Sunday, January 31, 2016

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C



Once an old woman was told by her friend that there existed a precious stone that can be found lying round on a beach. But it lies hidden among the other stones that are found there. The only indication that it is special is that it is smooth and warm to the touch. The old woman decided to search for this precious stone. She went to the beach and started to pick up stone by stone, whatever that is cold to her touch, she would throw it back into the sea. And so it went, hour by hour, days became weeks. One evening, after an exhausting day, she finally picked up a stone which was warm to the touch but due to her fatigue and habitual action of throwing the stones back to the sea, she just threw it back without thinking.

What does this story have to do with today’s readings? The precious stone is, of course, Jesus, or in the case of the Jewish people, the promised Messiah. The old woman, represents the elders and scribes, the old woman’s friend represents the prophets and of course, the throwing of the stone back into the sea represents the rejection of Jesus.

The Jews were expecting the Messiah, the signs and prophecies has been told by various prophets, so they knew of the coming of this savior. Like the old woman, they searched among the people for this messiah, but none proved to be the one, not even John the Baptist, whom they thought it was. Like the old woman, they were already habitually “picking” and “discarding” various candidates. And when it came to Jesus, they discarded him as well.

Although Jesus performed many miracles, the elders and scribes could not accept him as their savior, even referring him as the son of Joseph, of whom they knew. Because of Jesus’ seemingly ordinary life and origin, they dismissed him as the messiah. Although they had the knowledge handed down to them, they could not see beyond what is ordinary and superficial.

The manifestation of something extraordinary through something that is ordinary is not for us to judge or decide. It is God who decides what is ordinary and what is not. In the first reading, we see Prophet Jeremiah being told that he has been chosen even before he was born. Very often, God chooses what is ordinary to shame the wise and learned.

Many people often search for extraordinary events, apparitions of Our Lady is one of the most popular events. But do we really need these events to validate our faith? Is it really necessary for our salvation? If we did not see these apparitions, will we die and go to hell? Of course not, what is important is the fruits that comes from these events. Ultimately, everything must point back to God.

Let us always keep in mind the ordinary miracles in our lives, the Eucharist, all created things and our very own life and not reject them.

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C



Allow me to begin with a question; what is a prophet? Very often, we think of a prophet as someone who predicts the future, who can foresee what is going to come in the future. Actually, that really isn’t what we mean by a prophet. It has nothing to do with predicting the future. A prophet is one who speaks on behalf of God.

A prophet is called to be one who speaks as God speaks, bringing the message of God into our world, into the human family, into our lives. If we were to read the various book of the Prophets in the Old Testament, we can see that they contain words like “the word of the Lord was addressed to me”, “the Lord God says this” etc. 

Biblical scholars have pointed out that many of these prophetic writings were written not to predict some event but rather were written to give encouragement and serves as a reminder to the Israelites about the saving power of God. Even the book of Revelations, often seen as a portrayal of the end of the world, is a message of hope for those who were being persecuted during the early days of Christianity.

In today’s Gospel reading, we see Jesus reading from the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah and saying that what the prophet proclaimed about a messiah is being fulfilled at that very moment. He is referring to himself as the fulfillment of that prophecy. A person who would bring the good news of God to the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed. This indicates clearly the role of Jess as prophet. This is what he was sent to do.

What about Mary then? Was she a prophetess? Scripture does not record her going around preaching and proclaiming messages from God but she is still a prophetess. How? She bore the Word of God in her body, she gave birth to the Word of God made flesh. Isn’t that too a way of bringing the good news of God to the people?

All of us who are baptized are also called to be a prophet. By virtue of our baptism, we are called share in the prophetic role of Christ in this world. By virtue of our Confirmation, we are filled with the Spirit of God to be his true witnesses. How then can we fulfill this role? 

Not all of have the gift of preaching, or to quote Bible verses automatically. But what we can do is to use the technology around us to spread the good news and to proclaim God’s word to those whom we know. It can be as simple as using our phones to send encouraging messages or quotes from the Bible to those who are down, or to use such things as Facebook to post quotes by the Saints. There are many ways to do this and who knows, through our little action we have set someone free from captive, to liberate them from the bondage of sin.

So today, we must ask ourselves, are we willing to carry out our prophetic, to follow Jesus the Prophet? We must pray that God will give us the ability to proclaim God’s Word wherever we are, not necessarily and most often not in words, but just to proclaim God’s way of love by the way we live out the Word of God.

Wedding at Cana – 2nd Sunday In Ordinary Time Year C



In today’s Gospel passage, we see three characteristics of Mary that we can meditate on – her motherhood, her prayerfulness, and her willingness to act.

A good mother anticipates the needs of her children and family before others realize a possible problem, challenge, change of direction, or obstacle up ahead.  The innate sense of a mother is profound and this gift is given to mothers by God in order to be a protector, a person of sensibility, great awareness, and practical.  Mary, therefore, realizes, anticipates the problem of the wine running short and goes to Jesus to see if He can do anything about it.  Jesus can do something about it and He does.  But that is not the point of this reflection, the point here is that Mary knew He could.

Mary’s motherhood is seen when she pays attention to the needs of the newlyweds at Cana, noticing when they have run out of wine for their guests. The wine is a sign of “happiness, love, and plenty,” and that many families and people today have also run out of “wine” due to loneliness, unemployment, illness, and other difficulties. 

Being sensitive to the needs of others is something that is really lacking in our lives these days. The secular influence of “I, me and myself” has become more and more prevalent, even in the church. Many people see only their own needs and do not want to think further.
During my novitiate, my novice master tells us constantly to be sensitive to the needs of others and try to anticipate their needs. This is indeed something that is not easy to do but that does not mean we should give up trying. It is even more important when we are involved in ministry. I strongly believe that ministry is not a place where we come just to spend our Sundays or to just socialize and catch up on gossip. 

Ministry should be a place where we can openly and honestly share our struggles, our joys, a place we can call a second home. All of us have different challenges in life, different needs but the one common thing is that we need to be loved and appreciated. And this is where the need to be sensitive to the needs of others comes in. The question is, are we willing to try to anticipate the needs of others and paying attention to them instead of hogging all the limelight?

Secondly, Mary exhibits prayerfulness when she “approaches Jesus with confidence” to make known the newlyweds’ problem to Him. The family, and ministry in our case, is a school of prayer where people are reminded that they do not live in isolation but must be concerned about the well-being of loved ones around them. In the family, “we are one and we have a neighbor close at hand.” 

We are all familiar with prayer. Whether it is a set prayer formula, the Rosary, Novena etc, we become so accustomed to prayer that sometimes it becomes a routine and mechanical. Even for religious, our hours of prayer can become mechanical and routine. We end up reciting these prayers without even thinking or reflecting on their deeper meaning. On the other hand, we have the situation where we only pray when we encounter difficulties or when we need something from God. God becomes like a vending machine for us. But prayer is much deeper than that. We come as the Legion of Mary Sunday after Sunday and pray together but are we really praying? What is our intention when we pray? St Teresa of Avila would describe prayer as a conversation between friends, do we treat our prayer that way, confident like Mary, that Jesus would hear our prayer?

The most important thing is for us to approach God confidently in our prayers but whether he chooses to answer is up to him. I believe that God answers prayers in 4 ways; a “yes’ and nothing ese, in other words, you get what you asked for and nothing else, a “yes and here is so much more”, he gives us more than what we need, an outright “no” and the last way “no, not now” Whatever it is, we must always be faithful to our prayers no matter what the answer is.

Finally, Mary’s willingness to act is seen as she turns to the servants at the wedding feast and tells them to follow Jesus’ commands. Mary’s words are also directed at us; we should do what Jesus tells us, that is, give our lives in the service of love. We must always remember that the family is a place where people can serve one another in love. All in the family deserve this love; “no one is rejected; everyone is worth the same.”

Action is the fruit of prayer, without action, prayer is empty. Action can take many forms, not necessarily physical in nature. For example, a change of heart towards greater virtue, a conscious desire not to say harsh or unkind words etc. Prayer does not change God, rather, it changes us to be more receptive of God’s will and to become a better person. Are we truly willing to do what Jesus tells us? In reality many people practice the “pick and choose to my liking” mentality. We pray for God’s will and yet sometimes we do what is contrary.

We need to constantly ask ourselves whether we are bearing the fruits of prayer. Our very lives, the way we live will bear witness to that fruit. We do not see or hear much about Mary in the Gospels, but from what we do hear and read, she is continually reflecting on the word of God. It was by this continuous reflection that she was able to carry on serving God. 

Let us then continue to be aware of these 3 characteristics, being sensitive to others, prayerfulness and willingness to act and to put it into practice. With God’s grace we can continue to be God’s instrument wherever we are.