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Reflections The Pope Meditation Liturgy Parish News

November 2018 (Year B) Vol. XVI No. 11

Thirty-first Sunday of the Year – 4 November 2018 First Reading (Deut 6:2-6). To love God means to keep his commandments, especially the great commandment of love. Second Reading (Heb 7:23-28). This reading shows the superiority of Christ over the priests of the Old Testament. Gospel (Mk 12:28-34). Jesus tells us what the two most important of God’s commandments are.

Thirty-second Sunday of the Year – 11 November 2018 First Reading (1 Kgs 17:10-16). In the middle of a famine, a poor widow shares the last of her food with the prophet Elijah, and far from losing by so doing, she is enriched. Second Reading (Heb 9:24-28). Through his death Christ has taken our sins upon himself and has opened for us the door to salvation. Gospel (Mk 12:38-44). In the eyes of others the offering of the widow was the least, but in the eyes of Christ it was the greatest.

Thirty-third Sunday of the Year – 18 November 2018 First Reading (Dan 12:1-3). This is part of a vision of the prophet Daniel about the end of time. It introduces the belief in a resurrection of the dead and in retribution after death. Second Reading (Heb 10:11-14.18). This reading insists on the superiority of Christ’s sacrifice over all the sacri-fices of the Old Law. Gospel (Mk 13:24-32).This talks about second coming of Christ, time of which is known only to God.

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe – 25 November 2018 First Reading (Dan 7:13-14). The prophet Daniel foresees the coming of one who will have dominion over all peoples. Christians see this as a reference to Christ, the Universal King. Second Reading (Rev 1:5-8). Christ will take full possession of his kingdom only at the end of time. Gospel (Jn 18:33-37). Jesus declares before Pilate that he is indeed a King, but that his kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world.

The Catholic Cathedral of The Immaculate Conception

Parish Bulletin

Universal: In Service of Peace That the language of love and dialogue may always prevail over the language of conflict.

For meditation, prayer, spirituality — Bible, Prayer & Homiletic Resources (www.frtommylane.com) For evangelization and life in the Spirit — Christ is the key (www.christkey.com) For prayers on line — It's PC to Pray - Sacred Space (www.sacredspace.ie) The Parish Bulletin is also available on the Cathedral website: www.cathedral.catholic.org.hk For Parish info., please contact : (852)2522-8212 or fax: (852)2521-7957 or email: cathedral@catholic.org.hk

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Every human being desires above all to be happy. The only way to find true and lasting happiness is through the supreme, interpersonal Being we call God who is already present in the depths of our conscious and unconscious lives. If this God were unconditionally loving, we would be perfectly and eternally happy. But Jesus does reveal God as unconditionally loving in his own life and teaching and shows us that suffering is not opposed to love: “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn.15:12-13). Suffering becomes a pathway to transcendent happiness because it can lead to a more authentic life, to empathy, humility, forgiveness, and compassion. In the light of Jesus’ promise of resurrection (Jn.11:23-26) and our need to embrace love to enter eternal life, suffering is essential to the purifica-tion of love. Faith in a loving God and the hope of eternal life are necessary for a positive outlook on suffering which is of itself something negative.

Even with faith in an all-loving God, suffering can take us by surprise and initially may hit us hard. We will proba-bly go through the stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression before acceptance. These are natural and defen-sive reactions to suffering. If God does not relieve us of our suffering right away, we can pray that this new chal-lenge will bring humility, empathy, compassion, increase of faith, opportunity to serve others and spread the king-dom of God. We need prayer to connect with a loving God and the guidance of the Spirit to gain perspective and see the opportunities in suffering. The Lord can use suffering to guide us to new perspectives, new opportunities to serve others and the kingdom. Our acceptance of suffering, however, is not a once-off event. We may need to make several re-takes until we see the hand of the Lord more clearly, pointing us towards our eternal salvation and helping others move towards it as well. We are not alone in our suffering which at times can be acute, over-whelming and seemingly all-encompassing. We have God our loving Father, the example of Jesus, the guidance of the Spirit, family and friends as well as the Church community to help and guide us through suffering. Further-more, Jesus has made promises that are true in the lives of those who have faith. “Blessed are those who mourn, they shall be comforted” (Mt.5:4); “Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your-selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Mt.11:28-30). There are practical steps for interpreting suffer-ing which in itself is something negative. They will help us to suffer well.

Christ’s vision of suffering is shown in his definitive victory over suffering and death in his resurrection. Not only is death overcome, but all suffering – physical, psychological and spiritual – is redeemed. That is why the resurrec-tion is at the center of the Christian faith (1 Cor.15:13-19) and provides the context for the whole Christian life including suffering. We view our suffering in the light of our resurrection into eternal glory. After death we will undergo transformation, be freed from suffering and decay. There will be transformation of our body/spirit into a condition of perfect love which is eternal of its nature. The result will be fullness of joy and happiness for all eternity. Suffering therefore has a significant purpose in this life – it moves us towards eternal salvation by purify-ing and deepening love in the areas of empathy, fortitude, courage, humility, forgiveness and compassion. It can shock us out of superficial levels of living and help us grow in faith and trust leading to salvation for oneself and others as well. Without suffering we would have no inclination to move beyond self-sufficiency, autonomy, and self-worship. Suffering can become a gift as a self-offering for the sake of others (Col.1:24). We can make it into a ministry for the life of the world in union with the self-offering of Jesus.

A false notion of God can undermine our capacity to grow in times of suffering. A common misperception is that of an angry God. The metaphor of God’s anger is used in the Bible to expresses the irreconcilable opposition be-tween God and evil, not God’s moods or feelings. It is not contrary to God’s universal love for all his creatures. There is also the false notion that God wants to punish us for our sins, or the terrifying God who will send us to Hell for all eternity if we fail, or that God is indifferent to our suffering and so we have to grin and bear it. False notions of God are not helpful in times of suffering because they close us off to the loving God and make prayer impossible.

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When suffering strikes, the Spirit enters to begin the work of guidance and inspiration. Accordingly, we must trust God who is compassion and love, who works through our suffering to guide us to deeper love and greater wisdom on the way to salvation. God’s primary objective is our salvation and that of others, the maintenance of our free-dom and that of others. His secondary objective is the alleviation of suffering, both ours and others in such a way that will optimise salvation for us without undermining our freedom or that of others. God will not alleviate our suffering or that of others if it leads us away from salvation or undermines our freedom. What is required of us is humility and trust: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God” (Rom.8:28). Though we may have legitimate feelings of abandonment, anger, hurt, bewilderment and depression in the face of undeserved suf-ferings and we can express them (cf. Psalms of lament, Job), however, we cross a self-destructive line when we fail to remain humble before God and accuse him of something he is not. This arrogance can turn into resentment, ha-tred and despair. We need to repent, ask for forgiveness, be open to his way, his guidance, grace and inspiration.

God’s objective is not the immediate alleviation of suffering because he has to consider ours and others’ salvation; the maintenance of ours and others’ freedom for true love demands that it be freely given. If he alleviates our suf-fering he must consider others’ suffering as well in order to avoid favoritism. Being conscious of these avoids our falling into traps like thinking God is absent, is indifferent, or is punishing us. Still God’s power to alleviate suffer-ing cannot be underestimated. We must look for unexpected opportunities that arise in the midst of suffering. If we trust God and his objectives for alleviating suffering, he will help us grow through it, help others through our suffering and bring us to the eternal fullness of joy and love. God acts compassionately even in suffering caused by our sinfulness just like a loving parent does. He acts like Jesus who felt compassion for those he healed and forgave. Since Jesus and the Father are one, to see him is to see the Father who acts with an identical compassion. He is like the father of the prodigal son who, casting aside his dignity, rushed out to meet his returning son, thinking only of all the pain that he must have suffered (Lk.15:20).

God created an imperfect world filled with challenges. Genesis One tells us that God created the world good and very good (7), not perfect, but good for the purpose for which it was created, i.e., to get us to heaven. God created our imperfect world and the forces in nature that act towards their proper ends as true causes. So God does not directly cause pain and suffering, deprivation and calamities, but allows nature to follow its natural course, so that we will be able to deal with the natural world rationally and freely. Nevertheless, we can ask the Lord to free us from suffering within the framework of his plan for our salvation. If we lived in a perfect world there would be no challenge to superficial living and purpose, to self-sufficiency, egoism, self-indulgence and narcissism. The world of suffering is a far better place to help us on the path of salvation, if we choose to avail of it. God does not abandon us in our suffering, though we may feel that way initially in our pain and confusion that isolates us from the out-side world and God. These feelings are natural, but they are not the whole story. We will have to recall our knowledge of how God works through our suffering and is present in it: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me” (Ps.23:4).

Prayer calls us out of ourselves by inviting the Lord into our lives. God always responds to our call for help (Lk.11:9-13), even when we don’t recognise it, e.g., by a sense of peace that everything somehow will be ok, by giv-ing us a sense of direction about the future. But God will not force his help on us, or impose a solution, he waits for us to ask for it in faith and trust and then he responds. Confidence that God hears and responds serves to miti-gate fear and anxiety, fills us with a sense of hope for the future. Prayers in times of suffering provide a conduit for God’s grace. They can be short and frequent like those we find in the Gospels. If we do not pray, we needlessly suf-fer out of ignorance or out of a false sense of pride. Weakness and suffering enable us to see the goodness/lovability as well as the imperfection of others so that we can freely forgive those who have unjustly offended us. Further-more, developing a sense of gratitude for the good things we have and enjoy will counteract feelings of loss and de-pression in times of suffering. Remembering blessings of both the natural and supernatural order can situate this temporary problem of suffering in the context of eternal life.

We need the Spirit’s guidance in times of suffering: “The Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings” (Rom.8:26-27). The Spirit works within the parameters of our freedom using consolation/desolation, fascination/desirability, words/actions of others and external opportunities.

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by Sr. Anna Bagadiong, FSP (Editor)

Saints have lived their lives fully. They have found a purpose and set their whole life on that purpose. They have found other people, and they were ready to respond to the real needs of people. They have experi-enced God and spent their days in His presence. In short the Saints have discovered love and know that to live has to be transformed in to love. For the Saints, to live fully means to love. That’s why they are the most lovable humans.

We too are human, and seek to live a life fully alive, fully in love.

It is appropriate to commemorate All Souls Day by praying for those who have gone before us in faith. Some people also visit the graves of their loved ones to pray for them.

From the earliest days the church has prayed for the deceased. Their judgement is in the hand of God, and we trust in God’s mercy. But we also believe the God cared about us and our concerns, so prayers for our deceased loved ones are appropriate.

The feast of All Souls reminds us of our morality. We are all finite, mor-tal creatures. We are all loved by God, who has endowed us with an im-mortal soul. Our ultimate destiny lies in God’s hands, and even death does not separate us from his love. www.usccb.org

On the first two days of November each year, the Church commemorates two linked feast days: All Saints and All Souls. On All Saints, we remember all those who have lived lives of heroic holiness. On All Souls, we remember all those who have died.

The Solemnity of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 with his Encyclical Quas Primas to respond to growing secularism. He recognized that attempting to “thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law” out of public life would result in continuing discord among people and nations.

In 2018, the Church faces pressures form without and crisis from within. In addition to the challenges that Christians in a secular society must confront, the body of Christ must also tend to wounds inflicted on the Church by priests and bishops who either committed acts of sexual abuse themselves or failed to respond to abuse with justice when they had the opportunity.

The Solemnity reminds the faithful that Christ reigns as king of the entire world forever. Let us rededicate ourselves this year to recognizing the reign of Jesus Christ and his Sacred Heart in every aspect of our lives.

These are steps we can take for suffering well: the conviction about resurrection and eternal life, who God really is, his presence in suffering, prayer in times of suffering, and following the guidance of the Spirit. St Paul assures us: “You can trust God not to let you be tried beyond your strength, and with any trial he will give you a way out of it and the strength to bear it” (1 Cor.10:13). All suffering will ultimately be redressed (Rev.21:4-5). God will grant an eternal life beyond all our imaginings (1 Cor.2:9). It seems then that suffering is not ultimately tragic or negative. For in order to fulfill us completely, God gives us an imperfect world and the human condition as we experience it to enable us to choose who we are and wish to become. This identity we will carry with us into eternity.

“A Light in the Darkness — A Christian View of Suffering” complete article is online at www.cathedral.catholic.org.hk)