Born Amidst Difficult Situations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.