Which is the greatest commandment of God?

Image via WikipediaThis is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary time and this week’s reading is as follows:
[Exodus 22: 20-26] [1 Thessalonians 1:5 -10] [Matthew 22:34-40]

This week’s reading is perhaps what we have been dealing with recently in this blog. Jesus replied to the Pharisees when they asked him “Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?” (Mt 22:36).

As we know by now, Jesus replied that the greatest commandment is to love God and the second to love our neighbour.

“On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets too.” (Mt 22:40). Why did Jesus said they these 2 are the most important?

Because there is no real love for God without the neighbour! As in Mt25:

40 And the King will answer, "In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me."

45 Then he will answer, "In truth I tell you, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me."

So what better way to show (and proved) one’s love for God by loving one’s neighbour?

This is perhaps the biggest challenge that Jesus has thrown to us. To be His true disciple, we need to listen and act on His words.

Loving God is easy as He is perfect. Most of the time, we associate that with professing and singing praises and worship. While that is good but many do it as a form of lip service only. There is no real love from the heart. Did I love my neighbour like like myself? It will be much harder to love one's neighbour wholeheartedly. But it is possible if we are truly converted in our hearts.

Let’s pray that we will start loving each other like ourselves so that this world will become a better place for all of us.

"Whoever fails to love does not know God, because God is love." (1Jn 4:8)

When was Jesus born?

Image via WikipediaThis week mark the begining of 9 weeks of special Novena to Christmas. This is an interesting article taken from "Dear Padre" this week and written by Fr John Schmidt C.Ss.R :

Pinpointing the date of Jesus's birth seems an easy task; however, due to the complexity of history's various calenders and ways of calculating time, we cannot be sure of the date.

The two Gospels that detail the birth of Jesus do not give a date. Early Christians observed an annual feast to remember Jesus's death and resurrection, focusing on the paschal mystery rather than on his birth.

As Christianity grew and spread, however, Christians wanted to celebrate more events from Jesus' life. The celebration on December 25 has more to do with expression of faith in Jesus than with establishing the exact date if his birth.

December 25 is listed as the date of Jesus' birth in a fourth-century calender of martyrs, but how this date was chosen is unclear. Some Scholars believe Christians in Rome chose December 25 to counteract the celebration of the pagan sun god Emesa. Another theory follows the influences of the seasons: Early Christians believed John the Baptist was conceived on the autumnal equionx and born at the summer solstice. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus' conception took place six month after John's. That time line would place Jesus' birth at the winter solstice, December 25 on the Julian calender. A third theory says Jesus' birth would have occurred on the same date as his death, which we believe to be in the spring at Passover.

Regardless of the exact date, we celebrate Jesus as the true Son who came to enlighten us and, by his death and resurection, to give us life.

The truth about Westboro Baptist Church

This is another interesting youtube video about the WBC. You can find more at youtube.

Do read the comments about the videos HERE

This Blog is moderated now.

Hi friends,

If you can see the comments on recent posts, we are being spammed and to spare you from the junks, this blog is moderated.

However, do feel free to post your comments as they will still be published.

Only those of anti-Christ will be blocked.

EVILS OF WESTBOROUGH BAPTIST CHURCH

Here is a youtube video about Westborough Baptish Church.

Read the comments about this video HERE.

Anti-Christ is back….....

Image via WikipediaHa, testingblog a.k.a. anti-Christ is back….

As usual, there is nothing true and/or anything of value with his junks comments.

However, he has revealed to us some explanations to his cultist, extremist, terrorist behaviour and completely misguided understanding of the Bible. - THE WESTBORO BAPTISTS.

Readers who do not know them can make a search in Google about them and read about it yourself.

This re-confirmed to us that the church we chose to go and the kind of teachings is extremely important. As Blogpastor said in his recent blog, “religion is indeed a force of social transformation to be reckoned with”.

Religion is certainly a potent force and some evil people are using that to turn some minority into brain-washed, anti-social and even security threat to our society. All "in the name of God".

The sad part is, these minority do not even know or are aware about it. They have simply lost their sense of wisdom to discern between the right and wrong or good and bad.

Let’s pray for these people that they will see the light, the truth and the way for God is Love (Jn 4:16).

"Whoever fails to love does not know God, because God is love." (1Jn 4:8)

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Keep an open mind....for God has spoken

Image by JL Outdoor Photography via FlickrI read ST Your Letter of 19.10.08 by Ms Christie Loh "Keep an open mind even if you live by thous-shalt-nots".

I applaud Ms Loh for her diligence in attending New Creation Church service to find our for herself if the negative views are true. This was because of her love for her son who was keen to join as a member.

I agree with Ms Loh that "What mattered to us was which doctrines were being taught and who was glorified".

I do not know any Christian Churches here that do not glorify God - perhaps Ms Loh can point that out. Even cults (that is banned in Singapore) glorify God in their teachings and preaching!

As for doctrines taught by mega churches, these are issues which people are concerned about (and if we can remember letter to ST by Dr Lee Bee Wah about a year ago). It dose not mean that a doctrine is Biblical simply because it was quoted from the Bible - there are many instances of wrong quotations.

I just read recently someone who quoted the story when Jesus asked Simon to cast the net into the water and haul up a rich harvest (LK5:1-8). This was used as "proof" that Jesus do agree with "prosperity gospel" that is being preached. Or what they call grace. What about when Jesus said in LK5:10 "Do not be afraid; from now on it is people you will be catching."?

Isn't it clear that Jesus is telling Simon (Peter) that He wants Simon to be His disciple to spread the Gospel and "catching people" instead of fishes (as a fisherman)? And isn't this clear that this miracle was to show Simon that Jesus is "special" (which is why Jesus said "Don't be afraid") since this was the begining of Jesus ministry and nobody knew about Him yet?

Such wrong use of Bible quotations is common (from what I have read as well as interaction with friends who goes to mega churches) which leads to another imporant issue to consider:

Is the pastor properly trained and where? From my queries so far, I found no answer. It was not on NCC website, nobody from any forum or discussion have pick this up and provide any answers.

Even Joseph Prince acknowledged that he is aware of the concerns (about his teachings) but he believed that when one believed right, one will live right. Since there are so many concerns, I believed that clearly something is not very right........

There must be reasons why so many people (both Christians and non-Christians alike) are against their teachings. Is the teachings correct as in accordance with the Bible?

You have done well to start researching by attending the service yourself but it would be even more important to research the doctrines and teachings preached by Joseph Prince. Perhaps, a discussion with your current Church pastor / priest may help.

Ultimately, it is up to each individual to discern what is right and what is wrong. Sometimes, it is easier to hear what we want but it certainly pay to listen to the truth no matter how much harder that may be. The truth is in the Bible that has been preached for over 2000 years! And God's Word is the only truth and will never change.

It is easy to get soaked into the moment in the atmosphere created by mega churches and one has to "fight" and stay alert.

With the current financial crisis, God has spoken again and telling us that all riches here is temporary and not the most important because it can disappear in a flash. Seeking God and the truth is the most important.

Advertisement from God - Job Vacancies....

Image via WikipediaThis is the 29th Sunday in Ordinary time and this week’s reading is as follows:
Isaiah 2:1-5 Ephesians 3:2-12 Mark 16: 15-20

This Sunday is designated as Mission Sunday. So how does Mission Sunday relates to lay Catholics like us?

All of us embraced God out of our own free will by attending RCIA and by virtue of accepting our baptism. As Catholics, we are servants and apostles of God's only Son - Jesus.

However, many do not think much about what it means to be servants and apostles. There is a duty of evangelizing by everybody as there are many people waiting for the proclamation of the Gospel and are thirsting for hope and love.

These people may be our colleagues, our neighbours; maybe even people in our own home. There is never a "better time" to share the Gospel and to bring to someone Christ’s saving message then NOW.

So brothers and sisters, start proclaiming the message of faith, hope and love to people around us so that less people will fall into the trap of "prosperity gospel" especially our young.

So, God has a job vacancy for us and the requirement is simple:- Have genuine love for Him and tell others about him.

There will be no monetary gains and working hours are long BUT His retirement benefits are great.

Would you be interested to apply?

A mournful rendition of The Lord Is My Shepherd brought tears to the eyes......

Image via WikipediaA mournful rendition of The Lord Is My Shepherd brought tears to the eyes of some people as the remains of Singapore’s two previous archbishops were formally interred in the cathedral.

About 500 Catholics gathered for the requiem Mass on the night of Oct. 10, when the remains of Archbishops Michael Olcomendy and Gregory Yong Sooi Ngean were at last interred in the right and left interior walls of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd.

Read all about HERE.

Does God return you hundred folds?

Image via WikipediaThis is what "Buddhist-Lover" said in the comments on Blogpastor (you can find the link to this blog on the right hand navigation of this blog) which I reproduced here as it is interesting:

"One guest preacher was preaching a sermon to encourage people to give in faith to his ministry. After teaching from the bible verse about one reaping what one sows, the guest preacher gave his personal testimony. He told the congregation about how when he was so financially broke during the financial crisis in the 970s that he was without a home and left only with about $20 in his pocket.

He walked into a church service, and deep in his heart he prayed to God for help. When the offering bag was passed around, he put in all the money he had. On his way out, someone befriend him, learned of his problems and offered him shelter and also gave him a job.

That became the beginning of a series of good fortune that within one year, he became financially stable and in another 3 years, he actually became rich!

After sharing his testimony, he urged the congregation to give to his ministry so that God’s unlimited blessing of wealth can be released onto them. He said because he has given his last $20, God has turned him into a multi-millionaire. Then at that point, a soft voice of an old woman could be heard among the congregation: “I dare you do it again now!”

Do you think it is much more difficult for this guy to give away all his wealth now (millions of dollars in nett assets) than when he was without a home and was down to his last $20?"

Personally, I do not believe that God's grace is tied to us giving money to the Church. How about time and service that we give?

How about the poor and destitute? Does that means that God has abandon them?

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Is God going to make me rich?

Image by alimander via FlickrI was reading a impromptu remark that the pope made at the opening session of the world Synod of Bishops on the Bible and I would like to share it with you here:

“He (the pope) said the morning's Scripture readings had brought to mind Christ's parable of the two houses, one built on sand and one built on rock.

"On sand is built only things we can see and touch: success, career, money. Apparently they are real, but one day they pass," he said. He said the banking crisis demonstrated how quickly they can disappear.

"Whoever builds his life on these things -- on material things, on success, on appearances -- is building on sand," he said.

The true realist is someone who builds his life on the things that remain, recognizing God's place in his own life, he said.”

You can read the entire article (if you have interest) at http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0805052.htm.


When we look around, we see that most of the people around us are comparing children’s results, who spend more time at work, who has more business travels, who is buying shares and properties, whose house is bigger and whose car is faster…..

People’s perception of life and living has taken a new twist as compared to people of the early churches.

God’s providence is long forgotten…… when was the last time we feel grateful (to God) that we have a roof over our head, regular meals on the table and a peaceful society to live in?

Now, some dubious preacher is preaching that “I am rich and that’s a shinning testimony that God is with me” and you can be rich too – if you come to me.

So are they teaching us to build our house on sand or on rock?

Jesus chose to be poor and so do all His apostles. I do not think that He wants us to be living like a pauper. Rather, He is teaching us to live a simple life and not be tempted by greed of materials wealth that will not last (Mt 6:19-21. We should seek for the true treasure that is in Heaven. He led by example and live a simple life as St Palu said in Rm2:21 “so then, in teaching others, do you teach yourself as well?“

So, pastors with semi-D, condos and conti cars seems out of place especially when they live on money that comes from goodwill of church goers.

These funds should be channelled into helping the poor and needy of the society. Isn’t this the best way of doing God’s work, evangelizing, spreading God’s love (good news) and to show them that God loves and care for them? Why do you think Jesus chose us to be Christians? And remember that Jesus said He is here to serve and not to be served. Should we as His followers not do the same?

Though the funds could amount to large sums and can be tempting, let us remember that in MT4, Jesus too was tempted by Satan but He never give in so that all He can have “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour”.

Remember, Jesus was very tired and hungry at that time.

So let us look beyond the material riches of this world and start seeking the true meaning of being a Christian and live our life to the fullest – the Christian way. A life that is of faith, hope and love. Not money, money and more money…..

The wedding dinner continues.....

Image via WikipediaThis is a continuation from my previous post. This is my personal reflection of this week's readings.

This week, we learned that God is inviting everyone to his Kingdom and yet many turn him down because of other priorities – in general, too busy. Sounds familiar?

Jesus as we know from the Bible often shocked the self-righteous of his day because "he welcomed sinners and ate with them". Yet, these are the ones who refused the invitations as they do not want to be part of Jesus who welcomed tax collectors and sinners.

They even seized the servants send to invite them, maltreated them and killed them and proved themselves to be unworthy.

So these servants were ordered to go out onto the roads and invite “everyone they could find, bad and good alike and the wedding hall was filled with guests”.

But one guest who was without a wedding garment the King asked him why but he kept silent. The King ordered : "Bind him hand and foot and throw him into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth."

As Fr Gerard Weerakoon (from The Church Of The Holy Spirit) explained, the wedding garment was the garment of love.

”For many are invited but not all are chosen” (MT22:14) - Are you the chosen one?

I cannot help but think of testingblog (for those who do not know, you can refer to the post about anti-Christ and some comments he made here) and his version of Christianity through his words and actions.

One may become a Christians and yet, if one does not live a Christian life as Jesus taught us (to love God and to love our neighbour), one can still be thrown out of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is good to refer also to MT 25:31-46 about the last judgement where Jesus clearly tell us that love and charity is the key to Heaven.

We become Christians because we have accepted God's invitation and our search for love and happiness is the search for God!

The real story………

Image via WikipediaThis is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary time and this week’s reading is as follows:

Isaiah 25: 6-10 Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20 Matthew 22:1-14

The real story………taken from the bulletin of the Church Of The Holy Cross.

We have really strong and terrible readings today. The readings are terrible in the sense that they show us a side of God with which we are generally not very comfortable. We prefer to meet a God who is infinitely patient, who pardons us even when we are completely against Him. We prefer the God shown us in the Gospel of John, who tells us: I have not come to condemn but to save.

We need to read these readings carefully. Sometimes we get caught only in this awful sense that God will condemn us. The First Reading from Isaiah and the Gospel from Matthew are much more nuanced than that. It is clear that these readings refer to people who simply will not budge at all from their rejection of God and of His Christ.

On the other hand, we need to feel this blast of the Lord's frustration with those who will not accept His invitation, those who will not even listen to His word at all. Too often the mercy and compassion of God become justifications for our not doing very much. We dilly and dally with sin and with temptations, wanting to be better but not wanting to take the tough decisions that will actually change our lives. We are truly human in that sense but not with the redeemed humanity of our Lord Jesus.

We need to become a person such as we see in the second reading, from the Philippians: true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and gracious. How difference our lives can be when we begin to live for the Lord. We can stop living in the fear of having to give up our sinfulness and embrace the strong life of those who still sin, but whose hearts have become set on doing the will of the Lord.

How do we get from this fear of giving up our sinfulness to that place where our hearts are set on doing the will of the Lord? The only way is to keep asking God to change us and transform us. We cannot make this change by our own will power. It is a change that is given to us as a free gift from the Lord our God if we keep asking for it.

We must ask with sincerity and truth, even acknowledging that perhaps we don't really want to give up all of our sinfulness, but asking the Lord to remove all within us that is contrary to His desire and will.

May the Lord give us strength and courage this Sunday as we celebrate these divine mysteries once again. May we be willing to be transformed.

A little history of the Rosary…

Image via WikipediaIn the early centuries, the Church monks would recite the Psalms as part of their rule of life. However, this means only those who could read can do it. How about the illiterate brothers? Clearly there is a need for a simpler prayer for them. The Lord’s Prayer was adopted for this purpose; the brothers would recite 150 Our Fathers to correspond to the number of Psalms.

Small stones were used originally to count the prayers. Later, beads were strung as prayer counters. With the rise of widespread devotion to the Blessed Mother in the early second millennium, the Hail Mary gained popularity and was inserted into the prayer tradition.

The word rosary comes from Latin and means a garland of roses. Incidentally, the rose is one the flowers used to symbolize the Virgin Mary. The rosary is a devotion in honour of the Virgin Mary and it is a truly biblical form of prayer — after all, the prayers that comprise it come mainly from the Bible.

The rosary consists of a set number of specific prayers but they are NOT boring, uselessly repetitious, meaningless recitation of prayers. It is a form of meditation on the grace of God! It is the meditation on the scriptural based mysteries that gives the rosary its staying power. There are 5 Mysteries in each namely the Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries and the Glorious Mysteries. All these are explicitly scriptural except for the last 2 in the Glorious Mysteries - the Assumption and Coronation of Mary which are not explicitly stated in the Bible, but they are not contrary to it.

Pope John Paul II has proposed five new mysteries to be used during the saying of the Rosary known as the "mysteries of light" or the "luminous mysteries."

These mysteries are as follows:

1. The Baptism in the Jordan
2. The Wedding at Cana
3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom
4. The Transfiguration
5. The Institution of the Eucharist

Although the repeated Hail Mary is addressed directly to Mary, it is to Jesus that the act of love is ultimately directed. Far from being unbiblical, it is actually a beautiful scriptural way of praying that leads us closer to him. By reciting the Hail Mary throughout the rosary, we participate over and over again in the wonder-filled response of Gabriel and Elizabeth to the mystery of Christ. Bead after bead, we ask Mary to pray for us that we may be drawn closer to her Son.

And most of all, prayer after prayer, we affectionately speak the name of our Beloved at the very center of each Hail Mary: "Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." The holy name of Jesus, repeated with tender love, is the heartbeat of the entire rosary.

Once you understand the essence of the rosary and you know that meditating the rosary will help you have an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Jesus is Always With Us

Image via WikipediaThis is the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time and the readings are as follows:
Isaiah 5:1-7
Philippians 4:6-9
Matthew 21:33-43

The following reflection is taken from the bulletin of the Church Of The Risen Christ:

What kind of reception do you think Jesus would get if he were to return today in the same manner which he came two millennia ago? Would it be different? In the era of the Old Testament, prophets were generally rejected or ignored. Jesus tells us in today's Gospel they were even treated like slaves who were sent out by the property owner to collect rent and were treated shamefully.

Even when the property owner sent his own son thinking that surely he would be respected the son was killed instead. Even before Jesus was born, the Holy family was turned away at the inn. Was there really “no room for them at the inn”? Was it really so easy to turn away a traveller and his pregnant wife in the middle of the night? Or were they just not welcome?

It is simple enough to see who the property owner's son represents. The truth is Jesus is ever present among us especially with the poverty stricken, the despised and in the unborn child being prepared unknowingly for an abortion. Is God the Father still saying “Surely they will respect my Son.”

Praying to Mother Mary?

Image via WikipediaOne the common allegation my Protestants friends have is that Catholics pray to Mary and some are even told that Catholics worship Mary (as God) and not God!

Perhaps, one of the hyms at Novena will clearly explained as in “Mother dearest, Mother Fairest” chorus:

“Mary help us, help we pray, Mary help us, help we pray,
Help us in all care and sorrow, Mary help us, help we pray”

Whenever I am asked if we pray and worship to Mary, I will always ask them to qualify what they meant by praying and worshipping? If they think that we worship Mary as God, then we don’t and that’s a fact. Mary is no God.

When we say we pray to Mary, it is really talking to her and requesting for her help to pray with us and for us to the Lord our God. Our worship of Mary is a simple remembrance and honoring of our Blessed Mother.

The common questions that follows is why not pray directly to God? But who says we are not? We pray directly to God and we ask Mother Mary to pray with us and for us. We send her our petitions and ask her to help intercede for us with her Son.

Jesus is the only only mediator between man and God (1 Tim. 2:5), but this in no way means we cannot or should not ask our fellow Christians to pray with us and for us (1 Tim. 2:1–4). It is not very different from praying for a friend or asking a friend to pray for us when we needed help.

The difference is Mother Mary is a Saint while we are sinners and her prayers will be much more powerful than ours. Not just Mother Mary but all the other Saints and Christians who are in heaven, who have already had their sanctification completed, for "the prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects" (Jas. 5:16). And this has been proven effective for centuries and continues to be effective. Just attend the Novenas and hear for yourself.

What one need to understand is that all petitions and prayers that are answered are not granted by Mother Mary – she has no power to do so. Everything is granted by God. Mother Mary has cared for Jesus disciples for centuries and continues to do so. She has also helped and lead many people to her Son. Whenever she appears, she will instruct the people she appeared to to pray and to pray to her Son – Jesus.

As a result of her intercession, many people have come to know her love and more importantly, the love of God and she alone has converted more people that you can ever imagine. Yet, there are so many people who misunderstood her and do not give her the due respect that she deserved.