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!