- The stewardship month at Saint Patrick's will begin next Sunday, Nov 4th. This year we will speak about the blessings of our youth ministry. On November 4th, our Kerry Hual will speak at announcement time. Other speakers for November are Bobby Dubas and Frankie Haan. Stewardship Sunday is December 2, 2012. 

I was born in the Philippines of Chinese descent. My grandfather was a fisherman from Fujian Province in China, but he managed to thrive in the Philippines with hard work and creativity. From the late thirties, my grandfather were engaged in various trades such as making candies and soap, selling woven mats, making rope from natural fibers, and making wooden boards for insulating wiring.  I want to become as diligent and creative as my grandfather.

      Although I completed a degree in Mechanical Engineering, I was drawn to teaching.  I taught high school math and science for a few years until I was offered to teach Computer Science courses at De La Salle University in the Philippines.  Then, I took the opportunity to study Computer Information Systems at George Mason University.  I completed a Master of Science degree in 2001 and worked as a database analyst for 8 years.  I heard God's call to ordained ministry almost 30 years ago, but I took my time through the winding roads of life. I believe that none of my experiences will be wasted, because God is sovereign and God can make use of our experiences.

     When I came to the United States to study, I was not able to find a Filipino-Chinese community.  Perhaps, God intended it that I embrace my Chinese, Filipino, and American identity fully, and I have realized that my various identities come together in Christ.  I hope that God would use me as a bridge builder among God's people.

      I look forward to serving you, serving with you, and learning much from you. I know that what I will learn here will greatly impact whatever ministry God will entrust to me.   I consider it a privilege and great blessing that we can be partners in ministry.

Proper 24 -- Year B -- October 21, 2012
Mark 10:35-45                                          Bernard Yung
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         Are you anxious about where the United States is heading? With the skyrocketing national debt, are we going to be like the next Greece, or one of the other financially troubled European countries? Can we handle the big challenges ahead? We have Romney and Obama competing to be Number One. For the next four years, Obama and Romney want to be the President of the United States of America, the public office with the highest honor in this land. Who will best serve the American people? One of them will have authority over us, but can we trust them to serve us? Will the President serve the people or will he only serve his big donors? Who is worthy of your vote? Who will you honor with your heart?

          More importantly, who is Number One in your life? To whom will you ascribe the highest honor in your life? What has that person done for you? How has that person served you? What was the motivation behind that service? Perhaps answering these questions can lead us to the good news in today's Gospel reading. The good news is this: We are of great worth to God, and Jesus has greatly honored us, in that the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Real Number One, became the servant of us all. In humility, Jesus, through whom all things were created, took on human flesh to be part of his creation. In humility, he willingly allowed himself to be despised, verbally abused, physically tortured, abandoned, and crucified to reconcile us to God and to one another. When we understand in our heads and in our hearts what Jesus is saying here about servanthood, the church will be able to do so much more to fully usher in the Kingdom of God.

          In the beginning of today's Gospel reading, we see that James and John wanted to be more than just fishermen. We don't like it if people despise us based on what we do for a living; or look at us from head to toe and dismiss us as someone who is of less worth. There's nothing wrong with wanting people to honor and respect us. So we can identify with James and John. James and John knew they were asking for something big, so they told Jesus to grant them whatever they wished for. They asked Jesus to grant them their hearts' desire. James and John considered Jesus to be Number One, so they asked to be made numbers two and number three in Jesus' kingdom. (Remember that at this point, the disciples were still thinking of an earthly kingdom).

          Jesus allowed James and John to express what they wanted, but Jesus gave them what they needed. James and John needed to understand that what God thinks of them matters infinitely more than what people think of them. God considered James and John to be of such great worth, that Jesus, the real Number One, became the servant of all. James and John were worthy to be served, not because they deserved it, but because God loves them. Amen.

          For example, how many here would think of cleaning up after someone as humble service? For those who think of service jobs such as collecting the trash or cleaning someone's bathroom as lowly jobs, working in these service jobs may be downright humiliating. Yet, we have many parents here who have changed grossly soiled, yucky, and stinky diapers. To all parents in this modern age, thank God for disposable diapers, right? Thank God for your husband or wife who partner with you in dealing with the messy stuff of family life. In some cases, a husband should thank his wife for handling what's messy, or vice versa. I have three-year-old and six-year-old nieces from my younger brother, and they look like angels, but they can sometimes behave like little monsters. Sometimes I wonder how parents can put up with kids these days, but I know why parents engage in humble service. I know that parents love their children, so they consider humble service a joy or even a privilege. Likewise, we have experienced God's love in Christ when Jesus died on the cross to redeem us from the ugly mess we are in.

          Because parents humble themselves to serve their children, parents deserve to be honored. Therefore, we should deeply honor our fathers and mothers. Because Jesus humbled himself to restore us to God, we should highly honor and worship God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. One way to honor what Jesus has done for us is to follow Jesus' example in humbly serving others.

          How can we follow Jesus' example? If we look at the context of this Gospel passage, we see from the preceding verses that Jesus had just shared about his mission of dying on the cross for the sins of the world. Today's passage is actually the third time that Jesus shared about his way of humble service to humanity. But the disciples were persistent in thinking that Jesus came to liberate them from Roman oppression. Jesus' humble service is not only physical, but Jesus had come to first liberate us from sin, the bondage that separates us from God and from one another.

          What separates us from one another is not the difference in our status in life, but how we see each other differently compared to how God sees us. We would not think more highly of one another even if there were no poor people.

          One thing that I consider most praiseworthy in most Episcopal churches is their commitment to meet the physical needs of the poor, no matter what gender, race, or religion. Society generally considers these poor people as not worthy of being served, especially not around their community. Therefore, most poor people want to be liberated from poverty, but that is not all that they need. Like James and John, they need to be loved first more than to be moved to the top of society. Physical needs are important, but emotional and spiritual needs are more important. For example, I was helping out with my field education parish from previous semesters, at the Aldie harvest festival yesterday. I noticed quite a number of people using the porta-john, a portable comfort room, so I told a middle-aged woman that there were comfort rooms inside the church. She told me that she would rather wait to use a porta-john than go inside a church. Even though she had a significant physical need, she was still unwilling to enter a church building. We can speculate that perhaps the church sinned against this woman and that now she resents the church, but she still needs the love of God in Jesus. After we have experienced this love of God, Jesus wants us to express this love to others. However, in this example, we can see that Christian service is not only about meeting physical needs, but people need to hear the good news of God so they can find healing and be transformed from the inside out. Like James and John, we can continue to learn to be more like Jesus in serving others.

          The good news of God is the love of God expressed in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this particular Sunday, the good news is that Jesus, through his humble service, already has shown us that we are Number One in God's heart. Therefore, we no longer need to strive to be Number One in the eyes of the world. In turn, we can follow Christ's example of humble service, and show others that they are Number One in God's heart. Amen.

Chúa Nhật, 21 tháng 10, 2012