This episode will share a song by Panther Chan which is about everything is the best plan from God. Many people in the world now are suffering with the COVID-19 pandemic. There are financial hardship, family being quarantined, pain of suffering from sickness and taking care of the sick, and also the anxiety and stress that comes with the situation. How can we turn to our faith in this challenging time?

This weekend is the Fourth Sunday of Lent; the Gospel comes from John 9:1-41 and talks about Jesus healing a man blind from birth, which divides the witnesses present. During Pharisees' unceasing questioning of the man, he first calls Jesus a "man", then a "prophet", then "Son of Man", and finally "Lord". This miracle already led him to approach God, one step at a time, and the Pharisees' questioning increased his courage and led him to be unafraid of being expelled from the synagogue or being insulted. The Pharisees did not question him to discover the truth, but to find a reason to claim Jesus did not come from God. This division also extended to his family too, when the Pharisees questioned his parents and they adamantly told them to ask their son directly, clearly afraid of being expelled from the synagogue. Jesus later asked the healed man, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" The man answered yes, showing that not only were his physical eyes opened, but also his spiritual eyes. On the other hand, the Pharisees' physical eyes were able to see, but they were spiritually blind and refused to recognize Jesus as the Son of God, even plotting to kill Him. So the teachings of Christ often divide society because we must make a decision to receive His light or not. We should receive the spiritual light He brings, to drive out the inner darkness from our hearts.

How do we adapt to change as we grow older?

This Sunday is the Third Sunday of Lent and the Gospel reading comes from John 4:5-42, where Jesus talks to the Samaritan woman. In ancient times, the Kingdom of Israel was split in two: the remnant Kingdom of Israel to the north and the Kingdom of Judah to the south. The King of Assyria brought five foreign peoples into the Kingdom of Israel, who also brought their own gods, and slowly the inhabitants of Israel began to incorporate these foreign religions into the true faith. Thus, the southern Kingdom of Judah, which remained faithful to the Temple, began to look down on the northern Kingdom of Israel (later known as Samaria) as traitors and refused to deal with them. In this situation, Jesus told the Samaritan woman to fetch her husband. But when she responded truthfully that she had no husband, Jesus told her that she had five and the current one wasn't her husband. Jesus was alluding to the foreign gods introduced by the foreign peoples brought in by the King of Assyria and how the Kingdom of Israel had abandoned the true God. Through this woman, Jesus was searching for the Samaritan people, who had lost their faith, and was bringing them back through Baptism. When He promised her living water, He was referring to the Sacrament of Baptism, which could purify our idol worship. God's relationship with His People is like that between a husband and his wife. Jesus emphasizes this theme many times in the Gospels - He heals the son of a Gentile official and works a miracle at the wedding in Cana - to show us that the Gentiles are now adopted into the marital covenant with the Chosen People.

"For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” (Mark 4:25) Fr Francis will answer why God would take away those who have nothing already.

This weekend is the Second Sunday of Lent, which focuses on the Transfiguration of Our Lord. One of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, Jesus prepares for His Passion, Death, and Resurrection with the Transfiguration. He brings Peter, James, and John to the top of a mountain when His face shines like the Sun, his clothes become dazzlingly white, and two Old Testament figures appear - Moses and Elijah. Peter is shocked and suggests to build three tents for them but before he can finish, a voice announces, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him." A cloud appears and covers them, reminding us of how God's Presence on Earth was indicated by a cloud in the Old Testament. When the Chosen People were in the desert, God's pillar of cloud guided them from the Tabernacle. Furthermore, the setting of the Transfiguration on top of a mountain reminds us of Moses' face shining after he meets God on Mount Sinai. Jesus' Transfiguration shows us that He succeeds the old law represented by Moses and the old prophets represented by Elijah. Jesus showed His glory to the Apostles before His Passion to teach them that suffering is temporary, but those who suffer for God will be rewarded with glory, and that glory will never end.

Mark Cheung, a Catholic musician from Hong Kong, will live perform 3 songs for us, and share the background stories behind the songs.

This week, the Church celebrates the beginning of Lent, the forty days of preparation for Easter. In fact, there are 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday, but since fasting is not kept on Sundays, the Sundays are not included in the calculation. This Sunday, the Gospel reading is about Jesus spending forty days in the desert praying and fasting, which reminds us of the forty days Moses spent in the desert, praying and fasting to prepare to receive the Ten Commandments from God. When the Devil tempts Jesus, He quotes from the Book of Deuteronomy that Moses wrote, using the Word of God as His weapon. When the Devil tempts Jesus to turn stones into bread, He quotes Deuteronomy 8:3, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." When the Devil tells Jesus to jump from a height to display His power as the Son of God, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16, "You must not put the Lord your God to the test." Finally, the Devil tells Jesus to worship him in return for the world's wealth and honour, but Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:13, "You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone." We often rely on our selfish desires to make decisions when we encounter temptation and often make mistakes and distance ourselves from God. When we frequently read Scripture, meditate, and pray the Rosary, we immerse ourselves in the grand scheme of the Gospel, training us to naturally use the Word of God to resist temptation when it comes our way.

In this episode of the Life Lounge, Pauline and Peter will continue to share about their faith journey and how did they re-unite with their Creator.

This weekend is the Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time; the Gospel Reading is Matthew 5:38-48. The ancient peoples thought it normal to love one's friends and hate one's enemies. But Jesus challenged that thought and taught people to love their enemies, even Gentiles, and pray for them. To the Jews of His day, this would have been very difficult to accept, since the Romans were persecuting Israel and imposing heavy taxes. But just as the sun shines on both the good and the evil, Jesus wanted us to be like God and bless both the good and the evil. Earlier, He demanded that His disciples' righteousness exceed that of the Pharisees, whose virtue often consisted of separating themselves from unclean things and people, such as corpses, lepers, and unclean foods. Jesus wanted our virtue to come from within and us to love all people, and not let our passions or anger polute our vows. We even need to hope that our enemies receive the very best and the most important way is through prayer, through which we rely on God's grace and listen to Him.

In this episode of the Life Lounge, Pauline and Peter share about their faith journey and how did they get in touch with the Catholic Church.

This Sunday's Gospel reading comes from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5, which is about Jesus fulfilling the Law. The Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD; afterwards, the laws pertaining to it were made obselete and the Church did not mandate that non-Jewish Christians keep certain laws such as circumcision but still mandated that they keep the moral laws such as the Ten Commandments given to Moses. Jesus told His disciples to have greater righteousness than the scribes and Pharisees, so that they would be not only righteous in outward actions, but also in the heart. It like a husband and wife who have never hit each other, stoles from each other, or done other evil deeds to each other, but lack communication and love. Who would consider this a good married life? So as Christians, we ought not to merely avoid doing evil, but even more to vigorously pursue virtue and love, and do good to others.

If we are in pain and suffering, how can we find positive energy from it?

This Sunday is the Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time. The Gospel reading is from Matthew 5:13-16; Jesus tells His apostles to be the salt of the earth, light of the world. Salt is useful for preserving food, so Jesus says that whoever lives out the Beatitudes will preserve the goodness of the world, or else they will be like salt that has lost its taste and is useless. In the Jewish tradition, Israel is to be the light of the nations. When Jesus tells His apostles to live out the Beatitudes, He is telling them to make Israel glorify God. Whenever Christians intentionally give witness to Christ, the whole world benefits. St. John Chrysostom once said that if all men acted as Christians ought, then even if they did not become saints, then the world would still be changed for the better. There would be morality, happiness, and peace. Christians not only have a duty to sanctify themselves, but to help others become holy and bring out their goodness and grow closer to God. In the Mass, we not only pray for ourselves and our families, but also for the world. We should lift up our colleagues, classmates, and friends to God with our prayers. We are called to care for the needs of others, not only their bodily needs, but also spiritual needs.

Fr. Francis will be answering two questions. One of them is about how to pray, and another question about whether prayer can change the plan of God.

This Sunday is the fortieth day after Christmas, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. In the past, Jewish women were considered by the Law to be unclean after giving birth and forty days later had to be cleansed and present their child to God. Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit, so she was ritually pure and in fact needed no cleansing. Jesus was the Son of God, so He needed not to be presented to God either. But both mother and son humbly submitted to the Law, reminding us to have a spirit of humble obedience. Mary offered the offering of a poor person: two doves or pigeons, instead of the usual lamb, reminding us that Jesus became a humble man. At that time, a man named Simeon was at the Temple awaiting the Messiah's arrival. When he saw the baby Jesus, he predicted that He would be a light to the nations and a sign to be contradicted. Jesus bore the sins of humanity: are our hearts illuminated with light and ready to accept Him, or are they filled with darkness and closed off to Him? On this Sunday, it is traditional to have candlelight processions to remind us that Jesus is the true light of the world. May we ask God to open our hearts and welcome Him in.