A reflection on a verse from Ps32

In the movie Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, there is a scene where Anakin Skywalker is seen consulting Jedi Master Yoda, it was a matter concerning attachment.

I remember Yoda saying, “You must free yourself from all that you fear to lose. Attachment leads to jealousy, that is a shadow of greed.”

In a way, the life of a Jedi is similar to a priest. In fact, George Lucas based the Jedi character on the priesthood. They cannot be attached to anything or anyone.

I often ask myself, “Can I free myself from the things I fear to lose?”

In Psalm 32, the psalmist says this, “The Lord looks on those who revere him, on those who hope in his love, to rescue their souls from death, to keep them alive in famine”

I may have all kinds of material things. The question is, will it save my soul from death? If I were to lose all my money or perhaps my books, will I die?

By freeing myself, and ourselves from these worldly attachments, we can learn to put our hope in the Lord, for it is only through him that we can have eternal life

Love

“Love one another as I have loved you” is the greatest commandment of God. God Himself showed His unconditional love by sending His only Son to die for us – while we were still sinners. No one will ever be capable of such an action.

Many of us, I believe, at one point or another, have nurtured a feeling of hatred towards another, be they our parents, brothers, sisters or friends. However, feelings are something normal because of our human nature. Strangely enough, we often come across God’s teachings to love, not to hate.

Many times too, God was angry with His people, but that anger never graduated to hatred. His commandment has always been to love, and thus, He is asking us to do the same.

So what is this “love”? The Oxford’s Dictionary defines love as a warm liking or affection for something or someone. This is a very general meaning because love cannot be described in words but by actions. Personally, I think there are two kinds of love – conditional and unconditional love.

Conditional love is when we put conditions on our feelings. For example, we love a person because he/she is rich or beautiful/handsome, or even because they can be of use to us, and they also can be at our disposal. This kind of love is relatively not good because we would be abusing love to use it for our own good. We should not love a person because of his/her possessions, or outward appearance, or because he/she can provide us with the things we need.

We should instead love a person for what or who he/she is. This is unconditional love. Many people in this world are in dire need of another’s love and affection. Unwanted babies and children, orphans, the elderly and the sick, and especially the outcasts are the people who really need love, because modern society totally detests them.

However, we need not go to the extreme. We can always show our unconditional love to the people around us, especially those whom we hold dear. More often than not, it is the people closest to us whom we find difficult to love. There are times when it hurts to love, especially when our love is not appreciated. However, whether it is appreciated or not, we must try our best to love them.

Our expression of love does not have to be anything big. Simple things like calling them up once in a while, sending them cards, e-mails, SMSs, remembering their birthdays and so on are simple and sincere gestures that can be used to express our unconditional love. It is to those whom we dislike that we must show our love, and especially if he/she is our brother/sister in Christ.

If we cannot love our brother/sister in Christ, how can we love God? Anyone who says he/she loves God but hates his/her friends or brothers/sisters is a liar! If we cannot love someone who we can see, how can we claim to love someone whom we cannot see?

I think it is time for us to start loving one anther, because by doing so, we can truly make this world a better place to live in. If we do not start now, we might never have the chance to do it anymore. Instead we will end up regretting our actions for the rest of our lives.

“We can always give without loving, but we can never LOVE without giving”

Seek Ye First...

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you"

I am very sure that everyone has come across this phrase before, either in the Bible or in one of the songs that we sing in church. I think it needs no explanation because I believe everyone knows what it means. But how many of us, especially students, really say it with meaning? How many of us are really practicing or living it? I dare say that only a handful is living it in their lives.

I believe many of us are born and baptised as Catholics. But very often, we take our faith for granted. Converts are different in the sense that they found their faith and this makes them stronger. But both born Catholics and converts have something in common; both are children of God and have the same Lord. A Catholic student would normally just go for mass on Sundays to fulfil his/her obligations “I have fulfilled my obligations, don’t ask more of me” “I’m busy” “I have to study” are some of the excuses given when you ask them to go for camps or rallies. Some don’t even go to mass except on Good Friday and Christmas.

One question arises here, is it enough to attend one mass per week? You can give a million and one excuses for not attending mass and the most common reason is “No time” God gave us 24 hours a day and all He asks of us is 1 to 2 hours to be with Him. These days everyone spends a lot of time studying, going for movies or going online and neglecting God altogether. When we do badly in our exams, we blame God, we blame everyone except ourselves.

“Seek ye first…” again this phrase comes in. We do not realise that by neglecting our faith and seeking worldly gains, we are only cheating ourselves. When we learn to seek the will of God and His righteousness, He will grant us many blessings that are always much more than what we can dare to think of! Having material goods and wealth will not make us happy or contented. Even if it does, it will eventually dry up. By seeking God’s kingdom first, “…all other things will be added unto you”, it may not be wealth, fame or honour but peace, happiness, love, joy and little simple things in life and it is these that make our lives complete, whole and worth living.

Seeking God’s kingdom does not mean becoming a priest or a nun. It means spending time with Him and serving Him through our brothers and sister in Christ in whatever way we can. There should be a balance between studying and serving God. We ask God for so many things yet we are not willing to spend time with Him.

“…and it shall be given unto you” Asking for something without seeking for it will not bring any result. In conclusion, I say again “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all other things shall be added unto you”

If you constantly seek, you will definitely find what you are looking for