The Greatest of All - Love

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Oct. 26, 2008 (Mt 22:34-40)

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"

He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment."

"The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

In the Gospel, Jesus is again tested by Jewish religious leaders. He is asked what the greatest law was. Jesus answered with great wisdom by saying that love of God and love of neighbor are the principal commandments.

Jesus, of course, was aware of the existence of more than 600 laws which burden the Jews. Many unlearned Jews are becoming paranoid if they are breaking a law or not. On the other hand, the Pharisees who asked Jesus the question feel very good about themselves as they are certain that they are following the law. Their self-righteousness is the reason why they are not to find salvation. And their observance of meaningless rituals makes them without love.

The law that anyone follows becomes meaningless if there is no love, for love is the essence of the law. This is what Jesus knew and taught. He abstracted love from the so many detailed rituals and strict prohibitions and imposed this love as the new commandment.

Saint Paul explains this in his first letter to the Corinthians, "If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." (1 Cor 13:1-3).

In the Gospel, we are reminded to love God above all. As was said in last week's reflection, we all belong to God. Therefore, He is deserving of all our love. This imperative to love God is oftentimes overlooked. We always assume that we love God enough. I have heard people say, "Oh, God will understand! I'm very busy" just to justify their failure to attend Mass or to pray. Of course, if asked, many Catholics would deny that they don't love God. We would say we do. But how much do we really love God? Would He be on top of your list if you would be asked to honestly list down the ones you love in order of how much you love them?

Our love for God is required of us because it is God who loved us first. God thirsts for our love back. Remember Jesus' words, "I thirst" (Jn 19:28)? It is up to us to quench God's thirst for our love. People say that love hurts. Does it really? Or isn't it not getting loved back that hurts? Imagine how God feels when so many people refuse to love Him back.

The Pharisees would not have been surprised when Jesus answered love of God as the greatest commandment. But they might have been when Jesus added love of neighbor as the second and closely related commandment.

Love of God and of neighbor are often described as two sides of the same coin. Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me." (Mt 25:40). We cannot give God anything aside from our love, praise and service. God is not in need of any material object we can give Him. But, our love for God can be shown by caring for all His creation. And, of course, His greatest creation is man. We are His obra maestras, every one of us. We are images of the invisible God. Therefore, we must treat each other with love and respect.

Saint John makes this clear in his first epistle, "Those who say, 'I love God', and hate their brothers are liars; for those who do not love a brother whom they have seen cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers also." (1 Jn 4:20-21)

I have also heard people say, "Why should I help my neighbor when I myself am poor?" This is a silly statement. First of all, money is not always needed to help one's neighbor. One can help others by lending a helping hand, sharing time, talent and maybe a little treasure, but that's not required. So long as you have shared whatever you can, that's enough to make them feel loved. One can also extend help through praying for others. Secondly, we should remember that Jesus said in our Gospel, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself". He did not tell us to love ourselves first. He didn't also tell us to love our neighbor first. Rather, we shouldn't be selfish and we also shouldn't forget to take care of ourselves.

God loved us first. And just as God loved us though we are not worthy of His love, we should also love our neighbor.

Let us ask ourselves, are we the reason why Jesus thirsts for love? Do we break His already wounded heart by our sins and our refusal to love our neighbor? Are we the reason why God has a heartache?

God is Where We Belong

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Oct. 19, 2008 (Mt 22:15-21)

The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech. They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion, for you do not regard a person's status. Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?"

Knowing their malice, Jesus said, "Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that pays the census tax." Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?"

They replied, "Caesar's"

At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

In our gospel today, we see the Pharisees and the Herodians again trying to ensnare Jesus through His words. They try to trap Him this time regarding the census tax. If Jesus says it was lawful to pay the census tax, He would be rebuked as a supporter of the Romans. If He said it was not, then they would consider Him a rebel.

Jesus was wise in answering that we should give to Caesar what is due him and to God what is due Him. This answer tells us that our life here on earth does not necessarily hinder us in living as sons of God. Jesus tells us that we have obligations to meet as citizens of this world in the same way that we have obligations to meet as "citizens" of heaven. We live in this world, but we must beware of becoming worldly. We do not belong to this world for we belong in heaven, we belong to God.

Seek first the kingdom of heaven, it is said. We should offer our all to God. This doesn't mean that we should spend all our time in the church. Our daily life can be an offering to God. Everything we do, even if it seems to have nothing to do with the Church or religion, can be an offering to God. Jesus said we should give God whatever belongs to Him. But everything belongs to God! Therefore, everything we do is an offering to God. We give glory to God by the things we do. As Jesus said, "You are the light of the world... Let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." (Mt 5:14, 16).

Nevertheless, we still shouldn't forget our obligations that are purely spiritual in nature. As Christians, we are bound to pray and to worship God. Furthermore, as Catholics who recognize the value of both individual and community prayer, we are bound to attend Mass at least every Sunday. Religion is our response to God's goodness. We are not asked to attend Mass everyday, but only once a week. We are not asked to pray every novena known to Christendom, but we are asked to pray with our whole hearts. This is giving to God the praise due Him as our Creator, Savior and Guide.

God said, "You are dust and to dust you shall return." (Gen 3:19). Similarly, we are God's and to God we shall return... for to God we all belong.

Kingdom's Call: A Vocation to Love and to Love Back

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time Oct. 12, 2008 (Mt 22:1-14)

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying, ' Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast." ' Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city."

"Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.' The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests."

"But when the king came in to meet the guests, he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment. The king said to him, 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to silence. Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his handsand feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.' Many are invited, but few are chosen."

In the history of salvation, we see God as the first and the greatest lover. He is Trinitarian, a community of love. He created man out of love. He redeemed man because of love. He continues to love man up to this very day. He is the God of Love. HE IS LOVE.

It is God who first loved us and He calls us all to love Him back. He invites everyone to His kingdom whose foundation is love itself. Nevertheless, He is met with so much rejection. His people would rather concern themselves with worldly affairs than attend His banquet.

One might find it strange that the people in the parable could easily turn down an invitation from their king. Since they know that the king is very powerful, there is a tendency for them to "suck up" on their king to gain influence. Or, if this is not the case, they should have been afraid of what the king can do if he gets mad. The people invited rejected the king's invitation as if it were no big deal. In the same way, isn't it strange that we sometimes refuse to accept God's call to His kingdom? The Kingdom of God is eternal. And considering that its privation means hell, I don't think anyone in his right mind will ever refuse it.

What we fail to do, most of the time, is to see the bigger picture. We always look at "living the kingdom of God" as burdensome. We do not see the eternal effects of the spiritual life we neglect. We give too much value to our life here on earth, not knowing that we have a wedding feast to attend - an eternal one!

In the second part of the parable, we see an unworthy guest thrown away from the feast. This shows us the reality that the Kingdom of God requires something from us. Being a member of the Church does not guarantee our salvation. The Kingdom of God is only for pure people. We must strive to be worthy of the call of God. Just because we are invited to God's banquet, it doesn't mean we can enter whenever we please. The invitation of God is not just to come to His feast, but also to be worthy of it. Thus, we must be properly attired.

By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Oct. 5, 2008 (Mt 21:33-43)

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: "Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?" They answered him, "He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times." Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes? Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit."

In Genesis we find God entrusting creation to man - His greatest obra maestra. Man was made the steward of God here on earth. In the same way, the landowner in the parable entrusts the care of his vineyard to some tenants, which prove to be unworthy of the trust given them. They violate the virtue of justice, which dictates giving to our fellow man what they deserve. They are found useless and even destructive, therefore, they must be replaced with more loyal tenants.

We too, are entrusted by God with a mission here on earth. We all have a common mission, and that is to help each other achieve union with God - for that is the ultimate purpose of our being. We also have unique missions as unique individuals. This mission given us by God can be discerned through personal reflection. God gives us hints so we may easily find out our mission. He gives us talents and a set of unique qualities that we can use as bases for knowing our mission. It's like when a maid is given a spatula and cooking materials, it probably means that her master would like her to cook for the family. Our talents and qualities are the tools which God gives in order for us to complete our mission. We will never be truly happy if we do not fulfill our missions. If we follow our own will and reject God's, loneliness is ours.

We should give God what is due Him, and that is our obedience. We ought to obey Him since He is our Creator and because His will is also for our own good. His will is for us to be saved and be eternally happy with Him. We, as His stewards are given missions, the success of which could be determined by manifestations or fruits. If our mission does not bear fruit, then we are worthless. The Kingdom of God demands these fruits from us for it is "by our fruits that they shall know us" as children of God, as disciples of Christ.

If we really are firmly rooted in Christ, if we really are branches attached to the vine, where are our fruits? Are they good fruits? Can these fruits be given as a worthy offering to God?

Welcome to Lamp upon Our Feet!

Welcome! I, Dean Louis Bascon or Dale, as others call me, have made this blog for the purpose of sharing my personal reflections on the Sunday Gospel readings. Of course, I wish I can do this regularly, but I cannot promise that. What I can say is that I'll always try my best to find the time. This humble effort is done with the intention of touching souls through reflection on God's word. It's not my words, or our words that can change people. It is God's word that can transform, if we allow Him to do so. We are but mere echoes of God's words. We are His witnesses here, and we should take this task zealously.

Let this blog be a vineyard made fruitful by the rain - the word of God - which does not come back to Him void, but achieves the end for which it was sent.