Be Not Afraid of the Vessel within

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Scripture reading: Matthew 6:19-21
‘Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworm destroy them and thieves cannot break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Reflection on the Gospel
The treasure within ourselves is who we are, what God made us to be. If we try to be someone else, then although we could be happy, we would never be at peace with ourselves because we are not who we are meant to be. We spend years storing up treasures for ourselves on earth that we loose the beauty of the treasure of heaven. Being ourselves, living! Not just making a living, but truly, living! When we say we are called by God to do something, it does not mean God wants us to do something against us. God knows us best. He made us. Therefore, he would never go against himself or what he created. He would always want us to be ourselves. And being ourselves is that treasure. Indeed, where that treasure is, our heart will be there also.

Application in Life
For ourselves, we should make time to find out what is God’s will for us. We should make time to find out more about ourselves, this treasure that God has given us and ask ourselves if we are on the right track. Are we doing the right thing? Have we found that treasure? And if we have, are we living life to the full? Are we ourselves, for God?

Prayer & Reflection
We Reflect and pray:
That we will discover the treasure hidden within us.
That we have the grace and courage to live out our lives to the full
That we will not turn against from ourselves

Feel Lonely @Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Epiphany Sunday

Matthew 2:9-12
Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And there in front of them was the star they had seen rising: it went forward and halted over the place where the child was. The sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother, Mary; and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. But they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, and returned to their own country by a different way.

The gifts of Jesus had meanings to them. Gold symbolises Kingship and wealth. Frankincense as perfume or since it is incense, divine authority. Myrrh, an embalming oil, symbolising death.
St John Chrysostom suggested that the gifts were fit to be given not just to a king, but to God. The Magi, Zoroastrian Priests, had nothing to do with the Messiah, for they were not Jewish. However, they recognised the signs of the coming of the King of Kings, Jesus. They then prepared gifts, rightful for a king, and more than that, what best they could offer, to God.
There is also a Christian meaning to the gifts. Gold being virtue, Frankincense beingprayer and Myrrh being suffering. These were the 3 things evident in Jesus' life and these are the 3 we are called to have in our lives. We should grow in virtue, pray unceasingly, in the words of St Paul, and never be afraid of suffering in giving Christ to others.
So what can we do or how can we apply this in our life?
For the Magi, the 3 gifts they could offer were Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.
For us, however, the best gift we, as Christians, could offer are our lives. God gave us life. The best gift we could offer God is what we have done with this gift of life he has given us.
These are evident in our responses to God's call in our daily living. It is a greater choice to accept his call. For God, our creator, knows what is best because he created us. In addition, the response 'No Choice' is also a choice. So give the best, not something you have 'No Choice' with or something you do not wish to do.
Jesus said, and our late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II affirmed this-"Take Courage. It is I (Jesus). Do not be afraid."
Let us unite and harken to the Lord's call as the psalmist writes, "If today, you listen to his voice, do not harden your hearts."
Amen.

Feel Lonely @Saturday, January 06, 2007

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Easter Sunday
A letter written to a man on death row by the Father of the man whom the man on death row had killed:

You are probably surprised that I, of all people, am writing a letter to you, but I ask you to read it in its entirety and consider its request seriously. As the Father of the man whom you took part in murdering, I have something very important to say to you.
I forgive you. With all my heart, I forgive you. I realize it may be hard for you to believe, but I really do. At your trial, when you confessed to your part in the events that cost my Son his life and asked for my forgiveness, I immediately granted you that forgiving love from my heart. I can only hope you believe me and will accept my forgiveness.

But this is not all I have to say to you. I want to make you an offer -- I want you to become my adopted child. You see, my Son who died was my only child, and I now want to share my life with you and leave my riches to you. This may not make sense to you or anyone else, but I believe you are worth the offer. I have arranged matters so that if you will receive my offer of forgiveness, not only will you be pardoned for your crime, but you also will be set free from your imprisonment, and your sentence of death will be dismissed. At that point, you will become my adopted child and heir to all my riches.

I realize this is a risky offer for me to make to you -- you might be tempted to reject my offer completely -- but I make it to you without reservation.

Also, I realize it may seem foolish to make such an offer to one who cost my Son his life, but I now have a great love and an unchangeable forgiveness in my heart for you.

Finally, you may be concerned that once you accept my offer you may do something to cause you to be denied your rights as an heir to my wealth. Nothing could be further from the truth. If I can forgive you for your part in my Son's death, I can forgive you for anything. I know you never will be perfect, but you do not have to be perfect to receive my offer. Besides, I believe that once you have accepted my offer and begin to experience the riches that will come to you from me, that your primary (though not always) response will be gratitude and loyalty.

Some would call me foolish for my offer to you, but I wish for you to call me your Father.

Sincerely,
The Father of Jesus

Feel Lonely @Sunday, April 16, 2006

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

John 10:7-10

“Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.

What is the function of the gate? The gate is meant to protect. It is also for demarcating or segregating something etc.
Sheep listen to shepherds. They do not follow a stranger’s voice. They only recognize their master’s voice and follow their master.
So why does Jesus say he is the gate?
Jesus protects us, his sheep, from evil, from danger. He splits up the good and the evil. He segregates the sheep from the vices beyond the gate.
The sheep in turn listen to the shepherd. They do not listen to the thieves and robbers. Thieves and robbers come to our daily lives as friends around us who are a threat to us. Temptations seem sweet at the moment and we just want to reach out and grab it. If a sheep does that, then the sheep has lost its identity. For a sheep follows only its shepherd.
A sheep trains and tunes itself to the shepherd. Likewise, we too must tune ourselves to our shepherd, Jesus. We must pray constantly and incessantly as St. Paul tells us. Our lives are a gift. We must learn to choose wisely the paths we take. Always focus on Jesus. And if we have lost sight of him, keep finding him. He is just there, open your eyes and see. Never blame him for not being there. Pause for a while and ask yourself, who left?
Jesus continues again, I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pastures.
Jesus stresses again that he is the gate. Without the gate, all is lost. He keeps the sheep together.
And the addition, whoever enters through me…………
Jesus means that he is the pillar on which everything stands. Through him, with him, in him, lies all the goodness. He says “enters” first. This means we have to come to him first and filled with goodness. Then when we go out after we have come to him, all is good too. There we shall find comfort and rest. sheep depend on pasture for food. So must we depend on the gifts of God for sustenance. But remember first the giver, not the gift.
Jesus then speaks about thieves. Like it is said earlier, thieves and robbers are those vices around us. Living or non-living. They are a threat to us. They may seem good to us, but the intention and outcome is always negative. It’s not always easy to move away from the negative things around us. But remember the gate. Stay behind the gate, the gate will help and protect you.
And this concludes, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” With Jesus in our lives, we are great. What more can we have better than the one who is the author of life himself?

Let us reflect.
Amen.

Feel Lonely @Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Friday, January 20, 2006

Sermon of St Augustine of Hippo

Shepherds feeding themselves
'You consume their milk and cover yourselves with their wool; you kill the fatlings, but my sheep you do not pasture. You have failed to strengthen what was weak, to heal what was sick, and to bind up what was injured. You did not call back what went astray, nor seek out what was lost. What was strong you have destroyed, and my sheep have been scattered because there is no shepherd.'

Let us consider the unflattering words of God which Scripture addresses to shepherds who feed themselves and not the sheep. You consume their milk and cover yourselves with their wool; you kill the fatlings, but my sheep you do not pasture. You have failed to strengthen what was weak, to heal what was sick, and to bind up what was injured. You did not call back what went astray, nor seek out what was lost. What was strong you have destroyed, and my sheep have been scattered because there is no shepherd.
This is spoken to the shepherds who feed themselves and not the sheep; it speaks of their concern and their neglect. What is their concern? You consume their milk and cover yourselves with their wool. And so the Apostle asks: Who plants a vineyard and does not eat from its fruit? Who pastures a flock and does not drink from the milk of the flock? Thus we learn that the milk of the flock is whatever temporal support and sustenance God’s people give to those who are placed over them. It is of this that the Apostle was speaking in the passage just quoted.
Although he chose to support himself by the labour of his own hands and not to ask for milk from the sheep, the Apostle did say that he had the right to receive the milk, for the Lord had established that they who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel. Paul also says that others of his fellow apostles made use of this right, a right granted them, and not unlawfully usurped. But Paul went further by not taking what was rightfully his. He forgave the debt, whereas the others did not demand what was not due them. Therefore Paul went further. Perhaps his action was foreshadowed by the Good Samaritan who, when he brought the sick man to the inn, said: If you spend any more, I will repay you on my way back.What more can I say concerning those shepherds who do not need the milk of the flock? They are more merciful; or rather, they carry out a more abundant ministry of mercy. They are able to do so, and they do it. Let them receive praise, but do not condemn the others. The Apostle himself did not seek what was given. However, he wanted the sheep to be fruitful, not sterile and unable to give milk.
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord Yahweh. I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.
Amen.

Shepherds may apply to all christians now. The church focuses on one common priesthood, therefore we are all to be like shepherds.

Feel Lonely @Friday, January 20, 2006

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Feast of the Holy Innocents

A sermon of St Quodvultdeus
A tiny child is born, who is a great king. Wise men are led to him from afar. They come to adore one who lies in a manger and yet reigns in heaven and on earth. When they tell of one who is born a king, Herod is disturbed. To save his kingdom he resolves to kill him, though if he would have faith in the child, he himself would reign in peace in this life and for ever in the life to come. Why are you afraid, Herod, when you hear of the birth of a king? He does not come to drive you out, but to conquer the devil. But because you do not understand this you are disturbed and in a rage, and to destroy one child whom you seek, you show your cruelty in the death of so many children. You are not restrained by the love of weeping mothers or fathers mourning the deaths of their sons, nor by the cries and sobs of the children. You destroy those who are tiny in body because fear is destroying your heart. You imagine that if you accomplish your desire you can prolong your own life, though you are seeking to kill Life himself. Yet your throne is threatened by the source of grace, so small, yet so great, who is lying in the manger. He is using you, all unaware of it, to work out his own purposes freeing souls from captivity to the devil. He has taken up the sons of the enemy into the ranks of God’s adopted children. The children die for Christ, though they do not know it. The parents mourn for the death of martyrs. The child makes of those as yet unable to speak fit witnesses to himself. See the kind of kingdom that is his, coming as he did in order to be this kind of king. See how the deliverer is already working deliverance, the saviour already working salvation. But you, Herod, do not know this and are disturbed and furious. While you vent your fury against the child, you are already paying him homage, and do not know it. How great a gift of grace is here! To what merits of their own do the children owe this kind of victory? They cannot speak, yet they bear witness to Christ. They cannot use their limbs to engage in battle, yet already they bear off the palm of victory.

Feel Lonely @Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Matthew8:18-22
When Jesus saw the great crowds all about him he gave orders to leave for the other side.
One of the scribes then came up and said to him, 'Master, I will follow you wherever you go'.
Jesus replied, 'Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head'.
Another man, one of his disciples, said to him, 'Sir, let me go and bury my father first'.
But Jesus replied, 'Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead'.

Jesus speaks about the hardships of the apostolic calling. He says foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.
What Jesus is trying to speak about is our comfort zones. He is not asking for our materialistic comforts. He does not demand for us to give up our possessions. If we wish to be apostles, we must come out of our comfort zones. He speaks about poverty. We must be poor of the securities of ourselves and walk with the riches of God, being totally dependant on him. That is the true apostolic calling. Going out of our zones.

Next he calls for commitment. Jesus did not accept quickly the scribe. Jesus wants full commitment. Not just stepping in because of emotions. He asks this of us. "Are we ready to take up that challenge? Are we ready to let go of the securities of the world for Christ?"

One of Jesus' disciples then requested to first allow sometime to bury the dead. Jesus did not say yes. Was Jesus being very selfish? No. Jesus was trying to portray that the apostolic calling is NOW! Not last time, not next time. Discipleship is now.
Jesus then replied, Leave the dead to bury the dead. Dead here refers to the spiritually dead. What Jesus meant was. Let them(those who have no desire) wait... as for you who received the calling, follow now. Those spiritually alive, your calling starts now. For those spiritually dead, let them follow later. Don't procrastinate.

Some of us are trying to follow Jesus. In the apostolic calling we face challenges. One scenario is forgiveness. We would always procrastinate and 'say': "forgive later... or it can wait!" But Jesus calls for immediate actions. We must forgive immediately.

God love you.
Amen.

Feel Lonely @Wednesday, December 21, 2005