3RD SUNDAY OF LENT, YEAR C

Exodus 3:1-8.13-15
Psalm 102
1 Corinthians 10:1-6.10-12
Luke 13:1-9

MY NAME IS I AM

As we continue our Lenten observances, the journey may become tiresome, unbearable and too long. It may happen that we see no good coming out of our efforts. But let us not despair. For our God is a living and faithful God. He is close to us and knows everything. This is what he reveals to Moses in the burning bush. We do not serve a nameless God. His name is: “I AM” or “I AM WHO I AM”. He is always present.  He has resolved to come down and free his people from slavery. This means that our God can be approached personally. He is real. He exists. And he does not abandon us to our fate.

For St Paul in the second reading, God guided the Israelites through the desert and provided for their needs. Despite all that some of them failed to please God and their corpses littered the desert. Their story is told us as a warning so that we may not behave like them.

In the gospel, people “gossip” about the tragic disaster that befell the Galileans whom Pilate killed and the eighteen people who perished under the tower at Siloam. Why such misfortunes? For Jesus, this question is not important. There is a disaster that is more deadly than natural calamities and that hovers over all of us; and that is sin. Thus, we must repent from our sins and come to God. For God is patient. He does not take pleasure in the death of the sinner, but he may repent and live.

He is not in a hurry to cut the unproductive tree down. He gives it another chance, another opportunity for it to produce fruits. That tree is you, it is me. God is giving us another chance, another time to change and be saved. We must leave behind bad behaviors, bitterness, complaining, unforgiveness, etc. This time is today. Do not wait, do not postpone it. For today is the time of salvation; today is the time for deliverance. 

Amen

EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Ecclesiasticus 27 :4-7
Psalm 91:2-3.13-16
1Corinthians 15:54-58
Luke 6:39-45

THE LOG IN MY EYE

Last Sunday before the season of Lent, today’s readings invite us to look into our hearts, check what we have stored therein, and fill them with good thoughts and thanksgiving. In the gospel, St Luke reports three short parables of Jesus, namely that of a blind man leading another blind man, that of the speck and the log in the eye, and that of the tree that is recognized through its fruits (Luke 6:39-45).

The first reading is a good illustration of the third parable. According to Ben Sirach, man’s words reveal his personality. Thus, we should not praise or judge a person without listening to him in the first place.

The second parable is not without importance. In effect, we like zooming into the weaknesses, mistakes, sins and shortcomings of others without acknowledging ours. We gossip about others. We expose their nakedness. We put blame on others. We judge and condemn them. We are quick to pronounce sentence on them. In short, we notice the speck in others’ eyes, and do not notice that we have a log in ours. As a result we usually try to take the speck out of another’s eye. We want to correct others. We want to change others.

We are simply hypocrites. We should take the log out of our own eye first. Then we will see clear so as to help the other with his speck. We should change ourselves first. This demands self-discipline and self mastery. We need courage and endurance, and never give up working on ourselves. Thus, after he has ended his exposé on the resurrection, St Paul exhorts us saying: “Never give in then, my dear brethren, never admit defeat; keep on working at the Lord’s work always, knowing that, in the Lord, you cannot be laboring in vain”. May the Lord help us identify our own shortcomings, mistakes and work on them. 

Amen.

SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B

1 Samuel 3:3-10.19
Psalm 39(40)
1 Corinthians 6: 13-15.17-20
John 1: 35-42

OUR CHRISTIAN CALL

Life is a vocation. The Christian life is also a vocation. It begins with the encounter with a person, Jesus Christ. In any vocation, it is God who calls and man responds. In today's first reading, it is God who calls Samuel by his name (1Sam. 3:3-10.19). In the gospel reading, it is Jesus who initiates the conversation by asking the two disciples of John: "What are you looking for?" Then, he told them : "Come and see" (John 1:35-42)

Christian life is therefore a call to be with the Lord. Being with him requires certain attitudes. Two of these are proposed to us in today's readings:

1. Listening
Like Samuel, we need to listen to God who speaks to us. Eli the priest taught the young boy to respond to the unknown voice: "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening". God continues to speak to us, but we find it difficult to respond to him, because our life is full of noise. Even in prayer, we like speaking to God without allowing him to speak to us.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said: "God is the friend of silence. He cannot be found in noise and restlessness." Do you want to find God, do you want Him to speak to you? Learn the art of silence.

2. Bringing others to Jesus
The encounter with Jesus is a wonderul experience one cannot keep for himself alone. It must be shared. That was what Andrew did. When he met Jesus the Messiah, he told his brother Simon and brought him to Jesus.

We too must bring others to Jesus. Witnessing is that which authenticates our faith. Ironically, the more Christian chruches multiply, the more immorality abounds in our world today. Hence, St Paul advices us to avoid immorality. God has called us to dedicate our bodies to him (1Cor. 6:13-15.17-20). May he bless and keep all of us.

Amen.

34TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A

SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST, THE UNIVERSAL KING

Ezekiel 34:11-12.15-17; 

Psalm 23: 1-3, 5-6

1Corinthians 15:20-26.28; 

Matthew 25: 31-46

We celebrate today, the Kingship of Christ, Jesus. Through his death and Resurrection, he overcame sin and death, thus establishing his kingship over all. Everything is therefore subjected to him. He is the centre of our human history and is leading us into the kingdom of God the Father (1Cor. 15:20-26.28).

But what kind of king is Jesus Christ? According to the first and gospel readings, Jesus Christ is the Shepherd and the Judge. In the first reading, God proclaims that he is the True Shepherd of Israel. As a shepherd, he knows us; he feeds us, protects and cares for us. If such is our Lord and King, then there is nothing we shall want (Ps. 23).

As the Judge, Jesus Christ will sit on his throne of glory to judge the nations at the end of time.  He will separate the sheep from the goats, thus fulfilling the word of God as announced in the first reading. The “sheep”, in our parable today, represent the righteous, the blessed, those for whom the kingdom of heaven has been prepared. The “goats” represent the cursed, those for whom the eternal punishment is reserved.

At the judgment of the King, both the sheep and the goats were surprised. For the sheep, in being sensitive and coming to the aid of the needy and sufferers, they never knew they were welcoming and caring for Jesus himself. On the other hand, out of negligence, insensitivity and carelessness of the goats, they failed to serve Jesus in the least of men and women (Matt. 25:31-46).

This tells us how the King of the universe will judge us at the end our lives: how sensitive have you been to the miseries and needs of others, especially the needy, the marginalized and those suffering.

May the King of kings help us to recognize him in the least of our brothers and sisters so that we may share in his Kingdom.

Amen