Monthly Archives: June 2016

Saturday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time (Year II)
Lamentations 2:2,10-14,18-19 | Psalm 73:1-7,20-21 | Matthew 8:5-17

When Jesus went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘my servant is lying at home paralysed, and in great pain.’ (Matthew 8:5-6)

We all know how the story continues: Jesus offers to go to the centurion’s home to cure his servant, whereupon he responds with such a display of faith that Christ Himself is astonished, so profoundly that it’s enshrined in our own response to the Ecce Agnus Dei (“Behold the Lamb of God”): “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

But is anyone astonished that this even happened in the first place? What kind of man is this, that pleads for the life of a servant? A righteous man, that’s who.

How many employers would do even half as much for their suffering maids?

How many bosses would regularly look to the welfare of their subordinates, beyond just a year-end office makan session?

How many of us would offer pleasantries and thanks to the many people who serve us each day?

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For some weeks now, I’ve been fighting my own introversion by making a point to greet bus drivers on boarding, and shout a “Thanks for the ride!” before alighting. Their responses have been astonishingly uniform: Smiles and nods at the start and end of my journeys.

Ditto the folks who clean the tables I sit at.

Ditto the folks who make my food and drink.

All this thankfulness also helps me maintain a light mood throughout the day, for as Paula Abdul once sang: You give love, you get love, and more than heaven knows.

Lord, just as you were astonished and delighted by the faith of the Roman centurion, help us to astonish and delight others with genuine displays of gratitude, and thereby share the love that You share with us each day. Amen.

The Birthday of St. John the Baptist
Isaiah 49:1-6 | Psalm 138:1-3,13-15 | Acts 13:22-26 | Luke 1:57-66,80

“His name is John”, properly Yohanan, “God has shown favour”. So much favour, in fact, that Zechariah and Elizabeth consciously broke with Jewish tradition and named their son after absolutely no one in their family trees.

Indeed, St. John the Baptist grew up to be a fitting herald of Jesus the Christ, preparing and exhorting his followers in the way of the Lord, yet humble enough to recognize his insignificance before the Son of God, being “unfit even to undo the strap of His sandals”.

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Mother Church is rather more liberal about baby names nowadays. Canon law on baptism merely states:

Parents, sponsors, and the pastor are to take care that a name foreign to Christian sensibility is not given. (Canon 855)

Still, older Catholics are often blessed with the names of saints whose influence in our lives was (presumably) desired by our parents. Mine, if I’m not mistaken, hopefully pegs me as a soldier for Christ, rather than a butcher of men. Since that interpretation concurs with my Chinese name (“peace-making scholar-warrior”), I guess I’m left with a very daunting task. ?

What’s in your name, brothers and sisters? Does a closer inspection of your moniker inspire you to godliness in some way?

Heavenly Father, you showed Your abundant favour to St. John the Baptist. We ask in turn for some small share of that favour, so that we can also share in his duty to bring all others to You in Your coming Kingdom. Amen.

Thursday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time (Year II)
2 Kings 24:8-17 | Psalm 78:1-5,8-9 | Matthew 7:21-29

When the day comes many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?” Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men! (Matthew 7:22-23)

Wait, what? How can Jesus disavow people who do great deeds in His name on the Day of Judgement? That’s neither right nor just…right?

I think this exposes a rather large blind spot for many of us Christians. We’re so used to associating God with miracles and exorcisms, we forget that there’s at least one other being who can perform deeds on a level that we humans would find incomprehensible and therefore miraculous: Satan, the Great Tempter.

Can the Devil inspire people with visions of the future? Probably. Even hallucinogenic drugs can do so, and as the adage goes, “a stopped clock is right twice a day”. Make enough predictions, and you’ll eventually get one right and be hailed as a “prophet”.

Can he control demons? Of course. If he couldn’t, one of his underlings would’ve usurped his position long ago.

Can he work wonders? Certainly, if you’re not picky about what sort of wonders you’re looking for, and for whose benefit. “JACKPOT! YES! MINE! ALL MINE!”

Now the above passage starts to make sense. When we see others work marvels “in the name of the Lord”, we need to ask ourselves: Which Lord is being invoked, the Lord of Light and of Love…or the Lord of Darkness and Deception? If it’s the latter, then Christ’s rejection of them is truly right and just.

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But how do we mortals tell the difference, when both sides go “Lord, Lord”?

This actually ties in to what I wrote yesterday: righteous miracle workers set themselves aside to serve their brethren to the glory of God. Humility, compassion, joy, peace; these are just some of the characteristic fruits of the Holy Spirit that will point you in the right direction.

If, instead, you notice signs of self-indulgence, pride, tempestuousness and other unpleasant facets, run away. Consciously or otherwise, they’re calling on the Dark Lord to work delayed tragedies. Associating with such folks won’t end well.

Holy Spirit, open our eyes to the wiles of the Evil One and his servants, so that we do not fall prey to their false wonders and be led away from God. Amen.

Wednesday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time (Year II)
2 Kings 22:8-13,23:1-3 | Psalm 118:33-37,40 | Matthew 7:15-20

Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? (Matthew 7:15-16)

Which begs the question: What fruits do false prophets offer?

Working from first principles, we recognize that true prophets (and indeed true Christians) are invariably guided by the Holy Spirit, so their fruits are essentially the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

St. Paul also wrote:

If you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence, since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing, and it is precisely because the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good intentions. (Galatians 5:16-17)

So a sure-fire way to recognize false prophets is to remember that they operate from a base of self-indulgence, and:

When self-indulgence is at work the results are obvious: fornication, gross indecency and sexual irresponsibility; idolatry and sorcery; feuds and wrangling, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels; disagreements, factions, envy; drunkenness, orgies and similar things. (Galatians 5:19-21)

In short:

• true prophets and Christians set themselves aside to serve their brethren to the glory of God, while
• false prophets and Christians set God aside to serve themselves to the glory of…something disturbing.

Lord, send forth your Spirit to save us from self-indulgence. Amen.

St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious
2 Kings 19:9-11,14-21,31-36 | Psalm 47:2-4,10-11 | Matthew 7:6,12-14

Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces. So always treat others as you would like them to treat you… (Matthew 7:6,12)

In other words: show, then tell. Or, as Pope Francis put it:

Remember what Benedict XVI said: “The Church does not grow by proselytizing; she grows by attracting others”. And what attracts is our witness. (Address to Catechists, 27 September 2013)

In this context, “proselytism” refers to conversion through coercive means:

More recently, however, the term has taken on a negative connotation, to mean the promotion of a religion by using means, and for motives, contrary to the spirit of the Gospel; that is, which do not safeguard the freedom and dignity of the human person. (Doctrinal Note on Some Aspects of Evangelization, note 49)

For instance, I once overheard a lady’s advice to her friend: “better convince your husband to join RCIA, otherwise he’ll burn in hell”. It might have been well-intentioned, but also aggressive as hell, and certainly not how Christ would want us to bring others to God.

So we’re called to go about our earthly mission as Christians by being witnesses to love, i.e. consistently living the gospel life. Through our life-giving examples, we may then intrigue others into enquiring about why we choose to reject the back-stabbing antics that’s a staple of the secular world, at which point we can effectively share our faith with them. Words and deeds in harmonious tandem – that’s true evangelisation.

(It’s also best not to think of non-believers as animals, but Jesus might have been thinking of the “unteachable” Pharisees of Mark 10:5.)

Lord, you taught us through your own Incarnation as the Word of Love made flesh, that our words of faith are nothing without consonant deeds. Help us put that into practice each day, acting in faith, hope and charity towards everyone we meet, from the greatest to the least, so that we may draw them to You in the spirit of love that drew us too. Amen.