Life is Worth Living

The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary are two hearts that communicated passionately, two hearts that were united in sorrow, love and joy. As Jesus journeyed through life, Mary accompanied Him in her heart. In every turn of events in the life of Jesus, Mary never stopped contemplating and pondering. A heart that contemplated and chose the mission of being the Mother of God. A heart that would be pierced with a lance (as the Old Man Simeon prophesied -- cf. Luke 2:35). A heart that remained immaculate and pure despite the pains that it endured. This is the heart that had to bear seven sorrows for the sake of her beloved Son. This is the heart of one who never uttered a word of condemnation against those who condemned and crucified her innocent Son. This is the heart which kept praying. This is the heart that contemplated kindness: we learn that she visited her pregnant kinswoman Elizabeth and stayed with her for three months. This is the heart that remained humb...

We are used to seeing beautiful images of the heart specially symbolizing (or pointing to) LOVE. On engagement days, birthdays & wedding anniversaries or celebrations, state-of-the-art depictions of the heart are most solemnly exchanged by lovers, loved ones, friends and family members. But are those beautiful images truly reflective of a heart that TRULY loves? Let's reflect further and know!  Things may become clearer and more interesting if we strive to understand the above question against the backdrop of the contents of the readings of today's mass (Hosea 11:1.3-4.8c-9; Ephesians 3:8-12.14-19; John 19:31-37). In Hosea 1, God instructed Prophet Hosea to marry Gomer, a harlot (who, as a harlot, must certainly be UNFAITHFUL to Hosea). God gave that instruction in order to symbolically depict the seriousness of His love for His people, Israel (a people whose name was almost becoming synonymous with UNFAITHFULNESS). Through Hosea, God assured the people of Israel that ...

Jesus gave His disciples a new commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you” (cf. John 13:34). To those who really understand what Christianity is all about, this may appear to be one of the most profound and refreshing teachings of Jesus.   He calls LOVE a new commandment, maybe a new law through which every other law or commandment finds its true meaning, relevance and sense. Anyone who loves cannot be a slave to any law. In all honesty, nothing is as liberating as love. St Augustine is known to have said: “Love, and do whatever you like!”   The “old law” came from Moses; the new law came from Jesus. Being overly concerned with the old law just like the Pharisees is like covering one’s face with a veil. In 2 Cor. 3:15-4:1.3-3, St Paul says that such veil can only be removed when one turns to the Lord (the new lawgiver) through whom every other law ought to find its true interpretation, meaning and sense. Through the Lord who is Spirit, we get a better understanding of...

Laws are made, promulgated and enforced for the maintenance of order, promotion of justice and enthronement of peace and sanity. I may be right to say that laws are created for the sake of love. it is sufficient to say that the spirit of the law is love. In other words, every law must be at the service of love. That is why it is recommended that those who make and enforce laws must create room for exceptions. There must be some flexibility in the interpretation and application of the law. For a law to serve its purpose then, it must be interpreted, understood and applied with particular reference to its spirit not the letters with which it is formulated (i.e. the written code itself).   In 2 Cor. 3:4-11, Paul, among other things, highlighted that “the written code (the law) kills but the Spirit gives life”. At the surface, this statement may give an impression of Paul as someone who was too negative about the law. It could be that Paul was responding to the dangerous legalism (exce...

In 2 Cor. 1:16-17, Paul wrote about his initial plan of visiting Corinth; but for reasons best known to him, he later changed his travelling plans. Apparently, some Corinthians criticised him for this change of plans, maybe having a wrong impression of him as someone who is fickle-minded, insincere and unreliable.  In response, Paul swore by God's truth that there's no YES and NO about what they (Paul, Timothy and Sylvanus) told the Corinthians (cf. 2 Cor. 1:18ff). It was also a good opportunity for Paul to remind the Corinthians that there's no YES and NO in God, no YES and NO in the Lord Jesus Christ: He is always YES. God is always reliable, trustworthy and unchanging. What can we learn from the above? The point is this: Since God is reliable and trustworthy, those who identify with and work for Him are expected to be and should actually be seen to be reliable, sincere and worthy of trust. And that's why Jesus taught in Matt. 5:37: "Let your Yes be Yes and your ...

Suffering is a painful experience. It becomes much more painful when one suffers alone. To identify or sympathise with anyone who suffers is one of the best things we can ever do for such person. Many people EASILY go through pains because of the consolation and comfort that come from others. Paul faced severe afflictions from the Jews while he labored for Christ in Corinth. In 2 Cor. 1:1-7, he testified to and acknowledged the kindness, love and graciousness of the Corinthian Christians who chose to suffer with him during his trial moments. What is more, his experience in the Corinthian community inspired him to recount that nothing is lost when we are afflicted for the sake of Christ, and that much is gained when we identify with those who are afflicted for the sake of Christ. I am sure such words from Paul  must have comforted and motivated the Corinthians who suffered on his behalf to do more for the sake of Christ and goodness. We must never forget that life is suffused with a...

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ reminds us of the new and everlasting covenant sealed with the Blood of Christ. We may have to reflect more on the word, “Covenant”.   First, what is a covenant? A covenant can be understood as a solemn agreement, binding on all parties. It can be an agreement between two equal parties (between friends or between husband and wife). It can also be an agreement between unequal parties (between more powerful kingdoms and less powerful kingdoms; between God and His people; and so on). Second, why enter into covenant? Covenant is conceived when suspicions are rife; when trust is lacking; when iniquities abound; when business is meant; and when commitment is needed. When there is mistrust and suspicion in a love relationship, lovers choose to enter into covenant with each other just to demand more commitment from each other.   After the fall (cf. Gen. 3), it was necessary that God should enter into a covenant with creation (cf....

Having accomplished his mission, when it was time for Angel Raphael to leave, Tobit and his family responded in gratitude (cf. Tobit 12:1.5-15.20). It was within the context of show of appreciation that the angel fully revealed himself as one of the seven holy angels (messengers of God) who present the prayers of the people and enter into the presence of the glory of God. The angel reminded Tobit of all the good things he (Tobit) had done and admonished him and his family to continue to live a life of gratitude.   Gratitude is an attitude of the heart but not locked up in the heart. It must always be expressed. A grateful person must be consumed with love: love for God and love for his neighbour. Tobit’s acts of love and generosity were powerful testimonies to his life of gratitude. Despite the difficulties he faced, he still gave thanks to God by living righteously and generously. No matter how difficult life is to us, we cannot deny the fact that God has been so good to us. And t...

The Jews understood the Christ as the “son of David”, and in that way they expressly made known their timeless expectation of a conquering messiah who would militarily liberate them from the shackles of the Romans. For all intents and purposes, such understanding exposes an image of Christ (the messiah) which is narrow, myopic and limited. From what Jesus said in Mark 12:35-37, we may be right to make this submission: If David called Him “Lord” (cf. Psalm 110), then the Christ must have been greater than David: He is not just his son but his Lord; not just his Lord but His Savior; not just his Savior but his God. Just like the Jews, some of us may have had a poor, shallow or limited understanding of who Jesus is. Such understanding might have come from our personal encounter with Him. But the point that we shouldn't forget is that Jesus is more than what we have known or think He is. Some of us only know Him as a healer, teacher or philanthropist. A true follower of Christ must und...

Love is so powerful. For the sake of love, unimaginable things have been said and done. Isn’t it unthinkable that God could decide to take flesh and become a human being? But He actually took flesh and became man, thanks to love. Won’t it be utterly ridiculous that God would choose to suffer and die in order to save the human race? But He suffered and died for our salvation, thanks to love. We can go on and on! Tobit 6:9-12; 7:1.9-12.16; 8:1.4-9 is a continuation of the story of a woman who couldn’t secure a lasting marriage because of a demon whose stock in trade was to kill any man who ventured into marriage with her. This fact alone should have scared Tobias from thinking of entering into marriage with her. However, propelled by love, Tobias did the unthinkable: he married Sarah; and filled with faith, they recommended themselves to the mercy and protection of God. Without love, we are nothing; without love, we can’t do any good. In 1 Cor. 12:31, St Paul describes love as the “great...

Tobit 3:1-11, 16-17 gives an account of a woman who was mocked and reproached for being responsible for the death of her successive seven husbands who were actually killed by an evil demon. Depressed, confused and dejected, Sarah had to face the ridicule of the world on account of the unfortunate death of the seven husbands. She must have been seen as an agent of death; maybe much more identified with death than with life.    It could be that a mere mention of her name might have sounded like a sad prelude to the news of death, misery and bad luck. In that kind of situation, what concept of “God” would she have had? Would she have had a concept of a God who is God of the living or God of the dead? Your guess is as good as mine. For the Jews, the number 7 suggests finality, completeness or a kind of a dead-end situation. That Sarah’s marital situation was still the same even after marrying “seven” husbands metaphorically speaks about her utter hopeless situation.   But eve...

A breeding ground for violence and anarchy is prepared whenever and wherever there is no justice. Our times can bear witness to that! In a layman’s language, justice is giving each person his or her due while injustice is willfully and maliciously withholding whatever that rightfully belongs to someone or some group. There is an interesting part of Tobit 2:9-14 which must be highlighted. Tobit did not know that the animal he saw roaming around his house was a present given to Anna his wife by her customers. Out of a strict sense of justice, Tobit’s first reaction was that the wife should let the owners have it back. He added, “We have no right to eat stolen goods”.  This part of the narrative is worthy of mention because it highlights a virtue which seems to be very rare in our time: the virtue of justice. We will enjoy more peace and know little or no violence when people begin to toe the path of justice by ensuring that whatever is due to anyone is given or restored to him or her...

There's an old expression that is never trite in usage; a group of words that may appear to be hackneyed but never timeworn; very inspiring and always expressive of complete meaning and sense. In a very beautifully crafted King James English, that expression reads: IRON SHARPENETH IRON. This is what we celebrate today. We call to mind the meeting of two women: an ordinary event which turned out to be an extraordinary flow of events. An ordinary visitation which paved way for a SPECIAL VISITATION OF GOD.   Mary didn't just arise to visit Elizabeth. She visited for a purpose. When you take a quick look at the preceding section of today's gospel reading, it is said that the angel of the Lord informed Mary of the pregnancy of her old relative Elizabeth (cf. Luk 1:36) in order to prove to her that there's nothing impossible for God. After some time, Mary set out to visit Elizabeth: probably not to confirm whether the message of the angel was true or not, for she had already ...

The Blessed Trinity is a mystery: in the sense that it is impossible to fully understand or explain. Instead of wasting time thinking and talking about the logicality of such a mystery, it will be better for us to reflect more on the significance of the reality of the Trinity for us. In the scriptures, we may find some references to the operations and reality of the Trinity. Gen. 1 suggests that the creative work was undertaken by the Trinity. At the beginning of creation, a mighty WIND from God swept across the waters of the deep (and for the Jews, the “WIND” is indicative of the presence of the Spirit). The entire universe was brought into being by the power of God’s Word: LET THERE BE... AND THERE WAS. Who or what is this Word? John 1:1.14 says that “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God; and the Word became flesh and lived among us”. The Word is Jesus, God the Son and the second Person of the Trinity. In Matt 3:16-17, as Jesus emerged from the wa...

The bible describes the children of the world as astute, shrewd and clever. To have an edge over the world, the children of the kingdom must be much more astute, shrewd and clever. Simply, we must have wisdom in order to engage or deal with world. Wisdom is one of the fine gifts of the Holy Spirit which will surely be given to those who ask for it (cf. Matt. 7:7-11; Luke 11:13).   Solomon desired wisdom, asked for it and got it. His one and only request was that God should give Him the wisdom that sits by His throne (cf. Wis. 9:4), and that He received in abundance. Ben Sira sought wisdom, asked and worked for it and found her (cf. Sir.51:20b).   Having cleansed the Temple, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders came to Jesus and asked, “By what authority are you doing these things?” Jesus responded with a question: Was John’s baptism from heaven or from men? If they had said: “From heaven”, Jesus would have asked why they didn’t believe John. If they had answered: “Fro...

If anything can no longer be used for what it is meant for, then it becomes useless. Uselessness invites disaster. In all fairness, whatever that proves to be absolutely useless should be discarded, destroyed or thrown away. It is only a mad man that keeps gathering and hoarding things that he will not use. With the above in mind, we may begin to understand why Jesus cursed the fruitless fig tree in Mark 11:11-26. This very gospel passage becomes difficult to understand if taken literally. I mean, why would Jesus curse a fruitless fig tree when it was not time for it to bear fruits? If the passage is understood metaphorically, it may make some sense. That event took place within the context of the heightened tension between Jesus and the Jews. In the Old Testament, the Jews (or the Israelites) were severally described as God’s vines. A vine tree is expected to be productive with good fruits at the proper time. If it does not bear fruits when everything has been done for it to be fruitf...

What a universe of striking beauty and splendor! There is an ordered cyclical movement of times and seasons. Nature has never presented itself as a confused mixture of things and events. I see order. I see beauty. Creation could not have ended up as such a beautiful piece of art without the tact and intelligence of the Master Artist, God Himself. What we see as beautiful are shadows or faint reflections of God the Uncreated Beauty.   To this end, Sirach proclaims that “the work of the Lord is full of His glory” (cf. Sir. 42:15-25). In the created order of things, nothing was made in the image and likeness of God except the human person. If other created things reflect God’s glory, imagine how glorious the human person is since he/she is the only image and likeness of God the Creator! If we fail to appreciate this fact, we will remain "midgets" of ourselves, will always cower in fear and feel overpowered by certain forces and realities. The worst kind of blindness is spiritual...

Prayers are not just petitions offered to God. Sometimes, they can serve as a kind of exhortation for ourselves. In that sense, we pray not to change God but to exhort ourselves for transformation and change. In Sirach 36:1-2.5-6a.11-17, the people of Israel is portrayed as praying that God may let other nations know as they have known that there is no God but Him; that all who are on the earth may know that He is the God of the ages. Just as many of us do, maybe the people of Israel expected God to perform ground-shaking signs and wonders to prove to the nations that He is God. They might not have taken note of the fact that the most convincing sign of all signs is a life of righteousness, sacrifice and service. From Christ’s own perspective, it is only in such life (life of sacrifice and service) that true greatness can be found. Jesus is truly great not just because He walked on the sea or healed the sick or raised the dead or fed thousands of people with few fish and bread and so o...

In life, there must always be a price to pay for higher values. That price is known as ‘sacrifice’ – giving up something of less importance in order to get something of greater importance. To RECEIVE, we must be ready to GIVE. This is one of the secrets of a successful and happy life.    The act of giving can be challenging enough to our human tendency, because we are more likely to be calculative and to look for what we can gain from what we give. However, giving becomes much easier when we remember that we have received ALL out of the generosity of our Good God. The question is: What do I have that I did not receive? To this end, Ecclesiasticus 35:12-13 exhorts us: “Give to the Most High as He has given to you, generously as your means can afford; for the Lord is a good rewarder, he will reward you seven times over…”.   We may ask as Peter asked: “We have left everything and followed You, what will be our reward?" Jesus may respond as He did to Peter: “I tell you s...

On March 3, 2018, Pope Francis issued a decree that the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church should be celebrated on the Monday after Pentecost every year. Having commemorated the birthday of the Church on Pentecost Sunday, it is right to reaffirm and celebrate Mary as the Mother of the Church on this day. We don’t need to think far in order to understand the maternal connection between Mary and the Church (how Mary is the mother the Church). If we accept the truth of the Scriptures that Mary is the mother Christ, then we should readily accept the fact that she is the mother of the Church because the Church itself is the mystical body of Christ (cf. Col. 1:18; Eph. 5:23). As Mary stood beneath the cross (cf. Jn. 19:25), she accepted her Son’s witness of love and welcomed all people in the person of John the Beloved Disciple as sons and daughters to be reborn unto life eternal. In addressing the world “Woman, behold your Son”, the Crucified Christ proclaimed Mary’s ...