ANSWER THE CALL TO GOD’S VINEYARD

(26^th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Homily)

Many years ago I was doing an exposure programme for a month at the drug addict rehabilitation centre. During my stay in the centre I came to know them better after hearing their life stories and how they were involved in substance abuse. They had shared with me the reasons for their relapses and some of their reasons were due to family difficulties, relationship crisis with their spouses, stress issues, etc. Many of them were struggling in overcoming the challenges of addiction. One guy was sharing with me that he had return for the fourth time into the rehab centre in order to get a help from the drug addiction. Each time when he was leaving the rehab centre, he left with a very strong will power of saying “no” to drugs. He told me that he had resisted many times and he had repented and turned completely around but still found himself falling for the substance and relapsed. He always cried to himself, “Can I change myself?”

 

In the Gospel (Matt 21: 28-32) today, Jesus illustrates on repentance. He begins with a parable about a man who had two sons. The first son, who has a strong will power, at first he says, “I will not go” and he rejects his father’s request but after giving much thought, he changes his mind and heart and he went to work in the vineyard. This son represents the tax collectors and prostitutes, who repented and did what was right.

 

The second son, who says, “Certainly, sir” but he doesn’t go and work in the vineyard that day. He has no intention to fulfil his father’s request. The second son represents Israel’s leaders who showed the way of uprightness but refuse to believe in repentance. This is what Israel’s leaders – the Jewish, Pharisees and Sadducees were lacking. They thought they were superior and they had no further need to hear God’s Word or obey to God’s will.

 

The question arises from the Gospel that Jesus wants to know “Which of the two did the will of his father?” The one who repents and does the will of his father that is the first son who obeyed to his father and he went to the field to work, or the second son who replied to his father with a “yes”, but he never went to work in the vineyard.

 

This reminded me of the guy whom I encountered in the rehab centre. He had relapsed a few times. Each time he left the rehab centre with repentance heart from his wickedness as the Gospel passage says, “Yes sir, I will go” but he still didn’t go. This is short of saying that he had failed to keep his promises.

 

In both scenarios, the sons need to repent.  

Therefore, we need to have a change of hearts and minds. God promises us that nothing can prevent us from saying “yes” to God’s call or invitation to be a part in the Kingdom of God but our “yes” responses must be made with that open mind and a change of heart.

 

In the first reading from the Prophet Ezekiel, it explains that everyone has an opportunity to repent. It appears that the Israelites spent time grieving and complaining that “our ancestors” for generations disobeyed Torah (the Law) and worshipped false gods and did awful things. But Ezekiel holds out a ray of hope for the likes of the first son in the Gospel, who “repents of your wickedness and do what is just and right, and you will live,” (Ez 18: 28). Ezekiel tells us that each of us responsible for his/her own sin. Here, we are required to always empty ourselves, and seek forgiveness for our sins and believe even more fully that Jesus is the Lord and we will live in the Spirit of the Lord.

 

We have the choice to either be like the first son or the second, sometimes both in different scenarios.  What is more important in life, as the follower of Christ Jesus, is to realise that we are weak and can be broken at times. We need that change of hearts and minds, for better holiness. If the change of heart and mind happens in our lives, we will live better. Humility and warm kindness to each other, our neighbours, and constantly seek to be forgiving makes us closer to be true followers of Christ Jesus.

 

https://www.stjosephsentul.org/responding-to-the-challenges-of-the-displaced/

RESPONDING TO THE CHALLENGES OF THE DISPLACED

Every year, the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR) falls on the last Sunday of September. This year, it will be celebrated on 27 September. The Holy Father Pope Francis, has chosen the theme: “Like Jesus Christ, Forced to Flee,” with a special “focus on the need for pastoral care of internally displaced persons.” They are numbered over 41 million worldwide. The WDMR is a day that we are called to remember those who are struggling with conflict, persecution, violence, poverty, hopelessness and life of fear. The WDMR is always an occasion of expressing concern for “many different vulnerable people on the move, to pray for their challenges and to increase awareness about the opportunities that migration offers.”

The Origin of the WDMR:

The WDMR originated in the beginning of the 20th century, before the outbreak of World War I, where millions of Italians migrated abroad. Pope Pius X called all Christians to pray for migrants. In 1914, his successor Pope Benedict XV, instituted the Day of the Migrant to support pastoral work for Italian migrants - spiritually and economically. In 1952, Migrant Day has been celebrated in the liturgical year. St John Paul II was the first pontiff to release a message each year concerning the realities and difficulties of migrants, inviting the Church to pray and to take action. In 2004, Saint John Paul II extended his pastoral care to the refugees, calling it World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Initially, it was celebrated on the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany.  However, in January 2018 Pope Francis announced that the WDMR would be celebrated on the last Sunday of September.    

Here is the summary of the Holy Father’s message for the 106th WDMR for the year 2020. 

We, Christians are called to see the face of Christ in the faces of migrants and refugees. We need to respond to their challenges - spiritually and pastorally, with four verbs which Pope Francis indicated in his message during WDMR 2018: “Welcome, Protect, Promote and Integrate.” To these words, he developed his theme with six sub-themes for WDMR 2020:

     a) TO KNOW IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND: Whenever we deal with them, we should not remain just knowing them at statistics level, but we should encounter them by knowing their real-life stories to be able to understand them better.

    b) TO BE CLOSE IN ORDER TO SERVE: Our fears and prejudices keep us distant from them and prevent us from serving them with love as our true neighbours.

     c) TO BE RECONCILED, WE NEED TO LISTEN: A lot of issues arise among them and we need to have humility and attentiveness in listening to the plea of the vulnerable and displaced persons. Listening gives us an opportunity to be reconciled with them, ourselves and God.

      d)  IN ORDER TO GROW, IT IS NECESSARY TO SHARE: All the resources of this planet should be benefitted by all and not few. We have to learn to share, in order to grow truly and grow together, leaving none behind.

      e) TO BE INVOLVED IN ORDER TO PROMOTE: We must make them involved and be responsible in promoting “new forms of hospitality, fraternity and solidarity.”

     f) TO COOPERATE IN ORDER TO BUILD: It is our duty to cooperate together in all challenges, to preserve our common home. We too must “commit ourselves to ensuring international cooperation, global solidarity and local commitment, leaving no one behind” in building the Kingdom of God.

The Holy father concluded his message with a prayer that reflects on the theme for WDMR 2020. He said it draws inspiration from the example of St Joseph, the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary - at the time he was forced to flee to Egypt, to save the child Jesus.

Father, you entrusted to Saint Joseph what you held most precious: the child Jesus and his Mother, in order to protect them from the dangers and threats of the wicked.

Grant that we may experience his protection and help. May he, who shared in the sufferings of those who flee from the hatred of the powerful, console and protect all our brothers and sisters driven by war, poverty and necessity to leave their homes and their lands to set out as refugees for safer places.

 

Help them, through the intercession of Saint Joseph, to find the strength to persevere, give them comfort in sorrows and courage amid their trials.

Grant to those who welcome them, some of the tender love of this just and wise father, who loved Jesus as a true son and sustained Mary at every step of the way.

May he, who earned his bread by the work of his hands, watch over those who have seen everything in life taken away and obtain for them the dignity of a job and the serenity of a home.

 

We ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son, whom Saint Joseph saved by fleeing to Egypt, and trusting in the intercession of the Virgin Mary, whom he loved as a faithful husband in accordance with your will. Amen.

RETURN TO THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH

It has been three months since we returned for the celebration of the Sacraments in-person in church and we have realised that “it is necessary and urgent to return to the normality of Christian life.” Even though churches have reopened for Weekend Masses and have permitted the elderly (70 years and above) and children (12 years and below) to attend Mass, the actual turnout is consistently lower than the numbers registered. Parishioners need to return to the celebration of the Eucharist in church “with a purified heart, with a renewed amazement, with an increased desire to meet the Lord, to be with Him, to receive Him and to bring Him to our brothers and sisters with the witness of a life full of faith, love and hope.”

I was reading a letter sent to bishop conferences around the world written by Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. In his letter entitled – “Let us Return to the Eucharist with Joy”, he urges us to return to the Church despite COVID-19 - with adherence to Standard Operating Procedures. We realise that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a change in social, economic, family, community and liturgical celebrations.

I would like to share a few points highlighted by Cardinal Robert Sarah in his letter:

·      We cannot live as Christians without the Word of the Lord in the celebration of the Mass.

·      We cannot live as Christians without participating in the sacrifice of the Lord who gives Himself unreservedly to save and lead us back to the Father.

·      We cannot live without the banquet of the Eucharist which we are invited to receive the Risen Lord who is “truly and really present in the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Bread of Heaven.”

·      We cannot be without Christian community, the family of the Lord, where we need to meet our fellow brothers and sisters and build our fraternity. In this Christian communities, we discover our charisms, vocations and search for holiness and salvation of our souls.

·      We cannot be without the house of the Lord, which is our home. In this house of God, our faith is born and we discover the presence of the Lord. In this God’s house, we receive the Sacraments of Baptism, Holy Eucharist, Confirmation and, Matrimony and religious life are consecrated. In this holy ground, we pray and give thanks, rejoice and weep, and we say our final goodbye to our loved ones who have completed their earthly life.

·      We cannot be without the Day of the Lord, without Sunday which gives us a significance to our successions of days of work and to family and social responsibility.

We acknowledge that social media has performed a valued service in broadcasting the Holy Mass, particularly during the MCO, and it will continue to provide this necessary service, particularly to the sick and elderly, who are unable to go to Church. These broadcasts of Holy Mass should not “risk distancing us from a personal and intimate encounter with the Lord in the Eucharist” in the house of the Lord. Our “physical contact with the Lord is vital, indispensable and irreplaceable.” It is time for us to safely return to the house of the Lord in-person, celebrating Jesus in our lives.

Last weekend (12 & 13 September) our Form 5 students, who are preparing to receive the Sacrament of Conformation on 11 October 2020, attended an online Theology of the Body (TOB) session, conducted by the Archdiocesan Pastoral Institute Catechetical Team. The next program will be recollections in-person, presented at St Joseph’s Formation House. The theme of the recollection will be “A Call To Make A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD.” It will be held over three consecutive Sundays (20 & 27 September and 4 October) as part of their final preparation, before receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday, 11 October 2020 at 2pm.

From 4 October 2020 onwards, we will resume our Catechism classes for primary and secondary students every Sunday for an hour (1030am -1130am). We hope parents will cooperate and allow their children to return to lessons in-person.

Gradually, we encourage our Parishioners to safely return to the life of the Church, and get involved in Church activities, as we continue to value our faith in Christ Jesus with great responsibility and commitment in the New Evangelisation.

Photo: Cardinal Robert Sarah

Sunday Mass at SJC Sentul

RESPOND WITH JOY WHEN WE ARE CALLED

25^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (HOMILY)

 

The Parable of the Labourer in the Vineyard (Matt 20:1-16) is about the landowner who needed workers for his vineyard. He went out to the market place, where he would have found all kinds of people and he invited them to his vineyard to work. He hired workers early in the morning and promised to pay them what amounted to minimum wage in those days – one denarius. This was considered the basic subsistence for a man to feed his family for a day. The landowner then went back to the market at 9am and hired more workers, and repeated hiring more people at 3pm. Finally, at the 11^th hour at 5pm, he hired the last batch of people of the day.

 

What was really interesting was when it came to pay the workers, he paid exactly the same as the latecomers, who hardly worked at all. He promised to fairly and justly, regardless of who is the first and the last.  All of them were paid fully, fairly, justly and perfectly.  What do we learn from this interesting scenario? 

 

Simply, God’s generosity cannot be measured.  Whatever we “sacrificed” for Him, He promises us 100% payback (and even more) in this life, even if we were called in to serve at the last hour.  There is no such thing as prorated with regards to God and His plans, because again, His generosity is simply unmeasurable.  

 

After finishing my high school, I went to work in a company. I was one of boss’s favourite staff.  After a couple of years working in that company, my boss employed another staff with my same salary. To top that off, I had to train the new staff. I was envious, of course, because the new staff was receiving as much I received. When I voiced out my dissatisfaction, my boss insisted on his right and discretion to be generous. I remembered grumbling to myself about this treatment being not just. Today’s parable reminded me exactly that instant that I had back then. 

 

As I respond my call to the priesthood, I ask myself: What am I willing to give to Christ? Christ never obliges me; He only invites me to work in His vineyard. He opens the gates to His vineyard, but the final decision rests with me.  

 

We are all invited to be disciples in the Lord’s vineyard, some way or another.  Some of us think we do not have enough talent, and others may think that they are too young to be able to do anything for the Lord, whilst others that the task is just too much for them. He constantly asks for workers, workers’ generosity and good will to work His land. He will then take care of the rest. He doesn’t call the prepared; He prepares the one He calls. He is the One who produces the fruits, and not us. What a joy and privilege to be called by the Lord to be a worker in His ever-infinite vineyard, especially when we fulfil our task out of love for Him.

 

We only have to respond with joy when we are called. We respond with huge gratitude for His goodness and His immense generosity. We are finally going to be working in His vineyard, and in that vineyard, we will work with honesty and perseverance; absolute trust on Him. In moments of those painful difficulties, hopeless weakness – We trust in Him. So, let’s respond and answer His gentle call to follow Him back to his vineyard!

 

What does matter is to respond the moment we are called. We have to thank God for His goodness and generosity. We must be grateful and thank the Lord for giving us the opportunity to work in his vineyard. We remain in His vineyard, labour honestly and carry out our duties faithfully. We know there will be moments of difficulty and weakness. If we put our conscience right with God today and resolve to be loyal to Him from now on He will be as generous to us, as the parable promises.

LIVE IN HARMONY WITH ONE ANOTHER

(24^th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2020) 

Reflecting on the Parable of Unforgiving Servant (Matt 18: 21-35), Peter asked Jesus how many times he had to forgive a brother who sinned against him.  Jesus says, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” We must understand from this Parable that our Heavenly Father has forgiven us much more than we will ever have to forgive anyone who sins against us. He dismisses our offensive behaviour towards Him through His compassion and mercy. Jesus teaches us about forgiveness from the heart – sincerely forgive.

 

How often should we forgive? Forgiveness is something difficult for us to practice in our lives. As for me it is painful topic to preach about. It is always easier to say than doing it.  Often we say, “I'm not going to forgive him/her until he/she apologises to me!” Many of us are finding difficult to forgive others. Even if we do forgive, it was just lip services but because in actual fact, we have not forgiven the person whole-heartedly. Our response of forgiving someone that harm us, must come from the compassionate and merciful heart of the Heavenly Father, as the Psalmist says today, “The LORD is kind and merciful, slow to anger and rich in compassion.” (PS 102).

 

When we forgive, we need to learn how to forget and letting go, as well. Many of us still say that we struggle to forgive because we cannot forget the person and its issues. Forgiveness does require for us to go through physical, spiritual, psychological and emotional pain, again, before we can truly forgive and forget. Those are real difficult times as the wounds are deep and though it has happened in the past, its consequences and impacts of that wrong doing still reminds us of the event, today.  

 

What grudges, resentments and anger am I holding in my life? Are there anyone whom I have shut out of my life? Today’s the first reading from the Book of Ecclesiasticus says that resentment and anger are hateful things and we, the sinners, hug them really tight, (Eccl 27: 33). The reading went on saying that we are only hurting ourselves with anger and resentment when we embrace them tightly. We also become more miserable and difficult to be around with. That resentment and anger that we don’t let go, will follow and disturb our livelihood till our end of days.

 

So, we need to forgive our opponents because forgiving others is a compulsory condition for receiving and earning God’s forgiveness. We can begin to pray about unforgiveness and the Book of Ecclesiasticus assures us, “when you pray, your sins will be forgiven.” When we start to pray for the willingness to forgive others, God forgives our sins and heals our hurts.

 

How do we go about this forgiveness progression?

I would like to end with a paragraph from one of my favourite texts of St Paul’s letter to Ephesians. “Do not use harmful words in talking but use only helpful words, the kind of words that build up and provide what is needed so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. Do not make God’s Holy Spirit sad… Get it of all bitterness, passion and anger. No more shouting and insults. No more hateful feelings of any sort. Instead, be kind-hearted and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you in Christ,” (Eph 4: 29-32).

 

In our daily lives, we tend to have fewer words with our spouses, friends, colleagues, siblings and children. To top it off, they are often harmful as it do come in forms of upsetting words, the manner we deliver the message, that they eventually create this very toxic environment and negative feelings within the family, all in the name of we care about them and this is how we express that care. Done over and over again, and without realizing it, it will definitely cause hurt or pain towards the recipient. On the other hand, as a recipient of these negativity, if we do not forgive and help the person to adjust their ways and delivery of their message, that will damage our relationship (both short and long term) with the person and it also hurt our own relationship with Christ.

 

So this letter of St Paul to Ephesian reminds us that we should not keep anger in us, hold grudges, be arrogant or be violent and do not repay anyone evil for evil, but if it is possible, do live peacefully with all. If we cannot forgive others, you cannot expect forgiveness from God. We must be merciful and forgive our fellow brothers and sisters who have sinned against us and in pursuit for God forgiveness on our sins. Live in harmony with one another. Let’s be grateful and forgive others from the heart, sincerely and a peaceful life is promised to you.

ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

On the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary (8 September), the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur released a Chancery Notice with the latest updates pertaining to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for our Churches and various sectors of the Archdiocese, following the Prime Minister’s announcement with regards to the further extension of the Recovery Movement Control Order (“RMCO”) on 28 August 2020. A few adaptions have been added to the existing guidelines for the celebration of Sacraments, as well as other parish activities. I would like to highlight a few important SOPs and explain where we are headed, during this RMCO.

1.          AGE RESTRICTIONS AND PERSONS UNDER HIGH-RISK CATEGORIES

Under the Post COVID-19 (RMCO) guidelines issued by the National Security Council (“NSC”) for Non-Muslims places of worship dated 4 September 2020, those suffering from chronic diseases, senior citizens and children aged 12 years and below, are not encouraged to attend Public gatherings or Masses. However, we have eased on some of the restrictions to allow senior citizens, children aged 12 years and below  to attend mass in church since 5 September 2020. Last weekend (5-6 September) we received quite a number of duly completed declaration forms for the said categories of persons, endorsed by family members, caregivers or physicians. 

2.     NON-MALAYSIAN CITIZENS

Based on the latest SOP, the NSC now allows Non-Malaysian citizens to attend Mass and other religious activities. Even though the SOP has granted permission, we are only allowing foreigners and expatriates whom we are familiar with, to attend Mass in our Church. We have quite a large number of citizens from Myanmar in our Parish but we have not given them permission to attend Weekend Masses just yet. However, we will reopen our Church to them in October, enabling them to celebrate the Eucharist, Baptisms and Weddings.

3.          FUNERALS AND WEDDINGS

The Archdiocese has lifted the restriction on the number of attendees at funeral masses / services in the church, provided that they strictly adhere to the relevant safety measures. We request that family members register their names before attending the funeral Mass/service.

The NSC still wants us to strictly adhere to the SOP with regards to wedding ceremonies, whereby only a maximum of 20 people (including the priest and other ministers) are allowed to be present. Although many are still puzzled and unhappy with this restriction, we hope couples and their families really understand the situation.

4.          DISTRIBUTION OF HOLY COMMUNION OUTSIDE MASS.

We have encouraged our Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMOHC) to start distributing Holy Communion to the homebound. We advise each EMOHC to continue his/her duty, bringing Holy Communion only to one or two elderly and sick every fortnight. During these past weeks, we have appointed a few heads-of-families to bring Holy Communion to their elderly and sick family members at home, as an added precautionary measure.

5.          CATECHISM CLASS, RCIA, FORMATIONS AND MEETINGS.

We plan to restart our Catechism classes this October, and we will end the Catechetical Year 2020 in the first half of December. BEC meetings too have been suspended for more than 6 months, but we will resume our in-person monthly reflection meetings from October onwards. We will meet and plan certain activities in our Parish, gradually. The Parish Response Team (PRT) will provide updates on a few more details with regards to the SOP so that every parishioner will be able to participate in the celebration of the Sacraments and other Parish activities.

I am proud of our PRT members and Parishioners for their cooperation and commitment in adhering to the government’s and Church’s SOPs. During this COVID-19 crisis, we have recognised and observed a new norm in the way of life in the Church, thus far. The Holy Father, Pope Francis said, “we can heal the world, if we all work together for the common good.”

BLESSING OF HOLY WATER

RCIA CANDIDATES 2020
PHOTO: 30/8/20

RESPECTING MOTHER EARTH

Every month, the Holy Father Pope Francis, invites people worldwide to pray for a specific intention. Every year, 1st September is observed as the World Day of Peace for the “Care of Creation”. His Holiness’ prayer intention for the month of September 2020 is “Respect for the Planet’s Resources”. He urges us not only to pray for creation and its resources, but most of all, he wants us to learn to respect our planet’s resources. 

The Holy Father said that “we are squeezing out the planet’s goods as if the earth were an orange”. We are creating an “ecological debt” which means we are exploiting natural resources and destroying natural habitats. We have to learn to respect Mother Earth’s resources, “Today, not tomorrow; today, we have to take care of creation responsibly”. The Earth’s resources “will not be plundered, but shared in a just and respectful manner – no to plundering; yes to sharing”.

 

The Holy Father also invites us to pray for “politicians, scientists and economists to work together to protect the world’s seas and oceans”. There are many living creatures in the ocean and their lives are threatened for various reasons. “God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased,” (Gen 1: 31) and “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude,” (1 Tim 4:4). Creation is a “project of love” given by God to all mankind. God our Creator revealed His loved among us, who came in the Person of Christ and lived among us (cf. 1 Jn 4: 9) to heal us, to restore us with the harmony that we have lost – harmony with living creatures and nature. He still lives among us – “He doesn’t abandon us, He doesn’t leave us alone, because He has definitely united us with our land, and His love always leads us to find new paths,” (Laudato Si, no. 245).

 

During the month of September, we need to be aware of our responsibility by strengthening our commitment towards respecting and protecting our planet. Every individual should carry out the mission of the Church by helping our communities to be more serious in our responsibility and transforming our activities to respect the environment. It is important and necessary to commit ourselves to love and respect Mother Earth. The Church has always been campaigning to bring awareness to people about the preservation of natural resources and biodiversity.

 

We must learn to live with what natural resources are available to us. We must stop polluting Mother Earth. We must reduce waste in order to protect the environment. We need to work towards building healthy generations, so that every human being may live in harmony with nature in the future.

 

Therefore, we pray for humanity and the Church for all the challenges, faced. We pray and work towards the Holy Father’s monthly intention for September, by respecting the Earth’s resources. St Francis of Assis is the Patron Saint of ecology, whose feast is celebrated on 4 October. Together with St Francis of Assisi, we pray that our planet’s resources will not be stolen by anyone, but shared in a just and respectful manner, and that we will find a way of enriching our inner lives as well.

 

BELOW ARE THE LYRICS FOR MOTHER EARTH BY KARLIENE REYNOLDS

(Released on 27/2/2019)

 

Listen to the animals

Listen to the trees

Listen to the spirits of the Earth

Begging us please

Stop listening to greed.

 

Listen to the rivers

Listen to the sea

Listen to the spirits of the deep

Begging us please

Stop listening to greed.

 

She sent the drought to warn us

She sent the storms to scold us

But we don't listen

We burn and we break

And we take and we take

And we take

Till it's too late.

 

Oh where did the beasts go?

Where did the trees go?

Where will man go

When he has lost

The heartbeat

Beneath his feet.

 

Oh this is our home

She gives us home

Mother Earth

Can you feel

Her heartbeat

Beneath your feet.

 

Heartbeat

Beneath your feet

Heartbeat

Beneath your feet.

 

 

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/karliene-mother-earth-lyrics.html

 

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS

23^rd Sunday in Ordinary 2020 A (HOMILY)

Our Gospel text (Matt 18: 15-20) speaks, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.” This one sentence from the Gospel teaches us on how we can repair and nurture our relationships with one another and with God.

Some of us, when they come for their personal confession and I have noticed that they recite the lengthy Act of Contrition prayer. A number of them struggle to say it by heart. Of course I respect their initiative to recite the lengthy one. But I always advise them, to recite the shorter one which goes, “Lord, I am heartly sorry, for I have sinned against You, and by the help of Your grace, I shall not sin again.” This shorter version is so simple, straight and everyone can remember it by heart. It is easy to understand the meaning of the prayer, hopefully not to complicate our internalisation as we begin to reflect and admit our wrongs.

 

It is not so much of praying the lengthy Act of Contrition and accomplishing the penance so that we will be free from sins. But what is the most important, is to work on the reconciliation with our fellow brothers and sisters (i.e. our neighbours). We need to work on our reunion with our opponents, rather than alienate ourselves from them.  We may be broken and feel remorseful but only by God’s grace, that we may be able to reconcile with God, with His marvellous creation on earth, His peoples – the brothers and sister, the families and communities.

 

A friend of mine has shared with me about his reluctance to reconcile with his elder brother for almost 35 years. His elder brother went to further his studies abroad. After completing his studies and spending years in overseas he returned home. The young brother thought that he would be thankful to his parents by supporting them financially or at least being physically present in his parents’ home. But his brother chose to be on his own, and he got married and is living quite wealthily. He didn’t even care for his parents. Eventually, his parents passed on. These two brothers have not been going on in reaching out to each other, to the point of being strangers to each other.

 

He shared that this is painful because of early younger days events that strained their relationship. Some of us have experienced the similar pain that broken relationship. Most of us have experienced the pain that causes from broken marriages, or even between siblings and friends. Those hurt, and it we may be carrying that hurt for a very long time. But today, my friend prays and he hopes that one day, they will come to this common place, where they can be together again.

 

Everybody falls. “For though the upright falls seven times, he gets up again,” (Proverbs 24:16). Even when we hurt our relationship with God, through sins that we commit, God still look to heal and restore that relationship with us, that’s one of God’s purposes. As the Gospel says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.” This is easier said than done, but courage, patience and hope will help us pull through. It also requires humility, a fraternal correction. We should not be a hypocrite or be prideful. The first thing we do when we are offended or hurt, is to communicate and take revenge with the ones who hurt us. Some walks away silently, carrying that burden too. Whether the other party asks for our forgiveness or remains unrepentant, forgiveness needed to be sought after, for ourselves and for the offender. God grants us then that peace. That repairs our own spiritual and emotional health, and it manifest well into our physical beings.  

In the second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans (13:8-10), St Paul teaches us on how we should behave towards others. He says that “anyone is love for one another, for to love other person is to fulfil the law.” Each Christian has to love in the light of Christ’s love for us and in return our love for God and our neighbours will grow and shine on others. Jesus has showed us how to love one another unconditionally and therefore, let us go out and love one another. 

 “If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” (PS 95)