The Parable of the Mustard Seed

Today I have been given the chance to reflect on the parable of the mustard seed.

From Matthew 13:31-32,  "He set another man before them, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches."

Firstly I asked, why mustard seed? Jesus could use any other seeds as examples.
Of all seeds, why mustard? Well first of all, mustard seeds are not the smallest in the world, 
nor are they the biggest tree in the world. 
Jesus would have known that. But instead, Jesus was drawing to illustrate how the kingdom of heaven could expand from very small beginnings to a huge presence.

So before you read on, I would like to ask you to think about the parable and ask yourself who the different things represent? 1) the mustard seed 2) the farmer 3) the field 4) the tree 5) the herbs 6) the trees

In most reflections I have read, people would refer to the man as God and the birds as us humans flocking over to meet our Maker in his kingdom. But I feel that there is more to it. 

Here is my own meditation:

The farmer is God. He sows the seeds in the field, signifying that He is planting the goodness in each of our hearts. Each seed He plants is a gift that He sends to us through the Holy Spirit. All these tiny gifts will soon grow into our very actions - Love. The very same love that God has given to each of us. The same love that makes up His holy presence. The same act of love we give to our loved ones, to our neighbours, to ourselves and ultimately back to our God. The big tree that blooms and grow is the result of all the love and goodness that God has made us into. For the kingdom of heaven was made out of love from God. It is a place where all love will come together as one.

From Luke 17:20-21, Jesus said “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you”.

The kingdom of heaven is within us. It is in all of us. And all these birds that flock to the tree, would be all the riches and rewards that Jesus has promised us when we finally get to the kingdom of heaven and meet Him. 

Finally then the herbs. Herbs are things that add taste and texture in our food. Here, it refers to me as the earthly rewards that we receive in our life on earth. Be it monetary, or anything that adds to our joy as a human. But we know that the rewards we receive in the kingdom of heaven is far greater than any rewards we receive on earth. 

Thank you Vanessa for giving me the opportunity to read more into this :)

The Power of Prayer and the Rosary

How many of you heard about the power of prayer?
And do you believe in it?
I definitely do believe in it.
Today I would like to share with you a life encounter that happened to me over a course of two weeks which made me feel even stronger and more connected with God through prayer.

I was taught the rosary when my parents prayed together with me when I was really young.
For some reason, we have broken off that practice.
Maybe due to time, work and other personal priorities.
I do pray the rosary once in a while when the congregation prays it before weekend mass but do not know the true meaning of it.
Two weeks ago, I was brought back to the rosary.
During one of our faith committee sessions, my dearest bromo led the session and shared about the 15 promises by Mother Mary when we pray the rosary regularly.
I told myself ok maybe I should start praying it again.
But you know the usual laziness took over and I failed to start.
Today, for some reason, I had no work, and was very free.
I decided maybe it was time I started praying the rosary.
I did not just recited it off like I always did, but really got so into it.
I shall leave that details to later.
So as I was saying, I started to feel something stirring.

I am facing some troubles with myself and a relationship problem with a very close brother.
Somehow I felt that our friendship was drifting apart and I felt very bad about it as he really meant a lot to me. I felt guilty and blamed my "needy" dependant nature.
For the last two weeks, I have always prayed to God to help keep my relationship with my brother.
Today while I was praying the rosary, I was drawn to a different kind of prayer.
I prayed to God to change me and lead me in my relationship and life.
After the whole rosary session, I started reading up on the 15 promises and asked myself what does Mother Mary mean when she said that she will give us signal graces?

All of a sudden, I had the sudden urge to attend today's weekday mass.
I had the feeling that there will be an answer when I get there.
So I listened to the prompting and went.
Today's reading was on Jonah and the Ninevites.
I reflected on today's reading with today's rosary - joyful mystery.
Obedience. Trusting in God and never doubt in him. Just like what Mother Mary did.
Yes she did fear. But never once did she let that fear lose her faith in God.
All of a sudden a voice came in my head "Hey you have known him for 5 years and he hasn't left you. Why would you doubt God that He will make your friendship break?"
I started to feel really relieved and shared this encounter with bromo on whatsapp.
While sharing, all of a sudden, something most amazing happened.
My brother texted me.
He has not replied my messages for a week.
I was not just shocked, I felt so happy and emotional,
both the signal graces that Mother Mary had promised and that I felt my faith just grew another step.
I know and believe that God will answer my prayer somehow as He always did.
But never expected that it be heard so soon and so direct.

This experience has been really touched me and yes I will definitely put more effort into praying the rosary daily =)

So for those who are interested, this is what I did.
1) Opening hymn (Choose any hymn to Mother Mary you feel is right for the moment, I chose Salve Regina https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXadODl_jBQ)
2) I used this video on youtube. The link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AW5wueFe-w
3) Visit this link http://www.rosary-center.org/joyful.htm and pause the video before every Hail Mary to meditate or visualise every step that Mary took.
4) At the end of the rosary, take some time to thank Mother Mary for the intercessions she has done for you in the past and ask humbly for her help again.
4) Closing hymn (I chose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RERoQ1biLdE)
* I did not sing but I chose to play the flute instead =)

Thank you all for reading this. Remember that prayer is very powerful and the rosary will definitely bring you closer to God.

Amen and God bless

Matthew 14: 22-33

Jesus came to his disciples between 3-6am.
God always come at the hour where we are truly vulnerable and the time we do not expect.
Especially when we are frustrated, when bad things keep coming one after another,
when our life is upside down. Jesus appears out of nowhere to be with us.

What does walking on water signify?
Walking on water is an example of an impossible task and Jesus shows us that He can make any seemingly impossible task possible.
He is above all his creation (the ocean is his creation as well).

"Come!" Jesus invites us into the troubled water and shows us that he will journey us in our lives and not be afraid of what lies in there.
Give up our insecurities and get out of our comfort zone (boat) and join him.

He said "Courage! Do not be afraid" and when he went into the boat, the wind died.
This signifies that when the Lord comes into our unstable life, he will make everything stable. (Calming our insecurities)