Category Archives: Daily Reflections

Wednesday of Week 2 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Hebrews 7:1-3,15-17 | Psalm 109(110):1-4 | Mark 3:1-6

Jesus said to the Pharisees, ‘Is it against the law on the sabbath day to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?’ But they said nothing. (Mark 3:4)

On the train home from work yesterday, I spied a slovenly youth wearing this cap:

With the large X over the whole panel, and his generally slouchy attitude, does he actually mean “not the good vibes only”, i.e. you’ll be getting bad vibes from me too?

Or does he mean “ignore everything you see here”, asking everyone to excuse his unpleasant demeanor?

Or something else entirely?

Boy boy, what are you actually trying to say?

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus pokes the Pharisees yet again about their rigid observance of Mosaic law:

You must keep the sabbath, then; it is to be held sacred by you. The man who profanes it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day shall be outlawed from his people. (Exodus 31:14)

Jesus points out the inherent paradox of their literal interpretation of this statute: Your rules state that you cannot act to save a life on the sabbath, but standing aside and letting death happen is itself evil, and therefore a profanation of the sabbath. You’re literally damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.

(And just to force the issue, Jesus healed the crippled man in front of everyone at the temple, on the sabbath. Condemning Him after such a display of God-given authority and compassion would’ve been a very unwise move.)

Pharisees, what are you actually trying to say?

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Lest we Catholics think “oh, we’re better than that”…

Ministers of Hospitality at my parish (and possibly other parishes too) have suffered verbal abuse and, in at least one case, actual “vehicular assault” from parishoners unhappy with not being accorded a “priority exit” in the inevitable traffic snarl after mass.

One of my Catholic friends suffered for years under a “spectacularly bitchy” boss who actively undermined him in his own department on several occasions. Can you guess her religious affiliation, and how much damage she did to his own faith?

Brothers and sisters, by our own actions, what are we actually trying to say to the world?

We may know better, having been enlightened by the Word of God, but we also need to do better, else we would be rightfully judged as hypocrites by the people we try to proselytise. Do What I Say, Not What I Do isn’t convincing even to children.

Lord, we know that the words we say are as nothing compared to the things we do, but we are weak and often fail to do justice to Your Holy Name. Strengthen our resolve and ability to do good in this world, and thus give credence to Your Word that is Truth and Love, so that others will come to know and love You through our deeds. Amen.

Tuesday of Week 2 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Saint Antony, Abbot
Hebrews 6:10-20 | Psalm 110(111):1-2,4-5,9,10 | Mark 2:23-28

The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. (Mark 2:27)

III: Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.

We Catholics observe the sabbath in our own way and on our own day. For many of us, however, the spirit of the sabbath has long fallen by the wayside.

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The sabbath was instituted for Jews to do two things:

• take rest from the week’s labours, and
• refocus on the Lord of All

While the Catholic Church chose to rechristen the sabbath as the Lord’s Day (Sunday), the guiding principles remain the same. We are commanded to take rest and spend time in spiritual enrichment.

So why are we as busy with worldly stuff on Sundays as we are on other days, and reluctantly slotting in mindless attendance (instead of active participation) at mass where convenient?

Should we not make an effort to slow down and spend more reflecting on our connection with Christ, and making whatever improvements are necessary?

Can we work towards dedicating the Lord’s Day to the Lord, instead of to our secular desires?

And instead of making “bucket lists” of 100 places to see or things to do before we die, why not make a list of 100 ways to experience God in our daily lives? After all, the former would gain us nothing when it comes time to meet the Maker of All.

Amen.

Monday of Week 2 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Hebrews 5:1-10 | Psalm 109(110):1-4 | Mark 2:18-22

And nobody puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins too. No! New wine, fresh skins! (Mark 2:22)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that we should not cling to the old ways while we try to follow His precepts. Such a half-hearted commitment would lead nowhere.

I’m reminded of the old story about the man whose misguided faith led to his death. Here’s that story with a major twist that relates to today’s scripture:

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A terrible storm came into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that the riverbanks would soon overflow and flood the nearby homes. They ordered everyone in the town to evacuate immediately.

A devout Christian heard the warning and started packing a trunk full of religious artifacts and relics that he had collected during his various pilgrimages.

As he was dragging the heavy trunk out to his front porch, his neighbours came by and said, “There’s room in our car, but you’ll have to leave your trunk behind.” The man declined. “I have faith that God will not want His holy relics to be destroyed. Go, save yourselves, He will save me!”

Soon, the floodwaters poured into the town, forcing the man to climb up to the second floor, dragging his trunk all the way. A police motorboat came by and saw him at the window. The officers shouted to him, “Quick! Climb aboard, but leave your trunk behind!” The man refused, waving them off saying, “Go save someone else, I have faith that God treasures these relics!”

The waters rose higher and the man had to climb up to the rooftop, his trunk perching precariously beside him. A helicopter spotted him and dropped a rope ladder. A rescue officer came down the ladder and pleaded with the man, “Grab my hand and I will pull you up, but you need to leave your trunk behind!” The man STILL refused, folding his arms tightly to his body. “No! God wants these relics! Go save someone else!”

Shortly after, the house broke up and the floodwaters swept the man away and he drowned. The trunk and its contents were never seen again.

When in Heaven, the man stood before God and asked, “I put all of my faith in You. Why didn’t You come and save me?”

God glared at him. “What made you think I was willing to pay for your extra baggage?”

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As we draw closer to Chinese New Year, most of us are busy performing the yearly ritual of “spring cleaning”, actually 12 months’ worth of should’ve-done-that-earlier compressed into a frantic flurry of blood, sweat and tears.

But as we discard the physical items we no longer need, and dust off the things that remain, should we not also look to our spiritual health as well?

Why not take a long, honest look at our lives and let go of a few activities and preoccupations that really aren’t good uses of our time, or are actively leading us in the direction of the Evil One? Perhaps it’s a casual need to gossip, or a crippling obsession with pornography, or a terrible trouble with alcohol. Some of these are certainly trickier to rid ourselves of than others, but we can ask for help from a sea of fellow Catholics who’ve all experienced similar difficulties.

And after we’ve bid farewell to those nasty habits, why not make a commitment to apply some “polish” to our spiritual lives as well? Perhaps we could upgrade our confessions from a reluctant Advent-Lent to a quarterly schedule.

Or spend some time after Sunday mass praying and reflecting before Christ on His cross, instead of trying to beat everyone else out the church doors.

Anything that would help us brighten our outlook on our lives and the people we interact with on a daily basis, that would help brighten their outlook in turn and make them more willing to partake of God’s love that we share, and share it in turn with others.

Brothers and sisters, the sins we carry around with us will result in hefty baggage fees at the check-in counter to Heaven. It would be best to shed it as quickly as possible, and don the ultra-light and spotless cloak of Christ that is really all we truly need.

Amen.

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)
Isaiah 49:3,5-6 | Psalm 39(40):2,4,7-10 | 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 | John 1:29-34

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29)

St. John’s words should sound familiar, since every celebrant echoes those words as he elevates the Body of Christ:

Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world.

Many of us who received instruction in earlier times were told to bow our heads at this point, which still made no canonical sense under the words of the missal we grew up with:

This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Perhaps there was something “lost in translation” from the pre-Vatican II rites, but if I were told by someone that “this is XYZ”, I’d be looking at XYZ to at least confirm that the speaker wasn’t mistaken. The new words makes the appropriate posture even clearer:

Behold! Look at me, the spotless Lamb who took on your sins and the sins of everyone else! Why are you looking down?

If we are unable even to look at our Saviour with love and affection, when He’s presented to us in the form of a clean white wafer, how much more difficult would it be for us to look at Him in the guise of “the least of these brothers of Mine” (Matthew 25:40),

the burdened servants of our daily needs,

the bedraggled poor who wander our streets?

Behold Christ, our Redeemer and Lord. Let us hide not our faces from Him. Let us look to Him always,

in our celebration of Holy Mass,

in the conduct of our daily lives,

in the faces of our brothers and sisters, especially the ones “beneath” us.

Amen.

Saturday of Week 1 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Hebrews 4:12-16 | Psalm 18(19):8-10,15 | Mark 2:13-17

Let us be confident, then, in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are in need of help. (Hebrews 4:16)

While waiting for a bus at Paya Lebar station yesterday, I spied a blind old man making his way up a ramp that would end at the station lift. Since he was walking confidently, as if he was familiar with the route, I didn’t give him a second thought.

Until two minutes later, when I saw him walking back down the ramp again. Evidently, he couldn’t find the lift, and this time his gait was a tad less confident. Oddly, though my partner and I were talking rather loudly just a few metres from him, he walked right past us without asking for help, and would soon exit the station grounds.

So I intercepted him and asked where he was going. Sure enough, he was trying to get to Jurong East, so I guided him down to the station gantry, where my partner grabbed a security person nearby and asked him to guide the gentleman to the correct platform.

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What struck me about this encounter was the evident relief on his face and in his voice when I stepped forward to help. It was as if his pride stopped him from calling out for assistance, even though his white cane was pretty much an “all-access pass” for help.

We too have been granted an “all-access pass” to salvation, in the person of Jesus Christ. We can be assured that this “pass” will surely work, that it won’t be rescinded due to some unforeseen technicality.

We know this because Jesus experienced first-hand all our human weaknesses and temptations. Just like a technical manager who rose through the ranks instead of being “parachuted” in from outside the company, He knows all too well what we need, so He’s promised us His grace in full, to fill in the gaps and make us whole again. In His own words:

It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners. (Mark 2:17)

All we need to do…is accept Him in full too, to ask for His Divine Assistance all day long, to surrender ourselves to His grace and compassion.

Why are we still hesitating?

The Saviour is waiting to enter your heart
Why don’t you let Him come in?
There’s nothing in this world to keep you apart
What is your answer to Him?

Time after time, He has waited before
And now He is waiting again
To see if you’re willing to open the door
O how He wants to come in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHJLmdR5gVQ