Footprints of the Messiah

Third Sunday of Advent - Year A

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 11:2-11. 
When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus 
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.

Reflection
We live in a world that needs guarantees. Banks won't approve of loans without a collateral. Credit companies won't issue you a credit card without good credit standing. Math teachers won't consider your answer without a solution. A fact is scientifically sound if it is demonstrable, repeatable, and tested. News is truth if it comes from a verifiable source. It is human to ask for a guarantee for truth.

John the Baptism was your ordinary human. He was like Facebook asking for your password as you log-in or Gmail when asking for a two-factor authentication code as you check your email or Android asking for you PIN, or iPhone waiting for your fingerprint. He was curious if Jesus was the real long-awaited Messiah.

If you remember, in Genesis, God promised Adam and Eve that he would send a savior. In Isaiah, he promised to send a Suffering Servant. Among the prophets, a new Moses. Throughout the Old Testament is a string of promises of Salvation and the people of Israel for thousands of years have been waiting for the one. In their tongue, they call him מָשִׁיחַ (mashiach) or the 'anointed one' which is anglicized as Messiah. In Greek it is christos. He would bring with him peace, harmony and joy for Israel and the whole world.

When Jesus appeared on the public scene and gaining a name for himself, John heard about him. John wanted to confirm if Jesus was indeed the one. "Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?" They have been looking for so long. Many have come forward as the savior but all of them have failed expectations. This Jesus was proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of God. He shares the same preaching as John, repent! Is he the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises?

To this Jesus replied: "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." These are the footprints that mark that the Messiah has walked the earth. Jesus alludes to the messianic promises of Isaiah 35. For the anointed of the Lord is anointed with the Spirit and with Him comes not only miracles but the sense of joy, peace, and harmony. And he commends John the Baptist as being that voice that prepared for Jesus coming.

Jesus however declares that even the least in the Kingdom is greater than John. Why? Because those in the Kingdom of God has already seen the promises fulfilled in Jesus, something that John longed to see, something that the prophets of old could only dream of. We who have received Jesus' baptism of water and Spirit have received the fullness of God's promises especially when we receive communion in the Holy Mass.

As we await the second coming of the Christ, we are on the mission to make visible the fruits of these promises. As Christians, we are called to build a society of joy, peace, and harmony; of contributing to growth in humanity, of promoting life and justice. Because the Christ of God has been united to us and is now living in us and working in us. Like Jesus we also have received the anointing of the Spirit in which we are empowered to so that we can also go to the John the Baptists in our lives what we have heard and seen in Christ. This should be the Advent preparation we should do as we move towards Christmas.

Jesus Christ continues to walk the earth through us. We are the footprints of the Messiah.

Mary, the Immaculate Kecharitomene

Icon of St Anne, Mary, and Jesus

As we celebrate today the Solemnity of our Blessed Mother, the Immaculate Conception, my thoughts dwell on the richness of our Catholic tradition. The circumstances and details of the family life of Jesus in Nazareth is not recorded in the Gospels. What has been handed down to us came from a long line of tradition that stretches back to earliest Christianity. Mary's mother was named Anne, her father, Joachim. Sts. Joachim and Anne then are the grandparents of Jesus. We celebrate their feast on July 26 which we consider as grandparents' day.

It is important to note that such details were not recorded in the Bible because the early Christian writers were first preoccupied in writing the core of the Gospel message: the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Its beginnings saw Christianity struggle to form its distinct identity by anchoring itself in the Paschal mystery of Jesus. Only later did the Church begin to explore the other details of Jesus rich life.

The belief in the Immaculate Conception is rooted in the belief of the purity of Jesus. The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews would say that Jesus was like us in all things except sin (Hebrews 4:15). It is important to hold on to this truth because our salvation rests on the fact that the Son of God became man. Being God, the Second Person of the Trinity had to be incarnated as the Perfect Man for him to become a worthy thanksgiving to the Father in behalf of humanity. But to be born as a man, Jesus needs a mother from whom He will receive His humanity.

Mary was chosen beforehand to be the mother of Jesus. And so, in a singular grace granted to her, she was given the grace of being born without sin in order to prepare her for her role as the mother of Jesus. It is only right that the flesh and womb that would carry the Son of God for nine months be preserved from all stain of sin. But this grace is not given to her because she deserved it. Rather, it was given to her in view of Jesus. This grace of being free from sin is not something that is outside the work of Jesus. Rather it is something that we can call as a "preview" of the salvation that is to be won on the cross. It is the same salvation that we have received at Baptism except that Mary had a foretaste of it at her conception while we receive it after the cross through the water and the Spirit.

This is why our Blessed Mother is often called the Tabernacle because she would carry in her womb the Son of God in the same way our tabernacles in churches would hold the reposed consecrated bread. She is also called theotokos, meaning God-bearer for the same reason. To do this singular role, she was designated and prepared beforehand by the Father.

The angel Gabriel would affirm this her state when he would greet her: "Hail Mary, full of Grace! The Lord is with you!" A more faithful translation would be: "Rejoice, O Graced one! The Lord is with you!" The original Greek would highlight the relationship between joy (rejoice) and grace. Not only is Mary given grace by God but she is graced to to the full. We would say to her fullness because this grace is but a manifestation of the presence of God (Lord) in her life. This is so unique to her that St. Luke's Greek gave her a theological name: kecharitomene - a title that fully describes her unique role (Luke 1:28). Our Blessed Mother is the Kecharitomene.

The title Immaculate Conception is but a negative statement of the Kecharitomene. God and sin are mutually exclusive of one another. Sin the separation from God. To the Hebrew mind, it is 'missing the mark' of doing God's Will, the Law, which separates us from the righteousness of God. Not doing God's Will is separating, excluding, isolating ourselves from God (and not God separating Himself form us). Grace is its opposite: it is communion with God where we receive the fullness of God who is Grace Himself through whom we become just and saved. To be fully graced then is to be without sin!

Yet it is not our act that accomplishes this. It is only through God's mercy that these things happen. Mary was the recipient and God was the benefactor. She only completed this preparation given her when she said her fiat: "be it done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). If through her human nature God has dwelt like the fire that dwelt in the bush before Moses, now her 'yes' allowed for God to dwell in her womb. Grace prepared her to be the Mother of God.

The Immaculate Conception is the most proper solemnity to prepare us for the Birth of Jesus which we celebrate every Christmas. When we see the Madonna embracing the little Child, we see in her the representative of all humanity that has been longing to embrace and receive salvation. The little Child that slept soundly on her breast should be able to sleep soundly on our hearts. We might not have been conceived immaculately in the wombs of our mothers but we have been spiritually born immaculately in the womb of the Church when the waters of Baptism have completely washed away our sins. Let us maintain this purity through the practice of the virtue of chastity and allow Grace to dwell in us especially as we await the birth of Christ in our hearts.

Hope In A Messiah

Second Sunday of Advent

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 3:1-12.
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."
  
Reflection
We all believe in a higher power. When computers started to become prevalent we thought that technology could further advance our civilization. And it did. As digital technology became smaller and smaller and moved from the desktop to the mobile we believed it would revolutionize the way we communicated. And it did. We thought that somehow, the better our technologies become the better the world we live in would be. We were wrong.

New technology bring with it advancements. It makes lives easier and speeds up development. But it also brings with it a whole new set of problems. Before the internet, the question of privacy is limited to the size and transparency of the window. Today, privacy is a battleground between the netizens and the surveillance groups, be it the state or not. WiFi availability is now one attraction for public spaces. Bullying has spilled online. Technology like any human tool is amoral. It brings with it its own solutions and its own unique set of problems.

We have always believed in technology. This is an indication that we believe in some higher power, something to carry us forward through the daily grind and the rough conditions of human existence. For some, technology have become their messiah, their savior, to which they invest resources in order to solve human problems. Human history, however, has shown that human technology while propelling civilization forward cannot be the sole solution. Human problems remain human. They come from human beings, perpetrated by human beings, and is to be solved by human beings. No other part of creation could solve our own problems except collective human effort.

Pope Benedict would point this out when he describes how humanity today is building a "kingdom of man" rather than the Kingdom of God. It is a kingdom whose chief architect is man and designed to build a utopia where human problems are past. Down through history, civilizations and religions have sought out a higher power to save humanity from its misery. Israel too yearned for a messiah, a savior for which the Prophet Isaiah spoke God's promises of salvation. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever.

John the Baptist would echo this with much urgency. A savior is indeed coming, a savior not made by man but coming from God. He is not to build an earthly kingdom, a kingdom of man, but a kingdom of heaven, a Kingdom of God. This savior will not just bring solutions but will strike at the very root of the problem - the sinfulness of man. John the Baptist's call then is justified: repent!

The world that this savior will usher forth is so incompatible with ours that they are mutually exclusive. For this world to conform itself to the Kingdom of God the Spirit is to be invoked. Thus this Savior will baptize with the Spirit who is fire that purifies and burns the impurities. It is the Spirit that transforms man to the real humanity that God envisioned in him.

Jesus is that Savior foretold by John. He alone was filled with the Spirit. In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the work of the Son and the action of the Spirit is gloriously revealed to us as the two hands of the Father working through humanity. Even God knew that human problems are solved humanely and that is why He sent His Son to become man - the perfect and ideal man who could teach us how to be truly human. Jesus will baptize the man and the world with the Spirit that it may be transformed to what it should be, the Kingdom of God.

How is this Kingdom seen today? Where Christians work for peace and sow love; where Christians bear with one another and forgive to end the cycle of hatred and war; where Christians go beyond themselves to become Jesus to others today - this is the ushering in of the Kingdom of God, this is the cleansing movement of the baptism of the Spirit. And as John points out to the Pharisees and Sadducees, this change must come from within, must come first from a personal transformation.

There would always be problems in the world. Suffering it seems is a consequence of human brokenness that manifests in each one of us. Technology would help, certainly, but it can never be the savior for humankind. We cannot craft our own salvation. We need a higher power and this higher power will come down among us to teach us how to be human. And in becoming human, we become a Kingdom of God.

First Sunday of Advent

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 24:37-44.

Jesus said to his disciples: “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.
   

Reflection

We still find people lining outside Apple stores just to be one of the privileged ones to get their hands on an iPhone ahead of all creation. New technologies give us the craze these days. New features make us itch for the newest iteration of our gadgets. That Christmas is coming means many of us will be making our Christmas lists and fattening our wallets for the ultimate holiday shopping.

New things excite us because anything new brings with it hope. We want to be hopeful in this life. We want our lives to become a little better, a little bit lighter, a little bit easier. Sometimes we think that new technologies gives the solution to today's problems. But most of the time they bring with them their own new problems! But even so, we hope, we dream, and we strive.

The new liturgical season brings with it a new hope. This Sunday, the Church renews her cycle of worship synced with the life of Christ. It is the first Sunday of Advent and we are four weeks away from Christmas. Excitement is in the air. Rightly so, because Christmas is an event that brings with it great Hope. Advent prepares us to receive this Hope.

It is with a sense of mystery that the Gospel today speaks of the coming of the Son of Man. The title "Son of Man" is often used in the Old Testament, mostly in Daniel, to refer to the longed for savior of Israel, the Messiah. St. Matthew uses the title for Jesus. Here, Jesus speaks of his future coming at an hour we do not expect.

When we speak of hour we mean a time divinely set to fulfill something. Several hours have been set by God: our conception, our birth, and our death in the same way Jesus' hour of conception, birth, and death have been thought of by the Father before all the ages. The Church reminds us today of the threefold meaning of the hour of Jesus' coming.

The first hour was Jesus' birth which inaugurated His entrance into human history and with it the inauguration of our salvation won at the Cross. It has happened two thousand years ago and what we remember every Christmas. Yet it happened silently and peacefully without much fanfare. The second hour happens throughout our lives, when Jesus chooses to break through our lives. God surprises us with His Grace through events and people that lift us up and restores in us hope. Jesus lamented the fact that Jerusalem failed to recognize the hour of her visitation and He wept. The third hour is in an indeterminate future, in the final and definitive coming of Christ. No one really knows when despite the many claims of end-of-the-world that people have made.

The Gospel, however, does not speculate when these hours do happen. What it teaches us is to prepare because we do not know when the hour will come. We prepare for Christmas with the Advent season, preparing our hearts to receive Christ through repentance, going to Confession, and acts of charity. We prepare for Christ everyday by opening our lives to Jesus through a life of prayer and personal relationship with Him. And we prepare ourselves for our death and the future coming of Christ by living our lives well and holy.

This Advent season and Christmas shouldn't be something that happens every year in the same way it happened last year. Let us see our Christian lives in an ever closing spiral with Jesus at the center. As we go through His life throughout the year, from His birth, through ordinary life, together with His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, may we find ourselves getting closer and closer to Him every year.

A Different Kind of King

Solemnity of Christ the King

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 23:35-43.

The rulers sneered at Jesus 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."
   

Reflection

The most self-contradicting element in the crucifixion is the inscription that reads "This is the King of the Jews". Wishing to shame the Jews, Pilate had it installed on the cross. Unknown to him he is prophesying on behalf of the one who is hanging on it.

The human understanding of kingship, of authority, and of power naturally revolves around the concept of being able to exert influence and to compel others to follow our will. Sometimes we honor our leaders, our kings, not because we truly honor the way they are but we do it out of fear. We always have the tendency to submit to someone who is more powerful than us.

The word "Jews" have been used in the Gospels in two ways: one, pejoratively, when it refers to that band of men who oppose the teachings of Jesus; and two, generally, when it refers to the ethnic group to which Jesus belongs and to whom He addressed the Gospel first. The Jewish people pride themselves of being descendants of Abraham and the patriarchs, of having been set apart by God as His "chosen people" before the world. Circumcision and the Law are the binding elements of Jewishness.

To put that label on the cross, for Pontius Pilate, was to mock the Jewish leaders. For him, here is a man who they say claimed to be king. Now, that king has just been meted out with capital punishment by the superior power of Rome. The Jews are not special. They are a people subjugated by the Roman empire.

Yet that is how Jesus Christ overturned human ways of thinking. He was there hanging seemingly powerless. The soldiers jeer at him and test him. The two thieves find a misguided consolation that they did not go punished alone. Someone, worse than them, someone who claimed to be Messiah, was also there dying with them. At least all they did was steal. This one claimed to be from God.

Loud as they were, the silence of Jesus was deafening. And the other thief noticed this calm submission was in fact a display of power - a different kind of power. Here before them is indeed a king, but a different kind of king. He is the King who wields not human power but godly power.

Obedience is the key to understanding the power to Jesus displayed on the cross. Through His obedience to the Father, that He must suffer and die, He willingly submitted Himself to the Cross. True, it would have been easy for Him to move heaven and earth to save Himself from death. But He forego of control in order to submit to the Father out of love. This is the true form of divine power, something that we too often do not understand considering our natural tendency to want control.

The second thief in Luke noticed this and he began to understand who Jesus really is. Jesus obedience must have been very perfect that the thief instinctively understood that Jesus did nothing to deserve such punishment. He did not see a make-believe king. He saw Jesus' humility. He perhaps saw in Jesus the Lamb silent as it is being slaughtered. He saw beyond the politics of Pilate. He saw beyond the narrowness of mind of the Jews. He saw the True King in Jesus.

In that moment of recognition Jesus did something that transcends His vulnerability on the cross. Jesus commanded. In that position of vulnerability and weakness, the True King pronounces a decree. He is not seated on a golden throne, he was hanging on the cross. But even in that dark hour, Jesus gave out a decree of mercy: "Amen. I say to you, you will be with me in paradise." In an atmosphere of blood and sadism, Jesus still was able to show mercy.

That is the King who we honor today.

The End is Near

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 21:5-19.

While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus 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."
   

Reflection

Donald Trump is now the 45th President of America. He took the world by surprise. Whether he is fit for the presidency of the most powerful hegemony in the world is up for discussion. The USA as a democratic society gave its voice. Across the Pacific, social media in the Philippines is abuzz with different reactions. Some were happy for Trump, some were outraged he won, and some others asked why we should be concerned.

Scrolling down my feed, I saw one post decrying the events that have recently happened. The Supreme Court of the Philippines gave no legal block to the interment of the late President Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Now, Trump is the US president-elect. It was too much for the poster. I gave my own thoughts suggesting a morbid thought. Could it be that the end of the world is coming?

We do not know. I wrote it in jest. But the question of when the end of the world will come has always been an exciting question for some. The apocalypse has always been an interesting topic. See how many movies we have with that theme. The future is always up for speculation. Even Jesus peered into it.

We have to be aware that what Jesus spoke of is not exactly our concept of the end of the world. When Jesus speaks of the "time", he means a period of fulfillment of what has already been written in Scriptures, of God's promises. He spoke of these things with his disciples because he knew they were part of that fulfillment. But they were to concerned of the glory of the present they needed to be reminded of the glory of the end.

This prophecy were written in order to warn the disciples of the cost of their commitment in Christ. But they were written in such a way that it also warns the early Christians who have also put their faith in Christ. These are the Christians who were the first audience of the gospels. St. Luke was warning them about impending persecutions. But he also wrote for us today. St. Luke knew that a commitment to Christ necessarily puts you at odds with the world. In the world, when you are different you are most likely persecuted. Being Christian is basically being counter-cultural.

If President Duterte, President Marcos, and President-elect Trump are dividing public opinion it is because they touch something in our lives that matter to us. Jesus Christ touches our whole lives that is why our witnessing is to be total and with it the persecution of the world. Just bearing his name is enough for us to suffer even in our times. That is the end that Jesus paints for his disciples.

He speaks not of celestial wonders but of conflict because the end, the omega, is a period of purification. It comes to mind now that Jesus is the alpha and the omega. He is the point of conflict when the "time" has come. Because when our "time" has come our commitment to Jesus will be tested. Will we remain faithful to him even if following him and his teachings is against the public opinion of the world? Are we willing to sacrifice familial ties because of our faith? Are we willing to give up our lives for Jesus?

Our end is certain. We will have to face our own death in the future. The end of the world is certain. Nothing in the universe lasts forever. Time ravages everything. But in this bleak outlook Jesus assures us of his presence and help. Despite the persecutions and hate, our commitment and perseverance in him will secure our salvation. At first sight this future looks bleak and scary because it involves the present world passing away. What Jesus is indirectly saying is that in its place is a new world that will be established in Jesus' love. It is exactly in this love that we pass through purification and emerge victorious. This new world that we are hoping for is in Jesus.

Individually we pass through our periods of purification in Christ. A crisis comes into our life that tests our Christian commitment. Health, family, and financial problems come to raise questions we cannot answer but can only be faced with faith in Christ. Of course we also believe in the collective end of the present world when the "time" comes and the fulfillment is final and complete. As Jesus said, none will know when except the Father.

What he is proposing to us is that we put our end not in the transition of our world into the new, not in wonders and signs, but in his very person. Jesus is our omega. Being baptized as Christians we start to move toward this End. Living our Christian commitment will attract persecution but it will also bring us closer to the End. The End is near indeed. It is Jesus to whom we have given our 'yes' before and for whom we live that commitment.

The Concreteness of Being Human

We all need to be touched and to touch. Psychological studies have shown that babies who do not experience touch in the first hours of their birth tend to develop emotional problems later on in life. As children we all feel the need to be cuddled by our parents. If something is wrong we need a shoulder to cry on. When we are discouraged we need someone to lean on. When victorious we need someone to tap our back. And even later in life, we need someone to hold hands with in joy or in sorrow, in sickness or in health, till death do us part.

This is so evident now in the era of technology. We used to wonder at the marvel of the television when we have created something that allowed us extend our power of vision. Now, technology is developing in such a way where it seeks to engage us more than our sight and our hearing. The field is called Haptics Technology where we engage our sense of touch and proprioception. While it has developed well over the years in user interfaces like the touch pad and the touch screen and with movement sensors in the Xbox and other game consoles, research and development among technology companies are now seeking ways to allow devices to give us what they called a haptic feedback.

Tech companies want their devices their to respond to their users through touch. This means a touch screen that vibrates upon tap. This means being immersed in an augmented or virtual reality where virtual objects are experienced through touch. Engineers are hard at work on creating pressure feedback whenever you interact with virtual objects. It's like petting a virtual dog and you can physically feel its fur on your palms despite it a hologram.

Such movement in technology and science is a clear indicator that as human beings we beings of touch. We are also beings that are physically present in a physical world. This explains why we want our loved ones to be physically present during important events of life and why a phone call is still not enough to compensate. Such an experience is a gift of being a creature that is both body and spirit. Haptic experience, the sense of touch, is the gift of the physical bodies to us, something denied to spirits.

So I find it absurd that some people go so far as to dream to become pure spirits or be reduced to pure consciousness that run inside a computer. To be separated from the body means to lose the sense of touch. To lose the sense of touch is to experience a separation from the physical universe and its sensual pleasures.

Perhaps one good lesson we can learn today is to really take advantage of our sense of touch. How many times do we hug our parents and our children in a day? Who among our friends need a pat on the back or a shoulder to cry on? I believe many hearts are waiting as they lie imprisoned in their own loneliness. All we need is to reach out and touch those hearts.

If the psalms would say that we have a higher dignity than angels, then having bodies is one of those advantages of being humans. It is time for us to let go of the idea that the soul is imprisoned inside the body. No, the soul is expressed through the body in the same way that the external world is experienced through the body. No wonder then that Christ gives us His body and blood in the Eucharist. It is in touch that we become concrete.

The Anxiety of Not Doing Everything

Salesian life is a busy life. We often multitask in order to do as much good as we can. We put everything in to make good the adage of doing ordinary duties extraordinarily well. It is tiring. It consumes a lot of energy. Without grace from prayer and personal relationship with Jesus it becomes impossible.  

Oftentimes we fall into the trap of trying to do everything. We get so used to works and tasks and to do's that we forget everything else. We have become slaves. We have become needy for attention, glory, appreciation, greatness. We forget that we are but workers in the vineyard who were given a fair share of work that is to be completed in God's time. Therefore we are the grumpy ones, the stressed ones, the irritables. We become unkind and uncompromising. We have become the opposite of who we truly are.  

I often find myself fidgeting over things that I need to do and complete. I become anxious. My prayer becomes distracted. I am consumed by my work and tasks. Worst comes to worst I can't even complete one task. I simply don't know where to start. This is the anxiety of our age. We want to do everything. We forget that we are not God.  

God's plan for us is simpler than we imagine. All He wants is for us to walk with and beside Him in this journey of life. Whatever comes comes in His time and goes away in His time. Be it joy or sorrow, comfort or difficulty, they are not meant to last and they are not meant for us to obssess on. Our lives were meant to enjoy God in haapiness or sadness, in sickness or in health, and not even death do us part. All we have to do is trust our Father and we will be at peace.  

Life Beyond Death

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 20:27-38.

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus, 
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." 
   

Reflection

The month of November triggers a lot of questions of the afterlife.  What is to be expected after we die? How do we exist as human being in heaven? The Sadducees who posed the question to Jesus did not believe in life after death. They posed the question in order to trap Jesus in a logical puzzle. However, Jesus went beyond their trap when he shattered their misconceptions of the after life. Because of them, Jesus gave us a sneak peak into the life that awaits us after we breath our last.

Perhaps instead of talking about "life after death" we need to talk about "life beyond death". The resurrection of death imparts unto us God Himself. The children of God finally have inherited their Father that is why they rise from the dead. Life beyond death is a life in God. That is why it is a life of fulfillment because in Him we find the true meaning of who we really are and in Him we come to grips with our true identity. That is why we become alive once more because when we have arisen we are already living the life of God, that is, eternal life.

What is eternal life? It is not about life without end. It may be part of it but more than length of time it speaks of fullness of life. It is a life lived where each moment is an experience of being fully alive. We all had that experience when there comes a break in the mundane repetition of everyday life. What was ordinary, what was a boring cycle suddenly pauses and we enter into an experience of peace and tranquility. Suddenly, our minds are at ease and everything falls into place because we had an experience of God after an event, after looking at the beauty of creation, after talking to someone who touched our hearts. Multiply that moment for eternity and perhaps that is eternal life.

We no longer die because God lives in us. Today's world is so much concerned with the quest for the fountain of youth, for the beauty miracle in cosmetics that would defy aging. We are too concerned of staying in our young adulthood when our bodies are at their peak and there are no wrinkles nor joint pains nor high blood pressure. The life of God goes beyond these temporal things. No, it embraces these. Jesus was born, grew up and died on the cross. A life in God is a life that springs forth from a union with Him from the depths of our hearts and flows unto the world. God who is Life Himself springs forth from our deepest beings and He becomes our life.

The secret of eternal life is that it does not begin after death. It can begin and continue on in every heart that is open to God. It is the very life offered to us in Eucharistic Communion in the Holy Mass. The life in the Body and Blood of Christ becomes our food and drink. It is the very life that comes alive in us whenever we become aware that we are part of a bigger Church. But sadly it is a life that is oftentimes overlooked today. We are too afraid of death. We are too afraid of growing old. We cannot see the greater picture of an eternal life that encompasses everything.

In our fears we tend to get addicted only to the current moment. You Only Life Once, they say. We are too afraid of death and sadness that we try to suck out the joy in each day as if human life is a bottomless sponge of happiness. When it has become dry, we tend to find joy in other places only to end up brokenhearted. But human life is not always happy, that is a fact. What eternal life offers is the God in the ups and downs of daily life. It is God that makes life meaningful and sweet even with tears and disappointments. It is God that makes human life eternal and that is why it is able to defeat even death. It is life beyond death.

While alive we enter into eternal life when we have put our life in the perspective of eternity in God, when even here we are already living the life of God. It comes when we love without measure, when we forgive even if the other doesn't even deserve it, when we give until it hurts. And when death has come to wrap up this earthly life, Jesus promises an eternity of that fullness of life where we live like angels before God. Where at last we would be united with those we shared our life here on earth and come to the realization that this life is but a short moment and that there is such a thing as a life beyond death.

Needing God

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 18:9-14.

Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. 
"Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. 
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity--greedy, dishonest, adulterous--or even like this tax collector. 
I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.' 
But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.' 
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."   

Reflection

We all have an irritation towards self-righteous people, people who love to brag about themselves, people who believe they are higher than most, people who think they’re elite. Nagbubuhat ng sariling upuan. Pagarpar ug palapad. They step on our nerves because sometimes they remind us that we too have that tendency and deep down inside they remind us that we too have pride that shouldn’t be stepped on by others. In the final analysis, their behavior and our reaction is all about human pride.

Jesus, in this Sunday’s Gospel, reminds us through the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector of what really matters in the eyes of God. God is close to those who need Him, but for those who don’t they shut Him away. The tax collector went home justified because he recognized the truth that we oftentimes forget: all of us are weak and broken, sinful and erring, and we all need God. The Pharisee shut out grace because he thought he was already perfect. In his self-deception, he shut out the Truth.

It is only when we realize how poor we are as human beings that we open ourselves to the richness of God’s grace. The realization of how little we are puts everything in perspective and it opens us to the truth of our existence. We need God. When this has already sunk into our consciousness then we become humble and the humble attract God the most.

The Pharisee did nothing wrong. He followed the rules. He observed the Law to the letter. Yet he claimed all these as his achievement. He forgot that we can only be good because God is good. In the end, all his good deeds were empty. They were all fueled by his own self-righteousness and pride. They were all fueled by his emptiness.

In our society today where everything is changing fast, where everyone wants development and a better life, where everyone wants to be financially secure and live happily, let us not forget that all these things could only have value for us if we put God in the midst of these. If we want to have a good society, a God-fearing country, then we ourselves must be good. But in order to be good we must allow ourselves to be “worked upon” by God by allowing Him to fill us with His goodness. In order to be filled, we need to empty ourselves first and only then can God fill us.

Spamming Heaven

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 18:1-8.

Jesus told his disciples 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?"   

Reflection

Anyone who lives in the city, has a mobile phone in their pocket, or maintains a Facebook account could not live without the internet these days. Despite the sad state of connectivity in the Philippines, the internet and the world wide web has become part of our daily lives. The internet is an interconnection of all networks in the whole world. Our own social nature vibrates with it no wonder we love to be connected, and complain to the whole universe when the web drops to a crawl.

The need for persistence in prayer, as Jesus taught in the Gospel today, is very much like the internet we so love. Prayer is not just an action. It is not just a recitation of formulas that we have memorized since we were children. True prayer is entering into the presence of God, to be present to the God who is present everywhere. There is a need for silence because in silence we begin to resonate and hear the voice of God. All the actions, the recitations, the rituals, the objects of prayer are but helps that assist us into that state of being united with God.

You see, prayer is not about petition. Prayer is about being connected with God. Think of yourself as a mobile phone trying to reach out the cell phone towers in order to attune to that much longed for LTE connection. This connection is not just an uplink of our intentions and petitions, but it is also a downlink, a download, of God's being. Every time we pray, we enter into God, we absorb God who is love, and we become more like God. That is why all pray-ers slowly but surely begin to become like God.

The more we talk to a person, spend time with a person, and waste time with a person we begin to know more about a person and love that person. Prayer is like that. It is getting familiar with God. Familiar means we become a family to Him. God is our Father, our Abba and we are His beloved children. The more we pray, the more persistent and constant our connection with Him, we begin to understand Him, His mind, His plans, and His intentions for us. When we take upon ourselves the way God perceives reality, we will begin to feel at peace and everything falls into place.

This is the reason why Jesus insists that we pray insistently. Jesus insists that we keep that connection live because the more we are connected to God in prayer, the more we become like God and God begins to live in us. And when we have God within us, we have nothing to lose and nothing to fear for we know He knows our needs and our needs will be met more than what we prayed for at the proper time.

So the next time you pray, consider yourself as someone downloading the mind, spirit, and being of God. The internet that we have now is nothing to the network of connections of creatures and things that the universe is. And this network that we call the universe is pulsating with one lively message for you and me: God is love.

Eucharistic Existence

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 17:11-19.

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him 
and raised their voice, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" 
And when he saw them, he said, "Go show yourselves to the priests." As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; 
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. 
Jesus said in reply, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? 
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?" 
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you."  

Reflection

An article from The Standard was published recently asking the all too-familiar question, "Are millennials so full of themselves?" It is a public secret that we live in a narcissistic time captured in the selfie phenomenon. Call it the tide of post modernity but the truth is, this is the very atmosphere we all breathe in day in and day out whether you like it or not. We all speak in reference to ourselves. Give everyone some inconvenience and you will hear complaints about rights and privilege.

An excess of self-love blinds us to the grace that has always permeated our lives. Despite the high standard of living in developed countries the incidence of depression is very high. We are too concerned with a little drizzle we totally forget about the sun. Today, we are in need of a sense of gratefulness.

Someone approached me and complained about his problems in life. There's just too much to take in, he claimed. For him, it felt like the world was on his shoulders so much so that his weariness turned to despair and he began to question even the existence of God. I listened to him. All the while at the back of my mind I saw myself in him. I too complain about everything big and small. There are simply so many things to complain about in life. But I remembered one advice I got from my spiritual director which I also shared with the guy. "Every night, before you go to sleep, think of three things that happened to you during the day that you can be grateful of," I told him. It is the same exercise I do to combat incessant complaints.

The Gospel reading is striking for it highlights a very small proportion. In ten, only one came back to give thanks for the cure. To situate ourselves, leprosy during the time of Jesus is an incurable disease that brings with it social stigma. To be a leper means to be exiled from the community and to die a slow and shameful death. It is striking then that after being healed only one in ten came back to give thanks.

To mention that the person was a Samaritan is all the more striking. The people of Israel had a habit of singing in jubilation after being saved. They sang praises after Israel crossed the Red sea in their escape from the Egyptians. They sang when David returned to Jerusalem after his defeat of the Philistines. They sang whenever they could say that "the LORD has visited his people" (cf. Luke 7:16).  But this time, among the ten, only the foreigner, the non-Jew, came back to give thanks.

The episode is a reflection of how much we can miss out on the graces that we receive everyday. Perhaps of the ten good things that happened to us, we only notice one (that is if we notice at all), all the while complaining about the rest of day. We are too engrossed in the small inconveniences of life or too preoccupied about our "big" problems that we oftentimes forget how big our God is. We sometimes fail to see the graces that God has sprinkled throughout our day that has the potential to be life-changing for us.

Take for example the Eucharist that we celebrate and receive every Mass. We believe that in that piece of bread is the real body of Christ that we receive with our hands and tongue. It is Jesus, the Word-made-flesh, that we are holding in our hands and chewing in our mouths. We have in our hands the God who made the whole universe. But these detail leaves us. It has happened before as it is happening now; it is something so common that we do not really appreciate the value of the real treasure that we receive at communion. Yet saints have been made because of the Eucharist.

"Eucharist" is Greek for Thanksgiving. The Holy Mass is a thanksgiving of the Church to the Father for all the graces and love that she received. As Christians, we are a grateful people. We are grateful for Jesus. We are grateful for the Spirit. Gratefulness is a clear sign of faith. That is why Jesus praised the Samaritan for his act of gratitude. He was able to realize the cure has happened and felt grateful about it. Gratefulness consists in humility that stems from receiving an undeserved gift of grace. That is why he fell at Jesus feet. He recognized the immensity of God in Jesus. If we allow grace to work in us, it transforms us to become grateful and humble people. It is then that we are saved.

The challenge for Catholics today is to live that Eucharistic existence. That is, to see the imprints of God throughout the day, to be sensitive to His grace. Mystics call it contemplation. Yes, we need to contemplate now more than ever the presence of God in our lives and allow His grace to transform us. That like the Israelites of old and like the Blessed Mother, we can also sing in humble recognition of our littleness before the immensity of God. We become a thankful people. We become a Eucharistic people.

Peace in a Restless World

I grew up in a relatively peaceful world. I was born a month after the Martial Law regime collapsed. The second world war was four decades behind me. So I never really knew what real conflict is. I have not seen the horrors of war that our grandparents have seen. You might call me lucky or blessed but the problem with a generation that lived in peace is that it is difficult for them to appreciate the gift of peace that they have received. Eastern thought would teach that to know hot you must experience the cold, to know joy you must experience sadness.

People like me who did not know armed conflict cannot easily relate the experience of those who are in Syria, in Africa, or in the Middle East where powers are having their tug of war at the expense of the innocent and the defenseless. Now more than ever this world is in need of peace. Yet peace is such an ambiguous term so much so that some would say it is impossible to attain. For as long as man has the tendency for aggression there would always be conflict and war.

Yet as Christians we believe in peace. All throughout its pages the Sacred Scriptures speak of shalom. As Christians we have been offered that shalom. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you," (John 14:27) is something very familiar to us as we hear it Sunday after Sunday. We have been offered the shalom of Christ. How are we to understand and experience real shalom?

The original peace (shalom) that existed in creation before the fall of man is a state of harmony of relationship between man and God, between man and himself, and between man and the created order. When sin entered the world, that peace was broken and Eden was taken away from man. But within humanity is that deep desire to return to that original peace and harmony. Within each of us is a longing of true and lasting peace.

One can see this in the way Filipinos describe the departed. "Nagpapahinga na siya." (He is already resting.) "Nakapahulay na gyud intawn siya." (Finally he finds rest.) These are statements we give to console ourselves of people who pass away. It is a universal longing that holds true in all societies all around the world. I remember an anecdote that described how during World War II, the French and German forces sang Christmas carols on a Christmas eve in the battlefield. The mystery of life is that there are moments even in suffering and war where peace can exist!

Photo credit:
Eternal Struggle by Skull of DeviantArt.com 

Jesus is our peace. His peace goes beyond human conflict for within Him is the original harmony that this universe desires. It is the same peace given to us every Eucharist and the same peace offered to us today. Where Jesus is, there is true peace because in Him everything finds their place, everything finds their meaning. In Jesus, man finds his true place before God. Humanity is the beloved of God and God is humanity's lover. There is no greater proof of this love than the Word-made-flesh. In Jesus, man finds peace in himself, for he sees himself as he is, warts and all. He realizes that beyond the imperfections and weaknesses and the sins is a person that is worthy to be loved. In Jesus, man finds peace with his neighbor and creation for in another man he sees the face of Jesus and in creation he finds God's love letter to him. Jesus is the true and everlasting peace.

Peace is not the absence of conflict. Politicians and philosophers cannot hope to find peace if their flavor of peace is Utopian. True peace, especially in Asian thought, is the capacity to exist between two opposing forces, the capacity for co-existence and dialogue, the capacity to bear with another. Jesus' peace goes beyond that. It is a peace that first purifies and causes division, calling one to a radical choice of loving and forgiving but at the same is inclusive and tolerant. It is a peace rooted in the love of God, impossible for man but possible through Christ.

To help us remember the original peace that was we remind ourselves of the Spirit of God that hovered over the primeval waters of chaos. While outside God was chaotic, was nothingness, within Him is the Spirit of peace. In our country beset by political and social concerns that have dragged on for decades leaving in its path innocent victims, we Catholics are called to hover over this chaos in the Spirit to influence it and shape it so as to form from our country the new Eden.

Increase our Faith

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 17:5-10.

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." 
The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to (this) mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. 
Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?
Would he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'? 
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? 
So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'" 

Reflection

Having administered several computer networks in the course of my life, there is always that one irritating complaint that I have to address every time for as long as I am in the Philippines. People often would complain of slow internet connection. The disciples request to Jesus is very much like the wish of internet subscribers in the Philippines. Increase our bandwidth. Increase our faith.

Very much so since, being connected to the internet and enjoying the benefits of the World Wide Web, social media, streaming, and downloading files is analogous to our connection with God. We just need to have faith. It is through faith that we are connected to God. It is not a faith that we worked for ourselves. No, home subscribers don't put up their wires to link with internet service providers (ISP's) like Globe and PLDT. The ISP's provide the connection in the same way that God provided us the connection. He gave us faith. He revealed Himself to us and allowed us to commune with Him. Without the initiative on the side of God we would never have known God. Thus, faith is a gift.

The Church would teach that faith is one of the three theological virtues alongside hope and love. These three are given to us by God, infused in us, at our Baptism. Baptism is that sacrament that opens us to a personal relationship with God. It is right then for the apostles to ask for an upgrade in their link to God. Increase our faith. They knew how important faith is in our relationship with God.

What then is faith? The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews would say "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1, NRSV). It is putting our trust and confidence in a truth. Faith is when we believe and hold on to the words of other people even without proof and concrete evidence. We believe that there's a country named United States and its American people even if we haven't been physically there. Yet in the context of Christianity it is not just any word. It is the Word. Faith is our trust, confidence, and belief in Jesus Christ, the Word-made-flesh. It is something so radical and challenging but at the same time powerful that allows us to make a gamble even with our lives.

This is where faith is a response. It is our response to the invitation of Jesus to a personal relationship with Him. Having presented Himself to us, He challenges us to put faith in Him. Yet this faith is not just an interior act of believing. It is something that naturally expresses itself from the heart to visible signs. Faith is seen in the way we live our lives, in our works of charity, in the way we treat others, in the way we pray, in the way we celebrate the sacraments and practice our devotions, and in the way we spend quality time to celebrate the Holy Eucharist on Sundays.

Like our experience of slow internet connection in the Philippines, like the way YouTube takes forever to buffer and play, like the way Facebook is all messed up in the browser, we know that our faith is sometimes lacking. We doubt. We question God. We question ourselves. It is right then to join the apostles to ask the Lord to increase our faith. To recognize that it is only in Him that we can find the Truth and assurance of everlasting joy. There is nothing to boast of when we practice our faith. As unprofitable servants, we only believe inasmuch faith grace has planted in us and have been allowed to grow by us.

Trusting in the Lord's assurance, we know that no matter how small our faith is, no matter how slow our connection to God is, God will make most of our faith. Jesus, the Master and the source of our faith, will work through us and in us.

In Solidarity

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 16:19-31.

Jesus said to the Pharisees: "There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. 
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. 
When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, 
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.' 
Abraham replied, 'My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. 
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.' 
He said, 'Then I beg you, father, send him to my father's house, 
for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.' 
But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.' 
He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'"

Reflection

One great thing the the internet did was to shrink the world. News updates from any part of the world can easily by accessed with a few clicks or taps. When the world heard about the unprecedented disaster of Typhoon Yolanda (international name, Haiyan) especially in Leyte, aid poured in. Tacloban was in the New York Times Square, in London, on television, and all over the internet. At that time, the world was in solidarity in the face of nature's terrifying power.

The Gospel today speaks of solidarity. It invites us go beyond ourselves and reach out to others. It does not speak against enjoying riches. In fact, it speaks of the goodness and abundance of God who freely gives out his graces. Some of us are more blessed materially. Jesus' parable of the rich man reminds those who have more to be sensitive to the needs of their fellow men, especially the poor who may be just sitting outside their golden gates. It brings to focus that everything we have received ultimately comes from God, who in the figure of Abraham, took pity on Lazarus. Lazarus did not merit heaven because he suffered. Rather, God saw his plight and had mercy, so much so that he gave Lazarus not less than Himself in the afterlife. Lazarus was laying in Abraham's bosom!

This parable is not a story of class struggle between the poor and the rich. It is a story about God's vision. In the Kingdom of God, there is no rich or poor but one family. As we journey on earth we all receive a fair amount of blessings. It could be material but most of the time it is spiritual. After all, God's gifts do not come in expensive wrappings but in the very things we easily take for granted: family, friends, good health, opportunity, waking up in the morning. What is essential is invisible to the eye. God's invitation is an invitation to be like him, the Great Giver. His vision consists in us being gifts to one another. We don't need a more special and a higher sign from God for us to convinced of this. We only have to look at Him who rose from the dead, the one who gave us His everything.

Our sharing in the one Baptism binds us together in God's family. We are brothers and sisters to each other, adopted children of the Father and siblings to the only Son. In this family we find solidarity. In solidarity we belong to a one body whose members feel each other's pain and suffering. The reward of the afterlife is not something that we win but a state that we grow into here today. If only we would listen to God's invitation in Christ.

The Gospel according to Daenerys

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 12:49-53. 

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 
From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; 
a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

Reflection

I have to admit that one of my addictions, little byways that distract me from getting too engrossed in the study of theology, is following the series Game of Thrones. Too bad we have to wait for another ten months just in time for winter to set in. Winter is coming. So is Daenerys.

The young Targaryen queen vying for the Iron Throne is coming to Westeros to claim the seven kingdoms. This comes after six seasons of preparations where we saw her burn through everything... and survived. One of the most gratifying scenes in the show is where we see Daenerys literally burning down the old order of things in order to start afresh. We saw her burn the body of Khal Drogo and ensuing pyre hatched her dragon eggs. We saw her burn down cities to free its slaves from the masters of Astapor and Yunkai. We saw her burn down the Dothraki Temple along with the khals to take hold of the horde.

courtesy of popsugar.com

She is what we call a catalyst. In chemistry, a substance that enters into a chemical change without being changed but rather speeds up the process and lessens the energy required is called a catalyst. Metaphorically, we use the word to describe people who encourages change in a society. Fire, which is one of the most visible signs of chemical change, is the brand of Daenerys' change.

Jesus too talks about fire. In our Christian imagery, fire is always related to the Spirit, the agent of change, of creation and re-creation. The Spirit fell like tongues of fire on the Apostles during the Pentecost. Today we describe our charismatic brothers and sisters as afire with the Spirit. That is exactly the point of Jesus. He wished to cast fire on the earth, the Spirit, the new Baptism of Fire, and he wished to see the flames lit up consuming the world - changing it.

Changes always come at a cost. The old is consumed by the change in order to give birth to the new. As such, there has to be a decision to change for change to happen. This is what shakes things up in our world. This is the division that Jesus is talking about. In our being Christians, we are often called to make decisions that will surely divide. It cuts through between those who are for the change and those against.

When couples enter into the Sacrament of Marriage, they make a decision for a change that will divide their options - they choose to be with a spouse over all the other possible options, for life. When a priest is ordained he makes a decision that he will never have a wife, his own children, his own house. When we truly believe in the Church's teachings we often pit ourselves against the values of the world. Talk about the issues on artificial contraception, divorce, death penalty, and same-sex marriage. The real following of Christ will always force us to make decisions that will divide.

Yet, we are not afraid. Just like Daenerys who only wishes to usher in a new world, a new order of things, we Christians have always our eyes fixed on heaven. The change that we do on earth is in view of the promise of heaven. We personally change our behavior, our way of life in order to reflect the way we will soon live in heaven. We become catalysts of society in order to make present the Kingdom of God on earth. We are the fire that Jesus saw, for we have received the Spirit at our Baptism. If only we keep the flames blazing!

Real Possession

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 12:13-21. 

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” 
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” 
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable. 
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. 
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. 
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves
but are not rich in what matters to God.”

Reflection

After I read the Gospel one thing entered my mind. The greed that Jesus warned us about is not in material possessions today. Rather it is in the greed with which we possess ourselves. People often say that millennials (those aged 18-34 back in 2015) are too self-absorbed, too narcissistic, too involved in their own dreams. Fight over property among siblings has been happening since Jesus' times until today but the greed with which people are willing to kill their brothers and sisters are taking on more vicious forms. Today, we are willing to kill for our self-image.

One doesn't have to look far to see the symptoms of narcissism among millennials and the youth in general. Our social media posts are filled with 'me' and 'what I do'. It's all about self-promotion. Although it has its own merits (most people are on social networks to share their lives with those they love and care) but most are already aware of the temptation to self-promotion. Don't we always want to show the best angle, the best shot, the best photos, the best moments? Don't we feel a tinge of jealousy while browsing over our friends' posts in our news feeds? And don't we feel that urge to post something better or to be cynical about the good fortunes of others?

While it is certainly not categorically bad to post something about yourself online, there are areas in our online life that we need to examine more closely. There are behaviors that tell-tale signs of greed for attention and pride of life. This is the hoarding that Jesus spoke of in the Gospel. We hoard likes and views. Our hearts swell when the comments pile up. Jesus' warning remains true today: one's life does not consist of possessions. Sadly we possess everything today, including our profile page.

Rather we invited to value things that matter most - family, friends, being kind to everyone. Yet above all, we have to value the treasure of life - God Himself. Without God, there is no real life. He is all that matters in this life. Our fortunes come and go. Experiences and memories come and fade away. As the first reading would say, 'everything is vanity' (Ecc 1:2). Even our online life would fade away. No one would care to browse your profile page a hundred years from now. Real and true life comes from a personal relationship with Jesus. After all, for him, you are all that matters.