God's Mercy and Forgiveness

As we go on in life we tend to set a higher value on the virtues of mercy and kindness. When we look back on our lives we remember with regret acts of unkindness. Jesus was kind and merciful to individuals whom he was called to judge. The classic example is the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:1-11).

We must learn from the example of Jesus today. Jesus condemns the woman’s sin but He didn’t condemn her. What she needed was mercy and compassion. He treated her in such a way that it made her want to reform her life. He condemned the sin and pardoned the sinner. He got her to own it and take responsibility for her wrongdoing. The compassion and forgiveness of Jesus give life to her. Jesus condemns the sin but loves the sinners.

“Be merciful as the Father is merciful,” (LK 6: 36). Merciful is essential to true justice. It is something we all stand in need of, and therefore, it is something we must be ready to extend to others. We often raise an accusation finger against another when we ourselves are in constant need of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH

The Holy Father, Pope Frances invited the Universal Church to open its doors for a 24-Hour Prayer Vigil on March 4 and 5, 2016 in honour of the Year of Mercy. It was one of my critical moments as I planned and listed down hours for the vigil and encouraged as many parishioners / families / BECs as possible, to take part in the Pope’s initiative. After much thought and prayers and with the assistance of Ms Cynthia Rosario and BECCOT members, we finally came up with a method and schedule for parishioners to participate in the vigil according to their convenience.

We displayed the list of BECs who signed up for the 24-Hour Prayer Vigil on our church notice board and we also circulated it via emails to all BEC leaders. We strongly encouraged all BEC members to come in groups according to the scheduled list. Copies of “Prayer Guide” based on the theme “Be Merciful, as the Father is Merciful,” (Lk 6:36), were made available which helped everyone to utilise the hour of prayer meaningfully and prayerfully.

Despite the hot and humid weather many of you did not fail to be present in the church. I was really taken up with your response and it was overwhelming. I have noticed that at least 20-50 parishioners were present every hour to keep the prayer chain going. Previously, (there were two such occasions), we had overnight prayer vigils but only 3-5 persons were really sitting throughout the night praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Surprisingly, the response was awesome this time round, and I didn’t have trouble getting enough people praying.

We decorated the altar with simple candle lightnings around the Blessed Sacrament and placed pots of palms in front of the altar. To create a solemn atmosphere conducive to prayer, we played the Gregorian chant as soft instrumental background music.

Another interesting part of the Prayer Vigil, which amazed me, was our Altar Server Boys’ commitment. They simply stayed the whole 24 hours at the church sacristy and rested periodically. They burned the charcoals continuously and every hour without fail, they came up to the altar incensing the exposed Blessed Sacrament and ringing the bell as a signal to the faithful to genuflect, and to offer a joyful sound to the Lord.

I am very proud of my parishioners especially in the level of their commitment to come together as BECs, families and individuals to spend time with the Lord in honour of God’s Mercy.

Each moment you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament 

brings joy, pleasure, and delight to His Mercy!

“My joy, my pleasure, my delight is to be with you.” (Prov 8: 31)

DON'T BE A PRISONER TO ANGER

Are you angry? What does your anger feel like? Are you in control of it, or do you allow it to control you?

Since our childhood we have been confronted with one of the 7 deadly sins that is ANGER.  Over the years it has been increasing and constantly we are struggling with it.  We have confessed to the priests many times, we have tried to battle with it but we have not learned from the past lessons.

What is anger? Anger in itself is a feeling of “displeasure” and it is a desire for revenge.  Anger also includes insult, gossip, plotting to harm someone emotionally, tarnish someone’s reputation, aggressive behavior and using hurtful words towards persons. We get angry suddenly if someone cuts you off in traffic, you curse the person for no reason. Or you yell at your spouse or children when something goes wrong. You may scream or attack people on social media for not reporting the injustices.

During this Lenten season, again we confront our deepest anger that has become a hindrance for us to go deeper into experiencing Christ.  Therefore, we must learn to abandon this sin, which is sometimes a by-product of our Pride. Anger comes about from the state of the world, injustices, past hurts, bad childhood experiences, chronic pain or illness, hormone issues, habit and many other reasons. If you don't overcome anger then we shall be walking with it for the rest of our lives.

We battle with our anger whether it be within the family, workplace, church community, or other areas of life.  As we walk in this Lenten journey, let us help ourselves by humbly receiving fraternal correction even though it is difficult to confront this ugliness within ourselves. This pain, humiliation, and struggle are necessary, for one day, we shall be able to handle and conquer this negative emotion ourselves.

A regular Confession is essential because it gives us the grace to overcome it. We should have a right mind and control of our emotions. We have to think wisely before we act in a situation that makes us angry. We need to walk away when a situation aggravates us.  We need a fervent prayer to overcome anger because God’s grace can truly transform us.  We should forgive past hurts and move forward.  We cannot blame anyone because we are responsible for how we respond.

It’s time to let the bad stuff go and focus on a new habit this Lenten journey.  Remember that forming a new habit is the only way to get rid of an old one. We are made for happiness and we cannot be happy if we are enslaved by anger. Let us search for the peace that outshines all understanding. Let us search out the mind of Christ, who is our Way, our Truth and our Life!

FASTING: THE POWER OF TONGUE

We have another four weeks to enter into Holy week. Have you really started practicing the right way of keeping the Lenten observances, the three traditional practices: prayer, alms-giving, and fasting, (Mt 6: 1-18). When you are serious with these traditional practices and encourage yourselves to say “Yes” to the love of God by serving one another with generous heart, then the conversion can become reality in your lives in this season of Lent.

What is our understanding of fasting and how can we practice fasting? Very often, we think of fasting as a simple diet, with merely a simple desire to lose a few extra kilos or just abstinence from meat. Some other ways of fasting are fasting of the eyes from harmful TV programmes, fasting from laziness at work, fasting from being overly critical and judgmental in our hearts. Still there is another form of fasting: fasting of the tongue, fasting in speech, fasting from offending others with our words.

This week I would like to focus on fasting in relation to controlling our tongue. One of the most powerful weapons is our tongue, which has a power for good or for evil. We use our tongues to gossip, criticize and tell lies. It is an instrument of poisonous speech and sarcasm that destroys peace and positive relationships. “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with the same tongue we curse our fellow human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth also comes praise and cursing,” (James 3: 9-10). We ought to make every effort to tame our tongue. We too need to put our hearts in tune with God’s Spirit by daily reading the Word of God. If your tongue abstains from every evil word, then your heart will abstain from sin.

We have heard phrases like, “think before you speak” and “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” It is good for us not to be quick or say things we don’t really mean. It’s important that we think about what we are about to say before we open our mouths.

When we cannot control our tongue, we are unable to control ourselves in every other way. It will be better to avoid spreading gossip and to bridle one’s tongue. So think wisely before you say things and pray before you come to conclusions.

The Church has set up for us these forty days of Lent as a time of conversion. In this Holy Season of Lent, let us fast from all words that could offend others with our speech. Let us learn to praise God, with Mary, with our words and with our lives: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,” (LK 1: 46-47)

Stations of the Cross

After considering the numerous requests of BEC members / leaders and further taking into consideration the overwhelming turn-out for the Way of the Cross last Friday, we have decided to conduct the Way of the Cross at parish level instead every Friday at 7.30 pm to be followed by Mass. I had initially wanted to encourage the BEC leaders to coordinate the Way of the Cross at the BEC level on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Friday of Lent and back to the parish level on 6th Friday of Lent and Good Friday.

If you are unable to attend the Way of the Cross recitation at Church because of your work schedule or other commitments, you may always do so as an individual or family or BEC. You need to create an ambiance in your home and pray together. It is a very powerful way to pray the Stations as a family.

Just light up candles at your altar or place fourteen small candles and as you proceed through the Stations, light the respective candles. By observing these simple gestures without fail, we may find ourselves looking forward to and enjoying Lent this year. Walking through the Stations while reflecting on them is a way to help you and your family understand the meaning of the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.

The Stations of the Cross are a 14-step Catholic devotion that commemorates the key events of Jesus’ last day, beginning with His condemnation. At each station, the individual recalls and meditates on a specific event and prayer from Christ’s last day, then the individual moves to the next station until all 14 stations are complete.

During Lent, we remember especially the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. This is the greatest act of generosity in history, for Jesus died for all. “God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). The generosity of God in Christ should impel us to be generous and merciful to others especially those poor and in need. This Lent, do your best. Strive to root out sin and cultivate holiness. 

I encourage you to make a Lenten promise (written out), and pray in your morning and evening prayer based on whether you keep that promise or break it.  If you fulfill your Lenten observances (prayer, fasting and almsgiving), at the end of the day you will earn the crown of eternal glory. If you break the Lenten observances then you should make an Act of Contrition as a penance.