tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24383995.post4075689427161182067..comments2024-03-22T04:12:44.008+08:00Comments on Breaking the Word: Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24383995.post-51954929009746922632008-09-23T10:47:00.000+08:002008-09-23T10:47:00.000+08:00Speaking of wage discrepancies and objections, I'm...Speaking of wage discrepancies and objections, I'm reminded of the recent protest by Serangoon Gardens residents against a proposed *temporary* housing for around 1,000 foreign workers in their estate. <BR/><BR/>Most Singaporeans were migrants or children (or grandchildren) of migrants. Yet, many Singaporeans seem to have forgotten this and often speak up against having foreigners enter our land, and now against letting foreign workers live in their estate. It's almost like the early workers in the vineyard complaining against equal treatment (living in the same estate) for the latecomers!<BR/><BR/>In this weekend's Catholic News, Fr Luke Fong challenged us all with an article, <I>"Do not be afraid" of foreign workers in neighbourhood</I>. Towards the end, he painted this scenario:<BR/><BR/><I>"At the end of life we find ourselves at heaven's door. Jesus comes to meet us. We are so glad to see him. We have waited for this moment all our lives. But then he says, "Remember, I wanted to live just 100 metres from your house, but you wanted me to live in Tuas and Choa Chu Kang. You were more concerned with the value of your property than with your humanity. I gave you the opportunity to love me in the strangers from Myanmar, India, China and Thailand. But you rejected it and chose instead to go on annual foreign missions and to give generous financial donations on Mission Sunday. You came to the Adoration Room weekly to get close to me and yet when I wanted to sit next to you on Bus 317, you refused me."</I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24383995.post-5183284624959043132008-09-22T09:34:00.000+08:002008-09-22T09:34:00.000+08:00Getting to serve in the vineyard earlier in life r...Getting to serve in the vineyard earlier in life rather than later is not so much a burden but a privilege for the wonderful gift of being aware of God's nearness and love and being able to return that love by sharing him with others who may be struggling to find God.<BR/><BR/>Of course those of us in multiple ministries will have days of wishing for a sabbatical and "freedom" from labour as it is not always an easy ride to be walking with Jesus when one gets tired, hungry and dry or unappreciated.<BR/><BR/>However, whenever I reflect on this parable, I'm in fact drawn to ask another question. <BR/><BR/>Why in our world is there such a discrepancy between the wages of a poor man sweeping the streets under the hot sun and a top-earning CEO using his god-given business acumen to create billion-dollar businesses when BOTH MEN worked equally hard (eg 10 hours a day) throughout the day- giving everything they've got in physical, mental or emotional strength.<BR/><BR/>Why do we not object when the take-home pay of our Filipino maid is about a dollar an hour, 24/7, and it is their contribution to our lives that enable us to peg our "market" rate at 10, 20, 50 or even 100 dollars an hour to do more "useful" work--including serving on the vineyard of church ministry.<BR/><BR/>Should such an awareness not bring deep distress and also deep humility of acknowledging what we have in material and spiritual wealth is ALL from God and not from our own merit?<BR/><BR/>And does this not move our hearts to willingly labour with joy in the service of our Lord in serving our less fortunate brothers and sisters, and rejoice with them when they also come to taste the goodness of our Lord of love?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24383995.post-76671432776725171672008-09-21T20:21:00.000+08:002008-09-21T20:21:00.000+08:00I'm not sure whether God IS testing me. Nowadays, ...I'm not sure whether God IS testing me. Nowadays, I find myself rather disturbed by talk among believers that good works alone (regardless of faith) is sufficient for our salvation.<BR/><BR/>On one hand, since I'm the only convert in my family, I'd be more than overjoyed IF this is true. Afterall, this means that the other members in my family will have no problems meeting God face to face in our after lives AND I'll still meet them in heaven (if I get there). On the other hand, I feel troubled by what I see as a distortion of what I've read in the bible and what we have been taught by the Church so far: That regardless of however hard we may try, we'll always fall short of being really good. So, it ultimately boils down to God's mercy for us, thanks mostly to Jesus' mediation and our belief in Him.<BR/><BR/>I don't think that we Christians are spiritually superior to people of other faiths. How to make a blanket statement like this when each one of us is at different spiritual levels (faith or no faith)? All I can see is that the main advantage we have is a divine mediator. Would/Could Christ mediate for people of other faiths when He kept stressing (as reported in the four gospels) that we must believe in Him and that his disciples must go out to the whole world to spread the good news and baptise people in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit?<BR/><BR/>However, Fr Chris, re-reading what you've quoted at the end of this post (1 John 4) is making me wonder. Yes, v.7 says, "everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God". But v.6 also says, "We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us." And v.9 says, "God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him."<BR/><BR/>Can't people like me simply say, "We don't know. It would be great if this happens. Romans 2 says it's possible. But based on what we understand, we can't say for sure..." If in such a case, someone else insists that we CAN say for sure that good works suffice and then start accusing us of being judgemental, who is actually is jumping the gun and being judgemental?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com