Peace in the midst Difficulties

Some people enter the convent to seek for “peace” or get away from troubles amid their secular life, finding out later that convent is not free from tribulations as well. Others break off one marriage for another only to find themselves again in the same troubling situation like the first. Whenever we experience pain or hardship we automatically wish to put an end to it. We naturally veer away at the mere sight of pain. 

James and John in the gospel tell Jesus to send fire and annihilate the people, saying like, “tapusin na natin ‘tong mga taong ‘to, nakakainis e”. Immediately, we want to get away from what makes our life difficult. Jesus, being aware of this human reality, reminds us that if we wish to follow Him our hearts should be disposed for difficulties and pains because His is not the easy way. We must be willing to feel the pain of leaving our dear ones for God’s work without turning back. We must be willing to be with Jesus when He has nowhere to lay His head.

Dahil sa awa ng Diyos

Noong nakaraang Pasko, dumalaw kami sa isang hospital na kung saan lahat ng mga hindi na halos makalakad at makatayo ay nandoon. Bata at matandang lalaki, may mga anak at wala, ay magkakasamang magdiriwang sa darating na kapaskuhan. Sa aking pakikipag-usap sa isang mag-asawang matagal na palang magkasama sa doon, naikuwento ng asawang babae na halos humigit kumulang na labing-pitong taon na siyang nagbabantay sa nakaratay niyang asawa. Ako ay nagulat sa tindi ng kanilang pagmamahalan. Ang kanyang asawang lalaki na nadulas lamang habang ito ay nasa bahay ay biglang nagkakomplikasyon, ang kanyang mga buto na naging dahilan kung bakit di na siya makalad at makatayo. Habang nagsasalita ang babae, damang-dama ko ang kanyang sariwang-sariwang alaala sa nangyari sa kanyang asawa. Halos apat na taon pa lamang silang magkasama noon ng maganap ang aksidente. Sila ay may tatlong anak na noon ay may kasisilang pa palang na supling. Mabigat man sa loob niya ay napilitan siyang ipaalaga ang kanyang mga anak sa piling ng kanyang mga kapatid upang mas mabantayan ang kanyang asawa. 

Nagtanong tuloy ako sa aking sarili, paanong tumagal ang kanilang relasyon sa kabila ng mga suliranin na kanilang dinaranas. Kabilang dito ang tanong na paano na yung kanilang buhay pinansyal gayong mahina na at hindi na makatayo ang “padre de pamilya”? Paano nila binubuhay ang kanilang mga anak at ang gastusin sa hospital? Hindi ko rin mapigil na magtanong at isa-isa naman niya itong sinagot. Ang sabi ng maybahay sa akin, ito raw ay dahil sa awa ng Diyos. Mayroon sumasagot sa lahat ng bayarin nila sa ospital at sa tulong na rin ng mga nagmamalasakit sa kanila.  Naramdaman ko ang napakatinding pagmamahalan at pananalig ng mag-asawang ito.
   
Sa ating ebanghelyo sinasabi ng ating Panginoon na tayo ay magmahal at manampalataya sa kanya. Gaya ni Maria Magdalena na sa kabila ng kanyang pagiging makasalanan buong tapang siyang lumapit kay Hesus. Dahil sa kanyang matinding pagmamahal at pananampalataya sa awa ng Diyos, siya ay pinatawad niya.

“Panginoon, ako po ay lumalapit sa inyo at humihingi ng tawad.”

Jesus Christ is God

                Last month, I saw a non-Catholic program on TV that used the Bible in proving that Christ is not God. And tragically, there were even ex-Catholics that were giving their testimonies. It is true that there are many verses in Scriptures that tell of the humanity of Jesus but this does not mean that he is mere human. There are so many verses that tell of his divinity and today’s Gospel is a good example:

(Luke 9:20) Peter said in reply, “The Messiah of God.”

Some other passages include (Matthew 16:13-20, 2:11, 25:31-46, 28:9, 12:38-40) “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said…“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” (Acts 7:55-56, 1:3-6, 13:33, 26:23) “…filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up…to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened…the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

(Hebrews 1:5-12, 5:5) “You are my son; this day I have begotten you.”…“I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.”…“Let all the angels of God worship him.”… “He makes his angels winds and his ministers a fiery flame.”…“Your throne, O God, stands forever and ever; and a righteous sceptre is the sceptre of your kingdom.”

In other verses it is Jesus himself who admits that he is God: (Mark 14:61-62, 2:3-12, 8:34-38) “…the high priest asked, “Are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed One?” Then Jesus answered, “I am; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.’” (Revelation 22:12-13, 1:17-18, 2:8, 1:7-8, 21:5-7) “Behold, I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to his deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

The apostles recognized his divinity and worshipped him: (Luke 24:50-53, 24:36-43) “Then he led them [out] as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them. As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven. They worshipped him and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy…” (John 20:26-29, 1:1-5, 5:18, 9:38, 10:33, 17:5, 21:1-14) ““Peace be with you…do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “…Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

It is a mystery why God chose to be man but these passages will give us some enlightenment: (John 3:16-18) “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life…whoever does not believe has already been condemned.”

(Philippians 2:5-8) “…Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped…he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness…found human in appearance, he humbled himself… (Colossians 1:15-20 & 2 Corinthians 4:4, 8:9) “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible…all things were created through him and for him…”

Nothing is impossible with God; he can take any form that He wants: 1.An Object – Fire (Exodus 3:1-6) “...the bush was on fire, it was not being consumed…God called out to him from the bush: Moses!” (Exodus 19:18 & Acts 2:3); 2.An Animal – Dove (Luke 3:21-22) “…heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.” (Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10 & John 1:32); and 3.A Human – Jesus (Genesis 1:26-27) “Then God said: let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness…male and female he created them.” (Matthew 1:23 - Emmanuel!)

One of the reasons why Jesus was rejected and crucified is because he claimed to be God. And if we are not going to recognize that Christ is God, then, we are no different from the people who had him killed. Jesus Christ is God. The Bible says it, God the Father announced it and the apostles recognized it. Then who are we not to accept it?

(Luke 9:22) “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected...”

(John 5:1-18) “the Jews tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.” (John 10:22-42) “The Jews answered him. We are not stoning you for good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.” (Mark 14:61 & Luke 22:67) and (John 19:1-16) “The Jews answered, ‘We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God’.” (Matthew 4:3, 16:16, 26:63)

Why Do We Gather?

             The gospel of today tells us mainly about the miracle of the rising of a widow’s son. However we can see the gospel in a different perspective.

As we can notice in the gospel reading, there are two different groups of people with different motives that draw them to be together. The first group, actually a large crowd, is led by Jesus who is entering a city called Nain. The reason of this first group to flock together is because they are so attracted to the teachings and miracles of Jesus. On the other hand, the second group, which also formed a large crowd, is led by a widow who is moving out of the city. The reason of this second group to flock together is because they are escorting the dead son of the widow for his funeral. While these two groups with different motives are moving in and out of the city together, a great miracle of the Lord is waiting to overwhelm them.

Let us see closely the person of Jesus depicted in today’s gospel and readily be astounded by his outstanding attitude. When his group is getting closer to the other group in front of him, Jesus notices a widow lamenting over her dead son. His heart is moved to console her. Jesus knows that the widow is really facing a hard time. The grief of the mother is so grave as we know that it is her only son, her only loved one, her only hope in life whom she can rely on, her source of comfort in her loneliness that she is lamenting over. With the conditions of this sorrowing widow, there is  no doubt that the Lord would surely perform a great miracle in front of these two groups of people, a miracle that would change many lives, a miracle that would remind them to whom and to where they shall go from that time on. 

“Young man, I tell you, arise! The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. This miracle surprises all the people present. This miracle has surely reoriented the purpose of their journey. This miracle causes them to glorify God. This miracle has brought them to Jesus, the Performer of the miracle, the Way that the people should walk through, the Truth of love and the Life that destroys death. And then, do we really know the very motive why we gather in the church, during rallies and other similar occasions? Let us learn from today’s gospel.

More Than Meets Our Frail Senses

Food departments are using “guessing games” to market their latest products. One example would be asking the customers to use their sense of taste and sight to identify which of the two well-dressed cakes on the platter corresponds to the product. After the costumers have a taste, the company would reveal the correct cake corresponding to the product. Then, the customers with their wrong choice would feel bad on what their tongue and eyes have just recognized. Little wonder why sometimes things we see around us are better appreciated using the desires of our hearts more than what our eyes see and our tongues taste.

That little example is something our eyes really see and our ears really hear - and it would probably remain in our mind for a time to come. But can you envision how incredible it is going to be when it is Jesus Himself that we are going to taste and see in our life? In the second reading, we heard that the apostles had accounts of these experiences. On the night before Jesus suffered, when they had all feasted - Jesus gave Himself up for them in the form of bread and wine.  Same goes for today’s Gospel, in the multiplication of the 5 loaves and 2 fishes to feed the 5000 hungry people.  This simply shows that as long as we have faith, with more than the external form of the bread and wine, or the 5 loaves and 2 fishes that our senses could identify comes a gift of life from Him.

And that’s what Jesus expects of us today. To value and understand with pure hearts the mystery of the Eucharist - that in the wine His blood is present and the bread is His own flesh. That in the given numbers of loaves and fish is the deliverance from hunger of the 5000 people as well. Thus, faith importantly which is unshaken could make the presence of Jesus Christ clearer than what meets our frail senses.

The Greatest Mystery

               “Christians are baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: not in their names, for there is only one God, the Almighty Father, his only Son and Holy Spirit: the most Holy Trinity.”(Catechism of the Catholic Church,  no. 233)

 

               Today, we celebrate the solemnity of the most Blessed Trinity. For us Christians, this mystery must be the central mystery of our faith and life because it is about God himself. The Trinity is one of the mysteries that are hidden in God, which can never be known unless they are revealed by God to us.  It is inaccessible through our reason alone, that is, we can never fully explain it.  The teaching was formulated by the Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit: “The Spirit of Truth, he will guide you to all truths. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.”  

               In the gospel, there is a revelation. Jesus, who is God’s Son, reveals the Holy Spirit. At the same time, Jesus tells us that everything that the Father has is His, and that He and the Father are one. How are they One? This truth cannot be acquired by academic knowledge but by our own personal experience of Love. We will know the mystery of the Trinity if we practice Love. When we love, then we come to know God who is love – one God in three persons united by infinite love. And we preach the Trinity best not by theological explanations, but through our lives of love and unity with one another bonded by God’s love.

If you Love me…

We take the concept of love in today’s Gospel not in the realms of conditions but rather as coming from the domain of intentions. To explain this, let me put the words of Jesus through the lips of a young man who is courting a woman. Jesus’ challenge of love, “if you truly love me, you will keep my word and follow me” is different from a boyfriend’s craving to own his woman: “if you love me, then follow me and leave your family.” Both may seem to suggest laying conditions to the part of the lover but the difference spells out when we see the intentions of the person who really loves. And if it is really genuine, then it should follow other descriptions of love such as freeing, selfless and responsible. 

In order to move closer to the idea of Jesus’ intentional love, we can use the conditions of parents who care for their children. “If you love me my son, you should study hard for your own sake…” Parents believe that if they are not going to challenge their children to work hard for their success they will definitely repeat the mistakes of others in the past. They insist on their loving conditions even if difficulties and rejections arise, just to let their children realize what is best in life. Jesus’ love is the same. He must insist on his Word, to the extent that it must be a commandment to be followed by everyone, in order to let his children be with Him with His Father in heaven.

Conditions are indeed violations to the rule of love because love must be something that you give without expecting for return. But these conditions are justified when we see the intentions of the person who really love us unconditionally.