This final Sunday of Lent, we somehow feel the
frustrations and grief of Martha who tells Jesus “If
you had been here, my brother would not have
died…” (John 11:21) Whether she’s confessing
her faith to Jesus who could have healed her
brother Lazarus or accuses Jesus of being
neglectful of their brother, Jesus assures her of
one thing, “I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me will
never die.” (John 1:25).
Jesus is the light of the world. We are invited to turn from
darkness to the light of truth. Our second reading from the
letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians (5:8-14) reminds us not
to try to take part in the works of darkness for we are
children of light who are capable of producing the fruits of
righteousness, goodness and truth. In the Gospel, John
(9:1-41) presents the account of the healing of the man
born blind who was taken out from that dark void with
Jesus’ command, “go and wash,” which are outward signs
for that man to experience the miracle of seeing the light
for the first time. But more than the healing of his blindness
is the transformation of his spiritual sight. Although he was
tested and ridiculed by the unbelieving authorities, he was
able to see clearly who Jesus was, the true light of the
world, and so he confessed his faith “I do believe, Lord.”
The Rite of Scrutinies are held on the third, fourth, and
fifth Sundays of Lent. These rites, with roots dating back
to the early Church, take place during the Sunday Mass,
each thematically linked to the Gospel reading (we will be
using Year A) of the three passages from St. John’s
Gospel which teaches the elect about the mystery of sin,
and fill them with the Spirit of Christ.
We are now on the second week of our Lenten
journey. Last week, we have journeyed with
Jesus on his wilderness experience, having
faced and eventually defeating the devil in
every test. After that wilderness experience, we
come to another faith-filled experience we call
the mountain-top experience, - the transfiguration of Jesus.
As we embark in this Lenten journey and enter
into the wilderness of our life of faith where we
may experience. Where we may listen attentively to the quiet voices of the Holy Spirit. The
Dutch priest Fr. Henri Nouwen said:
“We have to fashion our own desert where we
can withdraw every day, shake off our compulsions, and dwell in the gentle healing presence
of our Lord Without such a desert we will lose
our own soul while preaching the gospel to
others. But with such a spiritual abode, we will
become increasingly conformed to him in
whose Name we minister.”
Jesus goes right into the eyes, heart and life of anyone who
wants to be his disciple - a disciple must know how to identify where his blind spot is, a disciple must always seek to
learn from his teacher and knows his teacher well, and a
disciple must always have the humility to look at himself first
before pointing his finger to others.
Blessed is the one who is able to accept and be part in the
upside down world of God for he/she allows the Kingdom
of God to be revealed but woe to the one who misses this
opportunity and turns away and rejects the invitation of
God to be part of it.
Have you ever thought what would be your response if God
calls you to do something you’ve never done? Or how about
doing something you’ve always been doing and had to do it
in God’s own way?
What we have in this Feast is a reminder about
faithful serving and hopeful waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises. The story of Simeon and
Anna is a story of many of us - keep on hoping
and looking ahead of what God can do to our life
and giving up is not an option.
We are so familiar with this traffic safety warning: STOP, LOOK
and LISTEN. Our Gospel this Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
invites us to dig deeper into this safety warning as we embark in
this Ordinary Time spiritual journey but will be rearranged a bit:
STOP, LISTEN and LOOK.
In the Gospel on this Feast of the Baptism of the Lord,
a voice came from heaven saying: “You are my
beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22).
By virtue of our own baptism, we too have become
sons and daughters of the heavenly Father and are
called to live a life pleasing to Him. This identity is
indissoluble and this is the grace of God in the sacrament of Baptism.
Searching
for Jesus in the midst of discouragement and uncertainties might be challenging but fulfilling, and meeting Jesus is an invitation to have a change of route,
a change of heart. The journey of the Magi is our
own journey of faith and hope in finding Jesus.
There might be challenges, some might be discouraging but finding Jesus at the end of the journey is
having that transformative relationship with him.
Yes, God is full of surprises and loves to surprise us. Having
this in mind would lead us to be hopeful for the best even
when sometimes things get rough and tough. Maybe, the
next time God makes another surprise, it would be for YOU
and that would be your greatest surprise gift for Christmas.
The Second Sunday of Advent reminds us of PEACE because a change of
heart is making at peace with God. Living at peace with God is
listening once again to His voice reminding us of our need of
newness of life in Him. John the Baptist is the voice crying out
in the wilderness of our hearts telling us, “Every valley shall be
filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The
winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways
made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of
God.” (Luke 3:5-6)
On November 28th, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day and it
is fitting to note that as we thank everything that has been
transpired all throughout the year, for all the blessings we
have reaped, we thank God the most for His goodness
and for continually guiding us. May we let our Lord Jesus
Christ, King of the Universe continue to reign in our hearts
forever.
Many of us would feel uncomfortable whenever we talk
about the end of world. We fear what happens next after the
rapture. Numerous movies and novels have dwelt on the
theme of apocalypse (Greek word apokalyptein: uncover,
reveal) and more often, they presented it a very scary
manner. Known dictionaries also described this in such a
way that we end up feeling helpless. Apocalypse is a very
serious event resulting in great destruction (Cambridge
Dictionary); It is a disaster resulting in drastic, irreversible
damage to human society or the environment, especially on
a global scale (Oxford English Dictionary); It is the end or
destruction of the world especially as described in the
Christian Bible (Meriam-Webster Dictionary). Who would not
be afraid with such descriptions of the apocalypse?
“If you feel forgotten by God because you question why
He would love you, remember that you are His precious
child because you fear the Lord.” (Psalm 103:13)
Một phụ nữ khác thời Chúa Giêsu, đang sống trong cảnh túng thiếu, thế mà bà đã đem cả số tiền lương
công nhật, tức là những gì bà có để nuôi sống mình, bỏ vào hòm tiền dâng cúng cho nhà thờ, và Chúa
đã khen bà là bỏ nhiều, dâng cúng nhiều hơn những người giàu khác, tại sao vậy? Bởi vì trước mặt
Chúa, những công việc từ thiện, và cả những việc đạo đức mà những người giàu có, cụ thể là giới kinh
sư và Pharisêu, chỉ là những phương tiện trục lợi, hay xây dựng danh giá và địa vị cho họ, chứ không
phải do lòng kính mến Chúa hay thương yêu người mà phát xuất. Hạng người như thế ở thời đại nào và
ở nơi nào cũng có với những cách thức khác nhau. Họ là tỷ phú hay triệu phú, họ bỏ ra một vài triệu để
đóng góp vào công việc từ thiện hay xây cất những công trình lớn thì động lực chính có khi không phải
là đức ái, mến Chúa yêu người, mà chỉ là giá mua danh vọng. Thành thử số tiền hay công lao khó nhọc
họ bỏ ra có thể là nhiều nhưng thực sự họ chẳng cho hoặc dâng hiến được bao nhiêu. Đó là cuộc đầu
tư một vốn bốn lời, đó là sự lợi dụng tôn giáo và bác ái chứ không phải là phục vụ. Trái lại, người đàn bà
góa trong Tin Mừng tỏ ra biết phục vụ tôn giáo hết mình: hòm tiền ở hành lang nhà thờ, chắc là thu góp
để xây cất hoặc bảo trì bảo quản đền thờ, vì thời Chúa Giêsu đền thờ vẫn chưa hoàn thành. Bà không
cần biết ai đóng góp bao nhiêu, bà chỉ thấy có bổn phận đóng góp để tỏ lòng tôn thờ kính mến Chúa
theo khả năng của mình. Cho nên, bà có bao nhiêu thì dâng cúng bấy nhiêu mà không hề lo đến tương
lai, đến ban chiều, đến ngày mai sẽ ra sao, bà chỉ biết phụng sự mà không biết lợi dụng tôn giáo hay
Thiên Chúa. Chính vì thế Chúa Giêsu khen bà đã dâng cúng nhiều hơn những người khác. Chúng ta
hãy nghĩ xem: chúng ta thường làm những việc đạo đức, những việc bác ái, chia sẻ, những cách đối xử
với người khác như thế nào? Có phải với tấm lòng chân thực hay vì những lý do gì khác? Chúng ta hãy
nhớ: Chúa căn cứ vào tấm lòng chúng ta mà thưởng công cho chúng ta.