Lent is a season of introspection, a time of taking personal inventory and self-examination. These six weeks, set aside each year by the Church provides an annual opportunity for spiritual cleansing. Lent is an invitation to recognize failures and sinfulness, to seek forgiveness and to form a new resolve in order to grow deeper in faith, fervent love and firm hope. In this holy season, the Church invites us to turn our gaze to God. First reading: Genesis 9:8–15 Genesis 9:12-15 explains the origin of the rainbow as a sort of divine memo hanging colourfully across the sky reminding us…

Brothers and sisters, on this Ash Wednesday we enter a season of penance and mortification for forty days that precede Easter being called to reconcile with God. Through symbolic ashes, we are reminded that we are sinners created from dust always in need of mercy and forgiveness from God cf. Genesis 18:27. To share in his resurrection we have to be cleansed from sin. The spiritual practice of applying ashes to our forehead is a sign of atonement. cf. Jeremiah 6:26. In these forty days, we are reminded to abstain, fast, pray and do acts of charity. This is the…

Through the centuries, humanity has suffered a myriad illness some of which have altered the course of history. Nearer to our times, various cancers continue to afflict and kill thousands and have yet to be controlled. Leprosy was one of those feared ailments that once it punched, victims would be quarantined. Separated from the rest of society, the person suffered immensely first from illness, then isolation and victimization because of being referred to as living dead. First reading: Leviticus 13:1–2, 44–46 In a tentative exposition of Leviticus 13, is a cry of mercy by a leper “let my prayers come…

Work is whatever we expend energy on for the sake of accomplishing and achieving something. Ideally, work is not what we do for a living but what we do with our living. Fortunate are those whose work is fulfilling. Work becomes a blessing when we love it and are willing to make a living out of it! In each of our three readings for today, we are invited to explore the importance of work and to learn a lesson in work ethics. First reading: Job 7:1–4, 6–7 The book of Job is one of the masterful pieces of literature in…

At every age, there have been people of courage willing to risk their lives for others for a greater good. Such an initiative requires a thick skin strong enough to endure hardships and a warm heart to forgive and forget with a willingness to be lonely and unpopular. Those who attempt this difficult task should expect no gratitude for their efforts; rather bear the brunt of criticism and at times hostility. Those seeking stability and personal satisfaction should channel their efforts elsewhere. First reading: Deuteronomy 18:15–20 Moses was an exemplary personality who displayed how prophetic ministry was to nurture and…

The common belief is that God’s concerns are universal and that his mercy has been extended to all people. In practice, however, we realize a gaping rift between the ideal and the reality. Such a discrepancy can be answered in one word: PREJUDICE. Prejudice creates the gaping rift between God’s universal vision and our often myopic and selective insight. Prejudice decides that certain people are better than others and worthy of attention. Prejudice organized and executed systematically six million Jews because it was thought that their beliefs and were a threat to racial purity. Prejudice known as apartheid kept South…