“Cultivating a passionate love for the Eucharistic Lord and choosing to live for Christ!”

(Based on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – Corpus Christi)

“I would like to say the Mass!”

These were the passionate words of Archbishop Dominic Tang, the archbishop of Canton who was imprisoned in China for 22 years…
… for his faith and loyalty to the Church and papacy.

Of these 22 years, seven years were in solitary confinement

This solitary confinement cell was not large enough to stand up nor to lie down and stretch your legs fully.

One day, Archbishop Tang was surprised with the news that he could leave his solitary confinement cell for a few hours to do whatever he wanted.

His persecutors wondered what he would ask for…
… but without any hesitation
… Archbishop Tang, expressed his deep longing that had been suppressed for 22 years: “I would like to say Mass!”

On this Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Jesus, we are exhorted to cultivate a passionate love for the Eucharistic Lord…
… just like Archbishop Tang, and to choose to live for Christ!

Our Christian Life celebrates God, who is Emmanuel – With us, God!

And our Emmanuel God, fulfils His promise, by dwelling in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist.

On this Feast of the Corpus Christi, it is apt and meaningful to realize the worth and greatness of this Most Beautiful Treasure that God is gifting to Humanity.

As human beings, we all engage ourselves in many social gatherings, events, occasions etc.

And for all of that, we do make a lot of planning, preparations and arrangements.

The Holy Mass is the re-enactment of the Sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary, in memory of the Holy Institution at the Last Supper.

It is a momentous and splendid Divine Occasion and Event!

But often, this great event is accorded very little preparation.

No wonder, for some people, the Mass often seems boring and sadly, considered a useless ritual!

Very often, just before Holy Mass or just before entering the Church…
… we engage ourselves in very casual talks, in making fun
… and in being filled with worldly attractions and other external distractions.

The Holy Eucharist – Heaven on earth – is basically oriented toward four aspects
(a) Adoration and Worship of God
(b) To give thanks for His gifts and graces
(c) To ask remission of our sins
(d) To offer our petitions to the Lord.

At every Holy Eucharist, we need to become aware of these aspects.

We need to think:

Is my heart and mind really ready to embrace the Awesome Moments of the Lord’s Life – His Passion, His Death and His Resurrection, which is celebrated at Mass?

The Lord of the Universe descends on the Altar and is ready to dwell in our little hearts!

I need to realize the gravity of this Moment and prepare my heart to receive this Divine Saviour!

Do I take time to read and reflect on the Readings of the Mass beforehand?
Do I make a genuine examination of Conscience and truly repent, to receive God’s Mercy?
Do I become aware that, at Holy Mass, I am at Mount Calvary, along with our Blessed Mother…
… and ready to offer my life, along with Jesus, for the Salvation of the world?

St. Francis de Sales says:
“When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness!
… welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence.”

This Feast is a Feast for all the days of the year.

The Lord is present in the Blessed Sacraments in our Chapels and our Churches…
… all the days – inviting us to experience His Love!

Let’s delight in this love story, Venerable Fulton Sheen says, “The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny white Host!”

Let this Feast help us to make practical resolutions…
… so that we can love the Lord in the Eucharist
… and thus, in turn, become a Eucharist in this our broken and fragmented world.

We need to reflect and examine:

Can I make extra efforts to prepare for the Holy Mass and also be aware of the Presence of the Lord, after Holy Mass?

Is it possible for me to spend daily some time, >> with the Lord, in the Blessed Sacrament? For those of us, where physically, it is
not possible to be with the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, can I spare some time to be with the Lord, in prayer and devotion, in
whichever place possible…?

Can I show an extra devotion to the Lord, especially when we pass before some Chapels or Churches, and become a living witness to God’s infinite love in the Eucharist?

Can I see the Broken Body and the Blood of the Lord, in the broken lives of the people in my life – my family, my workplace, my community, my church, my society, my nation, my world?

Can I spread the Devotion of the Blessed Eucharist to other peoples, especially to lukewarm and tepid Catholics, that all may know and realize, the Presence of the mighty Treasure of Grace, Power and Love, in this Beloved Sacrament?

St Francis de Sales says, “We must visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament a hundred thousand times a day!”

Let us pray: “Make me Your bread to nourish the hungry; make me your wine to quench your thirst; and make me Your comfort
to all those who cry, Amen!”

May Blessed Mamma, the Mother of the Holy Eucharist, help us to “fall in love with the Eucharistic Lord” and to radiate, the Love of Christ to all people!

Happy Feast of the Most Holy Eucharist!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

“May the Blessed Mother Mary, Who gave Herself entirely to the Lord, and Jesus, who like the poor widow, gave Himself entirely to His people and in doing God’s Will, be our inspiration, our strength and our hope!”

(Based on 2 Tim 4:1-8 and Mk 12:38-44 – Saturday of the 9th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2)

A money-collection drive was being been conducted in a particular Church for a particular intention.

The people were free to put in as much contribution as they wanted for the noble cause.

One gentleman stood up and announced a rather large contribution, and the people applauded greatly.

A few moments later, an old lady stood up and announced her donation.

But it was greeted with silence.

The priest, however, in reply to the cold response of the people, stood up and said emphatically, “Ladies and gentleman, I believe I hear the applause of the nail-scarred Hands!”

The people understood what the priest meant, and slowly but surely applauded the old lady’s generosity.

The Gospel of the Day presents such a similar act of appreciation by Jesus over the apparently “tiny” yet really “great” contribution by a widow to the Temple Treasury.

The passage of the day is the culmination of the 12th Chapter of the Gospel of St Mark.

This has been a volatile passage…

Jesus tells the parable of the Tenants (Mk 12: 1-12)
… thereby giving out a sharp message to the Jews to accept the Messiah and not forfeit the many graces and blessings that they had been blessed with.

Jesus gives a fitting response to the question of paying taxes (Mk 12: 13-17)
… thereby exhorting the concerned people to not get stuck to earthly obligations and instead gear one’s life in total allegiance to the Lord Creator

Jesus corrects the false notion regarding the teaching on Resurrection (Mk 12: 18-27)
… thereby challenging to live a life in worthiness of eternity and to have the correct and deeper faith in the Living God and His Teachings

Jesus makes clear the greatest commandments (Mk 12: 28-34)
… thereby inviting all to understand that there is only one true God and He deserves all the love and affection of our being and this love ought to be expressed in love of neighbour.

Jesus points out from Scripture that He is the Messiah, the Lord (Mk 12: 35-37)
… thereby opening the eyes of the people to read Scripture with greater openness to the Spirit and an invitation to accept Him as the Lord of their lives.

These five pronouncements finally concludes with Jesus denouncing the action of the scribes especially in devouring the lives of the poor widows.

Jesus says, “The scribes devour the houses of widows, and as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers” (Mk 12: 40)

Widows were an easy trap to be cheated and to be exploited…

However, the chapter ends with a beautiful counteract…
A widow – symbol of all the other widows, who have been cheated, or oppressed or facing humiliations – comes in to the Temple and drops in her ‘everything’ in the treasure!

This is indeed a powerful symbol of faithfulness and duty…

She is a symbol of being oppressed – yet she is heartily generous
She is an object of being condemned – yet she is mightily liberal
And she becomes a symbol of self-giving and total-emptiness.

This poor widow becomes a great challenge for us in our lives…

Life may bite us hard with cruel luck and bad destiny…
Life may oppress us through various elements in the society…
Life may cheat us in the form of many people or circumstances…
Yet, through all this…
Like this poor widow,
Can I still be firm to give to God in gratitude?
Can I be faithful to do my responsibilities even if unrewarded?

St Paul beautifully inspires us by his life of commitment, as we hear him proclaim the words of hope:
“For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing!” (2 Tim 4:6-8)

May the Blessed Mother Mary, who Herself was a poor widow, and gave Herself entirely to the Lord…

And Jesus, Who like the poor widow, gave Himself entirely to His people and in doing God’s Will…
… be our inspiration, our strength and our hope!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

“Willing to ‘taste and see’ the HOLY BIBLE in order to recognise the Power and Goodness of the Holy Word of God!”

(Based on 2 Tim 3:10-17 and Mk 12:35-37 – Friday of the 9th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2)

“You tell me that your Book is the Word of God, but can you prove it so?” challenged an owner of an orchard (= enclosed land with fruit trees)…
… to a Christian who was quite enthusiastic about his faith.

The owner of the orchard had very little regard and hardly cared for things of the Divine.

Faced with that question of the faith, the Christian, admiring the fruit trees in the orchard…
… went closer to an apple tree – full of luscious and juicy red ones – gently held one of the apples and said: “What fine looking apples!”

And then, changing the subject said, “But what a pity! They are of such poor quality when it comes to eating them!”

“What!” exclaimed the shocked orchard owner, “Of poor quality? How can you make such a blunt and baseless statement without even having tasted one of them!

Pick one or two and try them…!”

The Christian obliged.

As he began to eat an apple, smacking his lips he said, “Yes, you are right! The apples are excellent!”

But he went on to say, “Now Sir… you must deal with the BOOK, in the same way I dealt with your fruit!

Taste and see… the goodness contained in the Word of God!”

Yes, its only when we are willing to “taste and see” that we recognise the Power and Goodness of the Bible – the Holy Word of God!

“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ” are the famous words of exhortation of St Jerome, the doctor of the Church.

The Scriptures talk to us of God and of His love and providence

The Scriptures tell of us people who experienced God’s mercy and lived in His presence
The Scriptures help us to experience His care… to grow in His love.

Are we genuinely making efforts to grow in knowing and understanding the Scriptures so that we can know and understand and love our God, more deeply?

The Gospel of the Day presents Jesus exhorting the people to have a closer look into the Scriptures and thereby, discovering Him in a deeper manner!

Over the last few days, we have seen Jesus facing various sorts of groups and quizzed over different aspects…

The Chief priests, Scribes and elders questioned Jesus on His authority

The Pharisees and Herodians interrogated Jesus on the subject of paying taxes to Caesar
The Sadducees confronted Jesus on the topic of the Resurrection
Another scribe enquired Jesus on the first of all the commandments

After this long round of being questioned, Jesus now puts a question to His listeners, “How do the Scribes claim that the Messiah is the Son of David? David calls Him ‘Lord’; so how is He his Son?” (Mk 12: 35,37)

The nation of Israel had King David as her greatest King.

And it was through the line of David, that the Jews knew the future Messiah would be coming.
They eagerly awaited this ‘Son of David’.
Thus was written in the Scriptures.
Thus was taught from the Scriptures.
And Jesus was aware of this aspect.

However, the Lord invites and challenges His listeners to look at Scripture in a deeper manner and to understand its greater implications.

Therefore, Jesus quotes King David from Psalm 102 which presents David calling the Messiah as the Lord.

And then He puts forward this very simple query… “How can the Son of David also be Lord of David”?

Implied in this question was the powerful claim by Jesus, that…
… He Himself was the Messiah – the Son of David and the Lord of David

Implied in this question was also the powerful answer to the previous questions that were put forward to Him by the various groups:

To the query on the greatest commandment…
… Jesus declares that He is the Lord, who is to be loved with one’s whole heart, and one’s whole soul and with one’s whole mind and with one’s whole strength
To the confrontation on the topic of Resurrection…
… Jesus declares that He is the Lord of the Resurrection and the One Who grants eternal life
To the interrogation on the subject of paying taxes to Caesar
… Jesus declares that He is the Lord who is above all earthly kingdoms and to whom absolute allegiance is to be rendered
To the questioning on His authority
… Jesus declares that He is the Lord who is the source of all authority and requires no one’s permission or authorization!

The Jews were familiar with the Scriptures…

They were familiar with the Psalms particularly…
They were familiar with the passages especially concerning David and the Messiah..
Yet, they had seldom considered Scriptures in the way that Jesus was presenting to them!

Jesus had cast new light on the reading of the Scriptures!

Jesus had opened a new way of looking at the Scriptures!

Our own lives can parallel the lives of these Jews, with respect to the Scriptures.

How eager and zealous are we regarding the Word of God?

How faithful and committed are we…
… to reading the Scriptures daily?
… to spend some time regularly in studying the Bible?
… to understand the person of Jesus and grow in Him through His Word?
… to inculcate the light of His Wisdom and to practice it in our daily activities and life?

Let us seek the grace of the Holy Spirit to grow in our understanding and love of the Lord and to live a life in Him!

We are invited to take the resolution of spending at least a few minutes, daily – without fail – in reading the Holy Bible.
We need to read His Word
We need to learn His Word
We need to practise His Word

Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ!

Let us grow in our passion for His Holy Word and be committed to His Kingdom, so that our lives may mightily proclaim, “Jesus is Lord!”

St Paul reminds us: “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…
… so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17)

Let us joyfully and with docility be willing to “taste and see” the HOLY BIBLE…
… in order to recognise the Power and Goodness of the Holy Word of God!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

“Responding to the exhortation of the Lord, to Love God with our “ALL!”

(Based on 2 Tim 2:8-15 and Mk 12:28-34 – Thursday of the 9th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2)

A heart-touching incident is told of a man who was travelling in a train.

Sitting opposite him was a mother and a little girl.

He talked to the little girl and told her stories and showed her his penknife – how it opened and closed.
He even sang to her, and she loved her new companion.

As the train reached the destination, the little girl looked up to the man and asked: “Do you love Jesus?”

He didn’t understand her at first…
… but she repeated the question.

The man stammered and blushed as he said good-bye to her and her mother…

But he couldn’t forget the question; “Do you love Jesus?”

He went to bed that night and that question didn’t go away, “Do you love Jesus?”

When he woke up the next morning, it was still there.
The question was planted by the Spirit in his heart and it put down its roots.

It demanded an answer.

Five years later he was walking through the city, when he bumped into a lady coming out of her house.

He recognized her as the mother of the little girl.

“Hello!” he said to her warmly, “I don’t suppose you remember me. About five years ago I travelled in the same train coach as you and your daughter.”

“I remember it well,” she said, “come in.”

So he went into her house.

“Do you remember that your daughter asked me a question as we were getting out of the train?”
“How is she? Can I see her?” he asked.

The woman looked away.
Tears were in her eyes.

“I’m sorry” she said…
… “She is in heaven!”

She took him to her room and there were her Bible, and her dolls, and prize books, and some toys. “That’s all that’s left of my sweet Lettie,” her mother said.

“No,” said the man – who was shocked and dazed – quite vehemently. “That is not all that is left of her.

I am left. I am left. I owe her my faith in God!

I was an unbeliever when she asked me that question.

I loved the world and I lived badly, but she asked me that question and I never could forget it, and since that time I have changed.

I am not the man I was. I am now God’s.

I can answer the question now!”

What about us?

Can we answer that question: “Do YOU love Jesus?”

The Gospel of the Day is an exhortation by the Lord, to Love God with our “ALL”…
… All our heart
… All our soul
… All our mind
… All our strength

The Gospel begins with a member of the scribe, approaching Jesus with a question:
“Which is the greatest of all commandments?”(Mk 12: 28)

This man, who questioned Jesus was a scribe

Some translations would put it as “a Lawyer”
The Gospel of St Matthew describes him as a “Scholar of the Law” (Mt 22: 35)

He was an expert in the Mosaic Law.
… someone who studied the law, interpreted the law and taught the law!

Jesus responded him, with something immensely special:
“The Lord our God, is Lord alone. Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength”(Mk 12:29- 30)…

“Love your neighbour as yourself” (Mk 12: 31)

Note the insistence on the word “all”….
… “all” your heart… feelings, emotions, desires
… “all” your soul… will, choices, decisions
… “all” your mind… reason, knowledge, memory
… “all” your strength… talents, abilities, capacities

The Lord commands and demands a “total” and “complete” loving!

He demands an “absolute” and “unadulterated” love!

Love, as Jesus defines, is not simply about feelings and emotions, as is the popular and the ‘commercial’ understanding.

Undoubtedly, Love has the dimensions of being a tender feeling and an expressive emotion.

But beyond that, Love is…
… a commitment
… a dedication
… a decision
…. that one makes to be faithful – to a person or a duty or a situation!

Life sometimes can be quite harsh to us – making us feel totally lost out, abandoned even by God and even causing us to question the presence and existence of a Just and Loving God…
… But, can we still dare to “love God?”

Life sometimes hits very hard at us – in the form of others not accepting us, others ridiculing, criticizing us and we finding ourselves as the subject of hatred and injustice.
… But, can we still dare to “love our neighbours”?

Life sometimes is very unfair to us, we feel – by not rewarding us with rewards, that we consider, we deserve, in answer to the hard-work we put in.. or by not allowing us to enjoy the joys of life and instead bombards us with tensions and worries
… Can we still go out of the way and live a life “In Love and For Love”?

When one’s life is truly centered on love for God, one also begins to express this love to one’s neighbours, in concrete and certain acts of love.

As Christians, we often…
… seek to find “loopholes” in laws of loving the Lord and our neighbour…
… try to spot “gaps” in commandments which ask to love the Lord and our neighbour…

But the insistence of the Lord is clear:
“Love Fully”
“Love Totally”
“Love Completely”

This is the ideal to which we, as Christians are called!

If not for this highest ideal, our life as a Christian would cease to have a uniqueness!

As we make our journey, in the “train of life”, we are constantly faced with this fundamental question of our faith: “Do YOU love Jesus?”

This question is planted by the Spirit in our hearts and it put down its roots.

It demands an answer.

What is our answer?

God Bless! Live Jesus!

“Being more docile to the voice of the Lord, so that we may mould our lives in perfect tune to God’s Will!”

(Based on 2 Tim 1:1-3, 6-12 and Mk 12:18-27 – Wednesday of the 9th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2)

An old man and his wife, who had spent their life, in the villages, were taken to the railway station by their son, who had a job in the city.

It was for the first time in their life that this old couple was seeing a train!

The husband was highly bewildered at the sight of that large locomotive.

He looked the engine over very carefully, and shook his head.

“Well, what do you think of it, father?” asked the son with eagerness

“She’ll never start,” was the firm answer by the disbelieving father: “she’ll never start.”

However, in a few minutes, the conductor waved, the bell rang, the locomotive puffed, the train moved slowly at first, then faster.

It was disappearing in the distance when the son inquired slyly: “”Well…what do you think of it now?”

The old man shook his head more violently than before and blurted out with greater assertion:

“She’ll never stop,” he affirmed; “she’ll never stop!!”

How often is this true of many people…
… Pre-Conceptions often close the mind; and one is unwilling to open anything new
… Prejudices often shut one’s understanding; and one becomes adamant in refusing to learn!

Truth is received and understood only by the one who is open and willing to accept it!

Truth can never be forced upon..
Truth can never be thrust on anyone…
Rather, Truth with the freedom it allows, is taken in only by the one docile to it!

The Gospel of the Day presents another group of opponents -characterised by rigidity to accept the truth and blocked in mentality to be docile…
… who try to put down and prod our Blessed Lord in His teachings.

Yet, Jesus, who is source and perfection of all wisdom, fails to get bogged down – instead traps them in their own arguments…
… and leaves them faced with a mighty challenge to change!

The Sadducees came to Jesus to put forward a hypothetical riddle regarding the question of the Resurrection.

The Sadducees were the top people in the nation, the elite group of aristocrats who owned a lot of land, wealth and rank.

They were the power brokers in Israel’s supreme court, the Sanhedrin.
Even the high priests came from the families of the Sadducees.

They were selective in what they accepted from the Scriptures.

They rejected all the historical books.
They also rejected all the psalms and the other ‘writings’ like Job and Ecclesiastes.
Not one of the books of the prophets would they accept.
They were left with just the first five books of Moses.

Moses was their person of authority.

That is why when they come to Jesus, they characteristically begin, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us…” ( Mk 12:19)

They also rejected the resurrection of the dead.

“Men stay dead,” they said; human beings only have this life here and now.

That is what they believed; no judgment; with death, the soul perishes with the body.

We live in a world where we also encounter many of the “modern” Sadducees.

People who live as though there is no Resurrection..
People who deny giving any significance for life after this life
People who fail to uphold any teachings or thoughts that support a life after death

For such “modern” Sadducees,
… Life consists in basically enjoying the pleasures of this present life to the maximum!
… Life is not to be drowned in “boring” piety and “dull” devotions with a hope for the future!

Perhaps, some of us, may also share such thought-patterns of the Sadducees.

Yet, the Lord addresses us, just as He did to the Sadducees, “Are you not misled because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?” (Mk 12: 24)

The Scriptures clearly testify to the various references that are made to the fact of the “dead” not really being dead… rather, alive in the Lord

The power of God clearly testifies that God as the one who created creation out of nothing…
… also has the power to grant new life to those who are dead

The Gospel passage ends with the statement by Jesus, “You are greatly misled” (Mk 12: 27b).

Another translation would read, “You are quite wrong”

The Lord was not afraid to clearly and bluntly tell the Sadducees that they were wrong and misled in their understandings.

And perhaps, if we are in the category of being a “modern” Sadducee, the Lord uncompromisingly tells us also, “You are greatly misled”

We need to be open to the voice of the Lord, calling us to trust deeper, in the presence of the life after this life.

Let not our prejudices shut our understanding, and cause us to be adamant in refusing to learn!

Truth is received and understood only by the one who is open and willing to accept it!

Let us grow to be more docile to the voice of the Lord, so that we may mould our lives in perfect tune to God’s Will…
… and thus be able to enjoy a life of Resurrection – true happiness in eternity!

Let us seek the intercession St Charles Lwanga and his companions – the 22 Ugandan Martyrs – who offered their life for the Kingdom.

May the remarkable words of St Charles Lwanga, as he was being burnt to death:
“It is as if you are pouring water on me. Please repent and become a Christian like me!”
… inspire us to also face all the struggles in Christian Life and to remain bold and faithful to the Lord and His Kingdom!

God Bless! Live Jesus!