It's Danke in German, Merci in French, Gracias in Spanish, Xia-xia in Chinese and Nandri in Tamil. In English, it simply means 'Thank You.'
'Thank You' - It is one of the most polite and welcome phrase in the language of love. To thank is to be grateful. And it is a happy feeling enjoyed by both the giver and the receiver. It is a virtue shared even by the animals. A dog, for example, will wag its tail upon receiving food from its master.
Even though gratitude is an act that can bring joy to our hearts, it continues to be an under-rated virtue. The increasing number of Old Folks Home, the rise in the rate of suicides and abortions are some of the dreadful consequences brought about by the lack of gratitude. At times, we too, take things for granted and fail to appreciate the efforts made by others to make our lives easier.
The Bible too is very clear on this point. In Luke 17, Jesus was amazed to see out of the ten lepers he had healed, only one came back to thank him, and that being a foreigner too.
Why is it so necessary to have this virtue? What are the benefits of being grateful? Is it because of its sentimental value? That it makes us good to say 'Thank you'? No! The value of gratitude stretches far beyond that. It is more than giving us the happy feeling. It actually enriches our whole life and the lives of others around us as well.
Personally, being grateful helps us to appreciate life better. When we practise the art of gratitude, we become more aware of the many beautiful things in our lives. It makes us more sensitive to all the good things that life has to offer. We will no longer take things for granted. And when that happens, our lives will become brighter, more alive, and more meaningful.
There is a true story told that a certain doctor in NSW, Australia who would even prescribe a 'Thank you Cure' for some of his patients who came to him discouraged and full of negative thoughts. Now this doctor would tell his patients, "For six weeks, I want you to say 'Thank you' whenever anyone does you a favour and to show you mean it, emphasize the words with a smile." And true enough, more often than not, these patients would return to him, very much convinced that people had become more kind and friendly toward them.
The art of gratitude will not only help the person who says it but also the one who receives it(The giver). It affirms the receiver that his effort to help is not in vain but is very much acknowledged and appreciated. It strengthened his conviction that giving is indeed a worthy cause. That it pays to give. And in this respect, gratitude fosters cooperation and helps to promote the art of giving.
Last but not least, gratitude also helps in building up our faith in God. To keep our relationship with God alive, we must never stop thanking him. When we thank God, we accept the fact that he is alive and is working in our lives. And so we put our trust and confidence in him as our provider and saviour.
Look at Jesus! He could thank God even before his prayer was answered. We can read these instances both in the multiplication of bread and fish(Matthew 15:36) and the raising of Lazarus(John11:41). This offering of thanks, given before and not after the miracles, is an act of faith in itself.
It has been said that as christians, we ought to thank God for all the good things that He has been blessing us with. We can thank God for our beautiful country, Malaysia, for our wonderful parents, great friends, so on and so forth.
But the real test in gratitude, my friends, lies not in our ability to give thanks in good times but in bad times. When we are criticised, betrayed or persecuted, can we be thankful in these hours? For the trials that we face? We have to! For this is what the Scriptures in 2 Thessalonians 5:14 exhorts us to:"Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks under ALL circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
So whether we like it or not, we must learn to thank God for all the trials in our lives. These trials are not meant to discourage us or destroy us. Far from it as the words of St James tells us : "My brethren, consider yourself fortunate when all kind of trials come your way, for you know that when your faith succeed in facing such trials, the result is ability to endure. And make sure that your endurance carry you all the way without failing, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."(James 1:2-4). As you can see, these trials are meant to build us up, not tear us down.
Thus we must learn to deal with these trials in a new way - The Thankful Way. Especially when we are criticised. More often than not, we get disheartened and angry. most of the time we want to fight back. But psychologists would tell that most of our criticisms are useful if we look at them positively.
In the book 'The Song of the Bird', Fr Anthony de Mello told a wonderful story from the Middle East on the kind of attitude that we should have in facing criticisms or difficulties of life. In this story, there was a monkey up a coconut tree and being naughty, it hurled a coconut at the head of a sufi, a religious man. What was remarkable was that this man did not reacted angrily or showed any obscene signs towards the monkey despite the pain he was experiencing.
Instead, he picked the coconut up, said 'Thank you', drank the milk, ate the flesh and made a bowl from the shell. Making full use of the coconut thrown at him.
Perhaps, there is an important lesson on gratitude that we can draw here. And I sincerely believe if we can do what the sufi master did, then we can fully appreciate whatever life is throwing at us in a grateful manner.
Recognizing the importance of being grateful under all circumstances, let us now look at some of the ways to express our gratitude for the things that we are grateful for.
The most common way to express our gratitude is simply by saying "Thank You!" whenever we receive a favour. Of course it would be much sweeter if accompanied by a smile. Some people would give a peck, a kiss or even a big hug but I hope it won't go beyond that!
Another popular way of saying thanks is done through writing. Writing a thank you note or sending a thank you card. The effect seem to last longer and furthermore we can keep it as souvenir. Previously, I never believe in this sort of things and consider them childish. Until I got one myself. Now I hope to get more of them!
Next, we can also express our thankfulness through our actions. By sharing with others what we have received, by praying for those who has helped us, by making secret sacrifices for them or repaying their kindness in whatever way we can. So many ways. The holy spirit will guide you and teach you what to do.
Brothers and sisters, as Christians, our whole life should be an act of thanksgiving.Both to the God who is in heaven and to the God who is in the hearts of each and everyone of us. As a generous God, he has given us everything of himself. His only Son, His Holy Spirit, His Mother, His angels, His saints, His goodness, His faithfulness. Everything! it is up to us now to respond to His generosity. To respond to the call of St Paul in Ephesians 5:50 that "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, always give thanks for everything to God the Father."
In the words of Lyndon B. Johnson, "Let's go home tonight and let's not weep on our pillow. Let's us say our prayer and thank our Good Lord Almighty that we are as lucky as we are and that we enjoy the blessings that are ours."
Thank you for listening and God bless!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Honesty is the Best Policy
I have heard people say that, "There is nothing straight in a Chinese except may be his hair." I do not really know how true this is but I thank God that I am first a Christian and then a Chinese. And this does give me some measure of confidence to deal with this topic called 'Honesty.'
Honesty, people say, is the best policy. To be honest is to be truthful, frank and straight forward. An honest man is one who would not be crooked even if he could get away with it. He knows no lying, no cheating and no hanky panky. All his ways are noble. A famous English poet, Alexander Pope, once described an honest man to be the noblest work of God.
But like all good virtues, honesty is hard to find nowadays. The Gospel of this world preaches that honesty is a thing of the past and to succeed in today's competitive world, one needs to be cunning, not honest. This spirit, unfortunately, has caught up with many people. Yet despite what negative things the world may say about honesty, I honestly, still believe it to be the best policy.
The first reason why we need to be honest is because it can help us to solve our problems more effectively. Honestly will give us a real and total picture of our problem. This, in return, will enable us to get to the root of our problem. And once we get to the root of the problem, it will be easier for us to find the solution. On the other hand, dishonesty will only complicate the problem and make it more difficult to solve, especially later on. A lot of time and energy will also be wasted.
It is in this respect that the court sees honesty as the most important aspect in solving its cases. Before one can testify in court, he is sworn by the following oath: "I promise to speak the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. So help me God." Only then can he testify because he is now expected to be honest. But should he be caught being dishonest, then he can be charged with perjury which can carry a penalty up to six years in jail or even more, depending on its severity. This is how serious the court treats honesty in its problem solving. Are we doing the same in our lives?
The second reason why we need to be honest is that it helps our reputation. People will trust us if we are honest. Honesty breeds confidence and friendship in people. Once people realize that we have cheated them, it is so difficult to win back their trust, especially if that person happens to be your spouse or loved ones!
When I was small, one of my favourite stories is 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' taken from Aesop Fables. In this story, the boy bought misfortune upon himself for being dishonest. He tricked the villagers one time too many by crying, 'Wolf! Wolf!" when there was no wolf. And when the wolf finally made an appearance, no one came to his aid despite his cries. They had simply lost trust in him. As Abraham Lincoln so aptly put it, "You can cheat all the people sometimes, some people all the time but not all people all the time." When they find out, there will be a lot of unpleasantness and it is definitely not worth it.
Reason number three why we must be honest is because honesty is good for our health, both mentally and physically. You see when we lie, we must always remember what we have said in case people check on us. Worse still, to cover this lie, we have to create another lie, and another and another. There is no end to it and it can be quite tortuous to remember them all.But this does not arise if we tell the truth. There is no need to hide, no need to worry. Our conscience is clear and our poor heart can relax. And I can assure you, you will sleep well at night. "The truth will set you free."(John 8:32).
But perhaps the most important reason for us to be honest is because as Christians, the Bible calls us to bear witness to the truth. Our God is the God of Truth(Deutronomy 32:4, Psalm 31:15). In John 14:6, Jesus says, "I am the Truth."
Because of this, the Lord strongly denounce lying, whether it is a white lie or a black lie. You know something? This lying business is serious enough to be put under The Ten Commandment. Commandment No. 8:"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour."(Exodus 20:16, Deutronomy 5:20).
Lying is not the work of God. It is the work of the devil. In John 8:44, Jesus has these harsh words for those who glorify lying, saying "You are of your father, the devil,... there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks of his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Here we see Jesus roundly condemning lying.
But he loves those who are honest. Proverbs 12:22, "The Lord hates liars but is pleased with those who kept their words." The simple message here is we must learn to love the truth and hate lying. We must strive to be honest and abide in the spirit of truth.
To help us live and love the truth, Jesus promised to send us the Holy Spirit. In the book of John, Jesus says, "I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper who will stay with you forever. He is the Spirit who reveals the truth of God,"(John 14:16) and "...he will lead you into all the truth(John16:13). So I would like to say to you "Be open to the Spirit and let him help you out."
The Bible can also help us to love the truth. The Bible is the Word of God and contains the truth of God. And so St Jerome would say, "Ignorance of Scriptures is ignorance of Christ" - The Truth Personified, the truth who came in the form of a man.
Another tool that can help us to love the truth is this book: The New Catechism of the Catholic Church. This book has in it all the true teachings of God, from Sacred Scriptures to Sacred Tradition that has been handed down to us faithfully by the early Church(2 Thessalonians 2:15). And it is really God's gift to all truth seekers and truth lovers.
In a world that is so torn by lies and half-truths, it is important for us to be able to say "Yes" for a yes and "No' for a no(Matthew 5:37). Being honest does make a difference to our lives, eventually.
Once a house-builder was asked by his boss to build a bungalow. He was given all the necessary materials to build a beautiful bungalow on a hilltop overlooking the sea. Now, being, dishonest, this man tried to cheat and cut corners. He was putting more sand than cement, the wiring was poorly done, the floor unevened, walls cracking and so forth. He even sold off quality materials in exchange for poor ones. Within months, the hastily-built house was completed.
Then one day, in a dinner given by the company, his boss made a surprise annoucement. Refering to the man, he gladly announced:"In appreciation to your long service to this company, I now with great pleasure present to you the keys to the bungalow you have been building." Gosh, it was only there and then that he realized the cost of his dishonesty but it was too late. Had he been honest, he would have build himself and his family a lovely bungalow.
In many ways, my friends, we may be like this man. God has given us so much of grace to lead a good life but often we have chosen to settle for less. Let us today resolve to do better than that. Let us give honesty a chance by being truthful in our lives. True, it may not be easy. At times, it might even seem foolish to be honest. But I sincerely believe if we perservere in bearing witness to the truth, the truth will vindicate us and in due time, we will be able to experience the abundant blessings that come with it, proving that honesty is indeed the best policy.
Honesty, people say, is the best policy. To be honest is to be truthful, frank and straight forward. An honest man is one who would not be crooked even if he could get away with it. He knows no lying, no cheating and no hanky panky. All his ways are noble. A famous English poet, Alexander Pope, once described an honest man to be the noblest work of God.
But like all good virtues, honesty is hard to find nowadays. The Gospel of this world preaches that honesty is a thing of the past and to succeed in today's competitive world, one needs to be cunning, not honest. This spirit, unfortunately, has caught up with many people. Yet despite what negative things the world may say about honesty, I honestly, still believe it to be the best policy.
The first reason why we need to be honest is because it can help us to solve our problems more effectively. Honestly will give us a real and total picture of our problem. This, in return, will enable us to get to the root of our problem. And once we get to the root of the problem, it will be easier for us to find the solution. On the other hand, dishonesty will only complicate the problem and make it more difficult to solve, especially later on. A lot of time and energy will also be wasted.
It is in this respect that the court sees honesty as the most important aspect in solving its cases. Before one can testify in court, he is sworn by the following oath: "I promise to speak the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. So help me God." Only then can he testify because he is now expected to be honest. But should he be caught being dishonest, then he can be charged with perjury which can carry a penalty up to six years in jail or even more, depending on its severity. This is how serious the court treats honesty in its problem solving. Are we doing the same in our lives?
The second reason why we need to be honest is that it helps our reputation. People will trust us if we are honest. Honesty breeds confidence and friendship in people. Once people realize that we have cheated them, it is so difficult to win back their trust, especially if that person happens to be your spouse or loved ones!
When I was small, one of my favourite stories is 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' taken from Aesop Fables. In this story, the boy bought misfortune upon himself for being dishonest. He tricked the villagers one time too many by crying, 'Wolf! Wolf!" when there was no wolf. And when the wolf finally made an appearance, no one came to his aid despite his cries. They had simply lost trust in him. As Abraham Lincoln so aptly put it, "You can cheat all the people sometimes, some people all the time but not all people all the time." When they find out, there will be a lot of unpleasantness and it is definitely not worth it.
Reason number three why we must be honest is because honesty is good for our health, both mentally and physically. You see when we lie, we must always remember what we have said in case people check on us. Worse still, to cover this lie, we have to create another lie, and another and another. There is no end to it and it can be quite tortuous to remember them all.But this does not arise if we tell the truth. There is no need to hide, no need to worry. Our conscience is clear and our poor heart can relax. And I can assure you, you will sleep well at night. "The truth will set you free."(John 8:32).
But perhaps the most important reason for us to be honest is because as Christians, the Bible calls us to bear witness to the truth. Our God is the God of Truth(Deutronomy 32:4, Psalm 31:15). In John 14:6, Jesus says, "I am the Truth."
Because of this, the Lord strongly denounce lying, whether it is a white lie or a black lie. You know something? This lying business is serious enough to be put under The Ten Commandment. Commandment No. 8:"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour."(Exodus 20:16, Deutronomy 5:20).
Lying is not the work of God. It is the work of the devil. In John 8:44, Jesus has these harsh words for those who glorify lying, saying "You are of your father, the devil,... there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks of his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Here we see Jesus roundly condemning lying.
But he loves those who are honest. Proverbs 12:22, "The Lord hates liars but is pleased with those who kept their words." The simple message here is we must learn to love the truth and hate lying. We must strive to be honest and abide in the spirit of truth.
To help us live and love the truth, Jesus promised to send us the Holy Spirit. In the book of John, Jesus says, "I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper who will stay with you forever. He is the Spirit who reveals the truth of God,"(John 14:16) and "...he will lead you into all the truth(John16:13). So I would like to say to you "Be open to the Spirit and let him help you out."
The Bible can also help us to love the truth. The Bible is the Word of God and contains the truth of God. And so St Jerome would say, "Ignorance of Scriptures is ignorance of Christ" - The Truth Personified, the truth who came in the form of a man.
Another tool that can help us to love the truth is this book: The New Catechism of the Catholic Church. This book has in it all the true teachings of God, from Sacred Scriptures to Sacred Tradition that has been handed down to us faithfully by the early Church(2 Thessalonians 2:15). And it is really God's gift to all truth seekers and truth lovers.
In a world that is so torn by lies and half-truths, it is important for us to be able to say "Yes" for a yes and "No' for a no(Matthew 5:37). Being honest does make a difference to our lives, eventually.
Once a house-builder was asked by his boss to build a bungalow. He was given all the necessary materials to build a beautiful bungalow on a hilltop overlooking the sea. Now, being, dishonest, this man tried to cheat and cut corners. He was putting more sand than cement, the wiring was poorly done, the floor unevened, walls cracking and so forth. He even sold off quality materials in exchange for poor ones. Within months, the hastily-built house was completed.
Then one day, in a dinner given by the company, his boss made a surprise annoucement. Refering to the man, he gladly announced:"In appreciation to your long service to this company, I now with great pleasure present to you the keys to the bungalow you have been building." Gosh, it was only there and then that he realized the cost of his dishonesty but it was too late. Had he been honest, he would have build himself and his family a lovely bungalow.
In many ways, my friends, we may be like this man. God has given us so much of grace to lead a good life but often we have chosen to settle for less. Let us today resolve to do better than that. Let us give honesty a chance by being truthful in our lives. True, it may not be easy. At times, it might even seem foolish to be honest. But I sincerely believe if we perservere in bearing witness to the truth, the truth will vindicate us and in due time, we will be able to experience the abundant blessings that come with it, proving that honesty is indeed the best policy.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Jesus is Lord
There are two types of people in this world: those who accept Jesus as Lord and those who do not. At first glance, we might be tempted to think that Christians belong to the first group and non-Christians, the second. Sadly, however, this is not necessarily true.Do you know, brothers and sisters, that you can be a Christian and yet not accept Jesus as Lord. Becoming a Christian and accepting Jesus as Lord are two different things.
Brothers and sisters, I have been a Christian for more than forty years now. I was born a Christian and grew up as one. Yet for most part of my life, I had no idea at all what it meant to accept Jesus as Lord. I thought Jesus was supposed to be there to help me achieve all the goals in my life. Secretly, I wanted so many things in life: to be rich, to be famous, to have this and that. And I thought the role of Jesus was to help me to get them all. And only after I have owned all these things, would I consider myself a successful Christian. That was my brand of Christianity.
The idea of following Jesus was very alien to me. I thought only consecrated people like priests and nuns do that. As a lay person, I thought, as long as I didn’t miss Mass, as long as I read the Bible, as long as I said my prayers and not fall into big sins,I was doing fine as a Christian. I never bothered to find out whether this was what God wanted of me. And so I went to Mass because I felt obligated, I said my prayers only when I needed something and I read the Bible only when the mood came. The whole idea of Christianity was suited to my needs. It was a marriage of convenience where I was truly the Lord of my life.
I did not realize that as a Christian, I had to follow Jesus and made him the Lord of my life, whether I am a religious or a lay person. It was only after attending the Life in the Spirit Seminar that my eyes were finally opened. For the first time, I was able to see what Christianity really meant. I finally came to this realization that in Christianity, the most important person is Jesus, not me, and I ought to follow him. Christianity is all about following Jesus and enjoying the fruits of his redemption – the joy of God, the peace of God and the love of God which you cannot find in this world. And unless I accept Jesus as Lord, I will never be able to experience the true beauty of Christianity.
Now what does it mean to accept Jesus as Lord? Does it mean now we have to add the word ‘Lord’ every time we pray? That if previously we prayed, “Jesus, please help me,” now we pray, “Lord Jesus, please help me”? No! Then does it mean that we now have to make extra effort to be holy like going to church more, praying more or even putting on a more serious ‘holy-holy’ looks? Again the answer is a no-no!Look,I am not saying that doing all these things are no good but accepting Jesus means much more than these, much more than giving a larger piece of our cake to him.
Accepting Jesus as Lord, brothers and sisters, means that we have to give the whole piece of our cake to Jesus, not just the larger piece. Everything. It means Jesus has to be the Lord of all aspects of our lives, not just the spiritual aspect. Not just when we go to Mass or a prayer meet, like what we are doing now. When you study, when you work, when you play, when you deal with people, is Jesus Lord in this area too? Do you allow Jesus to tell you what to do in these areas too?
And so accepting Jesus as Lord would mean when you study, you must study as Jesus wants you to study, study diligently. When you work, you got to be like Jesus too. You got to work well, with honesty and responsibility. When you play, it is the same. You play your best and with a high level of discipline. And when you deal with people, it also got to be done the Jesus’ way, respecting and loving them as they are, not what you want them to be.
In short, whatever you do,the name of Jesus must be glorified, as in the words of St Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:3, “Then whether you eat, or drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.” Jesus becomes the reason we live and our aim in life now is to have the heart of Jesus, the mind of Jesus and the ways of Jesus. So we too like St Paul will be able to say with conviction, “It is not I who live but Christ who live in me.”(Galatians 2:20).
Until that happens, until we make Jesus the Lord of our lives,we will not be able to understand what Christianity means. Christianity will look like any other religion and Jesus like any other prophet. Your own life will be like those who are non-believers, full of sins and meaningless, despite going to church, attending prayer meet or saying your prayers. You will not be able to claim the great and precious promises that Jesus made in the Bible.
Therefore,as Christians, it is extremely important that you make Jesus the Lord of your life. To do that, you must repent. Repentance here is not the same as saying, “I am sorry!” Neither does it mean feeling bad for your sins. It is much much more. Repentance here is having to change your lifestyle radically. That you give up your old life of sins and put on a new life in Christ. There must be a genuine desire to lead a life of godliness.
Once you have done that,you will experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Jesus who is the Lord of your life, having seen how much you want him, will pour down the Holy Spirit unto you. And this Holy Spirit will empower you to lead the life that God wants you to live. Your whole life will be changed. If before, you went to church only because you felt you had to go, now you will want to go. If before, you felt lazy to open the Bible, now you will want to read it. The Word of God becomes alive when the Spirit touches it. Your prayer life will change too. You will experience this longing for prayer as the Spirit leads you. Life becomes very meaningful and exciting as you allow Jesus to be your Lord.
You will also find that you are now able to do many things that you once thought were impossible, like overcoming your most difficult sin, doing good to those who hate you, blessing those who curse you and praying for those who mistreat you. Do you wish to have such power? To be able to forgive those who have hurt you badly? Can you do that when you are angry? Only the Holy Spirit can help you do that! Because the Holy Spirit that Jesus wants to give you is the same Spirit that came down on Mary during the Annunciation, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, the same Spirit that made Peter and the disciples such fearless men on Pentecost. This very same Spirit will be give to you if you made Jesus the Lord of your life.
As I have said earlier,it is important that as Christians, we make Jesus the Lord of our lives. However, I must admit that making Jesus Lord is not something easy, at least in the beginning. The ways of Jesus are different from the ways of the world. There will be many oppositions, many temptations that make you want to give up. Accepting Jesus may call for big sacrifices in life. Jesus may ask you to give up the very thing you are clinging on or looking for. What are you going to do?
I do not know how you are going to take it but my years of walking with the Lord tells me that it is absolutely worth the try. I always believe that if Jesus wants us to give up something, it is only because he has something better to offer. The rewards that He promises us in the Bible is far better then the sacrifices we will make. Because our sacrifices are non-lasting, His rewards, everlasting. Ours temporal, His eternal. As Romans 8:18 puts it, “What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will give us later.”
It is my intention, brothers and sisters, to invite you this evening to take a closer look at your life and ask yourself this question: “Is Jesus controlling my life or am I still controlling it? Does He has the final say in whatever I am doing? Is Jesus Lord? If He is not and if your life is still sinful and sorrowful, empty and meaningless, then the time is ripe now for you to open wide the door of your heart and invite Him to come in as the Lord of your life. For Jesus is indeed Lord.
Brothers and sisters, I have been a Christian for more than forty years now. I was born a Christian and grew up as one. Yet for most part of my life, I had no idea at all what it meant to accept Jesus as Lord. I thought Jesus was supposed to be there to help me achieve all the goals in my life. Secretly, I wanted so many things in life: to be rich, to be famous, to have this and that. And I thought the role of Jesus was to help me to get them all. And only after I have owned all these things, would I consider myself a successful Christian. That was my brand of Christianity.
The idea of following Jesus was very alien to me. I thought only consecrated people like priests and nuns do that. As a lay person, I thought, as long as I didn’t miss Mass, as long as I read the Bible, as long as I said my prayers and not fall into big sins,I was doing fine as a Christian. I never bothered to find out whether this was what God wanted of me. And so I went to Mass because I felt obligated, I said my prayers only when I needed something and I read the Bible only when the mood came. The whole idea of Christianity was suited to my needs. It was a marriage of convenience where I was truly the Lord of my life.
I did not realize that as a Christian, I had to follow Jesus and made him the Lord of my life, whether I am a religious or a lay person. It was only after attending the Life in the Spirit Seminar that my eyes were finally opened. For the first time, I was able to see what Christianity really meant. I finally came to this realization that in Christianity, the most important person is Jesus, not me, and I ought to follow him. Christianity is all about following Jesus and enjoying the fruits of his redemption – the joy of God, the peace of God and the love of God which you cannot find in this world. And unless I accept Jesus as Lord, I will never be able to experience the true beauty of Christianity.
Now what does it mean to accept Jesus as Lord? Does it mean now we have to add the word ‘Lord’ every time we pray? That if previously we prayed, “Jesus, please help me,” now we pray, “Lord Jesus, please help me”? No! Then does it mean that we now have to make extra effort to be holy like going to church more, praying more or even putting on a more serious ‘holy-holy’ looks? Again the answer is a no-no!Look,I am not saying that doing all these things are no good but accepting Jesus means much more than these, much more than giving a larger piece of our cake to him.
Accepting Jesus as Lord, brothers and sisters, means that we have to give the whole piece of our cake to Jesus, not just the larger piece. Everything. It means Jesus has to be the Lord of all aspects of our lives, not just the spiritual aspect. Not just when we go to Mass or a prayer meet, like what we are doing now. When you study, when you work, when you play, when you deal with people, is Jesus Lord in this area too? Do you allow Jesus to tell you what to do in these areas too?
And so accepting Jesus as Lord would mean when you study, you must study as Jesus wants you to study, study diligently. When you work, you got to be like Jesus too. You got to work well, with honesty and responsibility. When you play, it is the same. You play your best and with a high level of discipline. And when you deal with people, it also got to be done the Jesus’ way, respecting and loving them as they are, not what you want them to be.
In short, whatever you do,the name of Jesus must be glorified, as in the words of St Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:3, “Then whether you eat, or drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.” Jesus becomes the reason we live and our aim in life now is to have the heart of Jesus, the mind of Jesus and the ways of Jesus. So we too like St Paul will be able to say with conviction, “It is not I who live but Christ who live in me.”(Galatians 2:20).
Until that happens, until we make Jesus the Lord of our lives,we will not be able to understand what Christianity means. Christianity will look like any other religion and Jesus like any other prophet. Your own life will be like those who are non-believers, full of sins and meaningless, despite going to church, attending prayer meet or saying your prayers. You will not be able to claim the great and precious promises that Jesus made in the Bible.
Therefore,as Christians, it is extremely important that you make Jesus the Lord of your life. To do that, you must repent. Repentance here is not the same as saying, “I am sorry!” Neither does it mean feeling bad for your sins. It is much much more. Repentance here is having to change your lifestyle radically. That you give up your old life of sins and put on a new life in Christ. There must be a genuine desire to lead a life of godliness.
Once you have done that,you will experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Jesus who is the Lord of your life, having seen how much you want him, will pour down the Holy Spirit unto you. And this Holy Spirit will empower you to lead the life that God wants you to live. Your whole life will be changed. If before, you went to church only because you felt you had to go, now you will want to go. If before, you felt lazy to open the Bible, now you will want to read it. The Word of God becomes alive when the Spirit touches it. Your prayer life will change too. You will experience this longing for prayer as the Spirit leads you. Life becomes very meaningful and exciting as you allow Jesus to be your Lord.
You will also find that you are now able to do many things that you once thought were impossible, like overcoming your most difficult sin, doing good to those who hate you, blessing those who curse you and praying for those who mistreat you. Do you wish to have such power? To be able to forgive those who have hurt you badly? Can you do that when you are angry? Only the Holy Spirit can help you do that! Because the Holy Spirit that Jesus wants to give you is the same Spirit that came down on Mary during the Annunciation, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, the same Spirit that made Peter and the disciples such fearless men on Pentecost. This very same Spirit will be give to you if you made Jesus the Lord of your life.
As I have said earlier,it is important that as Christians, we make Jesus the Lord of our lives. However, I must admit that making Jesus Lord is not something easy, at least in the beginning. The ways of Jesus are different from the ways of the world. There will be many oppositions, many temptations that make you want to give up. Accepting Jesus may call for big sacrifices in life. Jesus may ask you to give up the very thing you are clinging on or looking for. What are you going to do?
I do not know how you are going to take it but my years of walking with the Lord tells me that it is absolutely worth the try. I always believe that if Jesus wants us to give up something, it is only because he has something better to offer. The rewards that He promises us in the Bible is far better then the sacrifices we will make. Because our sacrifices are non-lasting, His rewards, everlasting. Ours temporal, His eternal. As Romans 8:18 puts it, “What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will give us later.”
It is my intention, brothers and sisters, to invite you this evening to take a closer look at your life and ask yourself this question: “Is Jesus controlling my life or am I still controlling it? Does He has the final say in whatever I am doing? Is Jesus Lord? If He is not and if your life is still sinful and sorrowful, empty and meaningless, then the time is ripe now for you to open wide the door of your heart and invite Him to come in as the Lord of your life. For Jesus is indeed Lord.
Honouring Mary
It never fails to amaze me to see how some Christians treat Mary. “Why do you Catholics look up so highly on Mary?”, “Mary is just another human being, like you and I”, “Mary is only the mother of Jesus.” Have you heard about all these things? I do.
It is statements/questions like these that really get to my nerves and make me sad and sometimes, mad. Sad because they have yet to understand who Mary really is and what she can do for them. And mad because they keep on repeating these silly words without ever bothering to find out why Mary can be so special.
So why is Mary so special? Mary is special, first of all, because God the Almighty made her special. Just imagine, out of so many people in this world, billions and billions of them, God chose her, and her alone, to bring His Son, His only Son, into the world to save it. To me, this is the greatest honour that anyone can receive from God. To be the mother of His Son: to carry him in her womb, to nurse him as a baby, to attend to him in time need, to share all his joys and sorrows. And more importantly, to prepare him for the greatest mission ever – to be the saviour of mankind.
Blessed indeed is the womb that bore him and the breast that he sucked!(Luke 11:27).
The angel Gabriel, a heavenly being, a messenger of God, also treated Mary special. During the Annunciation, how was the greeting done? Was it a casual “Hi! or Hello! How are you? Long time no see.” Was it like that? No! Then how? Luke 1:28, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Or in another text, “Rejoiced! O highly favoured daughter. The Lord is with you.” This is how it was done - In great awe and respect! Because the angel knew this woman was no ordinary woman. That she was God’s chosen one, His highly favoured daughter, the mother to be of God’s only Son. In short , the angel knew Mary.
Elizabeth, the mother of the prophet John the Baptist, too, greeted her in the same respectful manner when Mary visited her. Listen to this marvelous words of Luke 1:14, “Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?’ Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, saw the blessedness of Mary.
And Mary herself was quick to acknowledge this. In Luke 1:48, Mary said: For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed.” All generations – not one or two or some people. But all generations. From all people until the end of the world. That is what it means.
Perhaps the most remarkable example come from the Lord Jesus himself. On two occasions, Jesus clearly showed deep respect for his mother by being obedient to her. One was after they came back from the temple after the Passover feast. Luke 1:51 recorded that, “Jesus went back with them to Nazareth, where he was obedient to them(Mary and Joseph). This came about even after Mary failed to understand what Jesus meant when he said he had to be in his Father’s house. Another was at the wedding in Cana. When the host had run out of wine, Mary told Jesus about it. At first Jesus told her that his time has not come yet but because it was a request from his mother, he could not refuse and as a result, he changed water into wine.
A mother’s request is always hard to refuse. In the Old Testament, we are told that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Bathseba, the mother of King Solomon and said to her: “I pray you, speak to Solomon – for he cannot deny you anything.”(1 Kings 2:16). And when Bathseba went to King Solomon, he said to her: “My mother, make your request, for I cannot refuse you!”(1 Kings 2:20). And here, we have a king who is far greater than Solomon – Jesus, King of all Kings. And here we have a queen who is far greater than Bathseba – Mary, Queen of All Ages.
To underline the special role that Mary plays in our lives, the Gospel writers had purposely put Mary at all the important events in the life of Jesus, from birth right up to death and even beyond it.
When Jesus was first born into the world, Mary was right there. Mary had to be there for she was the one who bore Jesus. In fact, do you know that when the innkeepers turned Mary away, they were actually turning Jesus away? You simply cannot separate the mother from the child.
Then when Jesus was consecrated to God in the temple, Mary was there too. And Simeon took a special mention on the nature of Mary’s role in God’s saving plan. That she too would have much to suffer because of Jesus. That “A sword will pierce through your own soul also.”(Luke 2:34-35).
When Jesus suffered his first persecution, Mary too was actively involved. She together with Joseph fled with the child to Egypt to escape from Herold’s sword. Later when Jesus began to discover his true vocation at the temple in Jerusalem, Mary was pictured as a concerned mother worried about the safety of her child. And again when Jesus performed his first miracle at Cana, it was the mother’s intervention that made it possible.
Although Mary did not appear often in the public ministry of Jesus, it was evident that she followed the happenings closely, from the beginning till the very end. In fact, at the end of Jesus’ ministry, when Jesus was crucified, Mary was there too. At the foot of the cross, she gave unwavering support to her dying son.
Mary’s presence at each of these critical events only goes to show how closely linked she was with the ministry of Jesus. Therefore it was no surprise to see Mary and the faithful disciples at the Upper Room on Pentecost Day, the day when the Church was officially born. And till today, the hands of Mary can still be seen working in places like Lourdes, Fatima and Medjugorge.
The Early Church indeed paid deep respect to Mary. Early Church Fathers such as the famous St Augustine, St Ambrose, Origen, St Cyril and St Irenaeus all held Mary in high esteem. The Early Church saw Mary as the ‘New Eve’ as opposed to the Old Eve. In the words of St Irenaeus, “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience; what the virgin Eve bound through her unbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.” In the light of this comparison with Eve, the Fathers of the Church call Mary the ‘Mother of the living’ and often speak of “death through Eve, life through Mary.”
In recognizing and appreciating Mary’s role in the salvation of mankind, our Church, over the years, has given many titles to Mary. Titles like ‘Mediatrix’, ‘Theotokos/Mother of God, ‘The Immaculate Conception”, ‘Queen of the Sea’ and so on. However, this is not to say that we are putting her on par with God. God is God and Mary is Mary. Veneration to God is different from veneration to Mary. The Greek word for venerating God , which include worshipping Him, is latria whereas venerating Mary, which does not include worshipping her, is hyperdulia. So honouring Mary is not worshipping Mary. We only worship God. This is very important to bear in mind when we talked about this treasured devotion of ours.
Yet we are not the only ones who honour Mary in this way. Devotion to Mary is not confines to the Catholic Church alone. Outside our Church, devotion to Mary can also be found in the Orthodox Churches, the second largest Christians group in the world, Their devotion is just as intense as ours, with an abundance of festival and hymns to our Lady. And our present pope, Pope John Paul II, would often quote, with much fondness, of the devotion in these Eastern Churches. And has recently even returned an old icon of Our Lady and the Child Jesus to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Even among the Protestant Churches nowadays, the devotion to Mary is growing, especially among the Aglican/Episcopalian and Lutheran churches. As a result you can see people like Wayne Weible, a Lutheran, going around the world preaching the message of Our Lady in Medjugorje. In his own words, “A Protestant encouraging other Protestants to pray to Mary.”
Still the story doesn’t end here. What is even more fantastic is the fact that not only Christians are paying respect to Mary. The Muslims are doing it also. The Quran talks much about her. The Blessed Virgin Mary is mentioned 34 times in the Quran. In fact, one of the ‘suras’ or chapters bears her name. Hers is the only personal name of a woman mentioned in the Quran. And would you believe me if I were to say that they also share our teaching on the Virgin Birth and of the Immaculate Conception. Yes, they do!!!
Brothers and sisters, when Jesus uttered the words, “Son, behold your mother,” to his beloved disciple, John who was standing at the foot of the cross with Mary, it was not that he had nothing better to say. Those words were very meaningful and symbolic. It was an invitation from Jesus himself to make a home for Mary in our lives. Jesus knowing what a great job Mary has done for him in his life now wanted her to do the same for you and me. And Church understands this too and has given her the title “Mother of the Church.”
Never for once think that devotion to Mary will distract our attention from Jesus and make us less Christians. This is the Devil’s temptation. On the contrary, devotion to Mary can make us “more Christian.” I remember when I was studying in UKM, there was a group of old ladies in the nearby Kajang Church who would faithfully attend the Novena to Our Lady Saturday after Saturday. Quite often, I would join them. And you know something? They were very Christian and whenever the name of Jesus was being mentioned, I found that their faces would light up. You see, their devotion to Mary has not robbed them of Jesus. Rather, it enriches their faith in Jesus.
If anyone cares more about the son, it must be the mother. Mary is the Mother and Jesus, the Son. Mary loves Jesus and knows what he can do for us. That is why whenever we turn to her for help, she cannot but turn our attention to her son, Jesus, telling us the same words as in Cana, “Do whatever He tells you.”
In this month of October, I encourage you to give Mary a chance to bring Jesus more fully in your lives. And as you do, you will find Jesus being born again in a much more meaningful way in your hearts. And like the old women of Kajang Church, your face will light up too at the mention of the name ‘Jesus!’ Because he or she who has the heart of the mother will surely loves her son too.
It is statements/questions like these that really get to my nerves and make me sad and sometimes, mad. Sad because they have yet to understand who Mary really is and what she can do for them. And mad because they keep on repeating these silly words without ever bothering to find out why Mary can be so special.
So why is Mary so special? Mary is special, first of all, because God the Almighty made her special. Just imagine, out of so many people in this world, billions and billions of them, God chose her, and her alone, to bring His Son, His only Son, into the world to save it. To me, this is the greatest honour that anyone can receive from God. To be the mother of His Son: to carry him in her womb, to nurse him as a baby, to attend to him in time need, to share all his joys and sorrows. And more importantly, to prepare him for the greatest mission ever – to be the saviour of mankind.
Blessed indeed is the womb that bore him and the breast that he sucked!(Luke 11:27).
The angel Gabriel, a heavenly being, a messenger of God, also treated Mary special. During the Annunciation, how was the greeting done? Was it a casual “Hi! or Hello! How are you? Long time no see.” Was it like that? No! Then how? Luke 1:28, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Or in another text, “Rejoiced! O highly favoured daughter. The Lord is with you.” This is how it was done - In great awe and respect! Because the angel knew this woman was no ordinary woman. That she was God’s chosen one, His highly favoured daughter, the mother to be of God’s only Son. In short , the angel knew Mary.
Elizabeth, the mother of the prophet John the Baptist, too, greeted her in the same respectful manner when Mary visited her. Listen to this marvelous words of Luke 1:14, “Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?’ Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit, saw the blessedness of Mary.
And Mary herself was quick to acknowledge this. In Luke 1:48, Mary said: For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed.” All generations – not one or two or some people. But all generations. From all people until the end of the world. That is what it means.
Perhaps the most remarkable example come from the Lord Jesus himself. On two occasions, Jesus clearly showed deep respect for his mother by being obedient to her. One was after they came back from the temple after the Passover feast. Luke 1:51 recorded that, “Jesus went back with them to Nazareth, where he was obedient to them(Mary and Joseph). This came about even after Mary failed to understand what Jesus meant when he said he had to be in his Father’s house. Another was at the wedding in Cana. When the host had run out of wine, Mary told Jesus about it. At first Jesus told her that his time has not come yet but because it was a request from his mother, he could not refuse and as a result, he changed water into wine.
A mother’s request is always hard to refuse. In the Old Testament, we are told that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Bathseba, the mother of King Solomon and said to her: “I pray you, speak to Solomon – for he cannot deny you anything.”(1 Kings 2:16). And when Bathseba went to King Solomon, he said to her: “My mother, make your request, for I cannot refuse you!”(1 Kings 2:20). And here, we have a king who is far greater than Solomon – Jesus, King of all Kings. And here we have a queen who is far greater than Bathseba – Mary, Queen of All Ages.
To underline the special role that Mary plays in our lives, the Gospel writers had purposely put Mary at all the important events in the life of Jesus, from birth right up to death and even beyond it.
When Jesus was first born into the world, Mary was right there. Mary had to be there for she was the one who bore Jesus. In fact, do you know that when the innkeepers turned Mary away, they were actually turning Jesus away? You simply cannot separate the mother from the child.
Then when Jesus was consecrated to God in the temple, Mary was there too. And Simeon took a special mention on the nature of Mary’s role in God’s saving plan. That she too would have much to suffer because of Jesus. That “A sword will pierce through your own soul also.”(Luke 2:34-35).
When Jesus suffered his first persecution, Mary too was actively involved. She together with Joseph fled with the child to Egypt to escape from Herold’s sword. Later when Jesus began to discover his true vocation at the temple in Jerusalem, Mary was pictured as a concerned mother worried about the safety of her child. And again when Jesus performed his first miracle at Cana, it was the mother’s intervention that made it possible.
Although Mary did not appear often in the public ministry of Jesus, it was evident that she followed the happenings closely, from the beginning till the very end. In fact, at the end of Jesus’ ministry, when Jesus was crucified, Mary was there too. At the foot of the cross, she gave unwavering support to her dying son.
Mary’s presence at each of these critical events only goes to show how closely linked she was with the ministry of Jesus. Therefore it was no surprise to see Mary and the faithful disciples at the Upper Room on Pentecost Day, the day when the Church was officially born. And till today, the hands of Mary can still be seen working in places like Lourdes, Fatima and Medjugorge.
The Early Church indeed paid deep respect to Mary. Early Church Fathers such as the famous St Augustine, St Ambrose, Origen, St Cyril and St Irenaeus all held Mary in high esteem. The Early Church saw Mary as the ‘New Eve’ as opposed to the Old Eve. In the words of St Irenaeus, “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was untied by Mary’s obedience; what the virgin Eve bound through her unbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.” In the light of this comparison with Eve, the Fathers of the Church call Mary the ‘Mother of the living’ and often speak of “death through Eve, life through Mary.”
In recognizing and appreciating Mary’s role in the salvation of mankind, our Church, over the years, has given many titles to Mary. Titles like ‘Mediatrix’, ‘Theotokos/Mother of God, ‘The Immaculate Conception”, ‘Queen of the Sea’ and so on. However, this is not to say that we are putting her on par with God. God is God and Mary is Mary. Veneration to God is different from veneration to Mary. The Greek word for venerating God , which include worshipping Him, is latria whereas venerating Mary, which does not include worshipping her, is hyperdulia. So honouring Mary is not worshipping Mary. We only worship God. This is very important to bear in mind when we talked about this treasured devotion of ours.
Yet we are not the only ones who honour Mary in this way. Devotion to Mary is not confines to the Catholic Church alone. Outside our Church, devotion to Mary can also be found in the Orthodox Churches, the second largest Christians group in the world, Their devotion is just as intense as ours, with an abundance of festival and hymns to our Lady. And our present pope, Pope John Paul II, would often quote, with much fondness, of the devotion in these Eastern Churches. And has recently even returned an old icon of Our Lady and the Child Jesus to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Even among the Protestant Churches nowadays, the devotion to Mary is growing, especially among the Aglican/Episcopalian and Lutheran churches. As a result you can see people like Wayne Weible, a Lutheran, going around the world preaching the message of Our Lady in Medjugorje. In his own words, “A Protestant encouraging other Protestants to pray to Mary.”
Still the story doesn’t end here. What is even more fantastic is the fact that not only Christians are paying respect to Mary. The Muslims are doing it also. The Quran talks much about her. The Blessed Virgin Mary is mentioned 34 times in the Quran. In fact, one of the ‘suras’ or chapters bears her name. Hers is the only personal name of a woman mentioned in the Quran. And would you believe me if I were to say that they also share our teaching on the Virgin Birth and of the Immaculate Conception. Yes, they do!!!
Brothers and sisters, when Jesus uttered the words, “Son, behold your mother,” to his beloved disciple, John who was standing at the foot of the cross with Mary, it was not that he had nothing better to say. Those words were very meaningful and symbolic. It was an invitation from Jesus himself to make a home for Mary in our lives. Jesus knowing what a great job Mary has done for him in his life now wanted her to do the same for you and me. And Church understands this too and has given her the title “Mother of the Church.”
Never for once think that devotion to Mary will distract our attention from Jesus and make us less Christians. This is the Devil’s temptation. On the contrary, devotion to Mary can make us “more Christian.” I remember when I was studying in UKM, there was a group of old ladies in the nearby Kajang Church who would faithfully attend the Novena to Our Lady Saturday after Saturday. Quite often, I would join them. And you know something? They were very Christian and whenever the name of Jesus was being mentioned, I found that their faces would light up. You see, their devotion to Mary has not robbed them of Jesus. Rather, it enriches their faith in Jesus.
If anyone cares more about the son, it must be the mother. Mary is the Mother and Jesus, the Son. Mary loves Jesus and knows what he can do for us. That is why whenever we turn to her for help, she cannot but turn our attention to her son, Jesus, telling us the same words as in Cana, “Do whatever He tells you.”
In this month of October, I encourage you to give Mary a chance to bring Jesus more fully in your lives. And as you do, you will find Jesus being born again in a much more meaningful way in your hearts. And like the old women of Kajang Church, your face will light up too at the mention of the name ‘Jesus!’ Because he or she who has the heart of the mother will surely loves her son too.
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