The Face of the Father

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 14:1-12.
Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.
Where (I) am going you know the way."
Thomas said to him, "Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?"
Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
Philip said to him, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."
Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.

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Reflection

Pope Francis writes in Misericordiae Vultus that Jesus is the face of the Father's Mercy. Like Philip, we are ignorant of the Father without Jesus. The Father, the first Person of the Trinity, is the Great Lover. Human as we are, we cannot feel that love if not shared by the Beloved, the Only Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus makes concrete for us the love of the Father. This is why Jesus is called the Mediator of the Father's love, He is love Incarnate, that is, love-made-flesh.

The love between the Father and the Son is bountiful and unmeasurable. Jesus was not exaggerating when he said that, "In my Father's house there are many dwelling places." The eternal plan of the Trinity was to include us into that loving embrace of the Father and the Son, in the Holy Spirit. We are to dwell in them as they are to dwell in our humanity.

This, I believe, is the continuing mission of all Christians: to perpetuate the incarnation of God's love. That we become for others the concrete manifestation of the Father's love in the same way that Jesus was the love-made-flesh for us. And this is the Spirit of the Easter season - to introduce us to a future where everyone can claim that God's love for them is real.

God's love becomes real in the love of mothers for their children - in the way they touch, the way the soothe, the way they cradle us in their arms. It becomes real in the sweat of fathers who sacrifice themselves for their families. It becomes real to people whose friends remained in the journey through thick and thin. It becomes real to the world that witnesses Christians living out their Baptism through service and joy.

No one can come to the Father except through Jesus. This highlights the role of the Sacrifice of the Eucharist for us. Since in the bread and wine we have the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, made food for our bodies and our souls. Blest and broken for us, it is the tangible and sensible sacrament of the Father's love. It is Jesus Christ himself who makes present in the Mass the unchanging promise of Easter. It is right then that we join Him in his Thanksgiving.

Are we then as Christians the face of Jesus to others?

The Case of Insecure Software

I used to avoid this discussion since the question of which operating system is most secure is a very slippery subject. Honestly, I am a Windows user since the OS is most common among alternatives, familiar and productive. I admire the complexity and raw power of Linux and all its flavors while although I am piqued by the simplicity of MacOS and iOS, both are expensive and claustrophobic for me. I have however two thoughts to put forward: one, the question of insecurity, and; two, the need to protect consumers.

The Question of Insecurity

It is quite common to hear in the tech world that Windows is an insecure OS. The question of software security, however, is a very complex one. Tech commentators now speak of ecosystems with Apple and Google and how the former has a strangle hold in theirs. Security, I believe, is a paradigm between a balance of control and freedom. Growing up with Windows, I saw how modular design has allowed great freedom in the creation and support of third party software in the Windows ecosystem at the cost of greater vulnerabilities.  Apple fanboys say that Apple OS is secure but that is because the company has tightly controlled its own OS'es that it is not too friendly to third party programmers.

When a discussion breaks between Windows and Apple fans, the topic of viruses is sure to come out. Windows, they say, has more viruses and malware compared to other OS'es. That is true but it misses the whole picture. While malware is made and is a product of several factors, the main driving force for it is it's objective of maximum effect. Malware is always directed against the  most used product. The tirade against Windows is also an acknowledgement that it is the most used operating system.

The rise of Android in the mobile space is a testament to this. Being the mobile OS with the greater market share, it has become what Windows is in the desktop sphere. I would say that if it were Apple products, then most hackers and black hats would direct their attacks against MacOS and iOS and tide would reverse on Apple fanboys.

It would be good to note too that the internet is now the universal attack vector. Any operating system connected to the internet can be hacked, so none of these could actually brag of impregnability. Software vendors have to deal with three major fronts: insecure software design, user abuse, and vulnerable inter-operability.

The question of secure software design then rests in how much effort software engineers harden their code and their ecosystems, how much leeway they provide for users and third parties, and the balance that comes between. Software security is always an arms race between software engineers and malware authors, thus, another side to security is how much updating and patching a software is given. All in all, the question of security isn't easy and simple.

The Need for Consumer Protection

Google has the Project Zero Program that seeks to find vulnerabilities that affect Google software and others. In recent months, Googlers have contributed to hardening Microsoft software, one of their rivals. This intelligence sharing benefits consumers because the more security researchers from different vendors collaborate, the more secure the software we use becomes. This leads me to my second thought: consumer protection has become a collective responsibility between software companies and states.

Besides vulnerability scanning of software from other companies, like peer review within the scientific community, the use of software standards also calls for this collaborative and collective effort at security. A few years ago, a major flaw was discovered in the TCP/IP stack and in the DNS system, a software infrastructure that holds together the internet and the web. It forced rival companies to work together in solving the problem. They saved the day and everyone was happy.

Security nowadays has to be crowdsourced. The internet and all its dimensions: technical, political, moral, etc, is still in a state of flux as humanity is still in the process of making sense out of the greatest invention it has created that transcended boundaries and categories. While we still lack a universal approach to dealing with the internet and it being a work in progress, security is everyone's job, including the user.

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.