Scripture Reflection and Prayer : Journeying together: July 2021

Saturday 31 July 2021

AIMLESS LIFE

20210801 AIMLESS LIFE

01 August, 2021, Sunday, 18th Week, Ordinary Time

First reading

Exodus 16:2-4,12-15 ©

The Lord sends manna from heaven

The whole community of the sons of Israel began to complain against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness and said to them, ‘Why did we not die at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we were able to sit down to pans of meat and could eat bread to our heart’s content! As it is, you have brought us to this wilderness to starve this whole company to death!’

Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now I will rain down bread for you from the heavens. Each day the people are to go out and gather the day’s portion; I propose to test them in this way to see whether they will follow my law or not.

‘I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel. Say this to them, “Between the two evenings you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have bread to your heart’s content. Then you will learn that I, the Lord, am your God.”’

And so it came about: quails flew up in the evening, and they covered the camp; in the morning there was a coating of dew all round the camp. When the coating of dew lifted, there on the surface of the desert was a thing delicate, powdery, as fine as hoarfrost on the ground. When they saw this, the sons of Israel said to one another, ‘What is that?’ not knowing what it was. ‘That’ said Moses to them ‘is the bread the Lord gives you to eat.’

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 77(78):3-4,23-25,54 ©

The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

The things we have heard and understood,

the things our fathers have told us,

these we will not hide from their children

but will tell them to the next generation:

The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

the glories of the Lord and his might

and the marvellous deeds he has done,

Yet he commanded the clouds above

and opened the gates of heaven.

He rained down manna for their food,

and gave them bread from heaven.

The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

Mere men ate the bread of angels.

He sent them abundance of food;

So he brought them to his holy land,

to the mountain which his right hand had won.

The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

Second reading

Ephesians 4:17,20-24 ©

Put aside your old self and put on the new

I want to urge you in the name of the Lord, not to go on living the aimless kind of life that pagans live. Now that is hardly the way you have learnt from Christ, unless you failed to hear him properly when you were taught what the truth is in Jesus. You must give up your old way of life; you must put aside your old self, which gets corrupted by following illusory desires. Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revolution so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God’s way, in the goodness and holiness of the truth.

Gospel Acclamation

Jn14:6

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;

No one can come to the Father except through me.

Alleluia!

Or:

Mt4:4

Alleluia, alleluia!

Man does not live on bread alone,

but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Alleluia!

Gospel

John 6:24-35 ©

It is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven; I am the bread of life

When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus. When they found him on the other side, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’

Jesus answered:

‘I tell you most solemnly,

you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs

but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.

Do not work for food that cannot last,

but work for food that endures to eternal life,

the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you,

for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.’

Then they said to him, ‘What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?’ Jesus gave them this answer, ‘This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.’ So they said, ‘What sign will you give to show us that we should believe in you? What work will you do? Our fathers had manna to eat in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ Jesus answered:

‘I tell you most solemnly,

it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven,

it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven,

the true bread;

for the bread of God

is that which comes down from heaven

and gives life to the world.’

‘Sir,’ they said ‘give us that bread always.’ Jesus answered:

‘I am the bread of life.

He who comes to me will never be hungry;

he who believes in me will never thirst.’

AIMLESS LIFE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Ex 16:2-4.12-15; Ps 78:3-4,23-25,54; John 6:24-35 ]

Is your life aimless? Do you feel life is worth living? Or would you prefer to die not because there is a better life in the next world but simply because this life with all its struggles, challenges, sufferings or even pleasures is meaningless? The scripture readings today invite us to reflect deeper on how we are living our life. Most of us just drift through life, existing but not living fully. When we do that, we are no better than animals, eating, sleeping, enjoying and working. We do not have a purpose, a goal, an orientation. Even if we do have, does it really bring us true happiness or just an illusory and transitory contentment? St Paul urged the Christians in Ephesus, “I want to urge you in the name of the Lord, not to go on living the aimless kind of life that pagans live.”

What would you consider to be an aimless life? An aimless life is one that thrives on pleasure and physical fulfilment only. Many of us are contented with this level of living. All we seek in life is to provide pleasure to the body. Our primary concern is food, comfort and excitement. We are sensual, materialistic and consumeristic. That was the way the Israelites behaved in the first reading. They were in the desert. The only thing they thought of was food and drink. When deprived of the comfort food they had in Egypt, “the whole community of the sons of Israel began to complain against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness and said to them, ‘Why did we not die at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we were able to sit down to pans of meat and could eat bread to our hearts content!'”

Was that a reasonable complaint? If we just take the words as spoken, their unhappiness seems to be valid. But perhaps, it was an over-exaggeration. They forgot the misery they suffered under the slavery of the Egyptians and how they cried out to God for deliverance. Did they have so much good food then? Furthermore, when they left Egypt, they did not leave empty handed. In fact, they took along with them their possessions including their flock and cattle. So they were not without meat or milk or food completely. However, we all tend to exaggerate our pain when we face inconvenience in life or when we face new struggles in our work. Then we start regretting that we left our home or the job we had. Now that we are no longer where we were, we begin to think positively of that place. At any rate, very few are contented with what they have, even the richest man on earth. We want more and more. We are never contented, for the moment we have it, we get bored, and to keep us going, we find new objectives and new hobbies to entertain ourselves.

Nevertheless, it is not surprising how we respond to physical and material needs. Even the crowd that followed Jesus in the gospel sought for food and pleasure as well. They were not interested in Jesus except what He could do for them in terms of physical and material security. But they were not truthful to themselves and their real intention of seeking Jesus. Jesus saw through them and said, “I tell you most solemnly, you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.” Jesus was candid and direct with them. He did not entertain their superficial question. Rather, He went straight to the heart of the matter. The people were looking just for physical security and material satisfaction. They had seen what Jesus could do, not just multiplying food for the people but also the other miracles that He had performed, restoring health and life to the sick and the dead. They followed Jesus with the intention of making Him king, to be their liberator from the Romans. That was why Jesus withdrew earlier on when He “realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” (Jn 6:15) They just wanted to make use of Jesus for their temporal needs in life. They did not look further than just material satisfaction and physical liberation from the Romans.

This is where Jesus is inviting us to seek something more than mere material and physical needs. Whilst they are essential for us to live, they cannot give us life, for as St Paul would say, “the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 14:17) Jesus said to the people, “Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.” One of the reasons why many successful and rich people find life empty and meaningless in spite of their wealth and fame, is simply because once our body is satisfied, our spirit seeks something more. This itself is a clear proof that we are not just constituted of matter, but we have a soul, since nothing on this earth that is material can satisfy us and even if it does, it is only temporary. In fact, when we are rich and well to do, when our comforts are met, we find ourselves living in a vacuum. The soul is thirsting for something which the body cannot satisfy.

So what is it that causes us to feel empty, especially when we are successful, have a reasonably comfortable life, a good career, good health and have sufficient money to live on? Did the people stop complaining after God gave them meat and bread to their hearts content? The truth is that Israel’s complaints against God never ended. They were always greedy and the word “enough” did not exist in their vocabulary, like ours as well. They failed the test that God set for them, which was to trust Him and His divine providence. So what is causing us to feel empty is to think that if we have plenty of money, our life would be fulfilled and we will have no more suffering or worries or fears in life. If we go by all the TV serials, the rich often live very complicated lives simply because when we are wealthy, we are not too sure who our real friends are.

Happiness and fulfilment can come only when we have meaning and purpose. This can only be found in God and then expressed in cultivating wholesome relationships and doing works of charity. If our meaning and purpose is found in this life, then it cannot sustain us for long. If we think that getting an academic degree can fulfil us, then the moment we attain it, life has no longer any meaning. Then we will always be creating meaning for ourselves by setting one goal after another. But no matter what achievements we arrive at, when we actually arrive, it becomes an anti-climax. This is why meaning and purpose can only be found in God, for we can never fully fathom God since God is in us and above all. As the Lord told the Samaritan Woman who was also seeking the fulness of life, that she must search for the living water instead. (Jn 4:10-15) Only God can quench the thirst in us.

Similarly, Jesus told the crowd that they can find contentment only in Him because He is the Bread of life. “He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst.” It is our relationship with Him through the Eucharist, the sacrament of His body and blood and the Word of God, that we can deepen our relationship with Him. Only Jesus can give us the peace we are seeking in life. The consequence of our union with the Lord is to belong to His body, the Church, which means also that we are in fellowship with His people, living together as one, caring and supporting each other in faith and love. And indeed, it is when we are in good relationship with God and with our fellowmen, that we find meaning.

To receive this Bread of Life, we only need to believe in Him. This is the work that is required of us, not our good works or any other works. When they asked the Lord, “What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?’ Jesus gave them this answer, ‘This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.'” In other words, faith in Jesus is to allow His Spirit to work in and through us. We do good only because His Spirit inspires us and empowers us to do so. Faith in Jesus is what gives us fulfilment, life, love and joy. Faith in Jesus means that we will live a life of love and self-giving to our brothers and sisters. This is what St Paul said, “You must give up your old way of life; you must put aside your old self, which gets corrupted by following illusory desires. Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revolution so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God’s way, in the goodness and holiness of the truth.”

Friday 30 July 2021

PROMOTING INTEGRAL ECOLOGY IS UNDERPINNED BY FAITH IN GOD

20210731 PROMOTING INTEGRAL ECOLOGY IS UNDERPINNED BY FAITH IN GOD

31 July, 2021, Saturday, 17th Week, Ordinary Time

First reading

Leviticus 25:1,8-17 ©

The law of the jubilee year

The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai. He said:

‘You are to count seven weeks of years – seven times seven years, that is to say a period of seven weeks of years, forty-nine years. And on the tenth day of the seventh month you shall sound the trumpet; on the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout the land. You will declare this fiftieth year sacred and proclaim the liberation of all the inhabitants of the land. This is to be a jubilee for you; each of you will return to his ancestral home, each to his own clan. This fiftieth year is to be a jubilee year for you: you will not sow, you will not harvest the ungathered corn, you will not gather from the untrimmed vine. The jubilee is to be a holy thing to you, you will eat what comes from the fields.

‘In this year of jubilee each of you is to return to his ancestral home. If you buy or sell with your neighbour, let no one wrong his brother. If you buy from your neighbour, this must take into account the number of years since the jubilee: according to the number of productive years he will fix the price. The greater the number of years, the higher shall be the price demanded; the less the number of years, the greater the reduction; for what he is selling you is a certain number of harvests. Let none of you wrong his neighbour, but fear your God; I am the Lord your God.’

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 66(67):2-3,5,7-8 ©

Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.

O God, be gracious and bless us

and let your face shed its light upon us.

So will your ways be known upon earth

and all nations learn your saving help.

Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and exult

for you rule the world with justice.

With fairness you rule the peoples,

you guide the nations on earth.

Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has yielded its fruit

for God, our God, has blessed us.

May God still give us his blessing

till the ends of the earth revere him.

Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.Lk8:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

Blessed are those who,

with a noble and generous heart,

take the word of God to themselves

and yield a harvest through their perseverance.

Alleluia!

Or:

Mt5:10

Alleluia, alleluia!

Happy those who are persecuted

in the cause of right,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 14:1-12 ©

The beheading of John the Baptist

Herod the tetrarch heard about the reputation of Jesus, and said to his court, ‘This is John the Baptist himself; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.’

Now it was Herod who had arrested John, chained him up and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. For John had told him, ‘It is against the Law for you to have her.’ He had wanted to kill him but was afraid of the people, who regarded John as a prophet. Then, during the celebrations for Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and so delighted Herod that he promised on oath to give her anything she asked. Prompted by her mother she said, ‘Give me John the Baptist’s head, here, on a dish.’ The king was distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he ordered it to be given her, and sent and had John beheaded in the prison. The head was brought in on a dish and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. John’s disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went off to tell Jesus.

PROMOTING INTEGRAL ECOLOGY IS UNDERPINNED BY FAITH IN GOD

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [LEV 25:1. 8-17; PS 67:2-3,5,7-8; MT 14:1-12 ]

Today, nations all over the world are articulating the threats to planet earth because of environmental abuses. There is so much talk and discussion on how we should protect the environment and the planet by taking care of the eco-systems. The world is asking industries to move towards using green and clean energy instead of burning up the world’s resources and avoid polluting the world. All these measures are well and good and should be supported by all for the sustenance and continuity of this planet, otherwise, when nature is not respected, we will experience growing climate warming, destruction of animals, wild life and sea creatures, and freak weather, such as heat wave, extreme cold weather, flooding and typhoons.

Yet, they do not go far enough. Sustenance of planet earth is not just about man’s relationship with the environment, with plants and animals. This is only one narrow aspect of ecology. Ecology must also deal with right relationships among nations, peoples in each country and community, workers and employers; family and marriage. The world is hypocritical. It is not willing to take active and significant steps to protect creation and would spend billions of dollars amassing armaments, nuclear weapons, starting wars, destroying lives, property and nature. We are blind to the greed and selfishness of industries and big multi-national corporation who are the main culprit in exploiting poorer countries of their natural resources to enrich rich countries further.

Although the planet belongs to all of humanity, how could the world be blind to the fact that the 10% of the rich countries enjoy 90% of the world resources? There is an unequal distribution of wealth and resources. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Even during this pandemic, only the rich countries could get all their citizens vaccinated whereas for the poorer countries, not even 5% of their population. On the family front, we do not protect the right relationship of family life and marriage. When we start redefining gender, marriage and family, the ecology of human relationships become dysfunctional. What we are seeing today is the fragmentation of the family and fragile relationships in marriage. Children are confused and are dysfunctional. But society is blind to the fact that the bedrock of the nation is the strengthening of family life and strong marriages. So what is destroying the planet would not just be the abuse of the environment but international and inter-human relationships.

It is very significant that the call to integral ecology was already pre-empted four thousand years ago. It is not new because humanity has always seen the need to protect the environment, which includes man’s inter-personal relationship with each other, right relationship with other nations, and most of all, right relationship with God. Indeed, both scripture readings today underscore the importance of the ecology, not just of the environment and natural resources, but also that of property, human relationships and respect for the sacredness of marriage and family life.

The Books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus lay down the rules for an integral and holistic ecology between man and creation, man and man, man and God. Only in this way, the Promised Land would be truly a land flowing with milk and honey, the people would make progress, and there would be peace, harmony and justice in the land. Failure to observe the laws laid down by Moses, whether those governing relationships with the earth, or their neighbours, or with God, or liturgical laws would cause the community to lose its focus, direction and eventually, the family and community would be destroyed because of greed, selfishness, cheating and injustices. A harmonious ecology with everyone and everything brings unity.

Today’s first reading underscores the importance of protecting the natural resources of the earth and the environment. Moses had commanded the people to ensure that the land “observe a sabbath for the Lord.” (Lev 25:2) “Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in their yield; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.” (Lev 25:2-4) Indeed, the Sabbath was not just imposed on man who is called to rest on the seventh day from work so that he could regain his focus, his energy, what is really essential to him, namely, relationship with his family and the community, and most of all with God. Work and making oneself rich in this world’s goods are not the goal of life. So too for the land as well. It needs to lie fallow for a year to be renewed so that they could continue to supply nutrients to the crops. Otherwise, the yield would get poorer each passing year as it becomes less and less fertile. Indiscriminate farming and deforestation have a great part to play in climate warming today.

But Moses also called for a Jubilee Year at every 50^th year, that is, after seven cycles of seven years. On this Jubilee year, everything would be restored to its original situation or owner. Specifically, with regard to the earth and the environment, there would be two consecutive years where no farming was allowed. “You will not sow, you will not harvest the ungathered corn, you will not gather from the untrimmed vine. The jubilee is to be a holy thing to you, you will eat what comes from the fields.” All would just eat what “comes from the fields.” But the Jubilee was not just a year of liberation for the land, but to “all the inhabitants of the land.” Moses said, “on the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet through-out the land. You will declare this fiftieth year sacred and proclaim the liberation of all the inhabitants of the land. This is to be a jubilee for you; each of you will return to his ancestral home, each to his own clan.” All property would be restored to the original owner of the family, especially when their property was mortgaged or sold to pay their debts. This was particularly so for widows whose husbands had died and they have no source of income. And when the money was not enough to pay off the debts, they would also sell themselves to work for the landlord who bought over their land. But during the Jubilee Year, their land would be restored to them and they would be released from all their debts.

Whether the people of Israel did observe these wise laws laid down for them or not would depend on whether they had a right relationship with God. When Moses commanded them to observe the Sabbath Law, not just for themselves but for the land, it presupposed that they were fully aware that the earth and their land belonged to God. He is the owner of the land, and what we have come from Him, and it is only on lease. This is why right relationship with God underpins our conviction and will to protect not just creation and environmental ecology but human networks as well in all its different levels. Otherwise, there would be serious consequences.

Indeed, this was the case of King Herod in the gospel who failed to respect the ecology with God and his marriage. He did not listen to the Prophet who spoke the words of God. Instead, like many secularists who are too proud to submit themselves to the Creator, Herod went against the ecology of family and marriage life. Unfaithful to the Law of Moses regarding marriage, he divorced his wife and married Herodias, the wife of his brother, Philip. It was incest because Herodias was the niece of both. By divorcing his own wife, he incurred the wrath of his father-in-law, King Aretas who made war with Herod. Under the influence of Herodias, Herod committed murder against John the Baptist. Instigated by Herodias, he asked Rome to give him the title “king”, but instead was banished to Gaul where he languished in exile until his death. This would be true for all of humanity if we do not learn from the lessons that God taught Israel and King Herod. If we do not respect the ecology of creation, of the environment, nature will unleash its wrath on us all. If we do not respect God’s creation of human beings, as man and woman, called to be good stewards of God’s creation and to multiply, the world would become extinct as there would be fewer and fewer people left.

Thursday 29 July 2021

EVOLUTION OF THE SACRED CALENDAR and LITURGICAL FEASTS

20210730 EVOLUTION OF THE SACRED CALENDAR and LITURGICAL FEASTS

30 July, 2021, Friday, 17th Week, Ordinary Time

First reading

Leviticus 23:1,4-11,15-16,27,34-37 ©

The law of the festivals of the Lord

The Lord spoke to Moses. He said:

‘These are the Lord’s solemn festivals, the sacred assemblies to which you are to summon the sons of Israel on the appointed day.

‘The fourteenth day of the first month, between the two evenings, is the Passover of the Lord; and the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of Unleavened Bread for the Lord. For seven days you shall eat bread without leaven. On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must do no heavy work. For seven days you shall offer a burnt offering to the Lord. The seventh day is to be a day of sacred assembly; you must do no work.’

The Lord spoke to Moses. He said:

‘Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them:

‘“When you enter the land that I give you, and gather in the harvest there, you must bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest, and he is to present it to the Lord with the gesture of offering, so that you may be acceptable. The priest shall make this offering on the day after the sabbath.

‘“From the day after the sabbath, the day on which you bring the sheaf of offering, you are to count seven full weeks. You are to count fifty days, to the day after the seventh sabbath, and then you are to offer the Lord a new oblation.

‘“The tenth day of the seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. You are to hold a sacred assembly. You must fast, and you must offer a burnt offering to the Lord.

‘“The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of Tabernacles for the Lord, lasting seven days. The first day is a day of sacred assembly; you must do no heavy work. For seven days you must offer a burnt offering to the Lord. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly, you must offer a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a day of solemn meeting; you must do no heavy work.

‘“These are the solemn festivals of the Lord to which you are to summon the children of Israel, sacred assemblies for the purpose of offering burnt offerings, holocausts, oblations, sacrifices and libations to the Lord, according to the ritual of each day.”’

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 80(81):3-6,10-11 ©

Ring out your joy to God our strength.

Raise a song and sound the timbrel,

the sweet-sounding harp and the lute;

blow the trumpet at the new moon,

when the moon is full, on our feast.

Ring out your joy to God our strength.

For this is Israel’s law,

a command of the God of Jacob.

He imposed it as a rule on Joseph,

when he went out against the land of Egypt.

Ring out your joy to God our strength.

Let there be no foreign god among you,

no worship of an alien god.

I am the Lord your God,

who brought you from the land of Egypt.

Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

Ring out your joy to God our strength.

Gospel Acclamation

cf.1Th2:13

Alleluia, alleluia!

Accept God’s message for what it really is:

God’s message, and not some human thinking.

Alleluia!

Or:

1P1:25

Alleluia, alleluia!

The word of the Lord remains for ever:

What is this word?

It is the Good News that has been brought to you.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 13:54-58 ©

A prophet is only despised in his own country

Coming to his home town, Jesus taught the people in their synagogue in such a way that they were astonished and said, ‘Where did the man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? This is the carpenter’s son, surely? Is not his mother the woman called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Jude? His sisters, too, are they not all here with us? So where did the man get it all?’ And they would not accept him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country and in his own house’, and he did not work many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

EVOLUTION OF THE SACRED CALENDAR and LITURGICAL FEASTS

SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Lev 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37; Ps 80:3-6,10-11; Mt 13:54-58]

For most of us, when we celebrate Sacred days or liturgical events, or even secular anniversaries, we celebrate them as a mere ritual, without truly understanding the spirit of the celebrations. Indeed, most of us just do what others do, or what our forefathers did without asking the true meaning of what we are celebrating and how these festivals originated, or why some events are considered sacred and others secular. Most of us are so naïve to think that these festivals are celebrated exactly as delineated by the commands of God in the scriptures. In truth, a study into the origins and development of these festivals will help us to appreciate how sacred celebrations are actually ordinary and memorable events but invested with religious meanings. The rituals that we celebrate are actually historical or agricultural events, given a new meaning and adapted for a religious purpose. This will help us to appreciate these sacred days and liturgical feasts in a better light, not slavishly but to return to the spirit of these events which we are celebrating.

This is not surprising but truly the consequence of the incarnation. God, by becoming man in Jesus, has assumed humanity and history into Himself. In that sense all history is salvific history insofar as these events are seen in relation to our salvation and redemption. This is where many of us lack the faith to see that God works in our lives in ordinary ways, through ordinary events and human situations. The townsfolk of Jesus could not accept Him because they found Him too ordinary. He was one of them and they knew Him, His family and relatives and background. “They were astonished and said, ‘Where did this man get his wisdom and these miraculous powers? This is the carpenter’s son, surely? Is not his mother the women called Mary and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Jude? His sisters, too, are they not all here with us? So where did the man get it all?’ And they would not accept him.” Indeed, they lacked the faith to see God in Jesus and working in and through Him.

As a result of their prejudice, they were deprived of the miracles of God working in their lives. This is also very much the case for the world. It wants to remove God from the world by secularization. This is why the world no longer believes in God and in miracles. They think science and technology is the answer to all the problems in life, except that they cannot tell us why we are born into this world, and the origin of this world, or the final destiny of this world. Science and technology can solve some problems but they cannot provide meaning and purpose in life. Many of us are behaving as if we are AI robots without feelings. The truth is that God is so present in our ordinary life, as the Lord had told the disciples earlier in the parable of the mustard seed. The kingdom of God is hidden but we can only see it with the eyes of faith.

It is with these eyes of faith that people of faith are able to appreciate life to the fullest by recognizing historical events as salvific events. In the first reading, we read of the solemn festivals that Israel was commanded to celebrate in a year. Christianity, which is for us the fulfilment of the Old Testament, modified and adapted these festivals and injected them with a Christic meaning. Just like the Jewish religion, Christianity also has its sacred calendar and liturgical feasts to commemorate God in its history and in the lives of Christians. Such celebrations are not just a way to punctuate a monotonous and routine life with some festivities. They are also a way to help our people to be grateful to God for what they have, to see life in perspective, to remember that life is more than just accumulating wealth and power and fame, or to rely too much on ourselves that we forget that God is our provider and that what matters most in life is friendship, relationships, love and giving. It is a time when we are called to be grateful not just to God but to our fellowmen, to become aware of our selfishness and sins, and to ask for forgiveness and to begin life anew with hope.

The Passover of the Lord is the most important celebration of the Jewish Faith. It is a reminder of how they were liberated by the Lord from slavery of the Egyptians so that they could serve and worship God. It was that day that their lives were spared by the angel of death when he passed by those houses with the blood of the lamb painted on their doorposts. Jesus took over this Jewish celebration and made it His Passover to the Father with Him being the Passover Lamb as a sacrifice for the salvation of all by taking away our sins, freeing us for life with His Father. Christians transform this Passover into the Eucharist.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread which was celebrated for a week immediately after the Passover was initially to commemorate the beginning of the barley harvest Festival. It was the beginning of a new harvest and so all the old food were thrown out so that they could have a new start. The bread is unleavened because the new leaven would not be cultured in time. This celebration was joined to the historical Passover because the Israelites were in a hurry to leave Egypt and had no time to wait for the leaven to rise. Hence, this agricultural celebration is merged with the Passover to thank God for the first fruits of the season with the People of Israel being God’s first-born son. (Ex 4:22) Barley was usually the first to be ready for harvest, which is normally during the Easter period. For us Christians, the Feast of the Unleavened Bread is our Lenten season when we remove the old yeast of sin and malice in our lives so that we can prepare for the New Life at Easter. This was what St Paul asked of the Christians. (1 Cor 5:7) But Christians too believe that we have the first-fruits of the Spirit.

Fifty days later came the wheat festival, which is celebrated as the Feast of Seven Weeks culminating in the Feast of Pentecost. The harvest festival was taken over by the Christians as symbolic of the harvest that the Lord asked His labourers to work at in His vineyard. Pentecost is the day when the Church gathers together in thanksgiving and begin the work of mission.

Following Pentecost, the Israelites celebrate the Feast of Ingathering or their New Year, which happens within the Seventh Month. This was a week’s celebration with an extra Sabbath rest as the people were tired after the grape harvest. This is soon followed by the day of Atonement for their sins. Then came the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles, reminding the people of how their forefathers once lived in tents in the wilderness. Now having settled in brick houses in the Promised Land, they might have taken their comfort and stability for granted. At the same time, they are reminded that they remain pilgrims on earth until they enter the fullness of the kingdom. Later the Jews added the blessing of the altar with water taken from the pool of Siloam to ask the Lord for blessing on a new agricultural and pastoral year. It was at this time too that we read of Jesus crying out in the Temple, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.” And the evangelist provides the footnote that He was speaking about the Spirit which the believers were to receive. (Jn 7:38)

Of course, besides all these festivals, the Sabbath was celebrated every week to remind them of the need to rest from work. But above all, to make time to worship God and be with their loved ones and the community. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on the spirit of the Sabbath Law, they became obsessed with what would be counted as “work” on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was meant to free them for life, for love and fellowship with God and their brothers and sisters, not to enslave them. For us, our Sabbath is on a Sunday, not the last day of the week but the first day of the week, signifying that we are a new creation because of the resurrection of our Lord.

In the final analysis, what we can learn from all these sacred feasts and celebrations is that the liturgy is not some fixated celebrationbut evolved over time to help us connect with God and the meaning of life events. Even Catholic liturgical celebrations evolved over time. Hence, we must be careful that we do not fall into the same trap as the Jews of being petty over liturgical rules and celebrations. We must remember the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So too our liturgy must evolve with the times.

Wednesday 28 July 2021

ACTIVE FAITH PURIFIED BY CONTEMPLATIVE LOVE

20210729 ACTIVE FAITH PURIFIED BY CONTEMPLATIVE LOVE

29 July, 2021, Thursday, Ss Martha, Mary and Lazarus

First reading

1 John 4:7-16 ©

Let us love one another, since love comes from God

My dear people,

let us love one another

since love comes from God

and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.

Anyone who fails to love can never have known God,

because God is love.

God’s love for us was revealed

when God sent into the world his only Son

so that we could have life through him;

this is the love I mean:

not our love for God,

but God’s love for us when he sent his Son

to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.

My dear people,

since God has loved us so much,

we too should love one another.

No one has ever seen God;

but as long as we love one another

God will live in us

and his love will be complete in us.

We can know that we are living in him

and he is living in us

because he lets us share his Spirit.

We ourselves saw and we testify

that the Father sent his Son

as saviour of the world.

If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,

God lives in him, and he in God.

We ourselves have known and put our faith in

God’s love towards ourselves.

God is love

and anyone who lives in love lives in God,

and God lives in him.

Responsorial Psalm