Category Archives: Lent

Friday of the 3rd Week of Lent
Hosea 14:2-10 | Psalm 80(81):6,8-11,14,17 | Mark 12:28-34

Jesus, seeing how wisely he had spoken, said, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ (Mark 12:34)

I’ve long thought of scribes as folks who were well-versed in the letter of Mosaic Law, but were sadly deficient in the spirit of said Law, the command to treat each other with the same kind of love and compassion that God dealt with His chosen people.

Today’s Gospel doesn’t change that perception much.

While it’s true that Jesus praised this scribe for speaking wisely, His remark that “you are not far from the kingdom of God” suggests that he still lacks something that keeps him out.

I think that something is practising what he preached.

It’s easy to say, “I have to be kind and understanding to others,” but when others are rude to us, it’s more likely to devolve into an “eye for an eye” shouting match, complete with vulgarities and aspersions cast on the fornicating habits of each others’ mothers.

It’s easy to say, “I’ll give to the poor,” but quite another to give a destitute person any attention at all, much less offer them a few dollars to tide them over for a while longer.

It’s easy to say, “I’ll fast through all the weekdays of Lent,” without giving thought to the obsessions and bad habits we really should be giving up, in place of a meaningless sacrifice of food that we were planning to forego anyway.

That last bit hit home recently, when I realized that fasting had actually become too easy for me. My body had long since adapted to foregoing lunches, and what few hunger pangs I was feeling were easily ignored through the simple act of writing code and conducting discussions.

It’s time to rethink what would constitute a meaningful sacrifice for me.

What about you, brothers and sisters? How has Lent been for you so far, a voyage of self-discovery and a general movement towards our Creator, or simply an inconvenience that pales against the daily struggles of work and family life?

Lord, open our eyes to see what this Lenten season is truly about: a time to rethink, revitalize and reshape our relationship with You. Send us the Holy Spirit, to steer us into the spirit of Christian living, and not just the letter of our Catechism. Amen.

Thursday of the 3rd Week of Lent
Jeremiah 7:23-28 | Psalm 94(95):1-2,6-9 | Luke 11:14-23

I missed an entry yesterday due to fatigue. Today’s entry will explain why, and connect it with today’s liturgy…

Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. (Luke 11:17)

There’s strength in unity. No one I know denies that.

Yet instead of following the Way of Truth and Love that has been taught to us since our earliest days, we eschew the conformity of faith for the individuality of selfishness.

Instead of pulling together in the same direction of love for God and neighbor, we try to drag others along our chosen secular path, and get frustrated when they drag us in a different direction entirely.

✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞

I was too tired to write the last entry, because I’d spent all day going back and forth with my business partner about our goals and directions, and how to Get Things Done. We’re pretty much on the same page now, but it was a mentally exhausting and sometimes frustrating day.

Yet I don’t regret spending all that time and energy arguing about what to do next, because it’s a lot better than us proceeding apace, only to find out later that we were thinking different things.

A company without a clear roadmap is one in which everyone has their own goals and directions, and tries to bring together as many collaborators as possible, before they get poached by other “feudal lords”.

A family without the clear presence of God is one in which personal disputes and grudges reign supreme, and a “me first” attitude pervades every aspect of daily life.

But in all cases, it needs someone to set an example, to point in a certain direction, and to exhort everyone to follow that path.

In a company, that person is the CEO, who has to formulate a sound strategy, then convince all his subordinates to follow it to corporate success.

In a family, that person is the head of the household, whose job is already half-complete: the “sound strategy” has been laid down by God since ancient times, and communicated through the prophets as mentioned in today’s reading.

Following that strategy can be easy, or it can be hard. It depends largely on our willingness to set aside our selfish desires in favor of His commands.

If we Catholics can commit to this, we can achieve what our national pledge exhorts us to be: one united people, under God.

I think it’s worth doing. How about you?

Amen.

Tuesday of the 3rd Week of Lent
Daniel 3:25,34-43 | Psalm 24(25):4-6,7a-9 | Matthew 18:21-35

Peter went up to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times. (Matthew 18:21-22)

I once had a comical conversation on this very passage that went like this:

Other: “Seventy-seven times” only meh? I remember “seventy times seven times”, that’s 490 times!”

Me: Um, you know that’s not the point, right? The point is to always forgive.

Other: Yeah, I know, but Bible got number, must get it right mah!

Me: Why, are you actually counting the number of times you forgive someone else?

Other: Of course lah! I must at least play fair and give each person the same number of chances, before I say “enough is enough”, right?

Me: …

Forgiveness is a surprisingly touchy subject even among Catholics. We have been taught, even before our faith instruction, Alexander Pope’s famous dictum: “to err is human, to forgive, divine”. I was even taught an unofficial postscript: “to seek revenge, diabolical“.

But when friends cheat you, when bosses undermine you, when even your loved ones quietly desert you, it can be almost impossible to say, even to yourself, “you know, even though you absconded with my money, and you make my work life a living hell, and my own family treats me like a pariah, it’s OK, I still forgive you all”. The more likely response would be “BURN IN HELL, YOU TURDS!”

Yet Jesus suffered far more pain than any of us would ever experience in our lives. In a few short weeks, we will revisit His abandonment, miscarriage of justice, torture, indignities, and eventual fate reserved for criminals. We will, in singing the Reproaches, be reminded of how far we have fallen, as He remonstrates with us:

My people, what have I done to you?
How have I offended you?
Answer me!

Let us never forget that God is always ready to forgive us, no matter what transgressions we’ve committed. Let us resolve to be absolved during this Lenten season, to seek the forgiveness of our Creator, and to forgive in turn those who have done us harm, in body or in spirit.

Whether they betrayed us 7 times, or 77, or 490, or even more.

Amen.

Saint Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
2 Samuel 7:4-5,12-14,16 | Psalm 88(89):2-5,27,29 | Romans 4:13,16-18,22 | Matthew 1:16,18-21,24

Though it seemed Abraham’s hope could not be fulfilled, he hoped and he believed, and through doing so he did become the father of many nations exactly as he had been promised: Your descendants will be as many as the stars. (Romans 4:18)

Have you hoped for something that you secretly didn’t believe you would receive?

On the way to Sr. Lorenzina Nota’s 70th anniversary celebration, I pulled a tendon or something in my left leg. Instantly, my toes knotted themselves together, my ankle began throbbing, and the pain was quite literally crippling.

As I tried to relax and not scream in agony, I said a short prayer that went something like this:

Lord, thank You for the pain that reminds me of my mortal self. May it serve Your purpose in me, but If it be Your will, please take this pain from me. Amen.

Clearly, pain and clear thinking are never seen together, just like Clark Kent and Superman. The science-y part of my brain said “oh boy, this is gonna take a long while to resolve itself”, while the faith-y part went “Lord, shazam, please?”

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Abraham trusted God in his hope for children in his old age, and thus he became the father-in-faith to us all.

I trust God in my hope that this nightly Lectio Divina workalike will continue till the end of my physical or mental ability, and not be foreshortened by boredom or inability to find inspiration from sacred scripture.

Reason says I’ll run out of words to ponder after the 3 years of the liturgical cycle.

Hope tells me that when I come round to the same texts again, I’ll be a different person with different thoughts, so I’ll have new things to share.

Hope versus reason, which side will win?

I know which side I’m betting on.

Lord, You are our eternal Hope, whom we long to see in all Your glory, despite the derision of our learned friends. Help us keep faith in Your boundless goodness, be our guide as we navigate through the dark waters of mundane life, and when our time on earth is up, purge our stain of sin, that we may stand in Your holy presence and sing Your praises forever. Amen.

3rd Sunday of Lent (Year A)
Exodus 17:3-7 | Psalm 94(95):1-2,6-9 | Romans 5:1-2,5-8 | John 4:5-42

Today’s first reading and Gospel share the common themes of water and thirst. Water in particular is on the minds of many Singaporeans lately, with the recent announcement of significant hikes in water tariffs.

Jesus, of course, gives us living water without any fees, just a willingness to be faithful to His Word and live the Gospel life, spreading the Good News in thought, word and deed.

Are we thirsty for this water?

And will we in turn share this water with others?

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Later today, I’ll be celebrating with many others the 70th anniversary of Sr. Lorenzina Nota’s religious profession with the Daughters of St. Paul.

70 years of spreading the living water of Good News through her apostolate of media.

70 years of saying “Yes” to God daily.

How could I say “No” to honouring her commitment?

Amen.