When I was in my first year in the seminary, our Religious Education teacher challenged us to see who knew the Ten Commandments and who could recite them. I raised my hand and thanks be to God, I got them all, to the amazement of my classmates, because there were only two of us who raised up their hands. As you read this perhaps you could ponder, how many of the Ten Commandments do you really know? 

Sometimes I ponder what sin I regularly commit? We commit sins “in my thought, in my word and in what I have done” as we often confess and ask for God’s forgiveness before Mass. But I think my sin is found often in later part of that prayer, “and what I have failed to do”.

Last week, if you came to Church, you would have heard Jesus telling us to “pray continually and never lose heart.” He reminded us persevering in prayer, because prayer is not just for hard times, it is not just when we need God we start to pray — it’s a way of living for our life. Keep trusting. Keep knocking the door. Keep speaking to God who loves us.

One of the more difficult sayings of Jesus is in today’s gospel: “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to the mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted’ and it would obey you.” Wow.

For those, like me, who have ever played the game “Pokemon Go”, you might be able to relate with me. As far as I understand the game, you capture as many Pokemon monsters as you can.

To borrow a story from a good friend of mine, Fr Bel San Luis, SVD, there was a man who wanted to have a lot of money so badly that he promised the devil to do his work in exchange for a copy of the newspaper a day ahead before it was published so that he could get the winning Lotto number in advance.

Suffering and tragedy are things that we don’t want to reflect on or think too much about because of the pain that it brings into our lives.

People often think the coldest places on planet earth are the north and south poles. Analogically, the heart of person could be the coldest place, for it is deep in the heart of a person, evil seeds are harboured and germinated, from which words and actions are the fruits.

To borrow a joke from one of my favourite preachers Fr Bel San Luis, SVD, there was a young man who was praying to God. This was his prayer, “Lord, grant me the gift of patience … I want it NOW!!!” 

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. In today's Gospel, Jesus affirms Himself as the true Vine. The relationship between the vine and the branches is used by Jesus to describe the relationship between Himself and His disciples.