William Cardinal Goh The Shepherd's Voice

We will be judged according to how we have surrendered ourselves to Him. Like the first and second servant in today's Gospel passage, we need to take risks and use our talents and charisms for the kingdom of God. The Lord rewards those who have expended their potentials to the fullest. Let us pray for an increasing faith, for only a radical faith to give us the strength to surrender all.

In our times, the Church often clashes with the values of the secular world, and sometimes governments who betray the common good of the people. It is not easy for Christians to be faithful to the gospel because it often involves being discriminated by those who are opposed to Christian values. Sometimes, one has to choose between the rich pagan life of pleasure offered by the world, or the sacrif...

When we pray, we allow God to journey with us. Like any parent relating to a child, in prayer, the Father listens and helps us to process our experiences. Sometimes He simply holds us, other times He encourages us. And when needed, He intervenes.

Today, the Lord warns us to be prepared lest we miss the glory of the kingdom of God in our lives and at the end of time. We must avoid falling into the same mistake as the people during Noah’s time, or during the time of Lot, so absorbed in the mundane activities of the world that they had no place for God in their life. Whilst we certainly must give our heart and soul to whatever we are doing, w...

The kingdom of God is already in our midst. When we live the life of the Spirit - loving, forgiving and sharing with one another - we make present and celebrate the kingdom of God. There will be sufferings, but there will also be a foretaste of the life of the world to come.

Those who have to pay a price for their conversion will cherish their faith, protect it and nurture it. For many converts, their journey to faith had not been easy, especially when they come from non-Catholic families. They would have faced opposition and even threatened severance of relationships. Gratitude springs from a grateful and humble heart of thanksgiving. When we are not conscious that a...

Underlying the call to be generous in today’s readings is a critique on the injustices of the world, especially of leaders. They play a key role in ensuring that justice prevails in our society; that is a fundamental form of charity.

What is truly our own is the gift of eternal life. Only that belongs to us forever. Everything else on this earth does not last. Our health will fail one day. Our position in society will eventually be forgotten. Our name and all that we had done would no longer be remembered or be reduced to one or two sentences in the history books. Our wealth would have to be given away when we die. Our power w...

By virtue of our baptism, we are members of the royal priesthood. And so we have an obligation to proclaim the Gospel as priests. We are to be a bridge, so that others will know God through us. Like the dishonest steward in today's Gospel passage, let us us be creative and resourceful in our proclamation of the Good News.

In the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin, the Lord reminds us that whilst the big picture is important, we must never forget that the biggest picture is concerned with the salvation of the lost, even of one soul.  Every soul is important to us so much so that we would have to leave the other ninety-nine sheep to look for the one lost sheep or the one lost coin.  We must therefo...

Many beautiful relationships have been broken because we place people before Jesus. We place our ambition, career and power before Jesus. When Jesus is not the centre of our lives then everything will be out of perspective. But when we put Jesus in every relationship, we can be sure that the relationship will blossom. Because when Jesus is in that relationship, Jesus will tech us how to love, how...

Jesus made it clear that the love of God and the love of neighbour, although distinguished, cannot be separated. Living out these two commandments will give us meaning and joy. It is true that we might not necessarily be blessed with riches even if we obey the laws, but we will live a rich life nevertheless. If one truly loves his brothers and sisters, he can never be too rich because he is called...

We must never imagine ourselves to be greater than who we are, or conversely, lesser. In fact, we should just be ourselves, living out our identity and exercising the gifts that God has bestowed upon us, for the service of humanity. It is about exploring the full potential of our being so that we can expend and expand ourselves for the good of others. By so doing, the greatest reward and joy we ha...

Christ, the Son of God, has been revealed to us as the Way, the Truth and the Life. He paid the price for our salvation. In spite of the fact that we are God’s adopted sons and daughters, His children, we have failed to live out our sonship in Christ. We take for granted the blessings the Lord has given to us. We take our faith as an inheritance, just like the Jews. But we have not done anything t...

The Church is built on unity in diversity, not uniformity or homogeneity. The basis for unity in the Church is alignment with Jesus, with Him as our cornerstone. To promote unity, we need to dialogue with one another in sincerity and humility.

We are to cooperate with God's grace as much as we can. He does not judge us by our achievements but by our sincerity in trying to do His will and following Him in discipleship. We might fail or fall short but God will even use our mistakes and sins for our growth and purification. We must not be discouraged when things do not work out or when we experience set-backs in life. God will bring good o...

On Mission Sunday, we are called to give hope and direction to the world. When the Israelites were about to go on exile, Jeremiah gave them courage. He spoke of the hope for Israel even when the disasters were about to strike. God as the Father of Israel would never abandon Israel forever. Indeed, even the blind and the lame would be brought back. The truth remains that Jesus is on our side as He...

If we allow the Spirit of God to reign in our lives, we will see and think like Christ. We will be compassionate and forgiving to others. The Spirit of God will also bring fruits of joy, love and peace.

Through the grace of the sacrament of reconciliation, our sins are forgiven and once again, our relationship with God is re-established. With the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts, we are empowered to live out our sonship. But this does not mean that we will not give in to temptation at times. That is why we constantly need God’s forgiveness in the sacrament of reconciliation. By acknowledging ou...

Indeed, there will be division in the family, among closed ones, in the community, in society, in the country and among the nations as there will be those who seek to eliminate the truth from being taught because the gospel exposes their deceits and selfishness. It is not surprising that the world wants to marginalize not just Christianity but all religions and relegate them to our homes and churc...

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 Hol...

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...

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?