During these Sundays of the Easter Season, the Church takes us back to the Last Supper, giving us a chance to dig deeper into its meaning.

Throughout his Last Supper discourse, Christ's constant refrain is: if you love me, you will keep my commandment. That commandment is to "love one another as I have loved you" (John 13:34), the commandment of Christian charity. These are his parting words to his closest disciples, the last flow of love from his Sacred Heart before it is broken and pierced.

They are special words. We need to hear them, to let them sink in. Jesus knows that these twelve men are normal, fallen human beings. They are weak and ignorant, stubborn, and headstrong.

And yet, he also knows that they truly love him. They want to be his disciples. They are just like us: flawed, but committed. He earnestly desires to teach them how to live out their commitment to him, and so he gives them his new commandment: love one another, as I have loved you.

That is the mark of a Christian, a true follower of Jesus Christ. It's not in pretty words, fancy rituals, and complicated prayers. It's in following the example of Christ, who gave his life for us on the cross. To give our lives, leaving behind our comfort zones in order to help our neighbors and build a better world, to be truthful, responsible, honest, pure, and faithful even when it feels like we're being crucified, that's how we follow Christ.

This is the path to loving him and living life to the full. It was the path he taught his Apostles, it's the path he teaches us, and it's the path he blazed before us by his passion, death, and resurrection. 

July 16th the Church celebrates the feast of our Lady of Mount Carmel. To prepare this celebration we will hold a Novena prayer of our Lady of Mount Carmel (every Thursday start from May 14th) and learn carmelite spirituality and Marian spirituality.

Mount Carmel

We know about Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of La Salette, our lady of Donglu etc. These names are associated with the place where Mother Mary appeared. But not so with the name of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Mary never appeared on the Mount Carmel. The name of this title is associated with the hermits on Mount Carmel. Hermits lived on Mount Carmel near the Fountain of Elijah in northern Israel in the 12th century.

Mount Carmel is a biblical place where the prophet Elijah dwelt. It rises 1,742 feet above sea level and towers above Israel's Mediterranean coastline. It was here where Elijah prayed to God for the salvation of Israel, which was suffering a terrible drought at the time. He continued to pray and sent his servant up the mountain several times to look for rain. On the seventh try, Elijah's servant returned with good news. "Behold a little cloud arose out of the sea like a man's foot" (1 Kings 1:44). Soon thereafter, torrential rains fell upon the parched land and the people of Israel were saved.

Elijah saw the cloud as a symbol of the Virgin mentioned in the prophecies of Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14). The hermits who lived on Mount Carmel followed Elijah's example and prayed for the advent of the much-awaited Virgin, who would become the mother of the Messiah. The origins of the Carmelite Order can be traced back to Elijah and his hermited disciples.

Hermits and Our Lady

Hermits had a chapel dedicated to Our Lady. By the 13th century they became known as "Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel." They soon celebrated a special Mass and Office in honor of Mary. In 1726, it became a celebration of the universal Church under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. For centuries the Carmelites have seen themselves as specially related to Mary. Their great saints and theologians have promoted devotion to her and often championed the mystery of her Immaculate Conception.

The Carmelites were known from early on as "Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel." The title suggests that they saw Mary not only as "mother," but also as "sister." The word sister is a reminder that Mary is very close to us. She is the daughter of God and therefore can help us be authentic daughters and sons of God. She also can help us grow in appreciation of being sisters and brothers to one another. She leads us to a new realization that all human beings belong to the family of God. When such a conviction grows, there is hope that the human race can find its way to peace.

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.

From ancient times, philosophers have summed up the human condition as a quest to answer three fundamental questions: What should I do? What can I know? What can I hope for?

In response to the common-sense comment of doubting Thomas, Jesus Christ gives us the definitive answer to each one of these questions when he tells us that he is the way, the truth, and the life.

Actually, Jesus doesn't just give the answers; he is the answers. "I am the way" can translate into: "What should you do? Follow me! Do what I have done."

"I am the truth" means: "What can you know? You can know everything, if only you know me.

"Knowing me, more and more every day, you know the secret behind the workings of the whole universe and the deepest yearnings of the human heart, because I made them both. I am the eternal Word, the very Wisdom of God."

"I am the life" means: "What can you hope for? In me, through me, you can hope for the fullness of life that you long for in the very depths of your soul. "You can hope for your very own room in my Father's house, in heaven - I have gone to prepare it for you. "In my Father's house all sorrows turn to joy, all weakness turns to strength, and life grows more alive as eternity unfolds.

Christ is truly the living water that quenches every thirst. He is truly the light that scatters every type of darkness. The quest of every man and woman to satisfy the heart's deepest needs is the quest to seek his face.

As St Augustine famously wrote, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in God." And Jesus Christ is God.

The month of May is the "month which the piety of the faithful has especially dedicated to Our Blessed Lady," and it is the occasion for a "moving tribute of faith and love which Catholics in every part of the world [pay] to the Queen of Heaven. During this month Christians, both in church and in the privacy of the home, offer up to Mary from their hearts an especially fervent and loving homage of prayer and veneration. In this month, too, the benefits of God's mercy come down to us from her throne in greater abundance" (Paul VI: Encyclical on the Month of May, no. 1).

This Christian custom of dedicating the month of May to the Blessed Virgin arose at the end of the 13th century. In this way, the Church was able to Christianize the secular feasts which were wont to take place at that time. In the 16th century, books appeared and fostered this devotion.

The practice became especially popular among the members of the Jesuit Order — by 1700 it took hold among their students at the Roman College and a bit later it was publicly practiced in the Gesu Church in Rome. From there it spread to the whole Church.

The practice was granted a partial indulgence by Pius VII in 1815 and a plenary indulgence by Pius IX in 1859. With the complete revision of indulgences in 1966 and the decreased emphasis on specific indulgences, it no longer carries an indulgence; however, it certainly falls within the category of the First General Grant of Indulgences. (A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who, in the performance of their duties and in bearing the trials of life, raise their mind with humble confidence to God, adding — even if only mentally — some pious invocation.

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/05_1.cfm

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.

Jesus wants us to know who he is: The Good Shepherd, who protects and cares for the people of God, just as a shepherd does his sheep.

Shepherds always want their sheep to be healthy and happy. They want them to have the best grass, fresh water, and safety, so that they can grow and multiply as much as possible.

A sheep has no greater friend than a good shepherd, and we have no greater friend than Christ. He invented life, he gave us life, and he came so that, in him, we might learn to live it "more abundantly".

He does not claim to be one good shepherd among many good shepherds, but the only one: "All others who have come are thieves and robbers."

Some religious leaders and philosophers throughout history - and even in our own day - have claimed to be saviours, to have all the answers, but they were really consumed by pride, greed, or lust.

Others have sincerely sought to better this world, but simply have insufficient wisdom or power to provide the human family with the kind of hope we long for and need.

Jesus Christ, on the other hand, not only wants to lead us to a more abundant life, but he can. Omniscient, omnipotent, and eternal, he combines utter goodness with infinite wisdom and unlimited power.

And so, with his flock, the problem is not the shepherd's limitations or ignorance, but the sheep's lack of docility: we stray from the flock and trap ourselves in thistles and swamps of self-centeredness, self-indulgence, and stubborn disobedience.

As Christians, we actually don't have just a good shepherd, but the perfect shepherd. All we need is to be sensible sheep and listen to the voice of the One we know.

The Liturgy of the Word

In response to their concerns and struggles the Lord breaks open the Word of God, the Scriptures. Not only does the Lord refer to Scripture but he interprets it for them. Hence the Word is not only read, there is also a homily, an explanation and application of the Scripture to the struggles these men have. Whatever struggles we may have brought to the Mass, the Lord bids us to listen to his Word as the Scriptures are proclaimed. Then the homilist interprets and applies the Word to our life.

After the homily we usually make prayers and requests of Christ. And so it is that we also see these two disciples request of Christ: Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over. (Luke 24:29)

The Liturgy of the Eucharist

Christ does stay with them and then it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them (Luke 24:30). The two disciples will refer back to this moment as the breaking of the bread at the last supper (Luke 24:35) A fascinating thing happens though: With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight (Luke 24:31). First note that it is the very act of consecration that opens their eyes.

Are we not to learn to recognize Christ by the very mysteries we celebrate? The liturgy and the sacraments are not mere rituals, they are encounters with Jesus Christ, and though our repeated celebration of the holy mysteries our eyes are increasingly opened if we are faithful. We learn to see and hear Christ in the liturgy, to experience his ministry to us. The fact that he vanishes from their sight teaches us that he is no longer seen by the eyes of the flesh, but by the eyes of faith and the eyes of the heart. So, though he is gone from our earthly, fleshly, he is now to be seen in the Sacrament of Eucharist, and experienced in the liturgy and other sacraments. The Mass has reached its pinnacle, for these two disciples and for us.

Dismissal Rite

Not able to contain their joy the two disciples run seven miles back to Jerusalem to tell their brethren what had happened and how they encountered Jesus in the breaking of the bread. They want to, have to, speak of the Christ they have encountered, what he said and what he did.

How about us? At the end of every Mass the priest or deacon says "The Mass is ended, go in peace." This does NOT mean, "OK, we're done here." What it DOES mean is: "Go now into the world and bring the Christ you have received to others. Tell them what you have heard and seen here, what you have experienced. Share the joy and hope that this Liturgy gives with others." You are being commissioned, sent on a mission to announce Christ to others.

So there it is, the Mass on the Move. The teaching is clear, the risen Lord Jesus is now to be found in the Liturgy and the Sacraments. It is for us only to have our eyes opened and to recognize him there.

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm. 

Frustration is a function of expectations. We become frustrated, or discouraged, because the reality of what happens doesn't measure up to what we were expecting.

This is true for small things - as when an unforeseen traffic jam threatens to make us late for an important appointment. But it is also true for big things. Desperate actions, like suicide, adultery, or apostasy, often follow in the wake of a deep disappointment, a fundamental clash between the reality of life and our expectations for life.

Today Jesus wants to adjust our expectations. If we let him do that, it will be a major milestone in our spiritual lives.

In three different ways, today's Readings present us with a biblical metaphor for what human life in this fallen world really is.

The Psalm explains that God is faithful, that if we stay close to him, he will safely "show us the path to life, abounding joy in God's presence, the delights at his right hand forever."

The path to eternal life - that's the metaphor for what this earthly adventure really is. And in the Second Reading, St Peter tells us to "conduct ourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning."

A time of sojourning, of journeying. We are on our way home; we are pilgrims heading towards heaven, towards our Father's house. The Gospel passage is a living parable for the same truth - Jesus walking with his disciples along the road to Emmaus.

That's was this life is - a pilgrimage, a journey, a path.

If we truly see life this way, as it truly is, we will expect what pilgrims expect: joys and adventures, yes, but also hardship, danger, and suffering.

But if we expect somehow to achieve perfect happiness with no hardships here and now - then we open the door to constant disappointment, frustration, and deep sadness. 

The story of two disciples on the road to Emmaus not only present a resurrection story. It also presents the Mass. Through this story Saint Luke teaches us that the Mass is the essential and most vivid way that we encounter Christ.

Gathering Rite

That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, (Lk 24:13). This is what we do as the preliminary act of every Mass. We who are pilgrims on a journey come together on our journey. The text goes on to inform us that they did not recognize Jesus yet.

Now for us who gather at Mass it is essential to acknowledge by faith that when we gather together, the Lord Jesus is with us, for Scripture says, For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them (Matt 18:20). It is a true fact that for many of us too, Jesus is unrecognized! Yet he is no less among us than he was present to these two disciples who fail to recognize him.

Liturgically we acknowledge the presence of the Lord at the beginning of the Mass in two ways. First, as the priest processes down the aisle the congregation sings a hymn of praise. And thereby he announces the presence of Christ among us promised by the Scriptures. The Mass has begun, our two disciples are gathered and the Lord is with them. So too for us at every Mass.

Penitential Rite

The two disciples seem troubled and the Lord inquires of them the source of their distress: What are you discussing as you walk along? (Lk 24:17) In effect the Lord invites them to speak with him about what is troubling them. It may also be a gentle rebuke from the Lord that the two of them are walking away from Jerusalem, away from the site of the resurrection. Clearly their sorrow and distress are governing their behavior. Even though they have already heard evidence of his resurrection (Cf 24:22-24), they seem hopeless and have turned away from this good news. Thus the Lord engages them is a kind of gentle penitential rite and wants to engage them on their negativity.

So too for us at Mass. The penitential rite is a moment when the celebrant invites us to lay down our burdens and sins before the Lord who alone can heal us. We too often enter the presence of God looking downcast and carrying many burdens and sins. We too like these two disciples may be walking in wrongful directions. And so the Lord says to us, in effect, "What are you thinking about and doing as you walk along. Where are you going with your life?"

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm. 

In response to the pandemic and under the diocese guidelines, public masses (including Sunday masses) were suspended since February 12th in St. Anne's. Up till now, there is no instruction for easing the constraints! Donations from our parishioners are the major sources of income for the operating expenses of the parish. With the physical absence of our parishioners, the amount of church donations has dwindled significantly, and will soon endanger the smooth running of the parish.

For all of you who may wish to contribute to the much-needed financial support of our parish, there are 3 ways that Sunday donations can be made:

Direct donation to the parish Donation box in the church (in person).

Donation by cheque through mail or in person.

• Cheque should be made payable to: St. Anne's Church
• Mailing Address: 1 Tung Tau Wan Road, Stanley, Hong Kong
• Attention: Parish Secretary

Direct bank transfer to the parish account

• ICBC A/C: (072) 713 01000 3995
• Account: St. Anne's Church

*Receipt will be issued on request*

Please provide personal information (donor's name, mailing address & mobile phone number) for the receipt.

For in-person donation, please inform parish priest or secretary.

For cheques or bank deposit donation, please write down 'DONATION' at the back of slip (together with personal information), and pass to parish secretary (by hand or mail) before end of the month.

The parish is our home. Everyone loves Her!

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. We are celebrating the gift of Divine Mercy. Today's Gospel takes us back to the evening of that first Easter Sunday. The disciples have gathered back together, but more out of fear than of faith: they had all abandoned Our Lord on the Cross. How could they expect mercy after what they'd done?

Jesus tells them twice, "Peace be with you." He shows them his hands and feet so that they can see the wounds and know it's not a dream or an illusion, and the fact that they abandoned him for was not a dream or illusion either: The sin really happened, the price really had to be paid for that sin, He paid the price in full. With the words "Peace be with you," He says what's past is past.

When Jesus says "Peace be with you" twice in this passage he is showing us that forgiveness is not a one shot deal, or else Baptism would be enough: we're always in need of his mercy because we continue to battle with our sins.

When we examine our lives, we always see moments where we could have done more and better, and Confession gives us the peace and grace to keep trying to do more and better.

In the revelations of his Divine Mercy, Jesus asked St Faustina to commission a painting. The painting would show Jesus standing, dressed in a white alb, with his right hand raised in blessing and his left hand opening his heart.

Out of his heart there were to be streaming two beams of light - one white and the other red. He explained what those rays symbolized:

The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous [baptism]. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls [the Eucharist]. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross ... Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him (Diary, 299).

Today Jesus is reminding us of the power and abundance of his mercy. We should be full of joy and confidence at this reminder.

But what about all of our brothers and sisters who aren't with us? What about all our neighbours, colleagues, and classmates who have never experienced Christ's mercy or never heard about it?

Jesus died for them too. And he is sending us to be messengers of his mercy to them. By our kind, truthful words, avoiding all gossip and useless criticism, we shine forth the white light of Christ's mercy. And by our selfless acts of service to others, seeking no reward except the joy of following Christ, we become extensions of the red ray of Christ's very own life, given up for us on the cross.

Today, as Christ feeds us once again from the very fountain of mercy, Holy Communion, let's ask him for the grace to be living images, living paintings, of his mercy in this world so wounded by sin.

This second Sunday of Easter is the celebration of the Feast of the Divine Mercy. In a decree dated 23 May 2000, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments stated that "throughout the world the Second Sunday of Easter will receive the name Divine Mercy Sunday, a perennial invitation to the Christian world to face, with confidence in divine benevolence, the difficulties and trials that mankind will experience in the years to come." The celebration of Divine Mercy Sunday is an opportunity to reflect on the theme of how God's mercy can overcome sin.

The first revelation of Jesus in His message of Divine Mercy to St. Faustina on 22nd February 1931 was to say how much He desired mankind to avail of the infinite mercy of God on earth and this was why He was establishing the Feast of His Mercy. So, the Feast of Mercy was the first revelation in the message of Divine Mercy and is considered the first and most important element of the whole devotion.

Jesus devoted fourteen revelations in all, more than He devoted to any other element of this devotion because of the importance of the extraordinary graces He desired to give to all souls on this holy day. He stated, "I desire that My mercy be worshiped, and I am giving mankind the last hope of salvation; that is, recourse to My mercy. My Heart rejoices in this Feast". (Diary 998)

The Feast of Mercy is the most important day of the year within the devotion to Divine Mercy. Jesus offers us extraordinary graces on this special holy day, a new feast day within the church. It is akin to a second baptism and a complete cleansing of our souls, a grace we will probably never fully comprehend. We must take seriously the conditions for receiving the graces offered to us on the Feast of Mercy and make every effort to meet the requirements for receiving these unfathomable graces on the Feast of Mercy. We must remember that the Feast of Mercy is a gift from God to mankind and He wishes everyone to avail of His mercy so that all will be saved. We should be immensely grateful to Jesus for the kindness and goodness He shows us on this truly unique and special Feast of God's infinite mercy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEdPsgN2hV0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj2pq7dhLzI

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm. 

• Although public masses on Sunday and daily masses are currently suspended, our Church remains open from 07:00 to 20:00.  Everyone is welcome to come and pray. (However, please note that St. Anne's Church is closed on Easter Monday, 13 Apr 2020.)
• There will be an exposition of the Sacrament so that parishioners can make a personal adoration: Sun 09:30a m – 12:30 pm / Tue-Fri 09:30 am – 10:30 am
• For personal spiritual exercises, parishioners may visit resources such as www.catholic.org.hk or http://sundayex.catholic.org.hk or other resources that are familiar to you.
• Parking at St. Stephen's: Please note that parking at St. Stephen's is NOT available until further notice during this peak period of widespread CoVid-19 cases.

Mary Magdalene was one of the few who had the courage to stay with Jesus until the time of His death on the cross. She goes back to the tomb to be where she had been with the Beloved for the last time. She looks for Jesus with whom she had lived for the last three years.

The disciples from Emmaus will see Jesus, but will not recognize him (Lk 24:15-16). The same thing happens to Mary Magdalene. She sees Jesus, but does not recognize Him.

She thinks He is the gardener. But she is looking for the Jesus of the past, the same as He was three days previously. The image of Jesus as He was stops her from recognizing the living Jesus, present before her.

Jesus pronounces the name "Mary!" This was the signal for her to recognize Him: the same voice, the same manner of saying the name.

She replies, "Master!" Jesus has come back, and it was the same Jesus who had died on the cross.

Her first impression is that death was just a painful incident along the way, and that now all was back as it was before. Mary embraces Jesus strongly. It was the same Jesus she knew.

In fact, it is the same Jesus, but the manner of being with her is not the same. Jesus says to her, "Do not cling to Me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father!" He will go to the Father.

Mary Magdalene must leave Jesus and take on her mission: to announce to the brothers that Jesus has ascended to the Father. Jesus opened the way for us and brought God close to us again.

The way the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene is described makes us realize the stages of the journey she has to go through, from the painful search to the new encounter of Easter.

These too are the stages we all have to go through in our lives, the search for God by living the Gospel, especially in the most difficult situation of our life.

Happy Easter 2020, the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene is the same as the His appearance to us.

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the heart of the Good News about Jesus. The Easter triduum, which marks the end of Lent, begins at the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper and spans three days – Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday.

Although it spans three days, it is one event. The triduum is not really three liturgies, it is one long liturgy. One celebrates the three days not just by attending Holy Thursday's celebration of the Lord's Supper, or by attending Good Friday's liturgy (which is not a Mass), or by simply going to the Easter Vigil liturgy. No, one celebrates the triduum by attending all three of those services. It's all one liturgy!

Everything in the Old Testament flows toward these three days, and everything in the New Testament flows from them. They are the core of all that is Christian.

These three great days are grounded in the paschal mystery. "Paschal" comes from the Jewish word Pesach, the "passing over,". God is faithful to his covenant and, as Christians, we believe he has fulfilled his promises. Christ, the mystical lamb, joined us into himself and brings us with him in his triumph over death into eternal life.

Having over these three days entered into Christ's Passover, we are sent forth to bring its power into our world. Water (baptism) and blood (the Eucharist) flowed from Christ's pierced side when he was sacrificed on the altar of the cross. His life flows out into us now in his Church's sacraments. God "passes over" our sins because we are justified in Christ's merciful and sacrificial "Passover." Truly, we are saved by the blood of the Lamb of God.

The triduum is the core of everything that is Christian. Every celebration of the Mass is a recapitulation of all that Christ accomplished in the paschal mystery, which is why we refer to it as the holy sacrifice of the Mass.

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.

I think this is a good time to start in trying to understand the paradox of the cross: It is beyond human understanding, yet contains a divine purpose and profound supernatural love. Through Jesus' death on the cross, he has saved us from a similarly horrible death.

The Crucifixion is horror method of execution. It was specifically designed to intensify and prolong agony, but to be the ultimate insult to personal dignity, the last word in humiliating and dehumanizing treatment."

And yet, for love of us, Jesus chose to suffer this unimaginably painful, degrading death, because "no other mode of execution would have been commensurate with the extremity of humanity's condition under Sin."

To understand why Christ's passion and death on the cross were necessary for our salvation, we have to understand the idea of sacrifice and atonement in the Old Testament. According to the old Mosaic covenant, priests would offer animal sacrifices to God for the sins of the people, substituting the death of the animal for the death punishment deserved by the people for their sins and disobedience. This "substitution" brought an individual or a community back into a right relationship with God.

The Letter to the Hebrews shows how Christ took the place of the Mosaic priestly sacrifices once and for all. Just as in the Old Covenant the high priest would offer animal sacrifices on behalf of the people, so Christ became the new high priest who offered himself as the sacrificial offering for the sins of the people for all time. While the Old Covenant required ongoing sacrifices, Jesus' was once and for all, never to be repeated: "he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption." (Hebrews 9:12)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that "Jesus' violent death was not the result of chance in an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, but is part of the mystery of God's plan." (CCC 599) This is where the sense of paradox comes in: How could a loving and merciful God condemn his Son to such a fate? The only answer is love. God took the initiative to offer his Son on the cross in order to do something we could never do: save ourselves. Jesus took the punishment we deserved and became the instrument of atonement for our guilt to the Father. We are forgiven because of his suffering and death. This is why, for Catholics, the crucifix, in all its brutality, is the most powerful image of God's love and concern for each of us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5es8xBMi94

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.Enter your text here ...

St John points out that "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." And yet, in spite of his love, Jesus doesn't rush back to Jerusalem to heal Lazarus. Nor does he heal him from a distance, as he did with the Centurion's servant.

Jesus loves these friends, and yet he lets them suffer. He lets them experience their helplessness and weakness, the painful separation of death and the loss of a loved one.

Did he do it to punish them? Did he do it because he had no power to remedy the evil? No, he let them suffer precisely because he loved them.

If God protected us from all suffering, we would make the mistake of thinking that earth is heaven, that we could make ourselves truly happy just by our own efforts. But we live in a fallen world, a world in which suffering is inevitable.

And God allows us to experience that suffering as a way to remind us that life on earth is a journey towards heaven - it's the path, not the goal. The goal is heaven, and the resurrection of Lazarus is an appetizer of heaven.

What matters in life is not being perfectly comfortable: what matters in life is knowing, loving, and following Jesus Christ. Jesus uses our sufferings to help us to do that more and more.

Our sufferings remind us that we are not God; they make us turn to God. He uses them as opportunities to act in our lives in new ways, revealing himself to us more completely, just as he did with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.

In this way, he shows that his Providence is more powerful than even life's greatest tragedies. Nothing is out of reach for Christ's redemption.

To say that God's Providence includes tragedies does not turn tragedies into comedies. Lazarus being raised from the dead didn't erase the experience of pain and loss that Martha and Mary went through during his sickness and after his death. Jesus rising from the dead on Easter Sunday didn't erase the indescribable pain and sorrow of Good Friday.

Just so, our sufferings and struggles really are sufferings and struggles. And we must never think that our faith in Jesus will make them go away. We will always have to suffer and struggle in this life.

But Jesus has given purpose to our sufferings and struggles. We know that he allows them for a reason, just as a good coach pushes his players beyond their comfort zone, no matter how much they complain. When we accept Christ's cross in our lives, even through our tears, we grow in wisdom and spiritual maturity - just like Martha in today's Gospel passage.

Having purpose in our suffering also makes it possible for us to have peace in our sufferings. Christ has proven that he will bring great things out of the greatest tragedies. And so, when storms of evil rock our boats, even while we struggle to keep afloat, in our hearts we can be at peace.

Jesus wants us to have confidence in him, to trust him no matter what. Today, let's grant him his wish. 

In our spiritual journey, we are not – and should not be – alone. As pilgrims, we travel together as members of one community, one family of God. We need one another; we are not meant to be independent, but interdependent. This particularly becomes evident when we fall into sin. Mortal sin cuts us off from the grace of God and from community life. We cannot rise up by our own power. We need the help of others, the Church, so that we can approach Jesus and regain our freedom and life. Similarly, we have to help others on the way to conversion.

This is clearly illustrated in the Gospel this Sunday. Lazarus was a close friend of Jesus. He died and was entombed for four days. When Jesus came, he raised him up from death by just calling out to him, "Lazarus, come out!" What is noteworthy is that afterwards, Jesus gave out an order to his disciples, "Untie him and let him go." Though raised from death, Lazarus could not move because of the burial cloths that bound his hands and feet. Someone had to untie him to free him from this bondage. Jesus sought the cooperation of his disciples in giving to Lazarus the fullness of his new life and freedom.

This Gospel event alludes to the sacrament of Confession. When we are in mortal sin, we are spiritually dead. Though God wants to forgive us and give us new life, He waits for our assent in freedom. Yet no matter how great is our desire to go back to God, we cannot move on our own for we are paralyzed by sin; we are spiritually shackled by the bonds of sin. This is where the Church, the community of believers, comes in. Through the ministry of the Church, in the sacrament of Penance, the priest cuts loose the oppressive bondage by the words of sacramental absolution.

As Christians, we are not without hope. In His unfathomable wisdom and boundless love for sinners, God has given us the sacrament of Penance. We are never alone in seeking His mercy and forgiveness. The Church, through the priest, works with Jesus in this sacrament to untie the bondage of sin and give us freedom.

We are now on the fifth week of Lent. Next Sunday, we will begin the Holy Week with the celebration of Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday. If until now we have not yet availed of the sacrament of Confession, what are we still waiting for? We may be running out of time. We are serious about filing our income tax before the deadline, and we know when the deadline is. But in matters of the soul, nobody knows the deadline – it may come when we least expect it.

Fr. Antonius David Tristianto, O.Carm.