God did not spare David

King Saul disobeyed God. So God took away his throne and gave it to David, a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). David had done very well until he took Bathsheba. God did not instruct David about Bathsheba in particular. Therefore in a sense, David had not disobeyed God. David was still a man after God's own heart. In fact, it was God's will for Solomon to be born of David and Bathsheba. God is skilful at making good out of evil. Solomon was the good made out of the sin of David. God loved Solomon too. He gave Solomon the name Jedidiah, meaning the beloved of Yahweh (2 Samuel 12:25). Still, sins overflowed. David as well as his children had to suffer for the consequences.

God sent Nathan to reproach David's murderous act. Nathan had to execute his mission tactfully. He told David a parable (2 Samuel 12:1-4). Nathan wanted to draw out a sense of justice in the King. He succeeded.
Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die;
and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity." (2 Samuel 12:5-6)
David was caught unguarded. He was not prepared for what followed --- You are the man! David had no pity on Uriah. He took Bathsheba away from Uriah. Then he had Uriah killed. Nathan's parable was already a watered down version of his sin. Poor David, he was blind to his own sins. Only now did he see clearly his own sin which was against not only Uriah, but God.
Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul;
and I gave you your master's house, and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if this were too little, I would add to you as much more.
Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites (2 Samuel 12:7b-9).
Though God did not tell David anything about Bathsheba in particular, He had given to all the Ten Commandments and David knew them. Still, he committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered Uriah. This was human drama.
Now, Nathan pronounced God's punishments.
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'
Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.
For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.' (2 Samuel 12:10-12)
Whether you hear it or read it, a chill will run down your spine. Actions carry consequences and consequences of the kind. Later in David's life, his children killed each other to ascend the throne.
First came Absalom, David's son, whose beautiful sister Tamar was raped by Amnon, another son of David (2 Samuel 13). He avenged on Amnon and conspired to occupy David's throne. Listening to the ill advice of Ahithophel, David's counsellor, he raped the ten concubines of David in full sight of Israel.
Ahithophel said to Absalom, "Go in to your father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that you have made yourself odious to your father, and the hands of all who are with you will be strengthened."
So they pitched a tent for Absalom upon the roof; and Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel (2 Samuel 16:21-22).
God does not say a single word in vain! God did not spare even the man after His heart! Should we not think thrice before we act?

Dear Lord, I have nothing more to say. I will offer You David's psalm in awe.
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment (Psalm 51:3-4). Amen.

Feast of St. Joseph Freinademetz 2010

Today, the Hong Kong Diocese celebrates the Feast of St. Joseph Freinademetz (1852-1908). Though his feast may not be universally celebrated by the Catholic Church, his contributions to the Chinese believers have been great. He was born in Italy and ordained a priest in 1875. Fr. Fredinademetz had always been thinking of serving as a missionary. In 1879, he departed from Netherlands and worked his way to China. On the way, he stayed in Hong Kong for two years. In 1881, he arrived at South Shantung. He loved the Chinese and had expressed the wish to die and be laid to rest among them. In 2003, the late Pope John Paul II canonized him and two other Blessed's.
St. Joseph Freinademetz, pray for us. Amen.

We continue reading the adulterous story of David in 2 Samuel 11 today.
The story ends with this line.
And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD (2 Samuel 11:27).
What was "the thing" that David had done that displeased the Lord? His adultery with Bathsheba? His murder of Uriah?
As a king, nothing could stop David from taking any woman he liked. It seemed to be something a king was entitled to do in ancient time. Of course, a king should obey the Ten Commandments himself, if not to please God, to set a good example for his subjects to follow.
What about Bathsheba? Was she a defenseless victim, like the little ewe lamb in Nathan's parable (2 Samuel 12:3)? Or was she an ambitious temptress, abandoning her husband Uriah to seek a higher status? It is difficult to pass judgment on Bathsheba. In fact, she mothered Solomon and worked with Nathan to bring Solomon to the throne. She is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew as the wife of Uriah (Matthew 1:6). God has a complicated plan!
Poor Uriah. He must have heard something about the affair between his wife and the king. Bathsheba was pregnant with David's child (2 Samuel 11:5). When King David sent Uriah home to sleep with Bathsheba so as to cover his own sin, Uriah slept outside the house instead. He did not want to touch the King's woman. He preferred to stay loyal to his comrades in the battlefield.
Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing." (2 Samuel 11:11)
Uriah was truly a man and he paid his life for that. David wrote his death warrant and told Uriah to bring it to the executioner Joab in person. Joab followed the instructions and sent Uriah to the most lethal location in the battlefield. Uriah died in action together with several unintentional casualties. How a loyal man fell!
In reading the story, I admire the candour of the author. He did not embellish the sins of David. He left us in stark details how a holy king such as David fell from grace. The son of adultery later died seven days after birth (2 Samuel 12:18). Rape and bloodshed took place among David's children. The kingdom split into two after the death of Solomon. God's plan ran its course in history. David, Bathsheba, Uriah, Joab, Nathan, Solomon were players in God's drama. All of us are.

Dear Lord, let us play our parts well in Your drama. Amen.

Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas 2010

The Church celebrates the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) today. As a student of theology, I should learn more about the life and works of this Angelicus Doctor.
Like many famous people, St. Aquinas was ahead of his time and his contributions were recognized only posthumously. In his time, the Church was still debating over the application of Aristolelian philosophy to explain the Revelation of God. There were disputations in universities. One particular view was Averroism, a radical brand of Aristolelianism. St. Aquinas was fighting a battle on two fronts. On one hand, he had to persuade the Fransicans to give up the tradition of St. Augustine who employed neo-Platonism to explain revelation. He wanted them to join him in using Aristotle's philosophy. On the other hand, St. Aquinas had to combat Averroism. He won. In 1879, Leo XIII issued an Encyclical "Aeterni Patris" to confirm St. Aquinas' status. In 1999, the late Pope John Paul II wrote
"... Saint Thomas is an authentic model for all who seek the truth. In his thinking, the demands of reason and the power of faith found the most elevated synthesis ever attainted by human though, for he could defend the radical newness introduced by Revelation without ever demeaning the venture proper to reason." (Fides et Ratio 78)
St. Aquinas, pray for us theology students. Amen.

Let me return to the response of King David after hearing the Nathan Oracle.
Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and said, "Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far?" (2 Samuel 7:18)
King David must be praying to the Lord. Yet, he was sitting! He was comfortably sitting and praying to God. How I envy King David! Thinking over what had transpired before, his singing and dancing in ecstasy before the Lord, my envy is turned to admiration. How I wish I could commit my life totally without reservation to serve God!
And yet this was a small thing in thy eyes, O Lord GOD; thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast shown me future generations, O Lord GOD!
And what more can David say to thee? For thou knowest thy servant, O Lord GOD! (2 Samuel 7:19-20)
Somehow, God had directly revealed the future of his kingdom to David. David had no more to say, but to sing praises to God.
Therefore thou art great, O LORD God; for there is none like thee, and there is no God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
What other nation on earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name, and doing for them great and terrible things, by driving out before his people a nation and its gods? (2 Samuel 7:22-23)
It was not just his personal praises, David had Israel the nation, in mind. His life was to build up a strong Israel Empire, a nation of priests to serve the Lord.

Dear Lord, I pray that my life be a song of praises to You. May the works I do be praises to Your glory as well. Amen.

Nathan's Oracle 2010

Does God make any demand on us? Not that I know of.
I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.
In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?" (2 Samuel 7:6-7)
God had been accompanying the Israelites, wandering in the wilderness for forty years. God also fought for them to give them Canaan. He raised legendary heroes to deliver them from the enemies. At last, God gave them a king at their demand. In short, God had been wandering along with them. This was how the author of the books of Samuel saw it. In fact, God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. God does not live a house on earth. Didn't the author know this? He knew. His view is shared by the prophets. Listen to Isaiah.
Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool; what is the house which you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?
All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the LORD (Isaiah 66:1-2a).
But the author needed to explain the building of the Jerusalem Temple by Solomon, not David. He put it in the mouth of Nathan.

God did not allow David to take the initiative to do Him any favour. Rather, He would demand whatever He wants in His designated time, at His pleasure. So, Nathan proclaimed to David.
Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.
When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever (2 Samuel 7:11b-13).
This is the famous Nathan Oracle. David would not build the Jerusalem Temple. Solomon would. Moreover, God would establish the throne of Solomon's kingdom forever.
The fact is, the kingdom was divided from the death of Solomon. The northern kingdom was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. and the southern kingdom by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. After 50 years of exile in Babylon, the Persian king Cyrus conquered Babylon and sent the Jews home to build the second Jerusalem Temple. Subsequently, the Jews were conquered by the Greeks and Romans respectively. How would the throne of Solomon continue forever? This gave rise to the Messianic hope. The Messiah, who would be a descendant of David, would rebuild Israel. The hope became more feverish under the Roman rule. Then Jesus Christ was born quietly in Bethlehem, the hometown of David. Some thirty years later, he was crucified. His resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit inspired his followers to build up a new universal Israel, the Church. History is unfolded, showing how much God has done for us all. What have we done in return? Once more, does God demand anything from us? Not that I know of.

Hasn't God told Noah to build an Ark? Yes God has in order to save a remnant to rebuild humanity.
Hasn't God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac? Yes God has in order to establish Abraham as the father of faith.
Hasn't God told Israel to obey the 10 commandments? Yes God has to build them us as a nation of priests, a holy people.
The author of the Torah saw that whatever God tells us to do is for our good. The Psalter concurs.
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes (Psalm 19:7-8)
Therefore, God makes no demand on us. His instructions are good for us, to help realize the potentials He has given us.

Dear Lord, what can I do for You? Allow me to do Your will with the gifts You have bestowed on me. Amen.

Feast of Ss. Timothy & Titus 2010

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of two second generation Christians. They were the disciples of an apostle of Jesus. From the history of the Church, we know that God's revelation ended with the death of the last surviving apostle, John. Second generation Christians had never met Jesus, witnessed his miracles and heard his teachings. Therefore, they had not received any extra revelation other than the gospel preached by the apostles. They relied on the proclamation of the apostles: the Twelve, Paul, Barnabas etc. I would like to start with Titus first.

St. Paul wrote Titus a personal letter. This was collected in the New Testament canon. We know of Titus in four of the epistles written by Paul: theSecond Epistle to the Corinthians, Epistle to the Galatians, the Second Epistle to Timothy and of course, the Epistle to Titus himself. For example, we know that Titus was a Greek and remained uncircumcised.
But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek (Galatians 2:3).
We have no record how Titus joined Paul. We only know that Paul treated him like a brother (2 Corinthians 2:13) as well as a partner in the preaching of the gospel.
As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker in your service; and as for our brethren, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 8:23).
Titus was different from the other "brethren" who were only messengers. Paul treated him on equal footing. He was so dependable that Paul entrusted him the churches he started. For example,
To Titus, my true child in a common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
This is why I left you in Crete, that you might amend what was defective, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you (Titus 1:4-5).
Titus was appointed the bishop of Crete and Cretans were notorious liars. 

We know of Timothy in the Acts of the Apostles. Timothy was a half Jew. His father was a Greek.
And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek(Acts 16:1).
It was after the Jerusalem Council which decided that Gentiles needed not be circumcised for the convenience of admitting them into the Church (Acts 15:28-29). This issue was brought up by Paul in his missionary journey earlier on. However, how should the case of Timothy be decided? Timothy was not fully Gentile. Should he be exempted from circumcision? In the end, Paul circumcised Timothy, not just for the convenience of preaching among the Jews, but also fully realized the Jewishness of Timothy.
Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek (Acts 16:3).
We cannot find fault with Paul, accusing him of being hypocritical. After all, hasn't Paul taught that out of charity, we should also refrain from eating meat offered to idols so as not to disturb the conscience of those weak in faith (1 Corinthians 10:23-33). Paul was prudent in circumcising Timothy.
We are able to collect two epistles Paul wrote Timothy. There, we find valuable advice on how to run a church at that time, what criteria a bishop and a deacon should meet etc. Timothy was appointed bishop of Ephesus.

Dear Lord, we thank You for choosing among us Timothy and Titus to oversee Your churches. Let us fully exercise our rationality to understand the truth You reveal to us and live accordingly. Amen.

Feast of the Conversion of Saul 2010

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of Conversion of St. Paul. We have no exact data to confirm that this happened on January 25. It is a matter of liturgical arrangement. We have Annunciation on March 25, St. Mark on April 25, the birth of John the Baptist on June 25, St. James the Greater on July 25 and of course Christmas on December 25. In a sense, St. Paul was reborn on January 25, one month after the birth of Christ.

Saul's conversion is retold in Acts 9, 22 and 26. There are variations in the three accounts and today, I would meditate on Acts 9.
Holding the authorization letter of the High Priest, Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest the Christians there to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. There, he was struck blind by an enveloping bright light from heaven. In the light, Jesus spoke to Saul.
And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Σαοὺλ Σαούλ, τί με διώκεις; "
And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting;" (Acts 9:4-5)

The Church has undergone many persecutions. In Roman times, Christians were persecuted for various reasons. They were different from ordinary Romans. They did not worship Roman deities and Caesars. They did not join the popular entertainments at the arena. Some of them were wealthy and owned a lot of land. They were secretive and met at catacombs. There were rumours that they were cannibals (they ate the body of a man) and vampires (they drank blood). In short, they were anti-social. Christians easily became scapegoats in such a hostile environment. It did not take long for persecutions to fall upon them. Many Christians became martyrs. They bore witness to the living Jesus with their blood.
Once they gained the recognition and blessings of the Empire, they grew from strength to strength. The invasions of barbarians forced the Roman court to move east, leaving the custodian of Rome to the pope. When barbarians were converted, Europe became the private garden of the Church. The table had turned and it was her turn to persecute Jews, pagans and dissidents in the name of Christ. She had turned from being persecuted to persecuting.

Saul's experience was atypical. He began from persecuting to being persecuted and became a saint. Do we?
No. Each of us, before our conversion, is persecuting Jesus with our sinful life. All of us are intended by God to be united in the Mystical Body of Christ. He generously endows us with gifts and potentials to be fully actualized. Yet, in our sinful life, we refused to achieve the targets intended by God. We were persecuting Jesus from without. Once we were baptized and incorporated into the Mystical Body and yet continue our sinful life, we become faulty members of the Mystical Body. We are hurting each other in Christ. We are preying on outsiders in the name of Christ. O, God forgives. We are persecuting Jesus from within. We have never left behind our persecuting orbit if we remain in our sinful life even after baptism.
If we have been privileged to call Jesus our Brother, is it our destiny to betray Jesus repeatedly forever and ever? Joseph was betrayed by his brothers once, Moses his fellow Hebrews and Jesus Judas. Is it not enough for each one of us to have betrayed Jesus once only? Christians should not sin anymore, whether individually or as a community.
When shall we be persecuted to attain sainthood? When we stand firm in living the truth and bearing witness to the truth. Surely then, we will invite persecutions within and without the Mystic Body of Christ for the sake of Christian charity.

Dear Lord, allow us the glory of sainthood in joining with You in persecutions. Stop us persecuting our brothers. Amen.

Third Ordinary Sunday (Year C)

Today Fr. Martin celebrated the monthly youth guitar mass at 11 a.m. with us. As his usual practice, he began with a touching story to bring out his theme.

Once a family of five went on a long-distance trip. The father drove the family car. The mother purchased some potato chips, gave them to the eldest son sitting at the back and told him to share them with his younger brother and the youngest sister of six. The journey looked very enjoyable.
However, when they reached a junction, argument between the parents erupted so heated that the father got out of the car, slammed the door and stood on the roadside, gasping for breath. The deadlock seemed unbreakable. One of the parents had to stop insisting on his/her correctness. Somebody had to do something. Just at this moment, without any prompt, the daughter climbed from behind to the front and kissed the mother on the cheek. She told her mother, "Go. Share this with father." With this tiny gesture, the explosive atmosphere vapourized and the whole family resumed their enjoyable journey.
Father Martin said, "Love is something which we are not eager enough to give but we always complain that we have not received enough."
Not only was this little girl generous enough to show her love, but she was also wise enough to make her mother reconcile with love.

God understands not only our inertia, our weaknesses but also our needs. We need reconciliation and love, but our weaknesses prevent us from stepping forward. Therefore, God did not hesitate to give us His salvation, took up human flesh to live among us, teach us and die for us.
Jesus began his public ministry by proclaiming the fulfillment of the Isaian prophecy.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19, Isaiah 61:1-2)
Who are the poor? They are both the materially and the spiritually deprived. They may be victims of natural disasters such as the Haitians. They may suffer from character faults and land themselves in troubles after troubles. They may suffer from brutalities, harassments, injustice because of no fault of their own etc.
What is the good news? God takes the initiative, extends His hand to reconcile with sinners.
In practice, God releases the captives from the bondage of sins; recovers the sight of the blind so that they are able to see the truth; set the oppressed free so that they are no longer under the influence of mental and physical addictions. God announces the acceptance and forgiveness of all. God is prepared to shower us with whatever it takes to redeem us.

Jesus has finished his public ministry. The ball is now in our court. We have to "return the serve". Otherwise, the game cannot continue and we lose the game. If we reject this offer, the game is over.
Look at the situation from another angle. Suppose your colleagues are impolite to you, not greeting you in the morning, what do you do?
Some people will follow the Old Testament ethics and react with like kind, tit for tac, an eye for any eye. You greet, I greet. You don't greet, I don't greet. No matter what, I will not offend you unless you offend me first.
Some people will follow an inter-testament ethics and set a limit, say 7 times. I will continue to greet you for seven times and no more. After giving your colleagues sufficient number of chances, you stop greeting him.
Both strategies above are reactive. You react to external influences. In a sense, you are controlled by others.
Christians should follow Jesus' advice and greet seventy times seven, literally infinite. No matter what your colleagues do, I will continue to greet whether you return the greeting or not because I am a polite person.
Returning to God, I will accept His offer because I am a redeemable sinner. If I do, I need to reform, to put down my own insistence, my stubbornness and even my face. "I am sorry. I have wronged You. Will You forgive me so that we may continue?" Yes, the game continues. I can continue to transcend my old self until perfection.

Dear Lord, help me put down my resistance to embrace Your redemption. Amen.

How are the mighty fallen?

David was a poet. He lamented the death of Saul and Jonathan in Gilboa. Saul was his king, the Lord's Anointed and Jonathan his bosom friend.
An Amalekite young man came and reported the death of Saul. He brought with him the crown and amulet of Saul. He made up the story, saying that Saul requested him to kill him because Saul was mortally wounded and did not want to be insulted by the approaching Philistines. According to the First Book of Samuel, Saul was mortally wounded and told his arm-bearer to finish off his life. The arm-bearer dared not. So, Saul fell upon his own sword and died (1 Samuel 31:4). The arm-bearer followed suit to kill himself.
According to the First Book of Samuel, the Philistines arrived and found the bodies of Saul and his three sons. They cut off the head of Saul to pass around among the people! It was gruesome. But it was a war!
And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of their idols, and among the people.
And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan (1 Samuel 31:9-10).
The greedy Amalekite wanted to claim some rewards from David. But he was wrong. Twice David spared Saul because Saul was the Lord's Anointed. Now this greedy man claimed to have killed the Lord's Anointed. He deserved to die. David called one of the young man to kill him (2 Samuel 1:15).
And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the LORD's anointed (2 Samuel 1:16).

I do not share David's sentiment. What I can do is to copy his lamentation below. Meditate on it.
The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!
Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.
From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty.
Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou was slain in thine high places.
I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished! (2 Samuel 1:19-27, KJV)

Dear Lord, the human drama is fascinating. Allow me to play my role well, however insignificant it is. Amen.

How to deal with injurias

Confucius lived in a cultural environment totally different from ours. Therefore, nowadays, we may not understand the correction intention of the words he spoke. One such example is an idiom which could be traced back to an incident related to him. The idiom is 「以德報怨」roughly translated as "with virtuous acts, we repay maltreatment". The background was not clear. It was recorded in the Analect that someone asked his opinion on this moral norm. Here is the full text.
或曰：以德報怨，何如？子曰：何以報德？以直報怨，以德報德。【論語‧憲問】
Somebody asked, "Repay maltreatment with virtue, what do you say?" Confucius said, "How then can we repay virtue? Repay maltreatment with justice, virtue with virtue."
Quidam ait: cum beneficiis retribuere simultates, quomodo? Confucius respondit: cum quo retribues beneficia? Utitor aequitate ad compensandas injurias, cum benefcio retribue beneficium. (Auctore P. Angelo Zottoli, S.J., 1879 CE)
In the bible reading today, we read a similar situation between Saul and David 1 Samuel 24.

Saul spent the latter half of his life chasing after the life of David because God had rejected him and anointed David the next king of Israel. It was not fair to David because he had no intention to replace Saul. David had been helping Saul in his military expeditions, killing Goliath and winning many battles. Saul was infuriated by the people who showered more praises on David than on him. He was jealous and David fled from his presence, without putting up any resistance.
It so happened that Saul led 3000 men to chase after David who hid in a cave with his men. Saul was exhausted and took a rest inside the same cave. Seeing that God had delivered Saul into their hands, David's men tried to persuade David to kill Saul.
And the men of David said to him, "Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, 'Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.'" Then David arose and stealthily cut off the skirt of Saul's robe (1 Samuel 24:4)
Even so, David's conscience smote him because he had cut off the skirt of Saul (1 Samuel 24:5).
He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD'S anointed, to put forth my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD'S anointed."
So David persuaded his men with these words, and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave, and went upon his way (1 Samuel 24:6-7).
David still respected Saul as the Lord's anointed. When Saul left, David called out.
See, my father, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for by the fact that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it.
May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me upon you; but my hand shall not be against you (1 Samuel 24:11-12).
David left the avenge to the Lord. He would not take justice into his own hand. This itself is justice because if we take justice into our own hand, very likely, we will overdo. God knows the most appropriate way to avenge us on the wrongdoers. This is faith in God true to the sense. Confucius did not know God but he knew to repay injustice with justice, virtue with virtue. Though Confucius expounded a lot on virtue, he did not say as much on justice. Justice for him was what was appropriate. He knew the appropriate way to deal with man. I would say Confucius knew God, though he was unable to confess God.

Dear Lord, we are short-tempered. We tend to seek immediate fairness. You are wise. You know justice thoroughly. May we control our temper and learn true justice. Amen.

Feast of St. Agnes 2010

Though we will all be saved in the end, we may not be too happy to share eternal life with Hitler, with rapists or butchers etc.
I have tried to imagine what a baby Hitler was like when he was breastfed by his mother, what a rapist when he stepped his right foot forward as a toddler. I wonder how such innocent babies turn murderous.
Then I would switch to imagine what a cannibal Idi Amin, ex-president of Uganda, was like when he passed away peacefully at a mature age of 78 in Saudi Arabia. What does God see in them? I know, to quote all mothers, they are babies! If only we can see what God sees, we will not be happy to share the same heaven with these murderers.
Between cradle and grave, I can think of many saints and martyrs. The story of Agnes, of how the life of a beautiful maid was cut short because of her faith and beauty, illustrates the fragility of life. Her faith and love of Christ is admirable. Therefore, we feel that the life of Agnes was precious. We don't like Hitler and Amin because of the crimes and sins they had committed. Our sense of justice does not allow us to be sympathetic towards these beasts! Isn't justice one of the four cardinal virtues?
But were they not blessed at the beginning and continued to be sustained and blessed by God till the end of their lives?

The story of Saul in the First Book of Samuel is instructive. David helped him eliminate a grave threat, Goliath. Instead of being grateful to David, Saul was infuriated by the praises sung by the women.
And the women sang to one another as they made merry, "Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his ten thousands."
And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him; he said, "They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands; and what more can he have but the kingdom?" (1 Samuel 18:7-8)
Twice Saul tried to pin David to the wall with his spear (1 Samuel 18:11). Twice he failed but Saul had never given up attempting on the life of David.
Twice David had the opportunity to kill Saul and David's followers believed that God had given David the opportunity (1 Samuel 24:4, 26:8). Twice David spared Saul, arguing that however bad Saul had been to him, he was the anointed one of God (1 Samuel 24:6, 26:9). The book of Samuel painted David a faithful servant of God, leaving vengeance to God. David did not take justice in his own hand.
Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly(Deuternomy 32:35).
No, God does not want to make our hands dirty. He prefers to do it himself. When David intended to kill Nabal who slighted him, God sent Abigail, Nabal's wife, to save David from committing a bloodguilt.
And David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me!
Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from avenging myself with my own hand! (1 Samuel 25:32-33)
Vengeance is God's and God killed Nabal to avenge his insult against David, His faithful servant.
And about ten days later the LORD smote Nabal; and he died.
When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed be the LORD who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil; the LORD has returned the evil-doing of Nabal upon his own head." Then David sent and wooed Abigail, to make her his wife (1 Samuel 25:38-39).
Modern men may not be able to swallow this story which was written from the perspective of the Israelites. But the message is clear. God's way is not our way. God's justice is not our justice. Therefore, if we are happy to share heavenly abode with Agnes, we should be happy to share eternal life with Hitler and Amin! Is this logic acceptable to you?

Dear Lord, praise be Your mercy and faithfulness. We are merely Your worthless creatures. We will never be able to fathom the mystery of Your wisdom. Amen.

God killed Goliath

Killing Goliath was fast. David took a smooth pebble stone and slung. God guided the stone to sink into the forehead of Goliath. Poor Goliath fell on his face to the ground (1 Samuel 17:49). Probably, Goliath was mortally wounded. David came up to him, drew Goliath's sword out from the sheath to finish off his life. David cut off Goliath's head to warn off the Philistines (1 Samuel 17:51). Therefore, killing Goliath took less than one minute.

Tonight, I need to finish off another Goliath, the examination scripts. But I can only "kill" them slowly. How I wish they were Goliath so that I could finish them off within one minute!

I'm back. Previously, I was naively optimistic, writing that God intended to save all mankind, including the villains such as Cain. If so, how am I going to understand the killing of Goliath?
First of all, it is not convincing simply to say that all men are mortal. Therefore, sooner or later, Goliath would die. Remember, Goliath was decapitated (1 Samuel 17:51). He died not a natural death, but a violent one.
Secondly, martyrs also died violent deaths. They earn our admiration. But I don't think people in general admire Goliath, perhaps with the exception of the Philistines.
Of course, God's way is not our ways; God's thought not our thoughts. We may not respect Goliath, just like the treatment lowly people received from the others. However, God may still love him!

Confucius did not touch upon the problem of death because death is unknowable. Rather, he preferred knowing more about life.
「未能事人，焉能事鬼？未知生，焉知死？」【論語‧先進】
Confucius represents the pragmatic worldview of Chinese. However, the problem of death continues to fascinate all cultures. For the Hebrews, God made man from dust. To dust man returned in death, just like any other beasts.
Man cannot abide in his pomp, he is like the beasts that perish (Psalm 49:12).
Thou turnest man back to the dust, and sayest, "Turn back, O children of men!" (Psalm 90:3)
The Hebrews went one step further. Death is the greatest equalizer. Be you wise or foolish, rich or poor, prince or pauper, you end up equalized in dust.
For of the wise man as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise man dies just like the fool! (Ecclesiastes 2:16)
With these meditations on death, man learns to be humble before God. Today, Goliath died in the hands of David. Somewhere in the future, Saul and David, both of you would end up in death as well. This was an inevitable and pessimistic conclusion. But when Jesus came, he turned the table around to bring us hope. Truly, death is a certainty. But God is not the God of the dead. He would not abandon us in Sheol to see corruption.
He is not God of the dead, but of the living; (Mark 12:27a)
Jesus' resurrection burst forth a ray of hope in humanity. In God's hand, the life of Goliath and all others changed into another state. At the end of time, Goliath will rise again together with Saul, David, Confucius and us all. Death is a necessity. Without death, the world would be overcrowded beyond sustainability.

Dear Lord, allow us to lead a fulfilled life. When You call us to turn back, may we leave this world in satisfaction. Amen.

God rejected Eliab

History is occupied by famous people. Most of us remain anonymous. I am sure these famous people are not too different from us. After all, we are all sinners in need of God's salvation and in the end, we all share the eternal life of God. I believe that in the eyes of God, we are equally valuable to Him.

The reading today tells us how God had rejected the seven elder sons of Jesse to choose David to replace Saul (1 Samuel 16:1-13).
God sent Samuel to Jesse to anoint David. Such a mission would provoke Saul and the life of Samuel would be jeopardized. Therefore, God instructed Samuel to camouflage.
And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.'
And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me him whom I name to you." (1 Samuel 16:2b-3)
After all, in order to protect innocent life, extraordinary action has to be taken. Learn this lesson.
When the sons of Jesse lined up in front of Samuel, Eliab impressed him with the height of his statue. But he was not destined to be chosen.
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)
God looks on the heart. Remember this.
When all seven elder sons were rejected, there remained the youngest, David. He was sent for.
And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. And the LORD said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is he." (1 Samuel 16:12)
David was ruddy and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. It is not yet time to reveal his heart. We have to patiently wait to see his heart unfold.
When God chose David, I am sure He sees the whole life of David. He has prepared David to take up the kingship despite all the flaws and sins of David. Later in his life, David committed adultery and murder. Yet, God still prepares him, chooses him and blesses him.

I keep my mother in my heart. I keep my friends in my heart. I keep my students in my heart. If I just look at their flaws: addiction, authority abuses, despair, extra-marital affairs, infirmity of body and mind, loneliness ... there are countless. If I look at their merits, there are countless too. Each of us has a role to play in God's plan and each of us, however flawed we are, will share the eternal life of God. Eliab was rejected. Yet he still had a life to fulfill. The rich young man declined the call of Jesus and left no record in the gospels. Yet I am sure he was able to attain salvation in the end. Why am I so confident? It is because God loves to elevate the lowly and makes good out of evil. The way I see it, good and evil are embedded within each other. David, a holy king, committed adultery and murder. It takes a good Lord to draw out good from evil and God is perfectly good. God loved David as well as Eliab, Cain as well as Abel. Our flaws will leave injuries on each other and our future generations. But God will heal us all.

Dear Lord, I pray for the well being of my mother, the godmother of my sons, my friends and students. I entrust them in Your mercy. Heal us, Lord. Amen.

Inferiority Complex

Many people whom I meet suffer from inferiority complex. They become successful and occupy high positions in organizations. The feeling of inadequacy drives them on. Alfred Adler was a disciple of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis. Adler felt uncomfortable with his master's reliance on sex drive to explain the development of personality. So Adler took a different path and based on the human need of power to develop a personality theory. His theory popularizes the term "inferiority complex". Psychologists suggest that disapproving negative parental attitude and upbringing are the causes of the development of inferiority complex in people. Other causes include physical defects, mental limitations and social disadvantages/discrimination.

No doubt, Saul suffered from inferiority complex. But what caused his complex?
The Bible does not tell us how Saul was brought up. But his father Kish was a wealthy man (1 Samuel 9:1) and he seemed to good to Saul. When the asses were lost, Kish sent Saul and a servant to fetch them (1 Samuel 9:3). Furthermore, Saul was tall and handsome. According to the Bible, Saul was the tallest man among the Israelites.
and he (Kish) had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he; from his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people (1 Samuel 9:2).
Therefore, we can rule out the first 2 factors which cause inferiority complex. From his family background and his appearance, there did not seem to be anybody in Israel comparable to him. The third factor is ruled out. But we may find some clues in the dialogue between Samuel and Saul.
And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father's house?"
Saul answered, "Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my family the humblest of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?" (1 Samuel 9:20b-21)
For whom was all that was desirable in Israel at that time? A king. The Israelites were demanding a king from Samuel. Saul's family was wealthy. Did not Kish's family wish for the promising Saul to be a candidate? Affirmative.
Unfortunately, Saul was a Benjaminite. The tribe of Benjamin had a very bad history and was decimated by the other tribes as recorded in the book of Judges. Saul's inferiority complex was amplified when he was anointed king of all Israel.

God chose the humblest man among the Israelites to be their king. It was sensible. The future greatness of Saul would be based on God alone. Tragically, Saul had another agenda. He did not rely on God but did everything he could to please the people rather than ruling over the people. He fell from grace in the annihilation of the Amalekites because he disobeyed God.
Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I will punish what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way, when they came up out of Egypt.
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.' (1 Samuel 15:2-3)
Instead, Saul spared the king of Amalek and the good spoils.
But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; all that was despised and worthless they utterly destroyed (1 Samuel 15:9).
When confronted by Samuel, he shifted the blame on the people.
Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed." (1 Samuel 15:15)
Samuel wasted no time to condemn Saul.
And Samuel said, "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king." (1 Samuel 15:22-23)
When Samuel turned to leave Saul, Saul caught hold of his robe to detain him so that he would offer sacrifice to God in the presence of Samuel in order to save his own face before the people. The skirt of Samuel's robe was born, symbolizing that the Lord had torn the kingdom from Saul. Samuel accompanied Saul in the offering of sacrifice but the fate of Saul was sealed.
And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel (1 Samuel 15:35).
It was tragic.

Dear Lord, I have my own share of inferiority complex. I pray that I obey Your voice. My achievements are all Yours. Amen.

Second Ordinary Sunday (Year C)

This morning, Wulstan and I were having breakfast in the McDonald's before going to mass. He drew my attention to what Fr. Lejeune mentioned last Sunday in the homily. It was the first ordinary Sunday of the liturgical year and the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus. To recap, Fr. Lejeune focused on our becoming the beloved sons of God. Through baptism, we become him (Jesus), not his (Jesus'). Wulstan studied philosophy and he knows something about Chinese philosophy as well. Immediately, he could understand Fr. Lejeune's idea in terms of Zhuang Zhou's（莊周）de-materialization （物化）. This Chinese term comes to us from Zhuang's story. Once he dreamt of himself as a butterfly flopping freely around. Once awaken, Zhuang wondered whether he had dreamt of becoming a butterfly or a butterfly dreamt of becoming Zhuang. These two entities: Zhuang and butterfly are distinct in the "real" world. Now, Zhuang felt that he was one with the world. This「物化」is difficult to translate because once translated, you have taken a position. Here, de-materialization means the breaking down of the differentiation between the self and the material world. Of course, John's theology talks about the oneness of Jesus and his followers. Such oneness breaks down the barrier between divinity and humanity. It makes the divinization of human a possibility. Man is raised to share the divinity of God.

Today, Fr. Lejeune continued to celebrate the 11 a.m. mass with us and the gospel reading is the famous story of Jesus' first miracle in the wedding banquet at Cana (John 2:1-11). Fr. Lejeune focused on Mary's words to the servants.
His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:5)
Mary is our model. She pays attention to the needs of the people. Christians should do likewise. She told Jesus that the people had run out of wine. Christians should pray to God for their needs as well as the needs of their neighbours. Of course, Jesus knew even before Mary told him. God knows our needs even before we are aware of them. But what is the proper way to meet our needs? Should we satisfy ourselves with whatever means at hand? No. Do whatever Jesus tells us. We should follow God's will to meet our needs, to meet the needs of our neighbours. At the moment, the Haitians are in desperate need of international relief. Christians should lend their helping hands.

Then, Fr. Lejeune turned to another direction. He told us that many Biblical scholars have noticed the link between the Cana banquet and the Last Supper. Jesus began and ended his public ministry with a meal. In the Cana banquet, Jesus turned water into wine. In the Last Supper, Jesus turned wine into his blood. Now, water and blood become one through the life of Jesus. With the sacrament of the Holy Communion, Jesus and we become one. We are de-materialized in the sacrament. Jesus is the prime sacrament. We are sacraments in the world. We are de-materialized not in dreams, but in doing Jesus' commandments. The commandment is to love each other as Jesus has loved us (John 13:34). It is both mysterious and practical. Returning to the liturgy, Fr. Lejeune reminded us of the importance of receiving the Holy Communion properly.

Dear Lord, I am but a bunch of base materials. I am not worthy to become one with You. Yet You come to me. I am speechless to thank You. May my life be a sacrament in the world. Amen.

King or no king

Greek philosophy spread and dominated the Western society for reasons. Alexander the Great built up a Greek empire which spread the use of Greek as an "international" language in the fourth century B.C. The Church Fathers made use of Plato's philosophy to explain the doctrines of Christianity to the world since the fifth century A.D. Since the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church, through the effort of St. Thomas Aquinas, made use of Aristotle's philosophy to develop Christian theology. The Western mind is basically a Greek mind. Therefore, we cannot ignore Greek philosophy.

Plato subscribed to dualism. Here on earth is a material corruptible world. But he believed that there is a world of Ideas of which the material world is only a low quality copy. The world of Ideas or Forms is perfect and therefore unchangeable. Therefore, the idea of evolution escaped his attention. His ideas dominated the Western mind for a long time and we have to wait until the nineteenth century to see the emergence and popularity of the idea of evolution. First of all, people saw evolution in living organisms. But when people began to think of the society as a living organism, they naturally would think of the evolution of societies. Karl Marx developed a materialistic historicism to describe the evolution of societies based on economic production. Tribal societies were built on slavery, feudal societies on farming, capitalistic societies on industries and his utopia, the classless society on communism. Of course, such a brief sketch barely does justice to his theory. However wrong this theory is, there is still some truth about it.

The Israelites went through such stages. They were slaves in Egypt. Once liberated by Moses, the 12 tribes formed a confederation. Whenever they were threatened by neighbouring forces, judges, tribal heroes were raised to deliver them from crisis. But judges, among whom Samuel was the last, could not meet the social needs. The time was ripe for more centralized administration. Kings were raised to build and maintain an Israelite kingdom. The First book of Samuelwitnesses this transition. We see opposition and support for kings.

In Samuel 8, the people demanded a king to lead them to battles.
Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint for us a king to govern us like all the nations (1 Samuel 8:5).
Samuel, the loyal servant of God, was resentful to the idea. He felt betrayed after serving them for so long. God consoled him.
And the LORD said to Samuel, "Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them." (1 Samuel 8:7)
The Deuteronomist author saw such a demand a rejection, not of Samuel, but of God. He did not apply the idea of evolution to the situation. The idea was unknown and unheard of. He saw this as an idolatry.
Of course, God understands evolution. God is liberal and allows them to set a king to rule over them.
Now then, hearken to their voice; only, you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them (1 Samuel 8:9).
Then, Samuel listed 7 ways kings would rob the people (1 Samuel 8:11-17). Then we turn to Samuel 9 and find there God has elected Saul to be the first Israelite king.
Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have seen the affliction of my people, because their cry has come to me.
When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, "Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall rule over my people."  (1 Samuel 9:16-17).
Saul will rule over God's people but Israel is still God's people. Saul is only a steward enjoying the title of a king. He will do his job to deliver the Israelites from the oppression of the Philistines. But to the mind of the Deuteronomist author, Saul was not an ideal king. Saul was king only because God allowed him to be. God is still the king behind the scene. We have to wait for David who will be a king after God's heart (1 Samuel 13:14).

Dear Lord, Your drama continues to unfold in history. We are the players. May we play the roles You assign us well. Amen.

God's revelation to the Philistines

I will tarry a bit within chapters 5 to 7 of 1 Samuel before entering into the Israelites' demand for a king in chapter 8. These chapters describe the revelation of God among the pagans, in this case, among the Philistines, the traditional enemies of the Israelites.

The Philistines nearly lost their battles against the Israelites when the latter brought out the Art of Covenant into the battle field. The Israelites lost the battle because they had amassed too many soldiers instead of relying on the faithfulness of God. On the other hand, the Philistines raised their spirit to the highest pitch, acquitted like men to put up a good fight. This time, God was on their side and forsook the Israelites. The Israelites lost 30000 foot soldiers, the two notorious sons of Eli and the Ark. Yesterday, I suggested that the Philistines had received revelation while the Israelites not. Today, I will explore God's revelation to the Philistines in the 3 chapters of 1 Samuel. We must bear in mind that the whole story was written from the perspective of Israel. Still, we are able to figure the situation out from the perspective of the Philistines.

The Philistines moved the Ark from Ebenezer to Ashdod (1 Samuel 5:1). They put it inside the temple of Dagon, next to the Dagon. The next morning, they found Dagon toppled face down before the Ark. They put it back but the next day, Dagon toppled again but this time, its head and arms were ripped off lying at the threshold of the temple. The people of Ashdod were terrified and inflicted with tumours (1 Samuel 5:6). What did the people learn?
And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us; for his hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god." (1 Samuel 5:7)
The people learnt that the God of Israel was too sacred for them.
First of all, this God was more powerful than their Dagon. Dagon was even dismembered. This God was simply awesome.
Secondly, this God did not like them and inspired terrors in their heart. What was worse, He inflicted tumours in their body. It was probably the first time for them to sense an Otherness with which they were not prepared to engage. This overwhelming Otherness was so concrete and yet they did not know how to interact with it.
They sought an immediate solution. They sent the Ark away to Gath (1 Samuel 5:8).
Then, it was Gath's turn to suffer. People of Gath panicked and tumours broke out on them. They sent the Ark to Ekron (1 Samuel 5:10). Consequently, the people of Ekron suffered the same fate: panic and tumours. The Philistines began to reason.

The Philistines called up their priests and diviners to find out what the proper way to send the Ark away was.
What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place (1 Samuel 6:2b).
Applying their "superstition", the priests came up with the following solution.
They said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you." (1 Samuel 6:3)
The priests proposed a guilt offering. Such an offering presupposed the acknowledgment of sins. Indeed, the Philistines had made a spiritual progress. At first, the Ark of Covenant was a spoil of victory. But the Ark revealed an Otherness that inspired awe. Experiencing bodily pains and psychological panic, the Philistines recognized their own weaknesses and sins. They needed expiation.
Such was their simple blind faith. It would have been a superstition had they not backed it up with rationality. The priests and diviners designed an experiment to verify / falsify their hypothesis. Wasn't it amazing?
Now then, take and prepare a new cart and two milch cows upon which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them.
And take the ark of the LORD and place it on the cart, and put in a box at its side the figures of gold, which you are returning to him as a guilt offering. Then send it off, and let it go its way.
And watch; if it goes up on the way to its own land, to Bethshemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm; but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us, it happened to us by chance (1 Samuel 5:7-9).
Pay attention to the two if's in the last verse. Those diviners were scientists!
Truly, without reason, faith is blind. Without faith, reason is bland. Faith and reason should go hand in hand to seek a unified truth. This was what the late Pope John Paul II said in his 1998 Encyclical Letter Fides et Ratio. Christianity is a reasonable religion. Reading Bible stories is really enjoyable.

Dear Lord, I thank You for giving us faith and reason. May we make good use of them to believe in You more. Amen.

Revelation as New Awareness

Tonight, we continued to learn the 5^th model of Revelation proposed by Fr. Avery Dulles, S.J. This model approaches revelation as new awareness. According to this model, "... revelation is a transcendent fulfillment of the inner drive of the human spirit toward fuller consciousness. Far from reducing the subject to passivity, revelation occurs when human powers are raised to their highest pitch of activity. Rather than going beyond experience, revelation is itself an experience of participation in divine life." (Dulles 1983, pg. 98). In the PowerPoint summary of this model presented by Fr. Peter Choy, "salvation is the fulfillment of human nature".

Of course, the PowerPoint was only a summary statement. I raised the issues about still-born infants, about human nature, complaining that those poor infants do not have the opportunity to fulfill their life and human nature sounded too abstract and universal. Fr. Choy clarified that by "human nature", he meant the life of each and everyone of us. When we lead a fulfilled life, we obtain salvation. He supported his statement with the parable of the Talents in Matthew. Therefore, even for still-born infants, their life is fulfilled. Moreover, salvation is a process, not a state. We reach this state only when we finish our life on earth. Some finish early like those infants and some finish late.

Returning home, I did my daily reading and came to the story of the Philistines defeating the Israelites and capturing their Ark.
The Bible is ambiguous in the identity of the initiator of the battle, Israelites or Philistines (1 Samuel 4:1). Initially, the Israelites were defeated and 4000 men were killed on the battle field (1 Samuel 4:2). Then the elders of Israel suggesting bringing out the Ark, the presence of God, to battle with them.
And when the troops came to the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the LORD put us to rout today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD here from Shiloh, that he may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies." (1 Samuel 4:3)
They did and the Ark was accompanied by the two notorious sons of Eli, their blind priest (1 Samuel 4:4).
When the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded (1 Samuel 4:5).
"All Israel" suggests that this was a great battle participated by all the 12 tribes. Perhaps the Ark of Covenant was a kind of token to call upon all tribes to arms. The prospect seemed good because the Philistines were afraid (1 Samuel 4:7). They knew of the mighty work God had done for the Israelites in Egypt and were in great dismay (1 Samuel 4:8). However, they suddenly changed their attitude.
Take courage, and acquit yourselves like men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; acquit yourselves like men and fight (1 Samuel 4:9).
In the end, the Philistines defeated the Israelites, killing 30000 foot soldiers (1 Samuel 4:10) and capturing the Ark of covenant (1 Samuel 4:11). Obviously the scale of the second battle was far greater than the first.

Comparing the Israelites with the Philistines, there is a temptation for me to ascribe revelation to the Philistines but not the Israelites! Don't misunderstand me. I do not ascribe it by victory but by the way the two troops responded to the situation.
After the initial defeat, the Israelites did not analyze the causes of their defeat. They were lazy and brought out a token of God to fight the battle for them. At the same time, they made a fatal mistake of amassing a huge army to fight this battle. They forgot the modus operandi of God. God prefers to fight battles with a few men so that the victory is ascribed to God and not to men.
On the other hand, the Philistines were driven to despair. But they took courage and acquitted themselves like men. They knew the work of the God of Israel. They raised their powers to the highest pitch of activity to fight. They fulfilled the inner drive of their spirit and transcended their despair. In so doing, they experienced revelation. The victory was decided and they won the trophy, the Ark of Covenant. Indeed, God reveals to all men, Christians or non-Christians.

Dear Lord, grant me the courage to transcend. Amen.

God calls everybody

Most Christians are familiar with the story of the call of Samuel.
Young Samuel was serving in the temple of Shiloh under the supervision and guidance of Eli, the old priest. It was night and God called Samuel four times.
The first time, God called, "Samuel, Samuel." The young boy thought that the old priest wanted him to wait on. Of course he was wrong.
God called the second time, "Samuel". This time, God called his name once only, not twice. Samuel ran to Eli again, to no avail.
The Bible does not describe how God called Samuel the third time. Most likely, God simply called his name once. But is the number important?
Young Samuel was very charitable and dependable. Even though he had previously been dismissed by Eli twice, he persisted in performing his duty and ran again to serve the blind Eli.
Now it was Eli's turn. It dawned to him that God was calling this boy who had not previous experience of the presence of God. Eli taught Samuel how to respond to God's call to build up the connection. Speak, LORD, for thy servant hears דַּבֵּר יְהוָה כִּי שֹׁמֵעַ עַבְדֶּךָ
(1 Samuel 3:9). The fourth time, God came and stood forth, called again, "Samuel, Samuel." The answer Samuel gave left out the name of God. Speak, for thy servant hears דַּבֵּר כִּי שֹׁמֵעַ עַבְדֶּךָ
(1 Samuel 3:10) Why? That doesn't seem to be important.
And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground (1 Samuel 3:19).

In fact, God calls everybody. Otherwise, God is not fair. But God is fair. Therefore, it is necessary that God calls everybody.
Not everybody responds to God. Some do not respond out of ignorance. Some know but hesitate because they know not how to respond. They think too much of the call. They know the call requires sacrifices and therefore they hesitate and procrastinate the response, wishing that the call is an illusion. No. It is not an illusion. Karl Rahner explains that God is love. He creates us in such a way that we are able to receive His love with our free will. Therefore, before we are created, God so transforms our nature that it possesses a tendency to seek God. Yes, a tendency only because God wants our free will to remain intact. We must accept or reject God out of our free will. We must be responsible for all our choices. Rahner calls this innate tendency the supernatural existential. So, God creates and calls us at the same time. We are born to respond and establish a relationship with God.

My God, have Your called me? Yes, You have. Empower me to respond. Yes, You have. The ball is in my court now. Arise and respond.
Speak, Lord, Your servant hears. Amen.

A woman misunderstood

Today, we continue reading the story of Hannah. In the reading today, Hannah was portrayed as a woman misunderstood by the authority.

The family of Elkanah was on annual pilgrimage to Shiloh and offered sacrifice to the Lord in the temple there. Hannah was distressed because of her barrenness. After dinner, she went to the temple "to pour out her soul" to the Lord.
After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD (1 Samuel 1:9).
Eli the priest was sitting. It is a symbol of his authority as the representative of the Lord in Israel.
It was dark and Eli saw a woman and smelt of wine. The woman moved her lips but Eli could not hear anything because Hannah was praying in her heart.
Hannah was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard; therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman (1 Samuel 1:13).
Eli passed judgment and instructed. He was exercising his moral authority.
And Eli said to her, "How long will you be drunken? Put away your wine from you." (1 Samuel 1:14)
Women were, are and will be misunderstood in a patriarchal society. The society defines their role. In patriarchal society, their role is to get married and bear children for their husbands. The father figures may not understand the difficulties encountered by the women. The males would simply impose their wishes on the females regardless of their situation. Thank God, nowadays, the situation has improved. Women enjoy greater autonomy and shoulder a greater share in running the society.

Hannah wanted to fulfill her role as a mother, or did she?
Let's read her petition.
And she vowed a vow and said, "O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy maidservant, and remember me, and not forget thy maidservant, but wilt give to thy maidservant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head." (1 Samuel 1:11)
She begged God to give her a son. Then she would give the son to God as a Nazirite for life (Numbers 6:2-21).
Why did Hannah do this? Peninnah, another wife of Elkanah, kept provoking her for her barrenness. Hannah wanted God to help her stop Peninnah's provocation. Fair enough. But did she want to be a fulfilled woman, a mother? Not quite. As events unfolded, God remembered Hannah. She conceived and gave birth to Samuel. After weaning, Hannah brought Samuel to the house of the Lord, to Eli (1 Samuel 1:24). She sang a prayer similar to the Magnificat to God (1 Samuel 2:1-10). Each year, she made a new robe for Samuel. In the end, she bore three more sons and 2 more daughters for Elkanah (1 Samuel 2:21). Then Hannah was heard of no more in the Bible.
Probably, I too misunderstand Hannah.

As an authority figure, Eli treated Hannah fairly after listening to her explanation.
Then Eli answered, "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have made to him." (1 Samuel 1:17)
The Church represents Christ on earth and exercises teaching authority. But she is also made up of people with defects. Throughout history, it is therefore inevitable for her to make mistakes and misunderstand. She has to be very careful as well as being open and receptive to the counsel of the Holy Spirit. I use the pronoun "she" because the Church is also the mother of the Christians. She herself is often misunderstood by the outside world. May the Spirit of the Lord infuse the world so that it will listen to the Church with an open mind.

Dear Lord, may Your Spirit come to drive away our misunderstanding. Amen.

Mother Instinct

As a man, I am in no position to comment on "mother instinct". I am not endowed to carry a fetus inside my body, experience its growth and the concomitant hormonal changes, bodily changes and emotional fluctuations. Therefore, readers can ignore the following reflections.

Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Hannah was barren and Peninnah bore children to Elkanah. Elkanah loved Hannah. Every year, they went to Shiloh to offer sacrifice to the Lord and Elkanah gave portions to the family members.
and, although he loved Hannah, he would give Hannah only one portion, because the LORD had closed her womb (1 Samuel 1:5).
What was worse, Peninnah would take the occasion to provoke Hannah sorely every year. Of course Hannah was sad. Elkanah tried to console her.
And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?"(1 Samuel 1:8)
Of course not! To a woman, a husband is not a son. He is only the son of another woman, not her own son. Elkanah thought too highly of himself. A husband can satisfy his wife in all ways, but he can never satisfy her mother instinct without the help of God.
Thanks to Erminia, my wife. She has been very generous in giving birth to four children for me, two before the eruption of my diabetes and two after. The latter two restore my confidence in life. The four of them strengthen me and have given me the drive to hang on, to strike the best out of my life. All four give their mother headaches and great satisfactions and cheer her up when I have been too burdensome for her.

The experience of pregnancy is beyond the reach of man. At most, man can invest his energy to create his brain-child. Still, it is a sensation of the brain, not his womb which is absent in man. The experience of pregnancy must be fascinating beyond man's imagination. Perhaps one day, technology is able to simulate such an experience in infertile women for nine months. Perhaps then, curious men may be able to steal the joy of pregnancy. Then, men may better know women.

Currently, many couples prefer not to bear babies. They are able to put forth many reasons. If they need the warmth and companionship of children, they keep pets or adopt orphans. However, they still miss the emotional satisfactions of pregnancy. The women, and perhaps the men will feel unfulfilled. I should stop now lest I offend many people.

Dear Lord, I pray for my mother and all mothers. Their children may not be successful or perfect. Bless them for they cooperate with You to bring new lives, new hopes on earth. Amen.

Baptism of Jesus (Year C)

In the Year C reading of the Feast of Jesus' Baptism, we read of Luke's account. Basically, Luke follows the Mark's version and does not make any drastic changes to the overall plot. However, in places, Luke deepens them with his spirituality. After all, the narratives in Luke facilitate the readers to pray with the life of the Saviour.

Where Mark does not make explicit, Luke explains.
The Baptist in Mark simply proclaims that someone greater than he will be coming. Luke puts it in the context of Messianic expectation. He explains that this someone is the Messiah.
As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ,
John answered them all, "I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3:15-16).
Moreover, Luke also has the Pentecost in mind. Therefore, Jesus will baptize not only with the Holy Spirit but also with tongues of fire.
Luke has a broader theology. He wrote 2 gospels: the gospel of Jesus and the gospel of the Holy Spirit which we find in the Acts of the Apostles. He sees the Church, which was born when the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost, as the continuation of Jesus' mission. The Church is the visible presence of the Saviour of the world on earth. In a sense, the Church is Jesus and her members are members, body parts of Jesus.

The gospel of Luke is prayerful. We find many beautiful prayers of the Church in his corpus. This is clearly shown in the baptism scene of Jesus.
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened (Luke 3:21).
The heaven was opened when Jesus was praying.
In Mark, the heaven was split σχιζομένους τοὺς οὐρανοὺς (Mark 1:10) while in Luke the heaven was opened ἀνεῳχθῆναι τὸν οὐρανὸν. Mark is dramatic and stresses a break with the past. Luke is spiritual and stresses the admission into the abode of God. Jesus prayed to open the heaven for our entry.
and a voice came from heaven, "Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased." (Luke 3:22b)
The wordings are the same as Mark's, but the readers will certainly not miss the point that it is also addressed to them. We are God's beloved sons as well. Fr. Lejeune celebrated the 11 a.m. mass this morning with us. This was the key point in his homily. Through baptism, we become the beloved sons of God. When we contemplate on this point, can we sin to displease our Heavenly Father any more?

Usually, we forget that angels are also creatures and they need salvation as well. They are pure spirits and an order higher than men because we have a material body which they don't. There are disadvantages as well as advantages. We are aware of our baser status, while angels are exposed to a greater temptation of arrogance, a temptation to become gods. Indeed, some angels did fall because of this arrogance. God chose to become man to redeem the whole Creation. This choice aroused the jealousy of some angels and they fell from grace too. But I am sure God will arrange ways to deliver them. For us men, we attain our salvation through faith in Jesus, the Son of God. For angels, it is beyond our understanding to know how. Our salvation is unmerited. We will simply follow the way shown by Jesus to return to God.

Dear Lord, if You received baptism, who are we to refuse baptism? I pray that we follow Your example to become beloved sons of God. Amen.

The confidence in prayers

Let me put it this way. I believe in God and I think I have been too rational in my belief. However, sometimes I do exhibit some superstitious behaviours. Here is a little secret of mine.
I discover that most of the time, events turn out to be just the very opposite of the thoughts in my mind, whether they casually pop up or I deliberately think about them. So, I develop a strategy to think intensely of the very opposite of what I need. Then things turn out favourably my way. For example, I need to catch an LRT which I cannot afford to miss. Then I intensely think in my mind that I will miss it. In the end, I catch it. Of course, many times favourable thoughts slip into my mind unguarded and things turn out unfavourably. And of course, I do ask for God's favours and they are granted.
You can immediately point out the flaw of my so called "discovery". I simply remember events that confirm my "discovery" and forget those that refute. I have to admit that sometimes I do not think scientifically enough.

John tells us the proper way to ask for God's favour.
And this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him (1 John 5:14-15).
We should seek God's will and ask according to His will. That is to say, whatever we ask of God, we ask according to His will. Then we have obtained the requests. Notice the tense. When we ask, we have obtained the requests, not we will obtain. This agrees with what Jesus says in Matthew.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well (Matthew 6:33).
Jesus assures us the same promise in Luke.
And I tell you, Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you (Luke 11:9).
Therefore, we Christians have every confidence in our prayers. Seek God's will. How and where? In prayers and in the Bible.

In prayers, we don't just ask and ask all the time. Rather, stay calm and peaceful in His presence. Listen to His call instead of babbling our wants. Our life has been too hectic and there is no room for God to communicate with us. Let go. Let His words infuse in us and live them.
I have been babbling for too long. I will shut up now.

My Lord, Your will be done. Amen.