The Wisdom and Love in Suffering

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.

Dying to Produce Fruit

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.

Ready to Be Born in Heaven?

Commemoration of All Faithful Departed Nov. 2, 2008 (Mt 25:31-46)

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

(Jn 14:1-6)

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."
Jesus the Way to the Father

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Our first Gospel reading is a prophetic story of what will happen when the world ends. This passage is known as the Last Judgment. In this Gospel, we see Jesus receiving into Paradise all those who have lived a life of love for God and for others while casting into the fire those who refused to love God and to love others.

The second Gospel reading presents Jesus encouraging His apostles to be courageous in their mission, for a reward is waiting for them in heaven. Jesus promises them a place in heaven and that He Himself will take them with Him.

These readings are just two that I have chosen to reflect on from a roster of twelve Gospel readings. These twelve are the Gospel readings which may be used for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, which happens to fall on a Sunday this year.

The two readings can be connected with each other. Both maybe used to reflect on what happens after our life on earth. We all know that our immortal soul separates from the body in death. In the Prayer of Saint Francis, we poeticize this by saying, “It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” The eternity of our soul’s life has been the theme of some of my past reflections here. Death is something we will all experience so we have to prepare for it. This is because, after our death, we will be judged by God, as we see in the first Gospel.

The second Gospel reading is a consolation for those who mourn the death of their loved ones and, at the same time, also for all of us who face the inevitable reality of death. Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” (Jn 14:1). Through His words, Jesus inspires us not to be afraid of doing good, even if it would mean pain or death for us. He tells us to believe in God and in Him. This faith, as we all know, is the requirement for us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and be saved. We should not be afraid of anything as long as we live in righteousness and in faith. Knowing that our eternal life with God is secured should be enough for us not to worry about anything else, not even pain or death. This is what we mean by martyrdom or even holiness and saintliness. If we die unafraid because of doing the will of God, then we should rejoice, for our reward is a dwelling place in heaven.

We shouldn’t fear death because it’s an entrance to eternal life. We all have immortal souls, but that doesn’t mean we will all go to heaven and be with God. For all we know, we might be spending eternity in the fiery pit, suffering because of the longing for God.

So how do we avoid hell and achieve salvation or heaven? Well, we could not really achieve that salvation; it is a gift from God, an inheritance from our Father. Nevertheless, we have the responsibility to remain faithful children of God and worthy heirs by our faith and the good deeds which are the fruits of our faith, for what kind of father would give an inheritance to a disobedient son who doesn’t repent? He would surely disown him. In the same way, for us to receive the inheritance promised by Jesus, we must remain true children of God, our Father. Jesus, being the epitome of obedience, is therefore “the way, the truth and the life.” (Jn 14:6). It is in being like Jesus that we secure eternal life with God. It is only through Him that we can come to the Father. The first Gospel reading supports this truth by showing that Jesus shall judge us according to our acts of love for God and for neighbor.

Death is inevitable. Nevertheless, it is not something to be afraid of. It is our birth into eternal life. (That’s why we celebrate a saint’s feast day on the day of his death.) If we prepare for our entrance in college, if we prepare for our flight to other countries, so much more do we have to prepare for our death by living a life of love, a life like that of Christ. A friend of mine once asked me, “Why do we all have to die?” I said, “Do you not pass a project?” Our life is a project and death is our deadline. The sure way to get a 100 in this project is Christ, the way, the truth and the life.

Let us ask ourselves, how often do we reflect on the reality of death? Are we ready to die? If we are not ready to die, what are our reasons? Is it because we haven’t enjoyed life on earth yet? Or is it for the greater reason that we are not yet ready to be judged by God because we haven’t loved Him and others enough?