Lamp upon Our Feet

All These in Her Heart

2011-12-31T00:31:00.000-08:00

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God Jan. 1, 2012 (Lk 2:16-21)

So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.

And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

The shepherds were very much blessed on that first Christmas night. An angel announced to them the news of the Savior's birth. A multitude of the heavenly host singing glory to God appeared to them. But most of all, as today's Gospel tells us, the shepherds were graced with the presence of God. They saw the child in the manger. They witnessed how God came to His people, how He became close to them, even becoming one like them. They might not have understood everything that was happening, but surely they knew that God was at work. They recognized that everything that was happening was brought about by God.

Like the shepherds, we must also recognize God working in our lives. This new year, the most important thing we could wish for is God's presence, the very same grace that the shepherds received. Our efforts for change this new year will not be fruitful without God. We must, therefore, pray that God may guide us the whole year through, that He may help us change and that His will may be fulfilled in us.

As we begin the new year, we again look to Mary, the Mother of God. In today's Gospel, we hear how she treasured in her heart everything that happened to them. Like the shepherds, she might not have understood everything, but she kept all of these and reflected on them in her heart. We too must learn to pray and to reflect as Mary did. We should not just go head on in our life journey. Everything happens for a reason ordained by God. But if we fail to pause and reflect, we might miss what God is trying to tell us through the events in our lives. In prayerful reflection, Mary obeyed God's will perfectly. That is also how we ought to live our lives, in order to find peace that comes only from God, even amidst everything that we might face.

Today, as we celebrate the Octave of Christmas, we also hear from the Gospel about how Mary's son was circumcised and named Jesus. Let us always remember the meaning of Jesus' name - God saves. This is our assurance this new year. Jesus, the God who saves, has come to be with us. With Jesus as our Savior, and with Mary as our mother and model of prayer and obedience, we can go on in our life journey in peace and security.

Born Amidst Difficult Situations

2011-12-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

Solemnity of the Lord's Birth Dec. 25, 2011 (For Midnight Mass: Lk 2: 1-14)

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.

And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."

And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

Joseph and Mary travels to Bethlehem, seemingly just to obey a human decree, but actually to fulfill what God has decreed long ago down through the Scriptures - that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem from the line of David, the king - for the child in Mary's womb is the King of kings. And so there they were. The couple traveled while Mary bore the child, to a city that was filled with people who were there for the census, in the darkness of the night, and with no room for them to stay in. Their situation was very difficult. It became even more difficult for them when the time came for Mary to give birth and the only place they could stay in is a manger. Finally, Jesus was born there in the lowly manger.

For a plan that has been established through the ages, what happened in the Christmas story could have been better and more grand, or at least more decent and comfortable for Mary, Joseph and Jesus. But this Christmas story is already God's perfect plan. It is God's perfect timing, even though it didn't seem to be so perfect.

Christmas happened because of God - because Christ was there. It didn't matter that the place was in a manger. Jesus was born and everything became simply glorious and joyful that night. Mary and Joseph must have been rejoicing while gazing at the child Jesus. The angels in heaven sang glorifying God as they shared the good news of great joy to shepherds who were faithfully keeping watch over their sheep. Indeed, the darkness of the night was dispelled by the light of the child that was born for us. All the difficulties the Holy Family faced didn't matter anymore. Jesus' presence was all that mattered.

In our Christmas celebration, we tend to always wish for everything to be fine, if not perfect. We make sure everything is prepared well - decorations, food, gifts, parties and more, depending on what we can afford. If our Christmas celebration depends on these things, we might not always get a merry Christmas. But if our joy is because of Jesus being born anew into our lives, we will be able to celebrate a more meaningful Christmas and we will also be able to share that joy. This is what our Gospel story teaches us. We should stop longing for a perfect Christmas celebration because the first Christmas itself was not perfect. What makes Christmas perfect is God's presence in our lives, even amidst difficult situations.

Many are poor. Many are homeless. Many are separated from their loved ones. Recently, many were devastated by a natural disaster here in our country. These people are often tempted to say that there is no Christmas for them. But God is still present in their lives, even if they feel God has abandoned them. Because Christ was born for us, there will always be Christmas. It doesn't matter if we are saddened by so many unfortunate events. We rejoice during Christmas because we remember how God was born to us amidst difficult situations. And we believe that God will also be born in our lives as well, coming to us in our dark night to bring forth a new day.

As we experience the true joy of Christmas, we are also challenged to be God's instruments in proclaiming the good news of His coming into our lives. We must proclaim that Christmas can never be canceled because Christ is always with us. If there are people who cannot feel Christ's presence, we must be there to be make them experience the love that was Jesus' reason for becoming man. Christmas is for all; Christ was born for all.

Testifying to the Light that Gives Joy

2011-12-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

3rd Sunday of Advent Dec. 11, 2011 (Jn 1:6-8, 19-28)

A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.

And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, "Who are you?" he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, "I am not the Christ."

So they asked him, "What are you then? Are you Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No." So they said to him, "Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?" He said: "I am 'the voice of one crying out in the desert, "Make straight the way of the Lord,"' as Isaiah the prophet said." Some Pharisees were also sent. They asked him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie." This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Today is Gaudete Sunday, a day of rejoicing. In the midst of the semi-penitential Season of Advent, the liturgy invites us today to rejoice. While we feel sorrow for our sins as we anticipate the Lord’s coming, we also feel joy because the preparation we are doing, if indeed we are preparing properly, will allow us to encounter the Lord more intimately. As St. Paul exhorts us in today’s Second Reading (1 Thes 5:16-24), we must rejoice even as we strive to avoid evil and to live in holiness.

Our Gospel for today tells us of John the Baptist’s testimony. At a time when people rarely heard God’s revelations through prophets, John the Baptist raised expectations when he testified to the light – Jesus, whose coming shall cause great rejoicing. Jesus is the Messiah who was sent “to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God (see First Reading, Is 61:1-2,10-11).”

To those who asked him, John admitted that he was not the Christ. But he foretold the coming of one greater than him. John did not claim to be the light but pointed to the true light – to Jesus, the Messiah the Jews have been waiting for.

Today, as we worry about the many things we think can make our Christmas a happy one, we remember John the Baptist pointing to Christ, reminding us that He is our true joy. All our Christmas decorations and festivities are only means of expressing our joy; they are not the cause of our joy. Our joy comes from a heart-to-heart encounter with Jesus, an encounter that can only be as intense as our hearts are pure from sin.

Christmas lights may shine bright, but they can never outshine Jesus who comes shining anew in our hearts. So let us keep our gaze towards Christ, the light that gives true Christmas joy. So let us rejoice today, awaiting Jesus’ coming and preparing a heart free from sin for Him.

Cleaning up and Decorating Our Hearts

2011-12-03T11:49:00.000-08:00

2nd Sunday of Advent Dec. 4, 2011 (Mk 1:1-8)

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the desert: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths."

John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey.

And this is what he proclaimed: "One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

In this Second Sunday of Advent, we are invited to reflect on the ministry and on the message of John the Baptist. John is the humble herald of the Lord. Before Jesus began His public ministry, John proclaimed a baptism of repentance. He reminded people to take a look at how they are living their lives and in what ways they sin against God. He invited them to repent – to turn away from their sins and to live according to God’s will. This was John’s message: Jesus is coming so fix yourselves up!

The First Reading (Is 40:1-5, 9-11) gives the same message. Israel wandered far from God because of sin, but God has forgiven them. God is “coming back” to Israel. But Isaiah reminds God’s people that they must prepare by making straight “in the wasteland a highway” for God. This means that they must build anew their lives that were laid waste by sin. “Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low.” This means that every weakness and shortcoming they have must be “filled in” with good deeds and an effort to improve themselves. Every destructive thing or sinful deed must be “made low” or done away with. God is coming to them, so they must turn away from what separated them from Him in the first place. This was also John’s message to the people he was inviting to prepare for Jesus’ coming – and also to us. This is what repentance means. This is what God wills us to do, and He patiently waits for us to do it (see Second Reading: 2 Pt 3:8-14).

As Christmas draws near, we will again go through many preparations. Cleaning up and decorating are just some of these. There’s nothing wrong with all these preparations. But we must remember that these are only external preparations. What we really need to clean up and decorate are our hearts. Like the Israelites Isaiah and John the Baptist preached to, we must clean up our hearts and throw away everything that is evil and sinful in them. We must also decorate our hearts, adorning them with virtues, good deeds and prayerfulness. This is the proper way of preparing for Jesus’ coming into our lives. Only when we do this do we truly become ready to commemorate Jesus’ coming here on earth on Christmas, to experience His presence in our lives today, and to meet Him face to face when He finally comes back again.

Let us always remember that Advent comes before Christmas. Advent is a season of preparation, a time for us to heed John the Baptist’s call to repentance in preparation for Jesus’ coming. Let us listen to this voice in the desert. Let us start cleaning up and decorating our hearts.

Waiting with Joyful Hope

2011-11-26T10:11:00.000-08:00

1st Sunday of Advent Nov. 27, 2011 (Mk 13:33-37)

"Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'"

The Church once again celebrates a new liturgical year and she begins this with the Season of Advent. Advent literally means coming. In this season, the Church invites us again to wait for the Lord who came once and will come again.

The Gospel for today reminds us of our responsibility to prepare for the final days. Jesus urges us to be alert and to be "watchful".

Being watchful does not mean being like the guards in Luneta Park who stand there and keep watch until other guards take their shift. Neither does it mean being free to do whatever while we wait for something to happen. Being watchful means being faithful to our master as we wait for His return. And faithfulness means being loyal to our tasks all the time - not at the time most convenient to us, but all the time. And what is our task? It is to be obedient to God's commands all the time.

As faithful and watchful servants, we must not be too weary of thinking of Jesus' return. The "end times" always cause too many unnecessary speculations and distress. But as Christians, we "await in joyful hope the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ". We are happy as we await the Lord. We are joyful because the Lord's coming means salvation for us. We only need to fear the Lord's coming if we have not prepared ourselves and have not been loyal servants of His. As Jesus Himself said, "May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping." May we not be found unfaithful on the day of the Lord's return.

As we await the Lord, we must be alert. This means that we must never put out guard down. We must never, at any circumstance, think that it is alright to be unfaithful and to commit sin at the moment because we can always repent later. For all we know, that could be the last moment of our lives. Wallowing in sin and putting off repentance for some other time is not faithful watching for the Lord. It is procrastination.

As the new liturgical year begins, may we heed the call of the Advent Season. May we always bear in mind the Lord's exhortation to stay awake. The Lord is coming and we must always be ready, joyful and faithful for His coming.

Giving God His Harvest

2011-09-17T15:18:00.000-07:00

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Oct. 2, 2011 (Mt 21:33-43)

"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.

Jesus' parable in the Gospel today presents salvation history. God is the owner and Israel, God's people, is the vineyard. The tenants to whom the owner entrusted the care of the vineyard are the leaders of the house of Israel. Throughout history, God has been gracious to Israel. He saved them from slavery and made a covenant with them. And He expected them to be faithful to Him. He sent them His prophets to remind them that they must be loyal to Him and that they must live fruitful lives and live up to the privilege of being God's people. But these prophets were killed and their message was ignored. But then happens the unimaginable. God sent His only Son to the vineyard to show us how to be fruitful and to give us an example of obedience to God.

In retelling the whole story, Jesus reminds Israel and their leaders, and even us, who are also God's people, that we have to do our part. The story is not only about God giving and giving because He loves mankind. God's love for us demands fruit - a faith response manifested not only in a firm belief and a deep devotion, but also in concrete actions.

This is what Jesus is telling us today. God planted in our hearts the seed of faith, and He entrusted us to nurture this and to let it grow and bear fruit. All that we have are from Him - our talents, our abilities, our lives and our very being. Therefore, we must make something of all His gifts so that we may offer Him back the fruits He deserves and expects from us.

Yes it is true that we belong to God. Yet, not only us, but everything we do and everything we produce are supposed to be God's. When we do not do what is right, we deprive God of the goodness we ought to have. If we sin, we offer to God an act that is not pleasing to Him. But when we obey His will, following the example of the Son whom He sent us, we allow ourselves to be totally His; our very being, our actions and the fruits that we shall bear become totally God's.

It is no easy task to produce a bountiful harvest. But God already did part of the work. All we need to do is to follow Jesus' example of obedience to God and to allow ourselves to receive and nurture the graces God gives us. In time, we will produce God's harvest. And we will be His loyal tenants and fruitful vineyard.

Give and Take Mercy

2011-09-08T16:38:00.000-07:00

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Sept. 11, 2011 (Mt 18:21-35)

Then Peter approaching asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?"

Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.' Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, 'Pay back what you owe.' Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt.

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?' Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart."

We are made in the image and likeness of God. Because of this, we have the ability to emulate certain attributes of God. Being merciful is one of these attributes. Every time we forgive our brothers who have wronged us, we participate in God's mercy and forgiveness; we become instruments of Divine Mercy. We become "merciful as the Father is merciful" (Lk 6:36). And we prove to be "like God when mercy seasons justice", as Portia, from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, puts it.

In the same way that we are able to love God and our neighbor because it is God who first loved us, we are also able to show mercy because we have been shown mercy. We are all sinners and God is always ready to forgive us every time we come to Him with sincere sorrow for our sins. God forgives us no matter how grave our sins are and even when we commit the same sins over and over again. He went even further and sent His Son to die for us to be freed from sin. Such is Divine Mercy, and precisely because we experience so great a compassion that we are expected to be merciful to others who sin against us. We cannot pray for forgiveness from God if we ourselves do not know how to forgive. Again Portia says it well: "We do pray for mercy. And that same prayer doth teach us to render the deeds of mercy." We also say it well when we pray the Our Father: "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us."

God forgives us out of His great love for us. In the standards of justice, He should have let us be damned because of our sins. But because of His Divine Mercy, He forgives us and He even let His Son suffer our punishment; thus in the cross, God's mercy and justice met. It is quite unimaginable yet very marvelous that we would be worthy of God's forgiveness. We are merely His creatures and when we sin and wander far from Him, why should He bother to seek us, to forgive us and to restore a loving relationship with us? We can only wonder why God thought we were worth forgiving.

In God, we can find reason to forgive even those who have done the worst things to us. Sometimes, we excuse ourselves from forgiving by saying that we have been so good to our neighbors and they should not have wronged us. But God, who is the Supreme Good, never made this an excuse. He, most of all, does not deserve all the hurt we give Him, but He still forgives us anyway. So what else is our excuse?

Forgiving may be a difficult task. God never expected us to do it with ease, but He expects us to do it anyway. Forgiveness should slowly take place even as we go through the process of healing. God forgives us even if we are not worth forgiving and even if our sins are so grave. So too, we must forgive anyone who offends us no matter how badly they hurt us. And as forgiveness is an imperative from God, surely He will help us to accomplish this difficult task.

So let us make it our prayer that we may be more forgiving. May we pray that God help us to forgive and to ask for forgiveness. Through this, since to forgive is divine, we could make it a heaven here on earth!

To Be Our Brothers' Keepers

2011-09-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Sept. 4, 2011 (Mt 18:15-20)

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.

Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

It is clear from Jesus' words that He wanted to establish a Church, a community of believers. Two Sundays ago, we witnessed how He established His Church upon Peter, the rock. His apostles and disciples are the first members of His Church.

In today's Gospel, we witness how Jesus instructs His disciples like a father gives advice to his children. Here, we can see clearly that Jesus desires that His followers should live as a community, living a common way of life that He Himself taught them. He constantly preached to them about many things, knowing that someday when He ascends into heaven, the Holy Spirit will remind them of all these teachings and empower them to carry these out (cf. Jn 14:26).

In exhorting His disciples to try and win back their brother who sins against them, Jesus is in effect reminding them of the importance of one another. Instead of holding a grudge, a Christian ought to be more concerned about the fact that his brother sinned and that sin ruins the harmony within the Church. In introducing this communal mentality, Jesus rejects the notion that men ought to be concerned only about his own salvation. Jesus reminds us that our fellow Christians are our brothers and sisters. And a Christian is always his brothers' keeper.

At the end of His exhortation, Jesus says that a brother who sins and does not listen even to the Church should be treated as if he were a tax collector or a Gentile. But this does not mean we must discriminate unrepentant members of the Church. After all, how did Jesus treat the Gentiles and tax collectors? Did He not treat them with respect and love? And did He not wait patiently for their repentance? So also must we treat our unrepentant brethren. After doing our best to win them back, we have nothing left to do but pray that they may find their way back to God and to His Church again.

To be a true follower of Christ, we must not avoid the community of believers who also wish to follow Him. And we must see others who do not believe in Christ as people who are as of yet lost but will soon be found. As He said in the Gospel, Jesus is present in His Church and His presence gives strength to this community of believers in order for its members to carry out His challenging teachings.

As the Church, may we also pray for what Jesus prayed for: that we may be one (cf. Jn 17:21). True enough, even as we need Jesus to strengthen us, we need our fellow believers to help us as we journey towards Jesus' Kingdom.

The Wisdom and Love in Suffering

2011-08-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Aug. 28, 2011 (Mt 16:21-27)

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.

Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you."

He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?"

"For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct."

After Peter was able to profess through God's revelation that Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus explains what being the Messiah meant. The Jews were hoping that the Messiah will be the leader who will liberate them from the hands of their oppressors. But Jesus revealed to His apostles that He whom they have confirmed to be the Messiah will have to suffer, die and be raised on the third day.

This probably came as a shock for them. Peter could not accept this new revelation. He accepted and professed that Jesus is the Messiah; but he could not accept that this Messiah would have to suffer. Naturally, he was concerned for his Master so he didn't want him to suffer. But what he failed to realize is that the revelation that Jesus had to suffer, die and be raised is a revelation of how God, in His wisdom, has planned the salvation of men.

It sounded foolish to Peter and to the apostles that their expected liberator would have to suffer. As St. Paul said, "Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1 Cor 1:22-23)." Yes, since Peter was not thinking as God does, he could not see Jesus' suffering and death as wise. Even we, thinking as human beings do, cannot fathom why or cannot appreciate that Jesus, the Messiah and the Son of God, had to suffer. But once we accept without doubt what God is revealing to us, we can see not only the wisdom of God's plan of salvation, but also the great love He has for us that He would let His Son die for us. Only then do we realize that "the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom (1 Cor 1:25)." And we marvel at this.

After rebuking Peter, Jesus explained that anyone who wishes to follow Him should take up His cross and be willing to lose their life for Him. This is a radical call. Jesus seems to be forgetting that man naturally loves what is comfortable and that man always clings to dear life. But again, this is a revelation. Jesus is warning His apostles, and even us who wish to follow Him, that becoming a Christian is no easy task. It is rewarding, but it is not easy.

Being a Christian means living out the values that Jesus taught us and rejecting the values of the world. Sometimes, we may be inconvenienced, ridiculed or even persecuted because we live as Christians, but we must remain loyal to Christ anyway. Again, it may be foolish to accept these difficulties instead of escaping them, but as in the case of Jesus who died for us, we do it anyway because we do it out of love - even if the world does not get it.

Jesus exhorts us today to think with the wisdom of God and to love with the love of God. Once we do, accepting suffering and carrying the cross will not seem foolish to us. It will be an expression of our love and loyalty to our Master who did the same, and even more, out of love for us.

God's Welcoming Embrace

2011-08-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Aug. 14, 2011 (Mt 15:21-28)

Then Jesus went from that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." But he did not say a word in answer to her.

His disciples came and asked him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."

He said in reply, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me."

He said in reply, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs."

She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters."

Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed from that hour.

God's love is universal. This is a fact that was revealed little by little throughout salvation history. In the Old Testament, it is clear that the Israelites were the chosen people - the children of God. Nevertheless, reading forward until the New Testament, we come to realize that Israel was indeed God's firstborn, but the entire human race enjoys the Fatherhood of God.

Even in the days of the Israelites' journey towards the promised land, God has welcomed into His people some foreigners who have demonstrated faith in Him. He welcomed Rahab, the inhabitant of Jericho who helped the Israelite spies escape. God let Ruth, a woman who showed compassion and loyalty towards her mother-in-law Naomi, become part of Jesus' family tree. God has also shown favor upon a foreigner who came to His prophet for healing - Naaman the leper. All these stories tell us that God's goodness extends to all mankind.

In today's Gospel, though emphasizing that He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Jesus acknowledges the great faith of a Canaanite woman who came to Him for her daughter's healing. At first, it seemed that Jesus was being rather rude and exclusive in His words. But here He was probably just giving the woman an opportunity to demonstrate her faith in Him.

What made this woman's faith remarkable? First, she came humbly asking Jesus for help. Her faith transcended the boundaries of culture and even of religious belief itself. Second, she addressed Jesus as the Lord, the Son of David. Even the Pharisees who were Jesus' fellow Jews did not address Him with this kind of reverence! And isn't it written that no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3)? It is probably safe to assume, then, that this woman was filled by the Holy Spirit! Probably, this woman was moved by the Spirit of God, not only for her to find healing for her daughter, but to proclaim the message that God's love is universal and that faith is God's gift to all men. In the end, because the woman demonstrated her great faith, her daughter was healed.

Indeed, faith is a gift that we have received from God. Our faith is not a product of our own efforts, but a gift from God that we must nurture. And the nourishment of our faith, and even our healing, as we find in the Gospel today, can only be found if we come to Jesus. We grow in faith every time we come to Jesus in prayer, every time we reflect on His Words and most especially every time we receive Him in the Holy Eucharist. Faith is a gift that must be treasured and taken care of.

As we realize the necessity of cultivating our faith, we also come to acknowledge the fact that we are not the only ones who received this faith from God. Every man, even the most hardened sinner and even the most atheistic, received the gift of faith. Once we realize this, we see it as our responsibility to cultivate our faith together, as a community, as a Church where all men are welcome and where no one should be left behind. The Gospel today rejects the notion that "outside the Church, there is no salvation".

As believers building the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth, we see it as God's mercy at work when He welcomes new people to His Church. We must, therefore, also have a welcoming heart like our Father. We must have arms big enough to embrace the world as our brethren in Christ. We should look at non-believers and sinners as brothers who are as of yet lost, but are still loved by our Father.

An Image of a Mature Faith

2011-01-15T03:39:00.000-08:00

Feast of the Sto. Niño Jan. 16, 2011 (Mt 18:1-5, 10)

At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father."

Jesus' childhood is forever immortalized in the popular image we call the Sto. Niño. This image, a common sight in homes and even in business areas, is often dressed up to portray different personalities. While it is merely a popular tradition to dress up the Sto. Niño as a farmer, as a fireman or as a construction worker, it serves as a reminder of Jesus' Incarnation, of the fact that He lived among us. Jesus indeed became a true human child as an act of humility and out of love for humanity. He lived a full human life, from childhood until death, precisely to demonstrate to us how to live as true children of the Father. The different portrayals of the Sto. Niño serve to remind us that regardless of who we are and what we do in life, we are children of God.

Jesus reminds us to remain humble, like little children. No matter how old we get and how mature and experienced we think we may be, we are still God's little children. We would never have achieved anything without His grace and we definitely cannot, by our own maturity and wisdom, save ourselves. Salvation requires a recognition of one's sinfulness and a humble, dependence on and surrender to God's fatherly love.

As we go on facing many responsibilities and accomplishing new achievements in life, we must never forget to remain humble before God. We must not forget that, as children of God, we should always remain obedient to His will and dependent on Him.

Our devotion to the Sto. Niño must not be a mere taking care of a statue as if it were an actual child that needs to be cleaned and dressed up all the time. The very point of immortalizing Jesus' childhood through this image is precisely to awaken the child in our hearts that has grown up and has rebelled against his Father, the child that has been fooled into thinking that he can survive without God. Maturity in faith is different from the maturity that the world values. While maturity and independence mean relying on one's ability to accomplish one's responsibility, maturity in faith means doing one's best while recognizing that one cannot succeed without God's help.

Jesus showed us His humility in becoming an innocent and dependent human child. And as He grew up, He remained obedient to the will of His heavenly Father. We must follow His example by being obedient children of God even as we grow up. As Jesus grew in wisdom and in age, He remained to be the Sto. Niño, the holy and obedient child of the Father, even until His death. We too, must be holy and obedient children of God no matter how old we may grow up to be. In growing up, may we not grow apart from God and apart from His heavenly kingdom, which is open only for children.

Anointed with Water

2011-01-08T08:22:00.000-08:00

Feast of the Lord's Baptism Jan. 9, 2011 (Mt 3:13-17)

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?"

Jesus said to him in reply, "Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed him.

After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

John the Baptist's baptism of repentance was a preparation for the coming of the Kingdom of God. In the advent of God's kingdom, John called the people to be in the proper disposition. This is what the baptismal ritual symbolized. One arises from the Jordan River a new person; he has emerged from the river and has let it wash away his sins. This resolve to turn away from sin prepared the way for the radical message of conversion that Jesus will bring.

But why would Jesus have to be baptized? Did Jesus have to prepare Himself for the coming of God's Kingdom? Actually, yes He did. He needed to prepare because it was Him who was to usher in the coming of this Kingdom. He was "bracing Himself" for the task ahead. His baptism, therefore, is the beginning of His mission, His commissioning, so to speak. With the Father and the Spirit, He begins His work of proclaiming God's Kingdom. But more than that, His baptism is a revelation that the work He will do is divine. The Trinity manifests itself and declares that they are about to work wonders.

Like Jesus' baptism, our own baptism also symbolizes our participation in the coming of the Kingdom. Our baptism bestows upon us the privilege of being children of God. Yet it also gives us the responsibility to live up to the name Christian. We must, therefore, live our lives as Jesus showed us, and our lives must be a testament that God is King over us. In short, we must live as obedient children of God.

Aside from living up to our mission as baptized Catholics in our personal lives, we must also recognize that we are part of the Church, the community of the baptized and the sacrament of God's Kingdom here on earth. Most Catholics do not go to church anymore. They do not join the assembly of the people of God. They must recognize the fact that, although personal devotion is good, worshiping God as a community is very important. The assembly gathered in the church is a sign of God's presence on earth. Christ Himself assured us His presence wherever an assembly gathers in His name.

Our Baptism reminds us to be true children of God, obedient to His will and participative in the mission He entrusted us with, that of building His Kingdom here on earth. Let us no longer be Catholics by name, but by the very life we live. May the waters of baptism remind us that we have been washed and that, therefore, we ought to remain clean. In the end, may we also hear the Father tell us, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

No More Hide-and-Seek

2011-01-01T23:37:00.000-08:00

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord Jan. 2, 2011 (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.

Today we celebrate Jesus' revelation to the Gentiles, represented by the magi. The Solemnity of the Epiphany is a celebration of God showing Himself to humanity. The invisible God whom no one has ever seen has now manifested Himself in the manger.

Man is in constant search of God. It is really quite frustrating to search for Him who is spirit and is, therefore, invisible. To be realistic, finding God usually meant to be in a good relationship with Him and to live one's life according to His will. But even so, finding God is still a difficult task. But, out of His wisdom, God has ended the hide-and-seek game and has made Himself visible to man. Yes, it was unthinkable, but to God, it was possible. He became man and showed us His glory in the person of Jesus. And Jesus, God Himself, showed us also how to find Him.

God knows the difficulty of our situation and the weakness of our human nature. Jesus is proof that God wants us to see Him. The star in today's narrative is another proof of this. God doesn't want us to have a hard time looking for Him. He Himself showed the way and He is the way.

All we have to do is to want to find Him. He has already revealed Himself in many ways in our lives. The presence with which He graced the magi is the same presence with which He graces us in the Mass. We see Him there in the sacrament. We see Him in the people around us. We hear Him in the loving advice of a friend. We feel Him in the comforting embrace of loved ones. We feel His presence in the people who help us in life. All we have to do is acknowledge His presence and allow Him to be part of our lives.

Like in the Gospel narrative today, there are different reactions to the news of Jesus' birth. Herod sought to kill the child as he considered Jesus a threat to his kingdom. The magi sought to do Him homage and to offer Him their gifts. We too, have our different reactions to Jesus' manifold ways of manifesting Himself to us. At times, we ignore Him and simply live as if we do not even have a God. Sometimes, like Herod, we are threatened by a new king. We want to be our own kings, to rule over ourselves and to live as we please; we therefore reject Jesus. The Gospel today shows us the better response to Jesus' manifestation. The Gospel invites us to accept Him and to try our best to get closer to Him.

Jesus makes His presence felt in our daily lives. He makes it easier for us to find Him. But the key to having an encounter with Him is to try look for Him. There is no encounter if we do not acknowledge His presence, even though He is just there revealing Himself. In God's act of manifesting Himself, we find out that it is not only man who is seeking for God; God is also seeking to be with us, for He loves us.

May we always make that effort to look for God, for it is no longer that hard to find Him. He no longer hides so it's easier to seek for Him. But the important thing is to seek Him and not to ignore His presence.

So let's not play hide-and-seek with Him anymore, because He Himself is looking for us.

God's Presence in the Family

2010-12-25T19:44:00.000-08:00

Feast of the Holy Family Dec. 26, 2010
(Mt 2:13-15, 19-23)

When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him." Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, "Out of Egypt I called my son."

When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.

But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He shall be called a Nazorean."

As the Church celebrates the Christmas Season, today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. Naturally, when Jesus was born, He, his mother Mary, and Joseph became a family. Mary and Joseph welcomed the baby Jesus to the world. But the fragile Jesus was not without threat from unwelcoming people like Herod. Being fragile and helpless is a consequence of the Incarnation. When Jesus chose to become man, He made Himself vulnerable to the dangers of this world, to the same dangers that we ourselves face. But He had a family to protect Him.

Today's Gospel story shows us that the families that obey God's will may also face difficulties and trials, but they are never left alone. God is in the midst of the family that calls upon Him and obeys His will. Today, as our families are threatened by separation, economic problems and a certain bill, we are invited to pray and to listen to the voice of God, who leads His family, the Church, to safety.

We are the Church and we are God's family. As He guided the Holy Family, He also guides us today as we journey here on earth. As we face those who oppose the coming of God's Kingdom, we hear God's voice and we know He is with us. He protects us from all the threats against life, and from all that will lead us away from Him.

Today, we are also reminded to protect life. Mary and Joseph welcomed Jesus as a gift from God. And they both protected Jesus and raised Him well. Mary did not see Jesus as a burden, even though her pregnancy was a scandal to Jewish society and a threat to her life. Mary and Joseph accepted parenthood as a privilege from God. Today's parents are also invited to welcome life, to accept the responsibility of procreation, and to raise a family that is obedient to God.

May the child Jesus be born to every family this Christmas Season. And may God always lead all families, especially the Church, to His embrace and may we all be part of that one, big family group hug with Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Emmanuel in the Midst of Confusion

2010-12-18T06:35:00.000-08:00

4th Sunday of Advent Dec. 19, 2010 (Mt 1:18-24)

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.

Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.

Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means "God is with us." When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

A Christian existentialist philosopher named Soren Kierkegaard said that there were three stages of man's life. The first is the aesthetic stage where all that matters is pleasure. The second is the ethical stage, where social norms and ethical rules govern one's life. The last stage is the religious stage, where one goes beyond ethics. Kierkegaard said that man can only be at one stage of life at a given time, but man can make a leap towards the next stage.

Abraham was said to be a man in the religious stage of life. Ethical rules told him that murdering his son Isaac would be wrong, but he ignored ethics because he trusted God who asked for the sacrifice. His faith in God went beyond social norms. He knew that God's wisdom is far higher than human conventions.

I believe St. Joseph, in our Gospel today, also made a leap from the ethical to the religious stage. He made a leap of faith, trusting in God who, through an angel, told him to marry a pregnant woman. Marrying a woman who bears a child that is not even one's own was quite a scandal in Jewish society, especially back then. But Joseph realized that the angel's command was part of a grand plan that God was working on. He trusted that everything will work out because God was the event organizer. So he ignored the social norms of his time and chose to obey God.

Today's Gospel reminds us all that God has a plan for our life. Jesus is the Emmanuel, the God who is with us. He is the God who works in our everyday life. The angel's message to Joseph is also God's message to us, "Do not be afraid." In times when we don't know what to do, God makes us realize that He has been and will always be with us. In the midst of confusion, God makes everything make sense, as He did in Joseph's life.

As He did to Joseph, God asks us to trust in Him, to listen to Him, and to cooperate with Him in whatever He has in store for us. Even when nothing makes sense to us, we must make a leap of faith and obey the will of God that is revealed to us in prayer. Only then will everything make sense to us. We will realize God's plan and we will see how much better His plan is. At such a point in our lives, we will feel happy simply because we allowed ourselves to be part of God's plan, and we will forget all the confusion and all the difficulties we faced before.

Jesus is the greatest proof that God is with us. He was born here on earth to dwell with us precisely because He wanted to show us that God is working for our salvation and that we have to participate in His plan. He came to show us how to live in faith. He reminds us to make room for Him in our life, even if our life is one chaos of a manger.

In this world where we make many important decisions, where we hear many voices telling us what to do, and where most of us want to do everything their way, Jesus offers us another way - His way. He invites us to try doing things His way, for we might just find it better. Even when we are not sure where Jesus' way will take us, our faith in Him assures us that His way is the best way to go.

As the world makes noise this Christmas, may we find time to pray and to listen to what God is telling us. May we be open to His will, like St. Joseph, and may we be able to participate in God's plan for us. May our faith survive amidst confusion and amidst all the challenges that this world poses and ultimately lead us to the way which Jesus was born to show us.

What Did You Go Out to See?

2010-12-11T23:56:00.004-08:00

3rd Sunday of Advent Dec. 12, 2010 (Mt 11:2-11)

When John heard in prison of the works of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to him with this question, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?" Jesus said to them in reply, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me."

As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, "What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces. Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: 'Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you.'

Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Today, we hear Jesus asking the people, "What did you go out to the desert to see?" As the celebration of the Lord's birth is nearing, we celebrate today the Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of Joy. And today, Jesus, through the Gospel, invites us to reflect on what we go out to see.

Simbang Gabi is coming. What do we go out to see, especially at such an early hour? Do we go out to see the church all decorated for the season? Do we go out to see if there are any puto bumbong or bibingka sold near the church? Or maybe we go out to see our special someone and to chat with him or her near or even inside the church? Do we not go out to see Jesus and to receive Him in the Eucharist?

Christmas parties are happening everywhere. Do we see people start these parties by praying? Having a Christmas party without prayer is like holding a birthday party without inviting the celebrant.

Everytime we celebrate Christmas, we see a lot of things. We see decorations, attend parties, and watch commercials that try their best to get the audience' attention using Christmas as a theme. But are these things really what we go out to see? Do we really know it's Christmas because of ham or fruit salad? Shouldn't Jesus be the cause of our joy this Christmas? After all, you can spell Christmas without ham or fruit salad, but you just can't spell it without Christ.

Gaudete Sunday invites us to rejoice in the coming of our Savior. This joy is often preceded or accompanied by sorrow. But at the end of every sorrow, there is always joy. When we do not refuse challenges but face them courageously, in the end joy is our reward. In the same way, when we take the Advent journey of repentance and preparation, our joy will be complete on Christmas day, not because of anything or anyone else, but because of Jesus.

If only we see the joy that Jesus brings, the healing that He brings about in our lives, we would not mind carrying all the sorrow in the world, so long as Jesus will be our reward in the end. Jesus' light can outshine even the brightest Christmas light or parol.

This coming Christmas, may we all go out to see Jesus.

Lamp upon Our Feet presents new logo

2010-12-05T08:39:00.000-08:00

As the new liturgical year continues, Lamp upon Our Feet presents its new logo. From a picture grabbed from the net, Lamp upon Our Feet's new logo now depicts a magnificent sunset photographed by yours truly. This photograph was taken while I was in a retreat in Caleruega, Batangas.

The new logo is still faithful to the image of the Word of God as the light that guides our path. It is my hope that this blog may continue to bring light to the lives of the people it reaches, no matter how many or how few they may be. The light is the Word of God, not this blog. Lamp upon Our Feet is only a means of bringing the light to God's people.

May the Word of God continue be a lamp upon our feet!

Advent Comes Before Christmas

2010-12-04T08:17:00.000-08:00

2nd Sunday of Advent Dec. 5, 2010 (Mt 3:1-12)

In those days John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said: "A voice of one crying out in the desert, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.'"

John wore clothing made of camel's hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

Aside from the Lenten Season, Advent is a season when the Church reiterates the constant call for repentance. Everyday, we are called to return to the path God set for us as we journey to find Him. But Advent reminds us in a special way that God Himself is coming to us and that we should prepare a way for Him.

The message of John the Baptist, therefore, is an important part of the Advent message. John reminds us that when someone is coming, the natural response is for us to prepare. Now since our expected visitor is Jesus, we must remember that the preparation we must do is not just decorating, feasting and buying gifts. These lose their meaning when we forget to prepare our hearts for Jesus.

Christmas for most of us today has become a meaningless joyful season. Little by little, we are removing Christ from Christmas. This is because some of us don't participate in the Advent season's journey of repentance and joyful spiritual preparation. Every year, we celebrate Christmas; but how does this yearly celebration change our lives aside from emptying our pockets? Christmas joy will always fade if our joy does not come from Christ.

John the Baptist reminds us not to be indifferent with affairs of the soul. As the Advent season continues, we are reminded to prepare for Jesus a road that leads to our hearts, without fear, anger or sin as obstacles along the way. We are invited to turn away from sin and to focus on welcoming the God who desires to enter our hearts. Instead of cleaning and decorating our homes and feasting, we must remember to clean our hearts defiled by sin, furnish our souls with holiness and to feast on God's Word in order to prepare for Jesus' visit.

The Pharisees and Sadducees in our Gospel today symbolize the people who refuse to prepare for Jesus' coming because they don't see the need for it. John, in exhorting the Pharisees, in effect also reminds us that simply being a Christian is not enough. We must live fruitful lives and our repentance must be made manifest through a life of holiness. Anyone can say he's repentant, and many people say they believe in God. Nevertheless only a few really live as children of God.

Jesus always comes to us in our daily lives. And finally, He will come again to be our judge at the end of time. This is a reality that we must not take lightly. Christmas is not just a mere reminiscing of how Jesus once came to be born here on earth. It is a reminder that He will indeed come again to gather those who are His, and to condemn those who were not fruitful and who did not prepare for His coming. In the end, the peace that was foretold in today's First Reading will be the abode of those who belong to Jesus.

May the message of Advent remain in our hearts and minds even after the season. May we always remember to care about our spirit, for when Jesus comes, He will care, not too much about how we made merry, but about how we prepared for His coming.

Keeping the Faith Alive and Awake

2010-11-26T09:03:00.000-08:00

1st Sunday of Advent Nov. 28, 2010 (Mt 24:37-44)

For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.

Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

Advent is all about being ready. When we know that someone is going to visit us, we prepare a lot for them. This is why we have an Advent Season. As Catholics, we know Jesus came to this world as man; we remember that in our yearly Christmas celebration. We also know that He comes to us everyday in the Mass. Lastly, we believe that He will come again in His glory, at the end of time. Therefore, Advent is our commemoration of Jesus' coming in the past, and our preparation for His coming again.

Jesus talked a lot about His second coming. An example of this would be our Gospel for today. Jesus reminds everyone of us that His second coming would be like a robbery. We are aware that robberies may happen anytime, but we don't know when we might be robbed. The common solution for robbery is locking our doors well. In the same way, we must lock our hearts so that sin cannot enter. We must let only goodness enter our hearts. That way, when the Lord comes, we may open the doors of our hearts to Him, and He will be pleased about how well we maintained our hearts clean for His coming.

In today's Gospel, Jesus exhorts us to stay awake. This means that we should keep our faith burning. We must nourish our faith and live it everyday. As we wait for Jesus, we don't just remain idle and simply live in this world while keeping our faith to ourselves. We must not be content with just having faith and simply believing that there is a God whose story we read from the Bible. The Lord asks us to keep our faith alive and awake in everything we do, even as we live our earthly lives.

We must not treat our faith as if it was just a thing we set aside and then use whenever we need it. We do not just "re-activate" our faith every time we need to have someone baptized, when we get married or when we need to have our houses blessed. Faith is something we must live everyday. It is something that must work in our lives, as familiar and as common to us as our breathing. We must not separate our faith from every thing we do, no matter how temporal our activities may be. If we keep our faith even as we do temporal activities, we avoid committing sinful acts and we remain true followers of Christ

Indeed, this materialistic world is not our true home. Nevertheless, the Lord asks us to remain here to wait for Him, and to build His kingdom here on earth while we wait. He expects us to live our lives as His true followers so that the whole world may see Him and come to believe in Him through our example. St. Paul, in our Second Reading, asks us, "Throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light (Rom 13:12)".

As we begin this new liturgical year, we are reminded of our mission as Catholics. We are reminded that it is our task to tell the world that there is a Christ who came, comes and will come again. By word, and most importantly, by deed, we are to show the world how to become citizens of God's kingdom which is already arriving.

Finally, when He comes in all His glory, may we not be caught unprepared. Instead, may He find us steadfast in faith, untiring in building His kingdom here on earth, and zealously living as citizens of this eternal kingdom.

Jesus Crucified: The Greatest Image of His Majesty

2010-11-20T07:55:00.000-08:00

Solemnity of Christ the King Nov. 21, 2010
(Lk 23:35-43)

The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, "He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God." Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, "If you are King of the Jews, save yourself." Above him there was an inscription that read, "This is the King of the Jews."

Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

At first glance, there is nothing majestic about the image today's Gospel reading is trying to present to us. Jesus is hanging on the cross, mocked by the soldiers and the rulers of the people. He is even mocked by one criminal beside Him who is suffering the same fate He was suffering. The inscription above Jesus, although it calls Him a king, only highlights the irony of the whole situation. We behold one who is called a king, but is suffering the fate of a criminal. So finally, we ask, what kind of king is this?

Jesus Himself gave us the answer even before His crucifixion. "My kingdom does not belong to this world. ...My kingdom is not here. (Jn 18:36)" Jesus is King of this world, but He is not a worldly king. He is against the ways of this world. While the world espouses selfishness and cruelty, He taught, by word and deed, the value of love and mercy. His crucifixion is the greatest demonstration of the love He preached. The repentant thief in today's Gospel is a receiver of the mercy Jesus taught. The crucified Jesus, therefore, is the greatest image of Jesus as King of Love and as King of Mercy.

In Jesus' kingship, we are reminded that there is a kingdom which is built on mercy, faith, hope and love. This kingdom is where Jesus reigns. But it is not of this world, for the world has come to hate these virtues, and thus, has also hated Jesus. That is why the world gave Jesus His proper throne and crown - the cross and the thorns.

For us who hail Jesus as king, we must remember that the kingdom we belong to is not of this world. We follow the law as dictated by God's commandments and by Jesus' teachings, even though these laws are not acceptable to the world. Our King expects our loyalty. And because of our allegiance to Christ the King, whom the world hates, the world will also hate us (cf. Jn 15:19).

Therefore, because we are followers of Christ, it's going to be difficult for us living in a world who hates our King. People who value love and mercy above all usually end up suffering in this materialistic world. It's like the world is telling us that it is impossible to live here on earth without being greedy, cruel and deceptive. The world persecutes those who live as Jesus did.

Nevertheless, the King we hail will be our salvation. If we follow His laws, it may lead to our exile from this world's kingdom. But because of our faithfulness to Jesus, the King, we shall live happily with Him in His everlasting kingdom, in the Paradise where He brought the repentant thief, where there is no longer pain nor persecution. So let us be strong and faithful to Him. As our King tells us, "In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world. (Jn 16:33)"

When Eternity Begins

2010-11-13T06:33:00.000-08:00

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Nov. 14, 2010 (Lk 21:5-19)

While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, he said, "All that you see here - the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down."

Then they asked him, "Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?"

He answered, "See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and 'The time has come.' Do not follow them!

When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end."

Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.

Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name.

It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.

You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.

There is much fuss over end-of-the-world claims of many people, either based on religion or on science. Some try their best to explain to all how the world will end and why they say it's about to end soon. They present signs, scientific data, historical facts and biblical references to support their claims. But a few people talk about how we need to prepare for the end of the world. Fact is, the world will end. It doesn't matter when. The fact that it will end should make us reflect. How does this fact affect our lives? Since we can't stop it, what do we do about it?

After speaking about the terrifying events that will take place before the end of the world, Jesus instructs us, His disciples, to be calm. He tells us not to fear tribulations. As Christians, we will be hated by the world, as our Master was. But we need not fear, for Jesus has conquered the world. Whatever problems we encounter becomes easy if we remain in Christ, for He never abandons His flock. We should not fear the wars and all the other disasters of this world.

Being faithful to Jesus' teachings and obeying the commandments, there is no need to fear even the end of the world. Our faith assures us that no matter who or what can kill us in this world, they can no longer hurt us when we are reunited with God in eternal life. If we truly believe in God and in His mercy, we can courageously face anything this world scares us with.

Jesus reminds us that we must not prepare what to say in tribunals beforehand. He Himself will speak through us. We must not fret too much about the end times. It is enough that we have Jesus. He is our salvation, our true judge. His wisdom will shame this world, and He will inspire us with this wisdom.

For us Catholics, the end of the world is not something to fear and to be nervous about. It is a reminder for us that this is not our home. This world will end and our real home awaits us. God has prepared the real dwelling of His faithful ones in eternal life with Him. So we must not fear, for, as Jesus said, not a hair on our head will be destroyed.

Our Father's Inheritance

2010-11-05T23:52:00.000-07:00

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Nov. 7, 2010 (Lk 20:27-38)

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, 'If someone's brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.' Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her."

Jesus said to them, "The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called 'Lord' the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive."

Our recently concluded double commemoration of all the saints and of all the faithful departed is deeply rooted in a firm belief in life after earthly death and in the immortality of the soul. Of course, we could go on and on arguing philosophically whether man's soul is immortal and whether there is an afterlife, but that would only prove the immortality of philosophical debates. As Catholics, we firmly believe in the resurrection of the dead that is stated in our Creed. Christ's own glorious Resurrection reassures this faith.

Our First Reading presents us a very tragic story of a mother and her sons choosing to die rather than to disobey God's laws. It is inspiring how they were unafraid to face death because they believed that God raises His faithful ones from the dead. This mother and her seven sons remind us of the stories of our martyrs whose firm belief in the resurrection lead to their cruel yet glorious deaths, which they accepted courageously.

With these stories in mind, we come to wonder why today, we fear to die. It is natural for us as humans to dislike death, but to fear it is perhaps not Christian. Do we fear death because we don't believe in the afterlife? Probably the only Christian answer is that we fear death because we haven't lived good lives and are not yet ready to face God. But that only proves that we do not take our faith seriously. Our belief in the everlasting life God promised must be made manifest in the way we live. As Catholics, we must not give undue value to this world. We must treasure everlasting life more than we treasure our lives here. As Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. (Mt 6:33)"

Everlasting life is often viewed as a reward from God for those who are good. It is. But it is more fitting to say that everlasting life is God's inheritance for His faithful children. An inheritance has always been the right of a Father's children. In the same way, everlasting life has always been in store for all of us, since we are all God's children. But we need to be faithful children of God. If we run away from Him, He cannot force us to accept His promised eternal life. If we disobey His will, we act as if we were not His children and we denounce Him as Father.

In our Gospel today, Jesus clarifies that everlasting life is not like the life here on earth. As St. Paul said, "What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him. (1 Cor 2:9)" Eternal life with God will never be boring no matter how endless it is. The divine life He has in store for us is a life of eternal joy that is always new. The problem with us is that we believe in the eternal life but we treat it as a fairy tale, or something that has little relevance and urgency. We fail to see the great things that are in store for us and we give more value to what can be of use to us here and now. When we are old and are near death, only then will we realize the value of a life lived in accordance to God's law. Let's not wait.

A life that never ends awaits us after our earthly life. It is up to us to choose whether we want to spend it with God or without Him. The death which we will all face becomes only a birth to eternal life, as St. Francis puts it. We will no longer fear death but wait with Christian hope for the moment when we get to meet God face to face. All this is we only live a life of true faith. For if we work hard and study for how many excruciating years just to be "ready" to live our lives here on earth, how much more must we prepare for eternal life with God?

Jesus Passing By

2010-10-31T13:59:00.000-07:00

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Oct. 31, 2010 (Lk 19:1-10)

He came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house."

And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner."

But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over."

And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost."

Looking back on the conversion of Zacchaeus, we come to wonder what it was that Jesus said to cause such a conversion. Jesus didn't talk to Zacchaeus about sin and repentance, but Zacchaeus suddenly talked about repaying four times every amount that he extorted from his fellow Jews. It was out of the blue, so to speak.

What probably touched Zacchaeus' heart was Jesus' invitation. He was moved by the fact that Jesus gave importance to him simply by gracing him with His presence and actually speaking to him. As a public sinner, Zacchaeus was probably shunned by society and perhaps often received a cold treatment. But from Jesus, he received a sincere and warm invitation to talk and to share a meal at his own household. Jesus recognized his existence. From that simple gesture alone, Zacchaeus was moved to conversion.

Jesus is always passing by in our lives. Zacchaeus went out of his way to see Jesus only out of curiousity, because he doesn't know Him well. We, on the other hand, know Jesus and have constantly been reminded that Jesus is kind and infinitely merciful. We know this yet we sometimes fear to come near Him in the sacraments of the Eucharist and of Reconciliation. We hesitate even though He Himself invited us when He said, "Come to me... and I will give you rest (Mt 11:28)." Like Zacchaeus, we must go and meet the Lord where He awaits us - in the sacraments and in a good private prayer life.

Aside from representing us sinners who should welcome Jesus is our homes, Zacchaeus also represents the public sinners who are condemned by society. Most of the time we judge these people - corrupt politicians, prostitutes, criminals and others whose sins are scandalous. We give them sentence as if we were Christ sitting on the throne. We tell them that they are going to hell and that they cannot be saved anymore. Because of that, they tend to stay in the box we put them in. They no longer come to Jesus because we make them believe that they cannot be saved anymore.

God wants all men to be saved (1 Tim 2:4). We go against God's will when we judge other people and condemn them. We should, instead, help them by prayer and admonition to repent and to come back to God. Jesus accepted Zacchaeus; so must we accept other sinners, in the name of Jesus. By doing so, we become instruments of God's forgiveness and salvation.

Jesus seeks to save all who are lost. But He can never save us if we do not want to be saved. Zacchaeus reminds us to come to Jesus with confidence and to let Him enter our hearts. As a community, we must come to Jesus, leaving no one behind. Together, we join Jesus in passing by Jericho and journeying towards the heavenly Jerusalem.

In Synch with God's Will

2010-10-16T10:03:00.000-07:00

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Oct. 17, 2010 (Lk 18:1-8)

Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, "There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, 'Render a just decision for me against my adversary.' For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, 'While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'"

The Lord said, "Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Prayer is our connection to God. We, as mere creatures of the Almighty God are in need of His sustenance and care. Yet, for some reason, sometimes, we don't pray enough, we don't pray from the heart or we just don't pray at all.

We have so many reasons why we don't pray enough. Perhaps one reason is that people don't really know how to pray. There is that wrong conception of prayer as an elaborate recitation of words which follow a strict formula. We get this feel that there is a certain way of praying we should strictly follow. We should get rid of this notion. These "formats" or "formulae" are for children who really don't know what to say next when praying. We, on the other hand, as supposedly mature Catholics, must have already learned that prayer is communication with God, and is thus an open conversation where you can pour your heart out and where God speaks to you in the silence of your heart.

Prayer can be integrated in everything that we do. Remember, God is always with us. So speak to Him as if He were there beside you; because He is there, precisely beside you! While you're beating a deadline for your office or school, talk to Him. You won't feel alone. While you're stuck in traffic and are in a hurry, tell Him, "Lord, let's speed this up a little." When we talk to Him as a friend beside us, we radically change our prayer life. Actually, we transform life into a prayer, into one big conversation with God.

In the Gospel today, we see a judge granting the request of a widow. Here we find an example of persistent prayer. We must not be weary in prayer because it is an expression of our dependence on God. In our First Reading, we are presented with another case of persistence in prayer. As long as Moses raised his rod and outstretched his arms, the Israelite army won. Whenever he put his arms down, their army lost. He had to be assisted so he could keep his arms raised. This, perhaps, may seem superstitious and, perhaps, may also present the idea that God blindly obeys prayers as long as we push the right buttons. But this is not so. This story reminds us that faith must always be expressed in a lively prayer life. It is not enough for me to say that God is with me and I can do this and I believe. Faith must be expressed in prayer. Yes, God knows what I need, but have I asked Him for it? If I believe He is with me and is helping me in everything I do, then shouldn't I let Him in on the goals and the plans? Shouldn't we collaborate with our partner and speak with Him?

As a last point of reflection, I took notice of Jesus' imagery of a judge. When we pray for something, God acts as a judge who sees our real intentions. God decides which of our prayers are worthy to be granted and when they are to be granted. When we pray, God answers only in three possible ways. If our prayer is good, then He grants it. If it is not good for us, He rejects it. But He gives us something which, according to His wisdom, is better for us. Lastly, if our prayer is good but is not yet called for, He will give it at the right time. God's justice is never delayed, even if sometimes, we think it is. God's timing is perfect.

Our prayer is an act of uniting our will with God's perfect will. When we pray, our attitude must be that of surrendering to God's will. Our prayer should be, "God, this is my will. If it is in accord with Yours, let it be. If it is not, please show me Yours and let it be done in my life." Our prayer must be an affirmation that we need God to work in our lives, not a dictation of how we want Him to work. Otherwise, we will despair when we don't get things our way. When we surrender to God's will, we will see Him work in our lives in ways better than we could have imagined!

Jesus' Way is the Way of the Cross

2010-06-18T22:49:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-13T01:40:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-04T08:38:00.000-07:00

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.

One in Love

2010-05-30T06:03:00.000-07:00

Solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity May 30, 2010 (Jn 16:12-15)

"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you."

In the Old Testament, God revealed Himself to the Israelites through Moses. He said, "I am WHO AM". This is not a grammatical error. Through this, God introduced Himself as the God of their ancestors, the God of the living, the unchanging God, the God who is, who was and who is to come. The revelation of the Divine name happened just before God revealed His plan to save Israel from slavery. God introduced Himself to the people He was to save, to the people He planned to be His own.

God's revelation finds fulfillment in the New Testament. Again, as God's plan for our salvation was unfolding, He revealed Himself ever more fully. This time, God did not speak to us through prophets. He Himself spoke to us in the person of Jesus. Jesus revealed God to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus revealed to us that the one God is Trinity.

Of course, our human mind can never fathom this doctrine in its fullness. We can never understand how three can become one. Nevertheless, we accept it through faith because it was revealed to us by God.

God as Trinity shows us how God works in our lives and for our salvation. Our readings and our Gospel for today show us how God works as Trinity, how wonderfully His plan of salvation unfolds. God worked for our salvation as Trinity. The Father created us out of love. The Son became love incarnate to save us and to bring us back to God's love from which we ran away. The Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son to help us remain in God's love and to inspire us to love God back.

The Trinity is a community of love. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit love each other. Therefore, being created in the image of the Trinity, we too are made to be a community of love. The Trinity teaches us that we are one human race, though different in color and creed. We are one because we were created by the one God. We must therefore live in love and in unity as one human race.

Jesus gave us the doctrine of the Trinity not to confuse us. He revealed this to us to make us appreciate the marvel of our salvation. He shows us that the almighty God uses all His might to win us back. The Trinity shows us that God loves us so much because He Himself is love; and in that love he desires all men to share in His oneness. He wants men to be one human race and to be one with Him in love.

The Biggest Announcement

2010-03-06T08:41:00.000-08:00

3rd Sunday of Lent Mar. 7, 2010 (Lk 13:1-9)

At that time some people who were present there told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them - do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!"

And he told them this parable: "There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, 'For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?' He said to him in reply, 'Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.'"

The Jews held the belief that suffering and illnesses were due to the punishment of God. At one instance, the apostles even asked Jesus about a blind man, whether it was the blind man or his parents who sinned, that he was born blind (Jn 9:2).

As Christians, we need to erase this kind of mentality. In today's Gospel, Jesus explains that those who died a cruel death are not necessarily sinners being punished. Suffering is not necessarily a punishment from God. We need to see suffering in a better light. It is part of our life as humans of the fallen nature. Because of the example of Christ, we can see suffering not as useless pain. We can now see suffering as a purification, a purgation, something that can bring about something good in the end. The greatest example of salvific suffering is the murder of the most innocent Son of God that brought about the salvation of mankind.

As Jesus points out that not all suffering come from God, He also warns us that suffering will indeed come if we remain sinners. Yes, God does not punish men immediately in this world, but that doesn't mean that there is no punishment at all. His mercy cannot do anything against human freedom. His mercy also cannot contradict His justice. Therefore, Jesus took this opportunity to warn us about a fate worse than earthly suffering - eternal suffering.

Our Lenten season is an annual amplification of the call for repentance. In the Gospel today, we are the fig tree that God expects to bear fruit. God has been so patient with us. How many times have we sinned, repented and sinned again? Yet, even though we always fall into sin, God is ever faithful and merciful, though as was said, this is limited by His justice.

God gives us the necessary graces in order for us to bear fruit. He gives us fertilizer that we may grow. What is sad is that when we are given much graces to help us recognize God and realize that He is calling us to repentance, we give more attention to the graces and less to the Giver. God nourishes us physically and spiritually that we may bear fruit and that we may be strong enough to journey back to Him. The greatest nourishment God gave us is the Body and Blood of His only Son. Jesus' is the loudest announcement of God's call for repentance. The Calvary scene says so many things. Through this picture of a suffering innocent God-man, God tells us, "I love you enough that I paid your own debt to Me. Come back to Me now! Nothing can separate you from My love."

Jesus' death, being the greatest call for repentance, is God's last call. God said everything when He sent Jesus here. Jesus, the Word of God, is the last call. God can say no more. Let us heed God's call for repentance.

Apologies

2010-03-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

I apologize for not being able to post for the past weeks, if anyone at all missed my posts. Anyway, I just had so much to do, with professors requiring so many papers and projects. I know you guys understand.

Anyway, I'll try to continue this humble work. Hope I can keep it up again.

Wanted: Worthy Servant?

2010-02-07T04:36:00.000-08:00

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Feb. 7, 2010 (Lk 5:1-11)

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.

Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets."

When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man."

For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."

When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

There are times when we feel we are worth nothing, when we feel that everything we do are in vain because we're not getting any results nor pleasing anyone. Even when we pray, go to Mass or serve God, we feel unworthy to worship or to serve God. We feel we are lacking something, that we are imperfect.

Our readings for today present us with three servants of God whom we look up to as holy men - Isaiah, the prophet, Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, and Peter, the Prince of the Apostles. But even they felt unworthy before they were called by God. They all felt they were sinners unworthy to be in the presence of God. But these men were called to serve God and they did not refuse to do so. We look up to them now because they went from unworthy sinners to holy men.

In our Gospel today, Peter got visited by a stranger in his boat. This stranger borrowed his boat and, from it, preached to the people. Peter heard Jesus' words and was probably amazed by Jesus' teachings. He must have recognized that Jesus was a holy man. Nonetheless, it was peculiar that Jesus, though a holy man, should give fishermen directions on how to catch fish. But Peter, trusting Jesus, obeyed and was surprised by their catch. This miracle must have been the moment when Jesus captured Peter.

Peter, realizing that Jesus was truly a holy man, felt unworthy of Jesus' presence. But Jesus called him and his friends, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men."

Jesus is saying the same thing to us. If we feel unworthy to serve Him, who will be worthy? We are all sinners and all those who are chosen by God to serve Him are also sinners. We must not refuse God's call for it is He who chose us. It is He who guides us as we obey His mandate. It is He who makes us worthy to serve Him.

God chooses us, despite our weaknesses, to be His followers. Our weaknesses bear witness to the truth that it is God who works in us and that it is God's work that we do. Our weaknesses tell the world that it is God who is truly powerful. As St. Paul says, "God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God (1 Cor 1:27-29)."

So let us heed Jesus' call to be not afraid. It is God who chooses us and who makes us worthy. He gives us the power to build His Kingdom here on earth and to be fishers of men. Let us do our mission in whatever state of life we have. Let us trust in God who made us His worthy servants.

A Call for Mature Faith

2010-01-30T07:01:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-23T06:53:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-16T06:11:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-09T06:49:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

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

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.

To God First and Foremost

2009-12-26T08:09:00.000-08:00

Feast of the Holy Family Dec. 27, 2009 (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.

In the latter part of our Gospel today, we hear of Jesus' obedience. The Son of God who humbled Himself by becoming man also humbled Himself by becoming obedient to human parents, by becoming a normal man with a normal family. What makes Jesus and His human family special is the presence of God in their lives. The Holy Family has God at its center, not only because Jesus was in that family, but because they follow God's will.

Being in a family, the smallest social institution, will not assure anyone a perfect life. Every member of the family has to make it work. Every member must do his part. And, of course, God must be in the center. His will must be the law in the family.

In the Gospel today, Jesus leads us from the natural family to the bigger family - the Family of God. Jesus says that He must be in His Father's house, doing God's will. We too, as sons and daughters of the Father, ought to be in our Father's house, doing His will. Our families should not hinder us from being good children of God.

Parents should remember that it was God who gave them their children. They should, in their gratitude, remember to raise their children as true Christians; they should not hold them back from God. Many parents prevent their children from pursuing careers that make full use of their children's God-given abilities and, instead, coerce them to pursue fast-earning careers. The saddest situation is when parents prevent their children from entering the seminary, arguing that there are many ways to serve God. But what if God chose their children to serve Him specifically as His priests? Should they not give their children back to God, as Hannah did in our First Reading (1 Sm 1:20-22, 24-28)?

Children, on the other hand, ought to obey their parents and accept what they are trying to teach them. But, again, parents have the responsibility to teach only good things to their children, raising them as true children of God.

God has created the natural family to reflect His own family, in which He is Father and we are His children by virtue of adoption. The natural family should, therefore, open itself to the will of God, the Father of all. Yes, we are family to all our biological relatives, but we are family to God first and foremost.

Sharing God's Gift of Himself

2009-12-19T02:10:00.000-08:00

4th Sunday of Advent Dec. 20, 2009 (Lk 1:39-45)

During those days, Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

I have often wondered why the Angel Gabriel punished Zechariah for disbelief when Zechariah only asked him the same question Mary asked in the Annunciation, "How could this be?". Why was Mary not punished for disbelief? Probably, Zechariah's question had a hint of doubt while Mary was merely wondering about the message of the angel. After all, only God can discern the hearts of men.

"Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled," says Elizabeth in our Gospel today. Mary believed the message from God, even if it seemed impossible. Even if she would be in danger, as becoming pregnant before marriage would mean death through stoning, she trusted in God, knowing that God takes good care of His obedient children. Indeed, Mary was blessed because she believed. Yes, blessed are those who believe in God's promises. And blessed are we for we believe that Jesus will come.

Like Mary and Elizabeth, our faith enables us to realize that God's plan is unfolding. Our faith assures us that God came into this world as man to save us. This faith further tells us that this God who dwelt among us is, indeed, still with us, as He promised us, "Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age" (Mt 28:20). Like Mary, our faith should give us the courage even when many dangers beset us; we should be courageous because God is with us.

Christmas is, of course, not only about faith. Christmas challenges us to make our faith incarnate, to make it concrete, visible through our actions. Like Mary, who believed the news of the angel and who immediately went to her cousin Elizabeth to share the news to her and to assist her in her pregnancy, we too are challenged to share the news that God is among His people, that God is working in our lives, that God was born on earth and is still here with us. For all we know, the people around us might not have had Jesus born in their hearts yet. God's gift to all of us is His own self. And, as people who have received God's gift of Himself, we ought to share Him to all who haven't received Him yet.

This Christmas, there is a greater need of taking on the challenge of sharing God's gift of Himself. As many were left without possession, without home and without family after the onslaught of typhoons in our country and after the horrors left by a massacre, many might not be able to hold on to their faith. Many might not be able to feel God's presence, much less realize that Jesus will be born in their hearts. We must make then remember that, in the first Christmas, Mary and Joseph also had nowhere to stay, nobody but each other and God to help them in their situation. Nevertheless, they had faith in God. And the joy they felt that night was not because of the luxuries of home and of the company of friends; their joy was from the child who lay in the manger, the little baby who is the incarnation of God's immense love for men. This Divine infant is the cause of our joy for this season. This is the good news we need to proclaim: God is still with us. We need only to have faith and to share the faith.

Despite the many reasons for us to grieve, the immensity of God's love made flesh gives us joy. God's love is enough to dispel all fear and all loneliness. We need only to believe, like Mary who believed. And as we rejoice because of what God has done for us, we must pass the joy because God's gift of Himself is for all of us.

Echoing the Joyful News

2009-12-13T04:13:00.000-08:00

3rd Sunday of Advent Dec. 13, 2009 (Lk 3:10-18)

The crowds asked John the Baptist, "What should we do?"

He said to them in reply, "Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise."

Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they said to him, "Teacher, what should we do?"

He answered them, "Stop collecting more than what is prescribed."

Soldiers also asked him, "And what is it that we should do?"

He told them, "Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages."

Now the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ. 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. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Exhorting them in many other ways, he preached good news to the people.

John the Baptist instructed the people on how they should live their lives. His message was simple - being faithful to one's duties and treating one's neighbors well, being just, to put it simply. But despite the simplicity of this message, apparently there was a great need to preach it. People were forgetting to live good lives that the basic moral teaching of doing good and avoiding evil had to be reiterated. John's preaching made the people realize the coming of something new, a radical change of the corrupt spiritual situation in which they have found themselves. The Messiah is coming!

John confirmed this news, that, indeed, the Messiah was about to come. But He was not the Messiah. He was only a herald. John was only sharing the joyful news that the Lord is present among His people. But, aside from that, he was exhorting the people to be part of this good news, to be the good news to others by treating others well. By this, we make God present, not only among His people, but also through His people who live godly lives.

The readings for today invite us to rejoice because the Lord is near and He is coming to save us. We are further invited to emanate this joy, to show our neighbors, through our kindness and love, that God reigns and that God has come to save them too.

As Christmas draws near, the joy we feel also increases. May we not forget that our joy ought to come from the longing for Christ, not from the many distracting outer joys that festivities bring. Also, may we not forget to pass the joy and love that we have received from the Lord to those whose misfortune prevent them from rejoicing this season.

As we receive the good news of God's great love symbolized by the helpless baby on His crib, may we pass the joy and the love this news brings. May we be the good news to those who have not heard or who refuse to hear God's "I love you!"

The Humble Manger of Our Hearts

2009-12-05T05:33:00.000-08:00

2nd Sunday of Advent Dec. 6, 2009 (Lk 3:1-6)

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:

"A voice of one crying out in the desert:
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.' "

We prepare a lot of things for Christmas. We prepare food, gifts, parties and many other things that we usually associate with joy. We know Christmas is the birth of Jesus so we do all the things we do when we celebrate birthdays. But today, it seems that Christ is disregarded in His own birthday celebration. Christ, the true light has been replaced by thousands of Christmas lights that give us a sense of joy but does not really remind us of Christ.

Last Sunday, the Gospel warned us to be ready for the coming of the Lord. Jesus told us that we should not be busy with the pleasures of the world, so as not to be caught by surprise when the world ends. Today, the Gospel gives us an example of how to prepare for Christ's coming. John the Baptist tells us to prepare the way of the Lord, to fill every valley and to make low every mountain and hill. This means that we should do away with what is not pleasing to God and instead, have the values that He wants us to learn. To prepare for Christ's coming, what we need to do is prepare our hearts. Like the candles of our Advent Wreath, the light in our hearts must shine brighter and the sin must melt away.

Preparing the way of the Lord means preparing ourselves. Jesus will be born in our hearts. Are our hearts free from sin and worthy for our Savior to dwell in? The best preparation for Christmas is spending Advent as a season of repentance, of doing away with sin, like John the Baptist who prepared the way of the Lord with a baptism of repentance. If we prepare so many things for friends and family this Christmas, if we clean our houses for our visitors, all the more should we prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus. After all, it is His birthday.

Like the John the Baptist, we must also be heralds of the Lord. As faithful Christians, we ought to remind our neighbors of how to truly prepare for the joy of Christmas. We can party and give gifts. But we must not forget, and must not let others forget, that the celebrant in the party is Christ, and that gift-giving means radiating the love God expressed by giving us His Son. The joy of Christmas is folly if Christ is removed from it. Therefore, we can best prepare for Christmas by focusing on Jesus and preparing the most comfortable place for Him, in the humble yet worthy little manger of our hearts.

Steadfast Waiting

2009-11-29T06:50:00.000-08:00

1st Sunday of Advent Nov. 29, 2009 (Lk 21:25-28, 34-36)

"There will be signs in the sun, the moon and the stars, and on earth, nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory."

"But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads, because your redemption is at hand."

"Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."

We begin our Liturgical Year with the Season of Advent. Advent means "coming". In this season, we reflect on the coming of Christ. We prepare for the second coming of the Lord at the end of time, as we remember how He came to us in time, as a child, some twenty centuries ago. Advent, therefore, is a season of waiting. We wait for the coming of Jesus in our hearts and as judge at the end of time.

We are living in between Christ's coming two thousand years ago and His coming at the end of time. The early Christians used to cry, "Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!". But now, more than two thousand years after, that cry seems to be getting softer and softer. Christianity has survived through time, but the longing for the return of Christ seems to be weakening. Faith has become limited to just admitting that there is a God. People attend Mass as if it were a program. They stand, sit and speak whenever needed, but do not pray. We no longer nourish our souls, as we are too busy with worldly affairs.

This is what Jesus warns us about. We must not be too preoccupied with the anxieties of life. All these things to which we give value will all disappear anyway. They are ephemeral. And the tasks that we are so busy with are not as important compared to the task Jesus expects us to do - steadfast waiting. Jesus expects us to be steadfast in faith, hope and love. He expects us to follow His teachings and to hold on to His words. He expects us not to belong to the world. He expects us not just to wait, but to be loyal Christians while we wait for Him. This is what steadfast waiting means.

In the Second Reading, St. Paul says that we ought to be holy before God. He exhorts us to live in a manner pleasing to God. A life of holiness entails imitating Christ, living according to how Christ taught us to live. This life is characterized by a steadfast faith that consists in knowing, loving and serving God. Our faith should be active, producing fruit, not only in our lives, but also in the lives of those around us.

As Christians, we should realize that the happiness this world offers is never permanent. Hence, we must not burden ourselves with the pursuit of these things, to the extent that we forget to prepare for the life beyond this world. If we hold on to the things of this world, Jesus warns us that the day of judgment shall catch us unprepared, by surprise, like a trap.

Jesus said to Martha, "You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed" (Lk 10:41-42). He makes the same exhortation to us today. "Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life."

At the end of time, when there shall be tribulation, we cannot hold on to the things we own, nor to the things we have accomplished. We can only hold on to the fact that we have become faithful. With this steadfast faith, we shall have the confidence to face the Son of Man, the assurance that we shall belong to those whose redemption is at hand. We shall be able to stand erect and raise our heads.

King of Our Hearts

2009-11-21T03:06:00.000-08:00

Solemnity of Christ the King Nov. 22, 2009 (Jn 18:33-37)

So Pilate went back into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"

Jesus answered, "Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?"

Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?"

Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here."

So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

Today, as we end the Liturgical Year, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. In the Gospel today, we are presented with a Christ who is under trial, the King of the Universe questioned by an earthly ruler and persecuted by His own people. Jesus was brought to Pilate by the people to whom He preached, the people for whom He worked miracles, the people who hailed Him when he entered Jerusalem. He was rejected and His kingdom was refused because His Kingdom was not of this world and because His message challenged the the way people were living their lives.

"Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." With these words, Jesus explains that His Kingdom is founded on truth and that anyone who lives in truth, anyone who lives according to God's will is part of His Kingdom. The people who condemned Jesus to death were, therefore, refusing His Kingdom and rejecting Him as king because they did not accept the truth that He preached.

We Christians claim to have Jesus as our king. We hail Him as King of the Universe. Indeed, He is God and He commands the entire cosmos. But are we part of his Kingdom? Do we live in truth, in accordance with God's will? Are we not also like the Jews who refused Jesus' Kingship? When we live in sin, we reject the Kingdom of God, we disobey Him whom we call king. From this, we can conclude that becoming part of God's Kingdom does not mean just being a member of the Church. It entails a lifestyle that is in accordance to what God has planned for us. It means living not as children of this world, but as heirs of the Kingdom which is not of this world.

In other words, we should let Jesus reign in our hearts. Everything we do should be in obedience to His will and should be for the building up of His Kingdom here on earth. We should be His loyal subjects, offering our very selves as a soldier or a statesman offers himself to the king, for his service and for the good of the kingdom. We become genuine members of God's Kingdom and Jesus is truly our King when we live in truth and love. For everyone who belongs to the truth hears the voice of Christ, the King.

May Christ reign in our hearts! And may His Kingdom have no end!

Holding on to the Word

2009-11-14T20:45:00.000-08:00

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Nov. 15, 2009 (Mk 13:24-32)

"In the days after that time of trouble the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in the clouds with great power and glory. He will send the angels out to the four corners of the earth to gather God's chosen people from one end of the world to the other.

"Let the fig tree teach you a lesson. When its branches become green and tender and it starts putting out leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know that the time is near, ready to begin. Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

"No one knows, however, when that day or hour will come - neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son; only the Father knows.

Jesus warns us to be ready for "the hour" of judgment. He tells to learn to read the signs of the times, as we are able to read the signs of nature.

Today, we give much value to the things of this world. We are afraid to die because to die means to let go of this world, to let go of the things or of the people we hold dear. We are losing the sense of the spiritual. We are becoming too materialistic that we forget to prepare for the world that is to come. We call on God only for our worldly needs. We forget to pray for spiritual health, for a better relationship with God and for salvation.

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away", said the Lord in our Gospel today. With these words, he reminds us that everything is ephemeral. Everything in this world will pass away. Only God is eternal.

In our desire to find happiness, we should seek that which shall remain. We can never find happiness in things that will pass away. Therefore, we should seek God. We should find comfort in His Word. His words should be our guide as we take this journey we call life.

Many people are rejecting God's Word today. They say God's commands no longer fit the needs of the times. But, as faithful Christians, we should hold on to the words of our Lord and God. We should hold on to Him because His Word is truth and His words are the words of everlasting life (Jn 6:68).

Therefore, we should live according to God's commands and according to the laws of the Church, the authority in interpreting God's Word. Others might call us conservative, but is it wrong to hold on to what can save us?

Only if we hold on to Jesus' Word can we say that we are ready for the end of the world. Even if we do not know the day or the hour of judgment, we have no reason to fear that day if we hold on to Christ. We shall not even fear death if we're with Him. Truly, if God is with us, who can be against us (Rom 8:31)? Whom shall we fear (Ps 27:1)?

The Gift of Self

2009-11-07T06:05:00.000-08:00

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Nov. 8, 2009 (Mk 12:38-44)

As he taught, Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely."

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on."

Giving the graces we have received back to God is a way of showing gratitude to Him. He is God, and He needs nothing, but our desire to thank Him is a gift from Him and it makes us grow in love for Him. In giving back to God, we recognize the fact that everything comes from Him, even our very existence.

In the Gospel, Jesus praises a poor old widow as having given the most in the treasury, even though the others gave huge amounts. Jesus points out that the woman gave out of her poverty. She gave even if it meant that she will not have any left for herself. The others gave large amounts from their surplus wealth. But the widow gave everything she had. She gave herself. Even though it was not much, it was the most.

The widow's generosity teaches us that nobody is too poor to give. Every one of us, even those whom we call poorest of the poor, has something we can offer to God. He has given us so much. The problem is that we disregard His graces and call ourselves poor. We hoard everything we have and refrain from giving, reasoning out that we ourselves need these things. We do not realize that we can give, even when it seems that we, too, are in need.

I've heard of a story that demonstrates my point. This took place in a seminary. After a fire devoured some houses near the seminary, some of the victims sought refuge in that eseminary. The priests and seminarians welcomed them. Then, a group of monks (I'm not sure from which religion) asked the seminary administrators if they could extend help. They requested for the evacuees to assemble in one place. When the seminary administrators gathered the evacuees in a chapel, the monks passed collection baskets around, obviously asking for money from the evacuees. While this was happening, the priests were already confused with what the monks were doing. Why would the monks collect money from those who just had their houses burnt?

After the collection, the monks told the evacuees that the money they collected will be used in buying goods for other people who are in need, probably people who are in a worse situation than that of the evacuees. True enough, nobody is too poor to give. Even those who are in dire need are still able to extend help to others.

Even when we do not have money or any material object, we can still give. After Ondoy left many people homeless, those who extended help are not only limited to those who gave money and other goods for the victims. Those who had nothing to donate had the opportunity to give by offering their time in volunteer work. Their God-given abilities to clean, to repack goods and to distribute them were all they needed to say that they have truly given. In short, they had nothing to give but themselves.

The woman in the Gospel teaches us the value of giving ourselves to God. We all belong to God and we should offer ourselves only to Him. The greatest gift we can ever give Him is ourselves, not the things we possess, because it is us that He loves and longs for.

Our daily living should become an offering to God. We don't need to become priests or lay servants to say that we are offering ourselves to Him. We don't even need to become martyrs. No, not necessarily. We just need to offer everything we do for Him, even if it's not a church-related work. When we offer our daily lives to Him, we become a pleasing offering. We become stronger against temptation. We become truly His.

The widow's offering is a measly amount, but it was the greatest gift to God. Similarly, we are nothing before God, but we can offer Him nothing better than our selves.

A Year of Light !

2009-10-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

Lamp upon Our Feet turns 1!

It's been a year since I created Lamp upon Our Feet. Since that simple night of October 4, 2008, this blog has been a true lamp to its readers, notwithstanding the relatively small number of readers. It really warms my heart to know that my reflections have reached other hearts and have had a nourishing effect to other souls. As I always said, it does not matter how few my readers were. What matters to me is that my writings have helped others.

If I may, I would like to quote a comment from one of the first followers of my blog. He said:

"Hi. Please continue your noble mission. I'm a renewed Catholic. your writings help me a lot in my quest to be a Good follower of Christ..

God Bless You!"

This comment continues to be my inspiration. This had a great effect on me. It did not merely flatter me. It did not try to praise my writing skills. It was a personal narration of how I touched a person's life. It affirmed my mission.

Because of comments like that, I knew that the light I bear- the Word of God- was illuminating others. I knew that I was not just carrying the light for no reason. I had a purpose. For that specific comment I quoted, I thank Kuya Randolf.

Recently, I haven't been able to keep the lamp burning. Circumstances have not allowed me to post reflections for almost two months now. Nevertheless, I will continue my mission as soon as circumstances change. I hope it will be soon.

As for now, I rejoice that Lamp upon Our Feet is turning 1 year old. I am planning some activities for the whole month, and I pray that 100% Katolikong Pinoy will help me. I am planning to declare a "Fiesta de la Palabra de Dios" or Feast of the Word of God. Well, we will see what happens in the days to come.

Come everyone. Join me in this endeavor!

Let the Word of God be a lamp upon our feet!

Yours in Christ,
Dale

To Come and Feast on His Table

2009-08-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Aug. 16, 2009 (Jn 6:51-58)

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."

It is very difficult to accept the teaching of Jesus about His giving of Himself as bread for all. Killing someone is a most gruesome sin. What more is eating someone's flesh? The Jews did not understand this teaching, nor was it easily accepted by the pagans who heard of it when the disciples preached Christianity to all nations. How could a God allow Himself to be eaten by people? This teaching challenged the wisdom of the pagans. As St. Paul puts it, "We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1 Cor 1:23)." When we think about it, it really is foolish of Jesus to offer Himself on the cross and as bread in the Eucharist. But, "the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom (1 Cor 1:23)."

Jesus' offering of Himself is the greatest sign of God's love for man. This is what God destined and revealed even in the first pages of the Bible. In the Book of Genesis, God promised to send a Savior who will defeat Satan. But who would have thought that God will save us in this way?

God must have judged it better to redeem us through the bitter passion and glorious resurrection of Jesus in order to give us an example of giving oneself, of giving everything without withholding anything. Through Jesus, God did not only redeem us; He also gave us a model to follow in order to avoid sinking in the quicksand that is sin.

In the Eucharist, Jesus continuously nourishes us and gives us life. He says, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you (Jn 6:53)." The souls of those who do not receive the Eucharist slowly become weak. The Eucharist is not a vitamin for the soul, giving it only extra strength; the soul needs it because it is its primary food. The Eucharist is Jesus, and Jesus is the only source of life and strength.

Therefore, we must receive the Eucharist often. If there are some things, like sin, for example, which hinder us from receiving it, we must denounce them with God's help, in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We must strive to be worthy to receive the food of our soul. If we work hard to feed our bodies, we must work harder to feed our souls. Yes, this food is given free of charge, but we must be pure and worthy to receive it.

God, in His great love, is giving Himself as life-giving food for us. May we receive Him in faith. In receiving Him, Jesus comes to dwell in us, and we begin to live because of Him, with Him, in Him, and in the way He lived. On the last day, we shall be born in eternal life because we have fed our souls.

God has given us everything as a gift. We need only to come and feast on His table.

Flesh for the Life of the World

2009-08-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time Aug. 9, 2009 (Jn 6:41-51)

At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?" "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.

I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread which I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

The Jews cannot comprehend how Jesus could have come down from heaven. They know Jesus and even His parents. So how could they believe that Jesus came from heaven?

Jesus explains to them that no one can come to Him unless the Father wills it. Through this, He implies that it is the will of the Father for Him to come down to earth so that all may live. He was born on earth because this was God's plan for the salvation of His beloved people. Jesus is God's grace to us, a gift for our salvation. He is the living and life-giving symbol of God's care.

For us who are living after Jesus' time, He has given the Holy Eucharist. This is not only a reminder of His sacrifice on the cross. This is not a mere symbol. This is really Him, the living and life-giving bread. Through the Eucharist, God's will to bring His Son to all peoples is fulfilled. It is here that Jesus' offering of His flesh on Calvary two thousand years ago is made present now.

Jesus offers us His flesh and blood for the life of all (Jn 6:51). His offering of flesh and blood is an offering of His life. In the Eucharist, we receive, in faith, the life of Jesus. This life is the eternal life with the Holy Trinity and with all the saints.

Receiving Jesus' life is also accepting a challenge. It is a challenge to make our lives His life. As St. Paul puts it, "It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me (Gal 2:20)." We need to take upon ourselves the works of Jesus. We need to follow His footsteps, to live as He had lived because we have received His life.

Therefore, the Eucharist does not only nourish us, it also changes us. If, in faith, we receive the bread of life, we, little by little, become Jesus to all. This can only happen if we keep the lessons of the Eucharist in our hearts and in our deeds. Imagine how peaceful the world will be if we can all become Jesus!

A Greater Hunger

2009-08-06T07:53:00.000-07:00

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Aug. 2, 2009 (Jn 6:24-35)

Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"

Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

The Gospel today tells us that the people were looking for Jesus. This happened after the miracle of the multiplication of bread and fish wherein more than five thousand were able to eat. Jesus frankly told them that they were looking for Him only because they were able to eat, not because of the miracle they witnessed (Jn 6:26).

The people's search for Christ symbolizes the people's search for God. From the very beginning of his life, man has been searching for someone who can provide all that he needs in order to live. Since he met God and realized His power, man has been in pursuit of Him. Man searches for God because he needs Him.

This immature faith is rampant throughout Christianity. Many of us call on God only in times of material need. We only see God as the Great Provider of our necessities in life. This faith is immature and can easily crumble when faced with difficulties. If this is the kind of faith of all Christians, no Christian would be found among the poor.

When the Jews who were hungry approached Him, Jesus revealed to them a greater hunger which they often neglect. This is the hunger of the soul. Every soul longs for God's embrace but this yearning is neglected because of physical hunger and of the hunger for worldy things.

Jesus did not correct our perception of God as Provider of our needs. He only wanted us to direct our attention to the greater reason why we needed God. Indeed, we need Him in order to live in this world, but for how long will we live here? More than for our survival here on earth, we need God to save our souls, to nourish us with the bread which gives eternal life.

Jesus says that He is the life-giving bread. In receiving Him, we can want nothing more. Let us first seek the life that He gives to our souls. Let us establish a good relationship with Him. Let us prioritize the hunger of our soul and He will provide us with everything else we could ever need (Mt 6:33). Only in Him can we find rest for our hearts ("Confessions" by St. Augustine of Hippo), and in accepting Him, we receive eternal life where we will never go hungry nor thirsty (Jn 6:35)

Repeating the Miracle of Multiplication

2009-07-26T12:24:00.000-07:00

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 26, 2009 (Jn 6:1-15)

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?" He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred days wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted." So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world." Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

In the Gospel last Sunday, Jesus showed concern for the people by giving them what they hungered for - the Word of God. In today's Gospel, Jesus provides them with food for the body. This shows us the basic truth that God did not only create us; He sustains us. This is expressed in the common saying, "God provides." Indeed, He provides for all our needs, be it physical or spiritual

Great hunger and deprivation of the basic needs in life cause many to doubt that God provides. But the truth is, God has provided and is still providing for us. Jesus tells us that the ravens do not sow, reap and store food, but they are fed by the Father. He said that we are worth more than birds, implying that the Father would also provide for us (cf. Lk 12:24). Everything we need is being given us. The problem is that some people possess God's graces, fewer people possess them in abundance, while a lot more are deprived of them. Society does not require those who have to give to those who do not have. This is why many of those who have opt not to share.

Sometimes, when we wish to share to those in need, we are discouraged by the fact that sharing the little that we have cannot fill all who are hungry. We think our help does only a little good. But we should realize that sharing is still sharing and a little help is still help.

Many scholars say that in the Gospel narrative, there was really no miracle of multiplication of bread; there was only a miracle of inspiration. When the young boy offered the little that he had, the others were inspired to also share what they had. Thus, everyone was filled and there were still some left over. This supports the fact that, indeed, everything we need has been with us and has been provided for us all along, and that all it takes to end hunger is sharing.

When we share, we become bread for others, just as Jesus became bread for us. We become the distributors of what God has provided. We become instruments of giving to others what is rightfully theirs. Yes, what we share from our abundance is not ours; it belongs to those who need them.

Sharing will also inspire others to do the same. When we share, we inspire the people around us to be bread for others too. In doing so, we become the little boy who inspired five thousand people in today's narrative. Therefore, when we share, we repeat the miracle of the multiplication of bread. Ultimately, sharing will put an end to world hunger.

A Look of Mercy, A Glance That Cares

2009-07-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time July 19, 2009 (Mk 6:30-34)

The Apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them.

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

In the Gospel today, we see Jesus give value to rest. He wanted His Apostles to rest as they have just returned from their missionary journeys. As disciples of Christ who bring His Word to others, we also need to rest. We need to pray and reflect. We need to have time alone with God to check our relationship with Him.

Jesus, in the Gospel, seeing the people who were like sheep without a shepherd (Mk 6:34), sacrificed His private time and the time of His Apostles in order to teach the great crowd. He knew how much the people were thirsting for God's Word. He had pity on them and He quenched their thirst for the nourishing Word.

As followers of Christ, we also ought to have great concern for our neighbor, especially for those who are in need, physically or spiritually. In these days, we usually look at people, especially those in need, as if they were just "other people". We don't see them as people we need to help, as people who, like us, are in need of God and of His life-giving Word.

This is the problem of our generation - indifference. As long as someone has no direct effect in our lives, as long as we don't need that someone for anything at all, we don't care about him. Jesus, on the other hand, looks upon people with a look of mercy, a glance that cares.

As Christians, we need to cast upon others this look of mercy, this glance that cares. We need to imitate Christ who cares for others, who does not consider the crowd as a great bother, but nourishes them and gives them what they need. We should also imitate the early Christians who sold their possessions in order to help those who are in want (Acts 4:32-35).

This is the mark of true Christians - love and concern for others. This is how we are to show Christ to others - by our love.

Bringing Christ

2009-07-11T08:34:00.000-07:00

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time July 12, 2009 (Mk 6:7-13)

Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick - no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.

He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.

So they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them."

As Christians, we have the responsibility to proclaim the Good News to others. This mission is not only for the priests or for the religious. We, too, are being sent by God to go and proclaim His Word to others. Truly, we who have received God's Word cannot just keep it ourselves. Such a news ought to be proclaimed to all, so that all may benefit.

This mission is not something we will do alone. This is the mission of the Church. Indeed, in Jewish tradition, the account of two people are given much value. You could very well be ignored if you say something with no one supporting you.

There is more than one way of proclaiming God's Word to others. We are not all called to be ordained ministers, but we are called to practice the prophetic mission we have received in our Baptism. We are not all preachers, but we can be prophets who give witness to Jesus' Words through our everyday living.

Yes, in this mission, we bring nothing, just the bare necessities. But what we bring to the world is something of much importance. We bring the news that the Kingdom of God has come and that all are welcome in the Kingdom. We bring Christ Himself.

In our mission, we are able to work out miracles. We are able to drive out demons when we instruct sinners not to sin anymore. We can cure diseases when we alleviate the pain of others. We bring them Christ whom they have not seen before.

Welcoming Our Divine Visitor

2009-07-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time July 5, 2009

(Mk 6:1-6)

Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house."

So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

God became man because He loved mankind and He desired to save them. This is the very story of Christianity. God is too awesome for man to behold. Israel in the Old Testament once said, "If I hear the voice of the Lord my God anymore, or ever again see this great fire, I will die" (Deut 18:16). God, therefore, wanting to save His people, humbled Himself by becoming ordinary, by becoming man. In Jesus, we have a God we can see and hear, a God we can talk to face to face, a God who walks among us, indeed, a God who has visited His people (Lk 7:16).

The problem is that we still look at God as someone high on the pedestal, as someone over the clouds, as "the guy up there". This is probably why Jesus' own people did not accept Him. They were looking for a great God, an awesome God. For them, Jesus was only a carpenter, an ordinary member of their community. They, therefore, rejected their Divine Visitor.

Indeed, it is difficult to understand the humility of God. But we know that God's motive is always for us to be saved.

Sometimes, we become like Jesus' own people. We fail to see God in the ordinary and in the lowly. We don't see God in our neighbor anymore. We don't see Him in the poor, in the sick and in the marginalized. Even in ourselves, we don't see God. We think that God is only in the church.

Jesus said, "I am with you always... (Mt 28:20)". He addressed this to every one of His disciples, even to us. Therefore, we need to recognize that God is in us, that God is in our neighbor, as He also said, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Mt 25:40).

Also, like Jesus' own people, we judge others as if we know them enough. We dictate who our neighbors are supposed to be through stereotypes. We therefore render our neighbors unable to improve, unable to be greater than who they are now. We need to admit that we don't know enough to judge our neighbors.

God, in His great love, has come down for us. Let us not look for Him in the skies, for we cannot fly there through our own efforts. Let us just accept Jesus and welcome Him in our hearts. Let us be hospitable to the God who visits us in many ways. Let us recognize His presence in the people around us, in everything we do, even in the ordinary events of our lives.

Trusting in God who Makes Us Whole

2009-06-30T05:07:00.000-07:00

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time June 28, 2009 (Mk 5:21-43)

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the lake. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, “My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live. ” He went off with him, and a large crowd followed him and pressed upon him.

There was a woman afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years. She had suffered greatly at the hands of many doctors and had spent all that she had. Yet she was not helped but only grew worse. She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak. She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” Immediately, her flow of blood dried up. She felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?”

But his disciples said to him, “You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

And he looked around to see who had done it. The woman, realizing what had happened to her, approached in fear and trembling. She fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth.

He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be cured of your affliction.”

While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official’s house arrived and said, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?”

Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.

When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, “Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.” And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out. He took along the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and entered the room where the child was.

He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!” The girl, a child of twelve, arose immediately and walked around. At that they were utterly astounded. He gave strict orders that no one should know this and said that she should be given something to eat.

When we are faced with problems, we often try to do everything within our power to solve them. We ask for favors from all the people we can come to and we exhaust all the resources we have. But sometimes, we forget to do one important thing - we forget to pray and to cast all our cares upon God.

The woman in the Gospel today spent all her money for medication, but to no avail. She had no one else to ask help from. So, when she heard of Jesus, she just had to come to Him. It is quite astonishing that what doctors failed miserably to cure was cured just by one touch of faith. The woman did not even get to touch Jesus. She only touched His cloak and she was healed because of her great faith.

Had the woman heard of Jesus before, and had she had the chance of touching His cloak earlier, she would have come to Him first. She would not have suffered for twelve years. Nevertheless, her story teaches us that God is more powerful than men - much more powerful, at that. We should trust in God much more than we trust ourselves and others. Unlike the woman, we know Jesus, and He Himself invited us to cast our burdens upon Him (cf. Mt 11:28). We should, therefore, have recourse to Him in our needs, not completely relying on our own power or on that of others.

“Do your best, and God will do the rest,” a saying goes. We can do many great things, for God has equipped us with the ability to do so. Nevertheless, trying to succeed without God’s help is futile. Yes, we can do great things and fight our battles. But without God, we always come up short.

Work and prayer go hand in hand. Indeed, we can never accomplish anything if we do not work. But, if we think that doing something is enough, we are mistaken. By ourselves, we can do nothing. But we can do everything through Christ who is our strength (cf. Phil 4:13).

Only in God can we ever hope for triumph over our problems, for healing and salvation. We see in today’s Gospel that Jesus was able to raise Jairus’ daughter. From the people, we only hear, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer” (Mk 5:35), and also weeping and wailing. But from Jesus, we hear, “Do not be afraid; just have faith” (v. 36) and “The child is not dead but asleep” (v. 39). Jesus was a ray of hope amidst the wailing and the ridicule of the crowd. Of course, He was the only one who could do something to help Jairus. In the same way, we only hear from the people around us how impossible our situations are, how our efforts are useless. But in God, we have hope. He blesses our efforts and completes our shortcomings. He makes us whole.

God is a gracious and merciful God. He heals and saves the souls who cling to Him and put their trust in Him. Who, but God alone, can we cling to for mercy and salvation? As the psalmist proclaims, “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes” (Ps 118:8-9).

Our Destination and Companion

2009-06-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time June 21, 2009 (Mk 4:35-41)

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Life is full of problems. In fact, it is said that it is impossible for anyone not to have any problems at all. This is why life is often described as a journey. We encounter danger after danger until we reach our destination. Yes, such is the difficulty of life that we need a companion to help us go through it all.

As Christians, we believe that our destination and companion in life is but one person – God. We come from God and we shall return to God. But He, in His great love for us, does not just wait in heaven until we return to Him. He accompanies us as we journey towards Him. The image of Jesus calming the sea is the perfect image of God guiding His people towards the “other side”, towards the Kingdom of Heaven.

But another image from our Gospel narrative today seems to be the focus of reflection for many – the image of Jesus sleeping in the boat. Many people, because of the storms in their lives, are tempted to think that God is asleep. Some even think that God is dead, cruel, or not as powerful as we think He is. They find it difficult to understand why a good God allows us to face so many problems and sufferings. They come to think that God is either good, but not almighty or is almighty, but evil.

Scriptures will tell us that God allows evil in the world in order to draw out from it a greater good. Joseph was sold by his brothers as a slave; but God was with him and he was able to save Israel from famine. Jesus was killed through crucifixion; but through His death, He saved us from sin. In the same way, our problems in life are for our own benefit. They make us better persons. As a canyon is shaped by the flowing of the river, as rocks are shaped by the pounding of the waves, so we are shaped by the problems that God allows us to encounter.

We do not face problems alone; we face them with God on our side. We should not fear them, for it is the Lord, our God who fights for us (cf. Deut 3:22).

The Holy Spirit whispers to us whatever it was that God wanted to teach us through the problems we have already encountered, ensuring that we have gone through them with lessons learned.

God is with us as we journey towards His Kingdom. And if God is with us, who can be against us (Rom 8:31), what storm can scare us?

Image of a Perfect, Life-giving Love

2009-06-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ June 14, 2009 (Mk 14:12-16, 22-26)

On the First day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?"

He sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?" ' Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there."

The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover.

While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is my body."

Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

The Eucharist is the highest form of prayer. It demonstrates the very meaning of prayer - man coming to God, and God meeting His people. The Eucharist is not just a memorial of the Last Supper; it makes present the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

Indeed, in the Eucharist, Christ is present in the form of bread and wine. The bread and wine do not just signify Christ; they become Christ Himself.

Christ, who once humbled Himself and took the form of a slave (cf. Phil 2:7), takes the form of bread and wine in the Eucharist. This sacrament is His gift to the Church and, through it, He nourishes His people. In His humility and out of love for us, He has made Himself vulnerable to the irreverence of man, as He was at the moment of His passion and death.

As we receive Christ in the Mass, we ought to be more like Him. It is said that you are what you eat. Therefore, when we receive Christ, we become Christ. We ought to imitate Christ's love, the love that nailed Him to the cross, a selfless and life-giving love.

Today, we are afraid to love, for we fear being hurt. But we should realize that love entails sacrifice, and sacrifice means being ready to endure pain for the sake of the beloved. We should realize that the more scars we have, the more beautiful we are. That is why Jesus, scarred and nailed to the cross, is a very beautiful image, for it is an image of a perfect love.

Nevertheless, we must realize that love, in itself, does not hurt. But love makes us vulnerable to being hurt. It is because Jesus loved Judas that He was hurt when Judas betrayed Him. It was because Jesus loved Peter that He was hurt when Peter denied Him thrice. It is because Jesus loves us that He suffered and died on the cross for us. And it is for the same reason that He continually makes Himself vulnerable to irreverence when He makes Himself present to us in every Mass.

Let us learn to love God and one another, for when we do, nobody will end up getting hurt and nobody will betray anyone anymore. Let us also learn to love and respect the Eucharist. In it, God expresses His love for us and He expects us to love Him back. Let us be grateful for this great gift of Christ which He gave us in His love.

One People, One God of Love

2009-06-06T22:35:00.000-07:00

Solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity
June 7, 2009 (Mt 28:16-20)

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity states that there is one God who manifested Himself to be Trinitarian. Hence we have one God in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This mystery has been revealed to us by Christ, but it has been an object of discussion and debate for many centuries.

This doctrine is not that easy to understand. The human mind cannot completely fathom it in it's fullness. Nevertheless, we believe in what has been revealed to us by God and in the authorized interpretation of the Church. We are the new Israel to which God reveals Himself. It is written in our First Reading today, "Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?" (Dt 4:32-33).

As God let His voice be heard by all Israel in the days of old, God let his voice be heard in the Baptism of Jesus, and let the people have a glimpse of the mystery of His being. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were revealed at that moment.

As Catholics, we believe that the three divine Persons are one, united in a bond of love, which is the Spirit of God. This is how we can say that God is love (1 Jn 4:8).

In the Gospel today, we hear Jesus telling His disciples to make all nations His disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Trinitarian God. In this commission, Jesus is telling us to unite all peoples in faith and in love. Jesus wishes that all His disciples be one as He and the Father are one (Jn 17:11). The Father wills that all things in heaven and on earth be summed up in Christ (Eph 1:9-10). The Church prays for unity through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is our One God, and it is His will for us to be one like Him.

May we always work for the unity of all Christians, and for the unity of all men regardless of color or creed. Our God shows no partiality (Acts 10:34) and neither should we. Discrimination and partiality further widens the gap between people, and this is not God's will. We need to see every person as our brother or sister in God, even if they are not Catholics, even if they are not Christians. It is God's will for us to be one people with one God of Love.

Inflaming Our Hearts

2009-06-02T06:06:00.000-07:00

Solemnity of Pentecost May 31, 2009 (Jn 15:26-27, 16:12-15)

"When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.

Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you."

The descent of the Holy Spirit is considered to be the birth of the Church. It is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that gave courage to the disciples to start proclaiming God's Word. On the day of Pentecost, Peter was able to draw three thousand people to the faith.

The Holy Spirit is the one who testifies about Jesus, so our Gospel tells us. It is the Holy Spirit who kindles in our hearts the fire of love for God and the zeal to proclaim God's Word, to testify to Jesus.

Jesus said in the Gospel today that His disciples should also testify to Him because they have been with Him from the beginning. They have heard Jesus' message first hand and they have witnessed His works. They have experienced Jesus. They ought to proclaim Jesus to all. We, too, as baptized Catholics, receive this responsibility.

The Holy Spirit has been given to us in Baptism. The message of Jesus has been handed down to us. We also experience Jesus in our daily lives and in the Sacraments. This special privilege gives us the responsibility to testify to Jesus.

The Holy Spirit gives us many gifts in order to fulfill our mission on earth. But there is only one Holy Spirit who gives us these gifts. There are many kinds of service, but there is only one mission (1 Cor 12:4-6). That mission is to proclaim Jesus in order to build up the Kingdom of God.

May the Holy Spirit once again inflame our hearts with the zeal to proclaim God and renew our lives, making it an offering to help build up God's Kingdom, the Church.

Jesus' Presence: An Assurance and A Mission

2009-05-23T05:08:00.000-07:00

Solemnity of the Lord's Ascension
May 24, 2009 (Mk 16:15-20)

Jesus said to his disciples: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Lord's Ascension, we remember two things that the Lord said before He was brought up to the Father. He told us to proclaim the Gospel to every creature (cf. Mk 16:15). He also told us that He is always with us, until the end of time (cf. Mt 28:20).

The words Jesus spoke during His Ascension are usually referred to as the "Great Commission". He commissioned His disciples to make the whole world his followers, to baptize and to teach them to obey His commandments. In our Gospel today, we read many signs that shall accompany those who believe. Indeed, these signs confirm that the disciples' mission was mandated by heaven, God's own work.

These signs are also God's gifts in order to help the growth of His Church. Indeed, Jesus does not just command His disciples, He also equips them with things they would need in their mission. As was said in our Second Reading today, "Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.... And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ..." (Eph 4:7, 11-12).

The greatest assurance He gave His disciples was His own presence. Yes, just before He was taken up into heaven, Jesus said He is with us always. It's quite ironic, if we think about it. But this is true. When He ascended, He became more present than ever.

Saying that He is always with His disciples is not just an assurance. It is also part of the commission. Jesus is now commissioning His disciples to make Him present all over the world. They are given the task to repeat Jesus' great wonders. Most importantly, they are charged to become "Jesus" for others.

We, as disciples of Christ, also receive this commission. By virtue of our baptism, we take part in this heavenly mandate. We may not be able to reach many places and preach as theologians do. But Jesus is with us. And He challenges us to live our lives as a testimony to His greatness. He wants us to drive out demons, speak in different languages, and to heal the sick (cf. Mk 16:17-18). We may not be able to do these literally. But since Jesus is with us, we have the power to drive away sin, to speak about God's love and to heal those who are spiritually ill. Jesus is with us, and He will protect us from any harm. So we need not be afraid to preach by words and by the witness of our lives that Jesus is with us always, even to the end of time!

Loving God in Loving One Another

2009-05-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

6th Sunday of Easter May 17, 2009 (Jn 15:9-17)

"As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you. This I command you: love one another."

Love is the very essence of Christianity. It is the very essence of Christ's life and teaching. Everything began in love. Man was created by God in his great love. God has shown His constant love even when man turned away from him. Finally, the story of God's love for man reached it's climax on Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. Truly, no one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends (Jn 15:13).

God's love is so great that He laid down His life, not just for His friends, but for everyone. He died for us while we were yet sinners (Rom 5:8). He even died for His enemies, for the Gentiles, for everyone! God's love and salvation is for all men. God shows no favoritism (Acts 10:34).

In His great love for man, God has always sought after man's love in return. This is epitomized by Jesus on the cross when He said, "I thirst" (Jn 19:28). By that He meant that He thirsts for love. And we are the ones who should be loving Him.

It is imperative for us Christians to love. It is God who first loved us, and that love we have received from Him is so overwhelming that we ought to share it to others. We ought to love one another just us Jesus loved us.

Maybe we would wonder, "Why do we need to love others? Can't we just love Jesus back?" Jesus Himself answered this when He said that whatever we did to the least of our brothers and sisters, we did to Him (Mt 25:40). If we love our neighbor, we are loving God, for they are created in God's image, just like we are. St. John also explains: If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. (1 Jn 4:20).

If we love Christ, we should obey His commandments. We should remain in the path He pointed out for us. We should love God and love our neighbor.

This is how we know that we are Christians. If we don't have love, how dare we call ourselves Christians?

To Grow and Bear the Choicest of Grapes

2009-05-09T05:41:00.000-07:00

5th Sunday of Easter May 10, 2009 (Jn 15:1-8)

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does, he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.

I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."

Jesus introduces Himself in the Gospel today as the vine, to which we, the branches, are attached. A branch not attached to the vine will surely die. In the same way, if we do not remain in Jesus, we shall die.

Our mission as branches is to produce fruit. The Father, the vine grower, will cut off every branch that does not bear fruit. If we let sin hinder us from bearing fruit, we will be cut off from God. We will feel that God is not with us. But it is our own fault because it was our choice not to bear fruit. We are the ones fleeing from God because of our sins. This is the effect of sin. Sin separates us from God, our vine, and from our neighbor, our fellow branches.

We should let God prune us. We should let Him cut off those in us which hinder our growth - sin, anger, pride and any other evil. Everyday, the Father tries to prune us. We just have to submit ourselves to Him. We need to listen to the Word of God and let His words transform us.

The events in our lives are also God's pruning. Regardless of how joyful or how bitter the events in our lives make us feel, they are willed or allowed by God in order to prune us. It is up to us to pick up the lessons that God is trying to teach us through these events.

But regardless of what happens in our lives, we should remain in Jesus, for He is our source of life. We should stay in the path of righteousness, the way of love. God created us out of nothing, and we return to nothingness without Him. Our lives should be dedicated to God and we should have a harmonious relationship with Him and with each other.

To produce fruit means to be faithful to our mission as branches. We, as Christians, are given an active faith. It empowers us to reach out and evangelize by word and deed, to touch lives and make other people feel God's presence. Through this, the Church grows and develops new branches; and we ourselves grow and bear the choicest of grapes.

A Shepherd's Love

2009-05-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

4th Sunday of Easter May 3, 2009 (Jn 10:11-18)

"I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not the shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father."

By using the image of a good shepherd, Jesus speaks of how He cares for His followers. He speaks of laying down His life for His sheep, something other hired men won't care enough to do. Jesus says He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. He has a very special relationship with each member of His flock. He knows them each by name.

The symbolism of the Good Shepherd explains to us Jesus' magnificent love. Imagine a shepherd, giving his life to save his sheep; a man, voluntarily dying to save animals! Indeed, God's love is something very great. It's a mystery that only God, in His wisdom, can understand. It will leave us asking, "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" (Ps 8:4).

Yes, what are we that Jesus would lay down His life for us? Who are we that God would care to know our name? We are sinners, unworthy of God. Nevertheless, He loved us, so much so that He laid down his life for us.

Jesus also speaks about other sheep that are not yet into His fold. This symbolizes the universality of God's love. God loves everyone and treats us all as His children. Nevertheless, we are given the freedom to choose whether or not we will be His faithful sheep. Of course, even if we choose not to follow Him, we would still be His sheep, and our Shepherd will never stop calling us into His fold.

The Good Shepherd is also an image of a perfect leader. We, too, have little flocks of which we are shepherds. We could be leading a small group, an organization, or maybe raising children, perhaps. The Good Shepherd should be our model of genuine love and concern for our flocks. Like Jesus, we are invited to be good shepherds, ready to sacrifice for our sheep, ready to help our neighbor even if we shall lose something for it, ready to love more even if it will hurt. We must follow Jesus' example.

Today's celebration invites us to heed the call of our Shepherd, for even if we walk through the dark valley, we will not fear, as long as we follow Jesus (cf. Ps 23:4). Like a shepherd leading his flock towards verdant pastures and restful waters, Jesus will surely lead us from this dark valley we call earth, to the repose of heaven (cf. v.3).

The Church also invites us today to pray that more young men follow Jesus and serve him, reflecting the goodness of the Shepherd in priestly ministry.

Like Jesus, may we be filled with ardent love for our neighbor and be shepherds of each other, helping one another and listening to the voice of the One Shepherd - Jesus.

Witnesses of These Things

2009-04-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

3rd Sunday of Easter April 26, 2009 (Lk 24:35-48)

The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread.

While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have."

And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them.

He said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."

We often have doubts when we are faced with much trouble. We ask ourselves, "Will this ever end? Will everything be OK? " We doubt so much that we don't believe people who try to comfort us and say positive things to console us.

In today's Gospel, the disciples were listening to the story of two of their companions who have encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus (cf. Lk 24:13-35). Suddenly, Jesus appeared to them and greeted them with peace. As they haven't yet come to believe the news of the resurrection, regardless of the many testimonies of witnesses, including the two speaking to them at that moment, they were terrified on seeing Jesus, and thought He was a ghost.

Sometimes, we let doubt envelop our hearts so much that even the thought of God's presence does not console us anymore. We lose hope so easily and we fail to believe that Jesus is alive and is at work in our lives. We just close our minds to the idea that we have problems. Yes, we doubt so much that even when solutions hit us in the face, we fail to see them, just as the disciples failed to rejoice immediately on seeing Jesus.

In our troubled times, Jesus reveals Himself to us and tells us that He is alive, that He is with us. He casts away our fears and doubts by showing us His hands and feet, by showing us that He has triumphed over death and suffering. This is Jesus' way of saying, "Do not doubt. I am more powerful than your problem. See, I am tougher than nails!"

In the Gospel, Jesus opened the minds of His disciples in order for them to understand the Scriptures. He made them realize that everything happened for a reason, that God planned all these things from the beginning; His passion, death and resurrection is His redemptive action, His messianic mission. He made them appreciate the marvels God has done for the salvation of man.

After helping us overcome a problem, Jesus opens our minds too. He makes us understand why we had to undergo such a situation. We understand what God is trying to teach us through the problems we encounter. Our minds are opened to understand God's ways and God's will.

As disciples of Christ, we are His witnesses. We have encountered Christ. Christ works in our lives and we feel His presence. It is now our mission to spread the news that Jesus is alive. We need to tell our neighbors that Jesus is alive in them too. More than that, we need to show them that Jesus is alive by the way we live. It is our duty to help them in the process of letting Jesus open their minds.

We are witnesses of Jesus and we must spread the news of His resurrection from our hearts, to other hearts, that they too, may be witnesses!

Jesus' Mercy Brings Peace and Forgiveness and Demands Trust

2009-04-18T08:31:00.000-07:00

2nd Sunday of Easter/Divine Mercy Sunday April 19, 2009 (Jn 20:19-31)

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord."

But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."

Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe."

Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."

Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

The Gospel for today presents to us the disciples locked in a room, afraid for their own lives. Perhaps, we could also say that, aside from fear, they were also in sorrow for the death of their beloved Master, and were repenting for abandoning him in his passion.

The disciples were probably reprimanding themselves for being such cowards. They "locked" themselves in that room of fear, sorrow for sins, regret and self-reprimand. They were probably thinking that what they did, or did not do for Jesus, was an unforgivable sin. They were also, perhaps, unable to forgive themselves.

In this dreadful scene, Jesus entered, although the doors were locked. He showed them his hands and his sides, the wounds which signified the death he had defeated. He greeted them, "Peace be with you." And they rejoiced.

The risen Lord gave peace to His disciples. If you read the Gospel passage carefully, you'd notice that Jesus gave the greeting of peace thrice. Together with peace, He also brought forgiveness, though he did not mention it explicitly. Just seeing the risen Lord was enough for the disciples to feel at peace, confident that they have been forgiven. Jesus now extends this gift of peace and forgiveness to the whole Church, and even to us, by saying, "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained" (Jn 20:23). With these words, He instituted the sacrament of His mercy, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, as a gift of peace for all His disciples.

In our lives, we often live like the disciples, locking ourselves in rooms filled with grief and sorrow. It's fine if our sorrow is a sorrow for sin, but even this should not hinder us from letting Jesus enter our hearts and show us how He defeated all sorrow and death. We must never lose confidence in Jesus' mercy. He is alive, and His resurrection is our hope.

This Sunday, we also reflect on the story of doubting Thomas. Like the disciples, he was too overwhelmed by grief. He had lost all hope and did not even believe the testimony of his fellow disciples who had seen the Lord. What happened to Thomas reminds us of the value of faith. Faith, by definition, is believing without sufficient evidence. As Christians, we live by faith. We believe in a God whom we have never seen, for we have experienced Him in our lives.

Jesus' mercy calls us to trust in Him, to have faith in Him so that He could pour out His peace and forgiveness unto our hearts. We need to believe that Jesus is loving enough, and is powerful enough to bring us out of the misery of our locked rooms.

Believing and Living the Story

2009-04-12T22:29:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection April 12, 2009 (Jn 20:1-9)

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him."

So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.

When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

The Lord is truly risen, Alleluia! Today, the Church celebrates the greatest of all feasts, the feast of the Lord's triumph over sin and death, the Solemnity of Easter. Indeed, the importance of this great feast in our faith is so great that its celebration is extended for eight days until next Sunday, the Octave of Easter. It is further extended for seven weeks, the seventh Sunday being Pentecost Sunday, making the Easter celebration a season, the Easter Season.

The resurrection of Christ is the central point of our faith. It gave peace and hope to the apostles who where then very afraid and despairing. Had Christ not risen from the dead, our faith is in vain and death would have triumphed over love. But, as it was, God proved His love to be more powerful than death, indeed, tougher than nails!

The Gospel for Easter Sunday narrates to us how Mary of Magdala was surprised at seeing the first symbol of the resurrection, the empty tomb. Thinking that the body of her Lord was taken away, she ran to tell Peter and John (the beloved disciple) what she saw. John, the first apostle to arrive at the tomb, was also the first to believe. He believed upon seeing only the empty tomb and the burial cloths. He believed even if he did not understand perfectly. We too, as Christians, believe in the resurrection.

But more than being a major tenet of Christianity, the resurrection of Christ is also a challenge. Indeed, it is true that we who believe in Him will also be resurrected. But for us to experience resurrection, we must also suffer like Him. We need to strive for holiness amidst a world of sin, even if it means being persecuted for it. That is precisely what Jesus did and is calling us to do. He was hated by the world (Jn 15:18) because He did not conform to worldly ideals. But He showed the world that He was right through His resurrection.

If we follow Christ, the world will also persecute us as it persecuted Him (Jn 15:20). We too will have to suffer much if we choose to be holy. But we should not lose hope, because we know how this story would end - in our own resurrection.

The Gospel presents to us the symbol of the empty tomb. This tomb is empty because the "deadly things" have been destroyed by Christ's redemptive act. Christ is no longer in the tomb, because death cannot hold Him. Death will not be able to hold us too if we do not take pleasure in the "deadly things" - and what is "deadly" but sin?

Yes, Christ is risen and we believe it! We rejoice in the Lord's day! But more than just believing in the resurrection, as the beloved disciple did, we are challenged this Easter Season to live the resurrection story, to die to our sinful selves, to empty our tombs, to endure sufferings brought about by our striving for holiness, so that we may resurrect like our risen Lord.

Happy Easter to all! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Putting the "Holy" in Holy Week

2009-04-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion April 5, 2009 (Mk 11:1-10)

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.' "

They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.

When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!"

(Mk 15:1-39)

Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.

"Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate.

"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of."

But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.

"Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

"What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.

"Crucify him!" they shouted.

"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"

Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!" Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

It was the third hour when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!"

In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."

One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said.

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"

The liturgy of Palm Sunday presents to us two Gospel narratives. In the first narrative, we commemorate that joyful and triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the city where He's destined to die. In the second, we recall Jesus' passion and death which He endured with submission and an amazing silence which would surprise just anyone. The two, obviously, are connected, as the first leads to the events of the second.

Jesus entered Jerusalem because He knew He had to. He knew the physical and emotional pain that He would undergo in that city. Nevertheless, He went there for His hour had come. It was precisely for this moment that He was sent to this world. It is His mission to suffer and die, in obedience to the Father (cf. Phil 2:8). He never lost sight of this heavenly mandate.

The people who joyously welcomed Jesus in Jerusalem recognized Him as a holy man. They were enlightened enough to know that Jesus comes in the name of the Lord and that the Kingdom of David is being re-established (cf. Mk 11:9-10) . They recognized the "things above", the things which were of heaven. They knew that God was at work in their midst in the person of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Reading the second Gospel passage, we hear these same people who shouted, "Hosanna!", now shouting, "Crucify him!" This they did because they were forced, bribed even, by their religious leaders. They were easily influenced by the world in which they live, by money and by the people around them. They, therefore, lost sight of the marvels that God has revealed to them when they were welcoming Jesus. Because of the power of this earth over them, they failed to give value to the heavenly things.

Jesus, on the other hand, never lost sight of the heavenly things. In fact, He was deprived all earthly comforts and pleasures in His passion. He was deprived sleep, the company of His friends, and many more until He was finally deprived His life. This proves that Jesus gives more value to what is spiritual than to what is material. In experiencing all these privations, He redeemed the world.

This Holy Week, we are once again challenged to give value to what is holy, to what is heavenly. This week is not an opportunity to party at Boracay, as our showbiz icons do. It is an opportunity which the Church gives us to reflect on and recognize the marvels that God has done and is doing for our redemption.

The great liturgies of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Black Saturday until Easter Sunday give us a glimpse of what happened to Jesus during the last hours of His life until His resurrection. These liturgies put us into that drama and make us part of it. I recommend you participate in these liturgical services. I also suggest reflecting on the Word of God, especially on the Passion narratives.

May this Holy Week be "truly holy" for all of us. May it not be another holiday that will just pass by, leaving us unchanged. May the drama of Holy Week make our hearts cry in appreciation of the great deeds God has done, all for us sinners.

Have a "truly holy" Holy Week!

Dying to Produce Fruit

2009-03-28T07:27:00.000-07:00

5th Sunday of Lent Mar. 29, 2009 (Jn 12:20-33)

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus."

Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit."

"Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me."

"I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name."

Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it and will glorify it again."

The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself." He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

As we are nearing the celebration of Jesus' passion, death and resurrection, the Gospel readings are already pointing to the events of Jesus' crucifixion. In the Gospel last Sunday, Jesus explained to Nicodemus how He must be lifted up like the serpent in the desert from Old Testament times. Today, Jesus speaks about His hour, the hour when He will fulfill His mission on earth, the hour when He shall die on the cross, the hour of His glory.

Jesus compares Himself to a grain of wheat that must die in order to produce fruit. But more than just a metaphor for His death, this parable of the grain of wheat is a call for us followers of Christ to "die" so we may bear fruit. As Jesus said, "Whoever serves me must follow me..." (Jn 12:26) Therefore, if Jesus' mission is to die to produce fruit, we should also follow Jesus' example. We should also die.

Now "dying" does not necessarily have to be literal. Dying in order to produce fruit means that we should die to our sinful selves and emerge as new persons, just like in Baptism. It also entails sacrificing for other people who are in need, denying oneself in order to help them. Literally dying for the faith, or dying a martyr's death, is not an opportunity given to all Christians. But even if we are not given the chance to die for God and for our neighbor, the challenge for all of us is to live for God and for our neighbor. Our whole life can be a sacrifice to God, in service of our neighbors. And this sacrifice, since a sacrifice always hurts us, will be our "death" that will produce much fruit.

In Jesus' death, He will gather all people to Himself. By "all people", He meant everyone. This is symbolized by the Greeks who came looking for Jesus. Jesus' salvation is for all of us; it is not exclusive, because we are all in need of salvation. Jesus' blood is enough to purchase all men. There is no single person whose sins are so great that Jesus could not have saved him. Nevertheless, all who seek salvation must first believe and follow Jesus.

As we enter Holy Week, let us remember the importance of sacrifice, the importance of pain and suffering. For as Jesus said, "Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life." (Jn 12:25). Therefore we must set our eyes to the things of heaven, and deny ourselves and sacrifice for the good of all. Let us also remember that Easter cannot come without Good Friday and that the hour of Jesus' glory (Jn 12:23) is the hour of His death.

The Greatest Evidence of God's Love

2009-03-21T08:33:00.000-07:00

4th Sunday of Lent Mar. 22, 2009 (Jn 3:14-21)

Jesus said to Nicodemus: "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God."

God is love and He loves us all. This is something very elementary for us Catholics. We all know this. In fact, John 3:16, a verse which speaks about God's love, is a very popular Bible verse. But sometimes, being too familiar with this fact, with this verse, we forget what it means. We are no longer in awe when we here about God's great love.

The Gospel for today speaks about how God loved the world so much. This He showed by giving to us His only Son to die for our salvation. Jesus is the greatest evidence of God's love for us. This is how great God loves us: He allowed His Son to be subject to suffering and death in order to save us. All this He did even when we were still sinners. Imagine trying to risk your only son's life just to save criminals? But that is how God loved us.

Jesus is the greatest evidence of God's love. In the first part of the Gospel, Jesus foretold His redemptive act of love in a metaphorical way. He spoke about how he must be raised up like the bronze serpent Moses raised up in the desert to save the Israelites who were bitten by snakes. Just as the Israelites were saved from death when they looked at the bronze serpent, so all of us will be saved through faith in Jesus Christ.

All the teachings of Christianity may be summed up in this one word: LOVE. The Gospel we proclaim is the Gospel of Love. God loved us first, and, in response, we must love God back and also love our neighbors.

God's love is so overwhelming that we ought to share it with other people. Therefore, God's love also gives us a mission - to make other people feel that God loves them too, just in case they might not feel it.

This Lent, we are invited to reflect on the magnitude of God's love. We ought to feel this love in remembering Jesus' redemptive act. We are also challenged to live according to the demands of God's love, in obedience to the commandment of love. We ought to love God and our neighbors, especially those in great need. We should not only speak about the Gospel of love. We must show it by loving other people. As a song goes, "And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love!"

I remember when I was in Grade School. I drew a picture of Jesus carrying the cross. Then I erased the cross and replaced it with many hearts, forming the shape of the cross. The picture below shows how the cross looked like. (Although I didn't draw Jesus carrying it anymore.) When I drew that picture years ago, I had this thought in mind: "Jesus is the greatest evidence of God's love!"

Set Apart from the World

2009-03-14T05:15:00.000-07:00

3rd Sunday of Lent Mar. 15, 2009 (Jn 2:13-25)

Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold the doves he said, "Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace." His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, "Zeal for your house will consume me." At this the Jews answered and said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking about the temple of his body. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.

While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.

Today, we see Jesus cleansing the temple by driving away those who sold sheep, oxen and doves, as well as the money changers. Jesus tells them to stop making the temple a marketplace. The temple is the dwelling place of God and as such, it should be treated with respect. Something holy is something set apart and blessed. Therefore, the temple, being holy, should be set apart, free from worldly activities like the cheating done by money changers.

This particular narrative reminds us that in going to church, we must not act in the same way as we would in going to malls. We must have the proper disposition, wearing the proper attire and ready to worship God and to listen to His Words. This is giving proper respect to God and to His dwelling place.

Yes, we ought to respect the temple of God. We should cleanse it free of worldly things.

In this season of Lent, this Gospel passage calls us to holiness of life. It tells us that God's dwelling place must be respected and treated as holy. And since, according to Saint Paul, we too are the dwelling places of God (1 Cor 3:16-17), we ought to be holy.

Of course, we cannot become holy by our efforts alone. We need the help of God. We need to ask Jesus to cleanse us from our sins just as He cleansed the temple of worldly activities. And that is what Lent is all about. It is a time when we remember the worldly things surrounding our hearts and ask the Lord to get rid of these for us. We must strive to keep ourselves free from impure worship and a corrupted relationship with God.

It is really quite a challenge to be holy when we live in a material world. But that is the challenge of this Lenten Season. We must separate ourselves from worldly activities, except of course, those necessary for our survival. We must deny ourselves worldly pleasures and set our eyes on the things above. We must not be of this world even if we are in it.

Our church edifices are comparable to malls, in the sense that they are both buildings. But the big difference lies in this: Malls raise their billboards and advertisements as high as they can in order to remind people to patronize them and their products. Our churches, on the other hand, raise crosses and crucifixes as high as they can in order to show us the Savior and to remind us of our call to be holy. This is how the Church, though in the world, is not of the world. It is set apart from worldly things. We too, must be separated from the world. A balloon cannot reach heaven if its string is anchored to the ground. Similarly, we cannot reach the heavenly Kingdom if we attach ourselves to the world.

The Glory of Mount Calvary Foretold

2009-03-07T05:03:00.000-08:00

2nd Sunday of Lent Mar. 8, 2009 (Mk 9:2-10)

Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them.

As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant.

Jesus, in our Gospel today, is transfigured before Peter, James and John, on the top of a high mountain. Moses and Elijah appeared before Him and conversed with Him. Peter, probably ecstatic but not knowing what to say, wanted to stay there. Suddenly, the voice of the Father was heard from a cloud, saying "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him." Then, the vision was no more. Jesus was alone when the three disciples looked again.

The events of the Transfiguration are probably very familiar to us already. But what does this event in Jesus' life try to tell us? What is its significance in the Gospel, in the story of our redemption?

The Transfiguration is a revelation of Jesus' glory. We can note some similarities between this event and that of Jesus' Baptism, where the Father also proclaimed Jesus His only Son. The Father reveals Jesus to us and establishes Jesus' authority.

Moreover, the Transfiguration is a foreshadowing of things to come - Jesus' passion death and resurrection. Just as Jesus was made glorious on a mountain in His Transfiguration, He shall soon be made glorious on Mount Calvary, triumphant over sin in his death and resurrection.

This act of redemption, revealed only in Jesus, has been the plan of God all along. The Law, represented by Moses, and the prophets, represented by Elijah, all find fulfillment in Jesus and in His redemptive act. Jesus, conversing with Moses and Elijah, symbolizes such a great connection between the Old and the New Testaments and it makes one realize how marvelously God prepared our redemption throughout salvation history. The Transfiguration is indeed a glorious moment.

Beholding such glory, the disciples must have been in awe as much as they were terrified. Peter, in confusion, offered to stay there. But that vision, that moment of glory, was not everlasting. They cannot stay there. Jesus knew that He had to come down the mountain and face His mission - to suffer, to die, and to rise again. He had to climb another mountain, that is Calvary. The Transfiguration was not an escape from Calvary. Rather, it was a source of hope and strength for the disciples, and probably for Jesus too, who will be facing so much sufferings and difficulties.

Like Peter, we are often tempted to stay on the mountain of Transfiguration; we dwell in our past successes, refusing to do what remains to be done. But we have a mission to do. We have more mountains to climb. As Christians, we need to understand the great value of suffering. Life is not all resurrection and glory. In His Transfiguration, Jesus shows us that He is glorious because He does the will of the Father, even if it means suffering and stripping off His own glory as the Son of God.

Being faithful to our mission means embracing the pain and suffering that we shall meet. But God will transfigure us and give us strength, because He never abandons those who follow His path; He guides them. It is when we become faithful regardless of suffering that we can finally share in the full splendor and glory of the resurrection, in the life that is to come.

Man: His Power Against Temptation

2009-03-01T06:42:00.000-08:00

1st Sunday of Lent Mar. 1, 2009 (Mk 1:12-15)

The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.

After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

We are subject to temptation. This is because we, whose destiny is eternity in heaven, are born in time in this world where sin has crept. The lures of the evil one is very strong in this material world. So we have no choice. We will be subject to temptation; that's inevitable. We may sometimes crumble in the face of it. But we have the power to stand up and resist all temptation.

We Filipinos often hear, and even use, the "Tao lang, nagkakamali rin." argument. But this should not be abused. True, we have weaknesses. But we also have special capabilities that God comes from God. We are gifted with intelligence, with a reason which tells us what is right; but often we do not listen to it. We are given faith, so we may call on God, our Father; but we do not pray. The "Tao lang, nagkakamali rin." statement should not make us dwell in our mistakes, accepting them as if they were alright. It should be a reminder, a challenge for us all to be bothered by the fact that we are weak and flawed, and thus be inspired to try and live a more virtuous life.

Jesus, in our Gospel today, shows us that living a virtuous life even when we're immersed in a culture of sin and death, is very possible. Jesus lived in the desert among wild beasts (Mk 1:12), yet He remained unharmed. In the same way, Jesus sends us like lambs among wolves. We are exposed, and sometimes, even threatened, by the wolves of evil in this world, but we are strong. The secret of Jesus' strength comes from God. In the Gospel, we read that Jesus' temptation in the desert was later due to the fact that he has already seen the bishop and is ashamed, probably due to sins. The angels ministering to Jesus remind us that we, too, are in need of help; we offer to God our worship while we admit that we are sinners.

In this very dangerous world, Lent challenges us to die with our old selves in order to be made knew. We are called to acknowledge sinfulness and to repent. Most especially, we are called to believe in the good news of the kingdom.

Meeting Friends and Scribes along the Way

2009-02-21T05:37:00.000-08:00

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Feb. 22, 2009 (Mk 2:1-12)

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Child, your sins are forgiven." Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, "Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins?" Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, "Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, pick up your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth" - he said to the paralytic, "I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home." He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this."

In the Gospel today, we see Jesus preaching in Capernaum. His fame was already spreading and the house he was in was soon crowded by people. Since there was no way to get to Jesus, four men carried a paralytic, most probably their friend, and made a hole in the roof of the house in order to let their paralytic friend meet Jesus. Jesus saw this as an act of great faith and he healed the man.

In this first part of the story, we see that infirmities and sufferings are not really that bad if we have friends with us. The paralytic in our Gospel was lucky to have four great friends who were concerned enough for his health that they even broke through a roof for him. Some friends today don't even care to exert effort to help their friends. They are only with you when there aren't any problems. When the storm comes, they are the first to abandon the ship and leave you alone. If you have friends who are loyal and always ready to help you no matter what it takes, then you're very lucky.

But let us also examine what kind of friends we are. It is better for us to have bad friends than to be bad friends ourselves. We should be like the four friends of the paralytic, ready to break through any roof for the well-being of the people we love, or even for the well-being of people whom we don't know, the people who need mercy the most. We, as Catholics, should have preferential love for the poor. If our neighbor, regardless of our relationship or the lack of a relationship with them, needs our help, by all means, we must help them. We must be the strength of the weak, the voice of the marginalized, and the eyes of the blind.

The act of loving and caring for our neighbor is not only for their temporal needs. In our spiritual journey towards God, we are all in need of others. Our relationship with God is not only two-way, between God and our individual selves. No. We journey towards Him with our neighbor and with a spiritual society, the Church. We need other people to help us come closer to God.

In the latter part of the Gospel, we see the scribes questioning Jesus' words. What Jesus first said to the paralytic were words of forgiveness. This, of course, raised an issue among the scribes. How could Jesus forgive sins? Only God can forgive sins! Of course, it was not given to the scribes to recognize Jesus as God. But that is not the issue. The issue is that the paralytic is being healed, yet all the scribes can think about is their theology. Could they not care about the paralytic who is finally going to be cured? Because of their theological discussions, the healing was delayed.

During that time, illness was considered a punishment due to sin. Therefore, we can understand why Jesus asked "Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, pick up your mat and walk'?" If Jesus forgave the sins of the paralytic, then according to their notion of illness, the man should be healed. Jesus probably wanted to tell the people there that spiritual healing was more important than physical healing. He made the paralytic's need of His physical healing a symbol of a deeper need of being healed spiritually by God.

As we journey towards God, we meet a lot of problems, temporal or spiritual. We also meet a lot of people. These people may either help us get closer to God, as the paralytic's friends did to him, or they may delay our healing and journey towards God, as the scribes did to the paralytic. The challenge for us is to do everything within our power to make sure that our direction is towards God. The friends who may help us are just bonuses, and the scribes who may distract us are just tests. We must also make sure we become friends to others and be careful not to be scribes to them.

If You Wish

2009-02-14T08:31:00.000-08:00

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Feb. 15, 2009 (Mk 1:40-45)

A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, "If you wish, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean." The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.

He said to him, "See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them."

The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

Lepers are considered as unclean people. In the Old Testament, when they pass the streets, they should shout, "Unclean! Unclean!" In the Gospel today, Jesus is approached by one of these unclean lepers. The leper knelt down before Him and said, "If you wish you, can make me clean."

The leper, more or less, has an idea of who Jesus was. He might not have known that Jesus was the Son of God. But he knew that the one before Him was greater than him, a man of God. He did not demand Jesus' healing as if he had all the right to receive it. Instead, he prayed to Jesus in a way similar to how Mary humbly said yes to God. The leper said, "If you wish..."

This man is suffering from leprosy and he obviously needs healing, yet he went to Jesus saying, "If you wish..."! It is very common for us to pray for things that we need or want. But how often do we start our prayer with "If you wish..."? We must not pray to God, demanding everything that we are praying for. We must surrender our will to His perfect will. We must let Him decide what's best for us. After all, our Father knows best!

After beginning his prayer with a complete surrender to the will of Jesus, the leper asked for cleansing. We might not be all leprous. But the truth is, everyone of us has an uncleanliness. This uncleanliness is due to the fact that all have sinned (Rom 3:23). Whatever personal sins we have committed, however small, they are still sins and are, thus, uncleanliness. We need to acknowledge this uncleanliness so that we might allow God to cleanse us. The proud people who think they have no need of cleansing are not going to be cleansed. God also respects our will. We need to ask for cleansing, and this presupposes that we acknowledge our uncleanliness due to sin.

In comparison, when we ask a doctor to heal us, we admit that there is something wrong with us. In the same way, we need to admit our sinfulness before God and ask for His spiritual healing in order for Him to act.

Jesus probably saw the humility and the great faith of this leper that He granted his prayer immediately. After healing the leper, Jesus warned Him not to tell anyone about it. Instead, He instructed him to do what Moses prescribed for the cleansing rites of a leper. Why doesn't Jesus want His miracles to be broadcasted? It's simple really. Jesus wanted followers who would come to Him because of faith, not because of the longing for a miracle. Jesus wanted not fame, but faith. He was more concerned with the healing of the body and soul of a person.

But, indeed, how can the joyful ex-leper not proclaim the great miracle done to Him? It is but natural for us to spread the great joy we feel. It cannot be controlled, sometimes. Nevertheless, we still need to follow what is proper. In the case of the leper, he should have obeyed Jesus. It was the least he can do to show gratefulness.

Nevertheless, like the leper, we are invited to pray with an "If you wish" attitude before God. We need to submit ourselves to His wisdom. We must also admit our need of God in order for Him to work in our lives. We must invoke His presence. We should acknowledge the fact that we failed as sons and daughters of God and, at the same time, promise to do a better job as a child of God.

Father, if You wish, you can make us clean!

Amplifying the Message of Love with a Touch

2009-02-07T06:08:00.000-08:00

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Feb. 8, 2009 (Mk 1:29-39)

On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you." He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come." So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

Jesus' public ministry was not only pure preaching about God and His Kingdom. It was characterized by so many great miracles that people couldn't help but seek for Him always. Jesus' fame was indeed spreading. We read in our Gospel today that after Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law, the whole town was gathered before the door where He was. He healed many people there and drove out many demons. This cannot happen, of course, without the faith of the people. The people of the town probably had great faith, a prerequisite for any miracle.

Jesus' healing miracles are not for fame. If Jesus wanted to be famous, he would have let the demons speak about who He was before He drove them away. But as was said in the Gospel, He did not permit them to speak because they knew Him. Jesus' healing has a great purpose. It is part of His mission. It accompanied the Word of God which He preached. His healing touch amplifies the message of God's love. Through healing, He made it easier for people to understand that God loves them and cares for them. This is why Jesus went to many synagogues; He wanted to proclaim God's message through healing.

Jesus wants us to know that God loves us very much. So much so that, to save us from our world of sin and suffering, God Himself, in the person of Jesus, shared our humanity and was subjected to suffering. Jesus is not alien to the sufferings we encounter. It is written, "We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin (Heb 4:15)." Jesus showed us the value of human weakness and suffering. He showed us that our sufferings can be an offering to God.

In the midst of all the illnesses and sufferings we encounter, let us always remember God who is loving and caring. Many people lose hope and even faith in God just because they experience suffering. The popular question these days goes like this, "If there is a God, why is there so much evil in the world?" Let us remember that all the sufferings and pain we experience today are caused by sin, not by God. God created everything good. We know this very well. It was sin that brought all the miseries and sufferings in this world. The first sin of our parents caused all the evils we face.

Let us remain faithful to our God of Love. Like Job, let us endure sufferings, offer them to God and pray that they be gone instead of cursing God for them. Let us also be sensitive to the sufferings of others. God loves all of us and He will heal all of us physically and spiritually in His time! Let us remind everyone of this Good News. Let us draw the sick towards God and show them that God cares through the Sacraments for the Sick. Let us bring back the sinners to the confessional and let God embrace them. Through our simple touch of love, we amplify the message of Jesus: God loves and cares!

Jesus' Authority of Love and Truth

2009-01-31T06:25:00.000-08:00

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time Feb. 1, 2009 (Mk 1:21-28)

They came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!" Jesus rebuked him and said, "Quiet! Come out of him!" The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. All were amazed and asked one another, "What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him." His fame spread everywhere through the whole region of Galilee.

Jesus taught the people as one having authority and not as the scribes do. Probably, the scribes always speak about what man should observe in order to please God - the law. And Jesus, as we all know, speaks about God and His great love for man. Jesus doesn't give burdensome laws but tells the people how much God desires their salvation. His mission is to draw mankind back to God's embrace and to be that same loving embrace to mankind. Jesus is not just God's speaker, He is God's love made flesh. He is God visiting His people (Lk 7:16). This is probably the authority that the Israelites felt in Jesus' way of teaching. Jesus' authority is from God.

In the Gospel, we see Jesus casting another evil spirit from a man. It is also noteworthy that this evil spirit acknowledges who Jesus is. The spirit calls Jesus the Holy One of God. He knows this very well. Nevertheless, this spirit is in no way of God, since he is unclean. He just knows God but he still goes against God.

Our parish priest gave us this to reflect on. We believe in God. The Gospel tells us that evil spirits believe in God too. Saint James says, "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe - and shudder (Jas 2:19)." So how do we differ from the demons who also believe in God? It has to be in the way we live our lives. It is useless to believe in God if we live like demons! Yet, if we live our lives of faith while letting Jesus cast away the evil spirits in us and thereby making room for good works, therein lies our salvation. Faith alone, as Saint James also said, without works, is dead (Jas 2:26).

We should submit ourselves to Jesus' authority which comes from Truth and Love, indeed from God Himself. If we allow ourselves to be His synagogue where He will teach us, He will drive away all the evil spirits in our hearts and lead us back to God. All we have to do is have faith in Him and surrender to His will.

Little Missionaries of the Gospel

2009-01-24T05:19:00.000-08:00

Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul Jan. 25, 2009 (Mk 16:15-18)

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

The Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul is celebrated on a Sunday this year. Usually, the Sunday liturgy takes precedence over the feasts and solemnities. Nevertheless, since we celebrate the bi-millennium of St. Paul's birth this year, we celebrate this feast even on a Sunday.

The Gospel today narrates to us how Jesus commissioned His remaining Eleven Apostles to proclaim the Gospel. Jesus spoke about the importance of faith and baptism in order to be saved. He even added that special "signs" will accompany those who will believe.

Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, becomes a model for us Christians. Paul is someone who "believed and was baptized" and who proclaimed the Gospel to everyone. He was able to spread the Good News of the Kingdom to many nations and the "signs of those who believe" was with him. His zeal for the Gospel was very strong that it led him to face many obstacles and dangers.

Jesus' words were originally addressed to His Apostles. Nevertheless, all of us are called to become little missionaries of Christ. These words are passed on to us. In Baptism, we have received Jesus' mission to proclaim the Gospel. We can be missionaries of Christ even if we do not go house to house to hold Bible studies, even if we have not memorized all the important passages of the Bible nor studied Theology for how many years. Yes, even if we are not priests, we can proclaim the Word of God. As Christians, we must.

Our actions can be a means of spreading God's Word. Loving our neighbors and helping them in their time of need is the best way to tell them that there is a God who cares for them and who loves them. Inserting God in everyday conversations, even if it is not in theological terms, can remind people of the presence of God in their lives and of the importance of spiritual life.

The Gospel today gives us a list of the signs that will accompany the believers of Christ. These supernatural signs are still present in us. We cast out demons when we bring back to God those who have been living in sin, and when we ourselves turn away from sin. We speak different languages if we allow God's Word to inspire our very speech, even if we do not speak odd things. We can heal if we try our best to understand the problems of our neighbor. Our words also have the power to heal those who are ill in spirit.

We will not be harmed even if we drink poison or pick up serpents. This may not necessarily be literally true. What is certain is that God's protection is with us always. Even if we put our lives in danger, God is with us and will not let us be harmed because we are doing His work. He gives us everything we will ever need in order for us to fulfill the mission He gave us. He guides us and never leaves us.

Like Paul, may our zeal for the Gospel be renewed. And may this renewed zeal lead us to proclaim the Good News of salvation as much as our strength allows us. We may not be able to spread God's Word to the furthest ends of the world, but we are asked to proclaim it to the best of our abilities, to the furthest extent of our capacities.

Children of the Father

2009-01-17T04:58:00.000-08:00

Feast of the Sto. Niño Jan. 18, 2009 (Mk 10:13-16)

People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it."

Then he embraced the children and blessed them, placing his hands on them.

The devotion to the Sto. Niño is very dear to us Filipinos. It is part of our history. The image of the Christ child is probably one of the most usual things we can find in homes, stores and business areas. But often, the only thing people think about this image is that it can bring them good fortune and protection. And so, the message of the Sto. Niño is missed.

In the Gospel today, Jesus tells us that we should be like children in order to enter the Kingdom of God. We cannot enter the Kingdom of God while proudly saying that we have all the right to enter it. We can only enter it if we humbly admit that the Father is the one who made us worthy to enter, that it is in His gracious love that we are given this inheritance.

By asking us to be like children, Jesus is inviting us to return to that time when we were dependent and trusting to the people around us, when we were innocent. These are the childlike values which Jesus wants us to have so we may enter the Kingdom of God.

Sadly, these attitudes begin to disappear as we grow older, because the world around us teaches us to shun these values. We have become exposed to treachery and deception; therefore, we lose our trust. We strive to be independent because we believe that the only one who will not betray us is our self. The world teaches us to that weakness should be done away with. And so we try to grow up as fast as we can. We also become exposed to sin. Soon we also become victims of sin, until such a time when we no longer have a sense of sin, when we can no longer identify what is sinful. Therefore, we lose our innocence.

Perhaps even more tragic is the fact that some children grow too fast. They never even had childlike values. They become exposed to evil so early in their lives. Children today no longer say "Hindi na tayo bati." if they become angry. What they do now is just raise their hands with the middle finger up (the bad sign) or just say nasty words they heard from their surroundings. They also no longer shudder at the thought of sin. They no longer recognize sins as evil. Mass media is one reason for this, also the lack of parental guidance.

Let us try to bring back the child in us. We can be responsible while still remaining like little children. We can be childlike without being childish. This is the message of the Sto. Niño. The Christ child tells us to be meek and humble, to admit our weaknesses before God and our need for Him as our Father.

Let us also help the children around us keep their childlike values. Let us allow them to be children. We must be careful not to let them grow too fast, not to expose them to the evils of this world. We should give time to teach them about God and the values that they need to develop. We must guide them so they won't go astray.

We all grow in years, in wisdom and in responsibility. Nevertheless, we must never grow from being little children of God. He is always there, extending His arms, waiting for us to receive His embrace. We must give Him the chance to be our Father and to guide us towards His Kingdom, our heavenly inheritance where only His "little children" can enter.

Our Christian Mission

2009-01-11T06:24:00.000-08:00

Feast of the Lord's Baptism Jan. 11, 2009 (Mk 1:7-11)

This is what John the Baptist proclaimed: "One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.

And a voice came from the heavens, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

The baptism proclaimed by John was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, the question we have to reflect on today is this: "Why did Jesus have to be baptized?" True, Jesus became man. But He did not commit sin. He was like us in all things but sin (Heb 4:15). So why did He have to be baptized by John?

The baptism of Jesus is also an Epiphany. It is a manifestation. It is when God the Father introduced Jesus as His beloved Son. If we compare this epiphany to the epiphany which occurred when the baby Jesus was revealed to the magi, there is one noteworthy similarity. Both epiphanies occurred in humble scenarios. Yes, Jesus manifests Himself in simple and humble ways. First, He was manifested to the magi, lying on the humble manger. Now, He is manifested to the peoples, while receiving a baptism that was meant for sinners. Jesus baptism is, therefore, an act of humility. It is a sign of His sharing with our humanity. He identifies Himself with sinful man, yet He Himself remained sinless.

Jesus' baptism is also the beginning of His public ministry. After His baptism, he went to fast in the wilderness where He was tempted. Then, He began His mission - three years of preaching, healing the sick, forgiving sinners and feeding the hungry - which culminated in His passion, death and resurrection.

Today's feast reminds us of our own baptism. We often think of baptism as a ritual that has been done to us before. But it is much more than that. Baptism makes us Christians - followers of Christ and children of the Father. Through it, we receive the Holy Spirit.

Baptism also gives us a mission - a common mission as part of the community and a unique mission which we must discern. Our baptism is something which we must live up to everyday. We must live in the way Christ showed us. Our parents and godparents should be our guide in doing this. Sadly, many ignore this mission.

As children of God, we share in the mission of Christ, We must continue building the Kingdom of God on earth. We must journey towards God and help each other be closer to Him.

Do we give value to our baptism? Do we live up to the mission given to us as baptized Christians? Are we helping to build the Kingdom on here earth? Or are we just living as children of this earth, with worldly values and desires?

Becoming Stars Which Point to Christ

2009-01-03T05:38:00.000-08:00

Solemnity of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jan. 4, 2009 (Mt 2:1-12)

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 Christ 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.

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany of Our Lord. We celebrate the day of Jesus' manifestation to the Gentiles, represented by the magi. It has been customary to call these magi the "three kings". Nevertheless, Scripture does not speak of kings or of them being three. The Bible tells us that magi from the east came looking for the newborn king of Israel.

The magi's audience with King Herod must have been a slap in the face for the Israelites and their religious leaders. How could it be that something as awesome as the birth of the Christ was unbeknown to them while these visiting magi who are not from Yahweh's people were, in one way or another, aware of it? This could be why, aside from King Herod who was troubled because of the political threat the news of Jesus' birth brings, Jerusalem was also troubled.

After they obtained information from the prophecies about the Christ, the pagan visitors went their way to continue searching for the child. And, as Yahweh once guided the Israelites through a cloud and a pillar of fire, the star which they saw at its rising guided them towards the house where the baby Jesus was. It is the will of God for these Gentiles to witness His works by seeing the salvation He has planned. Even as early as when Jesus was still a child, it has already been revealed through this epiphany that Jesus is the Savior of the entire human race.

Jesus is the gift of God for all peoples. Whoever you may be, Jesus was born to save you, as He was born to save the person you hate the most, your non-Catholic friend, or even your friendly neighborhood atheist. Yes, Jesus was born to save them too. His redemptive act is for all, because all are in need of redemption. Of course, this doesn't mean that all will be saved; salvation requires our participation. Nevertheless, salvation is offered to all.

We are often quick to judge and condemn people. We look with discrimination upon people whom the Church considers lost - the non-Catholics, the people whose sins are a scandal for the public, and those who are quite indifferent of the faith. But we have to remember that Jesus was born to save them too. Instead of avoiding them or even bringing them down, we should be the star to guide them in their journey towards Jesus. And, on finding Him, they will be converted, just like the magi. This conversion will be followed by an offering of their whole selves to Jesus. Wouldn't it be nice to know that we have brought these people closer to Jesus?

The Church in this modern world calls for dialogue and ecumenism. We, as Christians who have seen the Lord Jesus, ought to be the star above Jesus' house who will guide today's "magi" who are lost and might still be looking for Him. That is what being witnesses of Christ means. And with billions of Catholics and Christians witnessing to Him all over the world, there should be countless stars above Jesus' house by now. And what a lovely sight that is!

The "Emmanuel Family"

2008-12-27T06:10:00.000-08:00

Feast of the Holy Family Dec. 28, 2008 (Lk 2:22-40)

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord", and to offer the sacrifice of "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons", in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.

He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying: "Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel."

The child's father and mother were amazed at what was said about him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted - and you yourself a sword will pierce - so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.

She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

On the Sunday immediately after Christmas, the Church celebrates the feast of the Holy Family into which the baby Jesus was born. The image of the Holy Family is a model of family life for all. It depicts a family wherein God is present and is not cast out of the picture. After all, it is the family of the Emmanuel, "the God-with-us".

Many families in the world today are faced with so many problems and threats to family life. The Holy Family was not alien to these threats. True, God did protect the Holy Family. But He did not shield them with a force field, an all-weather umbrella or any other supernatural protection. The Holy Family had to endure their problems in the natural way. Often, Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus are depicted as fleeing from place to place to escape those who threatened the child's life.

Mary and Joseph are both excellent parents. They offered their child in the temple as was required by the law. They treated Jesus as a gift from God. They offered Him back to God and did not prevent Him from fulfilling His mission. This serves as a reminder for parents. Often, they forget that their child is a gift from God. Many infants today are found dead or abandoned. Others are more unfortunate, for they are killed while still inside the womb. Then there are those who are fortunate enough to be welcomed and loved by their parents. But so much so that their parents control wish to control their whole lives. Many parents dictate what they want their child to be in the future. They do not give their child the opportunity to be what God called them to be. They do not offer their child back to God, unlike Mary and Joseph. One can imagine how much more priests we would have right now if some parents didn't hold back their beloved children from their vocation. It's not just in the priesthood, it could be in other courses. Many parents would force their children to take up courses with the sole purpose of earning money or perpetuating the family business, thus preventing their children to be happy and to use their God-given abilities.

Mary and Joseph were never selfish. They shared Jesus to others and offered Him back to God. Imagine how painful it was for Mary to know that a "sword shall pierce her heart" (Lk 2:35). And how much more painful it was to see her son dying on the cross. It was the greatest act of sacrifice for a mother. Why couldn't the parents of those who wish to enter the seminary do this?

As Mary and Joseph are model parents, so their son Jesus is a model for children. Jesus was God and had authority as such. But He chose to be obedient to Mary and Joseph. He probably helped Joseph in carpentry. Jesus was also very obedient to His real Father which is God. In fact, His obedience is the very reason He was born. He obeyed His Father's plan of salvation.

Amidst the threats against family life in our modern times, let us look again to the Holy Family to be our model and source of strength. Let us remember that they too, as a normal human family, had many difficulties. But these were all overcome. The secret of this blessed family is very simple: God was present in them. They are the "Emmanuel Family". They were obedient to the Father's will.

Our family life should be patterned after the Holy Family. We must let God enter the family and reign in it. We should pray and attend Mass as a family. As the popular saying goes, "The family that prays together, stays together." And indeed, it shall not only stay together; it shall be blessed by God.

Welcoming Jesus: A Challenge to Bring Him to Our Neighbor

2008-12-21T23:55:00.000-08:00

Fourth Sunday of Advent Dec. 21, 2008 (Lk 1:26-38)

The Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."

But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

"Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" And the angel said to her in reply, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

"And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

As we celebrate the last Sunday of Advent, the Gospel invites us to reflect on Mary and on her noble submission to the will of God. The Gospel narrates to us how the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary the news that she was to be the mother of the Son of God and how Mary responded to the announcement.

In the Old Testament, God made a promise to David through the prophet Nathan, saying, "The Lord also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you. And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm.... Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever." (2 Sm 7:11-12, 16). Angel Gabriel's announcement is the fulfillment of this promise: "He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." (Lk 1:32-33).

Mary was very much confused with this announcement and had no idea how she could bear a son when she was still a virgin. She also faced a big problem since being found pregnant without a husband could cost her her life. Nevertheless, knowing that the news given her was from God, she humbly accepted God's will. With this great act of saying yes to God, she welcomed Jesus in her womb and in her heart.

As we await Christmas, we are challenged by the Gospel to accept Jesus like Mary did. We should always be ready to accept God's will even if we cannot understand it completely. As a priest from the Ministers of the Infirm said in his homily, we are all called to "magdalang-Jesus" or to "bear Jesus". Indeed, we bear Jesus and bring them to others when we show our love to our neighbor, especially to those in great need.

Let us not be afraid to do God's will even if the consequences threaten our very lives. Let us trust in God for He does not leave us. He guides everyone who travels the path that He prepared for them. He equips us with everything we need to follow him.

Mary was privileged to bear Jesus in her womb. And she brought Jesus to humanity. As she allowed God to open her womb, let us open our hearts to welcome Jesus and bring him to others. Let us give joy, hope and love to our brethren. Everyone needs to feel Jesus' presence in their lives. Often, suffering and deprivation of the good things in life hinder our neighbors from feeling Jesus. It is, therefore, up to us to bring Jesus to them. Let us remind them that there is a God who is at work in their lives. Let us bring them the joy that only Jesus can cause this Christmas.