Assumption: An Act of Faith

Good morning, fathers and brothers.

A guest once visited a Salesian house. She came down the car and surveying the house before her, sighed as a sign of relief after hours of travelling. Not wanting to carry her heavy baggage to her room, and besides no priest was present to meet and greet her, she called out to the old man working and bent over the flower bed in the garden. The old man who was in working clothes kindly obliged to carry her heavy bags up the flight of stairs and guided the woman to her room.

“What’s your name again, kuya?”, asked the woman.

“I’m Fr. Sami Ghouri, the rector of this house.”

We could imagine the woman, blushing and ashamed of herself. All too often, our Salesians are unassuming and hardworking, sometimes you cannot really tell who is one when we are at work. We love to dirty our hands at work. The woman for her part, was just assuming he was the gardener.

Dear, fathers and brothers, I stand before you this morning wondering why we have to “Assume” that our Blessed Mother is taken up to heaven. Why can’t be so sure? Why the lack of certainty? In this first day of the Triduum in honor the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother, when she was assumed body and soul into heaven, let me share my following reflections.

First and foremost, I would say that the Assumption is the most logical way we can imagine that the Blessed Mother would be treated by her Son after her earthly life. If Reverend Jacinto Gusmao were to be ordained this morning, we would expect his mother to sit in the front seat crying her eyes out because of pride and unbelief that her son has finally become a priest. Brothers, the assumption is not just a logical consequence but a natural expression of filial love that the Son could give to His mother.

I love to watch Crime Scene Investigation or CSI because it is exciting to see characters trying to solve mysteries and crime problems. If they were present immediately after the event of the Assumption, I think they would conclude that Mary would never have died – there is no dead body to act as evidence. If they were also to collect all the supposedly Marian relics today, I think there would be more body parts and personal effects for them to examine for a lifetime. The Assumption, and this is my second point, is not a scientific finding nor a philosophical assent. Rather, it is an act of faith both on the Christian community and of our Blessed Mother. Without evidence, the apostles and the first Christians submitted themselves to their faith. Without knowing the plan, the Blessed Mother allowed herself to be taken by God.

So I end this reflection, with a challenge for you and me. We all know the Dogma of the Assumption and no one here is excited to hear it read again. But does our knowledge of such a mystery lead us to an assent and ascent of faith? Is our devotion to our Blessed Mother a natural expression of love, from sons to a mother? Do we have a faith that firmly believes that we have a mother in heaven who was assumed into heaven because she has faith and because of her faith? Will our faith assume us into heaven, too?

As we move closer to the Feast of the Assumption, we continue to entrust ourselves to our blessed mother. Mary Immaculate, Assumed into heaven, pray for us.

We Become What We Worship

I was watching the first of Rev. Fr. Robert Barron's (now bishop-elect) series on Catholicism when one statement struck me. It struck me because it was something new to my ears but at the same time felt like it has been there all along: we become what we worship.

Like everyone else, I have had my share of questioning my faith and my religion. Why do we pray? Why go to mass? Why is God necessary to my life? In these six words I received a summarized answer.

The concept is basically Jewish and a mentality of ancient Israel. To detail it's background here would take more research and exposition. It's quite simple: for ancient Israel, there was only one God, YHWH and they are His people. This is their covenant with God. This covenant is not some static agreement. It is a relationship. But it is also not an ordinary relationship.

The beauty of the relationship between Israel and God is that the moment it was established it was already lopsided. Here is a people, obscure and weak, insignificant and powerless, but all the same gathered together before God because He wants to be with them. Even in the Old Testament writings, the theme of God wanting to be with His people is already very strong.

The worship that God asked from His people, mind you, goes beyond our concept of prayer and rituals. Worship for God is that man remain in His presence and is aware of God's intimate advances in his life. The Ten Commandments and the numerous laws in the Torah were but guidelines to this. And the prophets were quick to point out that this worship is not confined to sacrifices and offerings but a holistic and all-encompassing movement of man towards God. Here is the undertones of the great triad of faith, morals, and liturgy.

What we know about worship then is but a fragment of the worship that God demands from us. We think that going to church weekly on Sundays is enough to fulfill our Christian duties. Far from truth! The worship that God demands is a worship of being. That in who we are - how we think, feel, and love - we are united with Him and in His Being. God loves us so much He wants us to be always in Communion with Him in all that we are.

And here, I end with the great Sacrifice of the Mass where Jesus becomes food and drink for us. Jesus takes a step further in God's act of stooping down to embrace man. He embraces humanity not just spiritually but also physically. Jesus' sacramental presence in the consecrated bread and wine, that is His Body and Blood, is the most corporeal way He is present and consumed by man. Biologically, take in Jesus and His Divine Life whenever we receive communion.

In all these developments of God's relationship with man, from the ancient covenant with Israel to the definitive revelation of Christ, there is that God who call man to communion with Him. He calls him and sets him apart and teaches him how to stay with Him. This is true worship: that man should stay, commune, and in the process become as he was meant to be from the beginning - become like God.

True Measure

Not all beautiful songs are in the billboard list

Not all works of art are valued in millions

Not all talents are given Oscars

Not all humanism is given a Noble prize

Not all intelligent people receive diplomas

Not all hardwork requires big pay

Not all saintly people are exalted on the altar

Beauty is not measured in popularity

Nor is art measured in economic value

Talents can sometimes be found in small measures

But all the same we remain humans

Humans who seek knowledge and stay curious

Humans who strive against all odds

Humans who always have semblance of goodness inside

Seek then the transcendent

The higher values this world won't offer

Run after beauty, seek for truth

Accept with humility all reality

Yet remain steadfast in true freedom

For we are not measured in success, not even in joy

But in the measure of not measuring our love

We Need To Build More Bridges

A joke goes around during election time. A politician comes and entices the people. "If you would vote for me I will build a new bridge here!" One of citizens replied, "But, sir, we don't have rivers here." The politician answers, "Then we'll make rivers!"

I once observed a community where two of the members were at odds with each other. Both were barely speaking to each other. The matter became so bad it almost got to a point where they would pretend the other is non-existent. It is understandable that some personalities don't get along naturally. Like water and oil some people can't simply just mix. But, hey, that's the beauty of the religious community. You get diverse types of people bonded only by their faith and love of God.

What bugged me since then is not the length or the depth of their fight. It was actually the attitude of some of the other members who lived like nothing was happening. Smoke was already rising up their noses yet these members weren't minding the fire at all. Were they afraid of getting caught in the crossfire? Were they thinking it's none of their business or that such fires are not worth putting their noses to?

Edmund Burke once said: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." The false sense of human respect sometimes stops us from intervening in disagreements and fights. But as Christians we are called to be peace makers. Even more so, we have the vocation to be men and women of communion.

It is beautiful to note that the only real treasure that Christ left us is the gift of His body and blood in the Holy Eucharist. In the bread and wine of the mass, the sacred species, becomes the body and blood of Christ. God infuses himself into food that we might eat of Him and in turn become part of Him. This we call holy communion. All these people coming from all walks of life, eating the same food, becomes part the Body of Christ, the Church.

Jesus Himself was that one special point in reality where the Divinity meets Humanity. He is both God and man. In His person, humanity comes side to side with God again. The distance wedged by sin from ages ago has been bridged. This is the reason Jesus is the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life because there is no other way to God except Him. Jesus then is the point of communion.

image credits: National Geographic

Black holes receive a lot of publicity in science news for the past decade. I can say then that Jesus is that black hole who draws all things unto himself (John 12:32). He is that singularity whose great force attracts everyone from everywhere into a point of convergence, to a point of communion. And so we can speak of a communion of saints, the communion of Churches around the See of Peter, the parish community, the religious community, and the family as the domestic church because these are all but reflections of God's call to communion.

Even in the theory of Communication, when a sender reaches out with a message for a receiver, the former's goal is to get the message across. When it does, then both sender and receiver share in and are united in the same thought. They become one in mind - that is, communication, or better yet, communion.

And so as Christians, we are missionaries of communion. No level of erudition, physical attractiveness, or polymathy can ever replace a person who can build bridges, heal divisions, and promote communication among people. We have to build bridges.

We have to because communion is the bigger movement of all reality. It is the calling of every Christian.

We are not afraid to risk it because it's easy. It can be difficult. People can be difficult to bridge. Yet in faith we believe that we are more alike than different.

Bridges can break and fall. Like physical bridges, we will feel the strain and the weight of our calling. But unlike physical bridges, when a point of communion has been reached, even if for only a second, the bridge may fade away but the communion has had its mark in eternity.

Let's build bridges.

We, the Salesians of Don Bosco

It's not often that things we casually take for granted pins us down for a moment and brings us closer reflection about the ordinary. This is what happened when I stared blankly at the name we use for all members of the Congregation, "Salesians of Don Bosco". It was there written in blank ink on a book we were using in our Salesianity class.

The mundane experience suddenly shifted in focus to those four words. I never really appreciated them for what they truly are. They were just casual things of the ordinary.

The name jumped out to me! It was a slap on the face to wake me up. There was so much to glean from the name we give ourselves.

SALESIANS. We are a community of brothers and priests who follow the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales. It was St. John Bosco who wished that the congregation take upon itself the gentleness and kindness that the Doctor of Charity had heroically followed in life. Our founder knew that to be good shepherds to the young we must possess the same gentleness and kindness of the Good Shepherd.

DON BOSCO. There are great religious congregations and orders that precede us Salesians in history and honor. Prestige shines through in their names: the Society of Jesus, the Order of St. Augustine, the Order of Preachers, and many others. Yet there is something peculiar with the Salesians. Our name bears the endeared name of our founder. We are not the Salesians of St. John Bosco. We are the Salesians of DON BOSCO - the very name the dirty street urchins of Valdocco used to call out loudly to get the attention of the smiling priest. It is a name that brings about a sense of familiarity with this priest of Turin.

The word "Don" in Italian is an address to a priest. In English it would be rendered "Father Bosco". If it were in Cebuano, "Pader Bosco", or in Filipino, "Padre Bosco". The poor young men of Valdocco had been calling Father John Bosco that in their games in the field, in their classes, and in their workshops. Much like the challenge of Jesus to call the Father, "Abba", so does the name "Don Bosco" an attitude of trust and confidence towards our saint. "Don Bosco" is a name that speaks so much of friendship and family to that marginalized generation who knew no real friend and had no real family. It is the same with us.

And when we use such a name for the Congregation, it also brings to mind that this Society of Salesians is not a society of scholars, administrators, nor social workers. Rather it recalls the deep bond shared with that kindly priest of the 19th century who labored so much for the salvation of souls. The Salesians of Don Bosco is a community, a family, a brotherhood bound by familiarity and kindness. Did not Don Bosco wish that our Family Spirit set us apart?

To bear the congregation in my name, Salesian of Don Bosco, is an affirmation of a commitment to live on the joyful spirit of trust and friendship, gentleness and kindness. The nearing bicentenary of Don Bosco's birth is both a symbolic and real challenge to give birth again to that kindly person, a maker of saints, friend of the young, and bring him again through our ministry, in our persons and communities, in our time and place - bearers of God's love to the young.

Gugmang Di Kasuklian

Kung nahigugma ako kanimo
Wala ako'y ikapasigarbo
Kun dili nga gibiyaan ko ang tanan
Aron kanunay naa sa imong kiliran

Karong nahimamat ko ang pagka-ikaw
Tanan sa mata ko nahanaw'g napanaw
Sa sihag sa imong himaya
Salabotan ko nagpaubaya

Agaka ako sa paghigugma kanimo
Kay bisan sa paningkamot ko
Nihibalo ka sa akong kahuyang
Daw gugmang wa'y kaalam

Wala sa akong kusog ni sa kabaskug
Nga masuklian bisan man sa tingog
Ang kaayo ug gugma mo kanako
Nga ika-ikog kong ika-ako

Di matandi ang atong mga gugma
Kay para kanako gugma mo walay sama
Ug kung biyaan ko man ang tanan
Kini gihapon kulang, di masuklian

Gipildi mo ako sa imong pagbati
Ug king gugma ko akong isukli
Hinaot madawat bisan kabus ug makulang
Kay mao na ni ang akong tanan

Trust

Where will you bring me?
To where should I go?
I've gone too far
Can't see where I've come from
It scares me a lot
To tread new paths
Though they may be gold stones
And the skies be bliss
It's unfamiliar, I'm shaking
No longer my territory
I've gone too long, gone too far
Lost my security

Each step gives me chills
This road might break me
My strength might fail me
But the most that I fear
Is that I lose myself:
To forget who I was
To not know who I am
To never know what's to come
I'm paralyzed with this ignorance

Is it too much to ask
That you keep close to me?
Explain to me these things
Run through all these changes
And calm the fear that springs
The moment I let go
Losing control and blown away
By the plans you have for me

So I take this step
One stride forward into unknown
Not knowing where I'd go
Knowing only who I'm with

The Language of the Immaculate Conception

The Language of the Immaculate Conception

A sermonette on the novena of the Immaculate Conception

Keith Amodia, SDB

I delivered this sermonette last December 6, 2014.

  

Good morning!

I hope you’ll all be awake to listen to me speak Tetun although I also don’t understand what I’m speaking.

I wanted to give my sermonette in this language but I doubt I’ll be able to.

If you understand me, give me a clap!

Dader di’ak!

Ha’u hein / imi sei matan nakloke / hodi rona ha’u / ko’alia Tetun / maske / ha’u mos / la kompriende / saida mak / ha’u ko’alia daudaun.

Ha’u hakarak / atu hato’o / ha’u nia sermaun / iha lian ida ne’e maibe / ha’u duvida / se ha’u bele duni.

Se imi kompriende ha’u / fo basa liman ida mai ha’u!

---

Apologies to those who don’t speak and understand Tetun like me. I was just reading the introduction that was written by Bro. Gersio for me. You can ask him later what it meant.

Language is an important marker for human culture. If the event of the Immaculate Conception is such importance to our salvation history, in what language is it spoken? It was Fr. Rey dela Cruz who introduced us to the method and style of the TheoDrama. If so, in this drama between God and man, how did God speak to man and man to God?

Airline ticket office, Copenhagen: We take your bags and send them in all directions.

Doctor's office, Rome: Specialist in women and other diseases.

In an Italian cemetery: Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves.

It is too easy for us to be lost in a language and with it meaning. It is too easy for us to celebrate our Christian feasts and not really fathom their meaning. When I asked the question, what is the language of the Immaculate Conception, I had to look deeper to better appreciate this great mystery. Let me offer you my insights.

The Immaculate Conception was spoken in the language of obedience. This is how the dialogue came about.

Before time began, the Son spoke the first line of dialogue when he submitted himself to the will of the Father. The Word of God was prophesied to be made Incarnate. Christ heralded obedience through his Kenosis:

Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. (Phil 2:6-8)

It was the initiative of God that the Son be made man, and for this Mary was chosen and prepared to bear the Son:

We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the first instant of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace of the Omnipotent God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and therefore should firmly and constantly be believed by all the faithful.

And so, it was Mary who responded in dialogue with the Son through her obedience. Her obedience was not that she was singularly conceived immaculate but that this purity was kept until she too would conceive the Son. And not only that, she had lived this purity from sin until the end of her earthly life. This obedience to the Will of God is the perfect response to the obedience of Christ.

I would have liked to see Bro. Donnie perform a solo in tonight’s concert, or his duet with Bro. Marc Will would be good. Choral songs however are heard well in more voices. Add Bro. Moise’s and you would form a triad chord.

And so it is that after Christ gave the first obedience and Mary responded with hers, that such dialogue should also be completed with my obedience. I may not have been immaculate conceived but I can always be reborn. This is our story with Jesus and Mary. I firmly believe that the Immaculate Conception was not meant to be a singular event but an invitation to join in the conversation. Can we speak the language?