24th Sunday Ordinary Time Year A

Sunday Reflection

Remember to let go.

During a TV interview, a German veteran recalled his bitter memories of World War II. The journalist asked him to forgive a soldier who had deserted the front line. The man said, “Why? I don’t buy the idea. Many people died that day. If I meet him in heaven, I will tell God to send me to hell.” Maybe his resentment had already put him in hell.

Ben Sirach said that wrath and anger are polluted things, yet people entertain them. He instructed the young that the vengeful will face vengeance, while the merciful will be pardoned. Just remember the last things in life—death and decay—and let go of enmity. Think of the law, “Do not hate your neighbor,” and overlook the hurt. (Sirach 27:30–28:7) If God should mark iniquities, who could stand? (Psalms 103:8; 130:3)

The life and death of each of us have an influence on everyone. Therefore, you are responsible for your neighbor’s emotional health. For we live and die for the Lord and for one another. (Romans 14:7–9)

Faithful to the Old Testament tradition, Simon Peter decided to forgive his neighbor seven times (Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6). But Jesus asked Peter and His followers to forgive 490 times. Forgive the person who came to you, knelt before you, and said to you, “Have patience with me. I am sorry.” (Matthew 18:21–35)

There is no valid reason for resentment. Everyone deserves justice, but we all long for mercy. Forgive everyone who begs for mercy. God forgives every sin, but the heart that holds the sins of a neighbor has no empty space to receive God’s forgiveness. If refusing to forgive someone sounds like a punishment, the person who is punished here is the one who holds grudges. Life unfolds normally for the offender, but not for you who hold the grudge. Today, you must let go of everything that you hold against God, your neighbors, and yourself. Set yourself free.

Fr. Simon, SMA

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Saturday Week 23 Ordinary Time Year II

Reflection

The Theology of Table Fellowship

“In all societies, both simple and complex, eating is a primary way of initiating and maintaining human relationships… Once the anthropologist finds out where, when and with whom the food is eaten, just about everything else can be inferred about the relations among the society’s members … To know what, where, how, when and with whom people eat is to know the character of their society.” Taken from “Consuming Passion: the Anthropology of eating” by P. Farb and G. Armelogos, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980 pp 4, 211):

St. Paul invites the Corinthians to behave like the people who participate in the Body and Blood of Christ. Those who share at the table of the Lord must avoid idolatry. You cannot have table fellowship with the Lord and also have table fellowship with demons. There must be no syncretism among you. (1Corinthians 10:14-22)

For Jesus, a good tree bears good fruits, and a rotten tree bears rotten fruits. A good person produces good fruits, and an evil person produces evil deeds. A person who builds a house on a foundation made of rock, fears no wind and flood. But not so with the house that is built on the ground and without foundation, it does not last. (Luke 6:43-49)

A good person produces good fruits at all times and everywhere. When Jesus goes into table fellowship with people, the fellowship produces unimaginable fruits. Zacchaeus became extremely generous and he asked for forgiveness for his wicked deeds (Luke 19:1-10). Simon’s mother-in-law is cured from her fever and she served at the table (Luke 4:38-40). In the house of Simon the Pharisee, a sinful woman wept at the feet of Jesus for her many sins. She was forgiven by Jesus (Luke 7:36-50). At the wedding at Cana in Galilee, Jesus changed water into wine and doing so he made all the guests and the hosts very happy (John 2:1-12).

Today, whenever we join the Eucharistic table fellowship, many and unimaginable graces flow from the table of the Lord.

Fr. Simon, SMA

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Friday Week 23 Ordinary Time Year II

Reflection

The blind guide

Jesus tells the parable of the blind guide. A man lost his ability to see; but he was not willing to quit his job of guiding the blind person entrusted to him. He continued as a guide to the blind person. Sadly, one day, both of them fell into a pit. (Luke 6:39-42)

The day Paul met Jesus he was blindfolded by his hatred for the followers of Christ. Jesus cured his blindness with the light of the gospel. Paul’s life changed completely. He preached the gospel willingly and free of charge. He put himself at the service of all; he lived in solidarity with everyone to win all to Christ and have a share in the gospel of Christ. He imposed discipline on himself, trained his body with exercises, and ran the race with the goal of winning people and himself for God, and being crowned with the prize of eternal life. He did not practice shadowboxing. He was always on the move. (1Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-27)

To avoid becoming a blind guide, you will need to evaluate yourself first; purify your way of life; remove the obstacles on your ways, the beam from your eyes; care for your wounds and emotional hurts; train yourself for healthy life style. Take time evaluate your own life style and services.

Fr. Simon, SMA

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Thursday Week 23 Ordinary Time Year II

Reflection

The perfect expression of love

About 470 BC. in Athens, Socrates taught the way of humility to his followers, “All I know is that I know nothing.” About 500 years after Socrates, Paul explained to the Corinthians that when someone claims to know something, then, the person knows nothing at all. Knowledge is the cause of pride, but love is essential for community building. God is love. Christ’s death on the cross was God’s expression of love. It is not what we eat that separates us from God, but sin separates us from God. The love of God is eternal. (1Corinthians 8:1b-7, 11-12)

Christ taught his followers the doctrine of perfect love. Perfect love is beyond justice. Love has no enemy. Jesus commanded his disciples to love those who hate, to bless those who curse and persecute, to pray for those who abuse vulnerable people, to give everyone who asks for something, to avoid striking a violent person, to do good to all including the wicked person, to forgive and not to judge. The person who does justice returns measure for measure, for people to get what they deserve. Not so with love. The person who loves, gives beyond measure and merit. Jesus asked his followers to put their love into action by becoming merciful towards everyone, the ungrateful and the wicked. Then, they shall be like the heavenly Father. At last, goodness will be rewarded in an overflowing measure, packed together, shaken down, and be poured into the laps. (Luke 6:27-38)

Fr. Simon, SMA

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Wednesday Week 23 Ordinary Time Year II

Reflection

I give you my opinion

Like someone that you can trust, St Paul gives his opinion on certain issues of life. For St Paul, try to be yourself for that is who you are. It is good for you to remain who you are. If you are a virgin, a married or unmarried person, be proud of who you are. To be married, or unmarried, or a virgin is never a sin. You may experience affliction because of who you are and what you have, but never fall into the sin of trying to behave like someone else. Do not allow suffering and rejoicing and possessions transform your true being. So be happy with your true self (1Corinthians 7:25-31).

Jesus, the Son of God, speaks about certain circumstances of life. For Jesus, if you are poor or hungry or weeping or hated by neighbors for being a good person, be proud of who you are. Do not try to become someone else. The time is coming when you will experience a total reversal of fortune. When you are rich and everyone speaks well of you, you run into the danger of deviating from your true nature. (Luke 6:20-26)

The time is running out and the world is passing away. The value of life must not be measured by the number of belongings but rather by the good relationship that is established with God and one another. So, be content with who you are and what you have. Be always ready for God.

Fr. Simon, SMA

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The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary 8th September

Reflection

God is with us

There is no canonical account about the birth of the mother of Jesus. The tradition believes that before the conception of the Virgin Mary, the Almighty God chose her to be the mother of his only begotten son. The tradition holds this about the birth of mother of Jesus Christ:

God intervened for the conception of the Virgin Mary into the household of Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus from his mother side. God showered an abundant grace on the fruit of the womb of Anne and made Mary “full of grace”. God destined Mary to bear the only Begotten Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph, also called Emmanuel which means “God is with us.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had revealed; that the son of the Virgin Mary will be given the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever; that the child of the Virgin Mary will be called holy, the Son of God, the Shepherd of the flock of God (Cf. Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23; Luke 1:32-35; Micah 5:1-4).

The meaning of the feast of the Nativity of Mary for me:

As I celebrate the birthday of the mother of Jesus Christ, I remember my own birthday. I am assured that as God did for Mary, God had a plan for my life before my birth. I am the creation of God. I was born for a purpose. I am not an accident on the earth. I am not here by mistake or mishap. My life is not a fluke of nature. I was conceived and born for a mission. I am a messenger of God. God is always faithful to his choice on me. I also need to be faithful to God. I renew my attachment to God whenever I say: “Here I am Lord. I have come to do your will.”

I wish a happy birthday to you Virgin Mary. Hail Mary! Full of grace;

Fr. Simon, SMA

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Monday Week 23 Ordinary Time Year II

Reflection

Getting rid of the old yeast of evil and wickedness

The church of Corinthians, though full of spiritual gifts, suffers from immorality. Jesus is against the practice of illicit marriage (Matthew 19:9). A case of illicit marital relationship was brought to the apostles. A man was living with his father’s wife and the community condoned the relationship to secure the rights of the family over the widow’s inheritance. This old practice of marriage was an act of wickedness against the widow. For the apostles, it was not good to celebrate the new harvest with the old yeast. As a community of new born, Christians must get rid of the old yeast or the old evil tradition and eat the Passover meal with unleavened bread. Do not bring the old yeast into the new community. Do away with all sorts of evil and wicked traditions. (1Corinthians 5:1-8)

Jesus wanted the Pharisees and the scribes to observe the true meaning of the Sabbath, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) It was lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy life. "Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a well on a sabbath day, would not immediately pull him out?" (Luke 14:5)

Jesus healed the man whose right hand was withered on the Sabbath day. He invited his opponents to go back to the original meaning of Sabbath, “to do good things rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy life (Luke 6:6-11).

The time has come for us to get rid of our old ways of life that are connected to a tradition of wickedness, immorality, and impurity.

Fr. Simon, SMA

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23rd Sunday Ordinary Time Year A

Sunday Reflection

A brother’s keeper

After killing his brother Abel, Cain said to God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9) Love holds the members of a household together. But bad memories divide and call people names, tax-collectors, gentiles, sinners, Samaritans, meat, dogs, fox, sons of thunder, the rocky one, and river.

To eradicate evil, God made Ezekiel a neighbor’s keeper, a watchman to warn the people when God is angry with them. Ezekiel would be held responsible for the misconduct of his neighbors if he failed to warn them. (Ezekiel 33:7-9)

Paul sent a letter to the Romans. He asked them not to owe anyone anything, except love. The command from the Lord is to love one another. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no evil to a neighbor. Love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Romans 13:8-10).

Jesus asked his followers to become neighbour’s keepers, to initiate one-to-one talk with the person who hurt you. When the person at fault refused to listen, then use one or more witnesses to ensure peace. The person who refused to be reconciled is treated as a gentile in need of conversion. The brother’s keepers must pray together as a household. (Matthew 18:15-20)

Everyone has a debt to pay. The debt of love; to do no one what you dislike. We must make extra effort to ensure that the black sheep is aware of the wrongdoing to keep good fellowship with everyone in the household. Accurate feedback is the tool to nurture good relationships. Love is the only thing that does no wrong to anyone. When you love, you show the world that you belong to Christ who laid down his life on the cross for sinners.

Fr. Simon, SMA