Saturday of the 2nd Week of Advent

Years ago, I recall receiving an e-mail about a lady who was looking for a Mr. Right. In other words, the lady was fishing for a husband. It so happened that the lady came across a building with a sign saying: "Search a Husband Here." Also, there was another sign saying: "You can enter this building only once and stop at each floor only once." The building had 7 floors and the lady excitedly entered the lift at the ground floor. When the lift reached the first floor, the doors of the lift opened and the lady saw a sign in front of her saying: "Enter here for a husband who is handsome and strong." The lady decided to remain in the lift, curious to know what the next floors would be. At the second floor, the sign in front of her said: "Enter here for a husband who is handsome, strong, and a good cook." The sign at the third floor said: "Enter here for a husband who is handsome, strong, a good cook, and loves children." The lady became more and more curious and excited, and she decided to remain in the lift and see what the other floors would reveal. As she reached the fourth, fifth and sixth floor, the sign in front of her on each floor revealed even more fantastic capabilities and attributes of the men supposingly to be found at each floor. Finally the lady reached the seventh floor and when she got out of the lift, all she saw was a flight of stairs going down, and a sign which said: "No men can be found here, since no men could ever meet your expectations at this level."

Today’s gospel tells us about a Mr. Right, the right man to foretell the coming of the Messiah. According to the scribes, the prophet Elijah is the right person to prepare the coming of the Messiah, since they believed that Elijah was the precursor of the Messiah, and that Elijah was a terrible man preaching doom and destruction. Yet when John the Baptist came and announced the coming of the Messiah, somebody greater than him, the scribes did not accept him as Mr. Right. For them, John’s person and message was not up to their expectations. He preached about baptism and personal conversion, not about the terror that will go with the day of the Lord. For them John was not Elijah, not Mr. Right. Yet, the irony is, John actually turned our to be Mr, Right, not according to our expectations, but according to God's plans.

What about us? Have our expectations clouded us and prevented us from accepting the message of John the Baptist, the actual Mr. Right, and prepare the way for the Lord? May we open our eyes, ears and hearts, so that we would be able to let the message of John the Baptist change us, so that we would learn to walk in God's ways and glorify Him in all we do.

Saturday of the 2nd Week of Lent

In certain ethnic groups, traditions and customs, the deity is seen as a being to be feared. Persons belonging to such ethnic groups or adhere to such traditions and customs would do all they can to appease the deity, by offering the best of their produce, or offer money, hoping that the deity could be "bribed" into leaving them in peace and harmony. Some such ethnic groups, traditions and customs may even have a practice of sacrificing an animal, or even to the extent of offering human sacrifices, hoping that the deity would be appeased.

However, today's reading paints us quite a different picture of God. In the reading, we are told: "What god can compare with you: taking fault away, pardoning crime, not cherishing anger for ever but delighting in showing mercy?" Unlike a deity that is fierce, vengeful and prone to meting out punishment, we have a God who takes fault away, pardons crime, does not cherish anger, and even delights in showing mercy. Thus, let us not be afraid of God, rather let us go to Him with humility and docility for forgiveness, comfort and guidance, knowing that He will not abandon us. Let us also delight in showing mercy towards others, just as God is continuously showing mercy to us.

Saturday of the 2nd Week of Advent

In the world, people often look at qualifications and experience when hiring a person. When a candidate is being chosen for elections, he or she may not necessarily have the proper abilities, but may be chosen because of his or her popularity or clout among important or powerful figures in the political party. Looks, popularity, having close relationship with powerful figures, qualifications and experience are some of the criteria when it comes to choices made in the world.

That is why, if we look at today's Gospel, the scribes did not recognise John the Baptist as Elijah who has come to see that everything is once more as it should be; but treated him as they pleased, since he did not meet their worldly criteria, since Elijah preached doom and destruction, but John the Baptist preached about baptism and personal conversion, which was not what the scribes expected. But what the scribes failed to realise is that God's ways are not their ways, and His choices need not meet their expectations. Would we end up like the scribes, expecting choices to be made according to our terms, or would we put our trust in God, and let Him decide what is best for us?

Saturday of the 2nd Week of Advent

There are times our understanding of the right person for the task at hand may not necessarily be the right person to God. For example, we sometimes wonder why a priest is posted to a particular parish, especially where the priest seems less energetic than previous parish priests. Or perhaps some may wonder why a certain person was chosen to become the bishop, even though there seem to be other candidates who seem better qualified or experienced. But as we know, God's ways are not our ways, and he choices turn out to be for the better in the long run.

In today's Gospel, we come across another example of how our understanding of the right person differs from God. According to the scribes, members of a learned class in Jesus’ time, the prophet Elijah is the right person to prepare the coming of the Messiah. Elijah’s return to earth is the great sign that the expected Savior is coming as prophesied by another prophet named Malachi, who prophesied that the precursor of the Messiah is a terrible man preaching doom and destruction. John the Baptist came and announced the coming of the Messiah, somebody greater than him, but the scribes rejected John the Baptist, since he preached about baptism and personal conversion, not about the terror that will go with the day of the Lord. What the scribes failed to realise is that, as already mentioned, God's ways are not their ways, and in fact, John the Baptist was Elijah, who came to prepare the way for the Lord.

What can we learn from this? At the end of the day, we must realise that God has a plan and purpose for persons chosen. His choices may not jive with our choices, but His choices are best. Would we still doubt His choices, just like the scribes did, or would we trust in Him and let Him be our guide?

Friday of the 2nd Week of Advent

In society, we have certain rules, regulations and laws which are meant to be followed, for the good of society as a whole. If we do not follow such rules, regulations and laws, we could be causing inconvenience or even problems to others, because of our selfishness, attitude and behaviour. For example, if we drive our vehicle as we please by not wearing the seatbelt or driving too fast, we may be a danger or hazard to others, and the police would summon us for not obeying traffic laws. Likewise, we also have God's commandments which are there for the good of all, so that all may be loving and responsible in our words, deeds and conduct.

Today's reading tells us: "I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is good for you, I lead you in the way that you must go. If only you had been alert to my commandments, your happiness would have been like a river, your integrity like the waves of the sea." God is inviting us to let Him teach us and lead us. When we are open to following God's commandments, and be willing to let Him guide us, we would then learn to be loving and responsible as His people. Are we willing to let God be our guide, or do we still stubbornly insist in doing things our way?

Thursday of the 2nd Week of Advent

When you go for a holiday or a business or working trip, it is generally better if you have a tour guide or someone who knows the place of destination who can accompany you. This is so that the holiday or trip would be an enjoyable one, and you would not be so easily cheated or taken for a ride. In the season of Advent, there is somebody who is ever willing to help us in our journey. That person is John the Baptist, who is showing us the way and the preparations that we need to do. The preparations consist of repentance and the conversion of heart. In the Gospel, Jesus exalts John the Baptist because he is faithful and committed to His mission in life. He is indeed true to his purpose.

What about us? Are we preparing ourselves for Jesus, with repentance and conversion of heart? Are we being faithful and committed to our mission in life, so as to give glory to God? May we follow John the Baptist's example, and prepare the way not only for ourselves but for others too, so that we would be ready to meet our loving Saviour.

Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Advent

When a farmer wants to plough the field in preparation for planting crops, the farmer would put a yoke on an ox so that the animal could pull the plough. Some farmers have a yoke which is designed for 2 oxen, so that the burden of ploughing the field could be shared by the 2 oxen. Another reason why a yoke for 2 oxen is used is to train a new ox, since the more experienced ox would be guiding the new ox in ploughing the field.

In today's Gospel, Jesus is inviting us to " Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light." When we have Jesus to guide us, we would be able to go through the plough of life with less difficulty, since Jesus is pulling the plough with us. May we shoulder Jesus' yoke, and find rest for our souls in His care.

Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Advent

Supposing you are a rich man and you dropped some money while coming out of a building, would you go back to search for the money and retrieve it? If the amount dropped is substantial, some may go back to search and recover the money, but if the amount is negligible, quite likely it would be ignored. But if you are a poor person, any amount of money lost is a big deal, and quite likely a poor person would search and recover the money.

In today's Gospel, we see a man who chose to go after that one sheep that was lost, even though he had another ninety-nine. For some of us, losing one sheep may not have been a big deal; but for that man, each sheep was extremely precious and losing even one could be disastrous to the man's livelihood, and so he had no qualms about searching for that lost sheep till it was found. God is very much like that man. The Gospel tells us that "it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost." Even if we have done a lot of bad or nasty things, God is always looking for us and beckoning us to come home with Him. Are we going to stubbornly choose to remain lost? Or are we willing to return to the Lord's ways, and let Him be our providence and guide?

Monday of the 2nd Week of Advent

When a person is paralysed, he or she may not be able to move or do anything on their own, and would require the help of family and friends to attend to their daily needs. Some even suffer from a different form of paralysis, where a person is unable to speak or express oneself clearly and concretely, and may end up being misunderstood or even rejected. This is why being paralysed in one way or another is certainly no laughing matter, since we lose our freedom and independence to care for ourselves, and are at the mercy and generosity of others.

In today's Gospel, we come across a paralysed man who was brought on a stretcher by some men. These men went up on to the flat roof and lowered him and his stretcher down through the tiles into the middle of the gathering, in front of Jesus, as the crowd made it impossible to find a way of getting him in. It was the faith of these men that impressed Jesus and Jesus cured the paralysed man, based on such great faith. The paralysed man may have had faith, but there was no way of telling about the amount of faith he had, since he could not move or express himself. So this paralysed man was lucky and fortunate to have such great friends who had such great faith in Jesus.

Some of us may be suffering from a different kind of paralysis, that is spiritual paralysis. We suffer from spiritual paralysis when we sin and allow ourselves to remain in the state of sin, until we become spiritually paralysed to God's promptings. The cure to such spiritual paralysis is to be regular and consistent in going for confession, and building our relationship with God. The question is: are we willing to be set free from such spiritual paralysis, or do we prefer to remain spiritually paralysed until it is too late?

Monday of the 2nd Week of Advent

Paralysis can come in many different forms. Some people are actually physically paralysed. Depending on the severity of the physical paralysis, such people may not be able to move or do anything on their own, and would require the help of family and friends to attend to their daily needs. Another form of physical paralysis is the inability to speak or express oneself clearly and concretely. Persons suffering from such a paralysis may find it difficult to communicate and may end up being misunderstood or even rejected. This is why being paralysed physically in one way or another is certainly no laughing matter, since we lose our freedom and independence to care for ourselves, and are at the mercy and generosity of others.

In today's Gospel, we come across a paralysed man who was brought on a stretcher by some men. These men went up on to the flat roof and lowered him and his stretcher down through the tiles into the middle of the gathering, in front of Jesus, as the crowd made it impossible to find a way of getting him in. It was the faith of these men that impressed Jesus and Jesus cured the paralysed man, based on such great faith. The paralysed man may have had faith, but there was no way of telling about the amount of faith he had, since he could not move or express himself. So this paralysed man was lucky and fortunate to have such great friends who had such great faith in Jesus.

Another form of paralysis which we should be extra careful of is paralysis due to sin. When we sin, our conscience and our soul slowly becomes paralysed, until we become unable to differentiate what is truly right or wrong, and our soul is unable to move and reach out to God. We become alienated from God, untul we may even lose all connection or communication with Him. This is why, if we notice in today's Gospel, the first words Jesus said to cure the paralysed man were: "My friend, your sins are forgiven you." Physical paralysis was already bad enough, but what concerned Jesus even more is spiritual paralysis, which can cripple us far worse. Today, let us be on our constant guard against the snare of spiritual paralysis. Let us make every effort to have our sins forgiven through the sacrament of Reconciliation, so that we could be able to "get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home," and return to our loving God's care and guide once again.

Monday of the 2nd Week of Advent

How many of us have got steadfast and great faith that Jesus would be able to help us and heal us? Some of us say that we have faith, but when help or healing does not happen, we begin to doubt and begin to look for other ways or means of help. Some of us say we have faith, but in our minds we are already having a defeatist attitude, thinking that we are only kidding ourselves. How many of us are willing to be patient and let Jesus do what is best for us, for the glory of God?

In today's Gospel, the paralysed man was fortunate to have friends who had great faith in Jesus. They had so much faith in Jesus that they were even willing to take the trouble and: "went up on to the flat roof and lowered him and his stretcher down through the tiles into the middle of the gathering, in front of Jesus." This is because "the crowd made it impossible to find a way of getting him in." Because of the great faith of such friends, the paralysed man was cured.

If people could have such great faith in Jesus and go through so much trouble to help the paralysed man be cured, what about us? Are we willing to put aside our fears, our doubts, and our insecurities and let Jesus be our help and guide? Do we not trust in God's providence? Let us be persistent and consistent in trusting God, since He can help us according to His terms and for His glory.

Friday of the 2nd Week of Advent

Growing in relationship with God requires us to be in tune with the will of God. We need to get involved and do our part. Some of us may have thought that we could become closer to God by praying all the time, but we neglect in being loving and charitable to others. On the other hand, some do a lot of charitable deeds, but they do not pray or spend time listening to God's promptings. These people may appear to be good and generous in what they do, but sometimes it may be done for personal gratification and not to glorify God. In other words, we need to learn to dance to God's tune by doing His will, not ours.

In today's Gospel, we read of Jesus commenting that the people of His generation knows how to criticise John the Baptist and Himself, but they wouldn't dance to pipes nor mourn to dirges. They were not wise enough to see that John the Baptist and Jesus were trying to teach them a tune for their salvation. This is because these people wanted to dance to their own tune, instead of dancing to God's tune by doing His will. Some of us may be like that: we want to grow in relationship with God, but we want to do it our way. We try to dance to our own tune and when others don't join in, we criticise them for being stubborn or resistant to change. The problem is, it is actually us who are being stubborn or resistant to change, since we are adamant or insistent that our way is the better way or the only way. Are we willing to let our Lord of the dance guide us and teach us better "dancing techniques" for His glory?

Thursday of the 2nd Week of Advent

Some people are quite fearful of different things. Some are fearful of what is going to happen to their future, some are fearful of their health or family situation, some are fearful of being lonely and abandoned, some are even fearful of unnecessary things. But as Christians, what should be our attitude towards fear? Should we be fearful in the first place?

In today's reading, we are assured of God's love and care: "I, the Lord, your God, I am holding you by the right hand; I tell you, ‘Do not be afraid, I will help you.’" When we have trust and confidence in God's help and providence, there is no reason to be fearful. God will take care of things in His time. Are we willing to let God be in control and let Him keep us in His loving embrace?

Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Advent

Every once in a while, some of us may be suffering from some form of burnout or tiredness, depending on how severe our situation has become. This is why we are constantly advised not to overdo things and not to try to be a hero. We are called to glorify God, but we should also learn to take care of ourselves, not only physically, but also spiritually, so that we can serve the Lord with joy and vigour. There needs to be time for mission, time for rest and relaxation, and even time for updating oneself.

Naturally, we cannot rely only on our own strength to preach the message of the Gospel to others. Today's reading tells us: "The Lord is an everlasting God, he created the boundaries of the earth. He does not grow tired or weary, his understanding is beyond fathoming. He gives strength to the wearied, he strengthens the powerless. Young men may grow tired and weary, youths may stumble, but those who hope in the Lord renew their strength they put out wings like eagles. They run and do not grow weary, walk and never tire." When we hope in the Lord and depend on Him, we would be able to accomplish many things for His glory. At the same time too, we ought to rest in His care, so that He can heal us and help us grow. Let us make every effort to let God guide our lives and actions, so that in all we do, may He be glorified.

Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Advent

How many of us actually bother about the small things or the small stuff? Sometimes we hear people tell us, "don't sweat the small stuff," or "look at the bigger picture," or even "think big." When we have plenty, would we still look out for one small item or thing which has been lost? Some of us may not bother and let it be, but others may go hunting high and low for that small item or thing. Somethings, the small item or thing may turn out to be just as precious as the bigger ones.

In today's Gospel, we see a man who chose to go after that one sheep that was lost, even though he had another ninety-nine. For some of us, losing one sheep may not have been a big deal; but for that man, each sheep was extremely precious, and he had no qualms about searching for that lost sheep till it was found. God is very much like that man. The Gospel tells us that "it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost." Even if we have done a lot of bad or nasty things, God is always looking for us and beckoning us to come home with Him. Are we going to stubbornly run away and hide, and choose to remain lost?

Friday of the 2nd Week of Advent

Following God's commandments is not that difficult or complicated. It is when we are stubborn, rebellious, wanting our way, proud or have big egos that we begin to think we can do whatever we like. We sometimes see such attitude in society today. Some of those who are rich and powerful begin to think that they are superior and they think they can get away with anything. What about us? Are we becoming more self-centered and refusing to listen and obey God's commandments? Do we think we can run away from right conduct and responsibility? In Bahasa Malaysia, there is a saying: "Sepandai-pandai tupai melompat, akhirnya jatuh ke tanah juga." Roughly translated into English: "No matter how clever a squirrel jumps or hops, it will eventually fall onto the ground." What we do or failed to do will eventually emerge in some form some day. We cannot continuously hide skeletons in a closet forever. Are we humble enough to change and let God take control?

Today's reading tells us: "I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is good for you, I lead you in the way that you must go. If only you had been alert to my commandments, your happiness would have been like a river, your integrity like the waves of the sea." God is beckoning us to let Him teach us and lead us. Are we willing to open our hearts and minds and let him do so? Or are we still resistant and refusing to change? Life is short and unpredictable. Let us not waste the opportunities given to us to grow and dwell in God's embrace.

Thursday of the 2nd Week of Advent

As children, some of us often need reassurance from our parents that they love us. At times, they may find it difficult to say so, but they express their love in other ways. Even as adults, we need reassurance from our family, our spouse that they love us. In our relationship with God, there are times we seek reassurance from God that He loves us and is there for us. We may not see God face to face, but we see many signs of His love and care around us.

Today's reading reinforces God's reassuring love and care. We read: "I, the Lord, your God, I am holding you by the right hand; I tell you, ‘Do not be afraid, I will help you." What more reassurance do we need from God? He is holding us, he will help us. Why are some of us still skeptical or not trusting? Do we doubt that God can and will help us? Or have we become so impatient, expecting God to help us right away, not according to His time?

Wednesday of the 2nd Week of Advent

In life, we sometimes are laden with heavy burdens. At times, we may feel as if our burdens are too difficult to bear and some may give up and despair. However, in today's Gospel, we are reassured by Jesus who invites us to "Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light."

With Jesus inviting us to shoulder his yoke and learn from Him, we no longer need to fear or worry, as Jesus is helping us along the way. However, are we willing to let Him guide us? Or are we still adamant that we go our own way?

Tuesday of the 2nd Week of Advent

From time to time, we may have to strayed away from God. We may have thought we can go on on our own, and sometimes we end up getting into trouble. However, today's Gospel reassures us that God is constantly on the lookout and He is willing to "go in search of the stray." It is never God's will "that one of these little ones should be lost."

In the same way, just as God is always looking out for us so that we will not be lost, are we doing the same towards others around us? Sometimes we may be tempted to just wash our hands and give up on certain people, but let us be reminded that we should learn from our loving God and follow His example, leading and guiding others back to Him. However, God does not force us to go back to Him. We have a choice: to be found and guided back to Him, or to remain lost. It is all up to us. Let us pray that we will choose wisely for our eternal future.