The Jesus Way

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 11:25-30.
At that time Jesus exclaimed:
"I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

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Reflection

It would seem funny that the prophet Zechariah in the first reading foresaw the Messiah riding in an ass as He comes to Jerusalem. The ass is a beast of burden but the Old Testament would portray its leaders and noblemen as riding on asses. Although if you image search on Google the animals ass and horse, the latter is certainly more appealing to us. Yet Zechariah insists that the Just Savior, the Messiah, would ride on the animal close to the culture of Israel and not on chariots and horses.

What is this leading to? It points out to us the great reversals that is quite common in the Bible. While we think that horses are grandier than asses like Ferrari's to Jeepneys, the vision of God is the reverse of human standards. For Zechariah, the Messiah is a man of peace in contrast to leaders who ride horses and chariots to war. The Gospel today presents to us Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the peace-bringer and one who reverses our world.

There are two parts to the Gospel today. In the first part, Jesus presents Himself as the Revealer of the Father. Here, Jesus uses the absolute. The Father knows the Son and the Son knows the Father. Knowledge is the Scriptures is more than just about possessing the facts. Knowledge here means a deep relationship between two persons. We know our parents and children more than what other people know about them. That the Father and the Son know each other is Jesus' claim to Divinity, for He claims for Himself the hidden knowledge of Yahweh. Those who accept this claim, Jesus calls the 'little ones', the 'babes', tender names He uses for His disciples.

It was the disciples, who are not professionals about the Scriptures and the legalities of the Law, that believed Jesus. Contrast these to the scribes and the Pharisees who Jesus calls the 'wise and the learned'. The latter group already have their ideas of who God is and who the Messiah should be. Their hearts were not open and so they could not accept Jesus, nor believe His miracles, nor accept His claim. When we claim wisdom for our own, it the point when we actually lose Wisdom Himself.

The second part of the Gospel consists then of Jesus' invitation to us. "Learn from me," Jesus says. The way to the Father does not consist in human knowledge and effort. It is the person of Jesus. How is Jesus the way and revealer of the Father? He is "humble of heart," and in Him we find rest in true peace. This connects exceptionally to our first reading, to Zechariah's Messiah as bringer of peace.

To "take the yoke" means to be a disciple. Jesus is simply inviting us today to follow His person. For in the nature of His human and divine heart, the Father is revealed to us. St. Paul would say that those who are true disciples of Jesus are living in the Spirit of God who gives life. They shy away from the deeds of the flesh. Flesh for St. Paul is linked to worldliness, all that is opposite to Christ. So the Liturgy today challenges us to make a stand with Jesus the Way against the current and ideas of the world.

When today more than before we think that money, power, influence, and honor bring us lasting happiness, the Gospel presents a contrasting alternative in Jesus. As Christians we are to live like Jesus. To believe in Jesus is in itself an act of humility. To live like Jesus is an act of meekness. Jesus should be our standard and our model. He should be our selfie and our everyday hashtag.

Lastly, Jesus gives us consolation. His "yoke is easy" and his "burden light." Because if you live Jesus, you live the Way of Love. When everything is flavored with love, life becomes sweet. Having the latest iPhone is today's horse and chariot, but we choose to ride on the ass, the beast of burden yet the one that carries the Messiah: for in service, humility, and love we are disciples of Jesus. Think like Jesus. Live like Jesus.

The Believing Thomas

Image used under Creative Commons, no copyright infringement intended.

Most of what I write below are ideas culled from an inspiring homily by Fr. Stephen Placente, SDB tonight. I was simply amazed after reading today's Office of Readings from St. Pope Gregory the Great and after hearing tonight's homily that opened my horizons on St. Thomas the Apostle.

St. Thomas is often described as the doubting Thomas. As the Gospel account has it, after hearing proof of the Lord's resurrection, he demanded a physical experience of the Lord's resurrected body for him to believe the unbelievable. This view of St. Thomas has been used and misused for so long. It is too easy to miss the point that it was him who gave the highest profession of faith in Jesus Christ in the whole of the New Testament: "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28).

This great apostle could not become the patron saint of unbelievers and doubters for how could such profession of faith emanate from so deep a doubt? It would be a too far a jump if there were no faith no matter how little to begin with. What is in St. Thomas the Apostle is a faith that sought to be reasonable. It is a faith that proved that the Resurrection is not just a spiritual event but a real one! The Lord really had risen! For if he simply believed what the other apostles had told him of the risen Christ, his own conviction about his faith would be shallow. He heard the news yet his own need for the experience got the better of him.

After all, things become more real for us the moment we experience them. It was so for St. Thomas. And according to Pope Gregory the Great, it was out of God's providential plan that he was absent and his intellectual nature demanded a real experience of the risen Christ. In the same way that Israel believed in the power of Yahweh in their Exodus experience, St. Thomas professed his faith in his physical experience of the risen Christ.

And here we are, receiving only what was once oral tradition of the risen Christ now written in the Scriptures. Can we then demand to experience the risen Christ in order to believe? To us is addressed Jesus words, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” (John 20:29) For while we have not seen the risen Christ with our own eyes, we have been receiving his Body and Blood in the Eucharist and have been part of His Mystical Body, the Church. The Gospel account is not so much about proofs that lead to faith, but faith that is strengthened by reason and experience.

Above all is faith. St. Thomas' faith was strengthened by that encounter which for him was indescribably real it gave him strength to witness to the faith with his life. By tradition, he was believed to be martyred after preaching the Gospel in the subcontinent of India. If that faith were not real because his experience of the risen Christ was not real, he couldn't have shared the glory of the Cross. And so for us is the task of remembering our real experience of the risen Christ. It need not be through seeing and touching. It could be an interior experience that we cannot explain. It could be an experience of love, of communion, or of faith. But whatever real experience grace has given us, let it lead to real faith, a faith that allows us to give our lives for Christ and to exclaim "My Lord and my God!"

The Primacy of God and a Case for Hospitality

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10:37-42.
Jesus said to his apostles:
"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

"Whoever receives you receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet's reward,
and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is a righteous man
will receive a righteous man's reward.
And whoever gives only a cup of cold water
to one of these little ones to drink
because the little one is a disciple—
amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward."

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Reflection

Just before we were sent out to our respective weekend apostolate assignments, our formator-in-charge warned us: "Do not think that people come close to you and praise you and compliment you because you are handsome. No, they come to you because they see the goodness in you." It was a fitting warning to a millenial generation of ministers who are fond of using social media and taking selfies. This generation after all is described as obsessively narcissistic. But I would say that people approach the ministers at the altar because they believe God is with them.

A Vietnamese priest who got recently ordained and who grew up with me in the theologate is unsettled at the lavish concern that Filipino Catholics give to priests. It is a point of teasing between us but it does show the Catholic culture we have in the Philippines. It is indeed unsettling for us who chose to serve at the altar since we very well know of our own weaknesses and how much we do not deserve the honor. Yet by faith, we accept it for by faith we believe that the devotion the People of God lavish on priests and ordained ministers are not to the persons themselves but to Christ.

It simply amazes me that the Spanish missionaries were able to inculcate in our society this instinct for Christ in the ministers. The danger these days however is to forget the faith that underlies the devotion. In fact, other sects deride Catholics for this seemingly unrealistic practice. Jesus in today's Gospel invites His believers to a culture of hospitality for those He has sent. It is not about the person sent but the message that the apostle (apostolos in Greek means "sent") bears for the Christian community. That is the reward for hospitality and devotion promised by the Lord.

The message or Good News is none other than Christ. So the reward for accepting the messenger into one's home and one's heart is certainly greater than that of the prophet or the righteous one. We ordained ministers bring Christ to the people of God. There is no proof for this other than our witnessing and preaching and only the eyes of faith can see Christ in the minister. The minister for his part has to believe this in a greater degree since the pull of doubts can sometimes douse the flame of the Gospel.

All in all, everything revolves around Christ and it is Christ who holds everything together. Thus our love for Him must transcend everything else even familial ties. For all other loves exist because of the Love of Christ. Only Christ gives meaning to everything.