Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle
The Importance of Being Friends

Readings: Romans 10:9-18; Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 11; Matthew 4:18-22


What does our Christian faith mean to us? How is it often presented to us? Doesn’t it sometimes seem to be all about a list of beliefs that we need to hold, or a set of religious practices that we need to observe? Indeed, seen from this perspective, the message of our readings – on this feast of St. Andrew the apostle – seem simple enough to understand. How are we saved? We need simply to confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord and believe from our heart that God raised him from the dead. And how are we to do this? We must listen to the Good News as it is preached by other people or as it is wordlessly proclaimed by all of creation. The heavens proclaim the glory of God… Simple enough? Seems so. As simple as, for example, listening to a talk or a lecture, or reading a book, understanding the contents and then trying to put them into practice.

And yet, anyone who tries to live out the implications of such belief and confession will testify to the difficulties involved. It’s not easy truly to allow Jesus to be Lord over our whole life, is it? There often seem to be so many other desires, other anxieties, other preoccupations that threaten to displace Him from the throne of our hearts.

Still, we notice how the first apostles respond to Jesus’ call in the gospel. They left their nets at once and followed him. Of course, they underwent many ups and downs after that. They even deserted and denied their Lord in his time of need. Yet we are told that all but one of the Twelve repented and persevered to the end. Could they have done this merely by clinging to a list of beliefs or a set of religious practices? Or was there more to it than that? Was it not rather the person of Jesus that impressed and attracted them to leave all? Did their strength to follow Christ through all the ups and downs of life not come rather from their relationship, their friendship, with the One who called them to be fishers of people? Indeed, do we not get a hint of this crucial personal dimension of our faith in our opening prayer, where we express the hope that St. Andrew may always be for us a friend in God’s presence?

What difference does being friends of and in the Lord make to our lives today?

34th Wednesday in Ordinary Time (II)
Praise and Inspiration

Readings: Revelations 15:1-4; Psalm 98:1, 2-3ab, 7-8, 9; Luke 21:12-19


Our readings invite reflection upon a connection between two aspects of the spiritual life that’s probably not very obvious, but is well known to some, especially those in the Charismatic Renewal. It’s the connection between praise and inspiration.

In the first reading, we notice how those who had fought against the beast and won, sing a great hymn of praise to God, even as angels are bringing the seven plagues upon the earth. And in the gospel, Jesus assures his disciples that even when they have to undergo persecution on account of His name, he will be with them, inspiring them and giving them an eloquence and a wisdom that none… will be able to resist or contradict. Could there be some connection between the praise we find in the first reading and the inspiration in the gospel?

Without hesitation, those in the Charismatic Renewal would say yes. Indeed they rely on this connection between praise and inspiration at their prayer meetings each week when they go through what some call the Charismatic Cycle. The meeting usually begins with enthusiastic and even boisterous praise of God in song. But if properly facilitated, loud praise gradually gives way to a time of quiet, when all listen attentively to words of inspiration from God and then share what is received with one another either through words of prophecy or passages from scripture, through testimonies or teachings. The principle being relied upon is that praise somehow inserts us into the flow of God’s Spirit, such that our hearts become more open to God’s inspirations and promptings.

And doesn’t this basic spiritual principle admit of broader application in our lives – beyond the limited time and space of the Charismatic prayer meeting, beyond even those in the Charismatic Renewal? Amidst the inevitable trials that come our way each day perhaps we need especially to recall the great and wonderful works of our Lord God and to praise Him for it in word and deed. Could this be one way that we can practice the endurance of which Jesus speaks in the gospel, the kind that will win you your lives?

What connection might we find between praise and inspiration today?

34th Tuesday in Ordinary Time (II)
The Juice that Endures

Readings: Revelations 14:14-19; Psalm 96:10, 11-12, 13; Luke 21:5-11


I’ve visited vineyards and wineries before, but for some reason the image that the first reading brings to mind is a sugar cane making machine. At the hawker stall we don’t often see the sharp sickle or parang (machete) that was used to harvest the sugar cane. But we do get to witness the stallholder feeding the tough green stems into his machine. And we see the result. The only useful thing – from our point of view at least – that remains is a thirst-quenching glass of juice. The rest is discarded.

In this final week of our liturgical year, our readings continue to invite us to consider what will happen at the end of time. When that day comes, many things will be no more. As Jesus says in the gospel, All these things you are staring at now – the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another: everything will be destroyed. A sobering thought, especially when we are then led to reflect upon the various things that take up our attention each day. How many of these will endure? If not even the beautiful religious structure that is the Jerusalem Temple is spared, what will remain of the things of our world?

We know the answer to that question, don’t we? As we heard in the psalm, when the Lord does come, it will be with justice that he will rule the world and he will judge the peoples with his truth. Justice and truth – these will endure. And are these not simply part of the love with which God created all things, the same love that brought Jesus from the heavens to the earth and from the cross to the sky? Isn’t this the only thing that will endure: the love that we allow God to cultivate in our hearts and in our lives?

Today, even as we continue to build and to tear down, to work and to rest, to play and to pray, we might consider how much of what we do is motivated by love.

How are we filling that eternal glass of sugar cane juice today?

34th Monday in Ordinary Time (II)
Climbing with Heart and Hands

Readings: Revelations 14:1-3, 4b-5; Psalm 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6; Luke 21:1-4


We may each be conscious of it to differing degrees, but don’t all of us have the desire to climb the mountain of the Lord and to stand in his holy place, to enjoy God’s blessings and rewards, to be saved by God from the various difficulties and trials that assail us? If so, today’s readings help us to reflect more deeply upon how we might see that desire fulfilled.

Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? The one with clean hands and pure heart, who desires not worthless things...

How can we be counted among the hundred and forty-four thousand in the first reading who have the Lamb and the Father’s names written on their foreheads? It’s all got to do with our hearts and our hands.

It’s got to do with allowing God gradually to purify our hearts from the desire for worthless things – that is all things seen apart from God who created them.

And this interior purification finds expression in our hands, that is, in the way in which we live our lives. Consider those in the first reading and the widow in the gospel. The former never allow a lie to pass their lips and no fault can be found in them. The latter contributes all she had to live on.

There is at least one more point that becomes clear when we consider another possible interpretation of the gospel passage. Some scholars say that more than simply praising the generosity of the widow Jesus is actually criticizing the religious structures and practices of his day that require the impoverished to contribute even what they need for their own daily sustenance. In this way, Jesus models for us yet another aspect of the clean hands and pure hearts who gain admittance to God’s holy place. He sees clearly and critiques courageously the evil and injustice around him, even at the cost of his own life.

How does the Lord wish to continue purifying our hearts and hands this day?

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
Universal King (B)
Visions of the Night

Readings: Daniel 7:13-14; Psalm 93:1, 1-2, 5; Revelations 1:5-8; John 18:33b-37


Sisters and brothers, what’s your favourite time of day? How do you feel about the night? Do you like it or loathe it? Or are you indifferent? We all probably have many different attitudes toward the night. There are those, of course, who exploit the night for immoral, even sinister purposes. And, quite understandably, there are those too who find its quiet and darkness lonely and frightening. But aren’t there also others who find, in the night, an opportunity to party or to rest and relax, even to think, to pray, and to find inspiration for the challenges of the day?

And the night is not just a particular period of time is it? There are also nights of a different kind. We may think, for example, of the dark nights or crises that we might face in our own personal lives whether at home, at work, in the family, or even in prayer. We may think also of the clouds of darkness that hover so ominously over many different parts of our world. Think, for example of the civil strife in Iraq and nearby East Timor, the genocide in Darfur, the material poverty and hunger in Africa, the psychological distress and spiritual desolation that afflict many in the developed world. Think also of the various social challenges that we face here in Singapore: the widening income gap, the ageing population, the problem of drug-abuse and other forms of addiction, broken marriages and dysfunctional families… What about these kinds of nights? What are our thoughts and feelings, our reactions and responses to them?

Why, you may be wondering, are we dwelling on these rather depressing issues on this final Sunday of our church’s calendar when we celebrate the great feast of Christ the King? We are only following the lead of our readings of today. Of course, the readings speak to us about the everlasting kingship of Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. But consider how, when and to whom Christ the King appears.

Notice, for example, how the prophecy of Daniel begins in the first reading: I gazed into the visions of the night… And what is this night if not the desperate and desolate situation in which Daniel and his people find themselves? Their country is no more – overrun and occupied by foreign invaders – and the people live under oppression. It is into this thick national darkness that the prophet gazes unflinchingly, as he searches for a sign from God. How did his people come to this sad end? What must they do? What has God to say about all this? And Daniel’s courageous and prayerful search is rewarded. He receives a wonderful vision, a divine assurance that God will not forsake his people. One will come on the clouds of heaven, One who will free them from their distress, who will rule over all peoples, and who will establish a Kingdom that will last forever.

At one of the lowest and darkest points in his nation’s history, Daniel receives and shares with his people a marvelous message of hope. What they have to do is to remain faithful, to continue to put their trust in their God, to cling onto the truth of God’s promises come what may.

There is another person in our readings today who receives a kingly vision. No, more than a vision, Pilate receives the King himself. And like Daniel, Pilate too is operating in a time of darkness. Remember what is written earlier in John’s gospel, in chapter 13. After Jesus washes his disciples’ feet and Judas leaves the gathering to betray Jesus, the writer tells us that it was night. Again, more than just a period of time, this night refers to the spiritual darkness that envelops the earth because of what is about to befall Jesus. What a dark night it is when the only begotten Son of God is so cruelly betrayed and denied, humiliated and degraded, tortured and ultimately killed.

This is the profound darkness that forms the background of Pilate’s trial of Jesus. Or, to be more accurate, we should say that it is really Jesus who is putting Pilate on trial. Notice, for example, how Jesus responds to Pilate’s questions. Do you ask this of your own accord…? All who are on the side of truth listen to my voice. What is Jesus doing if not trying to lead Pilate through the darkness into the light? What is Jesus trying to achieve, if not to help Pilate to recognize Jesus’ true identity as he who is coming on the clouds of heaven, to help him to acknowledge and submit to the kingship that is not of this world?

Here we see the truth of what we heard in the second reading: everyone will see him, even those who pierced him… In the midst of the darkness, in whatever form that darkness might take, all will be blessed with a vision of the King. But who will recognize Him? Who will acknowledge his kingship and follow Him?

We know how the story of Pilate ends. Even though he is convinced of Jesus’ innocence, he fails to meet the challenge that Jesus presents. Pilate is unable to see beyond his own very delicate and difficult political situation. He is unable to find the courage to listen to the voice of Christ, to stand on the side of truth. He hands Jesus over to be crucified.

In our readings today, two men find themselves enveloped in darkness. Two men have visions in the night. But only one gazes unflinchingly. Only one recognizes the coming King. Only one is open enough to receive and share God’s message of light and of hope.

Sisters and brothers, in the various dark nights of our lives and of our world, what consolation, what message of hope is being offered to us? How are we being challenged, and what must we do to stand on the side of truth, to follow Christ the King?