A Call for Mature Faith

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time Jan. 31, 2010 (Lk 4:21-30)

He said to them, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing." And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, "Isn't this the son of Joseph?"

He said to them, "Surely you will quote me this proverb, 'Physician, cure yourself,' and say, 'Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.'"

And he said, "Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."

When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

"Familiarity breads contempt," a saying goes. True enough, we easily lose interest in things we are too familiar with. We conclude that we know everything about something or someone, to the point that we don't care to know them anymore. This was the attitude of Jesus' fellow Nazoreans. They only knew Jesus as the son of a carpenter and, thus, wondered where He got wisdom and eloquence. Their close-mindedness and lack of faith were the reasons why Jesus didn't perform miracles in their town.

Often, we are like the Nazoreans who rejected Jesus. We, too, reject God. Yes, we have faith in Him, but our faith is limited and immature. We see God as an All-powerful Being who, being our Father, will care for us and provide for everything we need. We expect Him to readily say yes to all our prayers. Because of this immaturity, our faith cannot grow and will easily be upset when we don't have things our way.

Our Gospel for today doesn't only call for accepting Jesus, it calls for a total faith in Jesus, including accepting and living His examples and preachings. The message of Jesus is not as simple as, "I love you. I saved you. End of story." His message is a complete turning away from sin and returning to God, rejecting the senseless pleasures and accepting the cross as He did. If the purpose of Jesus' Incarnation is just to save us, then He should have been crucified immediately after He was born. But as it is, He came to dwell among us to set an example of how to live as children of God. He showed us that suffering does not mean the absence of God; it could be the will of God at work in our lives to bring a greater good. His last and best example of accepting God's will is His death on the cross.

Our relationship with God calls for true faith in Him, a mature faith that sees how God works in our lives even in the midst of many problems. We must accept Jesus' preachings and follow His example of obedience to God. We must imitate the great selfless love that He showed us.

Of course, it is also our mission to share our faith, hope and love to others. As baptized Christians, we share in Jesus' prophetic mission. Therefore, we must proclaim Him in word and in deed, even when nobody shall listen to us. A prophet always faces rejection. What's important is that we have faith and we share this to others, so we can all grow and learn from Jesus.

And the Word was Made Flesh

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Jan. 24, 2010 (Lk 1:1-4, 4:14-21)

Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. He said to them, "Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."

Jesus proclaims the beginning of His public ministry by setting the direction to which His ministry will lead. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me", He said, quoting from the prophet Isaiah. With these words, Jesus proclaims Himself to be the Messiah, the anointed of God who will bring joy and liberation to those who are in agony.

This liberation, of course, is understood by us Christians to be the liberation from the slavery of sin. Jesus was not the kind of Messiah the Jews expected. He was not a political leader sent to destroy the Jewish colonizers. He was sent to destroy the enemy that has conquered all mankind - sin.

"Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing", Jesus assures his listeners. Indeed, Luke verifies that it was in the power of the Spirit that Jesus came to proclaim that particular passage. Therefore, the passage Jesus was reading was literally being fulfilled as it was being read.

Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promises in the Old Testament. He is the realization of numerous prophecies. Jesus also fulfills His own words, His own promises that have been actualized even in us today. This is why He is the Word made flesh. He is the promise of the Father who takes flesh, who becomes fulfilled before our very eyes.

Guided by the Spirit, we as Christians, must also set our direction to the path God anointed us to travel. Our mission should be clear to us, and we must fulfill God's purpose for us. He anoints us to a particular mission by giving us His Spirit, which gives us the power to fulfill that mission. The abilities which we have received from the Spirit are clues that give us an idea as to what path God wants us to take. This is what Saint Paul points out in saying that we are one body, as we are baptized in one Spirit, but we are also made up of different parts (1 Cor 12:13-14). Being individual parts of Christ's body, we have different ways of serving. Nevertheless, we have one common vocation, and that is to do the will of God.

Forever Young and Beautiful

Feast of the Sto. Niño Jan. 17, 2010 (Lk 2:41-52)

Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom.

After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.

When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety."

And he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he said to them.

He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.

After celebrating the Feast of the Lord's Baptism, where we saw Jesus as a grown man who was baptized in the Jordan, we come to reflect upon His childhood again as we celebrate today the feast very dear and unique to us Filipinos - the Feast of the Sto. Niño.

The image of the Christ child comes in varied costumes. Sometimes, He is robed as a prince; sometimes, He is an ordinary child or is dressed as a fireman, a farmer and many more, making Him one like us. This reflects the fact that Jesus was made flesh and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14). Truly, one of the greatest virtues the Sto. Niño teaches us is humility. Jesus, who is God, emptied Himself and became a child, a vulnerable and dependent child, a God who is with us. In the Gospel today, we even hear Him humbly obeying His human parents.

Jesus' obedience, of course, is, first and foremost, to the Father in heaven. That is why He stayed in the temple, in His Father's house, doing His Father's business. Like Jesus, we too are children of the Father. Therefore, we ought to imitate Jesus' humility and obedience. Our obedience should be to the Father, before to anyone else. Our first concern should always be to do His will.

As Jesus returns to childhood in our Gospel today, we, too, are invited to become like children, meek, humble and obedient. We should not let our achievements convince us that we are adults who do not need God anymore. Rather, we must remain humble, dependent on God and innocent, though probably not ignorant anymore. We must not be spoiled brats, nor rebelling teenagers, but faithful sons and daughters, obedient to our Father's will.

This is the message of the Sto. Niño, whose childhood we immortalize - we must remain forever young and beautiful before our Father.

His Mission

Feast of the Lord's Baptism Jan. 10, 2010 (Lk 3:15-16, 21-22)

Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Messiah. John answered them all, saying, "I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

The baptism preached by John is a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. So why did Jesus need to be baptized by John, when Jesus had no sin and, therefore, did not need to be baptized? This question is usually where reflections about today's Gospel start.

Jesus' baptism echoes the message of Christmas to a larger audience. It echoes the truth that God has indeed visited His people and that He dwells with them even though they are sinners. Metaphorically speaking, the River Jordan has been dirtied by the sins of those who have repented and have had their baptism in it. Jesus, the Savior, made the waters clean. The waters of the Jordan were made holy by Jesus who plunged in it. In the same way, Jesus comes into this world as man to cleanse us from sin by His bloody Baptism on Mount Calvary.

The Baptism of Jesus, therefore, reminds us of the central message of Christmas - that Jesus came into our sinful world to save us. In this sense, also, we realize that the joy of Christmas is inseparable to the sorrow of Calvary. The news that Jesus dwelt here on earth cannot be separated with the story of his saving death.

In the first part of the Gospel, John spoke about the coming of someone mightier than him. Jesus was then revealed to the people as the Son of God, the promised Messiah John spoke about. One should never cease to marvel at how God has willed to send even His own Son for our salvation. It was unthinkable that a God would become man, out of love for His people. Much less unthinkable is the fact that this Son of God would offer his life for the salvation of His people. Yet, God showed us His love: "This is my beloved Son." Witnesses of Jesus' Baptism ought to have been in awe.

On our part, since we are baptized Christians, we ought to pattern our lives to that of Christ. The Holy Spirit who descended upon Jesus as a dove shall guide us as we travel to our own Jerusalem. Each person has been anointed by God to serve Him in a unique way and each must discern and obey His will. But as a Church, we also share a common mission, given to us by Christ. And that is to be His witnesses to the whole world. As Jesus was baptized to start His public ministry, our own Baptism also anoints us as children of God. And we must live as His true children, faithful and obedient.

Seeking to Do Him Homage

Solemnity of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jan. 3, 2010 (Mt 2:1-12)

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage."

When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"

Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star's appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage."

After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother.

They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.

The celebration of the Lord's Epiphany reminds us that Jesus' birth is a symbol of God's saving love that is offered to all. Jesus was born to save humanity, not only the Jews. This is the news of great joy that the angel announces - the Savior of all men is born! The gifts of the magi prophesy the destiny of the child Jesus. The frankincense symbolizes divinity; the gold, kingship; and the myrrh, death. Jesus is God who comes to us as a king who will serve by suffering and dying and thus, will save all men from sin and death.

Jesus' birth was not known to the political and religious leaders of His time. But He manifested Himself to the magi, wise men who are not from the People of God, who diligently searched for Him, who brought Him gifts and did Him due homage. Our Gospel for today allows us to reflect on the different ways people react when God comes. The magi brought gifts and worshiped the child. Herod, on the other hand, under the guise of wanting to worship, sought to kill the child. Herod loves his position so much that he sought to kill this newborn king of the Jews, as he was afraid that Jesus would dethrone him.

Sometimes, we become like Herod. We see God as a hindrance in acquiring the things we long to have. We believe in God but we seek to "kill" Him because with Him in our hearts, we cannot enjoy the ephemeral pleasures of lust, of acquisition of power, and of possession of great riches. God does not want us to belong to this world and to seek the shallow happiness it brings, so we seek to "kill" Him so that we can go our own way, enjoying the pleasures of this world.

Like the magi, we must seek Jesus and give Him the best gift we can give - ourselves. We must seek Him so we can do Him homage. We should recognize Him as king and let Him dethrone the worldly things and desires that reign in our hearts. He should be our King, our God, our Savior.