Sermon on the Mount - Beatitudes

Sermon on the Mount

All the teachings of Jesus can be summarised in this sermon, which he delivered on a mountain near Capernaum. This was the greatest sermon Jesus ever preached.Many Christians believe that the Sermon on the Mount is a form of commentary on the Commandments.

To most believers in Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount contains the central tenets of Christian discipleship, and is considered as such by many religious and moral thinkers—such as Tolstoy, Gandhi, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer and it has been one of the main sources of Christian pacifism.

It can be divided into 5 sections as contained in the Gospel of Mathew in Chapters 5,6 and 7.

The Sermon on the Mount

The contents of the sermon are as follows:

Beatitudes - Teachings that begin with "blessed." These were meant to comfort suffering believers.
New laws - Contrasts the old law of Moses with the new law of Christ. A brief summary of Christian doctrine.
Lord's prayer - Instructions on prayer. Jesus also teaches the proper motives for fasting and offering gifts.
Money - Christian attitudes concerning the use of money. Reasons to avoid worry.
Warnings - Dangers of false teachers and hypocrisy. Jesus also presents the parable of the wise and foolish builders.

Last Sunday the Gospel was about the the Beatitudes which can be considered as the new commandments of Jesus to us. It is one of my favourite passages in the Gospel and I would like to share my thoughts and reflections.

Very often we do a lot of things praise God but have we paused to think whether it is what Jesus wanted us to do? When things are going right for us, we may think God is blessing us, but in real fact is He? On the contrary when things are not going the way we wanted, we may think He is not blessing us but is He? The answers to these questions are in the Beatitudes in which Jesus comforts those who suffer to keep to his teachings, saying those who are in pain to follow Him are the ones who are really blessed.

Part I - The Beatitudes (Mathew 5: 1-12)

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

In this teaching Jesus apart from the poor, the gentle, the merciful, peacemakers and those in sorrow who he said are blessed, he seem to emphasise another factor that has become very important these days - the fight for righteousness. He says “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” and “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

He was crystal clear that we must strive to be righteous which is to be morally upright in what we say and do and unwavering in our fight for righteousness. He says we must even be prepared to be persecuted for being upright and defending those who are righteous. These are very strong messages which very few dare to follow. Instead, limited by our human weaknesses, we tend to take the easy way out to please God – pray, fast and observe certain rituals.

In our society today the main problem is being morally upright and it has become a big challenge to be righteous. In the pursuit of wealth, success and comforts in life we seem to have compromised on being righteous. Corruption, both moral and material, is becoming a way of life where injustice to the ordinary man is not seen as wrong.

If we look around we will realise that there are five categories of people in our society today.

1. The leaders. The rich and powerful who want to have their ways always. They bulldoze their views with little or no consideration for the less fortunate majority who are righteous but without wealth, power or influence. There is a lot of frustration among this latter group who are helpless and continue to suffer in silence. Those in positions of power have little consideration for the righteous who they see as threats to their well being and opulent living.

2. Cohorts of the leader. These are those who are ardent supporters of those in power. These people are the “yes-men” who will do anything for their leader to keep him in power for their own benefits. Even the most evil deeds of the leader will be justified and aggressively defended by them. We are all too familiar with such people in our midst.

3. The fence-sitters (opportunists).These there are those who standby idle whenever there is injustice for fear of being victimised. They are the fence-sitters who follow the tide to be on the side of the winner. They continue to support the aggressor just to reap benefits, least bothered about those who are denied their legitimate rights. They will only be quick to desert the leader once they see his imminent fall from power.

4. Silent majority. This comprise of mainly good and peace-loving people who are busy coping with the struggles in life to take care of themselves and their families. They are not interested or have no time for what is happening around them. They abhor corruption and injustice but not willing to do anything as their hands are full. In any society it is this silent majority that determine the direction of their organisation or nation. Most of us belong to this category and it our voting power that determine our destiny. Our righteousness will determine the well being of our society. Often it is the greed in us that is the cause of all the problems we face in our society and country.

5. The righteous. The truly righteous are the few who stand up for truth and justice at all costs. Despite their righteousness they are crushed by those in positions of power, might and influence. All sorts of false scandals are propagated against them to make them look bad in the eyes of the people, the silent majority. They are regarded as rebellious, evil and even dangerous to the well being of others. They are silenced with the abuse of the very laws that are meant to protect their rights to speak up and reveal the truth.

This last group is where Jesus belongs and so do many great men and women of the past.It is where we all must strive to be but it is the most difficult.We may not be able to equal Jesus or the great people but we can try to be righteous like them in our own little ways in our own little environment which offers a lot opportunities to do so.

Breach of justice and rule of law and abuse of power is ongoing at all levels of our society today; in the family, schools, places of work, in the government institutions and the country in general. Regrettably it is also becoming rampant in charitable organisations that are established to help the poor, needy and disabled and worse still even in religious institutions, including our own church, which preaches justice, love and compassion to all mankind.

The sermon on the mount is directed at each one of us who claim to be His followers, that we must hunger and thirst for righteousness and in the process to stand up for justice wherever and whenever it is breached and whoever the perpetrator may be. In doing so we may be ‘persecuted’ by those in power but that should not deter us from continuing to do so as then as Jesus promised ours will be the Kingdom of Heaven.

Many of us today have got the wrong concept of heaven. We are made to believe that we can go to heaven if we strictly observe certain rituals, pray, fast and abstain, meditate, go on pilgrimages and give a little alms during Lent and so on. These may be good deeds that we practiced before but are not relevant anymore.

On the contrary Jesus has given us new criteria for entry into His Kingdom in the form of the Beatitudes. According Him only the poor in spirit, those who mourn for others, the gentle, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the merciful, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and those who are persecuted and insulted for the sake of righteousness will be blessed and rewarded.

The Beatitudes is the supreme commandment of Jesus and it is time for us to reflect to what extent we adhere to it in our own lives. It is not easy to follow what He taught us in the Beatitudes as doing so we will be treading an ardours and dreadful path. Let us reflect on whether we are willing to face the challenges which come our way if we follow that path or avoid facing them altogether for fear of repercussions.

Injustice is everywhere and in our own little ways fight it wherever and whenever we come across it in our own lives. Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers that may come our way in fighting injustice but pray for courage to be fearless when facing them.

Part II – the New Laws

TBC – Past,present and future

Where do we go from here?

The year 2010 was a tumultuous year for the TBC (Togetherness in Building a Caring) Community. which was formed after the forced division of the Taman Senangan Basic Ecclesial Community(BEC). The special BEC meeting with the Parish priest (PP on 23 June 2010 at Mr. Jeremiah’s home paved the way for the division of the BEC which led to the subsequent formation of the TBC on 22 July 2010.There were many attempts on our part to reunite but there was fierce opposition from certain quarters, including the PP himself, who was adamant on dividing the BEC for reasons only best known to him.

When all attempts to reunify failed and reconciliation was not possible anymore it was decided to form another group and continue our activities until the PP recognizes it as the new BEC.There was consensus among us that we adopt an attitude of “let’s move on” with our activities without any hatred or vengeance towards our friends who had left us after years of living together as a family. We should not let those setbacks deter us from doing the right thing.

It was with that determination we decided to carry on, calling our group as Togetherness in Building a Caring (TBC) Community. The main purpose of the TBC was to continue the activities of the BEC before it; to forge closer rapport among the members and carry out charitable and spiritual deeds for those in need in our midst.

Since its formation the members of the TBC continued to strive to make their TBC a great success and a force to be reckoned. We were met with many obstacles including from those who wanted to sabotage us.Attempts were made to break up the new group by many backhand tactics. There was a lot of negative publicity of the group, which was branded as rebellious, unchristian and even deviationist. The TBCwas branded as an illegal BEC by none other than the PP himself and forbidden to even pray for the sick in their midst. We just could not understand how prayers can be illegal even if it comes from a sinner.

During this period of being in the wilderness we had managed to forge tremendous closeness among ourselves in facing the many challenges that came our way. We continue to cherish pleasant memories of the numerous meetings we had to reassure, console and inspire one another after each blow we received during the peak of the crisis that followed the division of the BEC.The unyielding bonds that developed among the members during that period were unbelievable. It was a really a scintillating experience that made us realize who our real friends were.

Nevertheless with the guidance from God, we succeeded to emerge from the crisis without having to resort to hate and revenge. We managed to hold onto the basic principle of our faith, to love even those who go against us. Looking back now we realize it was a period of great trials and tribulations that provided useful lessons for us in our own lives which we really appreciate.

Despite all the setbacks we managed to successfully carry out a number of activities with very limited knowledge, experience, manpower and resources which came as a surprise to us all. Some of the activities were as follows:

1. Numerous fellowships – countless, hosted by all members in their homes at very short notice.

2. Merdeka prayers & dinner on 30 August 2010.It was a great success with about 100 people attending despite a ban being imposed by the PP as it was declared an illegal gathering. A special prayer for the nation and our BEC was offered

3. Meeting withanew PPC members on 16 September 2010.Themeeting was indeed a success as it fulfilled the aims of forging bettermutual understanding and dispelling the suspicion of the TBC among the PPC members who had been given a bad picture of the TBC.

We understand the obstacles the PPC members had to overcome to be present with us, the very people whose interests they are to uphold. We hope we can have more such sessions and establish a culture of dialogue and consultation in dealing with all our problems.
An appeal letter was handed to them with the hope it will be circulated among their colleagues before their first PPC meeting. The TBC is of the view that the PPC being the representatives of the parishioners, it must uphold their interests at all times and not succumb to the short term interests of the PPs who come and go.

4. Prayers for the sick – Prayers for Aunty Adeline and Aunty June Chin were conducted in their homes. In addition to that aunty June was also visited several times at her home and the hospital by our members who offered to console and encourage her in her fight against terminal cancer.

Anniversary prayers for the late Mr.Francis was also held at the home of his widow,Mrs Mary Francis.

5. Surprise birthday bash for heads of families – Dr.Chris, Bernard, Lawrence.We hope to have more such functions in the coming months.

6. Rosary in month of October 2010 – all families opened their homes. All Mondays and Thursdays were fully taken up. Some families could not be covered due to the lack of time.

7. Support for Greg and family in their new ventures – for Greg’s success at his economy food outlet and then at his new job in Kuala Lumpur

8. Visit to orphanage and the Christmas cum charity dinner with children from Shan’s Home which was the pinnacle of all our efforts.

9. Christmas cum charity dinner with children from Shan’s Home . With very limited manpower and resources at our disposal and with all the setbacks we managed to forge closer fellowship among us that brought us our grand success in organizing the

Christmas cum Charity dinner for the children from Shan’s Home on 18 December 2010.It was a great success where we managed to attract more than 200 generous people of various races and faiths to participate and raised more than RM5,000.00 to be donated to the SCH.

10. Christmas house-house caroling was a great success so was the TBC Christmas fellowship that followed on 21 December 2010 in Winson’s house.


The way forward

At a private meeting with PP on 5 January 2011, I urged him to recognize our TBC as a legitimate BEC as I felt is the only way to get out of the impasse of our BEC.

Unfortunately our PP did not appear to be agreeable to the suggestion at the present moment. Therefore we are back to where we started after the BEC division in June 2010.Where do we go from here?

It is time for us to stop basking in the glory of our successes and get down working to provide our service to those in need in keeping with the teachings of Jesus. Let us continue with what we have been doing since the formation of our TBC to bring a little cheer to those around us as laid down in our plans for 2011which we discussed at our meeting on 15 January 2011 in Winson’s house to celebrate Pongal (See attached plans).

Over the last couple of weeks there have been many over enthusiastic suggestions of fund raising and big projects but we must be careful not to be carried away by our recent success of the SCH project, to undertake tasks beyond our capabilities. We should not take the closeness we had created among us for granted but continue to nourish it further. The most important asset we have now is the close-rapport among the members which we should continue to nourish in order to succeed further in helping others. We must continue to be a closed group and must be extremely careful in admitting others who may want to join us.

We must bear in mind the limitations under which we operate – lack of manpower and resources. We are not corporate players but a small group of people united in the love of Christ to go out to serve fellow men and women who are in need. We need not do great things but small things with great love as mother Teresa put it. So let us go forth in the small ways that we are used to and with the little funds we have and touch the hearts of the few people that we encounter.



Plans for 2011

1. Charitable acts – visit to poor,visit to sick,visit to the elderly
2.Two-monthly meeting/get together – strengthen our fellowship and evaluate our plans
3. Spiritual activities – prayers, rosary, special needs – sickness,death,exams
4. Rosary months– May & October
5. Lent& Easter – to organize a visit and an old folk’s home or orphange
6. Christmas celebrations as usual
7. Family activities – trips,games,health walk
8. Educational programmes– medical talks, finance talks, legal talks,Will-writing
9. Major project for the year if any
10.Fund for TBC – to pay for charitable acts
Monthly collection – any amount
Other fund raising projects – e.g.Treasure hunt,etc


In the meantime let us continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten our PP to see the sincerity of our actions and recognise our group as a legitimate BEC.Let us not not give up hope but continue to strive in our attempts to build His Kingdom here among us.

Thai Pongal

An Indian thanksgiving Event

Pongal in Tamil means"boiling over or spill over." The boiling over of milk in the clay pot symbolizes material abundance for the household. Thai Pongal, celebrated at harvest time on the first day of the Tamil month of Thai, is traditionally intended to thank the Sun God and farmstead livestock that helped create the material abundance.

The saying "Thai Pirandhal Vazhi Pirakkum" meaning " the commencement of Thai paves the way for new opportunities" is often quoted regarding the Pongal festival. The festival usually occurs from January 13 — 15 i.e. the last day of the Tamil month Maargazhi to the third day of Thai.In short Pongal celebration is a thanksgiving eventfor the abundant harvest in the preceding year.

It is a thanksgiving festival celebrated by Tamils of Hindu faith. It is celebrated during the harvesting month to thank God and to offer gratitude to nature for a good harvest. It is the time to offer gratitude for the main essentials needs of living things that is water land, air. And not forgetting the graciousness of the sun, they offer the day’s prayer to Surian, the Sun god.

Ponggal celebrated for three consecutive days.

The first day it is celebrated for the harvested crops and shared with friends and relatives. The main feature of this festival is the boiling of milk in a clay pot until it overflows when the family members gathered round the pot shouting, ”Ponggale oh Ponggale” then add rice to it.

The second day known as Mattu Ponggal, cows are adored and given the offerings. This is the time when villages decorate the cows and also the elders seek God’s blessing for their children. The cows are given a bath, their horns painted and they are decorated with garlands.

And on the third day known as Kanni Ponggal is dedicated to young vrgins. Young women pray for a good life and a dashing great husband. The young unmarried ladies wearing new clothes, gold and silver ornaments will have special prayers for their future marriage.

Ponggal is the only Indian festival that is based on the solar calendar and it is on the fourteenth of January every year. For other Hindus festivals it follows the lunar calendar. It marks the day when the Sun purportedly shifts northwards. It signifies the commencement of Uttarayana, which represents the northward journey of Sun.It other parts of India it is celebrated as Makar Sankranti

Significance of boiling over of spilt milk

The spilling of milk means prosperity and if the milk spills as the sun rises, it is a good sign for the family.

Half of the boiled milk is then scooped for offering to the departed parents and ancestors and remainder for the family and friends to drink. Then sweetened rice is added for cooking. As the sweetened rice is about to cook, a spoonful of ghee is added. Once the sweetened rice is ready, an offering is made to the ancestors and the remainder shared with neighbors.

Ponggal and its relevance to us

Traditionally Pongal used to be a harvest festival of peasants in villagers, who plough their land, plant crops and rear herds of cattle. Today it is being celebrated by everyone, even those residing in urban areas in high rise buildings and who have nothing in common with those villagers to whom pongal was such a meaningful festival. To many today in urban areas Pongal has become a symbol of their culture and tradition which they want to uphold for fear they may soon be forgotten by the future generations.

Pongal and Christianity

When we were children, in the sixties and seventies, we never celebrated Pongal as we were told it is a strictly a Hindu festival, whereby the Sun and Cow were being worshipped as gods. But today after 30-40 years, the Church seem to have taken a totally different stance. It encourages its followers to actively celebrate the festival, as it contends that is more of a Tamil culture, which all Tamils must uphold. Why this change by our church?

A festival that the church forbade some 30 years ago is being actively celebrated in the church today. In fact in many parishes, it has taken over the Eucharistic celebrations of mass on Sunday. Why such over-enthusiasm? Is it right to incorporate an ethnic culture totally into our Sunday mass attended by many races to the extent of driving away many to other churches for Sunday mass? Wouldn’t this massive infiltration of cultural elements into mass distract the minds of the congregation away from Christ who should be focus of our attention during mass?

The mass is a very solemn celebration where we should seriously listen to the word of God, witness the transformation of His body and blood, subsequently receive Him in Holy Communion and then go forth to share His love with others. Other cultural activities, singing, dancing and various performances should be held outside the mass so as not to allow them to divert our focus from Christ who should be centre of our Eucharistic celebrations.

Tamil culture and Hinduism

Pongal had been celebrated much before Christianity came to India. Obviously looking at the way had been celebrated, it is obvious that it is basically a Hindu festival. It is easy to understand that as the Tamils were all Hindus and the vast majority of them continue to be so till today. Tamil culture is so inter-twined with Hinduism that it is difficult to separate one from the other.

Being traditionally a Hindu festival, is it wrong for Tamil Christians to celebrate? Is it wrong to thank the Sun, the greatest gift of God to man, without which no life would exist? Is it wrong to appreciate and adore the cow, which provided for all the needs of men? Regardless of one’s religion I see why we cannot adore the marvels of God and pay tribute to His creations that provide us with all our daily needs. While it is not wrong for Christians to celebrate Pongal, we should not overdo things so as to mask the presence of Christ at mass which all excessive cultural activities do.

While we go about celebrating Pongal as our right, we must be aware that there have been fears expressed by fellow Hindus that this change of mindset of the Church in going all out to adopt Pongal and certain other cultural practices by the Indian Christians may be part of its tactic of "inculturation,” aimed at getting Christianity to appear less Western and more Indian thereby more appealing to them to embrace it. It is our duty to allay such fears among our fellow Indians from the Hindu faith as it would be morally wrong to convert someone from one religion to another.

Thanking Mother Nature for the abundant harvest that gave the peasants and their families good life is indeed a noble one. Sharing their harvest with neighbors is a of greater nobility which we should all emulate regardless of our own faith or culture.

We should take Ponggal as an opportunity to thank the Almighty for the abundant blessings we received either overtly or in disguise. Often these blessings come in disguise, which we only realize much later when we overcome the various crisis that come our way. It is in sharing our blessings with our neighbor will we be rewarded with more.

Sunday Reflections - Baptism of the Lord

Sunday Reflections (Sunday 9 Jan 2011)

Baptism of the Lord (Mathew 3: 3-13)

Last Sunday we commemorated the baptism of the Lord. In the Gospel Mathew clearly highlighted the event where Jesus was reluctantly baptized by John the Baptist. As Jesus was baptized, Mathew described how the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descending upon Him as a dove. There was a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

This scene as described by Mathew illustrated the concept of Holy Trinity, which is one of the basic tenets of our faith. As children before this used to be an interesting story told to by our priests and catechism teachers, which illustrated the might of the God of the Universe.

For all of us who have been baptized as infants, that event in our lives was more of a ceremony that officially admitted us into the Church. Only later did we realize that it was a ceremony that made us members of Christ’s body. Whether we remember the day or not, it is time we reflect on its meaning, the meaning of being baptized into Christ, into His death and rising and by doing so becoming part of His mission.

Jesus’ baptism was the start of His public ministry, His dedication to doing the work of His Father. So to it should the beginning our public life to do His will in the world, amongst the the people we live.

A good friend of mine in his fifties is so frustrated at the evils in the world that he strongly believes that Jesus will come back very soon to save the world once and for all. He gets all sorts of dreams and even visions which he interprets as signs of Jesus’ impending return to mete out his untainted judgment to punish the bad and reward the good.

It is unfortunate that many of us, like my friend, even as grown up-adults, see the baptism of Jesus as miraculous vision of God coming down to us in majesty and power to put an end to all our woes. Many still wait for the coming of God in the form of the Holy Spirit to work miracles to cure the ills of society. If that is so we are badly mistaken and our wait will be just in vain.

God is already here among us in the form of fellow humans and the Holy Spirit is already within us as our intellect, energy and as our conscience. He has already equipped us with all that we possess to be his miracle workers among men and it is time we realize that.

It is time for us to seek Jesus in the people around us, especially the poor, sick and lonely.It is time to seek Jesus in those oppressed and marginalized. It is time for us to seek Jesus in those who disagree with us and even those who hate us. It is time for us to seek Jesus in our enemies.

As we renewed our baptismal vows last Sunday let us pledge to go forward to be the miracle workers to alleviate the pain and sufferings in our midst, be it in our selves,our family or society as a whole.

The Gospel reading for the week is as below.

Matthew 3:13-17

Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan, unto John, to be baptized by him. But John stayed him, saying: I ought to be baptized by thee, and comest thou to me?

And Jesus answering, said to him: Suffer it to be so now. For so it becometh us to fulfill all justice. Then he suffered him.

And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened to him: and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him.

And behold a voice from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

New Year 2011 - Following Christ on His terms not ours

Being better human wherever and whatever we are

I met an old friend of mine after a long time. He was a staunch Catholic once but he had the left the Catholic Church for some reason a few years ago. Subsequently he joined a number of churches of other Christian denominations, actively participating in every church he joined. Today he has left all of them and remains what he calls “a true Christian outside the church”. By that he means he follows Christ’s teachings as taught and lived by Jesus himself.

According to my friend the people inside the church today are busy fighting among themselves for their own selfish reasons which leaves them little time to do what Jesus really commanded; unconditional service to fellow men. Even when they do some service it is with some ulterior motive of seeking popularity, power or monetary gains. Even the pastors seem to be no better as they do everything for money with little compassion and empathy for the people they are supposed to serve. They may be great preachers but poor doers of what they preach. From his experience he concludes that “The people outside the church are better humans than those inside who call themselves Christians, the followers of Christ”.

This is a very strange statement from a man who has been very actively involved in many churches but ironically it has some truth, not only in other churches but in our own Catholic Church as well. I realize a number those who have left the church seem to be happier doing God’s work outside on their own than when they were inside where there were many all out to stop them from doing so. Unfortunately the place where we are supposed to serve God has become a place for politicking where jealousy and revenge which have become the guiding rules, instead of forgiveness and repentance as what Christ wants. What has gone wrong with the church and the people in it?

We have many talented people in our midst but why are they reluctant to serve in the church ministries? Why are so many who were active before leaving the ministries and the church itself? Why is that only a tiny fraction of the members come to church despite making Sunday a day of obligation? What is being done to keep the people especially those with dissenting views within the flock? We conveniently ignore them by classifying them as ‘lapse Catholics’ and we have no time for them as we think they have none for us. Is that what Christ wants us to do? Jesus was very clear of what to do with such people in his parable of the prodigal son.

The church today has become an institutionalized organization with rules and regulations based on human experiences and expectations. In such an organization the rules are enforced by the priest and those close to him, the so-called inner circle. There is little or no room for dialogue and debate let alone dissent. The policy of “If you are not with me then you are against me” seems to be prevalent among our priests and their cohorts. Such an attitude makes it impossible for many talented, capable and highly qualified ordinary members of the congregation to be accepted as part of the team. If one is not accepted into the inner circle then it would be better for him to leave otherwise he has to face the wrath of the priest and his inner circle even if he does the right thing.

Today the church is more involved in rituals and mammoth prayers sessions to praise and worship God. We hope to get closer to Him by being preoccupied with such actions of worship without taking pains to understand the plight of our neighbor. We leave everything behind and rush to worship God hoping to get Him to listen to our prayers, which is most of the time for our own well being. Jesus clearly tells us what to do before we go to worship him, “If you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering”.(Mathew5:23-24).

How many of us really follow him? Very often we know what God wants us to do but we take the easy way out to follow Him on our terms not His, as His ways go against the worldly desires that we all crave for in our lives.

This New Year let us resolve to put aside our differences with those we cannot get along and come together to build God’s Kingdom in our BEC, parish and community at large. Let us not involve in the petty squabbles in our parish but try to follow Christ the way He wants, if not in the Church then outside. It is better to be a good human outside the Church than being a bad Christian within. That is what I see in what Jesus preached and lived.

A very Happy and joyous New Year 2011

Christmas 2010 Reflections

Christmas 2010 – Humility and hope for a better future

The Christmas crib, a model of the people and animals present at the birth of Jesus Christ, used to impress us when we were young and it remains very vividly impressed in our minds even till today. At that tender age it was an image of joy, happiness and celebration on the occasion of the birth a divine infant.

Today we are much older, more mature and hopefully wiser. After experiencing the ups and downs in life, we begin to realize Christmas is more than an occasion tojust celebrate with feasts and merry-making, like we did as children, but one to reflect on our own attitude in a world ruled by greed, pride and prejudice.

Many of us may not have matured into such rightful thinking adults as we may have never been tested in life but it is time we did just that to realize that the birth of Jesus in a stable among poor shepherds and their flock represents not just joy and happiness but more importantly it is a symbol of humility which we all lack.

It is this lack of humility the cause of the many inter-personal problems that we face in our lives; in our family, offices, nation and the world that is torn apart by war and violence. It is this lack of humility that results in pride and arrogance and the attitudes, “I am always right” and “I am better than you” that has become prevalent among most of us.

In life we strive for success, wealth and power and in this pursuit humility is invariably a hindrance and the easiest way out for us to get it out of our lives. As we climb the ladder of success we forget the past, we forget those who lag behind although they were our own comrades before. We move around among the elite and refuse to come down to the level of those below us to, appreciate their predicament. We begin to value people by their wealth and position not the simple virtues they possess.

On the other hand imagine God, the Almighty and the King of Kings, choosing to be born secretly in a stable among shepherds and their animals in the most remote part of the country. He could have chosen to be born as a majestic king in an environment of power, luxury and grandeur but he chose an environment of extreme poverty instead. What should all these mean to us? What is God trying to tell us?

As Christians it is time to reflect on our lives to see how humble we are in dealing with others. Jesus came down from the highest heavens to be born in a stable among the poor. Are we willing to come down from our positions of power and wealth to be with those lower than us? Do we have the humility to admit our wrongs and thereby ask forgiveness from those we have hurt? If we are not then Christmas is meaningless.

As we decorate our homes with Christmas trees and the crib let us have a peek into the latter bearing the infant Jesus and reflect on His extreme act of humility being born among poor shepherds. As we look at the shepherds let us be reminded that God has intentionally chosen to come into the hearts of the poor and oppressed and we too should do likewise. The images of the three kings who have come from afar amidst great risks to offer gifts should remind us that we too must face up to the challenges that we may encounter in seeking God in doing good in our lives.

Christmas has different meaning to different people. For those who have met only success after success in their lives, Christmas would be a season of parties, merry-making and some of charitable works for the less fortunate. For them it is a day of joy and happiness as they have never experienced any difficulties in life. We were like that when we were young leading care-free lives.

For those who are terminally ill and for those who have tragically lost a loved one, Christmas is not a time for celebration. For those in poverty and those affected by some form of tragedy and are left without proper food and shelter, Christmas is not a time for joy. For those parents who have been disserted and neglected by their own children in whom they placed all the hopes, it brings no happiness whatsoever as their yearnings for the company of their loved ones continue to agonize them.

For such desperate people who have never seen success and for those in distress undergoing the various trials and tribulations in life Christmas is a sign of hope for a better future. To these unfortunate people the birth of Jesus in such humble surroundings should bring hope that He has come to be born among them to guide them out of their agony and pain. It is this humility of Jesus that brings hope to the poor, the sick, the oppressed and the despised.

Of late we see the collapse of various institutions in our country. The good are persecuted and the bad rewarded over and over again. Law and order are been blatantly disregarded by those in power. Justice is trampled upon and there is open discrimination based on race and religion. Decline in morality is threatening the sanctity of marriage leading to divorce and disintegration of the family unit. We look around us to only see everywhere evil triumphing over good and as we witness that helplessly, we begin to doubt the very existence of God.

Even the Church that we were once very proud of seems to be failing us as politicking has become an established trend there too. It seems to have become more obsessed with rituals rather than the real essence of our faith. Love, compassion and justice that were once the hallmark of our faith are not there in the church anymore as it becomes more ritualistic and embroiled in materialism. Even our own pastors whom we had high regards as men of God seem to fail us as they get politically involved, being no different from us. We call ourselves Christians, the followers of Christ but becoming increasingly less Christ-like in our lives. We so saddened and hurt that the very Church that molded us is now failing us. Where are we heading?

As an air of despair looms over us, we feel like packing up and leave the country and our faith but something deep in us says that we should not let these setbacks deter us from continuing with our good works towards fellow men. That inner voice tells us that we must pick up courage and face up to these challenges, with confidence in our hearts that God will be there with us if we do the right things under all circumstances. He has chosen to be born among us and his birth should inspire us continue His works among fellow men.

It is in doing good to others that inspire us to brace up to all the challenges. It is in sharing the blessings He had bestowed upon us, however little that may be, with those who are in dire need of those blessings that gives us the courage to go forward. Every one of us, however poor or handicapped, will have something to share with others; all it needs is a heart to do so. We may not have much wealth and money to share but a little of the little we have is all that matters as Mother Teresa put it, “It is not the great things that matter but the little things done with great love that really matters”. Our time and energy are the invaluable possessions that we can share with those who are down and out.

Let’s welcome this Christmas in the spirit of the true meaning of the birth of Jesus into the world. To those who are down it is a symbol of hope for a better future and to others who are up it is a call for humility in their lives.

Wishing you a very Happy and blessed Christmas.

Advent,preparing for the coming of Jesus

Birth of Christ – a lesson in humility

We are again in the season of Advent, preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Many of us like the Christians all over the world may have great plans to celebrate this auspicious day. To many of it is the most important feast in the year. To many it is just another of the man Jesus who was born 2000 years ago but to us Christians it is much more than a birthday anniversary. It is the birth of God into our hearts and lives. How do we prepare to receive Jesus who continually is born into our lives??

Many of us elaborately decorate our homes, light up Christmas trees and put up the crib. Some of us buy new furniture and new clothes for ourselves and our children. We rush to churches in the middle of the night to pray and receive Him in Holy Communion. We shake hands and hug one another wishing “Merry Christmas”. We host elaborate dinners and parties. There is so much joy and happiness in the air filled with a mood of celebration. We do all these to welcome a God who was born in a stable among poor shepherds and their sheep. Yes, God came to the world in the most humble manner to share his life with the poor. That is the greatest message to us – be humble.

The greatest virtue that God revealed to us by the birth of his son is humility. His birth into the world in an environment of extreme poverty was an example of his humility which we are commemorating this Christmas. Each one us has some degree of arrogance, pride and egoism in us, which are the sins that we must get rid from our lives during this Christmas to attain the peace that Christ promised.

As we go through this period of Advent it may be pertinent to ask ourselves how humble are we in our dealings with our fellow men? If Christ was a symbol of humility and forgiveness what are we?

The Church asks us to go for confession, a ritual that is meant to ask God forgiveness for all the bad we had done to others. It is indeed a wonderful practice to confess our sins and ask for forgiveness but from whom should we ask for forgiveness, God or those whom we had hurt?

Jesus was very clear from whom we must ask for forgiveness when he said, “So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering”(Mathew 5:23-24).

We read these words very often but how many of us are willing to ask for forgiveness personally from those whom we have hurt? It is easy to say sorry to God whom we do not see, hear or feel but extremely difficult to say that personally to the one whom we have hurt as that needs the humility that Jesus expounded. How can we expect God to forgive us when we are not willing to personally ask forgiveness from those we hurt?

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas it may be pertinent for us to reflect of its true meaning in our lives particularly in our relationship with those we encounter including fellow parishioners. Over the last year or so in our own parish there had been so much politicking going on that radiates a lot of ill feelings and hatred. Infighting, acts of revenge and jealousy continue to prevail in our lives outside and inside the Church. Even our priests whom we thought would be on the side of justice fail us by getting involved in the politics of the people. We are saddened and beginning to despair, but something deep in us says that we should not let these setbacks stop us from continuing with our good works towards fellow men.

Let us put all these behind us and like Jesus, humble ourselves to ask forgiveness from those we have hurt and sincerely forgive those who have hurt us. Celebrating Christmas is meaningless if we continue to harbor ill-feelings against those who have hurt us. As Jesus said let’s leave our offering before the altar, go and be reconciled with our brother first, and then go back and present our offering.

At the same time let us share the blessings He had bestowed upon us, however little that may be, with someone who are in dire need of those blessings. We may not have much wealth and money to share but a little of the little we have is all that matters as Mother Teresa put it, “It is not the great things that matter but the little things done with great love that really matters”. Our time and energy are other possessions that we can share with those who are down and out.

As we prepare ourselves to welcome Jesus into our homes and hearts this Christmas, let us look around to see how we can become more Christ-like in our own lives, in our family, our office, our neighborhood and in our own BEC and parish.