Bible Reflection (9 February 2025)

5th Sunday Year C

Isaiah 6:1-8
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5:1-11

What is God calling me to? Do I feel inadequate? How should I respond?

All of us have duties and callings. Whether we are religious or not, all of us are called to duties in life. In the family, we are called to be good parents, uncles, aunties, siblings, sons and daughters. At our work and in our communities, we are called to give the best at whatever we do. Whether we are called to be educators, volunteers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, we are called to contribute to community and humanity. This applies to our faith life as well. As children of God, we are called to love, to serve and evangelise. However, regardless what we are called to do, we often feel we are inadequate in what we do. For some of us, this also become the excuse we use to not answering to our duties and callings. We say to ourselves, “Let the other person do more, the one who has more time, more money, more talent, etc.” And of course, there are always someone who is has more time, more money and more talent than us. And if all of us take this attitude, then the world will be a colder, poorer place. Isn’t this the problem of our modern world?

So, what should we do instead? The Scripture passages this week give us three examples of people who felt inadequate when they were called by God; and their responses to God’s call.

In the First Reading, the prophet Isaiah had a vision of God in heaven. In witnessing the all-loving, all-perfect God, Isaiah immediately realised his own inadequacy. He said, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (verse 5) But God knows Isaiah has a sincere heart and accepted Isaiah for his inadequacy. Extending His grace to Isaiah, God cleansed Isaiah of his sins. “Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.'” (verse 6-7) Isaiah took upon God’s commission and went on to become one of the greatest prophets in our faith.

In the Second Reading, we read an account from St Paul. Before his conversion, Paul was an avid persecutor of Christians. But everything changed after his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damacus (Acts 9:1-19). Realising the errors of his old ways, St Paul became a fearless and tireless evangeliser. Reflecting on his old ways, in this week’s Second Reading, he wrote, “For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” (verse 9) But as we read in the Bible, God didn’t mind Paul’s erroneous ways, but reach out and meet him where he was. In the own words of St Paul, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain.” (verse 10)

The Gospel this week tells the story of the calling of the first disciples – Peter, James and John. At this time, Peter was already an accomplished fisherman. But in spite of that, on this instance, Peter and his companion laboured all night and caught nothing. Then, as day broke and as the optimal fishing time had passed, Jesus the carpenter came into Peter’s boat and commanded him, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” (verse 4) Peter knew in his heart he is the better fisherman than this carpenter before him. He knew the best time for fishing has passed. So, with a trace of pride and almost a sense of passive aggression, he said to Jesus, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” (verse 5) And lo and behold, “they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break” (verse 6) Immediately realising his inadequacy, Peter kneeled before the Lord and said, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (verse 8) As in the case of Isaiah and St Paul, God did not mind Peter for his inadequacy but met him at where he was and offered His grace. Jesus called Peter, together with James and John, to follow Him and “they left everything and followed him.” (verse 11) They went on to become among the 12 Apostles the Church was founded on; with St Peter as its head.

So, my brothers and sister, let us reflect: What about me? What is God calling me to do? Do I feel inadequate? Do I know God is meeting me where I am? Do I know that God is sending His grace upon me and equipping me? Like Isaiah, St Paul and St Peter in this week’s Scripture, God is coming into my life. He is getting into my proverbial boat. He is calling me to step up and fulfil the plan He has for me. What is my response? Am I still drowning myself in my inadequacy and self-doubt; or am I prepare to leave all these behind and follow Him? Let this be our reflection in the days and weeks ahead. Amen.

Bible Reflection (2 February 2025)

The Presentation of the Lord

Malachi 3:1-4
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-40

In my walk of faith, am I often disobedient, too self-confident, or unrepentant?

My brothers and sisters, we live in an age where education levels and wealth are at record high, especially among the developed nations. Our modern world stands in stark contrast with our Christian faith which is more than two thousand years’ old, with beliefs and customs handed down from generations. In this face of this, have we ever asked ourselves: Were there times when I feel that the beliefs and custom of my faith are incompatible with the modern world? Or worse, were there times where I feel that the beliefs and customs are wrong and that I know better?

Today, we celebrate the Presentation of our Lord. This is an ancient Jewish custom, the tradition that Jesus was born into. According to Jewish custom, the mother of a new born boy is considered unclean. Hence, with her newborn, she presents herself at the temple to be purified when the baby is 40 days old. But Mary and Joseph need not do that. Why? The angel has declared to Mary that Jesus is “the Son of the Most High” (Lk 1:32). So, one who is God Himself need to be presented to God. Mary too, was declared by the angel to be “full of grace” (Lk 1:28, Aramaic Bible). One who is “full of grace” cannot be uncleaned having just given birth to “the Son of the Most High”. But in spite of that, Mary and Joseph followed the custom anyway. In so doing, they presented to us a great example of submission and obedience to God and His Church.

But, why must we submit even though we think we know better? It is because we actually do not know better. Our beliefs and custom are given to us by God through human intermediaries; and in many cases by God himself in the Person of Jesus. The First Reading this week reminds us who Jesus is. It prophesised the Coming of Jesus with these words: “he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.” (verse 2-3) In truth, the tendency to think too highly of ourselves is not just a modern day phenomenon. In the Old Testament, King Saul thought too highly of himself. He chose to worship God in his own way rather than as instructed by the prophet Sameul. In so doing, he disobeyed God. When prophet Samuel found out, this was how he rebuked the king: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.” (1 Sam 15:22)

It is worth reflecting that King Saul justified his disobedience by saying that he was simply sacrificing to God, that he took “best of the things … to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal” (1 Sam 15:21). My brother and sisters, were there times where not only we think we know better, we tried to justify our actions by claiming that our action is the more superior and noble one? If so, let us reflect. Let us allow the obedience of Mary and Joseph to set us a good example and inspire us.

But there is another reason Mary and Joseph presents Jesus at the temple. For Jesus to carry out his salvific mission, He has to be “like us in everything, except in sin” (Gaudium et spes, 22). Why so? The Second Reading this week explains: “Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people.” (verse 17) In following the Jewish custom, in spite of it not being necessary in their case, Mary and Joseph made Jesus like one of us. Later on in his life, we read how Jesus was tempted like us to disobey God (Lk 4:3-13), yet He did not sin and remained pure. And because He remains sinless, He is able to take on all our sins upon Himself. And because He is God, when He died for all our sins, He redeemed the whole human race.

Simoen said to Mary in today’s Gospel, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (verse 34-35) My brothers and sisters, whether we rise or fall depends on us. Reflect on our lives for a moment: Were there times when I was disobedient, too self-confident, or simply unrepentant in my sins? If so, let these words of Simeon expose our inner thoughts. And as we reflect, let the sword too pierce our soul. Amen.