Reflections of a beloved son

The first day of the Lunar New Year was on Saturday, January 25, 2020.  It is the Year of the Rat.  Traditionally festivities go on for about two weeks.  So instead of an Octave, we celebrate 14 days!  My family (immediate and extended) family and I had a wonderful, delicious, and fun time at dinner last night.  We had a ten course meal - ten being an auspicious number, the number of perfection.  We were also in a private room (though a bit small) with a TV and a karaoke machine.  My aunts and uncles sang old time favorite Chinese songs and my sisters, cousins, and I relived our younger days with songs like "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys and "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion. It was a great evening of family.  Despite the savory taste of the menu or the nostalgic tune of old songs, they did not make the evening great.  It was the " being together"  that made it a wonderful night.  It is times like that that puts thin...

Today in the Catholic Church we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family - Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.  Jesus was born into a human family so that He can experience life as we do, and be like us in all things but sin.  God in His infinite wisdom planned for Jesus to be born into a poor family and in a lowliest of manners - among the animals, laid in a manger - the feeding place for animals.  Not too long after Jesus was born, Joseph, His foster father, was told in a dream, " Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you."  And so, he did. The life of the Child was already sought the moment He was born (before, really).  Perhaps, this does make sense - Jesus, after all, was born to die, and by that death, to save, to redeem, and to live.  I can only imagine how Joseph and Mary was feeling.  Their son's life was sought after and the King wanted Him dead.  " Herod is going to search for the child and destroy him." ...

" What are you willing to give me? " was the question Judas asked the chief priests if he were to hand Jesus over to them (Mt. 26:15).  I wonder how that encounter played out.  What was going through Judas' mind?  What was he feeling?  Why did he even go to chief priests?  How did he feel when he was given the 30 pieces of silver?  As for the chief priests - what were they feeling?  Did they feel excited?  Relieved?  Did they have a meeting after Judas left with the money? With 30 pieces of silver Judas betrayed Jesus.  With his very own person Jesus redeemed all man.  Jesus knew that Judas had betrayed Him, and that he was going to hand Him over when the appointed time had come, yet Jesus never acted coldly towards him.  "When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve " (Mt. 26:20).  Jesus still loved Judas and counted him among His family .  To share a meal and to break bread together is something that ...

Pride.  Power.  Position. What is it that drives us and that makes us do the things that we do?  For Joseph's brothers it was jealousy, pride, and hatred that moved them to want to kill him (Gen. 37:3-4).  " When his brothers saw that their father loved him the best of all his sons, they hated him so much that they would not even greet him ."  It was this jealousy and envy that plagued the brothers.  Perhaps it was jealousy that was somewhat "justified."  Favoritism, at least overt favoritism and when outwardly displayed, will always lead to discord and pain.   As wrong as it was for the brothers to act out of jealousy, the father was also in the wrong.  As a father, Israel should have known better than to love one child over the others and to make it so obvious, putting not only the other sons in a jealous state, but also putting Joseph in an awkward position.  Joseph himself may also have taken advantage of this favoritism and failed ...