Sunday Refletions - 7.9.2014

Righting the wrongs

The Gospel reading last Sunday touched on something very relevant to us today. Jesus said, 'If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves.” Jesus tells us not to remain silent when others do wrong but to correct their wrongs. He continued to tell the people to persist in trying to change someone who is doing wrong doesn’t matter if he changes or not.

This we all know is easily said but the most difficult to do. Pointing out the wrongs others do, even those closest to us, is the most difficult thing to do. Doing so will put us with odds with them and create difficulties for us.

In our country sedition laws are freely used to silence the people who voice out the wrongs of those in power. They can be severely punished and their lives ruined for doing so. In our places of work those who point out the wrongs of those in positions of power will be punished by demotions or other forms of discrimination. Even in our church those voicing out the wrongs of the clergy and his close advisors are punished with denial of sacraments and other rituals.

Standing up for the right in an environment of bad today is not easy but Jesus says that is what we must do. If we really follow Jesus we will be ignored, marginalised, bad-mothed and denied our dues. We may end up isolated, lonely, sad and poor.

When we look around we see wrong and evil winning over right and good. It is very depressing to see good being punished and the bad rejoicing with their victory over the good. We try to change but nothing happens. We pray for divine intervention but again nothing happens. It looks like even God does not seem to be on our side. As we ponder on what happened to Jesus for standing for right we realise what we experience is nothing. It gives us strength and courage to soldier on fearlessly doing the right at all times.

As Christians we are asked to do what the English idiom says “To call a spade a spade”. But to extent are we able to do that in our lives today?

Gospel, Matthew 18:15-20

¹⁵ 'If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.

¹⁶ If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: whatever the misdemeanour, the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain the charge.

¹⁷ But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a gentile or a tax collector.

¹⁸ 'In truth I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

¹⁹ 'In truth I tell you once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven.

²⁰ For where two or three meet in my name, I am there among them.'

The passing of a friend and comrade

Mr. George Lim – A personal tribute

                                       

George Lim Sin  Pak                                                                                                                                                                              28 August 1935 - 31 July 2014

 

The first time you came to see I was impressed with your high regards you had for me because you felt I stood for justice which was your inner desire.

Over the subsequent years I have come to know you better and established a close rapport with you. You gave me so much strength and encouragement to accomplish all that we had together in our TBC Community is such a short period. You were truly a pillar of TBC

I was inspired by your disciplined lifestyle, your willingness to work and go out of the way to help the poor and needy even at an advanced age when many would want to rest.

Your past experiences in the fight against the communists as a policeman, against corruption as anti-corruption officer, against injustice and power abuse as a law-abiding citizen are useful lesson for me and the younger generation which cannot be bought or obtained with any degree.

Your unshakable faith in God even during severe trials make me feel small when I tend to lose faith   and give up so easily. Your devotion to Our Lady and the Rosary was remarkable

I will surely miss you especially during our future charitable projects, prayer sessions, and fellowships and most importantly during our ‘thirsty nights’.

I thank you for the wonderful times I had with you which I will cherish till the end.

It is painful to think you are not there anymore, more so when you had left so suddenly without even saying goodbye

But I know you have gone to a better place where there will be greater peace and happiness in the presence of God and his angels and saints

I will continue your work in our TBC Community in which you were a loyal and tireless comrade and will continue to work and pray for your family

May your soul rest in peace

An Outing with Aunty Mary Rose

Helping to realise a lifetime dream

Yesterday being a public holiday we decided to give a pleasant surprise to Mdm.Mary Rose from the Happy Home in Sg.Dua. She had on previous visits mentioned that it was her dream to visit the St.Anne’s Church in BM during the month of July.She was sad she may not realise that dream in her lifetime as she is sickly and her heath deteriorating by the da. So we decided to take her there on last Tuedday, 15 July, 2014

Mdm. Rose is a 72 year old woman who had been handicapped by a stroke some years back. She has difficulty in walking and needs help to move around. It would be a difficult task to take her to St.Anne in her handicapped state. However Ms.Christina accepted the challenge she took her there in her car all by herself as we were not able to make it on that particular day. When she reached there she helped Aunty Rose get into the old church which is located on a hill, light candles and offer prayers. It was  a tough job but she did willingly with great love.

After that Mdm.Rose was entertained to a banana leaf lunch at Ananda Bahwan Restaurant in Bagan Ajam. Although she could not eat much but ate the little she could heartily. We could see the happiness in her face as she repeatedly thanked Joice and Christina for making her lifetime dream come true. She said she could not believe that such a day will come in her life. It was all like dream.

 

 

It is indeed a great blessing to help realise the dream of a sick, old and lonely woman lingering in an old folk’s home. Not many see Jesus in the poor and suffering faces around them, but those who see Him in those faces are really the blessed ones.

 

A Tribute to the late Stephen Grumach

  12 June 1951 – 12 June 2014

 
Bro.Stephen Grumach passed away peacefully on 11 June 2014.His demise is a great loss not only to his family but to all who knew him as well.

Mr Stephen Grumach was a 63 year old retired Health Officer. Over the last year or so he has been inflicted with a serious and crippling lung condition called Idiopathic Primary Pulmonary Fibrosis. This has left him confined to the house and dependent continuously on an oxygen concentrator machine. He used to be very active church goer and was involved in many church ministries. He lived lived with his wife Margaret and their 2 children, Desmond and Veronica.

Despite his serious debility, he was very active on social media, sharing his prayers and thoughts, the    church and about life in general. It is through this sharing I came to know this peasant gentleman. He was a good lesson for us on what fighting a battle against a crippling illness was all about – never give up as God is always there at all times.

Yes, he was a lesson on Faith, which many claim to have but only to be shattered when some illness or tragedy strikes them. Stephen had so much trust and faith in God which puts many of us to shame. He continued to pray for his family and friends who were in distress and continued to have an unshakable faith that God will continue to help him, even performing a miracle to cure him.

He impressed me with his sense of forgiveness saying that although many of his even close friends had left him but harboured no grudge against them but continued to pray for them. He understood that everyone had his own problems to cope with and whatever you do you are answerable to God and that he was not in a position to judge as God was the ultimate judge.

Despite his illness that left him incapacitated over last few months before his death, Stephen was a man of God who stood the trials that came his way with great courage and resilience. He never for once wavered in his faith and trust in God.

In the short period I knew him I had come to appreciate his deep sense of forgiveness for those, especially friends, who ‘deserted’ him after he was taken ill and was of no use to them. I admired his strength in facing death which he was fully aware was imminent, leaving everything in the hands of God in whom he had full trust. I was inspired by his wife, Margaret, who was there day and night with him in the house and in the over-crowded hospital during the difficult final days of his life.                                                                                                                                                                                 We extend our deepest condolence to his wife and his children, Edmund and Veronica. May the Lord give them the strength to continue their life with faith and dedication in the path of their beloved husband and father. May the Lord bless them and console them in this difficult time in the lives.

May his soul rest in peace.

A Tribute to the late Bro.Stephen Gurmach

A man of great faith and trust in God

12 June 1951 - 11 June 2014

Bro.Stephen Grumach passed away peacefully yesterday 11 June 2014.

Despite his illness that left him incapacitated, Stephen was a man of God who stood the trials that came his way with great courage and resilience. He never for once wavered in his faith and trust in God.

In the short period I knew him I had come to appreciate his deep sense of forgiveness for those, especially friends, who ‘deserted’ him after he was sick and of no use to them. I admired his strength in facing death which he was fully aware was imminent, leaving everything in the hands of God in him he had full trust was inspired by his wife who was there day and night with him in the house and in the hospital during the difficult final days of his life.  

 

We extend our deepest condolence to his wife, Margaret and his children. May the Lord give them the strength to continue their life with faith and dedication in the path of Stephen. May the Lord bless them and console them in this difficult time in the lives.

May his soul rest in peace.