The True Meaning of Worship

This 2^nd week of Lent we are treated to the story of Abraham and Isaac on Mt. Moriah on the first reading and the Gospel with the story of Jesus and three disciples on the mount of Transfiguration. The Abraham and Isaac story is very famous. It is not only a child story, make believe story we would like to repeat and re-tell but to really ponder upon.

I think it was 5 years ago when this same story hit me really hard. The shorter version of the reading did not really give us the complete image of how it happened but imagine Isaac carrying the wood but not seeing any lamb needed for the sacrifice. Isaac, to be able to carry the wood must be some kind of a teenager and while he might have no knowledge of what is going to happen as his father assured him the Lord will provide the lamb for burnt offering, he did not resist with his youthful strength and agility when his father bound him. At this time, he knew what is happening and he has willingly submitted himself to his father.

In the ancient world, the true meaning of worship is not about raising your hands and shouting from the top of your voices how much you love God and your willingness to offer your self to Him. God deserves everything because He has given us everything. So ancient peoples instinctively knew that authentic worship is about offering a sacrifice to their gods that is big and precious enough to represent their entire lives. That’s why human sacrifice was so prevalent in ancient times–the offering of the firstborn was seen as the only adequate worship.

In Genesis 22, God stops Abraham before he slays his son. The command to sacrifice Isaac was a test to see if Abraham was truly devoted to God in faith, obedience, and gratitude. God does not want Isaac’s blood, only Abraham’s heart and this is still true today - “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams." 1 Sam. 15:22

In contrast, Jesus did carry the wood on his back that will be used for his sacrifice in obedience to His Father up not to mount Moriah but to mount Golgotha. The ram caught by its horn in a thicket is not a substitute and the sacrifice did not really happen on mount Moriah. Jesus who was crowned with thorns was nailed and died on the cross as the perfect and final sacrifice. The only sacrifice acceptable to the Father to redeem us all from our sins.

Although it is we who owe everything to God, it is he who sacrificed everything for us. This is the whole story of the Gospel. This is what Jesus means every time he says – behold, the time is now, repent for the kingdom of God has come.

Only a few weeks ago, we celebrated the Word who became flesh and dwelt amongst us. In the next few weeks, we will again witness and hopefully experience the same God whose love for us surpasses all the love we know and we can ever experience.

Remember, Jesus did not want to stay in the mount of Transfiguration as the three apostles suggested. He wanted us to wake up and realize that when we said yes to Him – it means we will have to deny our selves, carry our crosses and take the footsteps where He had trodden.

As we enter deeply into the Lenten season, let us renew and deepen our dedication to Him by expressing to Him a sacrifice that is truly meaningful and lasting. Let us graduate from sacrificing something just during Lent, but something big enough that will last our lifetime.

PAID IN FULL

Tetelestai! Jesus’ final word on the cross as He expires. Etymology – Greek which literally means “it is finished.” In accounting term, it means – paid in full! Jesus, the Word who became flesh, the greatest Lover shouted from the cross to His Father - it is finished, I have paid the debt in full. What was yours that were stolen by human pride and have long been kept captive have been redeemed and now they can come home.

The prison gate is now open and all we must do is walk out. In the similar historical account, where God through Moses, the Israelites had to come out of Egypt and journey towards the promised land. Unfortunately, like the many Jews when they started to see and experience the hardship of the long and arduous journey to the promised land prefer to have remained in Egypt as slaves, like many of us who prefer to remain in the comfort of our cells where we have grown familiar all our lives. This is the sad story for many of us, because we have not learned to trust God and our eyes have failed to see with faith the new life God has prepared for us.

The Church, remaining faithful to her mission has given us the season of Lent. The days of Lent are like signposts that point us to the reality. This Ash Wednesday, as ashes is marked on our foreheads, we have again been reminded “thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return” or a better expression – “repent and believe in the Gospel.” It is a compelling reminder of who we are, about our beginning and our end. The beginning and the end belonging to God and anything in between is what we call our journey in life.

London to Paris, Feb. 15, 2018
 writing this blog

We are all on a journey to find our home, which is our life’s purpose. But life, if it does not know it's purpose will not reach the goal and there is nothing to complete. 

In the same way as I write this post - we are travelling on a train from Westminster to Paris and in the next 10 days and to many other places we have never been. Unfamiliar places and culture with no permanent address, we hop the train, the bus, taxis/uber and walk (a lot of walking) to get where we need to be. That we are just transient and while we try to enjoy this journey, we know we will have to come home one day. But most modern man, has lost his address and cannot return home.

We were not redeemed at a discounted rate, we were paid in full including the exorbitant interests. But Jesus in respect to our free will can’t force us to walk out of our prison cell. We will have to make that choice and make the actual steps and sometimes, it is a leap of faith. St. Paul, at the end of his life has said: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). His faith was trust that life has a goal, and it is realized in the eternal existence offered by the Creator who made us in his image.

Our destination, our heavenly home and address - #143 Paradise Dr., Eternal State, Heaven 12344. Do you have the same address? How are you planning to get there?

Freedom to love God

I have done my first RCIA Catechumen presentation for the year 2018 at St. Albert the Great Parish last night on the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and despite the heavy snow and the frigid temperature, we were almost full house - about 20 or more including sponsors. I feel bad because I wasn't feeling very well and definitely not in my A game and feels like I was floating in the air when I was doing my presentation. It could be a combination of many things - lack of sleep, fatigue, pressures both from work and driving in this treacherous, horrendous snowy conditions and blood sugar dropping down.

While there was some kind of feeling of guilt or sorry by not able to give my best because of my own limitations, I have come to realize that things like this happen and the only thing I can do is to rely and trust that even in this seemingly poor performance in the secular standard, still, God is at work. I have received in the end a lot of compliments and this proves that His power is not diminished and in the end, His will and purpose always prevails. Isaiah 55:11.

When we talk about the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, we could not help but to talk and reflect on the issues of pain and suffering, life and death, and many other hosts of issues about the will of God happening in our lives. There is a great many of us, well meaning Christians/Catholics that without blinking eyes would always profess that we want the will of God to happen in our lives. If we examine ourselves seriously, for most part it is more a wishful thinking and not really faith or an act of surrender to God. This is because we have a different understanding of what God wants to happen in our lives versus our own determination of what we want to happen in our lives. This is the reason why Churches of prosperity preachers are mostly well attended than those who preach the true Gospel. The Gospel of the Cross and Resurrection. That God's will for us is to be with Him in heaven and before we are re-united to our resurrected bodies at the end of time, we will have to carry and bear with our crosses for the rest of our lives. I am not sure if there is a better way to put it but there are hardships and obligations that come with our faith and Jesus Himself affirms that the road to Heaven is narrow and full of trouble. Mat. 7: 13-14.

The highest attribute of God is love. In this same love, He created us and the whole universe and the many other things that science have not proven or have not yet explored. In this same love, God calls us and invites us to love him back. This He did by giving us the gift of "free will." That in choosing to love Him back, He will not violate that gift. That as a free man, I will gladly and freely choose God and to live my life in accordance to His statutes.

So, if God will hinder me or intervene that I don't pull the trigger of a gun to kill a person, then I am not free. If am forced to feed the hungry, cloth the naked and visit the sick, as I am forced to do good just like a machine with an "on" and "off" switch, then I am not really free. It would have been better for God to have created machines that He can manipulate to bow down before Him in worship anytime He wishes. But then, His very own nature is violated.

I know this is a bit overwhelming for many of us and I don't think I can find enough words to truly give justice to what I am trying to say. But I remember an ancient story somewhere that probably best parallel how God's will happen in our lives...

There was an old farmer who lives in his own farm with one horse and with his wife and only son. One day, the horse got loose and ran away. A neighbor came and remarked "what a bad luck, the only horse you have as a source of your income is gone." The farmer shrugged his shoulders and said " what do I know about good or bad luck?" After a few days, the horse came back with 100 more wild horses. The farmer now owns not only 1 horse but another 100. The same neighbor came back and exhorted "maybe it is not bad luck that your horse ran away." The farmer again shrugged his shoulders and said " What do I know about good or bad luck?" A few more days, while his son was training one of the wild horses got kicked and broke his leg. The nosy neighbor came back again and sarcastically remarked "definitely not good luck, your son who helps you in the farm is now a cripple." Again, the farmer remarked "what do I know about good or bad luck?" A few more weeks, war broke out and militia came to their town and forcing all ablled body to join the army. When they got to the farmer's house and found the crippled young man, they left him behind because he is of no use to the militatry.  

I don't remember how the story ended, but I think the story reveals that there are things that happen in our lives and we won't really know what God intends. For me the moral of the story is not to worry about the "good" and the "bad" that happen in our lives. The will of God is not only manifested in the "good" but also in the "bad." His ultimate will in our lives is that we be with Him in heaven. But this is only possible for those who will persevere in faith until the end. For only a man of faith can exercise the virtue of trust in God's love in the midst of all the "good" and "bad" that may happen or is happening in our lives.

When we come face to face with Him, we can ask all the questions. But for now, we pray for the grace to persevere, to trust, hope and believe in the love of God. Amen.