Ash Wednesday 2010

This morning, my father was re-admitted to the hospital. His heart was racing at 150 per minute. When my younger brother visited him again in the evening, his pulse had returned to normal. But to his dismay, my brother found that the doctor told my father to re-take his hypertension drug which the doctor who discharged my father told him not to take! How confusing! My Lord, in Your hand I entrust my father. You know best.

My brother did not inform me immediately because I was going to regular consultation. When I asked the doctor if I, being a patient of chronic disease, should take the H1N1 jab, he expressed his reservation because of known cases of nervous inflammation. It is always safe to seek a second opinion on medical matters.

In the afternoon, I met my theology buddies to discuss their paper on Creation. This assignment helps us know more about the theological concept of Creation. We found that it is not enough to read the first two chapters of Genesis. In fact, many passages in the whole Bible talk about Creation, in the Wisdom Literature, in the Prophets and in the New Testament. Moreover, Creation is not a once and for all event. It is continuous because God is good. He creates and sustains the Creation until the end of time. Man has a special status in the Biblical theology of Creation. He stands in a special relationship with his Creator, with his fellow men and the Creation as a whole. Therefore, Creation has to be understood in the relational dimension as well. At last, Creation has a purpose, a finality. At the end of time, there will be a new Creation, a new heaven and a new earth. In doing this assignment, a new horizon is open to us.

We don't have to wait until the end of the world to see the new Creation. We are the new Creation.
Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation καινὴ κτίσις; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).
St. Paul sees the break-in of the new when Christ comes. When Christ comes, it marks the end of the old. The old has passed away. The new has alreadybegun but not yet accomplished. The new Creation begins here and now. Its completion ends at the end of time.
Lent begins today and is a season of renewal. We will spend forty days to prepare ourselves for the Paschal Mystery. It is a time of acceptance by God, a time of reconciliation with Him.
For he says, "At the acceptable time I have listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation." Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).
οὕτως λέγει κύριος Καιρῷ δεκτῷ ἐπήκουσά σου καὶ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ σωτηρίας ἐβοήθησά σοι (Isaiah 49:8a, 2 Corinthians 6:2a)
Through Christ, God reconciles with sinners. Through us, God repairs the injured Creation. We participate in the reconciliation mission of Christ. We are entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation.
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).
Therefore in this season of Lent, let us not focus on ourselves, on our preparation for Easter only. Let us look for every opportunity of reconciliation and work towards it.

Dear Lord, I pray for the health of my father. I pray for my younger brother who is burdened with taking care of my father. I pray for my theology buddies who are working towards a better understanding of Creation and Redemption. I pray for all and may we gain acceptance in this reconciliation season. Amen.