visible rhetoric

Today we read psalm 17. Here we find the famous prayer pleading God for protection - keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me under the shadow of your wings.The apple of our eye is the pupil. It is called the pupil of the eye because if you look into the eyes of another person you will see in that dark portion of the eye a tiny image of yourself – it is referred to as the pupilla or in English pupilla means a little doll, the little man in the eye.If you also notice, as St. Thomas Aquinas did, “the pupil of the eye is kept with diligence because nothing which can wound it is permitted to draw near.” When the cornea is stimulated by a foreign object, there occurs an involuntary reflex or blinking at a rapid rate of 0.1 seconds, immediately covering the eyes. And not just the eyelids but the whole body it seems is hardwired to deflect anything that may harm the eyes, to protect the pupilla or the little man in the eye - for example the hands would automatically cover the eyes when an...

Today we read Psalm 3. This is a prayer of David, not as king nor as soldier but as a father, a father who just lost it all.   His family is in shambles.   David’s oldest son and heir Ammon raped his half-sister Tamar.   In anger Absalom, the brother of Tamar killed Ammon.   Absalom then fled in exile to flee his father's wrath, but after some time he was allowed to return back to Jerusalem.   But David refused to meet him, and would not even speak to his son – an dthis the situation for 2 years.   The resentment built up in Absalom’s heart until one day he staged a coup and ousted his father David as king.   David left his palace in a hurry together with his followers and their families.   It was during this most difficult hour when this prayer, psalm 3, was composed.

I was watching national geographic last week and it featured some unique creatures under the sea.  One of these is the sea cucumber.  Analyzing its behavior they concluded that sea cucumber are not afraid of anything.  They just go about their placid ways among the corals without fear of predators.  It does not seem to fear anything, not even the animals that threaten its life.  When they analyzed its physiologically they found out that sea cucumbers have no brains.  Thus the scientific conclusion is, they are not afraid because they have no brains. Today in our readings there are two kinds of fear.   The fear in the gospel and the fear in psalm 148, our responsorial psalm.   The fear in the gospel which was read in the mass is a fear that paralyses.   He was so afraid he might lose the one talent entrusted to him he hid it so that no one can steal it.   He was so paralysed by his fear of the master he dug a hole in the ...

Today we reflect on psalm 105.  This is a long psalm narrating the mighty deeds of God in freeing his people from the bondage of Egypt.  It celebrates these events in thanksgiving and praise to God for as the psalm says in the last stanza “for he remembered his holy word to his servant Abraham." This is what we celebrate every time we gather for the Eucharist, or for morning prayers or for evening prayers   – God remembering his word, God remembering his promise.   In Easter, we celebrate not just the resurrection, not just the rising of Jesus from the dead.   But we celebrate his rising as he said he will – resurrexit sicut dixit.   In Christmas, we celebrate not just the birth of the Lord but primarily the fulfillment of his promise to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his covenant forever.   This he fulfilled in his birth.   This is the essence of every celebration – God said he would and God does it.

Today we reflect on psalm 105.  This is a long psalm narrating the mighty deeds of God in freeing his people from the bondage of Egypt.  It celebrates these events in thanksgiving and praise to God for as the psalm says in the last stanza “for he remembered his holy word to his servant Abraham."

Today we read psalm 19.  “ The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. ”   It tells us that the sky proclaims the marvel of God’s work.    When was the last time you took time just to look to sky and admire the light of the moon and the stars?   When was the last time you allowed the beauty of your surroundings to speak of the beauty and the goodness of God? Then the psalm continues, " Day pours out the word to day, and night to night imparts knowledge." Even the succession of day and the night says the psalm are messengers of the good news.   When was the last time you sat down to admire the dawn or the sunset and allow these to speak to you of the faithfulness of God? St. John Chrysostom says, “The silence of the heavens is a voice that resounds louder than a trumpet blast:  this voice cries out to our eyes and not to our ears, the greatness of Him who made them” Today we celebrate the solemnity of ...

Today Psalm 119 is read to us. It is a very long psalm.  It is a song of praise to God’s words, his statutes, his ordinances, his laws and decrees, and also it is a song of praise to the promises God gave to those who live by his words.  In the same psalm, part of which has been read to us this morning are petitions, pleadings before God – “ Let your countenance shine upon your servant, teach me your statutes.   Let my soul live to praise you, may your ordinances help me.”   These are not ordinary petitions we usually pray for like good weather, health, or solutions to this and that problem.   The petition is more fundamental, more basic to our reality as human persons.   It is an acknowledgement that left on our own we are powerless, that without God’s help we cannot defeat sin, that we cannot by our own strength alone believe in God or maintain a relationship with him.   We need to be guided, we need to be saved, we need to be blessed and we need t...

Psalm 82 speaks of God attending the meeting or the council of the gods.  Who are these so-called gods?  They are actually the rulers and judges of the nations but the psalmist calls them gods because they act as if they are above accountability, they act as if they are not answerable to anyone, they neglect their duties without any thought or care for the people they should serve.  They did not defend the lowly and the fatherless.   They did not render justice to the afflicted and the destitute and they did not rescue the lowly and the poor. For this the Lord punished them saying, You are gods, all of you sons of the Most High; yet like men you shall die. The best way to stay focus in life is to remind ourselves that we are mortals, that we are not gods, that we cannot forever hold on to power, we cannot remain popular forever.    One day we will lose our memory.   For now, we may be in control of people but a time will come when we will no long...

Our psalm today psalm 50 depicts a court with God as the judge and the prosecutor.  The defendant are the people.  They, the people, are accused by God for offering sacrifices with a wrong mindset.  The people thought that God needs these sacrifices of bulls and bullocks and lambs and rams.  The people thought that God will go hungry without these sacrifices – God needs to eat the flesh of these animals and drink their blood.  The people thought that they are giving God something, they are giving God what they own, their bulls and their bullocks, their sheep and their lambs, their flocks and crops.  The indictment is, they are insulting God not by their sacrifices but by the mindset that accompanies their sacrifices. No, God does not need sacrifices.   No, the people are not giving God what they possess, for God possesses everything for he made them all.   Thus, there are 2 remedies to correct this wrong mindset that accompanies our sacrifice...