Holy Thursday

By Jack Chui

This will be my first personal reflection for a long while. I've been busy with work, study, sport, ministry and relationship that there just doesn't seem to be enough time for me to even rest. Its not so bad because God is giving me enough grace to hang in there. Today was no exception of a busy day with a short working week adding more pressure to meet deadlines but at least a long weekend to look forward to. In the near madness to do many things, I managed to find 3 things to share about here:

Everyone's left work early today being the last day before a 'super' long weekend. I was stuck at work, looking to spend more time at work to make sure the madness isn't worse the following short working week... However, Holy Thursday mass is a service I always attend unless I'm flying back to Sydney that evening and mass for me is like a (forced) scheduled timeout from the hectic life to spend some time with God. I think when it seems even more busy, the more I think I seem to get out of mass because I enter a zone where for one hour or more I can leave my other worries aside.

1. Father Victor opened the mass with a wonderful quote to share. He said, quoting from someone I forgot, that "Sometimes, to be able to see more, we have to close our eyes, and open our hearts". I felt more drawn to those words than I normally do because I seem not to 'feel' very much. The benefit is emotional stability but could be at a loss of feeling joy and love... It is something I should explore more.

2. I helped the service by reading the first reading as part of the monthly schedule of lectors. The reading was from Exodus recounting how God instructed the Jews in Egyptian slavery to perform the Passover (Exodus 12:1-8,11-14). When reading to prepare I was drawn to the parts about the lamb and remembering that the 1st and Gospel reading are linked, sought to find that link. Took me a while to sit and think about it, but I can only come up with the idea that the Eucharist which Christ instituted is the new Passover. The lamb's flesh and blood was used in the Passover to save the Jews, and Jesus is the new lamb in the form of bread and wine.

3. As the only attendee from STAY at St. Augustine's, we needed a volunteer to represent us at the washing of the feet. I had never volunteered for this before, shying away from such a front of stage act. Not feeling forced, I came openly knowing that this was a special moment. I had heard priest talk about the act of washing the disciples feet but being close to and in the action brought it to life for me. Father Victor had to kneel to get his hands close to the floor where my feet were. Its a dirty job to wash someones foot and dry it up again. No one has ever washed my foot like tonight and few of us if any would do it in this age. To drive it home, Father Victor bent down and kissed the feet he cleaned after he dried it and looked up to us. I don't think many of us would do that let alone wash someone elses feet. It was very humbling to be a recipient of such an act and to know that Jesus would do this for us, gives me strength to do the same (serve) for others.

Palm Sunday Reflection

From Bishop David Walker:

Holy Week 2013 begins today and Christians the world over are called to their special annual sharing in the story of salvation. More than a mere historical remembrance of one man’s movement through a week that

began on a high note of praise and acclamation only to end on the bitterest note of rejection, suffering and execution, Holy Week provides the gathered assembly with what should be an existential and multi-dimensional experience of passion.

Of course, the primary focus of these days is the passion of Jesus Christ. According to the New Catholic Encyclopaedia, the passion was comprised of the suffering, both interior and exterior, endured by Jesus from his last supper with his friends and followers until his death on the cross. From the earliest centuries of the

Church, Christians have sought to better realise and understand the intensity of Jesus’ passion; to that end, Melito of Sardis, living in the second century C.E., in a homily on the passion exhorted, “Listen while you tremble! He that suspended the earth was hanged up; He that supported the earth was supported upon a tree; the Lord was exposed to ignominy with a naked body; God, put to death!”

During the Middle Ages, the efforts of the faithful to concentrate on the mystery of Jesus’ saving death took the form of plays or dramatic re-enactments of the gospel passion narratives. Performed in the vernacular, these plays brought home to young and old alike, the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ passion and death.

In the readings for today’s liturgy, these circumstances are sketched for the contemporary gathered assembly in vivid verbal portraits. Deutero-Isaiah (first reading) prepares the scene by describing the determination of God’s saving servant: Passionately intent upon carrying out the mission given him, and fully reliant on God’s strength and support, he did not yield until his work was completed. Paul, in the second reading from Philippians, takes us behind the physical pain, buffets and spitting to understand the inner attitude of obedience and self-giving which motivated Christ’s passion. In the gospel, Luke guides us through the last hours of Jesus’ earthly life, portraying the passion and death of Jesus as a gift freely given by a forgiving brother (“Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing”) and loving Son (“Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit!”).

However, there are also other passions which are to be experienced during this Holy Week. Believers cannot look upon the crucified Jesus or listen to the proclamation of his passion without also being aware of the passionate love which motivated such a sacrifice. This week is much more about blessing, loving and giving than it is about cursing, rejecting, taking and killing. Jesus’ passion was contingent upon and prompted by the incredible love of God for all peoples.

In addition to the passion of Jesus and the passionate love of God, this week is also about the ongoing passion of humankind. Rather than simply steer our energies into sympathising with Christ or with his mother, Mary, by remembering what was, no doubt, the most trying and painful period of their lives, this week, which we call holy, also challenges us toward a personal share in the passion of Christ. Karl Rahner (The Great Church Year, Crossroad Pub. Co., New York: 1994) suggested that we do this by bearing the burdens of our life with simple fortitude and without ostentation. For we share by faith in the passion of Christ precisely by realising that our life, with all its joys and sorrows, is a participation in his destiny. These burdens also give us a mysterious share in the destiny of all human beings. However, believers must take care to avoid the deadly danger of egoism, thinking only of ourselves and our own pain. When we can freely accept our own sufferings as a participation in those of Christ and as our contribution to the destiny of all people, then the burdens of others will be lightened.

During this week of passion – passionate suffering, passionate grace, passionate love and passionate forgiving – each of us is called to remember the Christ of Calvary and then to embrace and lighten the burden of the Christ whose passion continues to be experienced in the hungry, the poor, the sick, the homeless, the lonely and the outcast.

Less is More

By Jean Cheng

"Speak to me Lord."

Silence.

"Speak to me Lord, remove the things blocking me from hearing you."

Silence.

I knew that God was with me.

But somehow I couldn't sense Him.

I couldn't feel His presence,

I couldn't hear Him directing me.

All I had was a quiet trust that He knew what He was doing -

But I'm not going to lie,

I was annoyed.

Then came encounter 1 through the Sunday Gospel reading based on the Prodigal Son.

I had just gone through that passage a few days before,

And I have been through that passage MANY times.

So a part of me wondered how God could come up with something new.

Of course, God takes special pleasure in humbling the arrogant,

So He humbled me.

As I went through the passage yet again,

I realised that the younger son had planned what he would say to say to his father,

And he went about executing his plan,

Reciting the exact same words that he had planned.

But before he could even finish,

His father simply dismissed what he was saying,

Calling to the servants to bring out the best robes to lavish on his son.

His father didn't even hear the words that the son said!

He was too excited that his son was home.

The son might as well have just saved his efforts.

He might as well have just showed up silent,

And his father would still have thrown his arms around him, adorning him with da best.

Like the prodigal son, I might as well save my efforts trying to think of what to say everytime I enter into prayer.

Whenever I enter into prayer,

I am plagued with a sense of unworthiness and guilt.

So in my efforts to show how sorry I am,

I go on and on and on and on and on and on about how sorry I am.

But now I know God didn't hear a single word I said!!!

WHAT THE!

He was probably just holding me happily,

Oblivious to all my efforts to apologize.

Lesson 1: Save my efforts. Just show up.

Encounter 2.

A PhD is no joke.

I definitely did NOT know what I was signing up for when I said I will do this.

And I strongly advice anyone thinking of it to really speak to people who are doing it so you know what you are in for.

(P.s. Don't do it).

But I digress.

I mentioned the PhD because there is constantly a million and one things to do and it never ends.

So I tell myself to work faster, and do more.

The goal each day is to be as productive as I can

(and I fail every. single. day.)

Great for the self-esteem, btw.

But that doesn't stop me from trying!

Because if I don't,

I would be "wasting" my day,

Which I have done the day before and the day before.

"So I better get my act together TODAY!!"

With that in mind,

I enter into the day with a spirit of restlessness,

Agitation,

Impatience,

And harshness to myself as well as to others.

Strangely, last week,

Each morning after I prayed quickly and was ready to start my day with restlessness,

The words, "Less is more", came into my mind.

I had a choice to make:

(i) To continue the day in that rushed spirit thereby feeling unhappy all day (and still not accomplishing much) or

(ii) To surrender to how much I can realistically do that day (which isn't much, but at least a few things get done)

On the days I surrendered,

I would tangibly feel a burden lift,

Allowing me to enter the day with a sense of liberation and joy,

Ready to do the "little" that I could.

Knowing that "I Can".

On those days, I felt alive.

Encounter 3.

At a recent retreat,

I asked God why I knew in my mind that He was with me,

But I still struggled to be convicted in my heart?

I didn't like that because whenever my heart doubts,

I just go about the day feeling empty, far from God.

I thought that perhaps one of the reasons is that God is too quiet and gentle.

I missed the God that I first knew - the one I encounter through praise and worship.

The God who wooed me in such powerful emotions my heart could not contain.

Now that He has become quieter,

I did not like it.

I wanted Him to be loud again, powerful again, bring me to a "high" again.

I felt a quiet (yes quiet, again) voice ask,

"Can you love me for who I am?"

Can I also love Him in his quietness, gentleness, and silence?

I hesitated.

But when I finally said, "Yes, Lord, I love you just as you are".

I felt free, a quiet and deep joy entering into my heart.

Just as God gave me the licence to be silent with Him (through the Prodigal Son reflection),

I now gave Him the licence to be silent with me.

There is something very rich about such simplicity.

As my Spiritual Director affirmed upon my sharing,

"You have been brought up with a belief that more is more.

But less is more.

That is the invite to you."

5th Sunday of Lent

By Jack Chui

I'm behind in posting these reflections --- and I don't even have to think about what to write...

We arrive at the fifth Sunday of Lent. The shops have been full of eggs and hot cross buns for weeks now. Amongst all the busyness of preparing for your Easter break and catching up with family and friends, has this Lent been a time of preparation of a different kind for you? What have you been preparing for? As you have read the Lenten readings for the four previous Sundays, have there been any challenges? If not, the reading from John this week challenges us.

It comes from the beginning of Chapter 8 in John’s gospel. Jesus was a teacher and had been teaching in the temple when a woman caught in adultery was brought to him. The people who brought the woman knew the laws, and knew that the law stated that the woman should be stoned to death. They ask Jesus ‘What do you say?’

This is where the story gets interesting. What could Jesus do? He could abide by the law and see the woman stoned, which would be against all that he had been teaching, or he could tell the crowd that she should be forgiven and not receive a punishment, thus condemning himself. The woman was used as a ploy as they wanted to trap Jesus – it seemed that he was in a no-win situation. He needs to come up with a solution where the law is kept intact – he doesn't want to reject it, or change it.

He bends down and writes in the sand – we don’t know what he wrote. Maybe he was listing in the sand all the sins of those who were condemning the woman; others think he was buying time as he didn't want to be rushed as he thought out a solution. We know that he provides a brilliant solution – he invites those without sin to throw the first stone. They all leave!

The woman’s dignity is left intact and Jesus tells the woman that he does not condemn her, but he doesn't just leave it at that. He tells her to sin no more. Is Jesus judging her? Has she done the wrong thing? Does he forgive her?

Jesus is making a judgement – he is not saying that what she has done is OK. He challenges her to start afresh, to realise what she has done is wrong, and to change her life.

How can we relate this to our lives? How many times have you wanted to throw a stone at someone? Especially when they deserved it? Jesus did not throw stones at the woman, and he won’t at us. The woman made a mistake, as we do. Jesus didn't leave the woman, and he won’t leave us. Jesus knows that we all make mistakes, as the woman did. His challenge to her was to ‘sin no more’. This is our challenge too.

4th Sunday of Lent

Reflection written by Bishop David Walker

Last week’s Sunday Readings focused on God’s outstretched hand of mercy and our invitation to overcome our sin and suffering to accept God’s grace. This fourth week’s Sunday Readings, further that promise. The

Lenten Season lends itself to experiencing God’s tender mercy, in order that our lives may be transformed. The more we enter into the Season of Lent, the more we will come to the awareness that God can only be a God of new life for us.

Despite the impossibilities of our situations, there is always faith in God that will see us through. In the first Reading from Joshua we read of the transitioning of the life of the Hebrews who once were in slavery in Egypt and now experience their freedom and satisfaction in the Promised Land. For God provides and

does so abundantly, when we are willing to partake in the Promise to be all God calls us to be. Our Lenten journey is towards the goal of self-fulfilment in God, just as Jesus walked the path of suffering and death, to fullness of life.

Our second Reading from the Letter to the Corinthians speaks of life becoming a new creation in Christ. Last Sunday we focused on the invitation to get up out of our misery and grasp the open hand of God. This week, as our Reading declares, we will find new life in our Lenten journey, when we can live our lives once again in accordance to God’s will.

Our Gospel Reading this Sunday is that of the parable of the loving father and his two sons, and is one of the most enduring passages, for very good reasons. It encapsulates all we have been focusing on throughout Lent, the ongoing invitation to turn away from our wasted living and run into the open arms of our God who is love. The hope and promise, the transformation and salvation, the joy and love of our lives, is God’s agenda and our fulfilment. God has waited behind the scenes forever, waiting for us to turn around and come home.

This Season of Lent is a journey from sin and despair, from careless living and guilt, into the dawn of a new life, graced with hope and joy, peace and love.

We All Carry Our Story

By Jean Cheng

Today is my third week back in Melbourne and at STAY.

As I attend another bible study during the weekday,

It was the second time I was going through the same Gospel for bible sharing.

But that's what I love about God.

He is a God of surprises.

Whenever you think that you know something and there's nothing more to know,

He surprises you.

He did that for me again, 

Ministering to me in a different way with the exact same passage.

What's even better is that I was exploring the same passage with different people.

I am constantly in awe of God really reaches out to EVERY person in His own way.

We all carry our our story, 

Our own Gospel to share by our very lives.

Today, I was enriched by the Gospel of three others' lives.

And am so grateful to experience God through their stories/lives.

Thank You God for being alive through showing me that the Word is ever relevant, 

Ever new,

Ever ready to meet me wherever I am. 

Thank You God for being alive through others,

And coming alive - word made flesh - through them.

3rd Sunday of Lent

Reflection written by Bishop David Walker

The third Sunday of Lent lays heavy emphasis on suffering, the destructive force of sin, and the unexpected healing presence of God. It is a timely theme for Lent, when we are called to repent. The time of Lent, also a

time of fasting and penance, invites us to re-examine our lives and in particular, where we have strayed into ways of misery and failure, which is the focus of the Readings today. Lent is our time to stop and consider conversion, which is only possible through our recognition and acceptance of God’s grace.

In Exodus 3 we encounter the well-known story of Moses and the burning bush. If we delve further we come to the awareness that it is the story of present suffering and the hope of salvation, which is very much similar to our Lent and Easter times of repentance and new life. Moses himself is a man of sorrow but at the burning bush he comes to an awareness that all the Hebrew people are suffering too. As God declares, ‘I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt’. There is suffering all around us, wherever one may be and whoever they are. It is unfortunately a universal phenomenon that drags people down. However, today’s reading offers the hope of a new life, where people can overcome their injustices and live in freedom. God promises to Moses, ‘Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them.’ What we have here is a God moved with compassion, a God who seeks human joy and desires to save us. It is the one and same God who will be with us in his Son Jesus, the same God who loved us into being and who chose to experience human suffering and death. God takes the initiative always to draw closer to us. The question is, will we accept the promise and hope God extends to us, when we are suffering in our sin?

The following two Readings from 1 Cor 10 and Luke 13 are firm in their message and raise the question, will we continue to wallow in sin and misery when God is among us? Yes God extends compassion and money. God takes the initiative but do we respond? Can we, during this Lenten Season, recognise and appreciate the blessings of life and commit to living under God’s grace and will, or will we remain the barren fig tree. The fi g tree gave no fruit, yet Jesus was willing to give it another go. God is always waiting patiently to give us another chance.

God was with the people in Egypt when they were enslaved, God was in the desert with the people despite the rebellion, God took them to the Promised Land leading them to the waters of life, and God is with us today in giving hope in our struggles. In this Lenten week, we are reminded that God hears our cries and knows our suffering. Now it is up to us to come forward as Moses did, to listen to God and be transformed in the hope of new life.