OUR DESIRE TO SEE JESUS

Today’s Gospel (LK 19:1-10), we see how Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector of the city of Jericho, he was hated by everyone in the city because he overtaxed the people.

The most important part of the story is the transformation that happens to Zacchaeus after encountering with Jesus. His determination to see Jesus made him to a sincere conversion.

For Zacchaeus, the day ended with a changed life. He had his sins forgiven. He experienced friendship with Jesus and peace with God. 

This story pursues each one of us to bring us into a loving personal relationship with God and in doing so, to change our entire life for the better. We should do everything possible to find a way around all obstacles and overcome all spiritual handicaps.

We need to allow Jesus to come into our heart and life and surely he will save us.

Today is day of salvation. Let us know that it is never too late to accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord.

 “I will bless your name forever, O God my King.” (Ps 144).

SIMPLICITY, HUMILITY AND HOLINESS

The memorial of Saint John Paul II is celebrated each year on 22nd October. The Dioceses of United States of America inscribed St John Paul II as an Optional Memorial into their Proper Liturgical Calendar in 2012. Then, Pope Francis ordered the inscription of St John Paul II into the General Roman Calendar in 2014, as a Memorial of the Common of Saints.

In 2020, the Church will celebrate the 100th anniversary of St John Paul II’s birthday and the 15th anniversary of his death. In conjunction with these anniversaries, the President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, requested Pope Francis to declare St John Paul II as a Doctor of the Church and Patron of Europe. The Bishops’ Conference saw the richness of the pontificate St John Paul II and his personality as poet, philosopher and theologian who led the Universal Church to great heights. He changed the face of the Papacy through his personal testimony of holiness, his writings and his contribution towards the restoration of unity in Europe, after more than fifty years of division.

Last Tuesday (22 October 2019) the Church commemorated the Memorial of St. John Paul II. I remembered how influential Pope John Paul II was to the Church and to the world. He brought about a New Evangelisation in the Church. The greatest gift of John Paul II to the Universal Church was the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) which was published in 1993. With this CCC, many of us are certain about the doctrines and teachings of the Church. At times, I pray to him for guidance to understand my life as a priest. He encouraged priests to remain faithful in their vocation through his message, especially on Holy Thursdays and through his experiences as a priest in his book on “Gift and Mystery”.

After his death, many wanted the Vatican to speed up his sainthood (“Santo Subito” means Sainthood now). On 27 April 2014 (Divine Mercy Sunday), Pope Francis canonised Pope John Paul II (1978-2005) together with Pope John XXIII (1958-1963) who initiated the Second Vatican Council. (St John XXIII’s memorial is celebrated on 11th October).

I was reading two articles this week pertaining on St. John Paul II and I recalled my pilgrimage to the cities of Wadowice and Krakow in Poland in August 2005. My pilgrims and I had the opportunity to meet Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz at Church of the Mother of Perpetual Help, Wadowice, Poland (where John Paul was born, baptised and raised). Cardinal Stanislaw was the long-time personal secretary of Pope John Paul II then, however now he is retired. We had few minutes of conversation with him and then we dedicated a Malay Song to him – “Betapa Hati Ku”. Before leaving he gave us his blessing.

I feel blessed to have visited his hometown and also his tomb at Vatican. I am fascinated by his pastoral zeal, his teachings and writings. He impacted me a lot during my initial stage as a priest. He has become the Pope that so importantly influenced my priestly ministry.

After John Paul II’s death, the Church started to give him a title of “John Paul the Great.” He is labelled as the “Great” because he possessed the extraordinary ability to imitate the example and teaching of Jesus Christ. Three other virtues that make him worthy to be called the “Great” are simplicity, humility and holiness.

Oh St. John Paul II, from heaven's window, where we see you next to Mary, send God's blessing down upon us all!

HUMBLE OUR HEARTS

In today’s Gospel (LK 18:9-14), Jesus introduces two characters: a Pharisee and a tax collector. Jesus says that the Pharisee’s prayer was not heard. The motive of our prayer is not to impress God. When we put down others and brag about our own accomplishments, these kind of behaviours doesn’t impress God who sees right to the heart.

When it comes to our prayer life, guard against comparing ourselves with someone else because it can lead to pride. If we want to compare ourselves then we should compare with Jesus. 

The tax collector stands at a distance. He will not even look up to heaven. He communicates with God with humility instead of pride. 

When we approach God, approach Him with humble and contrite heart and also in great reverence. God is great. God is good all the time.

Let us promise God that we will never look down on our fellow brothers and sisters but we look out to them the way God does.

“Lord, humble our hearts and give us your eyes.”

RESPOND GENEROUSLY TO THE CALL

World Mission Sunday was instituted in 1926 by Pope Pius XI. This annual celebration is marked with prayers, and it motivates every Baptised Christian to live and practise the Church’s mission. Every year, the Pope reminds the Church to be aware of its missionary character and its fundamentals, through his message on World Mission Sunday. He chooses a different theme each year and assists every member of the Church to reflect on his or her own encounter with Jesus and how he or she has to respond, as missionary disciples.

On the Solemnity of Pentecost (9 June 2019), the Holy Father Pope Francis, released his message for World Mission Sunday 2019 with the theme “Baptist and Sent: The Church of Christ on Mission in the World.” He set the month of October as an Extraordinary Missionary Month, as the Church celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Apostolic Letter of Pope Benedict XV (30 November 1919), “Maximum IIIud”, which means that momentous. Pope Francis invites “all Catholics and the Church to revive missionary awareness and commitment” in order to reveal the salvation of Jesus Christ to all nations.

This Extraordinary Missionary Month helps every one of us to discover and rediscover the missionary aspect of our faith in Jesus Christ. We receive the “gift freely” and “share it freely” (cf.MT 10:8) as we communicate and proclaim the message of Christ that everyone be saved as they come “to know the truth and experiencing his mercy through the ministry of the Church,” (cf. 1 Tim 2:4; Lumen Gentium, no.48). The Church moves across the boundaries, demanding “a constant and ongoing missionary conversion” taking the examples of Saints, holy men and women.

Each of us has been given a mission to give oneself “to others and build relationships that are life-giving” as a part of our Christian identity, which is “rooted in the fatherhood of God and the motherhood of the Church.” By virtue of our baptism, the Church needs us to “respond generously to the call to leave behind home, family, country, language and local Church, and to be sent forth to the nations, to a world not yet transformed…” The whole evangelising mission of the Church is to proclaim the Word of God, witness the Gospel and celebrate the life of the spirit in dialogue with cultures and religions of the peoples at the very ends of the earth.

(Extract from the message of the Holy Father, Pope Francis on World Mission Sunday 2019)

As we celebrate the Extraordinary Missionary Month – on the first day of Clergy Recollection (15 October 2019), about 40 of us from the KL Archdiocese (the Cardinal, Archbishop, Bishop Emeritus, priests and Deacon) made a pilgrimage to Church of St. Theresa of Lisieux, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan. This Church has been designated a Mission Parish in the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur. We had our afternoon prayer, celebration of Sacrament of Reconciliation, reflection and spiritual walk, following the footstep of St Theresa. Rev Fr Eugene Benedict, who is the Parish Priest, explained about St Theresa’s spiritual journey and her family life in detail, as we walked each station. We ended our walk with adoration and benediction. 

This pilgrimage has given us a great opportunity to revive and re-live our baptismal call and how we can commit ourselves into the Church’s mission as ordained ministers. As Pope Francis’s message, “I am a mission, always; you are a mission, always; every baptised man and woman is a mission.” We are together on mission, let us join in the mission of the Church in prayers - sharing the stories of mission and charity. May the whole Church be guided by the Holy Spirit and be led into the way of truth.

BE PERSISTENT IN PRAYER

The parable in today’s Gospel (LK 18:1-8), is often called the Parable of the Persistent Widow. She came day and night before the judge, pleading and begging that her case to be heard. The judge did not care about the widow’s pestering. He continually refused to “hear” her case. Finally, he decided to give her justice just to get rid of her.

Jesus uses the account of the widow to teach what our attitude should be in prayer. It shows us that we should always pray and not give up. Pray and do not lose heart. St Luke encourages us to be persistence and steadfast in our faith.

It is a habit to be cultivated, discipline to be developed and a skill to be practiced in prayer. It is in this spirit that helps us to relate to God and will live forever with Him.

When our prayers are done in persistence, God will hear and answer. God is on your side, always. We as His disciples should always pray and not give up. Keep on praying!

“Our help is from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.” (Ps 121)

https://www.stjosephsentul.org/respond-generously-to-the-call/