Erminia and Saturnia will go on a pilgrimage to Italy tomorrow. Hilary came home to have dinner with us. Wulstan returned home early but not early enough to have dinner together. These days when the elder sons are grown up, it is not easy to gather the whole family under the same roof. I was elated and intoxicated myself a bit with two glasses of red wine. Therefore, I will not be long tonight.
We read Isaiah 26. I believe it must be a collection of several oracles. It begins like this.
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
"We have a strong city; he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks.
Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps faith may enter in." (Isaiah 26:1-2)
The passage proclaims a universal salvation. The passage refers to Jerusalem, the holy city, where the righteous nations may enter. Jerusalem is the holy city of God. It symbolizes the Kingdom of God where only the righteous may enter. Jerusalem can also refers to eternal life which only the righteous may enjoy.
Once again, readers are reminded of the fact that it is God who fulfils our good will, our good work.
O LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us, thou hast wrought for us all our works (Isaiah 26:12)
we were with child, we writhed, we have as it were brought forth wind.
We have wrought no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen (Isaiah 26:18).
Therefore, Isaiah's message was a precursor of Paul's theology of justification and grace. Before God, we are like pregnant women in labour. However, our labour brings forth only wind. It is nothing in reality. It is nothing in God's sight.
Therefore, what is the best way to invest our effort and our labour? In which area should we work so as to maximize the benefit? In seeking God's righteousness.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).
Yes, learn from Jesus and take up his yoke. His is the obedience to God's will.
My dear Advocate, I offer up this summer holiday in Your care. Bless my work and may it be an acceptable sacrifice to find favour in You. Amen.
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Abstract Thinking vs. Application
Which is more important for the building up of knowledge, logical thinking or application? Beware, framing a question in this way may not appropriate because both of them may be important. Neither one is dispensable. However, for the convenience of discussion, it may be appropriate to put them in opposition so as to evaluate the relative importance of both.
Mathematics has been my favourite subject. Reading mathematics popularizers is an enjoyable pastime for me. Mathematics is a mind-game. But sooner or later, its value becomes apparent when application arises. What is the use of studying differential calculus or number theory? You don't need them in buying groceries in the market. However, they are indispensable in modern engineering and in cryptography which secures Internet transactions.
When we read Matthew today, we found that Jesus sounded very anti-intellectual.
At that time Jesus declared, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes (Matthew 11:25).
Traditionally, scholars would interpret this preference for babies to refer to their purity and humility of hearts. Other passages reinforce such an interpretation. For example, when the disciples asked Jesus who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of God, Jesus gave the following answer.
and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3)
There are many more passages in which Jesus criticized the teachers of the Law for their legalism and literalism. Consequently, the gospels give us an impression that being an intellectual, being a learned man is no good at all. This is an incorrect understanding. Otherwise, Thomas Aquinas would not be canonized a saint and honoured with the title of Angelic Doctor. The truth still is a preference for children. Why?
Perhaps Jean Piaget's cognitive theory may throw some lights on this issue. Piaget was an important philosopher, natural scientist and developmental theorist in Europe. Every trained teacher should know something about his theory of cognitive development. Piaget charted 4 stages of cognitive development which all people must go through.
My dear Advocate, You have created us with an intellect. May we apply it in a way pleasing to You. Amen.
Mathematics has been my favourite subject. Reading mathematics popularizers is an enjoyable pastime for me. Mathematics is a mind-game. But sooner or later, its value becomes apparent when application arises. What is the use of studying differential calculus or number theory? You don't need them in buying groceries in the market. However, they are indispensable in modern engineering and in cryptography which secures Internet transactions.
When we read Matthew today, we found that Jesus sounded very anti-intellectual.
At that time Jesus declared, "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes (Matthew 11:25).
Traditionally, scholars would interpret this preference for babies to refer to their purity and humility of hearts. Other passages reinforce such an interpretation. For example, when the disciples asked Jesus who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of God, Jesus gave the following answer.
and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3)
There are many more passages in which Jesus criticized the teachers of the Law for their legalism and literalism. Consequently, the gospels give us an impression that being an intellectual, being a learned man is no good at all. This is an incorrect understanding. Otherwise, Thomas Aquinas would not be canonized a saint and honoured with the title of Angelic Doctor. The truth still is a preference for children. Why?
Perhaps Jean Piaget's cognitive theory may throw some lights on this issue. Piaget was an important philosopher, natural scientist and developmental theorist in Europe. Every trained teacher should know something about his theory of cognitive development. Piaget charted 4 stages of cognitive development which all people must go through.
- Sensorimotor stage (roughly from birth to 2) in which the baby is egocentric and it builds up a knowledge of the world through movements and senses.
- Preoperational stage (roughly from 2 to 7) in which the world is manipulated through magic.
- Operational stage (roughly from 7 to 11) in which the world is known through concrete actions.
- Logical stage (roughly from 11 and beyond) in which the world can be understood through abstract reasoning.
My dear Advocate, You have created us with an intellect. May we apply it in a way pleasing to You. Amen.
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Taking things for granted
Among all the teachers in Shung Tak, I work most closely with Brenda and John. Yet, insufficient communication causes misunderstanding even among comrades fighting for the same good cause. We are too busy and our hands are too full. We take things for granted and easily forget to lubricate our communication. We follow the famous Newton's first law of motion:
Every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it (The Law of Inertia).
However, in our daily life, there are a lot of frictions which work against our actions and movements. Therefore, we need to put in effort to overcome these frictions, these noises within any communication channel.
Over a casual conversation, both Brenda and I felt that it was a good idea to hold the Staff Development Day out of campus. The school hall is too familiar a place for us to work with. It might be a good idea to put away all our daily routines and go far away, say to a retreat house, to do a more fruitful Staff Development Day. In the end, we booked the Honeyville Canossian Retreat House in Mount Davis Road. Consequently but unknown to both of us, Brenda and I have different conceptions of this Staff Development Day. She thought of it as a sort of religious retreat, conducted by a priest to help teachers reflect on their present situation in life. I still thought of it as a Staff Development Day, a chance to do some team building and wounds healing after a traumatic 2007 in Shung Tak. Things only came to light when Ms. Lau, the principal-designate inquired about this upcoming Staff Development Day.
Ms. Lau is working to know the running of Shung Tak and the people. Today, I was working with Sham Bun, the acting Computer panel head, on the Teachers' Handbook. He helped to draw up the new Organization Chart sketched by Ms. Lau. After the first draft was drawn, Mr. Sham discovered some discrepancies. Probably, we had misunderstood her handwritten sketches. It so happened that Ms. Lau was in school but she was discussing things with Dr. Wong. It had already passed noon, so Mr. Sham went out for lunch. When Ms. Lau was free, she gave me a private audience and we had a good sharing.
First of all, she clarified her ideas on the new chart. It proved that we had misread parts of the sketch. Then she turned to the running of religious activities in Shung Tak. She assured me that for the newly created Religious and Moral Education Committee, we only needed to continue to do whatever we had been doing. She needed time to understand the inner working of Shung Tak and was not too anxious to make drastic changes. We could count her in and she would throw in her full support simply because she is a Catholic. I then explained to her the running of morning assemblies, the use of prayer books, hymn singing and the subscription of Kung Kao Pao etc. She expressed her interest in meeting S1 students during lunch time and regular meetings with Catholic students in school. Two thumbs up! She is willing and is able to reach out to people. Mr. Long and Mrs. Poon, our ex-principals, did so.
Then I confided to her a bit of my past, my years in La Salle and Shung Tak. In return, she was generous in telling me the secondary school she had studied in. What is more, she used to be a Legionary! Of course, I need to be 'cautiously optimistic'. Winnie was also a Legionary for more than ten years. I don't know whether she share my pains of the 'Prisoner of Shung Tak'. I still have to wait and pray. Our Lady, all generations will call you blessed. You don't deserve such humiliation for so long here in Shung Tak. May God's will be done.
Today, we read the story of king Ahaz in Isaiah 7. It was the time of Syro-Ephraimic War. Syria and Israel wanted to force Judah to join them in rebellion against Assyria. Our of fear, Ahaz was thinking of seeking help from Assyria, instead of turning to God.
We humans are animals of habits. We take a lot of things for granted and react routinely. Worldly power and might are more tangible than the invisible God. Naturally enough, Ahaz would turn to the stronger power for help. Thus, God sent Isaiah to Ahaz and announced the famous Emmanuel Oracle.
For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
(Within sixty-five years E'phraim will be broken to pieces so that it will no longer be a people.)
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you will not believe,
surely you shall not be established (Isaiah 7:8-9).
If we do not communicate with God, surely we will not believe in Him. If we do not believe in Him, surely we will never understand Him. Ahaz needed to believe in God in order to keep his kingdom. In the same way, we need to communicate with God so that we may believe in Him and lead a truly Christian life.
My dear Advocate, I pray for the principals, teachers, parents and students of Shung Tak. May we continue to walk Your path of justice and peace. May we overcome obstacles to build up a strong team to offer quality Catholic education for our students. Amen.
Every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it (The Law of Inertia).
However, in our daily life, there are a lot of frictions which work against our actions and movements. Therefore, we need to put in effort to overcome these frictions, these noises within any communication channel.
Over a casual conversation, both Brenda and I felt that it was a good idea to hold the Staff Development Day out of campus. The school hall is too familiar a place for us to work with. It might be a good idea to put away all our daily routines and go far away, say to a retreat house, to do a more fruitful Staff Development Day. In the end, we booked the Honeyville Canossian Retreat House in Mount Davis Road. Consequently but unknown to both of us, Brenda and I have different conceptions of this Staff Development Day. She thought of it as a sort of religious retreat, conducted by a priest to help teachers reflect on their present situation in life. I still thought of it as a Staff Development Day, a chance to do some team building and wounds healing after a traumatic 2007 in Shung Tak. Things only came to light when Ms. Lau, the principal-designate inquired about this upcoming Staff Development Day.
Ms. Lau is working to know the running of Shung Tak and the people. Today, I was working with Sham Bun, the acting Computer panel head, on the Teachers' Handbook. He helped to draw up the new Organization Chart sketched by Ms. Lau. After the first draft was drawn, Mr. Sham discovered some discrepancies. Probably, we had misunderstood her handwritten sketches. It so happened that Ms. Lau was in school but she was discussing things with Dr. Wong. It had already passed noon, so Mr. Sham went out for lunch. When Ms. Lau was free, she gave me a private audience and we had a good sharing.
First of all, she clarified her ideas on the new chart. It proved that we had misread parts of the sketch. Then she turned to the running of religious activities in Shung Tak. She assured me that for the newly created Religious and Moral Education Committee, we only needed to continue to do whatever we had been doing. She needed time to understand the inner working of Shung Tak and was not too anxious to make drastic changes. We could count her in and she would throw in her full support simply because she is a Catholic. I then explained to her the running of morning assemblies, the use of prayer books, hymn singing and the subscription of Kung Kao Pao etc. She expressed her interest in meeting S1 students during lunch time and regular meetings with Catholic students in school. Two thumbs up! She is willing and is able to reach out to people. Mr. Long and Mrs. Poon, our ex-principals, did so.
Then I confided to her a bit of my past, my years in La Salle and Shung Tak. In return, she was generous in telling me the secondary school she had studied in. What is more, she used to be a Legionary! Of course, I need to be 'cautiously optimistic'. Winnie was also a Legionary for more than ten years. I don't know whether she share my pains of the 'Prisoner of Shung Tak'. I still have to wait and pray. Our Lady, all generations will call you blessed. You don't deserve such humiliation for so long here in Shung Tak. May God's will be done.
Today, we read the story of king Ahaz in Isaiah 7. It was the time of Syro-Ephraimic War. Syria and Israel wanted to force Judah to join them in rebellion against Assyria. Our of fear, Ahaz was thinking of seeking help from Assyria, instead of turning to God.
We humans are animals of habits. We take a lot of things for granted and react routinely. Worldly power and might are more tangible than the invisible God. Naturally enough, Ahaz would turn to the stronger power for help. Thus, God sent Isaiah to Ahaz and announced the famous Emmanuel Oracle.
For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
(Within sixty-five years E'phraim will be broken to pieces so that it will no longer be a people.)
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you will not believe,
surely you shall not be established (Isaiah 7:8-9).
If we do not communicate with God, surely we will not believe in Him. If we do not believe in Him, surely we will never understand Him. Ahaz needed to believe in God in order to keep his kingdom. In the same way, we need to communicate with God so that we may believe in Him and lead a truly Christian life.
My dear Advocate, I pray for the principals, teachers, parents and students of Shung Tak. May we continue to walk Your path of justice and peace. May we overcome obstacles to build up a strong team to offer quality Catholic education for our students. Amen.
Monday, 14 July 2008
Meeting with the new principal
It is not the first time the principal-designate, Ms. Lucia Lau, came to meet the senior teaching staff. She needs to get herself familiar with the people and with how Shung Tak has been running so far. Today, they met again to fine-tune the school calendar and the division of labour among teachers. I was included in the duty list out of courtesy. Frankly speaking, I do not have much say there and most of the time, I was only an observer.
Ms. Lau, yes Ms. Lau. Unlike the previous principals, she does not insist on our addressing her Mrs. So and So, nor Dr. So and So. I believe she is younger and full of energy. They spent about an hour debating the proposed discretionary holidays. In the end, no major changes were made. But all present reached a better understanding of how the rationale behind the design of the school calendar, why EAC put the school picnic on a certain date, how we might better utilize the days for post-exam activities etc. I am afraid in previous years, only a handful of senior teachers knew.
Then, Ms. Lau put forth the homework she had done: a revamp of the organization chart of the school. Probably a revamp is an overstatement. In actual fact, she preserved most of the existing committees but rearranged them in a more reasonable manner. She followed the 4 major areas discussed in the External School Review Report: School Management; Teaching and Learning; Student Support and School Ethos; and finally Home-School-Community. Only two new committees were introduced: Religious and Moral Education which goes under the Student Support and School Ethos; and Trading and Tuck Shop which goes under the Home-School-Community. The reasoning was easily understandable and the whole structure was accepted by all without many amendments. She allowed us to make changes freely. She seemed to be receptive to suggestions. Before the meeting broke off for lunch at noon, most of the heads of the committees were allocated. Teachers present were so eager to get the work done that they agreed to meet again at one.
While the others were debating about where the Award Committee should go, Ms. Lau came over to me to ask who the Catholic teachers were and whom I would include in the Religious and Moral Education Committee. Her social skills win hands down. She made use of this opportunity to tell me that Catholic education was high on her priority list. She seems to be more amicable to work with and I pray that, if God allows, I may contribute more to the building up of the religious atmosphere of the school. After lunch, they spent two and a half hours to deploy all teachers into different committees. The important thing is: more people are involved in the design of this deployment scheme and more people understand the rationale behind. This has been a very good professional development experience.
Shung Tak has been a Catholic school in name for a long time. We have RS lessons, morning assemblies, several religious ceremonies etc. Yet, God is still marginal and dispensable.
Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath and the calling of assemblies -- I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly (Isaiah 1:13).
Yes, we need to strengthen not just the religious atmosphere of the school. We need to put students on the right path in life. It is not enough to perform social services. Our students need be able to choose the right action to take.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes;
cease to do evil, learn to do good;
seek justice, correct oppression;
defend the fatherless, plead for the widow (Isaiah 1:16-17).
My dear Advocate, I pray that we be Your channel of love and understanding. May we work hand in hand under the new principal to bring in a new era of Shung Tak, of opting virtues. Amen.
Ms. Lau, yes Ms. Lau. Unlike the previous principals, she does not insist on our addressing her Mrs. So and So, nor Dr. So and So. I believe she is younger and full of energy. They spent about an hour debating the proposed discretionary holidays. In the end, no major changes were made. But all present reached a better understanding of how the rationale behind the design of the school calendar, why EAC put the school picnic on a certain date, how we might better utilize the days for post-exam activities etc. I am afraid in previous years, only a handful of senior teachers knew.
Then, Ms. Lau put forth the homework she had done: a revamp of the organization chart of the school. Probably a revamp is an overstatement. In actual fact, she preserved most of the existing committees but rearranged them in a more reasonable manner. She followed the 4 major areas discussed in the External School Review Report: School Management; Teaching and Learning; Student Support and School Ethos; and finally Home-School-Community. Only two new committees were introduced: Religious and Moral Education which goes under the Student Support and School Ethos; and Trading and Tuck Shop which goes under the Home-School-Community. The reasoning was easily understandable and the whole structure was accepted by all without many amendments. She allowed us to make changes freely. She seemed to be receptive to suggestions. Before the meeting broke off for lunch at noon, most of the heads of the committees were allocated. Teachers present were so eager to get the work done that they agreed to meet again at one.
While the others were debating about where the Award Committee should go, Ms. Lau came over to me to ask who the Catholic teachers were and whom I would include in the Religious and Moral Education Committee. Her social skills win hands down. She made use of this opportunity to tell me that Catholic education was high on her priority list. She seems to be more amicable to work with and I pray that, if God allows, I may contribute more to the building up of the religious atmosphere of the school. After lunch, they spent two and a half hours to deploy all teachers into different committees. The important thing is: more people are involved in the design of this deployment scheme and more people understand the rationale behind. This has been a very good professional development experience.
Shung Tak has been a Catholic school in name for a long time. We have RS lessons, morning assemblies, several religious ceremonies etc. Yet, God is still marginal and dispensable.
Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath and the calling of assemblies -- I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly (Isaiah 1:13).
Yes, we need to strengthen not just the religious atmosphere of the school. We need to put students on the right path in life. It is not enough to perform social services. Our students need be able to choose the right action to take.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes;
cease to do evil, learn to do good;
seek justice, correct oppression;
defend the fatherless, plead for the widow (Isaiah 1:16-17).
My dear Advocate, I pray that we be Your channel of love and understanding. May we work hand in hand under the new principal to bring in a new era of Shung Tak, of opting virtues. Amen.
Sunday, 13 July 2008
Fifteenth Ordinary Sunday (Year A)
Today, we read of the Matthean version of the Parable of the Sower. Indeed, we owe the title 'parable of the Sower' to Matthew. It is the gospel of Matthew that gives this parable a title (Matthew 13:18). This parable is significant because it is the first ever parable related in the gospels and what is more, Jesus explains it. Therefore, this parable is the key to the understanding of all other parables.
Fr. Patrick Sun celebrated the 11 a.m. Mass this morning and he delivered a very substantial homily on this parable. He asked us to reflect on how the seed, the word of God, bears fruit in us. Before he began his homily, he invited members in the congregation to share their experience of how the word of God bore fruit in them. A lady extraordinary minister of the Holy Communion generously shared her experience. She humbly admitted that she had not even finished primary education. Therefore, she feared that she would not be doing her job well to bring the Viaticum to the sick and to meditate the Word of God with them. Therefore, she earnestly prayed to Jesus to help her do her duty well. Throughout the years, she felt herself nourished, not just by the Holy Communion but also by the warmth of the Word of God. How admirable. Our faith in God is not measured by the number of converts we bring into the Church. Rather, it is the quality of the relation that counts. It is too easy, too tempting to interpret the hundredfold, sixty-fold and thirty-fold (Matthew 13:8) in a quantitative manner.
Fr. Patrick took a different approach. He led us to ponder on our family life and the practice of child-rearing. It is an image that vividly brings into relief the whole point of bearing fruit. Once again, it is the quality, not quantity that counts. The relationship between the spouses must be self-giving rather that self-gratifying in order to lead a fruitful and satisfying life. Similarly, disciplining our children early in their life is not imposing our values on them. Our children need to learn the dangers of instantaneous gratifications in order to survive in the society in the future. In order to learn, we need to be trained to delay the gratification of our needs. Our achievements in the future will be a hundredfold more than those who seek immediate gratification. Fr. Patrick half-jokingly suggested that husbands and wives tended to pick up what they wanted to hear in his sermons. Husbands remembered mostly that the priests told their wives to obey them while wives their husbands to please them. Rather, husbands and wives should remember the duties Christ told them to perform towards their spouses and their family.
I hope you will bear with me my obsession with biblical languages. To keep a record of the use of the Septuagint, I will copy the LXX Isaiah text which Matthew quotes in explaining the purpose of using parables. Unlike Paul who sometimes translated from Hebrew and sometimes paraphrased the Septuagint text to press his points, Matthew simply lifted the whole chunk of text faithfully from Septuagint. He must have been rich enough to own a copy of Septuagint!
And he said, "Go, and say to this people: Hear and hear, but do not understand; see and see, but do not perceive.
Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."καὶ εἶπεν Πορεύθητι καὶ εἰπὸν τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ Ἀκοῇ ἀκούσετε καὶ οὐ μὴ συνῆτε καὶ βλέποντες βλέψετε καὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδητε, ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου, καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν αὐτῶν βαρέως ἤκουσαν καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν ἐκάμμυσαν, μήποτε ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν ἀκούσωσιν καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ συνῶσιν καὶ ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἰάσομαι αὐτούς. (Is 6:9-10)
With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive.
For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.'καὶ ἀναπληροῦται αὐτοῖς ἡ προφητεία Ἠσαΐου ἡ λέγουσα· ἀκοῇ ἀκούσετε καὶ οὐ μὴ συνῆτε,καὶ βλέποντες βλέψετε καὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδητε. ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου,καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν βαρέως ἤκουσανκαὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν ἐκάμμυσαν, μήποτε ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν ἀκούσωσινκαὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ συνῶσινκαὶ ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἰάσομαι αὐτούς. (Matthew 13:14-15)
For those who are interested in the comparison of the ways the Synoptic gospels present the same story, here is a quiz. While Matthew counts down from 100 to 60 to 30 (Matthew 13:8), Mark counts up from 30 to 60 to 100 (Mark 4:8) and Luke simply says a hundredfold (Luke 8:8). Why the difference? Who is more faithful to the words of Jesus? Any suggestion?
My dear Advocate, I am not a piece of good soil. There are too many desires choking Your truth in my heart. Probably, I need to live with them for the rest of my life. May Your seed grow strong enough to withstand their predatory attacks. Lord, You have assigned me a teaching duty. I pray that I am able to raise and sustain my students' interest in Your words of wisdom. Amen.
Fr. Patrick Sun celebrated the 11 a.m. Mass this morning and he delivered a very substantial homily on this parable. He asked us to reflect on how the seed, the word of God, bears fruit in us. Before he began his homily, he invited members in the congregation to share their experience of how the word of God bore fruit in them. A lady extraordinary minister of the Holy Communion generously shared her experience. She humbly admitted that she had not even finished primary education. Therefore, she feared that she would not be doing her job well to bring the Viaticum to the sick and to meditate the Word of God with them. Therefore, she earnestly prayed to Jesus to help her do her duty well. Throughout the years, she felt herself nourished, not just by the Holy Communion but also by the warmth of the Word of God. How admirable. Our faith in God is not measured by the number of converts we bring into the Church. Rather, it is the quality of the relation that counts. It is too easy, too tempting to interpret the hundredfold, sixty-fold and thirty-fold (Matthew 13:8) in a quantitative manner.
Fr. Patrick took a different approach. He led us to ponder on our family life and the practice of child-rearing. It is an image that vividly brings into relief the whole point of bearing fruit. Once again, it is the quality, not quantity that counts. The relationship between the spouses must be self-giving rather that self-gratifying in order to lead a fruitful and satisfying life. Similarly, disciplining our children early in their life is not imposing our values on them. Our children need to learn the dangers of instantaneous gratifications in order to survive in the society in the future. In order to learn, we need to be trained to delay the gratification of our needs. Our achievements in the future will be a hundredfold more than those who seek immediate gratification. Fr. Patrick half-jokingly suggested that husbands and wives tended to pick up what they wanted to hear in his sermons. Husbands remembered mostly that the priests told their wives to obey them while wives their husbands to please them. Rather, husbands and wives should remember the duties Christ told them to perform towards their spouses and their family.
I hope you will bear with me my obsession with biblical languages. To keep a record of the use of the Septuagint, I will copy the LXX Isaiah text which Matthew quotes in explaining the purpose of using parables. Unlike Paul who sometimes translated from Hebrew and sometimes paraphrased the Septuagint text to press his points, Matthew simply lifted the whole chunk of text faithfully from Septuagint. He must have been rich enough to own a copy of Septuagint!
And he said, "Go, and say to this people: Hear and hear, but do not understand; see and see, but do not perceive.
Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."καὶ εἶπεν Πορεύθητι καὶ εἰπὸν τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ Ἀκοῇ ἀκούσετε καὶ οὐ μὴ συνῆτε καὶ βλέποντες βλέψετε καὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδητε, ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου, καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν αὐτῶν βαρέως ἤκουσαν καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν ἐκάμμυσαν, μήποτε ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν ἀκούσωσιν καὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ συνῶσιν καὶ ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἰάσομαι αὐτούς. (Is 6:9-10)
With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive.
For this people's heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.'καὶ ἀναπληροῦται αὐτοῖς ἡ προφητεία Ἠσαΐου ἡ λέγουσα· ἀκοῇ ἀκούσετε καὶ οὐ μὴ συνῆτε,καὶ βλέποντες βλέψετε καὶ οὐ μὴ ἴδητε. ἐπαχύνθη γὰρ ἡ καρδία τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου,καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν βαρέως ἤκουσανκαὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν ἐκάμμυσαν, μήποτε ἴδωσιν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶν ἀκούσωσινκαὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ συνῶσινκαὶ ἐπιστρέψωσιν καὶ ἰάσομαι αὐτούς. (Matthew 13:14-15)
For those who are interested in the comparison of the ways the Synoptic gospels present the same story, here is a quiz. While Matthew counts down from 100 to 60 to 30 (Matthew 13:8), Mark counts up from 30 to 60 to 100 (Mark 4:8) and Luke simply says a hundredfold (Luke 8:8). Why the difference? Who is more faithful to the words of Jesus? Any suggestion?
My dear Advocate, I am not a piece of good soil. There are too many desires choking Your truth in my heart. Probably, I need to live with them for the rest of my life. May Your seed grow strong enough to withstand their predatory attacks. Lord, You have assigned me a teaching duty. I pray that I am able to raise and sustain my students' interest in Your words of wisdom. Amen.
Saturday, 12 July 2008
God prefers Judah to Israel
Ephraim and Manasseh were sons of Joseph. When Joshua settled the tribes of Israel among the land of Canaan, there were 13 tribes. The Levites were set aside to serve God and they did not inherit any land. So, the land was divided among the remaining 12 tribes. In a sense, Joseph obtained a double portion of land because of his two sons.
After the death of Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two. 10 tribes (in the book of 1 Kings, they are referred to as 'all Israel') followed Jeroboam the son of Nebat and made him their king (1 Kings 12:20). At first, they made Tirzah the capital and later Omri built the city of Samaria and moved the capital there. Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin followed the house of David. The tribe of Benjamin was reduced to very few people because of the crime they committed against a Levite (Judges 19-21). Therefore, the southern kingdom was called Judah, keeping Jerusalem their capital.
Therefore, in the book of Hosea, Ephraim, Samaria, Jacob and Israel all refer to Israel. Though Hosea prophesized for Israel, he also mentioned Judah and somehow revealed that God prefers Judah to Israel.
But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them by the LORD their God; I will not deliver them by bow, nor by sword, nor by war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen (Hosea 1:7).
Though you play the harlot, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty (Hosea 4:15a).
Ephraim has encompassed me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit;
but Judah is still known by God, and is faithful to the Holy One (Hosea 11:12).
Of course, Judah was not without her share of faults. Hosea 5 is a very damning chapter, passing God's judgment on them all. Against Judah, we have the following.
The pride of Israel testifies to his face;
Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt;
Judah also shall stumble with them (Hosea 5:5).
The princes of Judah have become like those who remove the landmark;
upon them I will pour out my wrath like water (Hosea 5:10).
Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah.
When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound.
For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will rend and go away, I will carry off, and none shall rescue (Hosea 5:12-14).
Of course, God would not give up Israel.
How can I give you up, O Ephraim!
How can I hand you over, O Israel!
How can I make you like Admah!
How can I treat you like Zeboiim!
My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my fierce anger, I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come to destroy (Hosea 11:8-9).
Hosea devoted the last chapter of his prophecy to tell us that God would restore them so that they might bear fruit. But Israel has vanished from human history after the exile to Assyria. Therefore, Hosea must be talking about the new Israel, the Church.
Before finishing the book of Hosea, let me bring up one more famous quotation taken from Hosea.
Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where are your plagues?
O Sheol, where is your destruction?
Compassion is hid from my eyes (Hosea 13:14 RSV).ἐκ χειρὸς ᾅδου ῥύσομαι αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐκ θανάτου λυτρώσομαι αὐτούς, ποῦ ἡ δίκη σου, θάνατε; ποῦ τὸ κέντρον σου, ᾅδη; παράκλησις κέκρυπται ἀπὸ ὀφθαλμῶν μου. (Hosea 13:14 LXX).
O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?
ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ νῖκος; ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ κέντρον; (1 Corinthians 15:55)
The RSV translation comes from the Hebrew text. The word 'your plagues' is דְבָרֶיךָ (transliterated as devareika). 'ka' means 'your'.
In Septuagint, it becomes 'your judgment, cause, vengeance and penalty' ἡ δίκη σου. It seems to have been corrupted. The 'varei' sound after 'de' is missing.
Paul probably was doing some word-play and changed it to 'your victory' τὸ νῖκος to suit his purpose.
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." (taken from Isaiah 25:8)
"O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?"
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
Paul changed the Isaiah LXX text from κατέπιεν ὁ θάνατος ἰσχύσας to κατεπόθη ὁ θάνατος εἰς νῖκος.
My dear Advocate, God punishes and God heals. Through Jesus, death is defeated. Our eternal life is guaranteed. May we become Your ambassadors of peace to bring this good news to all our neighbours. Amen.
After the death of Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two. 10 tribes (in the book of 1 Kings, they are referred to as 'all Israel') followed Jeroboam the son of Nebat and made him their king (1 Kings 12:20). At first, they made Tirzah the capital and later Omri built the city of Samaria and moved the capital there. Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin followed the house of David. The tribe of Benjamin was reduced to very few people because of the crime they committed against a Levite (Judges 19-21). Therefore, the southern kingdom was called Judah, keeping Jerusalem their capital.
Therefore, in the book of Hosea, Ephraim, Samaria, Jacob and Israel all refer to Israel. Though Hosea prophesized for Israel, he also mentioned Judah and somehow revealed that God prefers Judah to Israel.
But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them by the LORD their God; I will not deliver them by bow, nor by sword, nor by war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen (Hosea 1:7).
Though you play the harlot, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty (Hosea 4:15a).
Ephraim has encompassed me with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit;
but Judah is still known by God, and is faithful to the Holy One (Hosea 11:12).
Of course, Judah was not without her share of faults. Hosea 5 is a very damning chapter, passing God's judgment on them all. Against Judah, we have the following.
The pride of Israel testifies to his face;
Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt;
Judah also shall stumble with them (Hosea 5:5).
The princes of Judah have become like those who remove the landmark;
upon them I will pour out my wrath like water (Hosea 5:10).
Therefore I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah.
When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound.
For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will rend and go away, I will carry off, and none shall rescue (Hosea 5:12-14).
Of course, God would not give up Israel.
How can I give you up, O Ephraim!
How can I hand you over, O Israel!
How can I make you like Admah!
How can I treat you like Zeboiim!
My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my fierce anger, I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come to destroy (Hosea 11:8-9).
Hosea devoted the last chapter of his prophecy to tell us that God would restore them so that they might bear fruit. But Israel has vanished from human history after the exile to Assyria. Therefore, Hosea must be talking about the new Israel, the Church.
Before finishing the book of Hosea, let me bring up one more famous quotation taken from Hosea.
Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where are your plagues?
O Sheol, where is your destruction?
Compassion is hid from my eyes (Hosea 13:14 RSV).ἐκ χειρὸς ᾅδου ῥύσομαι αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐκ θανάτου λυτρώσομαι αὐτούς, ποῦ ἡ δίκη σου, θάνατε; ποῦ τὸ κέντρον σου, ᾅδη; παράκλησις κέκρυπται ἀπὸ ὀφθαλμῶν μου. (Hosea 13:14 LXX).
O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?
ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ νῖκος; ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ κέντρον; (1 Corinthians 15:55)
The RSV translation comes from the Hebrew text. The word 'your plagues' is דְבָרֶיךָ (transliterated as devareika). 'ka' means 'your'.
In Septuagint, it becomes 'your judgment, cause, vengeance and penalty' ἡ δίκη σου. It seems to have been corrupted. The 'varei' sound after 'de' is missing.
Paul probably was doing some word-play and changed it to 'your victory' τὸ νῖκος to suit his purpose.
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." (taken from Isaiah 25:8)
"O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?"
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
Paul changed the Isaiah LXX text from κατέπιεν ὁ θάνατος ἰσχύσας to κατεπόθη ὁ θάνατος εἰς νῖκος.
My dear Advocate, God punishes and God heals. Through Jesus, death is defeated. Our eternal life is guaranteed. May we become Your ambassadors of peace to bring this good news to all our neighbours. Amen.
Friday, 11 July 2008
Feast of St. Benedict of Nursia
St. Benedict, the Father of Western monasticism and brother of Scholastica, is considered the patron of speliologists (cave explorers). He was repelled by the vices of the city and in about the year 500, fled to Enfide, thirty miles away. He decided to live the life of a hermit and settled at the mountainous Subiaco, where he lived in a cave for three years, fed by a monk named Romanus. He organized the monks into a single monastic community and wrote his famous Rule prescribing common sense, a life of moderate asceticism, prayer, study, and work, and community life under one superior. It stressed obedience, stability, zeal, and had the Divine Office as the center of monastic life; it was to affect spiritual and monastic life in the West for centuries to come. (This is lifted from Catholic Online.)
I caught a flu and am not feeling well. So, I will be short today. In the reading of Hosea today, I found two passages which appear in the gospel of Luke and Matthew.
and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall upon us.
καὶ ἐροῦσιν τοῖς ὄρεσιν Καλύψατε ἡμᾶς, καὶ τοῖς βουνοῖς Πέσατε ἐφ̓ ἡμᾶς. (Hosea 10:8b LXX)
Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us'; and to the hills, 'Cover us.'
τότε ἄρξονται λέγειν τοῖς ὄρεσιν· πέσετε ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς, καὶ τοῖς βουνοῖς· καλύψατε ἡμᾶς· (Luke 23:30)
Notice how Luke exchanged the pair of verbs. Why? Any suggestion?
Jesus was on his way to be crucified. He was consoling the women of Jerusalem and warned them of the coming disaster to Jerusalem in 70 AD. When Jesus quoted Hosea, he respected the intention of Hosea.
and out of Egypt I called my son.
καὶ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου μετεκάλεσα τὰ τέκνα αὐτοῦ. (Hosea 11:1b LXX)
Out of Egypt have I called my son.
ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐκάλεσα τὸν υἱόν μου. (Matthew 2:15b)
Obviously, Matthew did the translation himself without referring to LXX. Moreover, Matthew did not respect the intention of Hosea. This quotation is out of context and the view is opposite to the intention of Hosea.
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
The more I called them, the more they went from me;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and burning incense to idols. (Hosea 11:1-2)
Matthew applied this prophecy to the nativity story of Jesus. Joseph brought Mary and baby Jesus to flee the massacre of Herod the Great and hid in Egypt. After the death of Herod the Great, the Holy Family returned from Egypt. Matthew wanted the readers to see this as the fulfillment of Hosea's prophecy. Actually, Hosea was not predicting the future. Rather, he recounted the Exodus story in the past! Now, is it legitimate for Christians today to follow Matthew's way of interpreting the scripture? I have trouble following Matthew.
My dear Advocate, let me follow Jesus' footsteps, consoling others while himself was suffering. Grant me such heroic love for my neighbours. Amen.
I caught a flu and am not feeling well. So, I will be short today. In the reading of Hosea today, I found two passages which appear in the gospel of Luke and Matthew.
and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall upon us.
καὶ ἐροῦσιν τοῖς ὄρεσιν Καλύψατε ἡμᾶς, καὶ τοῖς βουνοῖς Πέσατε ἐφ̓ ἡμᾶς. (Hosea 10:8b LXX)
Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us'; and to the hills, 'Cover us.'
τότε ἄρξονται λέγειν τοῖς ὄρεσιν· πέσετε ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς, καὶ τοῖς βουνοῖς· καλύψατε ἡμᾶς· (Luke 23:30)
Notice how Luke exchanged the pair of verbs. Why? Any suggestion?
Jesus was on his way to be crucified. He was consoling the women of Jerusalem and warned them of the coming disaster to Jerusalem in 70 AD. When Jesus quoted Hosea, he respected the intention of Hosea.
and out of Egypt I called my son.
καὶ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου μετεκάλεσα τὰ τέκνα αὐτοῦ. (Hosea 11:1b LXX)
Out of Egypt have I called my son.
ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐκάλεσα τὸν υἱόν μου. (Matthew 2:15b)
Obviously, Matthew did the translation himself without referring to LXX. Moreover, Matthew did not respect the intention of Hosea. This quotation is out of context and the view is opposite to the intention of Hosea.
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
The more I called them, the more they went from me;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and burning incense to idols. (Hosea 11:1-2)
Matthew applied this prophecy to the nativity story of Jesus. Joseph brought Mary and baby Jesus to flee the massacre of Herod the Great and hid in Egypt. After the death of Herod the Great, the Holy Family returned from Egypt. Matthew wanted the readers to see this as the fulfillment of Hosea's prophecy. Actually, Hosea was not predicting the future. Rather, he recounted the Exodus story in the past! Now, is it legitimate for Christians today to follow Matthew's way of interpreting the scripture? I have trouble following Matthew.
My dear Advocate, let me follow Jesus' footsteps, consoling others while himself was suffering. Grant me such heroic love for my neighbours. Amen.
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