True freedom is to live a life of love. To live a life of sin is to accept a false freedom, as sin enslaves us. When we are ruled by our passions, anger, hatred, selfishness, greed and addictions, we are certainly not truly free. Let us exercise our freedom for love, such that we are always ready to face the Lord.

Today, dioceses around the world commence their own process to prepare for the Synod in 2023. It is a time for all baptised Catholics to journey with and listen to one another. It is a listening with the heart, to understand each other better. Then, we can do real, proper discernment, to truly propose solutions or effective approaches to deal with the challenges of today's time. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to unite and inspire us all.

The mark of an authentic faith is one of confession. If we do not seek to confess our faith in Christ, it means that we are not too convinced of His love and importance to us in our lives. If Jesus is truly important to us, we will testify to His love, as we have experienced it.

Faith means trust. We show our faith in God by the actions that we take. Although Abraham was justified by faith in God’s promise, he did not sit idly waiting for things to happen. He obeyed God and moved out of Ur to the land he was not even sure where it was. So faith is not just an intellectual or emotional acceptance of God’s grace and mercy. True faith in Jesus must be seen in action. We must be ready to live out what has been given to us, our new adoption as God’s sons and daughters. Being a Christian does not mean that we are perfect. Precisely, we must continue with the struggle to be true to our identity as God’s children with the help of God’s grace. We need to continue in Christian discipleship. But if we fail at times, Christ is always waiting to forgive us.

We have no means of rendering justice to God for the sins we have committed against Him. Instead, Jesus - as an unblemished and perfect sacrifice - pays for our crimes without us having to make any reparation. How then, do we show our gratitude for God's unconditional love and mercy to us?

Even as believers of God, we can be self-righteous. This shows when we are judgemental, legalistic, blind to our own sins, as well as lacking in mercy and compassion for those who sinned. Let us be mindful that we are all sinners, made righteous only by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To enter the kingdom of God simply means that we need to put relationship with God and with our brothers and sisters before everything else. It is beautiful relationships that make life meaningful and happy. Happiness is not about how much money we have, what positions we hold in life, how powerful we are, what glory and honour people bestow upon us, what achievements we have made and the trophies we have earned. We can have all these and yet find life tiresome, a struggle, with lots of division, quarrels, competition, and arguments because of ambition, greed and power struggle. Happiness is to be with Jesus. Happiness is to be friends with everyone, especially those who are suffering and need our support. It is to walk with Jesus every day with the poor, basking ourselves in His presence. Jesus is our greatest friend and brother we can have in this world.

The truth is that Mary is the most blessed amongst all women simply because she carried Jesus not just in her womb but in her heart. She had the heart of our Lord in doing God’s will, listening to His Word and carrying them out in her life. She had a heart of thanksgiving, gratitude and compassion. She lived a life of detachment and humility, just contented to be the handmaid of the Lord. She did not fight with her enemies. She forgave them like Jesus and prayed for them. She was not bitter with the apostles for abandoning her Son in His moment of need. On the contrary, she rallied them together after the ascension of Jesus, praying with them for the coming of the Holy Spirit. She was truly blessed because she had Jesus’ heart and word in her. We too can live a blessed life, if only we imitate Mary; hearing the Word, putting it into action and trying to live the life of Jesus, so that we can acquire this heart of love and compassion.

It is not enough to say that I am with Jesus but remain passive in the face of evil. When we do not evangelize the world, the world will more than secularize us but demonize us. So there is truly no neutrality. The best way to keep ourselves protected is by doing good works and strengthening our faith. Being defensive will not be sufficient to protect us from our enemies. We must be proactive in conquering the world for Christ. By doing nothing, the little faith we have would be lost. This is why the world wants to marginalize all religions and proclaim secularism as the religion of the day in the name of unity and partiality.  What we should be promoting is a multi-religious and multi-racial society where, in spite of our different religious beliefs and cultures, we respect each other, and are sensitive to each other’s faith and values. In this way, we empower and enrich each other in our faith and relationship as well. Let us pray that we stand up with Jesus and for Jesus.

The Rosary is truly a gift to the Church. When we contemplate on the Mysteries of the Rosary, we not only deepen our relationships with Jesus and Mary, we grow by becoming more like them.