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.