Fr. Ken's Pastoral Care

Readings: Deuteronomy 6:2-6; Psalm 18; Hebrews 7:23-38 and Mark 12:28-34.  THE CENTRALITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD: LOVE, UNITY AND SACRIFICE   Today’s liturgy reminds us of the greatest theological virtue, which is love. All the laws and prophets has love as their foundation, and this is explicit in the readings. This virtue of love is better expressed from two dimensions: our relationship with God and with man (human). What defines our relationship with God is how we relate with our neighbour. Is our relationship with neighbour surrounded with hatred, bitterness, anger, violence and other forms of vices or is it with love, unity and sacrifice? If truly we love God and our neighbour, we will keep His commandments.   The commandment of God was given to the Israelites through Moses as we have in the first reading account of today when he addressed the people, saying, “ Fear the Lord your God by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the d...

Readings: Isaiah 56:1-6; Psalm 96; Roman 10:9-18 and Mark 16:15-20.  FOR WE CANNOT BUT SPEAK ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD.    Today the Holy Mother Church celebrates World Mission Sunday, as was decreed by Pope Pius XI in 1926, for every Church/institution/parish. In the year 2019, we had the central theme: “ Baptized and sent, ” which was aimed at rekindling the missionary spirit in the life of the Church. Last year it was the question of the Lord, “ Whom shall I send? ” (Is 6:8) and for this year the theme of the mission Sunday is, “ For we cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard ” (Acts 4:20). Pope Francis emphasizes in his message released on January 29, 2021 that “ Once we experience the power of God’s love, and recognize his fatherly presence in our personal and community life, we cannot help but proclaim and share what we have seen and heard. ” This was the experience of the Disciples of Christ sent on mission as seen in the selected readings fo...

Readings: Isaiah 53:10-11; Psalm 33; Hebrews 4:14-16; Mark 10:35-45.  THE CULTURE OF SERVICE AND SACRIFICE   A week ago, I was at the priestly ordination of my Oblates brothers and before the Mass, I was marveled at the commitment, service and sacrifice of some parishioners towards the success of this event. I had the feeling that this culture were gradually going into extinction among Christians, as some wants to be paid for every pin they pick up from the floor but the volunteers I saw on that day proved me wrong. This is what the liturgy of today awakens in us, the spirit of service and sacrifice as seen in the Gospel of today and as foretold through the prophet Isaiah in the first reading.   The Gospel of today presents to us the request of James and John, the sons of Zebedee to sit at the right and left hand in the glory of Christ. The antecedent to this pericope in Mark is the announcement of the coming passion of Christ. He said, “ They were on their way to...

Readings: Wisdom 7:7-11; Psalm 90; Hebrew 4:12-13 and Mark 10:17-30.  THE EYE OF A NEEDLE   Today’s liturgy communicates to us the wisdom embedded in the metaphoric expression of Christ on the easiness of a camel passing through the eye of a needle than for the rich entering the Kingdom of God. The liturgy draws our attention to the danger of attachment to material possessions we often hold unto, which could deprive us of the Kingdom of God if not properly used.   The young man in today’s Gospel came to Jesus and said, “ Good teacher, what must I do to inherit the eternal life? ” He was in a state of confusion when he thought he had kept the whole law and yet had no fulfilment. He actually justified himself like the elder brother of the prodigal son when he said, “ All these I have observed from my youth. ” We recall the Sermon on the Mount, when Christ gave us the real meaning of the law, which is not just an outward exercise, but also a reflection of the heart....

Readings: Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 128; Hebrew 2:9-11 and Mark 10:2-16.  THE PRINCIPLE OF MARRIAGE   Solitude is generally seen as a state of seclusion or isolation, that is, the lack of contact with people. That is why we sometimes hear people say, “I just want to have my space, I want to be left alone.” What could be the drive for this when naturally man is a social being? This is explicit in today’s liturgy as it centers on the indissolubility of marriage which must be a union between man and woman, and not otherwise. The liturgy draws our attention to the unity that exists in marriage.   The book of Genesis records two accounts of creation. The first account of creation is found in chapter 1 and the second account of creation in chapter 2, which happens to be the first reading of today. In the first account of creation, on the sixth day, God said, “ Let us make man in our image and likeness …” (Gen 1:26), which indicates the unity that exists in the Trinity, th...