What is poverty? A reflection from Fratelli Tutti

As I was reading through Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti, I read on his critique of a throw-away world where he mentioned poverty. We usually think of poverty as the state of being economically poor and disadvantaged. Pope Francis, echoing Pope Benedict XVI’s teaching, reiterates that “new forms of poverty are emerging” in a globalized world where while there is an increase in wealth there is also an increase in inequality.

Poverty for Pope Francis is a lack of actual opportunities in a concrete historical period. I take it is actual because these are the very opportunities afforded by a society’s way of living. The problem is that in every society, a part of the population does not enjoy opportunities that others enjoy.

It is also important to talk of what these opportunities are. While it is easy to think of economic opportunities like a store of wealth and access to resources, Pope Benedict’s words on new forms of poverty is curious. What I can think of now is poverty in information where a segment of the Philippine population does not have proper and decent access to information (access), where in the online world false and misleading information drowns truth (source), and where information consumers do not have the sufficient skills and the attitude for human communication, reflection, and critical thinking (ability).

Poverty exists for as long as we fail in solidarity, when we forget to share and care, and imprison ourselves in self-centeredness. Fratelli Tutti is the Pope’s teaching on fraternity or brotherhood which as the current events and violence shows us, the world’s needs badly today. If we really are all brothers and sisters in this common home, my brother’s poverty is also mine and in looking out for each other’s poverty, nobody becomes poor.

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 2, 2020

Reflection

The goodness and kindness of God looks grand and great when we think of Him as a God despite being all-powerful has the time to be concerned about our needs. Our Sunday readings however invite us to look at God, not the all-powerful, but one who is intimate and personal. Our four readings unite in one theme: that God is a parent, both our Father and Mother.

Only a parent can feel the needs of their children. Strangers may find it difficult to understand our needs and experiences. It is our fathers and our mothers who, by instinct and by blood, can immediately share our pains and sufferings. The intimate and familial connection of parent and child enables a father and mother to brave all difficulties to provide for their children.

How then does God feel our needs? Although we are not born from God by blood, we were born from him in love. As Christian mystics would describe it, God loved us into existence. Out of this unconditional love, God seeks to provide for his people, for his children. From the depths of his kindness and mercy, God answers all our needs, but above all gives us the greatest satisfaction.

The great love of God for us that St. Paul beautifully sings of in his letter has one desire. Nothing in this world can stop God's love from offering us life. "Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life," Isaiah would proclaim. It is from this concern that Jesus, looking at the crowd, decided to feed them himself. 

St. Matthew gives a preview of the Eucharist when he writes that Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, said the blessing, broke them, and gave them to the disciples and the crowd. Four gestures that we call the Eucharistic actions we celebrate in every Holy Mass. We, like the crowd, could only be satisfied when Jesus gives us himself. If God is self-giving, it is because he is Father and we are his children.

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - July 26, 2020

Reflection

Even economists concede that wants will always be more than the needs. The human heart is always hungry for something but ultimately each heart is only looking for that ultimate happiness and fulfillment. To test Solomon's heart, the Lord asked the young king what is his deepest drive. The young Solomon pleased the Lord by asking for understanding, that is, to see things from God's perspective so as to rule the chosen people with justice and wisdom.

This vision of a society ruled by the justice and wisdom of God is the precursor of the Kingdom envisioned by Jesus Christ. Jesus was not a politician nor was he driven by a Utopian vision for Israel. He envisioned a nation of believers who have subjected their hearts to the Will of God, and this he called the Kingdom of God. More than a politics nor a social structure, the Kingdom of God is a relationship between God and a community of believers.

At the heart of this relationship is the Will of God, or the commands of God or law of His mouth as the psalm would describe. God's will is not imposed on people but rather is followed out of love because of its kindness and compassion. It is a will that seizes the human heart just as the parables of Jesus described. It suspends all wants because it fulfills all needs. God satisfies all human desires and when man truly finds God he seeks nothing else.

St. Paul in our readings remind the early Christians and us, that it is in Jesus that we see this perfect relationship. Jesus is fully taken up with the Will of his Father. He seeks nothing else but to share this relationship with his disciples. The Son, being firstborn, seeks to make sons and daughters out of our rebellious hearts. In him we share this destiny.

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - July 19, 2020

Reflection

A person who understands the plight of another is not quick to judge. The role of understanding is important in accepting the context of people and situation. Where is this coming from? Why do they do the things they do?

God is presented in our readings today as one who fully understands mankind’s plight. He understands that while man is capable of wickedness, is himself also a victim. God’s mercy reaches out abundantly to those who suffer and hurt. He is good and forgiving.

Human weakness is taken advantage of time and time again by the enemy. This brokenness and sinfulness is the source of all sadness and pain. Original sin is poetically referred to by St. Paul when writing “we do not know how to pray as we ought”. Despite being made for God and is always yearning for God, a great divide separates the human heart from its maker.

God’s mercy however undoes all this evil. He does not only take away sin and stop it from corrupting humanity. He continues his work of forming man into his image, teaching him, rebuking him, and above all giving him time. He gives man his own Spirit to act both as fire and water - fire to burn away all impurities and water to quench a deeper human thirst in the human heart.

God plants his Word and Spirit in all human hearts. While others allow evil to stifle the growth of the seed, most will bear fruit. It is through the human heart that the Kingdom grows. Our hearts are the fields and God is our sower. Weak though we are, the seed only needs a receptive soil and a willing heart to be cultivated. There is mercy and patience in God.

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - July 12, 2020

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - July 12, 2020

Reflection

Jesus, in sharing the parable of the sower, highlights the fruitfulness of the Word. Just as a husband tells his wife how much he loves her, God speaks to creation and specially to humanity of his love. This speaking is his mind, his feelings, his ideas, and in fact is God's very self, communicated to us. Just as each "I love you" tugs at the strings of our hearts, so does the Word spoken by God resonates within our inmost being.

The Word bears a rich harvest because God's love is fecund. Like a seed it buries itself and grows within each heart that receives it. Everything that love touches bears fruit. An act of kindness can change a person, forgiveness restores a broken heart, and the love of husband and wife bears children. So does the Word change, transform, and bear fruit in us.

For the Christian, this growth is hidden. It is obscured in the midst of difficulty and struggle, and of ordinary life. But the Word remains within a believing heart. Fear and death has no power over it. St. Paul writes that the promise of a rich harvest is the hope that creation is waiting for. This rich harvest is the eternal life planted in and growing within us.

As Jesus sat down the boat and looked at the crowd gathered before him, he must have seen a large field that needed planting. He, the Word made flesh, is now speaking to plant the Father's Word in humanity. The world is groaning waiting for the Word that we hear today bear fruit in us.

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - July 5, 2020

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - July 5, 2020

Reflection

The psalms in the Bible is a collection of songs and poetry that were used for ritual purposes. But they are also sung by the Israelites at home because they contain the people's response to God's graces. The people lived God's goodness. Throughout their history, their God has been a gracious God.

The messianic prophecy in Zechariah foretells of this gracious God visiting his people. He does not only hand out graces from a distance. His very presence is the grace that ends all wars and subdues all pain. Zechariah sees a vision of God enveloping the whole of creation with his gentle power.

This gentleness and grace of God became man in Jesus. He embodies the fullness of God, makes concrete God's mercy and meekness. What has been hidden in God, Christ has made known to his disciples. He invites them to draw out from the spring of God's richness in Him.

St. Paul knowing that sin is the cause of death, sees in Jesus the new life of a Christian. The flesh in the mind of Paul has been tarnished by sin. Yet in baptism, Christ supplants this evil by the presence and indwelling of his Spirit. God does not just grace creation from afar, he comes to truly visit his people and dwell within them. By this, the spring of God's life and grace now flows from each Christian, through Jesus, in the Spirit.

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - June 28, 2020

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - June 28, 2020

Reflection

Hospitality has always been a hallmark of the Filipino. We Filipinos pamper our guests as if they were royalty. Where then does hospitality flow from? If we think deeply about it, hospitality reflects the dignity we bestow upon our guests based on our appraisal of them. Too often we treat better the better looking guests.

Our readings know about this universal human feature. The first reading narrates the prophet’s welcome that Elisha received. Wishing to pay back, Elisha intervenes on his hosts’ lack of a male heir, which is an embarrassment in their culture. It seems that great hospitality merits reward.

The psalm however reminds us that we are not the hosts. We have always been guests and God is our gracious host. The love and mercy of God does not depend on the righteousness of man. He loves both good and evil men. In front of this gratuity the psalm answers in gratitude.

This is the very point of the challenge of Jesus. Our Christian hospitality is not a reflection of our appraisal of people. If we do, we only merit justice. Instead, our hospitality is a reflection of the mercy of God. It extends to those without honor and dignity, the little ones, to whom we are invited to be inviting. If we do, we become God’s mercy to our community.

St. Paul strongly pointed out that a Christian’s life is not his own. He is living the life of Christ. Just as Christ died for men, both great and small, so must a Christian give himself to his brothers and sisters. Our hospitality is not about offering what we have to those that deserve it. Our hospitality is offering who we are to even those that don’t deserve it.

It might be a losing gamble but Jesus assures us that in the end we lose nothing. Everything is in the hands of the Father. Those who take up this cross does not lose any of what he has or any of who he is. Those who follow the mercy of God finds himself, and so much more, finds eternal life.

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time - June 21, 2020

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time - June 21, 2020

Reflection

Jeremiah is one of the most persecuted prophets. And he laments to God in the midst of the betrayals against him. Despite the insurmountable difficulty he faces both outside and inside Kingdom, and the injustice he received from his own countrymen, he resolutely submitted himself to God. By proclamation of faith he has shown us that God does not abandon his children.

God knows that man passes through the valley of tears. Pain and death is the consequence of sin, of the separation of humanity from God. Every human being suffers, both the good and the bad. But God is greater than sin and death, and he willed to overturn the curse of sin. Jesus reminds us through the Gospel reading that God is a Father who understands our pain and suffering.

Jesus is the overturning of death and sin. He undoes the disobedience of Adam and in doing so became the source of salvation. Jesus is the salvation of every Jeremiah today, for each person who suffers social injustice and the sting of personal sin. He is the compassion and understanding of God; and in his eyes, each person has worth. Do not be afraid.

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ - June 14, 2020

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ - June 14, 2020

Reflection

Jesus was a famous preacher. Many considered him a great prophet. People saw in him a rising religious career and they flocked towards him, drawn by his words and his miracles. Yet here is an episode where Jesus lost almost all his followers, got unfriended, received unlikes and bad reviews. It was the downturn of Jesus' stardom but he knew what he had to do and pressed on.

"Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you." This statement so scandalized the crowd they left Jesus and ceased following him. Jesus, however, was insistent. What he teaches is something that was a radical fulfillment of God's promises in the Old Testament.

The chosen people has always remembered how God cared for them in the desert. He provided them with water and manna, the bread from heaven. He saved them from death and from the venom of the serpent just by looking at a serpent mounted on a pole. This was a story of survival. That in escaping slavery, they had to struggle through the desert and God fed them both with food and his words.

Jesus now offers himself as the food that will save from death and slavery. He is both Word and food. He offers his blood and his flesh as the real bread from heaven. Just as each specie has to consume in order to extend their lives, Jesus gives himself to man that humanity may gain eternal life. The fullness of life within God, is passed on to man by allowing man to consume God.

This is one of the most difficult teachings of Christ and even now, we cannot fully grasp the mystery of it. Yet it does happen that when a Christian unites himself with Jesus in the most physical way, he becomes a part of him together with all who is united in Christ. God made this possible in Jesus who is God-in-the-flesh yet it is only through faith that man opens himself to this mystery.

True Christian faith does not only believe in the words of Jesus, but also feeding from Jesus. There is no other way.

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity - June 7, 2020

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity - June 7, 2020

Reflection

Love entails knowledge. God in loving us, knows us. This time our liturgical readings present to us a God who makes himself known so that we might love him. While our concept of God is always clothed in glory and power, our readings present to us a more personal image of him. Our God is not one who is seated on the throne from afar, but one who involves himself with the people he cares about.

One of the most sacred phrases to describe God in the Old Testament is highlighted in our first reading. He is "rich in kindness and fidelity". For the chosen people, God is the faithful lover despite the infidelities of the beloved people. This faithfulness flows from a deepest depths of his compassion that not only does he share the suffering of his people, he dwells among them in fellowship.

This theme of faithfulness, compassion, and fellowship is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. John the Evangelist summed up the whole message of the scriptures in his declaration that Jesus is the love of God sent to man. It is important to understand that when Jesus came to become man God stooped down from the heights of heaven to extend a both hands for his children.

This understanding of the richness of the identity of God as love is central to our Christian faith. Because from what be believe, we become. St. Paul reminds the Christians of Corinth to mirror that fidelity and love of God with one another, with the "holy kiss". Christians are not only intimately united to God in love, but also deeply and truly in love with one another.

The point of God revealing himself to us is to transform us into himself. Humanity, despite its weaknesses and short comings, has been destined to be loved and to love with the fidelity, compassion and fellowship of God.

Pentecost Sunday - May 31, 2020

Pentecost Sunday - May 31, 2020

Reflection

Not many notice it but the New Testament has two accounts of how the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples at Pentecost. In our first reading, Luke writes that the Spirit burst into the room where the disciples were gathered. There appeared to them the tongues of fire which rested on each one of them. In the Gospel, John writes that Jesus himself burst into the room where the disciples locked themselves in out of fear. Jesus quelled their fears with the greeting "Peace be with you." And, in order to recall the events of creation, John writes that Jesus breathed on them.

The Holy Spirit is breath and fire.

He is breath because he is the Lord of life. In the events of creation, the Spirit was moving and breathing over the primordial waters in order to bring forth creation in the midst of chaos. In the creation of man, God breathed on the clay that Adam may have life. In the same way, Jesus breathes on the community of disciples that they may have new life.

Everything consumed by the fire of the Spirit is changed and renewed. The Christians who were hiding inside the house now boldly speaks in public. They speak in powerful language that the division of language is healed. The visiting nationalities in Jerusalem could understand them! Sin, in the biblical mind, is division. Jesus, in the Gospel of John, gives the Spirit in order to forgive sin, that is, to unite.

St. Paul poetically describes the action of the Spirit in the lives of the believers. Inspired and set fire by the Spirit many of them were moved to preach and do the works of the Gospel. There was the outpouring of spiritual gifts. The Spirit moves the members because they are part of the one body. The flame and breath of life is animating the body of Christ, the Church. He does this without discrimination but instead forges unity in the manifold beauty of the ministries.

The Spirit is the renewal of all creation. He renews each individual with his gifts. He animates and unites the community in love.

Ascension Sunday - May 24, 2020

Ascension Sunday - May 24, 2020

Reflection

The Lord retakes what is eternally his. This is the act of the Ascension which we celebrate this Sunday. The Son who humbled himself by descending from heaven to become man now assumes again that glory by ascending back to the Father. His descent by incarnation finds full circle in his ascent into heaven. But the Son that came down from heaven has brought with him something back up that changes everything.

The early Christians are keen to point it out. As Jesus went up to heaven, he brought with him our humanity, but at the same time left us his Divinity. In Jesus was accomplished the wonderful exchange of gifts - God took humanity to heaven, and men received the Spirit on earth.

Paul, in the second reading, paints a glorious picture of Jesus, seated on the throne in heaven with everything subjected to him. He speaks of Jesus as the King because he wants Christians to look up in order to see the hope that awaits them. In their baptism, Christians will receive the inheritance of Christ. The glory that is rightfully the Son's is now gained by Christians as Jesus' brothers and sisters.

Luke, on the other hand, writes in the Acts of the Apostles the episode of the Ascension, to foretell the main program of the whole book of Acts - that by the power of the Spirit, the disciples are tasked and will accomplish spreading the Word to the ends of the world. The Spirit and divinity that Jesus gave his disciples will consume all the earth.

The vision of God is being accomplished by Jesus in the Church. God who is sovereign in the heavens now retakes his sovereignty on the earth - a sovereignty denied by sin. He works through the Spirit working in the disciples, who as the psalms would sing of, are like the mighty soldiers of God conquering the world.

This conquest is not a conquest by the sword. It is a conquest of witnessing. The world will see in the disciples the great works God is accomplishing in them. Our readings are filled with words like power, might, and glory. These are the visible results of a victorious Spirit who conquers all and is in all. The angels speak to us today to wake us up from our trance in the sight of these visions: this glory is ours to achieve when we go and witness to our baptism to all the ends of the earth!

6th Sunday of Easter - May 17, 2020

6th Sunday of Easter - May 17, 2020

Reflection

This Sunday's Gospel comes from a very profound and rich monologue of Jesus during his last meal with the disciples. The monologue focuses on one of the deepest themes in the Gospel of John - that of remaining or abiding. Just as Jesus abides in the Father, he now asks his disciples to abide in him.

To abide means to accept or act in accordance with. But the original Greek term meno, leans closer to dwelling and unity. It speaks of the privilege place of Jesus in the Father's heart - he is the Beloved and the Father is the lover. Now he extends this relationship to us.

To make this possible, he promises an advocate who will guide us towards a closer unity in the Son and the Father. The Spirit that binds the Father and the Son in love now opens himself to include the disciples.

The presence of the Spirit is easily known. A person filled with the Spirit is able to do wonders. He replicates the works of Jesus. He is exudes hope and joy. He defeats evil, sin and suffering. Our first reading demonstrates this in the works of Philip. And to confirm that Philip's works are really coming from Jesus and the Spirit, the Apostles came to the converted community and gave them the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is an agent of unity. He unites the disciple to Christ. He unites the disciples to one another. Here we see the value of the Sacrament of Confirmation where the Christian is bound closely to the Christian community and the leadership of the Church through the power of the Spirit. In him there is one God, one Shepherd, and one Church.

What makes possible the entry of the Spirit into one's heart? It is through faith in Jesus as the Apostle Peter points out in the second reading. To sanctify the Jesus in one's heart means allowing Christ to take over one's heart totally. It is faith in Jesus that allows us to be empowered by the Spirit and gives us the grace to do wonders before all people. Continuing the line of thought from the psalms, the joy done by God from of old, has been renewed in Christ, and now is perpetuated by his disciples.

Let our prayer be this Sunday: Lord, through us filled with the Spirit, let all the earth cry out to God with joy!

Frustration in a Consumer World

It just works. That is the basis of how consumers evaluate a product. If something does not work as it is advertised then the product is considered bad. Apple products enjoy a good reputation because of its simplicity and effectivity. Other brands also work but not most of the time. But the truth is, with all the layers of technology used in devices, nothing works perfectly.

It is sometimes very frustrating when technology fails us at a time of use. There are a gazillion anecdotes of how Windows devices update themselves in the middle of use, of how printers refuse to print when documents are rushed, or when projectors don’t work in the middle of a presentation. You just want to tear your hair out at the frustration or be on the verge of smashing the tech only to restrain yourself after remembering its value.

Product design revolves around utility and ease of use. Designers, engineers, and product managers often fail at it however. When it comes to business, a product loses its art and is reduced to a commodity. Businessmen after all have already set their eyes on profit rather than the dignity of work, of the product, and of the consumer. These days we also realize that we don’t consider the dignity of the planet.

If society really values the dignity of labor and the art in production, then we would have great products that are effective, intuitive, efficient, moral, beautiful, and long-lasting. Our products however reflect the defects of society. I guess we make from who we are.

The 15:17 to Paris

Title: The 15:17 to Paris

Category: Based on a true story, Heroism

Parental Guide: Violence

The world is divided into those who believe that each one of us has a mission and purpose to accomplish in life and those who believe that life has no meaning and so you have to give it one. This film unabashedly belongs to the former when its main character talked of being “catapulted” into something higher.

Undergoing the many battles of life, Spencer had to struggle with the direction of his life. He had a dream that turned out be unreachable and he was forced to settle for “less”. Finding comfort in the company of his friends, they toured Europe with tentative plans until fate had them its crosshairs. What he spoke of as a catapulting found him facing a great threat that meant life or death.

The movie reminds us that we are all stories. We are ordinary stories in ordinary lives. Sometimes, however, life surprises us in the midst of our monotony, and challenges us to step up to something bigger than ourselves. We, from time to time, are called to become heroes. The three friends did not expect to find themselves in a dire situation in what could have been a pleasant vacation. Yet, they risked their lives to avert a disaster. Sometimes, it is the ordinary people who are called to be heroes.

Ordinary people have ordinary problems. Like them we search for meaning in life. As children we have dreams for our futures. Life is unfair so it smashes those dreams from time to time. We try our best to recover from the beatings and hold on to a hope that we are meant for something, that our birth has meaning. Those moments can be a drag. We feel blind as we reach out to find a sense of orientation. Such is the mystery of crises and failures.

Episodes of difficulty and struggle shape us to become a better version of who we are. It could happen through the daily grind. It may happen in serendipitously. We can cower in fear and hide in our comfort zones or we can step up and face it head on. Perhaps, life’s purpose is to force us to evolve through struggle. And maybe, we are really meant to become heroes.

What I like about it:

• A great motivational sequence inside the film
• Human portrayal of the protagonists, easy-to-relate characters

The Lazy Writer

I stumbled again on my blog. This blog has been quiet since last year. I’m just amazed that I started this way back 2007 back when I was an aspirant. The web was booming and I am a millennial riding its wave. Of course, those terms were unknown then. This little blog did come far.

I cleaned it up a bit. I had no taste for design when I started this. At least now I have a sense of what looks bad or not on a website. I also have to set a good example. I heard my blog, for whatever its worth, was made an example for our aspirants in Lawaan.

Most of my writings now are in my digital journal. I’m thinking of posting some of them here so that this site doesn’t feel too lonely. Over and out.