I sent a photo this week to a friend of a place we visited sometime ago. To which I had a simple but profound reply, “Enjoy the present”. We do not live enough of the present. We regret or are haunted by our past. Then we are too anxious for our future, stress accompanying our modern lifestyle. In between those, we are lost to the present. We forget and are not present to each passing minute, each passing moment.

“‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’” (Today’s Gospel)

When Mary said this, she was not letting her past bother, or the future worry her. In this declaration, she decided on trusting his Providence and chose to always live in the present acknowledging the constant presence of God in her. Her questions about tomorrow were answered internally by her acceptance of what the angel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you”. God acts in our present more so than we really know. Why? Because very often we are absent from the present.

We have become chronically ill. Much of this illness is self-inflicted although we can handily blame our mobile devices. We struggle to have conversations without glancing at our phones. We see groups of people, families or friends, sharing meals together. Brilliant at the start but not long after, we are multi-tasking having a conversation and eating while also being present to our phones. There are a lot of distractions these days taking us away from the present.

Then there is this incessant need of photo-taking. I know because I am like that too. Photos record the present for the future. While doing so, they also take us away from the experience of a breath-taking present. A beautiful landscape is best enjoyed by being present to it. A few minutes spent marveling creation is a good tonic to appreciate life. Then there are events, a wonderful concert or a pulsating football match, events that call out to us to live the present but instead we try to record it for the future. Simple, innocent everyday fun but they can take us far away.

But above all what matters most is our spiritual life. We stuck ourselves into the past when we harbour grudges allowing them to swell into unforgiveness causing us to bicker and fight. We are also stuck with past hurts that hardened into stones of bitterness immobilizing us to move into the present. Christmas is the coming of our Lord into our personal life. It is in the present, not the past or future, where we experience this Emmanuel, of God dwelling in our relationships: A presence that will heal us from our past.

This Christmas gift that awaits us. But we must become present to the present to enjoy this present. Like Mary it begins deep inside us to fully trust the presence of God in our daily life. Let this Christmas be that acceptance. “Be it done unto me according to thy will”. Let us embrace this healing for our past.

4^th Sunday of Advent

I was sat in an armchair in this unpretentious café. In today’s descriptions, not a very ‘Instagram-worthy’ place. But for me a real place for a real cuppa. The armchair has seen better days. In its past it was one of the more sought-after sofa, primed in design and comfort. Then there were the Christmas decorations, again its looks suggesting it had been in and out of the cupboard for a great number of years. It was the setting to reflect on the past.

The Gospel of this past Sunday was again on John the Baptist. A friend shared before mass that in the Orthodox Church John the Baptist is known as John the Forerunner. The forerunner for Christ, the one who pointed Christ to others. I like this very much, for me somewhat a more accurate description than the Baptist. It is easier for our humbles selves to accept that we too through our life lived can be forerunners of Christ to others.

“The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken”. (Last Sunday’s First Reading)

Christmas can be a lonely time for some people. Outward rejoicing but inward anxieties. Maybe this year more so because of the consequences of the pandemic. Some of us have no more jobs. Christmas can also be a time of regret for some. Outward rejoicing but inward hurt; people hurt by events in their past, trapped because they have not been healed. As we wrap our gifts for Christmas, can we think of hearts that are broken that we can help bind up? After all we are forerunners of Christ, the gift we should be giving.

A picture of a shepherd rescuing a sheep entangled in a thorny bush comes to mind. Sometimes we need to accompany someone to go back into their past. It is too painful for them to go back alone. A painful past cannot be simply locked away. An unhealed past creates an unsure future because we are still entangled in a mix of negative emotions. This Advent let us venture into the wilderness of the past as a forerunner and help someone to meet Christ and begin the process of healing.

Maybe this “someone” can be our self too. If so let us not hesitate to grab the hands of the shepherds around us, people who we trust and have a stronger faith life. They are our forerunners. Let us gift our self the important gift of healing. Let us banish the past by responding to the voice that cries out in our wilderness and emerge from it.

“He was not the light, only a witness to speak for the light.” (Last Sunday’s Gospel)

On that first Christmas night, it was the shepherds who were first to come to pay homage. Then they went out to tell their world of family and friends. They were the first forerunners; we are not the light, only witnesses to speak for the light. This morning my friends in Singapore shared the rush online to book limited seats for Christmas mass. This has a parallel to the past, that first Christmas, summoned as shepherds to come to pay homage, summoned online.

There is a Christmas purpose. Summoned to be forerunners as shepherds to rescue our family and friends trapped in the wilderness of their past. Unwrap the gift of healing with love.

For the 3rd Sunday of Advent

We the lay faithful have this mission to make the invisible visible. Christmas trees have sprouted everywhere in Bangkok. The pandemic cannot stop this spirit. I was at dinner with a group of Thai friends and mentioned was made that Christmas is their favourite time of the year. Yet, they asked me a Christian to tell them what Christmas actually signified. That was an Advent awakening for me to realise that this spirit of Christmas seeps into every pore of humanity and it is up to us the lay faithful to rise and point to the reason for the season.

Advent is this season of preparation for the coming of our Lord. It isn’t only about the birth of Jesus and the ensuing celebrations. It is also about our preparations for our end time. But of most significance to us as lay faithful, it is the coming of Christ, the presence of our Almighty God, humbled into the reality of our daily life. Many people cannot see this presence and so it is left to us the lay faithful to make visible the invisible.

“Look, I am going to send my messenger before you; he will prepare your way. A voice cries in the wilderness: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.” (Today’s Gospel)

The Gospel passage speaks of John the Baptist. Today’s Gospel is Mark’s. In the Gospel of John there was a scene following next week’s passage where John the Baptist was with two disciples and saw Jesus walking by and he pointed out exclaiming, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” Advent is this preparation to recognize the presence of Christ in our daily life and if we are disciples, the lay faithful, then it must be that we are called to be “John the Baptist” to the people in our life, to point out this presence to those who do not know and cannot see.

“Console my people, console them” (First Reading). “Let us see, O Lord, your mercy, and give us your saving help.” (Responsorial Psalm).

We point out Jesus to others. How? Everyone has a story. Our life journey is uniquely personal. God is present in every story, in every person. Emmanuel, God with us, is the promised gift of Christmas to every person. But not everyone sees or feels this presence for various reasons. We must always exchange our stories and as lay faithful listen with compassion. In every story we will see Jesus in the chapters, in the turning points, in blessings and consolations. These we must point out otherwise they will not realise who Jesus is.

These days, the human mind seeks out experiences to be gratified and convinced. Our stories are our personal experiences in life. Seeing Jesus in our personal chapters is experiencing and encountering Him. And it gratifies.

This Christmas in this age of the new normal, give this gift of change. Many people share a common misconception of our Almighty God. They cannot get their minds around the fact that God, almighty as He is, comes into the midst of the little details of our personal life. Who me? We are called to make real for others this presence of God in their life. Small, little constant acts of good for one another make God real and visible.

Christmas trees always bring cheer to everyone even to those who do not know the meaning of Christmas. The joy is contagious. We are the lay faithful called to sprout in the life of others radiant and bright like a Christmas tree.

The Second Sunday of Advent