Mathew 25: 1-13 (Friday, August 31, 2007)

For some of us, our greatest sin is that of procrastination. We can never get anything done on time. We keep putting things off. A few years ago, I learnt a principle which I truly try to keep. It is a very simple principle, “if you can do it now, why keep it for later.” I always try to keep this in mind as I joggle through my daily commitments. I have discovered that this helps me to accomplish on time all that I need to. We do not want to be like St. Augustine who prayed, “Lord give me chastity, but not now.” If you are in a serious sin, you do not want to wait till the Lenten penance service to confess it. You want to take care of it immediately and keep moving with your spiritual life. The parable of today’s gospel emphasizes the consequences of waiting till the last minute to do things. Many a student had failing grades in school because they waited till the last moment to do their homework only to discover that the computer crashed the previous night and so they couldn’t turn in their work when it was due.

Do not wait till the last minute in order to work out your relationship with Jesus, you may never have the opportunity. We do not know the time or the hour. If you do not have that opportunity, you also would not be able to borrow the relationship your parents or grandparents have with Jesus. You need your own personal relationship with Jesus. Again, let us prepare ourselves, so that when Jesus comes, he will find us ready to join him in the marriage feast in heaven.

Prayer:
Take away from us the spirit of procrastination and empower us to prepare ourselves so that we will be ready when you come to take us. May each day of our lives draw us closer to you, that we might know your will for our lives and follow it.

I Thessalonians 2: 1-8 (Tuesday, August 28, 2007 Feast of St. Augustine)

Yesterday, we celebrated the feast of St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine. We learnt how Monica persevered in prayer and eventually was able to help Augustine receive baptism. Augustine was baptized at the age of 33, became a priest at the age of 36 and eventually a bishop at the age of 41. Augustine gave up a Manichean lifestyle of love for the flesh and took on a new life of love for God. Augustine’s conversion experience led him towards becoming the person that God wants him to be. This new found love made him truly a Eucharistic person. Augustine would instruct those approaching first holy communion that, “you yourself are what you receive.” Our reception of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist makes us one with Jesus, and this one-ness should help us to become Christ-like people in the world. In Augustine, we learn that the Eucharist empowers us to become Christ-like people.

As we share in the Eucharist today, there are many habits in our lives that we have been struggling to rid ourselves of. Let us identify those things and ask Jesus of the grace to overcome them. If he could help Augustine overcome his life of the flesh, Jesus can help you too.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, we come to you today with our different sins of the flesh: Adultery, fornication, masturbation, pornography, alcoholism, drugs, over indulging ourselves in food. We ask you Lord to give us the power to overcome these, that we may be truly the people you want us to be.

Matthew 13: 10-17 (Thursday, July 26, 2007)

Jesus Christ continues to reveal himself to his Apostles. He gives them a hint to his messianic and salvific role when he says to them that many of the prophets had longed to see and hear what they hear but they could not. The great prophets of the Old Testament had faithfully carried their mission with the longing for the Messianic reign of God. None of them had the privilege of living, dinning and hearing the Messiah preach to them in human voice. Here the disciples of Jesus have that singular privilege. Many of the people have shut their eyes and ears from seeing and hearing the Messiah. Despite all the signs he has performed and the revelations he had made to them, they still are not open to receiving Him into their lives. Jesus praises the disciples because they have opened their hearts to receive him.

Sometimes we behave like our friend St. Augustine before conversion. We pray, “Lord give me chastity but not now.” We pray to experience the Lord in our lives, yet we are not quite ready to let him into our lives. We want him but just not yet. We close our eyes from seeing him, we block our ears from hearing him. We are afraid that when Jesus comes into our lives, he will turn things around. We are just comfortable where we are but we truly know that we need him to come transform our lives. He invites us today to let him into our hearts, so that he will change us. He is present in the Eucharist begging to come and transform our lives.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ we ask you to open our eyes that we may see you more clearly and acknowledge you as the Lord of our lives; open our ears that we will hear your gentle transforming voice; open our hearts that we may love you more allow you to love us more dearly; and open our whole being that we may follow you more closely holding unto you all the days of our lives.