Tucked away within a series of parables is this gem, a corner stone of the message of Jesus. Jesus is faced with a challenge to his teaching authority. First it was with the Sadducees, the elite supporters of the priestly cast, then it was the […]
Though Australia is a secular society in which everyone is free to practice the faith of one’s choice, however, freedom of religion should never be confused with freedom from religion in which our society gets rid of anything religious;
Based on the first Reading, we realise that the banquet envisaged in the Gospel is not an earthly meal, but an eternal banquet in the Kingdom of God to which the people of Israel and the non-Jews, (Gentiles), were the first and the second invitees respectively. The host of the banquet is Jesus Christ and the servants sent out refers to the prophets in the Old Testament and the apostles and disciples in the New Testament.
From the first Reading and the Gospel, we can deduce that God cares about us. The planting of the vineyard on a fertile soil is symbolic of God caring for us. God expects us to reciprocate his love by living good lives. He gives us chances to repent when we misbehave. This is typified in the story by the landowner sending two sets of his servants and his son to the tenants. The Readings also point to God’s justice. Bad behaviours can lead to negative consequences.
Jesus said that he had not come to call the virtuous, but to call sinners to repentance. His arms spread on the Cross is for everyone to come to him. Come to Jesus then, and you will experience the fullness of grace, for he came that you may have life and have it to the fullness. Let us stand up for integrity of life for a good name is better than silver and gold!
This Sunday, the Readings are all about the human sense of justice contrasted with the extravagant grace and love of a merciful and compassionate God. God rewards us, not in the measure of what we do, but according to our need and His good will. […]
Forgiveness does not exclude the probability of the perpetrators facing prosecution if they had committed criminal offenses or making amends for the harm they had caused. There are three constituent parts of the Sacrament of Reconciliation: contrition, confession, and restitution. Restitution requires us to restore what we have damaged, like the good name of somebody. It may also include undergoing imprisonment for one’s reformation.
My dear people of God, today we salute and congratulate our fathers as we celebrate Father’s Day in this extra-ordinary circumstance. I realise that this Father’s Day would be exceedingly difficult for some dads whose children or grandchildren would be unable to visit them due […]
Jesus in expounding God’s plan for Him to redeem the world, informed His disciples unequivocally that He was that suffering servant of the Lord and that the Lord had destined Him “ to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day.” This was shocking news to his followers especially Peter, whose idea of a Messiah was a political leader who would dethrone the Roman occupiers, (Acts 1:6-7).