soon turned to anger and his anger became hatred. He accused Agnes of being a Christian and pursued her prosecution. She was put to jail and even there her face still shone with joy. The day of her execution finally came, and as she was dragged to the gallows, even the pagans cried to see such a young beautiful girl going to death. As for Agnes herself, she was as happy as a bride on her wedding day, and in a strangely calm voice, she said to her executioners, “You may stain your swords with my blood but my body which I have consecrated to God, I will not profane.” Not long after, she was stabbed at the neck and rested in the Lord.

But that was then. Now we live in a modern and liberated era. Virginity and purity are out-dated virtues. When one says “my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit”, we look at him or her as though an alien from Mars. Why is fornication a sin after all, we ask, and what on earth is wrong with porn or adultery?

And what was wrong with the fruit that Adam and Eve ate? It was just a fruit... See, dear friends, it’s about trusting God and obeying Him. He loves us and whatever He asks us to do or not do cannot but be for our own good. But how often we think we know better what is good for us only to realise that we’ve only messed up ourselves! When we look back at the testimony of the saints of old, we see how poor our commitment is. May the Holy Spirit rekindle in us the fire of the love of God.

Have a nice day and God loves you.

Saturday, First Week of Ordinary Time, Year C

Hebrews 4:12-16 / Mark 2:13-17

If we never sinned, we wouldn’t be able to call Jesus saviour. Remember the incident that took place before His birth and how the name ‘Jesus’ came about. The angel Gabriel had appeared to Joseph to reveal to him the divine plan concerning his betrothed and the pregnancy she bore. Among other things, the angel made it clear to him the “she will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). In fact, the very name Jesus means “Saviour” or “God saves”. His name was His mission statement.

If the Scribes and Pharisees of the today’s gospel reading understood this much, then they wouldn’t have had problems with His going into the house Levi the tax-collector and eating with sinners and prostitutes. They would have observed for themselves that it was just the Doctor doing His ward round in the intensive care unit. The good Lord was emphatic in restating His mission: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners”.

Is it good news, as the First Reading points out, that we have a High Priest who is able to sympathise with us in our weaknesses? A high priest who does not judge or condemn us but calls and cleanses us?  Levi must have been astonished by the acceptance he received from the Lord. He knew he didn’t deserve such treatment. That singular experience made such a deep impression on him that it changed him from being a tax-collector to an apostle.

We sinners have a special affinity with Jesus. It is from there that we gain the confidence to approach the throne of grace. We must cherish this privilege; we mustn’t take it for a ride. The Apostle asks rhetorically, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may abide? Certainly not!” (Romans 6:15). The example of Levi should always be before us.

Have a nice day and God loves you.

Friday, First Week of Ordinary Time, Year C

(Hebrews 4:1-5, 11 / Mark 2:1-12)

I guess you are quite familiar with today’s gospel reading. It’s the story of how Jesus cured a paralysed man. The man must have been bed-ridden for a while now, and perhaps had lost the company of many family members and friends who had given up on him. This faithful day, four of his old friends visited him and were talking about Jesus, the new prophet in town who was preaching powerfully and working miracles. The sick man listened with interest and when he learnt that Jesus was even within the vicinity, he indicated interest in seeing Him. His friends were enthusiastic about helping him meet Jesus; how they wished their long-time friend would be well again.

The young men carried their friend and set off. When they arrived where Jesus was, there was a crowd. They tried to force their way through the crowd but it was too thick. A brilliant idea came to one of them: they were going to go through the roof. While two of them were dismantling the roof, the two others were attaching the four corners of the mat upon which the paralyse lay with ropes. Then they begin to lower him gradually down the roof. By this time, everybody had taken notice of what was happening; Jesus Himself had halted His preaching, and they all regarded upwards in a strange silence. The man was now on the floor. Jesus looked down at him and looked up at his friends. He sighed and said, “Son, your sins are forgiven”. Before you could say “no noise”, the sick man was already on his feet. Jesus had cured him of his paralysis. He picked up his mat and went home rejoicing.

Those four guys are worth emulating. The first thing that struck me about them is the attention and love they had for their friend. The other notable thing is their solidarity in pursuing a good course. The third lesson concerns their positive creativity. Love knows how to get around obstacles; it knows when to break the law. So they dismantled the ceiling (and fixed it back). Then we have to mention their ardent and dogged faith. Jesus even noticed that. These young men were just superb. As we reflect on the virtues they exhibited, let’s endeavour to replicate them in our lives.

Have a nice day and God loves you.

Thursday, First Week of Ordinary Time, Year C

(Hebrews 3:7-14 / Mark 1:40-45)

Going through the readings of today, I was going to share with you a reflection I had titled “Touching the Untouchables”. I was going to accentuate the really moving gesture of Jesus touching the leper. Then I would have presented it as a model for all Christians and indeed all people of God will. May be we’ll have another opportunity to exploit that; but for now, in continuing with the subject of yesterday’s reflection, let’s stay on with the boundless love of God.

If yesterday we saw how His love moved Him to cure Peter’s mother-in-law, today we witness that love stretched even further. This time around it was a leper. Now many of us have never encountered a leper. So it may help our reflection if I describe it a bit to you. It’s an ugly and chronic disease that disfigures the skin, weakens the muscles and snaps the nerves.  In the time of Jesus, it was even more grievous because leprosy had a social and religious downside: not only was the leper ostracised from the community but also he was made to feel alienated from God.    

When the leper of today’s gospel met Jesus there was more than one thing at stake. Jesus risked contracting the deadly disease but even more so, He risked becoming religiously unclean. Yet when the leper approached Him, He didn’t mind to stretch out His hand to touch the leper and heal Him. He shared the pain of the man and was even ready to take his place. And that was indeed the case, for at the end of the story we saw the restored man leaving his isolation and running into the town to the priest; but as for Jesus, “it was impossible for Him to enter the town openly {but} He remained outside in deserted places” (Mark 1:45). They swapped positions, so much His love for us.

Have a nice day and God loves u.

Wednesday, First Week of Ordinary Time, Year C

Hebrews 2:14-18 / Mark 1:29-13

Many people like to talk about the power of God because power seems to be the in thing. I prefer to talk about the love of God. After all, love is a stronger attribute than power! If someone loves you, though he or she may not have much resource or power,  he will do all in his power to express that love, to make you happy. But we know of those who have much power and little love, and how they have used their power to trample down on others rather than help. Let me suggest to you that it is not so much of the power of God that saves us as it His love.

The first reading from the letter to the Hebrews reveals how God manifested His deep love for us in Jesus. Jesus became man in flesh and blood; He took on Himself a human nature like ours to feel firsthand everything we feel, to understand personally how we think and why we do what we do. As Scriptures put it, He was like us in every way but sin. All of these proofs of His love for us.

So when his disciples spoke to Him about Peter’s mother in-law who was dying of a deadly fever, He went to her immediately, moved by compassion, and healed her. Here we see both the manifestation of his love and the display of His power. That’s  how lucky we are: we have a God who has both love and power. He loves us so much that He is ready to go to any length to see that we are saved and ultimately happy; and fortunately He also has the power to accomplish whatever His love for us prompts Him to do for us. We can therefore confidently turn to Him in prayer and trust.

Lord, increase our faith!

Have a nice day and God loves you!  

First Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 15 January 2013

(Hebrews 2:5-12/Mark 1:21-28)

Human beings are neither the strongest nor the biggest of the animals. We are not even the finest. Why then are we the most dignified? Well, it has to be because God the Creator wanted it so. Have you noticed the striking change of tune regarding man in the Genesis' account of creation? All other creatures came into being with a majestic "Let there be". When it came to man, God paused and as if having a consultation with Himself, declared: "Let Us make man in our own image and likeness". And so it was, a creature bearing the image and likeness the Creator. After He had done this, God appointed human beings as master and care-taker of the whole of creation. Up to this point, however, we were but creatures, noble and glorified creatures bearing the imprint and the likeness of the creature.

Something unfortunate and fortunate (depending on which perspective you look at it) happened. Man sinned against God by pride and disobedience. God decided to make out of the bad situation an opportunity to draw man closer to Himself by proving to him how much He loves Him. When Jesus came into the picture, as the First Reading from the letter to the Hebrews bears witness, it was the fulfillment of God’s plan. Man got more then he could bargain for: God went down to the extent of becoming man so that the children of men can become children of God. See, we've got a “promotion”; we are no more mere creatures but adopted sons and daughters of God, thanks to Jesus Christ. 

If this is how valuable we are in the sight of God, how much more should we respect and value each other. Every human person deserves respect regardless of what she has or has not. Does not the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights state at a primary instance that “All human beings are born free and equal in DIGNITY and rights? No human soul is of less valuable than the other. 

There are many factors that militate against this dignity: the devil for one – we hear in the Gospel reading how he possessed and tormented a poor soul. It’s Jesus’ concern to restore and reaffirm human dignity. We should be on the same track.

Have a nice day and God loves you.

First week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 14 January 2013

(Hebrews 1:1-6 / Mark 1:14-20)

I would like to engrave in our hearts and subconsciousnesses a firm, unshakable and undaunted conviction concerning the love that God has for you. As a matter of fact, it is God’s earnest desire that you understand and appreciate the depth of His love for you. Many of us know John 3:16 by heart and have somehow gotten used to the saying that God loves us perhaps even to the extent that it no longer makes much import. So it will be well if you use the opportunity that the first reading of today gives us to remind ourselves of the extent of that love.

The Scripture says that in time past, God spoke to our fathers in various and many ways through the prophets but that in our days, He has spoken to us by His Son. You see clearly how much God desires to communicate to us and to establish a relationship with us. He has attempted various means in the past to achieve this. If it wasn’t through dreams and visions as in the case of Abraham and Jacob, He would communicate through oracles. But these means still seemed so inadequate to Him, that He thought to Himself, “What if I went personally to communicate with these my lovely creatures one-on-one as a father would chat with his son?” It was thus decided and so did God come in the person of His divine Son to speak with us not through intermediaries but personally. That way, at least, He hopes to convince us of His love for us and win our love too.

If we ever love God, it is because He loved us first and if we love God, we must express it in the love we show to every person even the most undeserving of our love.

Have a nice day and God loves you.