Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (Year B)

The crucifix is a symbol of Christianity in general and a symbol of salvation in particular. There are several feasts in which the Catholic Church venerates the crucifix. Today is the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross when she celebrates the recovery of the cross on which our Lord and Saviour was crucified as a political criminal. Our Lord could have escaped in several opportunities. Yet he obediently offered himself up as a perfect sacrifice to redeem all mankind.

The crucifix is a simple but beautiful symbol. The vertical bar joins heaven and earth, God and sinners. The crucified Son of God became a conduit joining them all. The horizontal bar joins a man with his fellow men. The crucified Jesus opened his arms to embrace all mankind, joining them into a family of the redeemed.
For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ
as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth (Ephesians 1:9-10).

Today, we read of the story of the Bronze Serpent in the wilderness when the Israelites made their way around Edom. They complained against God and Moses.
And the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food." (Numbers 21:5)
Such complains were harmful to the people themselves. They could not return to Egypt because Pharaoh would butcher them. If they rejected Moses as their leader, all the people would perish in the wilderness. To wake them up, God sent fiery serpents to bite them, killing many of them (Numbers 21:6). But God did not enjoy punishing them. He took every opportunity to show them His mercy. Therefore, when the people repented, God told Moses to heal them with a bronze serpent hanging on a pole.
And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live."
So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live (Numbers 21:8-9).
Christians immediately recognize this prefigure of the crucifixion of Jesus. Through looking up to the crucifix, we are healed. Of course, we need to open up our mind's eyes to penetrate into the salvational meaning under the apparent failure of Jesus' mission. The death of Jesus is a sacrament. Through this visible sign, God bestows the saving grace to all who look up, all who believe. This reminds us of the Sunday reading. There, Jesus taught his disciples to carry their cross to follow him.
And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Mark 8:34).
Our Lord Jesus set up a model for us to follow. He himself denied his own free will, surrendered himself to the will of the Father and died obediently on the cross. Thus, our Lord has won for himself the whole world. In him, God and the whole Creation are reconciled.

Dear Lord, on this Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, let us carry our cross joyfully to follow you. You have won the whole world with this crucifix. I look forward to the glorious breaking in of Your kingdom. Amen.

Twenty Fourth Ordinary Sunday (Year B)

Yesterday, we learned the concept of a Person when the professor mentioned the Blessed Trinity in passing. All Christians believe that there is only One God who reveals to us in three different Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The professor stressed that a human person is a very inadequate concept to understand a divine person. Yet, this is the best tool we have in hand to try to know the Trinity. All the time, we should be aware of this limitation.

So, what is a person? What are the characteristics of a person?
Firstly, a person has the ability to know his surrounding through perceptions. In knowing the objects around him, a person is able to realize that he is a knowing subject. He is aware of his own existence as a knowing subject.
Secondly, a person has the freedom to make moral decisions. In exercising this freedom, he is aware that he is a free subject.
Lasting, a person engages in relationships with other subjects, other persons. In these relations, he is aware that he is a loving subject.
These three characteristics define a human person. We make use of this limited concept to try to understand the three divine persons in God.

As is always the case, the above exposition is an ideal situation. In real life situations, a human person may not be able to live up fully his personhood. An old man suffering from Alzheimer's disease, people slipped into coma, schizophrenics and the like might not have any more self awareness. People suffering from compulsive obsessive disorders, drug addicts and the like are not free to make choices. There are also many lonely people living in a crowd. They fail to establish nourishing loving relationships with other people, probably because of some personality defects. Therefore, it is paramount for us to maintain a healthy body and a healthy personality in order to live up fully as a human person. The Torah teaches us to love our neighbours as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18). If we do not love ourselves, how can we love our neighbours?

Though it is important to hold on to our personhood, going to the extreme can backfire. This is the meaning behind the Greek myth of Narcissus. A healthy dose of self-love is essential for our growth. However, when our ego, rather than God, becomes the centre of our life, we are doomed to self-destruction like Narcissus. Jesus taught the same idea in the gospel reading today.

We are at the turning point of the gospel of St. Mark. Jesus was turning towards Jerusalem to fulfil his Messianic mission. On his way, he did an opinion poll and asked his disciples what the common people thought about him. John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the prophets were the answers. Then, Jesus hit the eye of the bull. He asked them who they thought he was. Peter spoke up and declared that Jesus was the Messiah (Mark 8:27-30). So, Jesus revealed to them the Messianic plan. The Messiah would be rejected, killed and on the third day he would rise to life again. This plan was totally unacceptable to the apostles. They had given up everything to follow Jesus. How would they expect a nil return on all their investments? Peter tried to persuade Jesus to give up his plan. In return, Peter was scolded in front of all other apostles.
But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men." (Mark 8:33)
Jesus was right. Peter and all the others had not yet transcended the human level. They were still thinking of keeping the integrity of their selves because no sensible man would seek his own death. At that stage, they were not prepared to accept God's plan. Indeed, without God's grace, who can? The teaching was too hard, too difficult for them.

Dear Lord, we need Your grace to help us transcend. Have mercy on us, on our weaknesses. Grant us Your saving grace so that we may live and grow. Amen.

Human efforts without grace

My boss cares very much about how people look at his achievement. He is very proud of the effort he has put into his career, how he works his way up to the present position. After HKCEE, he did not receive any support from his family and he worked part-time to support his post-secondary studies. Nowadays, he calls himself an administrative expert. Bring him your problems and he will solve them for you. He is our Administrator Almighty. However, he probably is not aware that he himself is the root of many of our problems. He creates a problem situation for us and comes to "save" us.
I have no intention to belittle his efforts. His present achievement is admirable. However, he does not listen, does not put himself in our position. He wants things done in his ways and grabs all the honours. He enjoys highlighting the faults of his subordinates. If things go wrong, he will blame you and doesn't take up his share of responsibilities. Would you serve him like serving the Lord? (Colossians 3:23-24)

That probably illustrates why Paul emphasized so much about grace. As a Pharisee, Paul knew the mentality of most Pharisees who believed that their efforts to keep the laws down to the minutest details would guarantee salvation. Such a worldview was shattered on the road to Damascus. Throughout his life, Saul had been observing the laws. Yet, such piety did not bring him any closer to God.
In his eyes, Christians were dangerous heretics because they believed a carpenter to be God. Just as he was sincerely persecuting these fellow Jews, hoping to bring them back to their right mind, Jesus revealed himself to him.
Saul came to the understanding that it was grace, the free gift from God that brought him salvation. All his previous efforts in piety did not.
I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 1:13b-14).
Grace and mercy come from God. The theological virtues of faith and love also come from God who enables us to believe in Him and to love Him. Therefore, is there anything we can be proud of? Can our piety and hard work be our pride? Rather, we should be humble and grateful for the opportunities God offers us to serve Him. Yes, I serve God and my boss is not my God. At most, he is only His agent. But am I not His agent as well? So, bosses. Don't boss around.
St. Paul did not see himself Paul Almighty. Rather, he saw himself only an instrument of God for the benefits of the others. He was setting his example for a budding bishop.
The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the foremost of sinners;
but I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience for an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life (1 Timothy 1:15-16).
Of course, it is enjoyable for oneself to be honoured. But isn't it a higher-order enjoyment to empower your subordinates to achieve honour? Then, as the mentor of your subordinates, his honour will definitely and finally go to you. Paul was doing this. I would like to follow his footstep. Hey boss, would you?

Dear Lord, may honour and glory go to You, not to me. I am only an unworthy servant. I pray for my boss, hoping that he will one day see the truth. I pray for myself that I can steadily follow the footstep of St. Paul. Amen.

The Making of a Bishop

Timothy was a disciple of St. Paul. He was baptized together with Eunice, his mother and Lois, grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5) when Paul was visiting Lystra in his first missionary journey. When Paul visited the city again in his second missionary journey in around 50 A.D., he took Timothy along as an assistant in his preaching. Timothy was a half-Jew. His father was Greek and Eunice Jewish. In order to avoid unnecessary troubles from Jewish attackers, Paul took the precaution to circumcise Timothy before taking him along (Acts 16:1-3). Some fifteen years later, Paul consecrated Timothy a bishop to oversee the church in Ephesus. The church has collected two epistles written to Timothy, giving him advice to work as a bishop to oversee a church. Probably Timothy was still relatively young. Paul felt that he needed some pastoral advice. That is why the Church calls these epistles "Pastoral Epistles".

From the epistle, we know that in Ephesus, Timothy had to deal with heresies. Some people taught a different faith. Others spent their time doing curious, yet useless, tasks.
As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine,
nor to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the divine training that is in faith (1 Timothy 1:3-4)
The first and foremost responsibility of a bishop was to oversee a church. A church is a community of redeemed believers. Therefore, keeping this community together has been the primary duty of a bishop.
Heresies break up a community. When people believe in different things, or even contradictory things, schism would happen. In our daily dealing with people, we should be tolerant towards dissidents because it is morally bad to impose belief on others. Why is it bad to make people believe in the truth? It is all because of free will. A person must choose for himself, out of his free will, what to believe. Therefore, an imposed faith is worthless.
Here is a contradiction. On one hand, a bishop has to respect the free will, the conscience of a man. On the other, the bishop has to maintain the communion of the church, thus attempts to stamp out heresies. How does a bishop balance the two different demands?
A bishop should nip a heresy in the bud. Therefore, his job becomes a preventive one. Prevent the budding of heresies is better than subsequent inquisitions. That was why Paul advised Timothy to stamp out myths, genealogies and speculations.

Scholars generally believe that Paul wrote this epistle in his old age. His view on laws has become more mature. He no longer advocated faith to the exclusion of performing the law. That was the position in the Romans and Galatians. But now, Paul said something about the advantages of obeying the laws. He was still a Pharisee.
Now we know that the law is good, if any one uses it lawfully,
understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers (1 Timothy 1:8-9).
Good men do not need laws imposed on them. They do good because it is good, it is right to do so. Average men need laws to remind them not to do bad things. Bad men need the laws to scare them into doing good. Laws are useful for average men and below. As a bishop, Timothy needed to set up a correct understanding and attitude towards law.

Dear Lord, Timothy went through trainings under St. Paul to become a good and competent shepherd. I wish I may be able to serve Your fold competently in the future. Amen.

Christocentric Ethics

Historically speaking, Christianity is an outgrowth of Judaism. Therefore, Christian Moral Theology has a tradition that can be traced back to the Exodus experience. The first half of the Christian Bible is the Old Testament which covers the Hebrew Scripture. Therefore, the Israelite experience provides some guidelines for Christian living.
The Israelites received the Ten Commandments as a sign of their covenant with a God who delivered them from the bondage in Egypt. They were proud of their laws and precepts because those laws and precepts were given by God.
For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?
And what great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day? (Deuteronomy 4:7-8)
The Torah were instructions for the Israelites to lead a holy life. Observing them is a guarantee of the Sinai covenant. Therefore, Israelite ethics was theocentric and based on a covenant.

In the New Testament, Christ came to show us the way to return to God. After his ascension, his disciples began to preach his good news to the Jews, then to the Gentiles. St. Paul and St. John taught about a Christocentric way of living. "Abide in him" is a cliché which appears five times in the First Epistle of St. John. Paul was even more explicit. It was no longer I who lived, but Christ who lived in him.
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).
In the Epistle to the Colossians, we will inevitable find some exhortations to lead a Christocentric moral life. But before he dealt with various relationships, Paul laid down the general Christocentric principle first.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3:15-17).
The whole person is saturated with the peace and words of Christ. Then whatever one does, he does and speaks in the name of Christ.
After laying down the principle, Paul dealt with the most significant relations one by one. The relations Paul dealt with were all power relations --- husband and wife, father and children, master and slaves.
In these exhortations, Paul seemed to be siding with the powerful to oppress the weaker ones. He told wives to be subject to husbands, children to obey parents while slaves their masters. Each time, Paul mentioned the approval of the Lord of such subordinations.
Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord (Colossians 3:18).
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord (Colossians 3:20).
Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord (Colossians 3:22).
Paul never mentioned the Lord to "manhandle" husbands and fathers, except for masters whom Paul mildly protested to the Lord.
Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven (Colossians 4:1).
Of course, such an interpretation is not doing justice to Paul because we cut up his epistle and quote him out of context. Paul did not develop his opinions on the relationship between husbands and wives like he did in the first epistle to the Corinthians and the epistle to the Ephesians. He simply wrote two lines because earlier on, he had already told the men (husbands and fathers) to live with Christ in their hearts, to do and speak in the name of Christ. So, when Paul told the husbands to love their wives, he expected them to love their wives with Christ's love for the Church.
Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them (Colossians 3:19).
When Paul told the patriarchs not to provoke their children, he expected them to patiently teach their children with Christ's patience towards the disciples.
Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged (Colossians 3:21).
Such an interpretation would be consistent with what Paul wrote in other epistles such as the Ephesians.
In short, a Christian life is a Christocentric life.

Dear Lord, come into my heart and be its Master. Steer my life towards the service of the needy. Amen.

True Conversions

In explaining Lonergan's "Method in Theology", Fr. Robert Ng touches on the topic of conversion. Fr. Lonergan was discussing the eight functional specialties in theology. He mentioned that conversion provides theology with its foundations.
Theology cannot be pure speculation. There must be some empirical basis. The experience may come from above, like the conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus. This experience gave rise to Pauline theology, especially that of the mystical body of Christ. The experience may also come from below, like the exploitations farmers in South America suffered. This experience gave rise to the Liberation Theology.

Each one of us has taken a long time to build up our own values and modes of thoughts. When such values and modes of thoughts are challenged by some new experiences which we cannot deny or ignore, we need to incorporate and harmonize them with our system. Then, conversion comes about. Fr. Lonergan says that there are three kinds of conversion: intellectual, moral and religious.
In explaining these conversions, Fr. Robert Ng made a very bold claim that without religious conversion, one will not do well in theology. Some people thought that studying theology might help them remove their doubts and uncertainties in their faith. But Fr. Ng warned that religious conversion is essential in the study of theology. Conversion comes first, not last. You do not become a good Christian after studying theology. Theology cannot cure your doubt in God. Rather, you must start with a good Christian intention before you study theology. Fr. Ng even claimed that a Buddhist monk's achievement in Christian theology can only be superficial and vice versa.

St. Paul gave us some guidelines to lead a converted life.
Firstly, it is our attitude.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:1-3).
After conversion, our minds should seek things above. The ascension of Jesus, the assumption of the BVM have all demonstrated our destiny. Our destiny lies above at the right hand of God. This is where we should be aiming at. All our efforts should be directed at that direction. Such an attitude has helped thousands of martyrs go through tortures and death. It will also help us through our difficulties in the present situation.
This attitude also has an underside. It is that we have already died. Conversion amounts to death. At death, all the debts of a person are wiped out. Our new life has already been united with Christ who has reached God in heaven and is sitting at the most honoured throne.
However, death without a new life would make Christianity a joke. So, Paul made the following remark to remind the Colossian Christians.
seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature (Colossians 3:9b-10a)
Secondly, it is our behaviour which must be compatible with our call.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5).
But now put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another (Colossians 3:8-9a).
Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all (Colossians 3:12).
These are very pragmatic pieces of advice on behaviour. Coupled with the correct attitude, eternal life is unstoppable. Paul is a concrete living example of what religious conversion should be like. His was a religious conversion from above.

Dear Lord, I long for Your house. Allow me to serve You among the needy brothers and sing praises to You in Your house. Amen.

Feast of Nativity of BVM (Year B)

Fr. Robert Ng S.J. teaches us Moral Theology. In the first two lessons, he talked about methodology. Naturally, "Method in Theology" by Bernard Lonergan S.J. would be the main focus.

Fr. Lonergan attempted to establish a Transcendental Method which would be applicable to all disciplines: natural sciences, social sciences, philosophy and theology. His earlier researches produced a masterpiece, INSIGHT, which analyzes the structure of human understanding. From this foundation, he took a step further to set up a valid methodology for theology. Fr. Lonergan explains that there are four levels of consciousness and four concomitant attitudes. On the empirical level of consciousness, we should be attentive. On the intellectual level, we should be intelligent. On the rational level, we should be reasonable and on the responsibility level, we should be responsible. Fr. Ng spent quite some time on being reasonable. This attitude differentiates Catholics from many denominations of Protestants.

Many Protestants believe that sins have corrupted our rational faculty. Since rationality is faulty, it is no longer reliable. Therefore, our only source of truth can only come from the Bible --- sola scriptura!
This line of argument is self-defeating. If our rationality is so faulty that it is unreliable, sola scriptura is also a faulty conclusion derived from a faulty rationality. Therefore, if we do not trust our faulty and corrupted rationality, we cannot trust the conclusion drawn from such faulty rationality. Sola Scriptura does not stand the test of logic.

Catholics also believe that sins have corrupted our rational faculty. This is a fact of life. But Catholics believe that our rationality is still functioning well enough. Therefore, we are able to study the Bible rationally and reasonably. Being reasonable enables us to enter into dialogue with other people. If we insist on sola scriptura, people who don't read the Bible will be cut off from us. Either they go to hell, or there is no hell. This kind of encounter would not be fruitful for anybody. So, let our faulty rationality try its best to work out reasonable theological opinions. Let us debate these opinions rationally. Then we may be able to build up a theology enterprise, to gain a better understanding of our faith.

Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Greek Orthodox started this devotion but the Roman Church had been slow to follow suit because this devotion was based on apocrypha sources. Protestants would never accept such practices because it was not based on the Bible.
OK. Let us reason. It is reasonable to celebrate our own birthday. Then, do we celebrate the birthday of our mother? If we celebrate the birthday of Christ, is it improper or superstitious to celebrate the birthday of the Mother of Christ, the BVM? Of course, this kind of analogy is flawed. The human institutions are only an approximation of the divine. When we describe God as a jealous God who would repent, such an analogy is only an approximation so that our faulty rationality can also follow the logic. God would not change. Otherwise He is no God. Therefore, those talks of jealousy and repentance on the part of God should be understood symbolically.
When we come to the devotion to the BVM, perhaps logical reasoning is of no use in this occasion. Rather, it is love that we should appreciate, that we should enjoy.

Dear Lord, the BVM clothed You in flesh. We thank You for leaving us Your mother who generously takes upon herself the role of a universal mother. May we follow her model and embrace the needs of all mankind. Amen.