Father John Lau's Lent Message

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We are now in the season of Lent, a season in which we are called to repent and to do penance. The call to repent is found in the gospel of Mark, where Jesus, soon after His baptism by John the Baptist, said: “The time has come and the Kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.” (Mk 1:15). That was also the message that was preached by John the Baptist. The Church today continues to preach the same message.

The call to repent is not just a call to be sorry for the wrongs that we have done but it is also a call to make an explicit U-turn and to return to the Lord who loves us and to renew our broken relationship with Him. It is a call to come back to the Lord. Speaking through Prophet Joel He said: ”Come back to me with all your heart.” (Joel 2:12). Yes, the Lord wants us to come back to Him. He does not want us to be lost.

We have broken our relationship with the Lord in so many ways, such as when we fail to live by His teachings, His teachings on love, service, forgiving our enemies and on showing compassion to one another. We have broken our relationship with the Lord when we fail to put our trust and faith in Him and instead rely on our own strength and trusting ourselves more than we trust Him. We have broken our relationship with God when we turn to other gods, the gods of power, wealth, prosperity and lust.

We are also called to renew our broken relationship with one another. We are called to make peace and to be reconciled with one another. This is far more important than the sacrifices that we offer to God. In chapter 5 verse 23 of St. Matthew’s Gospel Jesus said: “If you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering.” Here, Jesus put forgiveness on the same level as the worship of God. It shows us how important forgiveness is. It is so easy to make sacrifices and forgo the things that we like, but unless we forgive one another our sacrifices mean nothing to God. We will not be judged on what we have given up but on whether we have sincerely forgiven each other or not. Let us then as a community forgive each other and let us serve and love each other.

During this holy season of Lent let us make a concerted effort to come and attend daily Mass and to listen to what the Lord wants to say to us. Let us go and do what the Lord wants us to do and our hearts will be purified. Let us also pray for the strength and courage to go for confession and there the Lord will forgive us. We will then be ready for a meaningful celebration of Easter.

Last but not least I would like to invite and encourage you to come for our Parish Lenten Programs. I understand that most of you are busy people, but please do come and experience God’s great love for us.

God Bless you all,

Fr. John Lau