THE GREATEST COMMANDMENTS

In today’s Gospel a lawyer who wants to do his best and he asks Jesus which commandment is first of all. Jesus answers him with two commandments, repeating what is in book of Deuteronomy; “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second commandment is; you must love your neighbour as yourself, (MK 12: 28-34).

The nature of the Christian life is summed up on these two commandments. All the other commandments are expansions of these two and clues of how we are to put these two commandments into daily practice.

Without a love for God we will never love others. Our love for God must be the ultimate priority. We cannot love our neighbour without loving God and we cannot genuinely love God without loving our neighbour. They are the two sides of the one coin.

Our love must be genuine and real, not just an outward show. We must express our gratitude to God by serving him and people of God daily. Let’s live a life of love and ask God to pour out his love into our hearts through his Spirit.

PRAYING WITH REVERENCE AND FERVOUR

The entire month of October has been dedicated to the Rosary, and on Wednesday, 31 October 2018, we will celebrate its closing. We will gather at the Church as a community, to recite the Rosary at 7.30pm, followed by the Eucharistic celebration.

Throughout the month of October, many of us have been praying the Rosary individually, as families and as Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) and while we do so, we hold on to Mother Mary’s hand. It can sometimes be challenging for us to get together to pray, and often we are distracted and lose count, occasionally adding an extra Hail Mary to our decade, or perhaps end up not saying enough. Sometimes, we may forget to finish the five decades of the Rosary, or find ourselves giving up halfway. However, in general, most Catholics have a tremendous amount of respect for the Rosary and pray it with reverence and fervour.

“The Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers; it is the prayer that touches most the Heart of the Mother of God… and if you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the family Rosary.” (Pope Saint Pius X).

Eventhough the month of Rosary is coming to an end, I hope you will continue praying it daily. You will experience transformation in your faith life, as Our Lady of the Rosary prays with you!

November begins with All Saints Day and All Souls Day and they are very much rooted in our Catholic belief. All Saints Day reminds us how we are suppose to live on this earth. We are called to live as saints, so that one day we will be with God and our loved ones in heaven. Just a reminder that the Feast of All Saints is a Holy Day of Obligation and all Catholics are expected to attend Mass.

All Souls Day is a day of reflecting and praying for all souls, and asking God's mercy for them. Throughout the month of November, the Catholic Church invites us to pray for the faithful departed so that they may be free from the punishments of sin and enter into the Communion of all saints in Heaven. It is a good time to dedicate the last decade of Rosary to the dead and the suffering souls in Purgatory, so that they may soon enter into the fullness of life in heaven.

These past weeks, many of you listed down the names of departed souls in the Book of Remembrance, which was placed at the Parochial House. There are approximately 3500 names in the book, and throughout the month of November, The Book of Remembrance will be placed at the altar, where the souls of those we remember and of those who have been forgotten, will be offered up at Mass. We pray for the repose of their souls.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

THE BLIND BARTIMAEUS AND US

As Jesus and His disciples left Jericho, they encountered a blind Bartimaeus who was sitting at the side of the road. We can learn a great spiritual lesson from the story of blind Bartimaeus (MK 10:46-52). The blindness hindered his daily activities. He couldn’t hold a job or earn wages, thus, he was a beggar. He depended on the sympathy and generosity of others.

The blind Bartimaeus heard Jesus would be passing him. He had never met Jesus of Nazareth before but he believed Jesus could help him to see again. Even the crowd tried to keep him quiet he cried out the more – “Jesus, the Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus said to Bartimaeus, “Go, your faith has saved you.” His faith was key to his cure.

Jesus can heal your brokenness, forgive your sin, and save your soul. We must have faith. Jesus is the only way; no one else can provide us healing.

Every day we have the opportunity to lose our blindness but God gives us His grace to see the suffering world with open eyes, to see the beauty of His creation and to see everything through the eyes of faith.

“What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad," (Ps 126).

UNITY AND PEACE THROUGH PRAYER

The Catholic Church refers to Our Lady with so many titles – all given to the same individual named Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ. In the month of October, the month of Holy Rosary, Mary is honoured as “Our Lady of the Rosary” because at her apparitions in Fatima, Portugal, she asked for us to pray the Rosary. Many devout Catholics have made the Rosary their favourite prayer, praying it daily and without fail.

Most of our Catholic BEC families welcome each other into their homes, generally preferring to pray the family rosary instead of praying the NEWBEC reflection papers (NEWBEC is an abbreviation for New Way of Being Church) as praying the rosary somehow brings peace to mind, heart and soul. Furthermore, the Rosary has become a shield and comforter, and a way of expressing and safeguarding their Catholic faith.

On 18 October 2018, The Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has once again invited all children, families, parents, teachers and priests around the world, to pray the rosary for unity and peace. The “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” (Un Milione De Bambini Recita IL Rosario) campaign first started in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, in 2005. It has since become a prayer campaign on a global scale. It is to observe the appeal of Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina who said, “When one million children pray the rosary, the world will change.” This prayer campaign shows the world what the power of a child’s prayer can achieve.

The ACN chose 18 October because we are in the month of Our Lady and it is the feast day of Saint Luke, the Evangelist, who handed on to us the narrative of Jesus’ childhood and Jesus was very close to Mary. In addition to this, the Virgin Mary proclaimed to the three visionary children – Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta – in Fatima, Portugal, asking them to pray the rosary every day for world peace. ACN makes available instructional material for “One Million Children Praying the Rosary 2018” in several languages for both children and adults. Unfortunately, the Pontifical Mission Societies’ (PMS) Directors of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei only made these materials available during the Priests Recollection on 17 October 2018, thus it could not be distributed to our catechism children and families on time. However, I did manage to disseminate this information via whatsapp message, so thankfully, most of our BEC coordinators managed to get the children and their families together, to pray the rosary, joining the ‘one million children of the world’ campaign.

All catechism teachers and parents should encourage their children to continue praying the rosary, especially during the month of rosary. The entire world is suffering - due to the effects of terrorism and war - and we can play our part in bringing unity and peace, through our prayers.

This Sunday, 21 October 2018, we will distribute the materials to our catechism children during their catechism class. I hope all our faith educators will be able to organise a rosary prayer session (Joyful Mysteries) with their students, either at the beginning or end of the class. I hope our children will learn to love praying the rosary, finding the strength and assurance they need, to love and trust in God and in their Catholic faith.

THE GREATEST SERVANT-LEADER

James and John came to Jesus, “Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory,” (MK 10:37).

John and James did not want to pay any price or make any effort in order to attain their positions of glory and honour. They simply wanted Jesus to grant them the positions.

Jesus made it clear that those who desire to be the greatest, they should practice humility. Jesus is our model for humilty who emptied Himself on the cross. Jesus also showed us that the only way to be like Him is to become a servant of all. 

A true servant is one who serves without expecting recognition or promoting one self. To become humble servants we need to have God in our lives. Only when we have God, then our emptiness is filled with God-like virtue.

May God help us to develop these qualities of Jesus – to be true and to be the greatest Servant-Leader of all – we fix our eyes on the heavenly Father.

Our refrain teaches today – “Lord, let Your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in You,” (Ps 32).