29 Mar 07 Reflection

The woman who committed adultery is fully aware of what’s going to happen to her and is aware of her guilt too.

Though at the end no one condemned her, but will she condemn herself?

When we make mistakes we need to forgive ourselves.
Condemning ourselves do not lead us anywhere

Can you tell God everything about yourself? Do you accept the fact that only Jesus can save us?

Reading: Genesis 3:1-13
Prayer: Psalm 62

28 Mar 07 Reflection

What was Jesus focus on the adulterous woman? What was He doing when He was looking down?

He was giving them a chance to walk away.

Do we give others or ourselves a chance too? Do we push our spouse over to a point where prides take over and we refuse to apologies?

Does Jesus condemn us? Do we condemn ourselves?
If Jesus does not condemn us, why are we condemning ourselves?

What is the alternative to a situation?

Reading: Tobit 12:6-10
Prayer: Psalm 106

27 Mar Reflection

What do you do when you are faced with temptation?

What should do before you are about to commit a sin?

We must make a commitment to change

Reading: Romans 7:13-25
Prayer: Psalm 38

26 Mar 07 Reflection

Who like sin?
Nope of us like sin

We do not like people who are selfish but are we not selfish?
Judgmental is the nature of the Pharisees

When you admit that you committed a sin because of others, you are being self-righteous

There is always a tendency that we listen more to what others says than to what your sisters/brother or your spouse comments on you.

Ask your brothers or sisters if there’s any part in your life that you need to change.

Reading: 7:1-5
Prayer: Psalm 51

What is Church for?

The church is a hospital for sinners, not a hotel for saints. The church is for people for are hurting. The church is for people who don't have it all together but are honest enough to say, " We're not perfect, but we want to grow. And we're all in this together.

Quoted from "The Power To Change Your Life" by Rick Warren

23 Mar 07 Reflection

When you say “I’m sorry”, who are you focusing on? -you are focusing on yourself
It should be “I’m sorry, will you forgive me?” – there must be an action that follows

Are you changing?
Have you reach a point where everything is taken away from your life except the Father?

When you get angry, what are you going to do? What is the plan of action for the change?

Reading: Matthew 7:21-27
Prayer Psalm 142

22 Mar 07 Reflection

The protégé son came to his sense when he had spent all his money and was left with nothing.

When do we come to our senses?
Do we have to wait till we experience a shock in our life before we come to our senses?

What have you realized so far? In what areas in your life have you realized that you need to change?

It’s scary if you do not find anything that you need to change. Only people who think they are perfect do not need a change, but nobody is perfect in this world, except Jesus Christ. You need to change in order to grow.

Put your awareness into action. Change requires commitment and awareness; it is not a wishful thinking.

For a real change to happen there must be real sorrow first.
The sorrow where you admitted your mistake and is apologetic for it. A real sorrow does not involve pride. You should not feel prideful to apologies for your mistake

Reading: Luke 3:4-14
Prayer: Psalm 13

21 Mar 07 Reflection

Gospel Luke 15:1-3, 11-32
The young son who lives in debauchery.
Debauchery meaning - Extreme indulgence in sensual pleasures

Listening to music, watching tv and telling white lies excessively are examples of debauchery.

Are we living in Debauchery as well?
Sometime we are so used to telling white lies that we got numb in doing it. Since everyone is doing it, you do not find it wrong to do the same thing

The young man realizes that he was wrong and he changed, do we realize when we are in the wrong too?

When you are watching tv excessively, can God speak to you?
What is excessive in our life?
When we do things excessively, we
1. Lost sight of Kingdom of God
2. Lost sight of Father, Son & Holy Spirit
3. Lost sight of others

When you do things excessively, there’s something within you that is missing, craving for an attention

Are we doing what is required of us?
Jesus asks us to love one another as He has loved us.
How can we love someone when these excessive things come before them?

Reading: Romans 13:11-14
Prayer: Psalm 1

20 Mar 07 Reflection

Referring to this week’s Gospel Reading, the younger son got the inheritance without doing anything, the elder son wanted rewards for his hard work.

Are we doing good so that we can go to Heaven or are we good because we are good?
What are we working for?

We need to be Holy to get into the right relationship with God

Can you attain Heaven with all the good works you do?
There’s no *HPF available and it is only through Jesus that you can go to Heaven

*HPF = Heavenly Providence Fund (accumulative of merits)

We cannot go to Heaven just because of what we do good.
The only way is to live the right relationship with God

Reading: 1 Corinthians 9:15-18
Prayer: Psalms 19

19 Mar 07 Reflection

What do we demand from God?
Who is God? We or Him?

Are we serving Him or being in a relationship with Him?

We should treat our relationship with God as friend.
If we question God for not answering our prayers, we are denying the friendship

What makes us think that he is not looking after us?

Reading: Philippians 2:12-16
Prayer: Psalms 4

*Thanks to Anne & Serene for the reflection

Updated 28 Feb 07 Reflection

Pilgrim to journey of holiness

Holiness is created in the image of God, limited in our knowledge and understanding

Psalms 8: Make a little less than a God, journey of humility to accept myself as whom I am

The Journey towards dependency on God and on others

Reading: Genesis 4:9 & Ephesians 1:3-14
Prayer: Psalms 8

*Thanks Anne for the reflection

Inspiring Message

Thessalonians 5:18
In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths

You have a choice to either focus on your problems or focus on God, who holds the solution

16 Mar 07 Reflection

What is the fig tree in your life?

Where faith is concern, it is your belief in God, and the expression of faith is when you pray

Are these still alive?

What do you understand from the celebration of the Eucharist and why do we celebrate the Eucharist?

If you do not understand the meaning of Eucharist, it is just a ritual deployed of meaning. In another word, it is a fig tree not bearing any fruits

What is the essence of the rosary to you? Do you know what you are doing?

Have you set aside the time to think about the trinity?
If not, you are not spending enough time on the deeper meaning of faith.
Only if you are willing to spend enough time, will you bear fruit.

When you pray, are they mere prayer, is it just a routine?
Do you go deeper to find out the prayer?

Renewal in our life and faith is not just walking away from sins but to improve our relationship with Him

You will not be able to truly love what you do not know.
If you love a person, you will spend more time to know him.

Have you truly discover Him more or just praying without meaning?

Reading: Matthew 13:14-17
Prayer: Psalm 41

15 Mar 07 Reflection

How are you going to keep up with your prayer life?

Ask God to give you the grace to love and to pray, not to be led to temptation

You must love yourself and keep on loving others. Only through sacrifices will you gain

The Ten Commandments

1. I am the Lord, your God. You shall have no other gods besides Me.
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
4. Honor your father and your mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
10. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The Great Commandments
Jesus was asked by a lawyer which of the Ten Commandments were the greatest. His response: "Matt.22:36-40: Master, which is the great commandment in the law? (37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. "

Reference Link: http://catholicism.about.com/cs/basicbeliefs/a/tencommand04.htm

14 Mar 07 Reflection

What can we do with the areas of our life we are not growing?

Deepening of our Faith through bible study and Trust in the Lord

Proverb 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who make it a friend shall eat its fruit.

Prayer: Psalm 150

13 Mar 07 Reflection

13 Mar 07

Identify the one area that’s not you are growing, or is not doing you any good.

Eg. In your work area, with your boss, family life or yourself?

What have you done to overcome this problem? Are you even aware of this yourself?

You know it helps when you pray, but how much time do you spend praying for the problem you are experiencing?

You spend half your day being self-centered and pray for only half an hour
Does your solution (praying) equate to the situation (self-centeredness)?

Are you focusing on the area where you are not growing?
To solve the problem, you need to solve the connected issues links to your problem first.

Reading: 2 Corinthians 10:1-18
Prayer: Psalm 97

The Answer to Prayers

The Answer to Prayers (Matthew 7:7-9)

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."

Dependence on God

Dependence on God (Matthew 6:25-34)

25 16 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? 27 Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? 17 28 Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. 29 But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. 30 18 If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' 32 All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, 19 and all these things will be given you besides. 34 Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

Reference Link: http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew6.htm

Fruit & Gifts of the Holy Spirit

9 Fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self Control

7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11)

Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, Fear of the Lord

12 Mar 07 Reflection

12 Mar 07

What are you suppose to produce?

Kindness, patience? These are the fruit of the holy spirits
What you need to produce from within yourself is the Light of Christ

Have we mirrored ourselves as Jesus?
Jesus invites us to be his disciples not just followers

Jesus said “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”
Are we able to forgive at the most difficult moments?

Where is the knowledge and Wisdom in your life?

We must be willing to detach from everything and follow Jesus.
Detach to give away the best of what we have and not what we do not need.
The “giving away” should be able to help another person

Reading: Genesis 4:3-8
Prayer: 146

09 Mar 07 Reflection

09 Mar 07

Have you affirmed anyone today?
You have realised the importance of affirmation yesterday, and why didn't you affirm anyone today? What is stopping you from affirming that someone today?

What is our Father asking us to do?
To affirm the family and love them

We buy chocolates and gift for our family to show our appreciation of them but when asked for the purpose of the chocolate, we only tell them “Just eat”. Why can’t we just tell them directly and affirm them?

We should not take them for granted

People grow and change faster when we affirm them. So we should affirm people often.

It is pointless to understand and realize the importance of these principles, and yet not practicing it. You will not be growing without putting them into practice.

Reading: Philippians 1:3-11
Prayer: Psalm 133

08 Mar 07 Reflection

08 Mar 07

The Lord says, "This is my Son, the beloved, listen to Him" - God affirmed Jesus not only as His Son but His Beloved Son.

When is the last time you affirmed yourself or others?

If we cannot affirm ourselves, we will constantly be seeking affirmation from others

Affirmation helps us to acknowledge what is good and discover the good in others

When we affirm a person, healing takes place. Affirmation should take place often in our life.

What is stopping you from affirming yourself or others?
Not willing to affirm, is normally due to pride.

For transformation to happen, we must follow what God has done, He affirmed Jesus, not just as a Son, but a beloved Son. So we must affirm ourselves and others.

Reflection Question: Do we affirm others, or do we even affirm ourselves?

Reading: Mark 9:38-40
Prayer: Psalm 92

07 Mar 07 Reflection

07 Mar 07

Have you been feasting? Not to feast on food, but to feast on the Word of God.

Have you been living the Word of God?
We must put His Word as our center thereafere can we be transfigured.

The Word of God is required to guide us through our journey

Reading: Matthew 4:1-4
Prayer: Philippians 2:6-11

06 Mar 07 Reflection

06 Mar 07

Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is wonderful for us to be here! Let us put up three shelters - one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah

If we are to remain where we are today, we are not growing. We should move out of our comfort level and move on.

Sometimes, we have too many “If” going on in our life. If I do this what will happen or if I do that what will be the outcome” All these If prevent us to move on.

Are we at the consolation of God as we fast?
The consolation should be the word of God and not for the consolation of losing weight

Jesus constantly invites us to live the life given to us.

Reading: Mark 1:35-39
Psalm 27

05 Mar 07 Reflection

05 Mar 07

Transfiguration of the Lord.
Jesus invites us to go beyond where we are today to arrive at the kingdom of God.

Is it more difficult to change a family or the parish? If our Fr. can do it, why can't we?

Reflection Question: In what way have you gone beyond (have you changed) where you are today?

Reading: Matthew 5:20-48
Prayer: Psalm 46

02 Mar 07 Reflection

02 Mar 07

St Paul says I can do all things for him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:24, Colossians 3:14

Are we doing things for the earth or for the kingdom of God?

Reflection Question: What is the little forgiveness you have forgive?

Reading: Romans 12:9-14
Psalm 62

01 Mar 07 Reflection

01 Mar 07

Call to holiness
The call is not an exception to you alone but to help others to grow in holiness

Reflection Question: Openness to others

Reading: Esther (whole book)
Psalm 58

27 Feb 07 Reflection

27 Feb 07

How is it helping others when you are fasting? What keeps you going today? Was there a desire to do the will of God?

What is the food that we take will last?
Scripture is the food for mind, soul and stimulator

Reflection Question: What keeps you going everyday?

Reading: John 4:31-38, Ephesians 1: 3-14
Psalm 76, Psalm 8

26 Feb 07 Reflection

26 Feb 07

What are you expecting to happen on Easter? Luke 9:51-56

What is the one area you need to address or you are uncomfortable with?

Have you set your will to overcome your struggle?

Prayer: Psalm 56

23 Feb 07 Reflection

23 Feb 07

Almsgiving
- Attitude of sharing
- Attitude of detachment (willing to let go)

How would you feel if things of sentimental value are lost or broken?

Are you having the spirit of detachment?
If you give a present (eg. bracelet), you expect the person to wear it otherwise you will get angry. If the person gives it to another person, would you feel angry as well?

The widow gave everything she has to live on, not what she has spared
Acts 4:32-35 Share what you have

Reflection Question: How much of yourself are you willing to give Jesus in order to grow?

Reading: Luke 12:13-21
Prayer: Psalm 49