2nd Sunday of Lent (Year A)

The Rite of Election is supposed to be held on the First Sunday of Lent. Catechumens are officially elected to receive baptism this Easter. But last Sunday was the 4^th day into the Lunar New Year. It would not be convenient for them to attend this Rite. Therefore, our parish held the Rite today. This year, more than 80 adults in our parish will be baptized. Praise be to God and thank be to the hard work of the instructors. Of course, these catechumens deserve praises as well because it is not easy to attend classes for nearly 18 months before they can receive baptism.
This morning Deacon Charles Tsang spoke from the pulpit. He is one of the Perpetual Deacons of the Diocese and has been serving us ever since his consecration. He was a retired primary school principal, a very down-to-earth married man. He began by quoting the phrase, 'but I have grown up', from Gillian Chung, one of the victims of the obscene photographs circulating on the Internet lately. She was the first to come out to speak to the media in the incident. This phrase immediately rang resonance in the congregation. Deacon Tsang is truly a principal! He tried to drive home the point that we are capable of making good things out of evils.
Today's gospel is the story of Jesus' Transfiguration recorded in Matthew 17. Jesus is truly a man. His humanity was clearly demonstrated in his Passion. But Jesus is truly God as well. In Transfiguration, he revealed his divinity to the 3 special apostles in order to strengthen them so that they might go through his imminent Passion unscathed. Deacon Tsang told the congregation that we, like Jesus, are human but we also have a spark of divinity in us. Our task is to work hard to realize this divinity potential in us. Encountering evils is inevitable. But with God's help, we can grow out of them. We can grow up. Then he told us a lovely Andersen fable. Briefly, an old man brought his only ox to the market to barter for a sheep; then with the sheep, he bartered for a chicken and lastly with the chicken, a basket of rotten apples. When he returned home to tell his wife about the transactions, she was happy to hear each of them because, though the sheep was less valuable than the ox, she would have sheep milk. Though the chicken was less valuable than the sheep, she would have eggs and lastly, she would make apple-pies with the rotten apples! With this simple story, Deacon Tsang showed us that we are capable of making good things out of 'evils'.
This evening, we planned to visit Saturnia's godmother, Mary. She did not get married and had devoted her life to take care of her parents. After their demise, she lives alone and has gone through periods of depression. Now, she has grown out of them and helps out parish work in Yuen Long. Wulstan, my second son, promised to go along with his girlfriend as well. It is not appropriate for me to criticize them here but to be candid, both of them are very much affected by their youthful fluctuating emotions. So, this evening, they did not turn up. Among my children, Wulstan is always very considerate towards the elderly. He showed this virtue even at a very tender age. Recently, he even volunteered to visit grandma with his girlfriend themselves in order to soften the tension between me and my mum. He is always very sensitive and kind-hearted. As parents, Erminia and I are worried about harmful effects their sometimes tumultuous relationship has on them. Can they manage to make good things out of their emotions?

My God, we always find faults with our brothers. Very easily, we focus on their evils and forget that we can, with Your grace, turn evils into good. Father, teach us to see Your image and likeness in our neighbours and colleagues, to see things positively. Enlighten us to perceive the possibilities to turn evils into good. May we continue to work hard to realize Your image and likeness in us all, ourselves as well as our neighbours. Amen.