Posts
(25.10.2009)
Gospel Reading: Mark 10:46-52
“Master, let me see again”
The Gospel this evening speaks to us of Christ coming to us. In our lives, we have all the excuses we can find for not receiving Him. Look at this blind man. Of all the persons, he has more reasons not to receive Him than to receive Him. But because he realized that Jesus is the only hope he has, he opened himself up and his life is transformed.
At the beginning of last month, we talked of the mid-term review.
For our parish, this is our vision: “A Spirit-filled, Loving Family of God”.
Our mission: “To Enrich Families in Faith and Love”.
But brothers and sisters, this will remain just a vision or just a dream unless and until it touches each one of us.
You know, this kind of management comes from Japan. It was from the Zen Buddhist monks that Masushita developed this outlook, not so much in making profit but in developing the human capital, enriching peoples’ lives. No matter how great is the vision and mission, it remains in the air unless and until everyone is touched, everyone is involved in this. I remember Masushita saying “If you talk of corporate vision and mission, don’t ask the CEO, ask the sweeper.” If the sweeper can recite the vision and mission with conviction, the company will fly.
If I preach the vision and mission, this church will have no hope. This church will have hope when our little ones, when all of you, can feel in your hearts this vision that we are a family of God and this family of God enriches life. This is the message of the Gospel.
Christ comes, and it is up to us to receive Him or to shut the door on Him. We can receive Him and be transformed, or we can shut the door and our life continues.
Our little ones will be receiving Jesus for the first time. I am so glad that the committee made such a pomp out of it. Because it is true, it is the biggest event in their lives. They receive Jesus who comes as bread, and we celebrate with them. But this receiving of Jesus is not only for these 26 little ones, it is for all of us.
This evening we look at Bartimaeus, the blind man. When we talk of enriching the family, the mid-term review, we are not so much concerned about events, or activities in church. The whole focus is to optimize, not to multiply, not to multiply masses, rosaries, prayer devotions and activities that make all of us busy, empty and dry. Instead, we want to benefit the most from every activity we are in.
We look at the Holy Mass. We all come here. Even if it is only for an hour, it does not matter. What matters the most is that this hour with the Lord must transform life. And we can do this. In our mid-term review, Perpetua talked of our effort to make this place a home, a family. Now, one little simple step that we all can take is to smile. You know, for us priests, it is so hard to smile. We are so afraid that if we smile our face would crack, and then we would have to do up our face like Michael Jackson. But I don’t think it is so. Actually it is so healing, so healthy, so life-giving to smile.
The other thing that I would like to talk on from the Bartimaeus experience is that we all put in our effort to create the environment, the ambience for us to encounter the Lord. We all can do this like Bartimaeus. Whenever I read this passage, I think of my fight with Bible Christians. Because they say our Lord Jesus cannot perform wonders when there is no faith. You read this text. Did the evangelist talk of the faith of Bartimaeus? No. Did the evangelist talk of the faith of all those around Bartimaeus? No! In actual fact, everyone was telling Bartimaeus not only to shut up. Everyone was telling Bartimaeus, please disappear. What did he do? He took this simple step by calling out.
We too can do that. We are here. We can create that ambience. We put aside all the things that trouble us. We consciously tell ourselves, “Yes, I’m here. Jesus is coming. I want to meet Him.” Make this stand; make this decision. We will change the ambience, and we will all encounter Jesus. It is up to us. Life is never fair. Life is never ideal.
Actually, we have all the reasons, all the excuses, not to receive Jesus; even not to change. Because we can excuse ourselves by saying, tomorrow I can be better on my own. I can make myself up. But this is the time … allow Him to touch you. Make a decision to change.
Video song: “If this is love”
My brothers and sisters, Jesus is real. But how real He is depends on us. It depends on the extent we allow Him to influence and to shape our lives. As His children, in faith, we now stand and profess our faith, our desire to live life fully with Him. The Apostles’ Creed.
Rev Fr Stephen Lim
Holy Trinity Church, Kuching
