Monthly Archives: May 2016

Friday of the 6th Week of Easter
Acts 18:9-18 | Psalm 46:2-7 | John 16:20-23

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One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid to speak out, nor allow yourself to be silenced: I am with you. I have so many people on my side in this city that no one will even attempt to hurt you.’ (Acts 18:9-10)

It’s been over a month since I started reflecting on each day’s readings, and though I’ve received almost no reaction during this time, it’s actually been a pleasure spending hours each day thinking about what to write. I’ve surprised myself at the number of things I’ve pushed aside to make room for this daily activity. Things that I don’t miss any more. Things that I barely recall now after doing without for so long.

Things like Facebook.

Those of you coming to this post from my daily Facebook snippet probably noticed that I actually “quit” a long (Internet) time ago. I was spending far too much time consuming food porn, vacation selfies…and torrents of re-shared links and pithy quotes in pretty illustrations with hundreds of likes but barely any reflections on what they meant to their respective posters. Lots of “here’s a cool article about Pope Francis’ latest pastoral visit, bye!” and not much “I think the author made some great points, but I don’t entirely agree because XYZ”. The overall design of Facebook, and indeed most social media, doesn’t encourage long-form and long-term sharing and reflection; indeed, recent research bears out my suspicion that many reshare without actually reading. You can probably see why I drifted away.

I don’t condemn your spontaneous sharing of your daily life, dear reader, but I’m more interested in forging a deeper relationship, with you and with our Creator. What would you like me to share with everyone about our common faith? What issues do you have with from the thousands of words I’ve written so far? How about starting your own blog about your feelings and struggles with living the faith in a faithless world? Or do it on Facebook if it’s easier? Did you even read this far? ?

The Lord commands us to speak without fear about his Love for everyone. Today is as good a day as any to begin.

Lord, give us the courage to speak out about You and how much You love all creation, to not silence ourselves in fear of our own unworthiness to share our faith with others. Send the Holy Spirit upon us, to enflame our hearts and rule our minds with the words You bid us believe and bequeath to our fellow men: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Amen.

The Ascension of the Lord (Year C)
Acts 1:1-11 | Psalm 46:2-3, 6-9 | Hebrews 9:24-28. 10:19-23 | Luke 24:46-53

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Since men only die once, and after that comes judgement, so Christ, too, offers himself only once to take the faults of many on himself, and when he appears a second time, it will not be to deal with sin but to reward with salvation those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27-28)

[The following is an imagined dialogue with a random atheist. It could equally apply to a lapsed Christian.]

Just as we don’t get a second chance to make a first impression, so we don’t get a second life to undo all the stupid and cruel things we may do in this one. “One and done” is the operative phrase, and walking away from Christ isn’t exactly a smart move.

But that’s so…UNFAIR! Who gets it right the first time?

Pretty much nobody. We stumble, we fall, we insult and assault others, deliberately or inadvertently, but we can also right ourselves and make amends…if we so choose.

And we should so choose, for as others were insulted and assaulted by us, so too would we be insulted and assaulted in turn. The rapper 50 Cent learned this lesson in public recently, and I’m sure each of us has known at least one cruel berating in our lives, and still remembers the fire of hatred and the urge to retaliate.

Man, you Christians are real killjoys!

Well, some Christians choose to practice asceticism, but for the most part, we have at least as much fun as everyone else. I personally enjoy being on a daily hunt for good food, but I also appreciate the benefits of fasting or abstinence every Friday, not just to honour my Lord but also to give my system a break. Conversely, I’ve known a few people who were 24/7 hedonists, and they don’t look their age. ?

And if the God-given right to joy involves denigrating others with a torrent of foul language and salacious revelations true or otherwise, I’d rather be a slave to good manners. I don’t believe that happiness is a zero-sum game, and I’m surprised that there are people who make it their personal mission to tear others down.

More importantly, I believe that Christians who keep faithful to the word of God are automatically happy. Because their thoughts, words and actions are in righteous harmony, they’re not constantly looking over their shoulder, waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the sledgehammer wielded by angry victims to fall, for evil done to boomerang back on them. The right to untroubled and sound sleep each night is truly God-given, but we must still reach for it by doing right by others every day.

So? I’m sure all those followers of the Internet’s favourite trash-talkers sleep soundly at night too.

Really? If I were one of them, I’d be concerned about the leader suddenly turning his guns on me for some innocent remark, with all my erstwhile “comrades” not far behind. After all, if he could be so nasty to others…

In contrast, Christian communities, despite their occasional fractures, are founded on mutual love and support, so you’re “always a friend, never a stranger”.

Meh, still not convinced. I’d rather have all the fun I can get now, since there won’t be a hereafter.

Here’s some food for thought: You don’t believe in God and the afterlife; I do.

If you’re right, I’m still happy that I got to enjoy my life, not to excess but to sufficiency, and I wouldn’t be around to regret not having even more fun.

But if I’m right, then you’ll stand judgement along with me on the Last Day for everything we’ve done in our lives, in which case…

Lord, remind us every day to never take You for granted, and love others as You loved us. Give us the strength and courage to build Your communities of Love, to lift everyone up and unite all to You. Amen.

Feast of Sts. Philip and James, Apostles
1 Corinthians 15:1-8 | Psalm 18:2-5 | John 14:6-14

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[…] and last of all he appeared to me too; it was as though I was born when no one expected it. (1 Cor 15:8)

The end of today’s reading (taken from the Jerusalem Bible) caught my eye for its exceedingly strange formulation. I looked up some other translations, and this is what I found:

as though I was a child born abnormally (New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible)

as though to one born at the wrong time (New English Translation)

as by one born out of due time (Douay-Rheims, King James Version)

as to one untimely born (Latin Vulgate, La Sacra Bibbia)

All these stem from the original Greek text:

ὡσπερεὶ τῷ ἐκτρώματι (hosperei to ektromati: as to one who was miscarried)

It took me a while to appreciate the poetry of St. Paul’s words. Remember that his conversion to the apostolate was a sudden shazam! moment, and he was not privy to the years that all the other apostles spent journeying with and learning their craft from Jesus. One might therefore say that St. Paul was a metaphorical “premature birth”, though he certainly acquitted himself well despite the lack of “on-the-job training”.

Also, “preemies” who survive their unexpected introduction to a cold and cruel world tend to be less well-developed than their age peers. According to St. John Chrysostom, St. Paul was rather short (“paulus” in Latin) with a crooked body and bald head, so one might assume that the fiery apostle was also trying to be self-deprecatingly punny.

Smart man, that St. Paul.

Lord, give us the strength to bear the approbation of others with good humour, so as to show to all the true depth and meaning of Your abundant Love. Amen.