Giving what is due.

In this week Sunday's Gospel we read:

"..give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar - and to God what belongs to God." - Matthew 22: 21

After reading this article,  I can't help to notice that the relationship between this article and that phrase somehow relates.

First let us look who the Prime Minister is. The PM is our elected leader through our democratic system in Malaysia, he is our leader which steers the country to a economically, socially and politically stable nation. The Prime Minister also plays a role in maintaining the peace in our country, moreover he is also the image of Malaysia to the world.

Next, the let's looks at the Archbishop. The Archbishop is the head of the Catholic community here in Kuala Lumpur and acts as the head of the other dioceses also as the Metropolitan. The Archbishop is one of the many successors of the Apostles whom belongs to the college of Bishops. He is our leader in faith, speaking against injustice and the defender of the Catholic faith here in Malaysia, He also is the image of the Catholic Church here in Malaysia.

If you were to read this article you would realise the great differences between what our earthly and civil leader (the PM) had said and what our earthly spiritual leader had said. It may be too early to judge the actions of Archbishop Julian who only took his office for a few weeks as compared to our PM who held it for 6 years already. Nevertheless, through experience and favour, we sometimes wonder if our civil leader has really meant what he said.

As Catholics, Christians, we are to respect both our leaders as what Christ has said. Judging from all that has happened in this country, it is somewhat easy to lose hope and faith in our civil leaders. Sometimes without a doubt we can have anger and even resentment to those whom we have elected to hold office. As what Christ has said by giving back to Caesar what belongs to him, not only this relates to taxes, but also towards the respect we ought to give our civil leaders.

The very same respect we give to God and his workers, as in this case our Archbishop, Priests and those who serve the Lord with their lives.

The frailty of human leadership is that, they will always be judged and always be kept in the limelight, and any crime they do will be criticised and any good they do would also be questioned at times.

By giving to God what belongs to Him and to our leaders what belongs to them means that we should give the respect and honour to what to their due. By no means, should we scowl or to even curse our civil leaders, no matter how bad they are, but rather to pray and have the hope that they might be changed. On another hand, sometimes we too might not like our spiritual leaders. This goes both ways,

When Jesus said to give back what is belonged to the other person, he is saying that everyone deserves the respect and honour according to what their position in the community is, the power they have; it may be contradictory to what they ought to do but nevertheless there's always a reason why they are in that position.

Here's the article from The Ant Daily once again:
http://theantdaily.com/Main/The-moderate-prime-minister-and-the-loving-shepherd

A glimpse of Campus Ministry

The campus ministy. a lay ministry in the Church that covers all universities under the Titular Roman Diocese. In this ministry, we are led by the Bishop himself, followed by the Youth Coordinator and in this case, Father Martin, followed by a Campus Ministry Officer who has his (or her) own team and finally the people of what is called the Penang Diocese Campus Council, a body of students from various universities that make up this council. The council is responsible for ensuring that the Catholic faith is correctly deposited and that students coming from their homes have a platform for students for their Catholic faith.

Last week, for the first time in 4 years, I finally went for a meeting of the PDCC, and I asked myself, why didn't I join before? It was such an interesting journey indeed.

The one thing which caught my attention most was the house below. It doesn't look much but it was called the FM house. A house given by a Priest to the Diocese and now it belonged to the Campus Ministry.

The amazing part about this house is that it is free to use by any campus student, all they have to do is apply to the Campus Ministry. Sadly though, the house was too relaxing that I forgot to take pictures of the inside. 

So what did we do over the weekend?

First of all, we managed to watch two movies: Soul Surfer and Letters to God, two movies that was to show about how much praying and having faith in God matters in our lives.

Secondly, we discussed matters pertaining to the Campus Ministry. Matters like camps, formations and the AGM which would be coming up soon. 

One of the main highlights of the weekend was going to Gurney Paragon. A newly built mall, around the old St. Joseph's novitiate that was ran by the La Salle brothers. It was part of the Catholic history in Malaysia.

What I learned from this meeting amazingly, was the sharing we shared around the dinner table. The problem faced by many students in each campuses. Also another highlight would be Kevin's our Campus Minister, sharing on his journey for the Asian Youth Day. The way he described from seeing the Pope at a very close distance was very enlightening. He described that when he saw the Pope, he had the same kind of joy when holding a child in your hands. He described the Pope was such a joyous man with a constant smile on his face.

Another sharing from Kevin, was the way the Korean Catholics were martyred for their faith. The martyrs were recently canonised by Pope Francis on his visit there. The martyrs were martyred in the 1800s. 

It was an enlightening weekend and I do look forward to the next meeting.

A little shaky picture of our fellowship.

Lastly, the Pope shared this message during one of his public speeches during the AYD and I think it is good for reflection:

"Remember that you are Asian!"