Why so many formations and retreats?

Do they make us better Christians?

It has become fashionable in our Catholic Church to organize various retreats, formations, recollections, reflections, seminars, rallies, convention and so on for the clergy and laity alike. You may call them by various names but they all more or less refer to the same - gathering of Catholics to discuss and reflect on issues facing us. Most of the time these sessions bring no concrete results whatsoever in the end.

A lot of time, enegy and money are spent to organize these events and as such it may be pertinent here to ponder to see whether they bring any real long-term benefits to us. Do they make us better Christians?

We are told that these formations are vital to be a good Catholic. There are some who even go on to say that we cannot reach God without attending these formations. Are these really true? Formations are good and are intended to make us better Christians but how better do we become after participating in such activities? There are many among us who attend so many formations and retreats but when we return we continue with our old selfish ways, refusing to talk to others, neglect elderly and indifferent to those in need in our midst.

The clergy too are involved in their own retreats. They are away 3 days a month on their monthly recollection. In addition to that, they have their retreats, off days and vacation. In most parishes the priests are away on leave one or two days a week. In fact in some smaller parishes there are those who take off as long as 3 days a week. During their absence there is no priest to cater for Eucharistic celebrations, final rites and anointing, confession and counseling.

When the priests return from their monthly recollections, not a single word is uttered of matters that were discussed. It is as though they had attended some top security meeting of a secret society, which must be kept secret from even their own congregation. Despite the beautiful slogan, “We are the Church”, the laity is left completely in the dark as though they do not exist. Neither are there any positive changes in the attitude of the priests towards their job and the parishioners after every retreat or recollection.

Talk to any priest today, his main grouse will be that very few parishioners are coming for mass and participating in the various organizations. On the other hand, at the BEC meetings more than 90% of parishioners will complaint that their priests do not visit them. In fact these days many complain that their priests have lost touch with the people and are not interested to know their parishioners.

The people today, being more qualified and well versed in many fields, are not happy with the lack of dialogue and openness in the management of the parish. They are not happy with the financial accountability of the parish administration that is rather unprofessionally run. The knowledge and skills of the laity are not appreciated let alone utilized.

It is sad that slowly this indifferent attitude of the clergy towards the people is slowly being accepted as a norm. As the Eucharistic celebration forms the crux of our faith, our priests consider themselves as indispensable. They are happy to say mass, consecrating the bread and wine and nothing more. All other duties are being designated to the laity with the excuse as they do have the time as they are in short supply.

With the rapid scientific and socio-economic changes in the global world today, it is time for our bishops and clergy to review their strategies in building the Kingdom of God in our midst. Are they really serious in their mission to build His Kingdom? How committed are they to this task? There is a need to improve the clergy-laity relationship to a level where there is more mutual respect for one another. The present system of monologue should be replaced by dialogue on a more equal standing. We must bear in mind that we need one another and have equally important roles in building the Kingdom of God. As mere mortals and sinners, we are all equal in the eyes of God.

Recollections, formations and retreats are important but of greater importance is their commitment to mankind in the form of their congregation. Unless they identify themselves with the people there is no way they can build God’s Kingdom. Their retreats and recollections must bring them closer to the people, in whom God dwells, otherwise these retreats and formations would be just waste of time and money.

Dr.Chris Anthony

How Christ-like are we in our lives?

We call ourselves Christians but how Christ-like are we?

At a recent Confirmation mass, I was impressed with the homily given by Bishop Anthony Selvanayagam.He reminded those to be confirmed and the congregation in general, of the very depressing situation in the world today. He lamented that the vast majority of those who call themselves Christians do not know Jesus at all. This ignorance of Jesus among his own followers is the greatest challenge to Christianity in the third millennium.

We resort to all sorts of deeds to please God, deeds which God did not ask, attending church and receiving the sacraments diligently without fail, making pilgrimages to all the holy sites and shrines, burning candles and offering prayers, we fast and abstain, but we fail to do what God has really asked us to do – to love our neighbor.

In fact we need not go round indulging in rituals for God to grant us our petitions as He knows our problems better than we do and He knows what is best for us. According to the bishop,on the final day, God is not going to ask us whether we went to church, received the sacraments, fasted, and burnt candles or how many churches we prayed at. What He will ask us is how we lived by His words during our short stint on earth.

Bishop Anthony drew our attention to the Jesus’Sermon on the Mount regarding reconciling our differences with our neighbor before going to worship God. This is what Jesus taught us:

“Therefore 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(Mathew 5:23-24).

The Sermon on the Mount

Yes, many of us harbor so much ill feeling against others and refuse to even talk to them – our children, siblings, parents, relatives and friends. Often we leave them behind in pain and misery but go in search of God. The bishop emphasized that unless we reconcile our differences with them it is meaningless to seek God.

Bishop Anthony’s sharing should prompt us to reflect on our own actions as Christians. How do we treat the poor and oppressed? How do treat our own children and elderly parents? How do we treat the sick and hungry? How do we treat those who yearn for our love and affection? How do we treat those who sin against us? Are we willing to forgive and forget those who hate and even harm us? How generous are we with our wealth and possessions? In short how do we treat our neighbor?

There are three groups of Christians in the world today. Firstly there is a very large group who do not know Jesus truly for what He is. Sad to say, a large number of us belong to this group. We perform all sorts of rituals to please God to gain His blessings but fail to do what He really wants us to.

The second group consists of those who know Jesus reasonably well as they spend many years of their lives studying his words, but refuse to follow those words in their daily living. They are good preachers but not doers. The words of Jesus is meant for others not them. A large number of us, so called practicing Catholics, regrettably fall into this category.

The third group comprises of those who know Jesus and follow Him in a way He wants. They stick by His teachings in everything they do. Unfortunately only a few belong to this group of true followers.

It may timely for us to ponder on our own thoughts and actions to see which of the three groups we belong to. Do we live by the teachings of Jesus? Do we have Christ in our lives? We call ourselves Christians, followers of Christ, but how Christ-like are we in our lives?

Dr.Chris Anthony

Let’s pray for religious tolerance

The Church must strive for religious rights and freedom

October 31, 2007 was a sad day for the residents of Kampung Rimba Jaya in Shah Alam and a black day for religious tolerance in Malaysia. It was the day when the100-year old Sri Maha Mariaman Temple in the village was demolished in a manner that showed total and blatant disrespect for the sensitivities of Hindu Malaysians.

Despite agreeing to move out to a new location, enforcement officers from the Majlis Bandaran Shah Alam(MBSA),and police armed with machine guns and knives brutally drove out the devotees and demolished the temple together with scores of houses. It is very disturbing that they did this a week before the Deepavali festival of Lights, an auspicious day in the Hindu calendar.

Arrival of enforcement team

In the bloody fracas a number of devotees were injured including the temple priest, some of the residents and four lawyers, who went to volunteer legal aid, were arrested. The latter were intimidated and manhandled at gunpoint without any respect for their profession. This attitude and actions of our enforcement units are unbecoming of a nation that preaches racial and religious moderation and tolerance.

Enforcement officers


While all these were happening to our fellow citizens of the Hindu faith, what did we, as Christians do to empathize with them. Most of us continued to go about our daily routine oblivious to the problems faced by those around us. We even attended Sunday service as though nothing had happened. As usual, the plight of our Hindu brethren of Kg.Rimba Jaya, was not even highlighted during our services nor did we offer special prayers for them. We were totally
indifferent to the feelings of those in pain around us. Are we any different from the enforcement officers who unjustly inflicted pain and suffering to fellow humans?

Enforcement team in action

Fortunately at least we had our Bishop Paul Tan, deputy president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST), to criticize the high handed actions of the authorities in demolishing the temple and homes. He described this atrocious behavior as “insensitive and intolerant”.

This what Bishop Tan had to say : “The fact that this huge loss is not caused by earthquake, tsunami or any other natural catastrophe but by governmental agencies has compounded the people’s misery and shock many times over. Places of worship are sacred places and the authorities must adhere to strict and proper protocals in taking action on such places”.(Malaysiakini,Nov.3).

Lawyers arrested and handcuffed

The bishop also criticized MBSA for the attack on temple priest Siva Sri Ramalingga Gurukal who was not armed and posed no threat to anyone. We share his views that this arrogant and violent actions by the MBSA in Kg.Rimba Jaya,is unwarranted if not checked, could encourage other local authorities to follow suit in future.

Demolished temple and homes

We must support the MCCBCHST in expressing our deepest regret and dismay over the MBSA’s actions. We call on the government to stop these mob-like actions of the MBSA and other local authorities.Let us also offer our aid in whatever way we can to those organizations that are working to help the affected residents of Kg.Rimba Jaya in rebuilding their temple, their homes and their lives as a whole.

We are denied our legitimate religious rights and freedom in our own land. We may be helpless in fighting for our rights against the powerful forces arrayed against us. The only way out of our predicament is through peaceful political means. We must strive to make people aware of their responsibilities in the coming general elections.

The Church has the moral obligation of not only to encourage its congregation to vote but to vote wisely so that we can bring about the necessary changes for a fair and just Malaysia where citizens of various races and religions can live in peace, harmony and mutual respect.

Dr.Chris Anthony

Jesus and the tax collector

Sunday refection

4 November 2007 Luke 19:1-10

Jesus and the tax collector

Jesus entered Jericho and was going through the town and suddenly a man whose name was Zacchaeus made his appearance; he was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man.

He kept trying to see which Jesus was, but he was too short and could not see him for the crowd; so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way.

When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke to him, 'Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I am to stay at your house today.' And he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully.

They all complained when they saw what was happening. 'He has gone to stay at a sinner's house,' they said.

But Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to the Lord, 'Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount.'

And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of man has come to seek out and save what was lost.'


Reflection

In this story of Jesus encounter with Zacchaeus,a tax collector,our Lord is trying to stress on the virtues of forgiveness and humility. Zacchaeus was a sinner in the eyes of the people at large but still Jesus went down to him. That act of humility converted Zacchaeus to become a better person. One virtue of humility led to another, forgiveness.

This story of Jesus is very relevant to us even today. Many of may be well off in society but often we avoid those who sin for fear of being branded as bad. We also avoid mixing with the less the fortunate and marginalized.

We are afraid to allow our children to mingle with those from poor families and bad for fear of getting spoilt.We is very selective with whom they mix.

These actions of ours are definitely against the basic teachings of Jesus, who despite being the lord ,master and teacher, showed by example to go down to the sinner and marginalized in society. He was not afraid of what the people thought of him.

Similarly, we too should go down to those despised and marginalized. Only by our humility and forgiveness we can “covert” them to better humans. When Jesus, who is our God and Master can go down to the sinner, why can’t we mere humans, who are also sinners. We expect Jesus to forgive us sinners, but we as sinners ourselves are not willing to forgive those who sin against us. What hypocrites we are!

Dr.Chris Anthony

Jesus “stolen” from church

Jesus cannot be locked up in the tabernacle

I read with interest the report “Sacred vessels stolen from church” which appeared in the Star, August 17 ,2007.

According to the report parishioners attending the early morning mass at the Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church in Ipoh were shocked to find that its sacred relics were missing. Thieves had broken into the building and carted away the church’s tabernacle containing its five sacred vessels worth RM5,000.

The report suggested that the parishioners and the parish priest were more concerned with the loss of the five vessels in the tabernacle worth RM5,000, rather than in their contents which is priceless – consecrated hosts representing Christ himself.

This incident, is not just a theft, but is a real test of our faith by Jesus. His coming to us in Holy Communion should be the source of the strength and zeal to pass Him to those around us and not lock him up in the confines of the church and the tabernacle only to be visited whenever we have problems.

Jesus is always out there alive in the world, in our midst and especially in the people around us including the thieves who “stole” Him from the church.

Dr.Chris Anthony

The brave monks of Myanmar-2

We call ourselves Christians but how Christ-like are we?

September 26, 2007 was a tragic day for the people of Myanmar, a day of national tragedy and mourning. It was the day when the army opened fire on unarmed civilian protestors and Buddhist monks.

The ruling military junta did not hesitate to use force even against unarmed, peace promoting and modestly robed Buddhist monks. They were kicked and beaten as soldiers rounded them up and shoved them onto trucks. Doors of the monasteries were broken; things were ransacked and taken away.

The cowardly and brutal acts of the ruling military junta should be condemned by the whole international community. Definitely these acts of aggression against unarmed civilians and monks are inhumane and treacherous to the human race. On the other hand the actions of the brave people of Myanmar need to be praised and supported by all.

How did the world react to these atrocities being commited against innocent people? Yes, the world reacted but hesitantly and without enthusiasm as the military junta brutally and fatally crushed the peaceful unarmed pro-democracy protesters.The United Nations was divided and stood powerless to stop the massacre. It seemed to have lost it credibility. The rich and powerful nations,who often preach on human rights,appeared to have lost their moral responsibility towards the poor and oppressed in the world.Neghbors in Asia,particularly ASEAN,did not see the need to do anything other than merely offer half-hearted condemnation.

What is more distressing is that even the Christian community especially our own Church seemed to be silent on the issue. There was no strong condemnation from our top Church leaders in Malaysia and the world. Have we too lost the moral obligation to mankind like during the Holocaust?

It was dismaying that not a single word was mentioned on the plight of the Myanmars during our Sunday masses. We seem to be contended to pray and worship God in isolation, ignoring the pleas of our neighbour, the people and monks of Myanmar, as they were being brutally crushed while struggling for peace and freedom.

The least we could do was offer special prayers and empathizes with them but that too we failed. Everyday we pray for the Pope, our bishops, priests, ourselves and our families but conveniently forget the oppressed people in Myanmar who are most in need of our prayers.

We call ourselves Christians, the followers of Christ, it may be pertinent here to reflect how Christ-like are we in our daily lives?

Dr.Chris Anthony

Holding God to ransom

26 Sunday,30 September 2007

Luke 16:19-31

Lazarus and the rich man

There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and feast magnificently every day. And at his gate there used to lie a poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to fill himself with what fell from the rich man's table. Even dogs came and licked his sores.

Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels into Abraham's embrace. The rich man also died and was buried. In his torment in Hades he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off with Lazarus in his embrace.

So he cried out, "Father Abraham, pity me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these flames." Abraham said, "My son, remember that during your life you had your fill of good things, just as Lazarus his fill of bad. Now he is being comforted here while you are in agony.

But that is not all: between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, to prevent those who want to cross from our side to yours or from your side to ours."

So he said, "Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my father's house, since I have five brothers, to give them warning so that they do not come to this place of torment too." Abraham said, "They have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them."

The rich man replied, "Ah no, father Abraham, but if someone comes to them from the dead, they will repent." Then Abraham said to him, "If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead."



Reflection

This Sunday’s readings clearly tell us what we should do to attain eternal life. In today’s world we are all striving to be like the rich man, who lived in luxury – very comfortable mansion, luxurious cars, dining in porch restaurants with famous personalities, good food, wine, music and women. To achieve all these we go all out to accumulate more and more wealth.

In our obsession with trying to make more and more, we forget the poor Lazarus just at the gates of our mansion. We pass by him several times a day but are do not, or more rightly refuseto, see him. He is in front of us, hungry, naked, sick and wounded but we do not see or hear him. We continue to enjoy and satisfy our senses least perturbed by the poverty and misery of those around us. How will God reward us if we ignore Him in the pleas of those in our midst?

In our materialistic world today, we even tend to bribe God to enter His Kingdom.We fast, abstain and diligently receive all the sacraments without fail. We build majestic churches organize mammoth feasts, banquets and mass worship sessions in His name but refuse to acknowledge Him in those in need around us.

We refuse to talk to one another, refuse to smile at those we meet and we harbour so much hatred and jealousy towards those who are better off than us. We refuse to humble ourselves to go down and share our gifts with those less fortunate than us. Is it fair to expect God to reward us for holding Him to ransom?

Dr.Chris Anthony

Myanmar protests 2007

The brave monks of Myanmar

Monks taking to the streets of Yangon

Wednesday ,September 26 2007 was a sad day for the people of Myanmar, a day of national tragedy and mourning. It was the day when the army opened fire on unarmed civilian protesters and Buddhist monks. Soldiers and police fired tear gas, clubbed protesters and arrested up to 200 monks in an attempt to quash the uprising. A number of deaths were reported.

The ruling military junta did not hesitate to use force even against unarmed, peace promoting modestly robed Buddhist monks. They were kicked and beaten as soldiers rounded them up and shoved them onto trucks. Doors of the monasteries were broken; things were ransacked and taken away.

The cowardly and brutal acts of the ruling military junta should be condemned by the whole international community. Definitely these acts of aggression against unarmed civilians and monks are inhumane and treacherous to the human race. On the other hand the actions of the brave people of Myanmar need to be praised and supported by all.

In this whole incident, two important events impressed me greatly.

Firstly it was the bravery of the people of Myanmar especially the Buddhist monks. The peace-loving and unarmed Buddhist monks, who lead the pro-democracy demonstrations, had shown that they can rise up against all odds to fight against oppression and injustice of fellow men. They were willing to give up the peace and tranquility of their monasteries and risk their lives to confront the mighty junta in defending the rights of fellow citizens.

Secondly the mutual love between the people and the monks was exceptionally captivating. It was touching to see the people forming a human shield around the monks who lead the procession. The people were willing to give their lives to defend their monks.

We witness a situation where two groups of people each willing to even sacrifice their lives for each other. These actions of the monks should be a lesson for not just Buddhists but for all. It puts us to shame when we compare our own clergy-laity relationship.

Injustice and oppression occurs everywhere all the time. It is there in the government, in our offices, in schools, in our families, among friends and even in our Church. Those in positions of power adopt all sorts of tactics and maneuvers to deny the ordinary people their legitimate rights. They become masters of the very people they are supposed to serve.

Dissenting voices are quickly shut up, whistle blowers are punished and freedom of expression denied. The entire government machinery, media, armed forces, police and the judiciary are abused to silence those who speak the truth. Jesus himself was a victim of the rich and the powerful.

As Christians it is our obligation to speak out against injustice and oppression wherever and whenever it occurs. We may not be a position to do great things to change the whole world but we can do little things with great passion and love to change the small world around us.

What do we do when the government bulldozers through unfair policies that are detrimental to the people? What do we do when people in power in the organizations we are in misuse their power and funds? What do we do when our calls for moderation, accountability and reform are not heeded? Very often, under such pressures, we lose hearts and quit but is quitting the right decision?

Let’s offer special prayers for the brave people of Myanmar. Let’s ask God to grant them
the peace and freedom that they yearn for over four decades. As we pray for our fellow men in Myanmar, let us also reflect on what we are doing to oppose the acts of injustice and oppression that we encounter in our own lives.

Dr.Chris Anthony

Educating by example

Our children are what we make them out to be An incident with my 17 year old son made me realize how little things that we often take for granted have a profound effect on the young minds of our children. It also reminded me that life is a continuous process of learning in which everyone we come across, regardless of whether he is small or big, young or old, man or woman, rich or poor, friend or foe, play an important role. We have much to learn from every one of them. My son, a college student, frequents a small restaurant for his meals. One day the owner of the restaurant asked him whether he knew how to download and burn some songs onto a compact disc (CD).When my son admitted he knew, the gentleman requested him to burn some of his favourite songs for him. He said he would pay for it. So my son went back and did the job. He then called me to find out how much he should charge the man for the CD.I advised that he give it for free as it the first time he had asked for such a help.The next day my son handed over the CD to the restaurant owner. He refused to accept any payment despite some persuasion by the man. The man thanked him and my son left. A few days later my son went back to the restaurant to have his meals. He ordered the usual food. While he was having his meal a waiter sent him a large glass of fruit juice as a compliment from his boss. My son was so surprised and he happily thanked him. After the meal when he went to pay his bill the boss refused to accept payment saying that his lunch treat was in appreciation for the CD earlier. My son was so happy that he immediately called me to relate the incident. I could sense the joy in his voice when said “I had free lunch; the restaurant owner didn’t take my money because I burnt the CD for free”. I could not believe that a small deed like that could bring him so much happiness. Without my knowledge I had taught my son a very important lesson in life, “kindness brings happiness”. If he had collected a few ringgit for the CD from the restaurant owner, he would not have got the treat from him, and my son would not have experienced the joy of his kind act. Forgoing a ringgit could bring him the happiness which often we are not able to obtain by thousands of ringgit. This incident may be a small one, it may not guarantee my son will grow up to be a good person, but it made me aware that as parents we have a very important role in shaping the character of our children. This can most effectively be done by our own examples not preaching. It is in little things that we can guide them to be kind, considerate and helpful to those whom they come into contact. It is in little things that we can instill the good values and morality that are so deficient in our society today. In a world that is solely driven by materialism and consumerism,and where stiff and unhealthy competition in the norm, instilling good values in our children would go a long way to make the world a better place for all. In a multi-racial country like ours, it would particularly contribute to ethnic tolerance and integration that is so badly needed. Dr.Chris Anthony

Reflecting on Mother Teresa’s Crisis of faith

How strong is our faith?

The tenth anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa brought to mind some interesting insight into her which made me reflect on my own faith.

In Mother Teresa - Crisis of Faith by David Van Biema that was published in the September 3, 2007 edition of Time Magazine, the writer related an incident that revealed Mother Teresa at one time even doubted the existence of God. She was reported to have told Rev.Michael Van Der Peet,

“Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear, the tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak ....”

Less than 3 months later on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize she reaffirmed her unshakable faith in God and advised us on the need to see Christ around us.

"It is not enough for us to say, 'I love God, but I do not love my neighbor’, since in dying on the Cross, God had made himself the hungry one, the naked one, the homeless one." Jesus' hunger, she said, is what "you and I must find" and alleviate. Christ is everywhere — Christ in our hearts, Christ in the poor we meet, Christ in the smile we give and in the smile that we receive.

We all knew Mother Teresa for her unwavering faith and trust in God. Here she was even expressing doubt in the very existence of God himself. This admission by her just goes to show that the Saint of the Gutters, who was beatified on October 19, 2003, was just as human like all of us. The crisis in her faith that Mother Teresa experienced was understandable because of the perpetual challenges she encountered as she lived humbly submitting to the call of God to serve fellow men among the poorest of the poor.

We too face all sorts of challenges in our own ways. We fulfill all our religious duties diligently and therefore believe that God will never forsake us under all circumstances. We never have the slightest doubt in our trust and faith in Him. This may be so when things go right but very often life does not seem to go the way we want it to be. It is in times of these challenges and tragedies that our faith is put to the test. Despite all our earnest prayers, our petitions never seem to be answered. It is during these extreme trying times we begin to doubt the existence of God.

Some of these challenges to our faith today are:

1. Death of loved ones ,terminal illness, permanent disability
2. Divorce and failures in love
3. Failures in examinations and unemployment when our future appears doomed
4. Extreme poverty and hunger
5. Natural disasters
6. Persecution and torture for standing up for truth and justice
7. Loneliness

When we are inflicted by these tragedies and God does not seem to intervene to help us, many of us give up hope and may even leave Him. We are taught that God is so loving, kind and merciful, then why does he forsake us? Why doesn’t he come down to get us out of the misery that had inflicted us.

This is the time we need all the faith and trust in Him like Mother Teresa. Many among us expect God to come down in person and work miracles to help us overcome our problems. We fail to realize that God come to us in forms we do not recognize thereby fail to welcome him into our lives. If we are waiting for him to come in majesty and glamour then we will be sadly mistaken. He will instead come in the form of the poor and destitute. Unless we welcome these downtrodden people into our hearts, we will never experience God in our lives.

Mother Teresa identified Jesus in her “poorest of the poor” Unless we too recognize Him in the downtrodden and despised and welcome them into our hearts, we will never experience God in our lives

We must be convinced that God will never fail us if we do His will. It is in times of trial that we should reflect on ourselves to see where we have gone wrong. When God does not come to our aid then there must be something wrong with us and not with God. We should reflect on our relationship with God and our neighbor. There must be something wrong in the way we interpret and practice his teachings. To many of us it is easy to love God, whom we can’t see, hear or feel but difficult to love our neighbor who is physically there in our midst.

As Mother Teresa said we cannot possibly love God if we do not love fellow humans, which is very true. Emerging fundamentalism in the Church has given rise to a situation where we are meaninglessly worshipping God without loving men. We spend many hours to be with Him in prayer and meditation but not willing to spare a fraction of that time to attend to those in need.

With our obsession with “worshipping” God, we ignore the plea of those who yearn for our love and care. How can we expect God to listen to us when we ignore Jesus in our neighbor? How can we expect God to answer our prayers when they are all meant to seek favors for us and our loved ones?

The good, God will try them repeatedly but will never forsake them, whereas the bad, he may shower with all the fortunes in life but in times of need will forsake them.

Dr.Chris Anthony