Life is Worth Living

The Letter to the Hebrews defines FAITH as the ASSURANCE of things hoped for, the CONVICTION of things not seen (cf. Heb. 11:1). The letter further says that “by FAITH Abraham obeyed… by FAITH, he sojourned in a foreign land… by FAITH, Sarah received power to conceive even when she was past the age…. By FAITH Abraham, when tested, offered up Isaac…”; and so on. From the above, we see that the FAITH of Abraham and Sarah became much more striking and noticeable when they found themselves in very challenging circumstances. Yes, they faced the storms of life but they focused more on God believing very strongly that God is bigger than the storms. In Mk. 4:35-41, the FAITHLESSNESS of the disciples was noticed when they found themselves in a storm. They faced the storms of the sea but did not take notice of the fact that someone bigger than the storms was right there with them in the boat. It is one thing to shout, scream and confess that we belong to Jesus and that He is ever with us; but it

We pay little attention to seeds when they are sown. We are not bothered so much about what happens to them and the processes they must go through before germination. The phenomenon of germination and eventual growth must take place within the context of death, decay and further complicated struggles against harsh elements which eventually pave way for new life. Seeds must be subjected to heat, they must die and decay; and out of complicated struggles within the soil, a new life emerges. All things being equal, the farmer BELIEVES that there must be germination and growth. But he does not know how it comes about. Yes, the farmer will be guided by his agricultural knowledge but still he may still operate within the ambience of faith, not necessarily faith in God but faith in the capacity of the seeds to germinate if all conditions for germination and growth are met. That is why the gospel (cf. Mk. 4:26-34) tells us about a man who scattered seeds upon the ground and went away, not carin

Amongst other things, the letter to the Hebrews seeks to establish the superiority of the New Covenant to the Old Covenant in order to help the early Jewish Christians know more about their new faith, value it more dearly and live it out more confidently. As hinted in Heb. 10:19-25, it is presumed that those Jewish Christians (to whom the letter to the Hebrews was primarily written) must have been significantly convinced that Jesus is the great priest over the house of God, not Aaron or the priests of the Old Covenant. They must have learnt that they could now enter the sanctuary by the blood of Christ, not by the blood of animals. Over and above all, it must have been made very clear to them that the New Covenant is a perfection and fulfillment of the Old Covenant.  In the light of the above, what was then expected of them? They (that is, those Jewish Christians) were then expected to hold fast the confession of their faith and hope without fear. They were expected to stir up and enco

Last Sunday (the Sunday of the Word of God), we began the week reflecting on the theme “the Word of God” with emphasis on our responsibility to listen to it, abide by it and propagate it. Today’s readings may help us reflect further on the Word of God, laying much more emphasis on our disposition to it. In the New Covenant inaugurated by Christ, the laws and words of God will be written on minds and hearts, no longer on the tablets of stone on which it was originally written (cf. Heb. 10:11-18). Like a seed, the word of God has now found a new soil (that is, our hearts) in which it can be planted. On one hand, there is the Word of God which Christ describes as seeds and on the other, there is the heart which is described as the soil in which the Word is to be planted (cf. Mk. 4:1-20). As there are different types of ground or soil, so there are different types of hearts and responses or reactions to the Word of God. There are hearts that are like the pathways. When the word of God fall

  For any system to be productive and efficiently sustained, there must an assemblage of parts working together. There is a common goal to achieve, and so they MUST work in harmony. They must believe in their individual capacities in the actualization of that common goal or objective. They must have FAITH: faith in self and faith in one another.  Without FAITH, there can be no efficient, fruitful and purposeful COLLABORATION. Firms and companies cannot be productive and successful in their ventures if there are no functional management teams consisting of individuals who BELIEVE in one another and COLLABORATE with one another. It was much easier for Jesus during His ministry on earth because He had close followers who understood the principle of fruitful and efficient collaboration: the apostles believed in Jesus and must have believed in one another. Today, we celebrate the memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus. They were bishops, great friends, collaborators, disciples and fellow miss

  There is no historical narrative that has given me so much confidence and inspiration as the story of St Paul’s conversion recorded in Acts 9:1-22 or 22:3-16. As a seminarian, it was a great opportunity for me to meet a lady (in the course of my pastorals) who bluntly told me that she saw no reason why she should continue to struggle against her weaknesses. That if God could allow her to keep on living badly as she had been living despite her struggles to be better, then whatever that she was doing is right. From being afraid of sin, she became fanatically complacent, strongly believing that “sin is no sin”. I was taken aback by her statements and disposition. From all indications, she considered it a sheer waste of time to think or to be talked to about God’s love, grace and mercy. Many of us may have seen ourselves in similar situations. Sometimes, we may have been drawn to strongly believe that our lifestyles are right, that our beliefs are true, no matter the moral implications.

We celebrate this 3rd Sunday of the year as the Sunday of the Word of God, instituted by Pope Francis on the 30th of September, 2019 on the feast day of St Jerome. Last Sunday, we were reminded that God still calls us just as He called Samuel. In different ways, He still calls or speaks to us: through the Scriptures (His Word), through the teachings of the Church, through the events of life, and so on. Our focus today is on the Word of God. Does it have any role to play in our lives? Of what importance is it to us?    In the first reading (cf. Jon. 3:1-5.10), we are told that Jonah preached the Word of God to the people of Nineveh. In the gospel (cf. Mk. 1:14-20), we learn that the first public act of Jesus after His baptism was the preaching of the Word of God. In these two readings, we see the centrality of the Word of God in the life and ministry of Jonah and Jesus: they considered it a primary responsibility to preach the Word of God. God had no business with Jonah but that He shou

In the ritual sense of it, there is no sacrifice without the shedding of blood. In an attempt to make a distinction between the Old and the New, the Letter to the Hebrews (9:2-3. 11-14) further highlights that the high priests of the Old Covenant sacrificed goats and calves, the blood of which was shed and sprinkled for purification. But Christ, as a high priest of the New Covenant, shed His own blood once and for all to secure an eternal redemption for humanity. Let us focus on the symbolism of blood. “Blood” is life: it is a strong metaphor for passion and sacrifice. To say that you will do something until the last drop of your blood is an indirect way of saying that you will give it your all: that you will do everything humanly possible to make it happen. Christ was so passionate for our redemption that He deemed it very necessary to literally shed His own blood in order to secure our redemption. In Mark 3:20-21, His friends went out to seize Him because they thought that He was mad

Let's be reminded that one of the reasons why the Letter to the Hebrews was written was to make the Jewish Christians understand that the New Covenant is superior to the Old Covenant; and that Christ came to mediate the New Covenant. This distinction between the old and the new is the crux of the discussion in Heb. 8:6-13. In the Old Covenant, God’s laws were inscribed in the tablets of stone; but in the New Covenant, they will be written in the hearts and minds of His people. Someone likens the Old Covenant to a radio set and the New Covenant to a television. The Old Covenant is like a radio in the sense that in the Old Covenant the Word of God came through the prophets, the priests and kings; people heard God’s voice but they did not see His face. But in the New Covenant, the Word of God became a human person in the person of Jesus. Just like a television, in the New Covenant people did not only hear God’s voice, they saw Him in Jesus. All in all, Jesus mediated or brought about

  We continue with our reflection on Jesus the high priest. As it has been said over and over again, a priest is a mediator, a link between God and humans. How does this happen? When we think of priests in general (traditional priests, Old Testament priests, the ministerial priests of the New Covenant, etc), we see that the mediation function of a priest is mainly done through the offering of sacrifices, gifts and prayers. If a priest offers no sacrifice, I wonder what actually marks him out as a priest. The essence of priesthood is mediation; and mediation comes out more clearly through the offering of sacrifices.  About Jesus, the holy and blameless high priest, the Letter to the Hebrews has this to say: “He had no need to offer sacrifices daily like the high priests of the Old Covenant; He has done this once for all when He offered up Himself” (cf. Heb. 7:26-27). One thing that distinguished Jesus from the priests of the Old Covenant is that He sacrificed Himself while other priests

  As noted earlier, the Letter to the Hebrews attempts to establish that the priesthood of Christ is superior to the priesthood of Aaron in the Old Covenant. In the portion for today (cf. Heb. 7:1-3. 15-17), the writer goes further to compare Jesus with a priest called Melchizedek. Who was Melchizedek? Melchizedek was a special kind of priest: first, he was a king of Salem (translated as “peace”); and by the translation of his name, he was the king of righteousness; he was without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither beginning nor end. In simple terms, Melchizedek was eternal and his priesthood was likewise eternal. Now, the writer makes his point by stating that Jesus’ priesthood is in the likeness of that of Melchizedek. In other words, just like Melchizedek, the priesthood of Christ is eternal. Just like Melchizedek (who was a king of peace and righteousness), part of Christ’s mission was the establishment of peace and righteousness. Furthermore, just like Melchizedek and

Introduction God is for us, not against us. This is the assurance we have. Let us continue to live fully conscious of this assurance. Reflection We keep in mind the fact that there was already a crisis of faith among the Jewish Christians to whom the Letter to the Hebrews was originally addressed. A crisis of faith in the sense that many of them were sorely tempted to revert to Jewish worship. Among other things, what they might have seriously needed to hear is a kind of strong assurance that God won’t overlook their work and the love which they have shown in serving the Church. And that is what the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews clearly pointed out in the portion for today (cf. Heb. 6:10-20). This assurance needed to be reestablished in order to reinforce or strengthen the hope and faith of those Jewish Christians.  In the same manner, we may be going through crisis too strong for us to bear, to the extent that we are even contemplating leaving the Church and giving up on God. Th

  It may be good to reconsider the broad context of the Letter to the Hebrews in order to have a better understanding of its contents. According to Richard Donovan, a biblical scholar, the content of the Letter to the Hebrews including the frequent references to the Jewish Scriptures makes it clear that the author was writing to some Jewish Christians who were sorely tempted to leave the Christian church and revert to Jewish worship. That is why the author spends the first ten and a half chapters out of the thirteen chapters of the letter trying to emphasize the superiority of Christ to Moses, the superiority of the New Covenant to the old covenant; the superiority of Christ’s priesthood to Aaron’s priesthood.  Today’s portion of the Letter to the Hebrews (cf. 5:1-10) continues with the discussion on the priesthood of Christ. It says that a high priest is one chosen among people and appointed to act on behalf of people in relation to God. He offers gifts and sacrifices for sins. From a

  We are right into the “Ordinary Time” of the Church’s Year. The color of this season is green. The color “green” suggests or symbolizes fertility, productivity and growth. What this symbolism communicates to us is that the “Ordinary Time” is not a time for relaxation or break from God’s work. In fact, it is a period of heightened productivity (more work) for greater growth. If you go to your farm after the planting season and see that everything has become green and lush, it does not mean that you should go home and relax. It is a sign that you should be ready for more work. The Green Color of this period may be a sign that the Lord is calling us for more work in His field. Today’s readings remind us that God is still calling to a mission, to a lifestyle, to a completely new life. But the quality of our response to God’s call is dependent on the quality of our relationship with Him. The question is: How can we respond better?  Imagine the small boy Samuel, very inexperienced! Three t

Just a WORD from a commander-in-chief of a nation is enough to throw an entire nation into spirals of commotion and full-scale violence. Nations have been built on great ideas generated with WORDS. Kingdoms have collapsed on paucity of ideas or poor application of principles. Things have been SPOKEN INTO EXISTENCE. Things have also been SPOKEN OUT OF EXISTENCE. Words can CREATE and DESTROY. Words are imbued with so much power. Let us be careful with WORDS. If human words are filled with such an enormous  power, what about the Eternal WORD of God? The Letter to the Hebrews describes the Word of God as “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (cf. Heb. 4:12). By His Words, God brought the universe into existence. Jesus the God-made-man made it clear to His disciples that  "His Words are SPIRIT and LIFE" (cf. Jn. 6:63). As Jesus went out beside

A friend of mine once complained that his head was spinning, his thoughts hazy, his mind a bit blank and his eyes dull! He was afraid that something terrible was about to happen to him. He thought that taking some medicine would be of help. But I rather suggested, “Take a nap first! Have some rest!” He did as I suggested. After an hour's nap, all those bodily/mental disturbances ceased. It was then that it dawned on him that REST is more therapeutic than he had earlier thought. It became clear to him that not having enough rest is an invitation to early death. This illustration may help us understand why it is also very important to make effort to enter and relish “God’s REST”. Thus, it was a piece of bad news for the people of Israel when God swore in His anger that “they shall never enter His REST” (cf. Ps. 95:11). The pronouncement was made within the context of their desert wanderings as they journeyed to the Promised Land. Within that context, the Promised Land was the Land of

Hebrews 3:7-14 begins with a quotation from Psalm 95:7-11 – “Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the REBELLION, on the day of TESTING in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test… And I swore in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my REST”. The expressions “rebellion” and “the day of test” refer to the story told in Exodus 17:1-7 and repeated in Numbers 20:1-13.  Those passages tell of an incident of rebellion against God on the part of the people of Israel as they journeyed to the Promised Land through the desert. Because they found no water to quench their thirst, they murmured against Moses, gave up their trust in God and regretted that they had ever left Egypt. Moses was told to speak to a rock for water to gush out for the people. But out of anger, Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it. Because of this act of distrust and disobedience, Moses and some elders of Israel were barred by God from entering the Promised Land. To those Israel

SYMPATHY, EMPATHY and COMPASSION go together. If I cannot in any way identify with your feelings or difficulties (EMPATHY), I may not properly understand, enter into or share those feelings or difficulties you may have (SYMPATHY). And if I am not EMPATHETIC and SYMPATHETIC enough, I cannot sincerely be described as being COMPASSIONATE, TOLERANT or MERCIFUL towards you. This is not rocket science! It is PURELY experiential. We all can relate to it. When the Letter to the Hebrews (cf. Heb. 2:14-18) describes Jesus as a MERCIFUL and FAITHFUL High Priest, it is simply because He partook of the same nature with us, suffered and was tempted like us so that He would be able to understand and help us humans who suffer and are tempted in so many ways. In simple terms, Jesus was sympathetic and empathetic to a fault: He identified with, entered into or shared our miserable situation and thus was able to understand our situation. And on the basis of His clear understanding of our human misery, He

 Good morning!  Tuesday, Week 1, Year 1 The Letter to the Hebrews makes some interesting remarks about us: “We were made little lower than the angels; we have been crowned with glory and honor; and everything has been put in subjection under our feet” (cf. Heb. 2:7-8). Simply, we are being reminded that we have received so much power and authority. However, that someone possesses a car does not mean that he or she knows how to drive. Possessing power and authority does not automatically translate into good use of power and authority. All over the world, we see and hear about people who possess so much power and authority but do not even know how to use it. And this is one of the reasons why there is so much abuse of power. God gave us so much power and authority, but many (if not all of us) rarely know what they have not to talk of using it very effectively and productively. And so, there was a need for a pioneer who would be like us, made little lower than the angels like us, crowned

  In the ancient times, the messages of the prophets densely whetted the “appetite” of the human race hungry and thirsty for liberation and redemption. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews tells us that: “Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son” (Heb. 1:1-2). At last, God chose to reveal Himself much more concretely in the person of Jesus! This Word of God, spoken by the prophets, visibly and palpably took abode among us: appearing not in any other form, but in our form as humans. Little wonder then why people responded promptly and gladly to Jesus’ call to discipleship (followership). In Mark 1:14-20, we are told that Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed Him when He called them. The sons of Zebedee responded in the same manner when He called. In fact, “… they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed Jesus” (Mark 1:20). Why such a swift re

We celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord which marks the end of the Christmas season. As we celebrate this feast, we may have to recall WHAT BAPTISM IS & DOES. According to our Catholic Faith, Baptism is a sacrament which does two things: it CLEANSES and INITIATES. First, it cleanses us from original sin; and secondly, it makes us Christians (that is, initiates us into the Christian family), makes us God’s children (or initiates us into the family of God) and makes us members of the Church (or initiates us into the Church)”.  Taking all of the above into consideration, we may have to ask: “Was it necessary then that Christ be baptized? Jesus did not go for baptism because He wanted to be cleansed of His sin (of course, He was sinless); He did not go for baptism in order to become a child of God, a Christian and a member of the Church. Even John the Baptist objected to Jesus’ request to be baptized; but Jesus insisted, “Let it be done for it is proper for us in this way to

  Introduction Knowledge is power. The more we know about Jesus, the better we become informed and empowered to relate well with Him and with creation.  Reflection In the writings of St John (particularly in his gospel and letters), we see how he progressively tries to work up and piece together a theology of the true identity of Jesus. We may ask, “All these explanations or clarifications about the identity of Jesus, of what relevance are they to us?” The truth is that if we do not have sufficient knowledge or understanding of who someone is, we may not have a better relationship with the person. And that's why friendship/relationship becomes stronger when there's openness and trust. Even among those preparing for a life-long relationship such as marriage, KNOWLEDGE-OF-THE-OTHER is very important. Relationship thrives in an atmosphere of openness and knowledge. When everything is hidden in a relationship, then we create room for deception, suspicion, mistrust and consequent co

  Introduction St John tells us that he wrote all these things that we may believe that Jesus is the Son of God. If we believe, then we can overcome the world. But the question is: Do we believe? Reflection At the time John wrote, there were individuals or movements that dismissed the reality of the incarnation (God becoming flesh). Some must have also doubted that He was God. And that is why we see that central to John’s writings is the defense of the identity of Jesus as TRULY GOD and TRULY MAN. In an instance (cf. 1 Jn. 1:1), John cited himself as a witness: “That which we have heard, that which we have seen with our own eyes, that which we have looked at and touched with our hands….concerning the Word of Life”. At some other instances, he deemed it necessary to include MORE WITNESSES in order to strengthen and authenticate his defense: that is why he added “the Spirit, the water, and the blood” (cf. 1 Jn. 5:7-8). Through the Spirit, the water and the blood, God bore witness that J

  In the main, “mission” presupposes that one must have been sent by another. No one sends himself or herself on mission. And so, there must be a sort of empowerment or commissioning by the sender before the appointee can go on with the mission entrusted to him/her. For example: after elections, elected officials are empowered or commissioned to carry out their mission by the constitution during inauguration ceremonies or the like. If there is no ritual of commissioning or empowerment, one has no basis or power or authority upon or with which he or she can act or carry out the mission designated to him or her. We are still celebrating the birth of a Savior, a King, a Redeemer, and so on. These names or titles are clear indications that Jesus was not born for us to admire his good looks. No, He has a well spelt-out mission entrusted to him by the Father to execute: the MISSION of LOVE. This mission He would basically carry out in the form of liberation: LIBERATION from all shackles (the