Monthly Archives: September 2016

Friday of Week 26 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
Saint Jerome, Priest, Doctor
Job 38:1,12-21,40:3-5 | Psalm 138:1-3,7-10,13-14 | Luke 10:13-16

My words have been frivolous: what can I reply?
I had better lay my finger on my lips.
I have spoken once… I will not speak again;
more than once… I will add nothing.
(Job 40:4-5)

We Singaporeans are champion complainers. While Satan gave Job a Really Hard Time, we tend to grouse at trivial things, from the lack of power outlets in our hotel rooms to our colleagues’ offensive body odour. Even when the subject of our displeasure is trivially addressed (unplugging an unneeded appliance, or a quiet word with “Stinky Sullivan”), we prefer to vent our grievances to others, in the expectation that the appropriate people would overhear and take any necessary actions.

Strangely, there seems to be an inverse relationship between the severity of our discomfort and the volume of our discontent. The people who have the most right to vent loud and long, like our previous coach captain David who has to take care of an intellectually-disabled son till his dying day, are usually the quietest. Perhaps it’s because they need to focus all their energy on the task at hand; in any case, they almost always choose to bear their back-breaking burdens in silence.

When we find out about such persons, we do what comes naturally: cluck in sympathy, praise them for their fortitude, then go back to lambasting our flavourless coffee.

Perhaps we can instead take inspiration from these suffering Samsons, and focus on what I call MALT: More Action, Less Talk. I think fixing our own problems, and helping others fix theirs, would go a lot further towards making a better world than dropping acid remarks about minor inconveniences.

Lord, give us:
the serenity to accept the things we cannot change,
the courage to change the things we can,
the wisdom to know the difference,
and duct tape to silence our negative natterings.
Amen.

Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels
Daniel 7:9-10,13-14 | Psalm 137:1-5 | John 1:47-51

I’ve written about today’s Gospel passage before, but I now have good reason to revisit my words. You see, I committed an act of religious prejudice yesterday, and even though it was in the silence of my heart, I’m compelled to write it down, so as to remind myself about this dark corner that I really should try very hard not to visit again.

We’d just switched over to a different coach captain, so that our beloved David, whom I wrote about the day before, could spend a few days with his family before heading out on another job. This man goes by the name Kurunamoorthy (Kuruna for short, and I’m not even sure I spelled that correctly), and while he seems like a remarkably jolly chap from Sri Lanka, I immediately pegged him as a Hindu, despite not seeing any outward signs in any religious direction.

Then at dinner, Fr. Paul Staes began our communal prayer of grace before meals, and I noticed Kuruna praying and making the sign of the cross just like everyone else.

Shame on me, indeed, especially since I’d just written last month:

Perhaps, by discounting the colour of others’ skin and their ancestry, we might also influence them by our love to turn to the same God we do, and isn’t that our mission on this earth?

Lord, I still have a long way to go, before I can truly call all brothers and sisters. Help me remember always to take people as they are, to learn about them before painting my own portrait atop their visages. Amen.

Tuesday of Week 26 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
St. Vincent de Paul, Priest
Job 3:1-3,11-17,20-23 | Psalm 87:2-8 | Luke 9:51-56

In today’s reading, Job finally snaps. It’s easy for us to claim the perspective of hindsight, knowing how Job’s story ends, but it’s quite another thing to put ourselves in Job’s place, and try to understand the depth of his suffering.

I’ve met someone who’s tasted some of Job’s pain in his own life. Our current coach captain, a jolly Irishman named David, just shared his life story with our group of traveling pilgrims, and it’s a doozy.

Imagine meeting the love of your life, having two children with her, and watch helplessly as your only son contracts meningitis at just a year old, destroying his capacity for rational thought and bodily control.

Imagine being away from your family for long periods, driving tourists around to earn a living while your wife is the sole caregiver at home.

Imagine calling home while on the road, and listening to your 24-year-old paralyzed son scream his joy down the phone, because it’s the only sound he knows to make.

Imagine being not-yet-50, looking forward to feeding and wiping your son clean for the rest of your lives, being startled awake by screams of joy in the middle of each night, and worrying what would happen to him when both of you are called back to God.

Imagine going through what most would consider hell on earth, yet still keeping faith with God, still caring for someone whom most would have abandoned early on, still showing great love for your passengers…because your daughter has given you four beautiful grandchildren with funny names.

As Jesus told St. Thomas, “Doubt no longer, but believe.” (John 20:27)

Lord, grant all caregivers the strength and loving fortitude to continue their appointed mission. Open our hearts to see You in them, and to share our love in turn in whatever way we can. Amen.