Jesus' Way is the Way of the Cross

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time June 20, 2010 (Lk 9:18-24)

Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" They said in reply, "John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, 'One of the ancient prophets has arisen.'" Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "The Messiah of God." He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.

He said, "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised."

Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

"My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me" (Jn 10:27)

These words from today's verse before the Gospel tell us that we have a shepherd who knows each of us and whom we must obey and follow. But we focus our reflection today on Jesus' question, "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus knows us, but do we know Him, whom we follow? Certainly, we cannot be followers of someone we don't know. And if we do not know Jesus, we cannot claim to be Christians.

Peter hits the jackpot when he answers that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah of God. Jesus was the savior that the Israelites have been waiting for. This was a moment of revelation for the Apostles. Jesus revealed His identity as the Messiah. The one they have been following is the Messiah.

But Jesus had to explain to them that He is not the Messiah that Israel was expecting. He was not a political figure who would free Israel from colonizers. He was not an earthly monarch. His glory does not come from pomp and power. His moment of glory is His suffering, death and resurrection. His way is not of the scepter; His is the way of the cross.

This revelation, assuming that the apostles fully understood it, comes as a shock. How could the Messiah die such a cruel death? Even the Gentiles who hears the story after Jesus' Ascension were shocked. How could God die? Why would God choose to suffer? Of course, today, we understand that Jesus' suffering and death is the redemption that God had planned, in His wisdom.

Jesus tells His disciples, and also all of us, that since we choose to follow Him, we must also learn to accept suffering and to see suffering in a new light. Taking up our crosses means that we must live according to the example of Jesus, being good Christians and taking the path that God has set for us. Doing this, we will certainly face a lot of challenges. But that is why it is called a cross. It may be difficult to bear, but we must do it out of love for God.

Jesus' mission on earth was fulfilled in His death and resurrection. We, on the other hand, are not all called to die for others or for our faith. But all of us, being Christians, are called to live for God and for others. We must "lose" the life we want to live and live instead as God wants us to live. In fact, we must let Christ live in us.

Following Christ entails sacrifice because He whom we follow has also sacrificed Himself for our salvation. We must learn from Him and imitate Him who carried His cross. We must carry our own crosses. The only way to life with God is the way of the cross.

Prodigal Siblings

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time June 13, 2010 (Lk 7:36-8:3)

A Pharisee invited him to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee. Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner." Jesus said to him in reply, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. "Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred days' wages 12 and the other owed fifty. Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?" Simon said in reply, "The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven." He said to him, "You have judged rightly."

Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. 13 But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." The others at table said to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" But he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

(Afterward he journeyed from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources.)

How we look at our relationship with God affects our relationship with others. We must realize that none of us have been saved except through the great love of God demonstrated by Jesus on the cross. It was out of God's love and compassion that we were all saved. On the cross, Jesus died for everyone. If we realize this, then we would see each other as fellow receivers of God's love and mercy.

We are all sinners. Nevertheless, sometimes we even have the nerve to look down on others whose sins are publicly known or are considered more grave than our own sins. These people will only run farther away from God if they are discriminated by the people they look up to as holier than they are. If they experience people holier than them harshly judging them, they will only think that God is also judging them in the same way. But that is not so. God wants them to be saved too. We must be instruments of God's love and mercy. We must be the ones to tell them that God wants to embrace them and to welcome them back.

Today, God calls us to go back to Him. He is trying to say that He loves us and that He is waiting for us, even though we have sinned so much. He is waiting for us to love Him back. As prodigal sons of the Father, we should return to Him. But along the way, let us call up our brothers and sisters who have also gone astray and invite them to return to the Father's house. What a family reunion that would be!

How Far God's Love Went

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ June 6, 2010 (Lk 9:11-17)

Jesus received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured.

As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, "Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."

He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves." They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people." Now the men there numbered about five thousand.

Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty." They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.

In the Gospel today, we see how Jesus cared for the crowd that came to see Him, feeding five thousand people after a tiring day of preaching to them and healing their sick. Jesus knew about everything the people needed. He knew that they thirst for the Good News, that some of them wished to be healed and that they hunger for food. He took care of all these needs of the people, showing compassion on His followers.

Jesus' love for us is expressed in the many ways that He nourishes us. But the greatest expression of His love is when He becomes the nourishment Himself. This He did on Calvary and the merits of this supreme sacrifice come to us in the Eucharist.

The Eucharist is the sacrament wherein God shows us how madly in love He is with humanity. Here we see that even after God did the unthinkable by becoming man and dying on the cross, He still does more, to our amazement. God knows that the Calvary scene is chronologically distant from us who live more than two thousand years after Christ. That is why Jesus instituted the Eucharist, not to repeat His sacrifice, but to bring that very same sacrifice to us here and now.

Every time we reflect on the Eucharist, we cannot help but be amazed. Is it not awe-inspiring to hear that the God who once humbled Himself by becoming man and allowing Himself to be killed now further humbles Himself by becoming a piece of bread? Yes, this is the Eucharist - God's love that resulted to unimaginable humility.

It is up to us now not to leave God waiting. He became bread so that He can come to us. He has gone a long way just to be with us and to save us. Let us receive and worship Him as we would if we were with Him more than two thousand years ago. If we come to think of it, we are the ones who need Him. Yet He's the one making the greater effort to come to us. All we have to do now is receive Him, believing that it is Him and not bread that we are receiving.

By faith we see that it is Jesus, and no longer bread. By this faith we see and we rejoice that He who nourishes is Himself the nourishment. With this faith we receive the one who nourishes us.