Find peace through His strength

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

One of Donald Trump’s defining ideologies which is the foundation of his military and foreign policies is “peace through strength.” He argues that America has often been bullied, exploited and manipulated in the past because it had demonstrated weakness instead of strength, a readiness to surrender and compromise instead of fighting to win. Sounds absolutely logical and the proof is to be found in the successes he has racked up in his administration’s foreign policies governing economic relations, internal, regional and international security. If you can’t get your enemies to like you, you could at least get them to fear and respect you. As he humorously and unabashedly declared as he walked into a room of world leaders in the recent G7 summit, “I am the Boss.”

As sound as this human doctrine appears to many of us, it has no basis in scripture, or at least, not in the sense the world understands strength and power. The notion of “peace through strength” is utterly foreign to the Bible. In fact, a quest for military strength is a sign of unbelief. Peace is the will of God for all creation and not something which could be wrought by human efforts alone, what more with a show of force and strength.

The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden expresses God’s original intention for the world. Here we find a harmonious, nonviolent existence where there is room for partnership, love and creativity but not for deadly conflict. The disruption of peace was the result of the fragmentation of right relations, first of all with God, and then, with other humans and with creation itself. The parable of the wheat and darnel demonstrates this biblical truth. God as symbolised by the farmer only sows good seeds, all that is created by Him is good, seeds that would ensure a harmonious relationship between God and men and fellow men. God is not the author of evil. It is the enemy, the devil, who sows the seeds of discord, confusion and sin. God had no hand in this. And this is what we observe in today’s world, a mixture of good and bad, of light and darkness. As much as we wish to be cleansed and purged of the undesirables in our lives, we must endure them till the very end. The good news is that we won’t have to endure the bad for eternity. There will be a time of harvesting, of separating, of accounting, where the good will be vindicated and the evil punished.

The parable also makes a stark contrast between the patience and wisdom of the owner of the field and his servants. The servants are impatient to root out the darnel and they should have been rightly commended for their quick action but instead they are reminded by the prudent owner that this may cause greater harm to the wheat whose fate are intimately intertwined with the growing darnel. This shows us the nature of God which is expressly described in the first reading - God’s strength is found in His apparent leniency - “Your justice has its source in strength, your sovereignty over all makes you lenient to all..” This seems to be a paradox, perhaps one could treat this as the ultimate paradox - that God would manifest His strength by making Himself vulnerable. But isn’t this what the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery is all about? The Creator of the Universe deliberately chose to become a fragile human being, from a baby being cared for by His human parents, to ultimately suffering the indignity of being sentenced and executed as a criminal, although He was wholly innocent.

The author of Wisdom continues by declaring: “You show your strength when your sovereign power is questioned and you expose the insolence of those who know it; but, disposing of such strength, you are mild in judgement, you govern us with great lenience, for you have only to will, and your power is there.” In a way, this is what frustrates us most about God. We measure Him by our standards as we believe Him to behave very much like we do - as if His kindness were as slight as our kindness, His forgiveness as reluctant as our forgiveness, His patience as fleeting as our patience. We would wish for Him to take out our enemies as swiftly as possible so that we would not need to tolerate their annoying and painful presence. We demand swift justice and any delay would be deemed as an injustice. If we were God in heaven, we would have grown impatient with people like us long ago. But, Thank God, we are not. The prophet Isaiah reminds us that “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).

The God we meet in Scripture is a relentlessly patient God. He usually accomplishes His plans along the winding path. He fulfills His promises without haste. When we demand “Now,” He replies, “Wait!” “God is patient” means not mainly that God waits a long time, that He dilly dallies, but that God shows long-suffering kindness to sinners (Romans 2:4). The master in the parable protects the wheat by delaying the uprooting. God prioritises the safety and nurturing of His people over the immediate eradication of evil. His patience allows both the "wheat" and the "darnel" to grow together, giving every opportunity for growth, maturity and conversion.

This does not mean that justice delayed is justice denied. God does not ignore evil indefinitely. He establishes a clear, definitive boundary at the final "harvest" where justice will ultimately prevail. At the end of the parable we are told, judgment would come, as the darnel are collected with the good harvest and commended to destruction in the fire. God does not destroy them immediately; He does not forsake them. Instead, He reveals His true nature: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). So, to the question on everyone’s mind: Why does full judgment tarry and mercy beckon? Because, unlike us, God is “slow to anger.” His wrath visits the unrepentant (Exodus 34:7), but only after taking the slow path. Meanwhile, His mercy stands ready to be offered, at any time and in any place. St Peter offers us this answer in his second epistle: “Think of our Lord’s patience as your opportunity to be saved” (2 Peter 3:15).

Understanding how God thinks and acts provides us with some important rules of life for our emulation.

First, leniency and generosity, is always a sign of strength rather than of weakness, just as it is always the stronger person who apologises first and takes the initiative to make amends.

Second, we must trust the process. Growth takes time. Be patient with yourself as you are called to be patient with others. The devil’s greatest weapon is despair, making you feel that all your sacrifices and efforts are futile, so that you will be tempted to give up before you get to see the end. We must possess the “good hope that after sin you will grant repentance” and St Paul reassures us that “the Spirit comes to help us in our weakness.”

Third, we must acknowledge that we cannot see the full picture until the very end. Present struggles are temporary. All mysteries will be revealed, all things will be made clear, all answers will be provided on the Last Day, the Day of Judgement. Until then, we need to accept blurred lines that colour much of life. In life, good and bad are often deeply intertwined. Patience means accepting that we cannot always cleanly separate or fix every situation immediately. And because we have a limited vision of others and ourselves, we need to learn to let go of the need to play judge and instead, trust in God’s omniscient wisdom and ultimate schedule. You will find peace through His strength.

The Harvest comes later

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

The familiar story of the parable of the sower needs no further explanation as Jesus provides His own explanation a few verses after the passage we’ve just read and heard. If I were to stop here after stating the obvious, many of you would be pleased. Thank God, not another long, winding and convoluted homily from Father. But, let me assure you that your initial joy may be short lived. It may be a little winding, perhaps longer than what you are accustomed to, requires a great deal of patience, but that is the principal quality needed of a farmer who sows his seeds on his farmland. There are no instant results - no instant gratification.

Notice how most traditional cultures whose culture and livelihoods were tied to the soil, often make a big thing out of celebrating harvest festivals. Our brothers and sisters from Sabah and Sarawak celebrated their own respective versions of the harvest festival, which appears strange to many outsiders, since they are no longer farmers. The reason being that planting and harvesting mirrors the cycle of life. Scripture tells us that there is a season for planting and a season for reaping and in the next breath speaks of a season of living and dying.

The world celebrates the harvest. A good harvest means good feasting. We don’t have to go hungry - the farmer nor the consumer. But any good farmer will tell you that it isn’t so simple as making instant noodles in your kitchen when you have nothing else in your pantry. The good farmer doesn’t only know his crop. He knows his soil and as a good student of the land, he can attest that the farm teaches him to trust the unseen.

Farming teaches patience. Faith is planting the seed. Patience is waiting for the harvest. Trust is believing growth is happening even when you cannot yet see it. There is something spiritual and religious about the entire process which explains why many of the parables of our Lord have to do with farming. One would think that the Lord is preaching something which is familiar to the people and to Himself until we are reminded that He was a son of a carpenter, rather than a farmer, and that He had spent His adult public life as an itinerant preacher and teacher like the scribes.

But this agrarian theme goes back even further. At the beginning of the Bible, we see a God who is doing the planting, planting not just crops, but the stars and planets and orchestrating their movements, commandeering the waters, and then brings about life and eventually reaping the great harvest which is humanity. In Chapter Two of the Book of Genesis, God then entrusts this “job” to man, that he will henceforth be responsible for cultivating the land and tending the garden which God had initially planted.

What is the mystery which this farming theme wishes to reveal to us? I guess we learn from the parable and from farming that spiritual growth cannot just be an instant success story, it isn't an overnight miracle.

First, you need to cultivate the soil of your heart. You must proactively remove the "rocks" and "thorns" (everyday anxieties, spiritual complacency and sin) from your daily life to clear the way for growth. That is why the practice of regular confession and spiritual direction is so necessary. Frequent communion is an irreplaceable practice that would augment our spiritual lives and bring about spiritual growth. But just good food alone would not ensure a healthy life. A healthy lifestyle and regular detoxification are necessary to get rid of the flab and toxins in our bodies. Similarly, our spiritual lives require disciplined spiritual exercises like prayer, meditation, scriptural reading, study and a regime of regular confessions to ensure that we are spiritually in shape.

Secondly, we need to trust the process. In a culture that demands instant gratification, we often have little patience for waiting, persevering, and enduring the sacrifices and trials that beset us. The Word of God has inherent power, but it requires enduring through seasons of waiting and watering your spiritual life through prayer, study, and good works. Don’t walk out of the process, just because you do not see immediate results. I often tell my spiritual directees and penitents that the devil’s greatest weapon is despair. He sows the seed of despair in order to make us give up before we have seen the light at the end of the tunnel. I guess if any of us would have been in the shoes of the sower-farmer in today’s parable we would have walked out after witnessing the non-productive yields of the first few categories of soil. How often have we given up on a project or a person, just because we believe that our prayers and our efforts have been futile.

Lastly, we must trust and believe in the promise and guarantee which our Lord gives us at the end of this parable. In the first reading, we are assured by the Lord that “the word that goes from (His) mouth does not return to (Him) empty, without carrying out (His) will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.’ The harvest of spiritual peace and maturity is a promise, but it is meant to be realised only by those who bear fruit with perseverance. It is such a pity that so many give up so easily before staying around to witness the final scene, which is victory rather than failure, a rich plentiful harvest rather than a parched barren land devoid of vegetation.

This is what this farming theme teaches us. Some of the most important things in life happen beneath the surface, long before the first sprout appears and long before the harvest arrives. Though the going may sometimes appear to be tough and the waiting unbearable, let us not be too quick to give up on the work of salvation, for ourselves and for others. So, do the work. Trust the process. Trust the unseen. The harvest comes later.

Be Patient because the Lord is coming soon

Third Sunday of Advent Year A

Though many would agree that patience is a virtue, it is often in short supply. We have an expression in Cantonese that best illustrates this lack of patience - “kanchiong” (pardon the self attempt at transliteration). Why is it so difficult for us to be patient, to wait?

Humans, or at least modern humans, are wired for instant self-gratification, to seek pleasure now, and modern life is filled with examples of quick satisfaction, from one-click shopping to instant messaging, to looking for the shortest Masses in town (best below 45 minutes). Impatience, which was once widely viewed as something negative is not seen in a more positive light, a sign of being busy or important, while waiting can be perceived as being lackadaisical. Being enslaved to digital technology does not help. The internet and streaming services provide on-demand content and information, reinforcing the expectation that things should be accessible immediately. Finally, experiencing uncertainty can make people want to control the present moment to make it as pleasant as possible, leading to irritation when there are delays.

Waiting for change and results can be frustrating when we are consumed by this impatient mindset. But the central message of our readings today is clear - transformation and change is certain, our Lord is coming without a doubt, our goal is within reach even if we still cannot see it. St James tells his readers in the second reading: “Be patient, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. Think of a farmer: how patiently he waits for the precious fruit of the ground until it has had the autumn rains and the spring rains! You too have to be patient; do not lose heart, because the Lord’s coming will be soon.”

In the first reading, Isaiah speaks of how an arid desert suddenly blooms into lush green farmland. Though, we wet landers can never imagine this happening, this does occur in certain years when there is ample rainfall. But sometimes, you need to wait for months and even years before you see any substantial rain in these dry lands. The Prophet Isaiah’s description of the transformation of nature is, of course, not meant to be literal. The same could be said when he speaks of what seems to be medically impossible: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy…”

These images provide the background for John the Baptist’s question to our Lord in the gospel. “Are you the one who is to come, or have we got to wait for someone else?” Or rather, “Is the desert blooming, or not, or do we have to wait for another year?” It is consoling that the great Baptist himself was impatiently waiting for the One he was preparing the people to receive. And the Lord comes back with a definitive yes: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. The miracles which our Lord performed were intended to confirm that He is the “One who is to come.” He is the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy that the rains have come in the desert. Those who were thirsty are now experiencing the life that comes from the living waters of God.

What does all of this have to do with Advent? The virtue of Advent is patience. Most people have little patience for Christmas to happen. They are already putting up Christmas decorations, throwing parties and singing carols at the beginning of December, if not even earlier in November. Now, I don’t wish to sound like the Grinch who attempts to steal the Christmas joy from everyone. God knows how much we need joy in our lives these days! Joy, like patience, is in short supply too. But it is critical to recall once again that Advent isn’t first about Christmas (at least not until the 17th of December); it’s first about the Second Coming of the Lord. It is good to heed the words of St James in the second epistle as he brings to mind the image of a farmer waiting for his yield. The fruits of the earth take time. They cannot be rushed. The law of growth is rest. The soil must not be disturbed. Above all we must not disturb it ourselves by our own egoism. We must not turn it over and dig it up by anxieties and scruples. Anyone who grows things can understand the analogy. When you think about it like this, waiting for seeds to sprout—or for fruit to ripen—is very much like the waiting and the enduring patience which is required of Advent.

The patience of Advent is meant to train us far beyond the patience of waiting to open presents until Christmas, although we all know that such patience can feel like quite the trial when you’re at a certain age! We are waiting for the fulfillment of all things in Christ. We are waiting for the end of the world. We are waiting for the end of our own lives. We are waiting for judgment. We are waiting for God to act and no one is in control of God. We are waiting for a solution to the problem that hangs over our heads like the Sword of Damocles. But let us not forget - He sets the pace. He establishes the time and seasons. He determines the path and the final outcome. All we must do, is patiently and humbly wait upon Him.

But, this doesn’t mean that we have nothing to do. Growing in patience is hard work, you don’t just take it lying down. I’m often amused when people tell me that they need more patience because they find it unendurable to put up with vexing individuals in their lives. I will tell them: “God is indeed answering your prayers. How do you even think of growing in patience if you do not have these individuals in your life?” As hard edges sharpen knives, uncomfortable situations and persons can make a person stronger and more patient.

There are so many ways in which we can begin to cultivate and grow in patience this Advent season. We can grow in patience when we have no visible results for our prayers, sacrifices, and efforts. We can practice patience when we experience our many personal failures and see the failures of others. We can mature in patience when we feel helpless in the face of all the evil and injustice spreading in our world. We can practice patience as we see our Church riddled with scandals and threats of heresies. Our patience is strengthened when we endure many trials and temptations and overcome personal struggles. We grow in patience as we love the ones who irritate and annoy us. So don’t worry. Our patient God will provide us many moments to grow in this virtue of patience as well as the graces of being patient like Him. So, “be patient; do not lose heart, because the Lord’s coming will be soon.”

Patience is Divine

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

After having listened to complaints from parishioners for the past nineteen years, I’ve come to realise that one of the most common requests is that I should summarily reprimand and dismiss all the ‘troublemakers’ in the parish. However, my usual reply is that if I were to act on every complaint, including the complains I get about the complainers; then I would end up sacking over 90% of the people in the parish! I guess this phenomenon goes beyond the parish. We seem to have a natural human desire to root out and destroy all that troubles us. We want to look for the final solution to all our problems. But in attempting to get others cancelled, we end up cancelling ourselves. Or in wanting to destroy evil, we end up wreaking more destruction. Perhaps, the best example is found in Hitler’s Final Solution – millions of Jews and others had to die in this mad search for perfection. The very defenders of peace eventually turned into the greatest perpetrators of violence.

Strangely, it is not the Hitlers, the Pol Pots, the Maos or the Lenins of this world that are solely guilty of such horrendous crimes. The trait is also present with many well-intentioned activists, visionaries who believe that it is incumbent upon them to fix the problem wherever and whenever they see fit, whether it be in society, the Church or the world. Some people just can’t stop themselves from meddling. We have to fix it; get rid of the undesirables. Do it our way. The problem with 'people with a cause', is that they often do more harm for their cause than if they did nothing at all. Trying to bend the world or reform the Church or shape others according to the way they see it. So they spend a great deal of effort and time trying to control what can’t be controlled. Even though their original motive may have been noble, they actually make things worse, whilst trying to make them better. Instead of building God’s Kingdom, they end up building their own. We mess things up when we choose to get in God’s way.

Today’s parable is bent on frustrating these would-be Saviours of the world. The message goes against the grain because it seems to be soft on evil. In response to the servants’ desire to root out the darnel, to fix the problem, the Master orders, “Let them both grow till the harvest.” This is a stunning proposal: Just leave the weeds alone? You mean, “Let them have their way?” On the surface, the parable seems to be calling for passivity in the face of evil or worse, the tolerance of evil. Why would the master say what he said to his servants?

The counsel of our Lord is prudent. It is a reminder that life can be messy and we need not and should not, play God or vigilantes. Since this is God’s Kingdom, He should be in charge. He sets the agenda, He lays out the path, and He determines the deadline. The problem is that the difference between the wheat and darnel is not always going to be obvious, and that there is potential danger of mistaking the good for the bad, the will of man for that of the will of God.

Whether we would be willing to admit it or not, both wheat and darnel may be mixed up within every person. Goodness and evil, love and hate, prosperity and adversity, joy and sorrow all are so intimately intertwined. We may risk getting rid of the good in our zealous desire to root out the bad. Destroy the possibility of evil and you also destroy the possibility of goodness. What may seem to be a mess may actually be God’s way of providing a solution. The perceived curse is actually a blessing.

The patience of the farmer in letting the darnel grow on until harvest time, exemplifies the infinite mercy and wisdom of God toward sinners. The parable reminds us that sinners are to be dealt with patiently, it offers us assurance that in the end God’s way will be victorious. That one day “the virtuous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father”. The darnel could not change its nature, but the sinner can change his ways and God gives him every chance and every help to do this, up to his last moment of life. But in the end, there will be Judgment. God is never soft with evil or sin, but He is ever patient in providing opportunities to the sinner to repent. The sinner who chooses not to repent, however, will have to face judgment because the God of Mercy is also the God of Justice. Without Justice, His mercy would be vacuous.

We must learn a double lesson of patience from this parable. First, to be patient with those who make our spiritual progress more difficult for us—they are actually helping us to be better Christians if we bear with patience the injuries they inflict on us. Second, we must try to imitate the patience God shows in His dealings with sinners. Such patience, however, can never be interpreted as mere passivity. I don’t think God wants us to wait ‘patiently,’ twiddle our thumbs and do nothing. We should never tire of striving against evil. While we must not approve of evil deeds or sins of others, we must still look on them as our brothers and sisters and do all in our power to put them back on the right road to heaven. We can do this by our good example, and by fervent prayer for their conversion. Always remember that it is an act of mercy to admonish a sinner and correct error.

When you take a closer look at what is happening in the world, in society, in your family or even in the Church, do not panic when you only perceive chaos. God remains in charge. Everything may seem to be getting completely out of control. But God remains in control. God does not only tolerate the messiness but in fact subverts the messiness and uses it as the raw material of His Kingdom. He often chooses and uses the defective, the rejects, the marginalised, the sinners to be His instruments of grace.

We long for the time when the Kingdom will be complete, but that perfection would not be found in any earthly or human constructed Utopia. For now, we have to recognise that this is the way that God creates and works, and brings good life. God allows the mess. He demonstrates the value of the mess through the death of His Son on the cross. At the moment of the crucifixion, it becomes clear that evil is utterly subverted for good. The Kingdom is built on the blood of martyrs, rather than on success stories. Let us never forget that persecution cannot destroy the Church, it can only make her stronger.

Wait and Pray

Seventh Sunday of Easter Year A

The first reading situates us within this week that lies between the Ascension of the Lord and the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Nine days of waiting. Nine days of continuous prayer - the first novena of the Church (the word “novena” is actually derived from the Latin root which simply means nine). After the rigours of the Lenten fast and penance and the feasting of Easter, these nine days seem to be a most welcomed respite from all the liturgical hustle and bustle for those who have been engaged but it can also be annoying for those who feel an itch for more activity and hate the idleness which they associate with prayer and all things churchy. For the latter, prayer doesn’t seem to count as a fruitful activity. Real Christians should be out on the streets working, not confined to their rooms like cowards praying.

But is prayer a cop out for those who shirk their social responsibilities? Is it idle activity for those who are unable or unwilling to take responsibility to resolve their own issues? Why would our Lord ask these disciples to wait and pray? Let’s go back to that first novena between our Lord’s Ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Put yourself in the middle of this frightened and confused band of apostles and disciples. They had seen the Lord suffer and die, but then He rose and appeared to them, demonstrating His power. He commissioned them to carry the message of eternal and abundant life before ascending into heaven, leaving them with marching orders. Icons of this scene show the disciples with their feet and bodies facing outwards, ready to take the gospel beyond the borders of Judea, to Samaria and even to the ends of the earth. But then the Lord also told them to take pause, to not “leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for what the Father had promised.” If some of you may think that novenas are superstitious activities for the simple-minded who still believe in tooth fairies and Santa Claus, remember that the first novena was ordered and instituted by none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. That first novena would be the prototype for all other novenas.

What would have happened if they had given up and left? We can only speculate. If they had left, they would never have been present to experience the Pentecost. And without the Pentecost, the gospel would not have been carried to the ends of the earth. In fact, the entire New Testament may never have been written and the Church would not exist today. Imagine that! But, the persistence of Christ’s followers and His mother to wait for the promise, ended in fulfilment. On the Feast of Pentecost, tongues of fire appeared on each of their heads declaring the coming of the Holy Spirit and the Church was born.

The lesson learnt from the first novena instituted by the Lord is that prayer is about waiting. Prayer requires faith; faith requires patience; and patience requires waiting upon the Lord. To wait patiently for God is to trust in God’s unfailing love for us. To wait upon the Lord is to recognise that He is our Lord and Master. How God does His will is up to Him. We cannot control God or tell Him how to accomplish His plan. He will do His will in His way. Prayer is not a sign of weakness. Prayer is a conscious choice of admitting that we can’t do it alone. It is an act of vulnerability that connects us to God and others. It puts us in a position of strength, not weakness. One of the greatest and most damaging lie we can believe is that we can do it on our own. Prayer dispels that lie and frees us to lean on someone else when it seems unbearable or impossible.

But waiting on God can be the most difficult, and perhaps the most confusing part of the prayer process. We live in a world of instant everything. We value speed. This is true not only in our culture at large, but in our spirituality and prayer. We rush through our prayers because we have other more urgent matters to attend to. We look for the shortest masses. The quicker, the better. Many rush off immediately after communion or before the final blessing and announcements. Yes, waiting in prayer is not an easy kind of prayer to practice. When we pray, we want to see results; and we want to see them now! And if that answer doesn’t seem to be forthcoming, we begin to wonder if God has abandoned us or if He really cares about us at all. We fail to recognise that when you treat prayer as if you have the right to tell God how to do His work, you will be disappointed. God does not take instructions. We wait, He doesn’t. But when you realise that God’s ways are not your ways, that His ways are superior to your ways, you will not be thrown off balance when circumstances seem to be leading you away from God’s will rather than toward it.

Something happens to us in this kind of waiting. There is purpose in waiting. Waiting on God forces us to look to Him. We are brought to attention. The prayer of waiting draws us into a place of stillness and quietness before God where we open our hearts to listen and receive the good gifts of guidance, wisdom and blessing. Waiting in prayer expands our hearts to accept God’s will instead of pushing for our own agenda. When we wait with hope it is like sitting in the dark of night before the first rays of dawn appear. We know that dawn will come, yet we cannot hurry it. We can watch and wait with hope to receive the first lights with joy.

Waiting gives God the opportunity to redefine our desires and align our purposes and vision with His. What appears from the earth-perspective to be a delay on God’s part is really the time when God is working behind the scene, beyond our senses. During the waiting time, we are operating by faith. Trials cause us to persevere by deepening our knowledge of God and relying on Him more intentionally. That is why in the midst of our daily frenzied activities, our Christian life needs to include times of contemplation and prayer to simply be with God in the stillness and to wait upon Him in loving anticipation of what He would do with us.

Waiting as an essential element of prayer, helps us not to treat novenas and other special prayers as quick fixes. As Jesus told His disciples, we must pray constantly and never give up (Luke 18:1). Sometimes we have to pray for a long period before we see any results. Why? We don’t know. As much as we grow impatient, we need to recognise that His timing is an astounding thing. What we do know is that Jesus always has our back and He knows what’s best. We mustn’t become disheartened or give up saying novenas because we don’t immediately see the fruits of our labour. The Blessed Virgin Mary and the apostles obeyed the Lord’s instruction to wait and pray, and scripture tells us that their fidelity and vigilance finally paid off.

May our waiting and our praying make us more open to receiving the Holy Spirit and more capable of showing the grace of God in all that we are and all that we do.

Made of Sturdier Stuff

Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

“Snowflake,” according to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, is a “derogatory slang term for a person, implying that they have an inflated sense of uniqueness, an unwarranted sense of entitlement, or are overly-emotional, easily offended, and unable to deal with opposing opinions.” A snowflake listening to today’s ominous warnings and prophecies in the gospel will have a royal meltdown. To a snowflake the slightest perceived offence would sound like a cataclysmic end of the world scenario, an Armageddon of disproportionate size.

But before you react to the words of our Lord, especially the part listing down the various sets of trials, tribulations and calamities, it is good to fast forward to the end of the passage to see the point of His message: “Your endurance will win you your lives.”

Catholics are not to waste time calculating when the end will come. They are not to allow themselves to be misled by false prophets and false messiahs. Nor are they expected to behave like headless chickens running around in circles panicking. Above all, they are to trust in the provident care of God, who will give them eloquence and wisdom to defend themselves and preach the truth. ‘Your endurance will win you your lives.’

As simple and as powerful as this message is, it doesn’t always feel that way. Our penchant for giving up and flying the white flag is so strong, especially when tragedy hits. As you all know, any exposure to the mildest sunlight, even for a few minutes, will cause snowflakes to dissolve into the ground with no resistance. It sometimes feels that every crisis is so catastrophic like it’s the End of the World. This is how the Jews would have felt when their beloved Temple was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 AD in retaliation for their revolt.

Apparently, the great first century Temple in Jerusalem was a tremendous structure, a suitable tribute to God's greatness and glory, as well as the central symbol of the Jewish nation and their faith. The veil that separated the most sacred inner sanctum from the rest of the Temple complex was adorned with symbols of the cosmos, suggesting that the Temple was literally the centre of the universe. To say that it was worthy of admiration was an understatement. But when our Lord noticed His disciples admiring its grandeur, He had to speak this hard truth: “not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed.” Despite being sturdily built with reinforced foundations to last centuries if not for eternity, Our Lord knew it would one day fall and its fall would be a cataclysmic event, like the end of the world itself.

However, the Lord also knew that the Temple's destruction would not mean the end of God's creation nor the end of salvation history. So He urged His disciples to bear suffering with hope and patience. His lesson was that all of us suffer, and all of us go through destruction and tearing down. All of us even go through death, but that is not the end. He died Himself, but it was not the end. He was resurrected, and God's creative power began again and the first creation was surpassed by the greater act of redemption.

There may be some signs toward the end. Our Lord famously mentions some of them here and in the other gospels. Signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, wars and insurrections, earthquakes and the economy. At one level, He could have been speaking of the veil in the Temple with its embroidered cosmic and planetary symbols, the same veil torn into two at His death on the cross. But these signs could also point to something new emerging – the old creation has to be destroyed in order for the new to arise. These signs could indicate cycles of life. Stages of our life inevitably end before another begins. We think it is the end of the world, but it isn’t. Just the end of that particular stage of our world. With the ending of a phase, we enter into a new one. This too was true of the Temple. Its destruction did not mark the end of Judaism but initiated a new phase of belief rooted in faith.

The transition is often painful. Changes hurt. But they are signs that the kingdom of God is near, is very near. When you are encountering the anxiety of any change in your life, be assured that you are not far from God in that experience; He may feel distant and uninvolved in our crisis, but the truth is that He is closer to you than you can ever imagine.

The Church does not stand aloof and far removed from the changes which take place in our lives. The sacraments of Christ administered by the Church have always been associated with changes in our human lives-inevitable changes that most of us go through: birth, illness, marriage, death. In direct association with those changes, the Church provides baptism, anointing with oil, the sacrament of marriage, a funeral. The Church pronounces blessing and grace during those moments of change, painful as well as joyous. At its best, the Church teaches us how to change gracefully. Even the changes in the Church itself can be occasions for our learning grace.

“Everything will be destroyed,” the Lord ominously predicts. And sometimes we can see the signs of that tumult all too quickly. But that will not be the end. God will be in the change. A new beginning can emerge from destruction. And all things will be made new.

Finally, it is in all the changes of our lives, that our very character is formed. Thus, the way we endure change is the way we shape our character, our identity, our very soul. That's why the Lord said what He said about endurance. When we endure change, when we bear change, we gain our identity. In fact, we gain our souls. By your endurance, the Lord said, “will win you your lives”.

Trials "try" us, and tests "test" us. Most of the time, the purpose of trials is to show us who we really are, to reveal character in us. The measure of a man is not how he acts when things go smoothly, but how he acts when he is challenged. We can think all kinds of good thoughts about ourselves, but until we are put to the test, we don't know whether those things have become realities in us or not. We may consider ourselves generous, honest, or deeply committed to a particular truth or ideal, but the depth of these dynamics only reveals itself when we're under pressure. When we go through trials, we learn whether or not we really have the character and commitment we think we have. Test will prove to us whether we are snowflakes or made of sturdier material - hard solid rock that can withstand the heat of pressure and the cold of rejection. Remember, the hardest of diamonds are the product of the greatest pressures. That’s what you are meant to be. That’s who you are.

Upholding in Prayer

Twenty Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

Have you seen the banner on our parish Facebook page? It has the three of us priests extending our hands in a gesture which suggests one of several things: a sign of welcome, a position of prayer or perhaps a moment of collective narcissism, “hey! It’s us!” The other day, I made a request to our social communications team to have it taken down and replaced with the stain glass triptych of the Holy Family that you see behind me. Seeing ourselves displayed on the page does give off a certain bad odour of shameless self-aggrandisement. Last I checked, the banner is still up but with a difference - my face (in the centre) had been blotted out by the profile picture featuring our parish logo while my two confreres were spared. It does help when I’m the shortest among the three.

Today, we see a similar scene in the first reading - three persons standing side by side. As Joshua battles the Amalekites in the valley of Rephidim, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill with Moses. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites would prevail, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites surged and had the upper hand. When Moses’ hands grew tired, Aaron and Hur took a stone and put it under Moses and he sat on it and then Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ hands so Israel would prevail.

This poignant scene speaks volumes to me in a way that I have never realised before. I see myself, the weakest among the three being held up and supported by my two brother priests. Like Moses, I am charged with the responsibility to maintain a posture that should inspire confidence and lend strength to others, and yet I often seek to hide my weaknesses, my weariness in the same moment.

It sometimes feels like the weight of the world is pressing down on my arms raised in surrender and prayer. Often, I feel too tired to press on, even too tired to pray and the temptation to throw in the towel is simply too strong to overcome. That is until I realise how God sustains me through companions and collaborators. Fr Philip and Fr Bona are my Aaron and Hur, who walk together with me especially when my feet and hands have grown weary from walking and working. They recognise my needs and provide me with the support without being asked. Then, there are the leaders of this parish. They are the front liners, like Joshua in the battlefield, who have to face the many issues of family and community life in the first instance while I remain secure and safe on my proverbial hill, providing spiritual support and holding them up in prayer.

I started with this tale in the first reading because the story we find in the gospel is to be read with the story of Moses raising his hands. Both readings remind me that the one thing that can sustain me, that has sustained me, and I can be certain will continue to sustain me, is prayer. It is God’s invisible hands who actually hold up our fatigue laden hands and feet and continue to sustain us. Several important lessons emerge from these readings:

Let’s begin with the obvious, we need each other even though we may each be tasked with different responsibilities, just as Joshua who did the fighting needed Moses who did the praying who needed Aaron and Hur who did the supporting. During the process which began last year, our Holy Father has been reminding us that Synodality is the way we have to be Church - it is a recognition that no one is self-sufficient, no one can determine his one fate without reference to others, that we are in need of God and each other. Some battle on the frontlines by engaging with the necessary work of ministry, while others do battle in prayer giving support like Moses.

Secondly, our mission and our work are necessarily connected to prayer. Prayer is the heartbeat, the life blood and the breath of our apostolate work and mission. Without prayer, the Church’s mission cannot succeed, her battle with evil cannot be victorious. If the Church, and every single one of her members is to avoid being routed in the daily battles of life, all of us must pray, we must uphold each other in prayer, we must persist in prayer, storm heaven for assistance and grace, instead of just being lost in busyness and activism or drowning in despair.

Thirdly, we are in this for the long haul and we should be ready to persevere. Perseverance is needed not so much to change the mind of God. God already knows what we need long before we make our requests. So, why do we need to pray and pray unceasingly? Prayer isn’t about persuading God to do what we want; it is about inviting God to mould us in faith into what He wants for us. If the answers to our prayers came easily and quickly, where would the challenge be? Prayer is not meant to change the mind of God; it should change us. By persevering in prayer, our faith is nourished and deepened, our will is subverted so that we may conform ourselves more closely and intimately to the will of God. Persistent and consistent prayer teaches us fidelity and how to be faithful friends of God, and not just fair weathered ones.

Fourthly, the One whom we must turn to who will ultimately sustain us even when all our own personal resources seem drained and exhausted, is the One who also stretched out His hands on the cross. St Justin Martyr saw Moses’ prayer with arms extended as a prefiguration of our Lord on the cross. Unlike Moses who needed the assistance of Aaron and Hur to support his hands, our Lord’s hands are held up by His undying love, by His complete willingness to accept the suffering and humiliation of the cross. In Orthodox icons of the crucifixion, the Lord’s hands are stretched out on the cross lifted heavenward in prayer but the nails which pierce His hands are invisible. The icon wishes to depict that the Lord is crucified on His own volition and that He is being held up by His own power rather than by the power of His executors. It is love which nails Him to the cross and it is through love by which He intercedes for us. As long as the Lord continues to uphold us in battle, we will prevail.

The final picture painted by this story is a profound truth of God. Our Lord, lifted up upon the hill, is the One who gives us the strength to stand strong and fight with a courage beyond comprehension. Our Lord remains steadfast and unwavering but the real question is, “when the Son of Man comes, will He find any faith on earth?” He will never give up on us. Let us not give up on Him.

Never tire of doing what is right

Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

I know that this will sound like a rant but I’m going to start off with a rant. So bear with me. I know that many of you can connect with my frustration if you’ve experienced something similar. You go out on a limb, beyond the call of duty, you sincerely wish to help the other, and instead of gratitude, you get flak. You look around for some support and understanding, and you find yourself all alone. You begin to wonder, “Is it worthwhile being good? “Does it pay to do good?”  Well, St Paul gives us the answer: “My brothers and sisters, never grow tired of doing what is right.” (2 Thess. 3:13).

The simplicity of that advice is quite striking. St Paul is wise in recognising the fragility of our resolutions, the wearing down and wearing out of our good intentions in the abrasiveness of daily living and the prevalence of apathy. He understands that it is hard work being good and doing good, especially when all the odds are against us, when there is little appreciation shown by others but instead, we face opposition at every turn, especially when we are attempting to do what is right. But that’s the advice given by St Paul, which is his advice to the Thessalonians in today's second reading and it is strangely and unfortunately missing from the lectionary.

It actually takes the virtue of courage and patience to stick to what is right over time. Courage in putting up with the hassle, bustle, the inertia, and all the various frustrations of life, with a determined, strong-minded, never slacking perseverance. We Christians see this virtue as a divine gift coming from God and not from ourselves. It flows from the divine gift of Hope.  Hope in God and trust in the active presence of the risen Christ and His Holy Spirit; in the gifts of the sacraments, the Scriptures, the whole Christian life and in the Church. Although Christian Hope finds its fulfilment in the future, its dynamic is a matter of the here and now, of the present, although not yet “on earth as it is in heaven.” The hope and joy of the kingdom exists here and now, but sometimes it does seem to get blurred especially when we are confronted with the present realities which seem hopeless.

If the Church is indeed a “sign” of hope, how come it doesn’t feel like it these days? Our Church has been wracked with so many controversial headlines in the news, the scandalous clergy sexual abuse, claims of financial mismanagement and even misappropriation, we seem beset by news of so many worrying developments in Rome and elsewhere, we are most aware of the partisan infighting among the Church hierarchy and wonder whether any of the criticisms, accusations of heresy and schism have some bearing of truth. When the anchor of our faith and hope is attacked from without and within, whom or what should we turn to for guidance or direction?

Today’s gospel is an important reminder that our chaotic and troubled times are not something unique. We’ve been here before, more times than we can remember or imagine. The passage begins with some people admiring the beauty of the Jerusalem temple.  The majesty of the architecture and the stonework of the House of God is praised.  But like the prophet Jeremiah, before him the Lord prophesies that “not a stone will be left upon a stone” (which is a reminder that this is not to be the first time the temple would be reduced to rubble), Our Lord goes on to foretell of wars and the violence and civil unrest which will take place in the coming decades. The Temple will be destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70.

The destruction of the Temple, the religious centre and most important icon of the Jewish faith, felt like the end of the world. The disciples of our Lord and the early Christians felt this way too. No wonder the disciples, who must have been shocked with our Lord’s prophecy, proceeded to ask Him how they can tell when this is about to happen. However, the way they put the question reveals that they are under the misconception that the destruction of the Temple happens at the end of the age. Our Lord begins to clear up their misunderstanding by explaining that the destruction of the Temple and the end of the age are in fact two separate events. There are going to be wars and rumours of wars, natural and man-made catastrophes and people are going to claim it is the end of the world and that He is coming, but they are all going to be wrong—every single last one of them. Those aren’t signs of the end. If anything, they are signs of the beginning of a new age, the Christian era, not its ending.

Actually, when you think about it, if wars and rumours of wars, cataclysmic catastrophes are signs of anything, they are just signs of business as usual. There has never been a time without wars and catastrophes somewhere. You might as well say that the end of the age will happen on any day which appears on the calendar. Every single time there is news of this and that, with so many speculating that THIS  is the end of the world, but it always turns out that it isn’t. In fact, before we even get near the end of the age, there is going to be a time of persecution. The Church throughout the centuries remains a persecuted Church. Throughout human history, there is going to be suffering, disease, dislocation, intolerance, persecution, natural disasters, schisms, heresies, wars, and all sorts of unpleasantness, but unfortunately, that is the human condition from which our Lord redeems us, it is not a sign of the end.

So our Lord is pleading with us today to persevere in the faith, even in the midst of all the terrible calamities. He is telling us to expect this as part of life. “When disaster strikes, don't give up! When the world seems to be on the verge of collapse, don’t panic! And when everything within the Church seems to have gone mad, it doesn’t mean it’s the End– well, not yet, at least, not for now! What’s important - keep My Word; the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness; nothing can defeat God's purposes; no evil force can ultimately thwart God's plan for your fulfillment.” The key is to cling to your faith no matter what – “Your endurance will win you your lives!” Your life is like a small boat being tossed about in a great storm, there’s bound to be turbulence. You have to ride out the storm, and the best way to get through it without falling overboard is to cling to the mast—Jesus Christ. This too is what Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wishes to convey to us, “Being an 'Adult' means having a faith which does not follow the waves of today's fashions or the latest novelties. A faith which is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ, is adult and mature. It is this friendship which opens us up to all that is good and gives us the knowledge to judge true from false, and deceit from truth.”

In these disconsolate days, Christ calls us now, in our time, to become courageous and patient and faithful bearers of hope and joy. The Christian vision does not deny the reality of evil, of brokenness, of suffering and sorrow, and the fragility of goodness. But we should not fall prey to hopelessness and resign ourselves to doing nothing. We should not let life’s difficulties cause us to give up and put us on the sidelines. Christians are to avoid Utopian dreams on the one hand and cynical despair and weariness on the other. The vast majority of “doing good” happens not in the limelight to be celebrated by thousands, but in the private, unobserved place where God’s kingdom goes forward and eventually turns the world upside down. Doing good is not like the flash and sizzle of fireworks, but the slow, organic growth of a sapling into a tree.  As disciples of the Lord we are called not only to confront evil and even to suffer under it, but also to curtail its power; and to cherish signs of life and light and love and help them to flourish. As St Paul reminds us, “my brothers and sisters never grow tired of doing what is right.”