Life is Worth Living

We may want to raise few questions when we take a closer look at the gospel reading (cf. Luke 4:16-30): all spoke well of Jesus after his preaching in Nazareth, where he was brought up; towards the end of the reading, why did the same people rise up and put him out of the city even bringing him to the brow of the hill to throw him down? Why the commendation and sudden persecution? It seemed the only question that the people asked was: Is this not this Joseph’s son (carpenter’s son)? And what followed next was a barrage of words from Jesus accusing them of contempt and so on.  What we should be worried about is the question which the people of Nazareth asked: why did they ask such question? We remember that Nazareth was a place where Jesus grew up and I am sure he was very much known by many people from Nazareth; they knew him and even his poor family background: a son of a poor carpenter. So, the question they asked was contemptuous: how can this poor carpenter be filled with so mu...

Last Sunday, the spotlight was on Peter: he was praised and given power and authority for his courageous profession of faith in Jesus in Caesarea Philippi, a very unlikely place to profess Christ at that time. In today’s gospel reading, the spotlight is still on Peter: he is rebuked and called a Satan. What really happened that made Jesus rebuke Peter a man He had earlier praised and given authority and power?  Let's note that all these were happening towards the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry: sooner, He would head towards Jerusalem for his passion and death. But the disciples to whom He would entrust his ministry needed to know who He truly is and what He actually came for: there are two things here – they needed to know Jesus’ IDENTITY and His MISSION. If they do not have the true knowledge of who Jesus is, they may have no message to deliver to the world. And if they do not understand his mission, they can’t continue with it. Thus, it was very necessary that Jesus makes things ...

At the root of whatever we do or say, there is always a factor of fear: it is either we fear God or fear men. The fear of God surely attracts suffering, hatred and persecution in this world but then assures blessedness and joy in the world to come. The fear of men promises fake joy, freedom and security in this world; but paves way for eternal bondage and pains in the world to come. Having known the consequences of whichever choice we may make, wisdom demands that we make a choice that will secure a happy eternity for us.  Is it wise to fear God rather than men? Of course, Scripture teaches that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10), not wisdom according to the flesh but wisdom which is foolishness to the world. In our own time, in our days as before, to fear God in word and deed is sometimes interpreted or seen as foolish. If you are ready and willing to speak the truth, to defend the faith and to live morally, be ready to be branded a foolish person. But ...

We preach Christ crucified, the power and wisdom of God (cf. 1 Cor. 23-24). What led St Paul to make this bold statement?  Remember that we are still reading from his letter to the Church in Corinth. And Corinth, being a Greek city, was full of intellectuals and men of letters to whom the theology of the cross made no sense. The language of the cross was a folly to them. They explained the cross away; they emptied the cross of its power; they emptied Christianity of its essence. St Paul did not waste time to correct such a gross theological deviation. He taught, “To those who are perishing, the cross is a folly; but to those who are being saved, it is the power and wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).  Let us get this point: To sincerely identify with the cross is to identify with Christ who suffered, died and rose from the dead. By His suffering and death on the Cross, Christ has created a path of salvation for us.  What it means then is that we must go through that same path, ...

We have begun to read from St Paul’s first letter to the Church in Corinth. Corinth was a Greek city steeped in moral decay. But despite that stinking decay, there were still a handful of Christians who remained faithful to God. As St Paul wrote to encourage them, he gave thanks to God who had enriched those Corinthians with grace; and he went further to assure them that they would be sustained to the end (cf. 1 Cor. 1:1-9). In those Corinthians, we see a people who were full of hope and faith. Yes, there was decay around them, but they refused to be part of it – an act of fidelity. And they were hopeful that there would be a better world, a decay-free world someday sometime. As individuals and as a group, they were living their lives to testify that a corruption-free world is possible. They were a perfect example of wise and faithful servants which Christ spoke about in the gospel (cf. Matt. 24:42-51): living their lives in fidelity to God who will reward everyone according to his/her...

Apart from their renown for hypocrisy, the Pharisees and Scribes were also known to have emerged from a past generation of people who murdered the prophets. And they seemed to have been outwardly disturbed about that image of having a terrible past. That is why they said, “If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets” (Matt. 23:30).  Sometimes, we worry so much about our past mistakes, regrets and experiences that we fail to live fully in the present. The past is gone; the present is here! Live in the present. One of the reasons why St Paul cautioned the Thessalonians against any false teaching on the Second Coming of Christ and the End of the World was that many Thessalonians had already begun to lazy around or live in idleness (cf. 2 Thess. 3:6-12) probably because they thought that if the Second Coming of Christ or the end of the world was imminent, there was no need working. We see a people who were alr...

In most of his letters to the churches which he visited, St Paul had to deal with false teachings from rapacious teachers who went about poisoning and contaminating the minds of unsuspecting Christians. One of those false teachings was about the second coming of Jesus or the end of the world which many false teachers in Thessaloniki taught that it would be soon or that it was already taking place. As a result, many were led astray and constantly lived in fear. To correct such false teachings, St Paul wrote to the Thessalonians not to be deceived but to stand firm and hold to the traditions which they have received from the apostles (cf. 2 Thess. 2:1-3a. 14-17). Even Jesus, during his time on earth, had to contend with false teachers in the persons of the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes and the elders. They scratched on the surface and neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy and faith (cf. Matt. 23:23-26). Hypocrisy was much more pronounced; people were deceived and led...

There must be SOMETHING worth celebrating in EVERY HUMAN PERSON. Look carefully, access and examine without prejudice, and YOU WILL SEE THAT EVERYTHING THAT GOD CREATED IS REALLY GOOD. What is even worth celebrating about this man, Bartholomew?  In the New Testament, Bartholomew (whose feast we celebrate today) is mentioned only once, in the list of Apostles. Some people identify him as Nathaniel, a man from Cana in Galilee, who was summoned to Jesus by Philip. But all in all, the IDENTITY of this man, Bartholomew, is almost blurred. He may not have been very much SOCIALLY relevant and known during his earthly ministry. But essentially, he was a GIANT in God's sight. What else might have made Jesus to say what He said about him in the gospel, except the fact that he (Bartholomew or Nathaniel) had his own God-given distinguishing quality of BEING AN ISRAELITE WITH NO GUILE OR DECEIT. Though his name wasn't severally mentioned as those of Peter, Paul, John and the rest, yet there...

The gospel (cf. Matt. 16:13-20) opens with a statement that Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi was an ancient Roman city. Few facts about this city will help us understand better what is actually happening in today’s gospel passage.  This city, Caesarea Philippi, was the political stronghold of Emperor Caesar Augustus who was worshipped as a god. In the history books of the Ancient Roman Empire, Augustus was described as Deus Epiphanes (God Manifest). Caesarea Philippi was later renamed Caesarea Paneas because of the so many shrines dedicated to the god Pan, the Greek god of nature. Caesarea Philippi was a place where everything in nature was a god: the sun, moon, stars, water, earth, air, animals, etc were worshipped as gods.  The picture we have now is a picture of a city with so many deities, sovereignties, and, if you like, a conflict of supremacies. At this time, it seemed the disciples had not fully known who Jesus is: maybe, they were n...

History helps us recall that Ezekiel performed his prophetic ministry shortly before and during the Babylonian exile, one of the most depressing moments in the history of Israel and Judah, between 592 and 570 BC. His message was simple: to inject hope into the suffering people of Judah and to urge them to remain faithful to God.  In the 10th chapter of this prophecy, Ezekiel foresaw the departure of the glory of God from the Temple because of the faithlessness of the people. What we have in the first reading today is a reversal of what happened in chapter 10: this time around, Ezekiel saw a striking vision of the entrance and return of the glory of God into the Temple where God pitched His throne and chose to dwell in the midst of His people. The glory of God surged from the East into the Sanctuary like the rush of mighty waters; and this must have been a clear message of hope to the people (who were almost given up hope) that God is the source and restorer of (their) life. As a Fa...

The most painful aspect of Israel's deportation into a foreign land was the fact that they were deprived of the Temple and Temple worship. The Temple was like a source or the centre of their spiritual life. In exile, they had no temple: no access to the temple, no access to the source or centre of their life. In exile, they felt spiritually suffocated. It was against this painful and depressing background that God spoke to Ezekiel to go to the middle of a valley and speak life to dead and dry bones (cf. Ezek. 37:1-14). Ezekiel did as he was told, and this was followed by a clear message from God that what happened to the dry bones would happen to the people of Israel who felt that they were spiritually dead and dry in exile. In the first place, the people of Judah and Israel were carried off into exile because of their unfaithfulness to Yahweh their God. So, sin was the root cause of their exile, their sorrow, hopelessness and spiritual death. To be in sin is to be in exile: wh...

To “gather” is to “restore” what might have been scattered. Whenever Israel is described as “having been scattered among the nations”, it is a clear pointer to the fact that Israel has distanced herself from God; or that Israel has been unfaithful or has broken the covenant. God speaks though Ezekiel (36:23-28) that “He would gather Israel from all the nations, bring them into their land, sprinkle clean water upon them, cleanse them from all uncleannesses, give them a new heart and a new spirit and take out of their flesh the heart of stone”. In this one swoop of in-gathering, we see a clear divine project of renewal, restoration, cleansing and transformation. After the gathering and subsequent cleansing, a new heart and a new spirit would be given. It will serve as a new badge of identity. All the gathering, cleansing and restoration must lead to the acquisition of a new heart and a new spirit without which one can’t be identified as belonging to God's camp. In the gospel (Matthew...

Through Ezekiel (34:1-11), God took the shepherds of Israel to task for feeding on the sheep instead of feeding the sheep.  A better word that qualifies a bad shepherd is a hireling. The interest of the hireling shepherd is to feed on the sheep, not to feed the sheep. A true shepherd takes the sheep as his own and must be ready and willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of the sheep, but a hireling shepherd sacrifices the lives of the sheep for his gains.  In simple and clear terms, a hireling is purely intent on the amount of money or the material gains that he will make, not on the quality of service that he ought to render. Many of us work with a hireling mindset: the quality of the work or services that we do or render is purely determined by the material gains we expect to make. Sometimes, we even relate with God, worship or serve Him on the basis of the material benefits that we expect to get. For many of us, we must be rewarded materially for fasting, for paying tit...

The Prince of Tyre became so wealthy that he thought that it was by his wisdom, understanding, intelligence and ingenuity that he has made so much wealth. He became so proud that he even claimed that he was a god, arrogating to himself the powers that he had not. The word of God went to him through Ezekiel (Ezek. 28:1-10) that since he claimed that “he is as wise as a god, as powerful as a god, strangers will be brought to him, the most terrible of the nations shall make war on him, shall draw their sword against the beauty of his wisdom.” The point is that if the prince really had the powers that he claimed that he had, he should be able to defeat the nations. But the opposite would be the case. Those strangers would prove to him that he was not as wise and powerful as he claimed that he was. I am sure he must have learnt from his experience that “every good thing that we have comes from God” and so we shouldn’t claim that it was by our might, intelligence, smartness and wisdom. When ...

A gift, by the virtue of what it is, is given. In other words, there must be a giver. Gift can come or be in the form of a good friendship or relationship, material thing, good job, personal talent, and so on. Every cherished gift is the delight of our eyes, the pride of our power and the desire of our souls. The gifts that we possess should then remind us of the giver. It smacks of arrogance and ingratitude when gifts are used without acknowledging or making reference to the giver. For the Jews, the Temple or Sanctuary was the delight of their eyes, the pride of their power and the desire of their souls. It was a precious gift which they jealously guarded. However, they adorned the Sanctuary but did not truly adore the One for whom the Sanctuary exists. They were too attached to the “gift” (sanctuary) but were completely detached from the Giver of the gift – from Yahweh. Ezekiel prophesied to them that this sanctuary which was their delight will be profaned and taken away from them. M...

The gospel opens with a statement that Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon (a Gentile territory, a pagan area). This movement of Jesus to a pagan territory will help us understand the message of this gospel passage. Now, at the time of this event, the Jews had wrongly believed for centuries that they exclusively belong to God; that they are the only chosen people of God; that it is for them that the Messiah would come; and that other nations or peoples (that is, the Gentiles) are not in the salvation plan of God. On account of this wrong belief, the Jews despised and hated the Gentiles (the non-Jews); and treated them as nobodies. This Sunday’s gospel passage at first may appear to present Jesus as supporting and tolerating such Jewish belief that salvation was only for them; but in the long run, we see a different thing altogether. In his encounter with the Canaanite woman, there was something deeper that Jesus wanted to communicate to the Jews and even to the woman. Ther...

Sometimes, we are afraid or ashamed to show that we identify with Mary maybe because of what other people (from other faith denominations or belief systems) might say. Yet, we are not afraid to identify with world celebrities, warriors, heroes, heroines and achievers. We wear shirts emblazoned with pictures of celebrities; we have stickers of celebrity-pastors, footballers, musicians, and so on attached to our cars, at workplaces and homes. But we think it is stupid to have a sticker of Mary, to identify with her. We have a problem. And part of the problem is that we don’t fully understand or are yet to fully understand what this woman actually did for the humankind; the unique role that she played in our salvation history. And we thank God for a day like this so that we can briefly talk about this woman and possibly come to a better appreciation of the great role which she played in our salvation. The first reading (Rev. 11:19a; 12:1-6a. 10a) is a vision of John the Beloved which pres...

Memory plays a very powerful role in our choice-making, growth and development. Sometimes, in order to help, inspire or spur people to take a particular line of action or form good character, they are reminded of what happened in the past or of how it was in the past or in the beginning. The past or the beginning often serves as a reference point; and memory helps us link with that reference point (i.e. the past or the beginning). Memory helps us connect with the past/beginning so that the right things can be done; so that we don’t repeat mistakes; so that we can be properly directed. What we have in Ezekiel 16:1-15.60.63 is a good example of a power of memory: with the aid of hindsight, the rebellious people of Israel and Judah were reminded of the great love of God from the beginning. They were helped to remember how God picked them up from the dungeon of nothingness and made them “somebody”; they were reminded of how He nursed and nurtured them and helped them to grow into a beautif...

As Ezekiel continued to prophesy, at a point it was like he was pouring water on a stone: the more he prophesied, the more rebellious the house of Israel became that it became very necessary for them to be corrected in a hard way. That was why he acted out what would befall the people in no distant time: he prepared for himself an exile’s baggage and went into exile himself (cf. Ezek. 12:1-12). This symbolic action was a clear message to the people that the die was cast: that exile was imminent and irrevocable. Since they did not see how far they have put themselves in moral or spiritual captivity (that is, the captivity of sin), it was good that they should experience the pains of physical captivity so that they might understand and then come back to their senses and repent.  Of course, whatever that God does is good, beneficial and done purely out of love: even when he punishes us for our infidelity, it is for our good: it is neither an act of revenge on His part nor for His own ...

Ezekiel was among the prophets that prophesied during the Babylonian exile when the people of Judah were languishing in a foreign land. In Ezekiel’s prophetic visions, just as in some other prophecies, were warnings, messages of woes, lamentations, hope and promises of a better future: all these were for good, to inject hope into the people and to inspire them to live more faithfully. In one of his visions (Ezekiel 9), he saw Jerusalem being destroyed because of the great sins of the people. In that same vision, he saw that those who have been faithful to God and to His laws, those who groaned over all the sins that were committed in Jerusalem, were being marked to be saved. In one hand, there would be destruction of the wicked and all structures of sin and on the other hand, there would be redemption and salvation of the innocent. This vision may serve as a foretaste or a reminder of what may happen on the Last Day, the Day of Judgment, after which the Kingdom of God would be fully es...

It is said that TRUTH IS BITTER. We can testify that truth is actually a pill too bitter to take. What makes it bitter? When it is spoken, it confronts. It confronts because its main aim is to pull people out from their comfort zones of sin and complacency to the challenge zone of striving to be better. But often, we want to remain where we are: we want to continue with that lifestyle which does us no good. I think a factor that explains this common attitude is PRIDE. Often, we don’t think ourselves less and allow God to take charge and guide. We are proud to depart our “comfort zones” and move to the challenge zone. The first reading records a dramatic and symbolic event of prophet Ezekiel munching the scroll of truth, the word of God which contains warnings, woes and lamentations. Those words of truth which were supposed to be bitter were sweet in his mouth: “Sweet” in the sense that the words are meant to guide, uplift, save and build up the people. The words were “sweet” to him bec...

The Psalmist says that “It goes well for the man who gives generously and lends” (Ps. 112:5a). And according to St Paul, “he who sows bountifully will harvest bountifully” (2 Cor. 9:6b). Sometimes, it is good we rethink certain words or expressions we use in order to understand what they really mean. In this case, the context of this discussion on giving is Christianity: Christian Giving – that is, giving “FOR THE SAKE OF GOD; FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST”. When we say that “WE GIVE FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST”, what do we mean? Not just GIVING, but GIVING FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST! What is it all about? Now, we look at the word “GIVE” from Christ’s perspective! We can equally ask: What is Christ’s own understanding of the word “GIVE”? How did he show us by his life what it means to give? The life of Jesus teaches us that GIVING is DYING. He ultimately gave us Himself to the point of suffering and dying for our sake. So, we may say that the CONCEPT OF GIVING according to Jesus is inseparably tied up...

In the first reading, Elijah was on the run after slaughtering the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. Jezebel wanted to snuff out his life. When he got to Mount Horeb (some versions of the Bible describe it as Mount Sinai), his strength couldn’t carry him further; and so he sought refuge in a cave. Remember that it was on this same mountain in Exodus 19:16-18 that God revealed himself to the people of Israel in rumbles of thunder, lightning, fire and earthquakes. It was also on the same mountain in Exodus 3:1 that God revealed himself to Moses in fire (the burning bush experience). Again, Israel dwelt among nations that claim that their gods can also reveal themselves in fire, wind, earthquake and other natural elements. What we have in the person of Elijah is a man who has grown with a certain belief, knowledge and conviction that God can only reveal Himself in nature, in natural elements of fire, thunder, lightning, earthquakes, etc. It is even interesting to know that these elements (o...

In the main, our actions/thoughts are propelled and informed by rewards. Sometimes, we silently ask ourselves before we do anything: if I do this or that, what am I going to gain at last; what will be my reward? Our final decision to do something or to act or to live in a certain way will be informed by faith, faith in the fact that we will be rewarded handsomely, that we will gain at last if we choose a particular line of action or way of life. There is always a factor of faith. In the first reading, Habakkuk (cf. Hab. 1:12-2:4) complained bitterly. He was disturbed by what was happening around him: evil people seemed to be progressing and the righteous seemed not to be rewarded for their righteous living. And then, God said to him, “Write this vision, for it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail, but the righteous shall live by his faith”. He was reminded that there must be some rewa...

The prophecy of Nahum is one of those Minor Prophets: described as “minor” because they are not lengthy or voluminous as the Major Prophets. In today’s first reading (cf. Nahum 1:15; 2:2; 3:1-3.6-7), Nahum prophesied or foretold the end of the Assyrian Empire. The Assyrian empire comprised parts of the present-day Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria); Nineveh (a city in the present-day Iraq) was its royal capital. It was a great empire that once terrorized the entire ancient world, destroyed many nations and carried so many into exile including the Jews. At those times, no people were more feared or hated than the Assyrians. They were the world power.  However, in fulfillment of Nahum’s prophecy in today’s reading, under combined attacks from the Medes and the Babylonians, Nineveh was captured and destroyed in 612 and the famous old Assyrian empire came to a miserable end. I am sure there were great feelings of joy and celebrations in those nations and kingdoms that were victimized by Ass...

To imagine or think about the BEAUTY OF WHAT LIES AHEAD is enough to help us endure the PAINS of what currently obtains. The JOY of being successful in exams is enough to motivate a student to apply himself or herself to studies, not minding the rigors and the stress. The BEAUTY of promotion in the workplace and the JOY of laughing all the way to the bank at the end of every month are enough to motivate an employee to work harder, despite the pains and difficulties he/she may be going through. The Transfiguration of Jesus was a very auspicious moment of encounter in which the future leaders of the early Church (Peter, James and John) had a faint idea or a foretaste of the glory that awaits them in the world-to-come. This encounter must have prepared them for the agony in the garden and must have given them strength and courage to go through the grinding and bitter experiences of witnessing to their faith while on earth. The vision of Daniel in the first reading (Daniel 7:9-10.13-14...

As gold is tried in fire in order to be purer, so is faith tested in the fire of trials in order to be stronger. We deceive ourselves if we just understand faith as a special gift that we can easily get once and for all. Faith is worked out over time, it is not built in a day. Every trial moment is an opportunity for our faith to come out purer and stronger. At every point in time, our response to trials should be enough to help us know the progress we have made in our journey and maturity in faith. Israel, having gone through trials and difficulties occasioned by their infidelity and sin, Jeremiah (31:1-7) prophesied that Israel will once more emerge stronger, victorious, healed, restored and at peace with God. Those trials and challenges they had weren't just punitive, they were also formative. In the Gospel (Matthew 15:21-28), we see a trial of faith. In that very short drama, Jesus made some "discriminatory" utterances in order to feel the faith pulse of the Canaanite...

God is not regimented by human traditions; neither is He hampered by human weaknesses or limitations or by anything. The fact that the sins of the people of Israel were too many did not make God withdraw His blessings of restoration and healing (cf. Jeremiah 30:1-2.12-15.18-22). Though they were punished on account of their sins, but they were healed and their fortunes restored.  The legalism (rigidity and overemphasis on laws) of the Pharisees did not hamper Jesus, the God-made-man, from doing the will of His Father (cf. Matthew 14:22-36). The academic shortcomings of John Mary Vianney (the saint of the day) never rendered the power God’s grace ineffective in His life: despite his academic struggles, he ended up as one of the most ZEALOUS, EFFICIENT and RESOURCEFUL pastors the Church has ever had: people from all over the world, from all walks of life, flocked to him for confession and pastoral counseling. I don’t know about your own struggles, but don't forget that GOD CAN NEVER ...