Believing in Jesus

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Today’s readings emphasise believing in Jesus, the Risen lord. He is powerfully present in the community and manifests himself to the disciples. In the new age, the disciples carry on the ministry of Jesus and rely on the presence of the Holy Spirit. In our time, belief takes on a different tenor for we believe in the testimony of others and without the signs seen in the early days of the Church.

The early Church was a community which was credible and attractive to others because it gave testimony to the presence and action of the Lord. This resulted in a great increase in the number of believers in the early Church.

In the reading from Revelation, John reflects on the meaning and significance of his union with Christ and the union of Christians in the Lord. It is a union in suffering and glory. According to John, Jesus and the Christian do not pass through suffering into glory. Rather, for Jesus and the Christian, suffering and glorification occur in the same moment. In other words, in the suffering is the glorification.

The reading also reminds us of the presence of the Risen Lord in our ministry. John’s vision stresses the presence of the Lord among us. The glorified Lord is always with the Church as he interprets the meaning of events and gives new life to hispeople. Jesus is present and active in our lives and in the community.

In the two appearances of the Risen Lord to his disciples as recorded in John’s gospel, Jesus invites the unbelieving disciples to a new level of belief. In the first episode, the frightened disciples were filled with joy when they heard the words of peace spoken by Jesus. They believed in his new presence among them and
because of this renewed faith, they were sent forth to continue his mission. Believing is therefore more than an affirmation of faith in Jesus. It is actively continuing the mission of Jesus. The Risen Lord assures us that he will continue to be with us in his Spirit. It is in the reality that we celebrate the Easter liturgies.

The second appearance of Jesus to his disciples speaks of believing in Jesus.. The story of Thomas’ “unbelief” reminds us of ourselves. Thomas would not believe in the presence of the Risen Lord on the testimony of others. We remember Thomas being mentioned several times in the gospel. At the time of Lazarus' death in Bethany, Thomas said,“Let us go and die with him.” During the Last Supper,he had some difficulty understanding Jesus. “Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Thomas seemed again to struggle in his faith and needed a sign of his own choosing – a sign that would confirm Jesus’ death and resurrection. However, the doubt of Thomas was the prelude to a great confession of belief: “My Lord and my God.”

Today’s readings end with a clarification of what believing in Jesus is all about. When we believe in Jesus, we have life in his name. The reading identifies for us the focus of our belief and urges us to believe in Jesus. And our belief can only be an effectual sign if it is expressed in relationship with and service of others within and beyond our community.

The above article is taken from the bulletin of the St Francis Xavier Church - Serangoon.

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Prelude to Triumph and Glory

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This Sunday which commemorates the Passion of our Lord is a prelude to the three holiest days of the year during which we celebrate the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. As a prelude is meant to introduce us to what is to follow, it offers us an overview of what we are about to experience. Hence our liturgy today must lead us into the celebration of Holy Week with renewed faith in and gratitude to God for his salvation for all mankind.

As palms are blessed and the Gospel story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem is proclaimed, Jesus is likened to a saviour-king figure and greeted with blessings and praise. As we listen to the enthusiastic welcome of Jesus of the people, we can’t help feeling the sense of eager anticipation of great things to come. At the same time, there is a sense of foreboding as we behold the envy of the enemies of Jesus who see in the tumultuous welcome of Jesus by the people of a signal for them to act quickly against Jesus. They are not caught up with the popular enthusiasm for they fume with jealousy and milk their beards as they bid Jesus to silence the vociferous multitudes. The readings and the psalm fit well into this pattern of the prelude. They each move from joy to sadness, from well-being to suffering, from glory to ignominy. They both highlight the saviour image of Jesus. In Isaiah’s Third Servant Song (First Reading), the servant who has been proclaimed in the earlier songs as beloved, gifted with the Spirit of God, consecrated, a light to the nations and a gentle minister of the Lord’s justice, is now shown the truly faithful servant.

This Servant has always been seen as a model for all disciples and for the people of Israel itself. They knew from their history that prophets were not listened to. They were ridiculed, rejected and even killed. This reality is manifestly acknowledged in the Third Servant Song. On Good Friday, as we walk the Way of the Cross and venerate the Cross, we will listen to, be touched by, and appreciate with profound gratitude to the Servant’s complete self-giving, bearing our sins for us and loving us to the point of being a “man of sorrows”, dying on the Cross.
This theme is then taken up in the anguish and pathos of the Responsorial Psalm 22, opening with the heart-rending, desperate prayer-cry of Jesus, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” This is Jesus’ prayer of complete abandonment to his Father – a prayer of utter self-giving to the Father – a fitting prelude to the Father’s glory.

Then in the Letter of Paul to the Philippians, we are also led through the abandonment to God accepting his Son’s sacrifice, receiving him with love and loving him into new, risen, glorious life. To prepare for the Holy Week by focusing solely on the suffering Jesus is not to prepare fully. The suffering is no end in itself. It is Jesus’ gift, received by the Father who transforms it into new life for all of us.

The Gospel reading dramatizes the roles of many of Jesus’ disciples: the warning to Peter about his impending unfaithfulness and his subsequent denial of Jesus, the sleeping disciples in Gethsemane, Judas' kiss of betrayal, the grieving women of Jerusalem, the conscripted Simon of Cyrene, the repentant thief, and Joseph of Arimathea who buried Jesus. And there is Jesus himself, God-made-man, the Master, the Servant, the Lord, sweating and betrayed, humiliated, scorned, bearing the weight of our sinfulness on his back and crucified.

But this is the Father’s plan of love. It’s the Father’s prelude to his Son’s glory.

This passage is taken from the bulletin of The Church Of St Francis Xavier.

City Harvest Church or City Harvest Inc?

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They are back in the news....for the wrong reasons as usual.

City Harvest Church announced recently that they have purchased a stake in Suntec City for S$310 million.

The church was recently asked by the Commissioner of Charities about this business venture.

City Harvest did not create a separate business entity for the purchase.

There are concerns regarding this arrangement because the church's income as a registered charity is non-taxable.

It seems like there is a loop hole whereby one can strive towards one's own ambitions by building a business empire using tax free money. By their teaching of tithing, they get regular and steady income streams which are tax free.

As the church's collection are registered as charity and thus tax free, shouldn't the money be used for helping the poor and needy?

Well, in the case of some so called mega churches, it seems like this is the best way to enrich themselves and thus the need to turn the church into a business enterprise........with returns to justify more money to be paid to it's leaders.

Certainly, these people need to reflect on themselves and people who goes to such churches, stop giving yourself excuses and no it's not God's grace that made the leader's rich...it's you and your money.

This brings to mind the story just before Jesus started His ministry and was lead into fasting and prayer for 40 days in the desert. Jesus was tempted when shown all the riches and kingdom He would receive in return for worshipping the devil....

Well Jesus made His choice......how about you?

A light and messengers of Christ to the world .

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Jesus did not reach out to the people with words but with deeds. It only through our deeds, we know that we have faith in Christ.

Through our deeds, then we are a light to the world and messengers of Christ. Good deeds comes as a result of a total conversion in the heart....to one that is always of love, charity and compassion.

Yes, salvation is by faith but faith that has deeds for “if good deeds do not go with it (faith), it is quite dead”.

Does our Church preach to us about God's love, charity and compassion? I know almost all Churches claimed to do so but does you Church practice what she preaches?

Does your Church do her part in reaching out to the poor and needy by caring for them in terms of providing education, providing shelter (nursing homes, homes) and medical care such as hospitals and hospice?

Because "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." (MT25:40)

Does your Church lead by example to love God and your neighbour which is the commandments of Jesus ?

Are you living your life as a light and messenger of Christ to the world ?

Are you following Jesus's instructions to go out and spread God’s love by caring and loving people around you as as God loved you ?

God Bless.

What does the Gospels says....??

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What is Jesus really teaching and doing in the 4 Gospels?

Perhaps Paul provided the best summary in 1 Corinthians - Chapter 13:13 when he said “As it is, these remain: faith, hope and love, the three of them; and the greatest of them is love.”

As Jesus Himself said (in MT 22:37-40): “'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets too.”

Jesus reaches out to everyone (including the tax collectors and prostitutes) especially the poor and needy regardless if they believed in Him. He help and cure them because of his Love for them. Many are converted because they felt loved by Jesus and followed Him.

So, if a Christian is someone who subscribed his faith to “the life and teachings of Jesus”, then Christians must live his life based the 2 commandments for: "Whoever fails to love does not know God, because God is love." - 1Jn 4:8.

As Christians, we place great importance in God’s Word and keep His commandments close to our hearts. However, words amount to nothing if we do not live by them or if we do not follow God’s will in our daily living. It is easy to profess what we believe in, yet our actions are not always in line with our profession.

Jesus did not reach out to the people with words but with deeds. Through our deeds, then we are a light to the world and messengers of Christ.

Only through our deeds, we know that we have faith in Christ. As James said in James Chapter 2:
17. In the same way faith, if good deeds do not go with it, is quite dead
18. It is by my deeds that I will show you my faith
22. So you can see that his faith was working together with his deeds; his faith became perfect by what he did.
24. You see now that it is by deeds, and not only by believing, that someone is justified.

We are called to remain devoted and faithful to God’s Word in our lives. The Last Judgment account in Mt 25 reminds us that it is our actual deeds of love that matter, not mere words.
In MT 7:21-27 , Jesus also warned us that not all who call “Lord…Lord…” will enter into Heaven. It is not lips service that He wants. He said a true disciple are those who hear the words and act on it. Not those who hear but do nothing.

Why would one who believed in Him and not follow His commandments?

What is Christianity?

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According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity), Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in the New Testament. The Christian faith is essentially faith in Jesus as the Christ (or Messiah), the Son of God, the Saviour, the manifestation of God to humankind (Immanuel), and God (Yahweh or the “Lord”) himself.

A simpler version according to Macmillian English dictionary explained as the religion based on the ideas of Jesus Christ. Its followers worship in a church.

And Christians are adherents of the Christian faith (according to Wikipedia) and someone whose religion is Christianity (according to Macmillian English dictionary).

If above is agreed upon, then what is “the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in the New Testament”?

Shall talk about that in the next post.

Jesus Saves.............

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Here's a joke that I received from a friend and would like to share with you:

Jesus and Satan were having an on going argument about who was better on the computer.

They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering.

Finally fed up, God said, 'THAT'S IT!
I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job.!

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused.

They faxed.

They e-mailed.

They e-mailed with attachments.

They downloaded.

They did spreadsheets!

They wrote reports.

They created labels and cards.

They created charts and graphs.


They did some genealogy reports.


They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off..

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.

Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers.


Satan started searching frantically, screaming:

'It's GONE! It's all GONE!

'I lost everything when the power went out!'

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work.

Satan observed this and became irate.

'Wait!' he screamed.

'That's not fair! He cheated!

How come he has all his work and I don't have any?'

God just shrugged and said,



JESUS SAVES

Anglican Church and AWARE

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On Thursday, Dr John Chew, president of the National Council of Churches of Singapore or NCCS (the umbrella Christian group), issued a statement to selected media calling for churches to "all step back and give AWARE space to settle its own matters".

The NCCS’s statement said among other things, that it did not condone the use of the pulpit to get involved in the controversy.

Senior pastor of the Church Of Our Saviour Derek Hong has issued a public apology for using the pulpit to give backing to the Association of Women for Action and Research's (AWARE) executive committee in their dispute with the group's previous leadership. Incidentally, Dr John Chew is also the archbishop of the Anglican church and pastor Hong’s Church Of Our Saviour is in Dr John’s diocese.

You can read about it at "Pastor apologises for misusing pulpit".

A little information and latest update on AWARE.

Ms Josie Lau and her exco have stepped down from Association of Women for Action and Research or AWARE in short. Ms Lau and some other exco came into power at AWRE in a hostile manner less than 2 months ago.

6 members of the exco are later revealed to be from an Anglican Church Of Our Saviour. This also spark concerns from some as AWARE is a secular NGO and religion should not be allowed to encroach it.

These are some of the concerns that people at the recent AGM said :

1. One Malay Muslim woman said she was not comfortable with an-all Christian and all-Chinese group representing a secular group like AWARE. And members of the Christian faith stood up and said the action of the new Exco set back constructive dialogue between Christians and secularists in Singapore.
2. "We are here because we were deeply troubled by how this executive committee came to power. We are here because we are deeply troubled by the usurpation of civic space, and the lack of respect for the values of pluralism, democracy that this new executive committee has demonstrated," said one member of the audience.
3. "AWARE is about inclusiveness, AWARE in helping women, helps everybody, male and female. And whatever their sexual orientation can be, it does not matter, because they are first and foremost a person. A human being and that's what AWARE is about," said another.

Although former AWARE president Lau said that : “Race, religion were never an issue. We welcome women of all races, culture, religion and come and serve on the subcommittee," clearly, the crowd was not won over.

Another sticking point that was revealed was the fact that under Ms Lau, AWARE spend $90,000 in the last month since they took power some two months ago while under the constitution, the exco is not allowed to spend more than S$20,000 and if they do, they must consult members.

Happy Easter !

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I read in one of the forum recently that someone claimed that celebrating Easter is "against God" and only Passover should be celebrated. How ridiculous!

HOLY WEEK COMMEMORATES the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. The Church helps the faithful to focus on Jesus by highlighting the significant events that preceded Jesus’ death on the cross. These are done with special liturgies on Palm Sunday (when Jesus enter Jerusalem), Holy Thursday (the last supper and washing of feets) and Good Friday (when Jesus was cruxified).

How can these be "against God"?

Easter mark the start of a new liturgical season. Though not part of the Holy week, it is the first day of a new liturgical season. The first celebration of Easter takes place at Easter Vigil, celebrated on the Saturday evening before Easter Sunday.

And on Easter, we celebrate the risen Christ, the resurrection of our Lord. As St Paul said: "If Christ had not risen, our faith is a delusion, is empty! Our life does not make sense! Christ redeemed us by His death and resurrection. We believe in Jesus who was handed over to death for our sins and raised up for our justification." (Rom 4:25)

As Archbishop Nicholas Chia said in his Easter 2009 message:

"Through Christ's death and resurrection our sins are taken away and new divine life has been given to us.

And so, dear friends, as we live the Easter mystery, we have the light of the Risen Lord in us ONLY when we recognise, respect and love each other as brother and sister in Christ. "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the dark" (1Jn 2:8-9)

Christ is risen and He wants to light up our lives. Let us hare this joyful message with our fellowmen."

It's Good Friday

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It's Good Friday and Christians flocked to churches to mark the day they believe Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross and died.

The Catholics churches was stripped of all decorations and no music - on a day meant for prayer, fasting and abstinence.

There will be a celebration three days later on Easter Sunday, Christ is resurrected.

Celebrating Palm Sunday

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This week we celebrate Palm Sunday and following passage taken from Catholic News:

In 1969, Pope Paul VI gave Palm Sunday it's full name - Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord.

Palm Sunday has two focal points. The first is re-enactment of the triumphant entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem; the second is the reading of Jesus' Passion.

Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey and his welcome by people waving palms is mentioned in all four Gospels (Mk 11:1-11, Mt21:1-11, Lk19:28-44, Jn12:12-19). The palm leaf is symbolic of triumph and victory in Jewish tradition.

The Church celebrates this event by holding a procession of clergy, acolytes and parish choir, and have the congregation wave palm leaves to symblolise the welcoming of Jesus.

Lea Tan from Church of the Holy Spirit, who had held her first palm leaf when she was an Elect, said, "I tend to feel guilty welcoming Jesus knowing that He will soon be crucified by us."

Indeed, the jovial mood then changes to one of sobriety as focus is switched to the cross and Passion of Christ. Palm Sunday memorialises the increasing hatred against Jesus from those who would not accept him.

The Passion Gospel is read by several readers; the priest normally takes the part of Jesus and the congregation, the Jerusalem mob.

Many Catholics consider this one of the most moving liturgy of the year. It tells the story of Jesus' crucifixion and helps the faithful to realise that we are accomplices in Jesus' crucifixion through our sins.

This sense of being involved is felt keenly by Agnes Tan from Chucrh of Christ the King. "Each time I say 'Crucify Him', I feel a sense of guilt," she says. "But I continue, as I take the 'guilt' as my penance and price for wanting a share of Christ's redeeming of my sins."

Archbishop asks Catholics to give to those in need

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"The Church gives us this period during Lent to encourage every Catholic to take time to reflect on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Archbishop Chia advised. “We are called to focus on charitable deeds to help us draw closer to God and our neighbours. It is therefore important that we set aside time for prayer and spiritual reflection through the use of the Lenten booklet,” he said. “We should re-examine our ‘treasures’ in life since these determine the priorities and attitudes of our heart.”

Jesus is concerned that we build treasures that do not decrease in value and that Jesus connected giving to the poor with laying up treasure in heaven. “He Himself cared for those in need by feeding the hungry,”

In reading the above from the Bishop's message and the various readings in the past week, there is a questions that keeps popping up - are you truely converted in your heart?

A true Christian is one that is converted in their hearts....to one that is full of love. Not one that preaches hatred and anti this or that.

I have seen many so called Christians that are a shame to our faith. Are you one one of them?

Or are you one who truly live a life of what the Bible preach i.e. to love your neighbour? Do you care for those who are in need?

Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up

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This week's readings are as follows:
[Exodus 20:1-17] [1 Corinthians 1:22-25] [John 2:13-25

On this 3rd Sunday of Lent, we hear Jesus saying in the Gospel: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” to the shock and disbelief of the Jews. How can that be done when it took a period of forty six years to build the temple!

Through the teaching of St. John in the Gospel we know that Jesus was speaking of his body. That is why he said “I will raise it up” and not “I will rebuild it”. His prophecy was fulfilled in his resurrection.

All that Jesus said of his body as the temple applies to us now since we have become part of him through baptism. Through Jesus, we are lifted out from the grave of sins to live a life of fullness by His grace.

So, we should realize that we have been transformed into the Church. During this season of lent, let us reflect on what is stopping us from being closer to God. Let us ask God to help us repent and change our hearts and help us get closer to God.

Transfiguration of Jesus Christ

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This week is the 2nd Sunday of Lent and the readings are as follows:
[Genesis 22:1-2, 9-13, 15-18] [Romans 8:31-34] [Mark 9:2-10]

Jesus explained to his apostles in the midst of his public ministry that he is to suffer and die and then be raised up. Six days later he transfigured before Peter, James and John. This was a visualization of the meaning of the Paschal Mystery.

The Paschal Mystery is there when birth pangs give way to joy, when health overcomes sickness and reconciliation after repentance. As Christians our first sacramental experience of the Paschal Mystery is our baptism.

We were immersed in the darkness of the death of Christ and raised with him to newness of life. It enlightens us with a faith that “Christ had first to suffer and so come to the glory of the resurrection”.

Eventually our own physical death is the ultimate sharing of the Paschal Mystery which brings us to enjoy the fruit of the resurrection and everlasting life and that God the Father includes us in his plan of the Paschal Mystery.

The Paschal Mystery which fills our minds and hearts especially during the season Lent gives light to our darkest days and eases the burden of our greatest suffering.

It is Darkest Before the Dawn.

Journey with Christ

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This is the first Sunday of Lent and the readings are as follows:

[Genesis 9: 8-15] [1 Peter 3: 18-22] [Mark 1: 12-15]

In the Gospel this week, we heard the Lord telling us :” ‘Repent and believe in the Gospel.’

Why repent?

Before the New Year, we are in the habit of doing spring cleaning when we clean and clear up our home to prepare and celebrate the New Year – symbolic of starting afresh for the New Year. We not only clean up our house from the dirt and dust but also get rid of things that we do not need.

Lent is a time like spring cleaning when we are called to respond (once again) to God. It is a time when we reflect on our life, repent by prayer, fasting and abstinence.

Lent is like the time when Jesus was lead into the desert to fast for 40 days....and we too, should fast, pray and reflect on our life in preparation to celebrate Easter when we remember Jesus who die on the Cross to save us.

Most of us though converted to Christianity is not always responding to God. We make perhaps some changes in order to avoid really big sins, but we are often not cooperative in giving over every aspect of our lives to God. This pattern happens throughout all of Scripture where we see people sin against God and turning away from Him time and again.

Sure, we tell God that we love Him and want to do His will but we go on leading more or less the same life that we did before.

During this season of Lent, may we come to respond to God consistently. Make God in Jesus Christ be the whole meaning of our life. May our prayer, fasting and abstinence help us change deeply so that we can be truly “Christ Like”

May we be truly converted in our heart and live to listen to Him and doing His will by giving over every aspect of our lives to God.

How Now Shall We Live, by Chuck Colson.

This is the 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time and the last one before the season of Lent.

This week's reading : [Isaiah 43: 18-19, 21-22, 24b-25] [2 Corinthians 1, 18-22] [Mark 2, 1-12]

This week, I would like to share this interesting article that I read from - How Now Shall We Live, by Chuck Colson.

Chuck Colson recounts the story of Kim Phuc in his book How Now Shall We Live. You may remember seeing a picture of Kim in her Vietnam village which had just been bombed with napalm. With arms outstretched, and all her clothing burned off, she was photographed running in terror and pain. She would have simply become another casualty of Vietnam had the photographer not poured water on her burns and demanded that she be taken to a more modern hospital in Saigon where she could be treated. Though some in the hospital considered her as good as dead and considered her a lost cause, a Christian doctor insisted and persisted until she received treatment. Some fourteen months and seventeen surgeries later Kim was released.

She, and her scars, were periodically paraded before cameras and used by her government as a visual aid to illustrate American aggression. Without a friend, Kim experienced extreme depression and loneliness. She discovered that her gods could not erase the heart anguish caused by her experience and disfigurement. Through a series of events and answers to prayer God provided a girl friend who was able to introduce Kim to Jesus. Kim’s testimony is, “It was the fire of the bombs that burned my body, it was the skill of the doctor that mended my skin, but it took the power of God to heal my heart.”*

In 1996 at the Vietnam Wall of Remembrance, on Veteran’s Day, Kim spoke to veterans and their family sharing how the love of Christ had transformed her life. She mentioned that if she were to meet the man who dropped the napalm bomb, that Christ’s transforming love would enable her to love and forgive him. From the audience a man quietly slipped up to the security guards and handed them a note, which read, “I am the man you are looking for.” Kim agreed to meet with him. As he approached Kim, she extended her arms once again, this time not in terror but in forgiveness. She hugged the man as he sobbed, “I am sorry, so sorry.” Kim responded, “It’s okay. I forgive, I forgive.”

Like in this Sunday’s readings, the photographer, the doctor, and the girl friend, all, so to speak, were involved lowering Kim to receive healing. Some participated by very physical acts of caring and healing while others participated by showing spiritual acts of caring and healing by taking time to demonstrate Christ’s love and point her to him. Kim in turn became a living icon of Jesus’ love and forgiveness giving freely of that which she received.

For many their outward appearance does not reflect physical scars, for they appear robust and healthy, however, often their inner self is wounded and racked with self doubt, feelings of being unloved, and anxiety and guilt for failing to meet even their own standards of righteousness. Like this pilot, even in the midst of doing our job, we can experience unrelenting feelings of condemnation, which if unresolved result in soul sickness. God never intends for us to live under this cloud of guilt and judgment. Jesus came to set us free and is readily available to heal and forgive. But he is counting on us, who know him, and who know how to access him, to remove the hindrances people encounter, and to hold on to the ropes of compassion and involvement and assist people in reaching him. And equally important he is counting on us to extend our hearts and hands, saying, “It’s okay. I forgive, I forgive.”

What strike me hard was Kim’s testimony : “It was the fire of the bombs that burned my body, it was the skill of the doctor that mended my skin, but it took the power of God to heal my heart.”

What does the Bible say about the prosperity gospel?

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Interesting question and a certain "bored" has written an answer as below (quoted from SgForum) :

In the prosperity gospel, also known as the “Word of Faith,” the believer is told to use God, whereas the truth of biblical Christianity is just the opposite—God uses the believer. Word Faith or prosperity theology sees the Holy Spirit as a power to be put to use for whatever the believer wills. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a Person who enables the believer to do God's will. The prosperity gospel movement closely resembles some of the destructive greed sects that infiltrated the early church. Paul and the other apostles were not accommodating to or conciliatory with the false teachers who propagated such heresy. They identified them as dangerous false teachers and urged Christians to avoid them.

Paul warned Timothy about “constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.... But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.” (1 Timothy 6:5, 9-11.)

Paul said covetousness is idolatry (Ephesians 5:5) and instructed the Ephesians to avoid anyone who brought a message of immorality or covetousness (Ephesians 5:6-7). Prosperity teaching prohibits God from working on His own, meaning that God is not Lord of all because He cannot work until we release Him to do so. Faith, according to the Word of Faith doctrine, is not submissive trust in God; faith is a formula by which we manipulate the spiritual laws prosperity teachers believe govern the universe. As in the name “Word of Faith” implies, this movement teaches that faith is a matter of what we say more than who we trust or what truths we embrace and affirm in our hearts.

A favorite term in the Word of Faith movement is “positive confession.” It refers to the teaching that words have creative power. What you say, Word of Faith teachers claim, determines everything that happens to you. Your confessions, especially the favors you demand of God, must all be stated positively and without wavering. Then God is required to answer (as though man could require anything of God!). Thus God's ability to bless us supposedly hangs on our faith. James 4:13-16 clearly contradicts this teaching, “Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit. Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that. But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.”

Far from stressing the importance of wealth, the Bible warns against pursuing it. Believers, especially leaders in the church (1 Timothy 3:3), are to be free from the love of money (Hebrews 13:5). The love of money leads to all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). In sharp contrast to the Word of Faith emphasis on gaining money and possessions in this life, Jesus said “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19). The irreconcilable contradiction between prosperity teaching gospel and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is best summed up in the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:24, “You cannot serve God and riches.”

6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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“Take me as your pattern, just as I take Christ for mine” (1 Cor 11:1)

This week's reading are as follows:

[Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46] [1 Corinthians 10:31—11:1] [Mark 1:40-45]

In the first reading today, we read how a leprous man is considered unclean and must live in isolation outside the community.

In the second reading, Paul invite us to “Take me as your pattern, just as I take Christ for mine” (1 Cor 11:1) and “Whatever you eat, then, or drink, and whatever else you do, do it all for the glory of God”

The Gospel reading today, we see how a leprous man came to Jesus and asked Him for healing. The man said “If you are willing, you can cleanse me” (Mk 1:40) which really tell us that the man knew that Jesus is God and that He can cure him of his disease.

Being a compassionate man, Jesus of course cured the man. He told the man not to tell anyone but to show himself to the priest. Instead, the man proclaim freely and Jesus was no longer able to go openly into any town but to deserted spots. People from every corner is seeking Jesus…

How ironical that the leprous man who was supposed to be insolated is now back in the community when Jesus cured him. Yet, Jesus is now forced to be isolated because the man proclaimed freely how Jesus had cured him. What a reversal of situations….

So, with Paul’s invitation in mind, are we prepared to be like Jesus and Paul to serve our communities? Do we must provide comfort and aid to others during their times of physical duress?

And like the man Jesus cured, we are also called to share our own experience of spiritual healing, and more importantly to introduce the “Great Physician,” Jesus Christ to people around us.

Our sharing of experiences and our act of love by deed will result in people everywhere corner coming to seek out Jesus……and that’s evangelizing.

5th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Generous in Service

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This week's reading :
[Job 7:1-4, 6-7], [1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23], [Mark 1:29-39]

Every day, news on TV, papers as well as the internet is filled with companies recording record loss, banks going bust, investment vanishes into thin air and people losing their jobs, family losing their home….all the doom and gloom.

In the first reading today, Job is complaining and lamenting about his misfortune in self pity. A picture of hopelessness is painted when he said : "I am allotted months of futility and nights of grief and misery ... Oh God, never will I see happiness again.”

In this world we are living today amid the economic crisis, the situation of Job can be very real to us too. No matter how bad is the situation, we should never give up. But to find purpose and meaning in our lives which will pull us out of the rut.

In the second reading, we see how Paul found the purpose in his life and despite being persecuted, shipwrecked and imprisoned, Paul found his fulfilment by zealously sharing his God experience with people: "In announcing the gospel I will do it freely without making use of the rights given to me by the Gospel."

Today‘s Gospel reading in Mark coupled with last Sunday’s reading, provide a composite of Jesus’ many acts of gracious healing. Jesus showed us that despite being the Son of God, He knew His mission and purpose which is to serve by preaching the Gospel and healing.

Another example was Peter's mother-in-law. Instead of lying back to recuperate after being healed, she immediately began to serve Jesus and the others with him.

Therefore whenever we feel down and feel the impulse to complain, the best cure for that is to go out and render service to others, especially the less fortunate.

And we should pray a lot like Jesus who went away to a quiet spot to pray to His Father. Only through prayers that we can communicate with our Father and be able to do what He command us to so.

Jesus's authority......

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This is the 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time and the readings are as follows:

[Deuteronomy 18:15-20] [1 Corinthians 7:32-35] [Mark 1:21-28]

One of the things about this week’s reading that strike me is how Jesus teaches with authority. His authority came from within, from who He was, Emmanuel, God with us, and from the truth he taught. He communicate the truth using parables and reinforced His teachings by His miraculous power to heal and do good. His exemplary life of love and charity made Him friends of all people including lepers, tax collectors and even prostitutes.

Jesus attracted followers by preaching the truth and living a life of love and charity. Love and charity that is consistent to all – no exceptions.
As followers of Jesus, do we strive to live our lives like Him..with love and compassion for people around us?

We must try to be more and more like Jesus in our thoughts, words and deeds, in how we relate to people and react to the various situations we face in life.

“Evangelization is the witness of an authentically Christian life, given over to God in a communion that nothing should destroy and at the same time given to one’s neighbor with limitless zeal” – By Pope Paul VI.

Are we really true Christians and followers of Christ? Reflect on our lives and there lies the answers….