Easter Encounter

3rd Sunday of Easter April 22, 2012 (Lk 24:35-48)

Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the 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 Messiah 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.

Still probably frustrated by the apparent defeat on the cross, Jesus' apostles could not believe what they were hearing from their two fellow disciples. The two were sharing to them that Jesus has been truly risen and that they have encountered Him. Then Jesus Himself appeared to them; they encountered Him themselves. Nevertheless, this encounter did not dispel all their doubts. Only after Jesus ate in front of them were they able to believe that Jesus indeed rose from the dead.

Like the apostles, we sometimes focus too much on the shame of defeat. We cannot move on from the scandal of the cross, from the sufferings and trials we face daily. Even when God is right there waiting for us to approach Him in prayer, we cannot see Him because we think He's dead. We easily lose hope and we fail to see that He is alive!

But Jesus Himself restores our sight during those moments when we cannot even see Him. He increases our faith. He makes us realize that He truly is alive and is with us, just as He Himself supplied for the apostles' lack of faith. In that way, we encounter the Risen Lord as the apostles did.

The encounter with the Risen Lord doubles as a commissioning. After Jesus helped the apostles realize that He was indeed risen, He opened their minds so they may understand the scriptures. Then they understood the importance of Jesus' death on the cross. It wasn't defeat. It was God's love which triumphed over sin and death. And then as witnesses of these things, the apostles had the mission to preach this good news to all.

As we recognize Jesus and encounter Him in our lives, we too begin to understand the meaning of the trials and hardships we encounter. When we join our sufferings with Jesus' own passion, our sufferings make more sense. We learn that God has the power to bring about great things out of our hardships. We realize that Easter is real and that there will always be Easter for us. We shall no longer mourn under the cross but we shall rejoice at the empty tomb - at the very symbol that death and sin is no more. Then as true witnesses and as people who encountered Him, we can not keep this great joy to ourselves. Instead we must echo this encounter in our every word and deed, affirming by the way we live that Jesus is indeed alive!

As we continue our Easter journey, may we not simply believe or convince ourselves that Jesus did rise from the dead many years ago. May Easter be truly an experience for us - an encounter with the Risen Lord Himself. And may the rest of our days be a true and faithful witness of He who is stronger that death!

The Gift of the Risen Lord

2nd Sunday of Easter April 15, 2012 (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 Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name. 

The Lord's disciples, afraid of the Jews who crucified their Master, kept themselves locked in a room, probably also crushed by their Master's death and ashamed for having abandoned Him. The Lord entered this room even though His disciples have locked the door. He gave them peace and banished their fear, sorrow and shame.

The Risen Lord's gifts or pasalubong for His disciples were mercy and peace. Even if His disciples showed cowardice, He brought them forgiveness. He did not reprimand them at all. Instead, He immediately gave them peace. Then after showing His great love and mercy in His resurrection, and also after giving peace and mercy to His disciples, Jesus establishes the Sacrament of His Divine Mercy - the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Today, the Church glorifies the Merciful Savior in the celebration of the Feast of Divine Mercy. Jesus revealed to St. Faustina how great His mercy is. He said to her, "Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet (St. Faustina's Diary, 699)." Indeed, our Gospel today shows that we must not fear to come to Jesus to ask for forgiveness. He wants us to be forgiven and to experience His mercy so much more than He wants us reprimanded. It does not matter how many or how grave our sins are. We must not fear to come near Him in the Sacrament of His Mercy. There, we will not be judged nor reprimanded. There, we will feel the tenderness of Jesus' mercy and we will have peace. Jesus said to St. Faustina, "Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it -with peace (Diary 1074)."

Today's Gospel also presents to us the story of St. Thomas. He lacked faith in the resurrection of Jesus and needed proof in order to believe. Today's Gospel calls us to have faith and trust, not only in the Lord's resurrection, but also in His goodness and generosity. Even when we fail to realize it, God's love and mercy is always upon us. He is alive in our hearts and is working in our lives. God's mercy is an invitation to trust. God is merciful, but we cannot receive His mercy without trusting Him. We must have faith and trust that He is there, even during moments when we feel He is far away. Then we will realize that He's been there all along!

The disciples who received mercy also shared this mercy to others. Our First Reading (Acts 4:32-35) tells us how the first Christians lived as a loving community. They shared to those in need and made sure that all are given their needs. We too, as true Christians, must share the mercy we experienced. As Jesus said to St. Faustina, "When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls (Diary 1074)."

Jesus' resurrection bring us great joy indeed because He brings us mercy and peace! Our shame, fears and failures have been defeated and new life is given to us. May we continue to live as Easter people who have experienced Jesus' mercy and who share His mercy to others.

John Believed

Easter Sunday of the Lord's Resurrection April 8, 2012 (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.

Jesus is risen! He is truly risen!

The resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith. It is inseparable with His passion and death. It is part of His redemptive act and is a sign that God's love triumphs over our sinfulness. Jesus tomb has been emptied, a sign that sin and death lost.

In the Gospel, we hear about how Jesus' followers witnessed the empty tomb. Mary of Magdala, Peter and John saw that the body of Jesus was no longer in the tomb. It is but human to resist the idea that Jesus has risen from the dead because resurrection is no ordinary human experience. But they saw the empty tomb. And Jesus spoke to them before about rising from the dead. So they might be asking, "Could it be that He is alive?" And it was John who first believed, even though he too didn't understand everything well.

It was John who first believed. He saw how Jesus was crucified. He saw how Jesus died on the cross and how Jesus was pierced, causing blood and water to flow out from Him. If you saw a person die, you would probably be the last to believe a news about the same person rising from the dead. But that was not the case for John. He was the first to believe! It was probably by the grace of God that he believed even without sufficient understanding.

In our lives, when we face trials and all kinds of problems, we lose hope and we fail to believe in God's goodness and to trust in His wisdom. Like John, we witness and even experience suffering. But unlike him, we easily lose hope most of the time and we fail to believe.

The fact that Jesus is alive should bring us hope! He is alive because evil is never stronger than good and because God's love is forever mightier than sin. Everything evil or bad will fade away eventually, and joy will soon come.

But John showed us a very important attitude - we must experience suffering with and in Christ in order to fully experience Easter joy. We must carry our crosses as Jesus asked us to do. We must never view our suffering as merely something we have to get over with as soon as we can. Suffering and sacrifice must always be united with Christ's suffering. We must offer our suffering for God, for His greater glory and for help to those who always suffer. This is what we learned during Lent. We cannot just face Easter immediately. We must experience sacrificing during Lent to prepare ourselves . We must experience Good Friday with Jesus before we can celebrate Easter Sunday!

As we celebrate Easter, may our lives be filled with the hope that as long as we remain faithful to God, He will never abandon us and He will raise us up again each time we fall. May we experience Christ's new life - a life free from sin and a life of confidence in Him. May we always be children of Easter, dead in sinfulness but alive in Christ!

Entering Jerusalem

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion April 5, 2009

Gospel of the Lord's Entrance into Jerusalem (Mk 11:1-10)

When they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately on entering it, you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone should say to you, 'Why are you doing this?' reply, 'The Master has need of it and will send it back here at once.'"

So they went off and found a colt tethered at a gate outside on the street, and they untied it. Some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" They answered them just as Jesus had told them to, and they permitted them to do it.

So they brought the colt to Jesus and put their cloaks over it. And he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields.

Those preceding him as well as those following kept crying out: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest!"

Gospel (Mk 15:1-39)

As soon as morning came, the chief priests with the elders and the scribes, that is, the whole Sanhedrin, held a council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.

Pilate questioned him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"

He said to him in reply, "You say so."

The chief priests accused him of many things. Again Pilate questioned him, "Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse you of."

Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them one prisoner whom they requested. A man called Barabbas was then in prison along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion. The crowd came forward and began to ask him to do for them as he was accustomed.

Pilate answered, "Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead.

Pilate again said to them in reply, "Then what do you want me to do with the man you call the king of the Jews?"

They shouted again, "Crucify him."

Pilate said to them, "Why? What evil has he done?" They only shouted the louder, "Crucify him."

So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified.

The soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort. They clothed him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him. They began to salute him with, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him. They knelt before him in homage. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him.

They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. They brought him to the place of Golgotha which is translated Place of the Skull. They gave him wine drugged with myrrh, but he did not take it. Then they crucified him and divided his garments by casting lots for them to see what each should take.

It was nine o'clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." With him they crucified two revolutionaries, one on his right and one on his left. Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross."

Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes, mocked him among themselves and said, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.

At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Some of the bystanders who heard it said, "Look, he is calling Elijah."

One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down."

Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last.

The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"

The two Gospel readings we hear today present contrasting scenes. In the first, we hear of how Jesus was welcomed to Jerusalem amidst shouts of "Hosanna!" But in the second, we hear of how He was presented to Pilate amidst shouts of "Crucify him!"

Jesus boldly entered Jerusalem, knowing that He will face His final hours there. Despite the praise He was receiving as He entered, He knew what was to come. The people themselves shouted about the "kingdom of David" that is to come. But only Jesus knew what will be happening. He was there for His hour had come. He bravely faced Jerusalem - the place where He is to suffer and die for the salvation of man. He faced all this because of His love for us.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem, we too enter into Holy Week. As we commemorate the suffering and death of the Lord during these holy days, we are reminded of His great love for us and we feel sorrow for our sins because we realize how much it cost Jesus to save us. As Jesus bravely entered the place where He would die, we are all called to enter into a life of self-giving love, a life free from sin and worldly passions. This call is not only for Holy Week, but for our entire lives.

In the Gospel narrative of Jesus' Passion, we hardly hear any words from Jesus. He did not defend Himself nor complained that it was too much. He graciously accepted His suffering and death though He was innocent. Pilate himself knew that Jesus did nothing wrong. Jesus was blameless and was thus the perfect Victim - the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Like Jesus, we too are called to stand for the truth, to be blameless even amidst difficult situation. He Himself said that those who are persecuted because of Him are truly blessed.

As the world hated Jesus, so the world will hate us (Jn 15:18). But we must not be afraid. We must remain faithful to our Christian calling and not succumb to the ways of the world to save our lives. Like Jesus, we must be courageous. If we have to face suffering just to stand up for what is true, then we must. We should never compromise to save our lives, for whoever loves His life loses it (Jn 12:25).

As we commemorate today Jesus' entry into the Jerusalem of His Passion, we too, enter into where God wills us to be. May we not be afraid to be obedient to God's will despite the difficulties. And may our faithfulness to our God become stronger and last not just until this week ends, but our whole life through.

Jesus' Hour

5th Sunday of Lent Mar. 25, 2012 (Jn 12:20-33)

Now there were some Greeks among those who had come up to worship at the feast. They 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.

In today's Gospel, Jesus speaks of the suffering and death that He was about to face. He explained the idea behind these things to come; He explained how a death can actually be life-giving. In this Gospel passage, we are reminded of the richness and depth of the Paschal Mystery which we will celebrate come Holy Week.

Jesus' suffering was redemptive. And Jesus makes it clear that our sacrifice and suffering can bear much fruit and be life-giving too. When we do good for others, we share our life with them. Even if we do not die to save other people, reaching out to them and trying to help them out makes us true disciples of Jesus who lived and died for others. Like the Greeks in today's Gospel, we also wish to see Jesus. But seeing and experiencing Christ will never be complete unless we become true Christians who are willing to follow Jesus.

The hour of Jesus' glory is the hour of His being lifted up on the cross. That is the moment of His triumph over sin and death. That hour is the hour of His total obedience to the Father. We too are called to that obedience. Our whole lives must be a witness to the glory of the Father.

As we are about to experience the celebration of Jesus' Paschal Mystery, may we learn to appreciate and meditate on the meaning of suffering and self-denial. Further, may we be true disciples of Jesus by faithfully following His example of sacrifice and obedience.

Now That's Love!

4th Sunday of Lent Mar. 18, 2012 (Jn 3:14-21)

And 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.

In our Gospel for today, we are reminded of the reason Jesus came into the world - because of love. God loves us and wants us to be saved; hence, Jesus became man. The well known Gospel passage says it perfectly: "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 (Jn 3:16)."

The First Reading (2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23) tells us that even though the leaders, the priests and the people of Judah were committing sins against Him, God still showed them great love and mercy by sending them prophets to lead them back to Him. But they did not listen to the prophets, so they were exiled to Babylon. But even there, God's love and mercy was upon them. After years of captivity, the Lord saved them and brought them back through Cyrus.

Our Gospel today shows us how God went so much further in showing us His love. If in the Old Testament, He sent prophets and made King Cyrus an instrument to liberate His people, in the New Testament, God sends us His Beloved Son Jesus. In fact, it was God Himself, the Second Person of the Trinity, who came to the world as man - all for our salvation. That is how much God loves us. As the Second Reading (Eph 2:4-10) emphasizes, even when we were in sin, He showed His great love in giving us Jesus for our salvation. It's already generous of God to give His Son, but to give Jesus to us undeserving sinners? That is God's love.

This mercy and love of God, although great and unfathomable, are not forced upon us. As the Gospel said, God's loving salvation requires our response. To be saved, we must believe in Jesus and in His salvation. Believing in Jesus consists of knowing, loving and serving Him, not simply confessing that we believe in Him but living a life contrary to what He preached. Believing in Jesus means coming to Him with deeds of light, putting off the evil deeds we used to hide in the dark.

As people who believe in God and in the redemption Jesus brought about, we are also called to imitate God's great love to the best of our abilities. The Lenten invitation to give alms is an echo of the challenge for us to live in love. We may not be able to die for the sake of others, but Jesus invites us to live for them. In a way, that is already life-giving. As St. Paul would put it, we must let Christ live in us. (Gal 2:20)

As we continue in our Lenten journey towards Easter joy, we rejoice as we are given a great hope. We are not left alone in our journey to come back to God. Knowing that we cannot save our own selves, God gave us His Son. And this is the Good News we rejoice for. We need only to do our part - to believe in Him, to love Him and to serve Him in loving others.

Overturning Tables

3rd Sunday of Lent Mar. 11, 2012 (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 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.

Jesus' message is nothing petty; His is a radical one, a call to a complete change. His fellow Jews have corrupted their relationship with God. They took their covenant with God for granted. Still under the guise of practicing religion and obeying the law, they have actually turned away from a pure and faithful covenant with God.

The purification of the temple from vendors and money-changers who cheated the people is Jesus' way of reminding the Jews of the importance of a pure and faithful relationship with God. The complicated morality they have developed have led them to superficiality and unfaithfulness to God. Jesus wanted to "overturn" this.

Sometimes, like the Jews, we also tend to hide our sins under the guise of religion or of goodness. Sometimes we feel our relationship with God is merely going to Mass and praying. We don't care anymore if we sin because we pray anyway. Or sometimes, we use good deeds or good intentions as justifications for our wrongdoings. We think it is alright to cheat or to steal because we help other people anyway. We think it is acceptable to step on other people because it's for our success anyway. This way of thinking is of the world, not of God.

Jesus wants to overturn this attitude. In our First Reading (Ex 20:1-17), we are pointed back to the basics - to the Ten Commandments of God. If we want to purify ourselves from the filth of a confused and deceptive perception of what is good, we must go back to God's law. We should not try to escape from God's law; neither should we try to go around it. We should submit ourselves to what God has legislated and be faithful to it. Only then can we be free from all sin, especially from sin disguised as obedience.

The obedience that Jesus showed us in giving His life for our salvation is the perfect example of true obedience. According to our Second Reading (1 Cor 1:22-25), God's wisdom is not acceptable to the world. The world considers it foolish that Jesus, God Himself, should sacrifice His own life for men. But this foolishness of God is wisdom that is so much wiser than human wisdom. And as Christians, we subscribe to God's wisdom, which is embodied in Jesus. The world considers wise those who cheat their way to success, those who do everything in their power to gain wealth, power and fame. But as Christians, what we consider to be wisdom is complete obedience to God, even to the point of having to sacrifice.

This Lenten season, Jesus invites us to overturn our tables. He invites us to return to God and to His law, completely overturning the false teachings of this world. May we come to see what is true and good and may we realize and find in our lives the wisdom of God.