ANG NATATAGONG KAYAMANAN AT ANG PERLAS NA MAHALAGA

Hitik ang ating kapaligiran ng mga biyaya at pagpapala ng Panginoon para sa atin. Mababanaagan ang mga ito sa ating masiglang relasyon sa ating kapwa, matiwasay na pamumuhay, o ang katotohanang buhay ka pa rin sa sandaling ito. Ang mga ito ay pawang mga sinyales na tumutukoy sa higit pang pagpapalang ipinapakita sa atin ng Panginoon. Ito ay ang kanyang kaharian, ang makapiling ang Panginoon, at lubusang damhin ang kadakilaan ng Kanyang pagmamahal.

Sabi ni San Hilario ng Poitiers, matatagpuan ang yamang ito; ang kaharian ng langit, nang walang bayad; sapagkat ang Mabuting Balita ay bukas para sa lahat, ngunit ang magamit at makamit ito kasama ang kanyang bukid ay di maari nang walang bayad, dahil ang yamang mula sa kalangitan ay di nakakamit nang di nawawala ang mundong ito.

Di na natin kailangan pang hanapin ang pinakamahalagang yaman sa santinakpan; ang kaharian ng langit. Ito ay lantad na, nilantad, ipinahayag na ng ating Panginoon Jesu-Cristo sa atin. Ito ay mababasa at makikita sa Banal na Kasulatan, Katuruan ng Simbahan, at sa Sagradong Tradisyon ng Simbahang Katolika. Ngunit nananatiling malaking hamon sa bawat isa sa atin ang buong pagyakap at pagtanggap sa yamang iniaalok sa ating ng ating Panginoon Jesu-Cristo.

Ang pag-angkin sa kaharian ng langit sa kanyang kabuuan ay nangangahulugang ng pagtalikod sa anomang makamundong yaman, maging pagnanasa. Mahirap ito; ang isakripisyo ang mga makamundong yamang ipinundar nang maraming taon, isantabi ang mga luho at kapritso nakasanayan na atbp. Ngunit madadalian tayong talikdan ang anong yaman ng mundong ito kung lagi nating isasaisip, isasapuso at isasabuhay ang napakadakilang yamang ibinabahagi sa atin ng ating Panginoong Jesu-Cristo; ang yaman ng kaharian ng langit, ang makapiling Siya, magpakailanman. May hihigit pa ba rito?

WHY PARABLES?

A reflection by Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Matthew 13:24 – 30

“I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation of the world (Mat 13:35).”

Today’s Gospel features Jesus’ competence to teach the people in parables. In the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), the parables are abound. But, why did Jesus deliver His message in the parables? Is it not better to speak in straightforward fashion to avoid confusion and misinterpretation?

One of the probable reasons is that telling parables is something particularly Eastern way of understanding. Like Confucius, Buddha, and some other great gurus of the East, Jesus had penchant to teach through stories. This is a beautiful way of expressing the truth precisely because it appeals to the ordinary experience of His disciples. When Jesus met the people from the agricultural context, He said the parable of the sower. And, when He encounters people living in the cities of commerce, He taught parables on investment of talents. But, there is a profound truth lies beneath.

Reading parables posts a fundamental difficulty for some of us. Often, the truth seems fluid and escapes direct understanding. What is this all about? Can he just tell us what He wanted to tell us? We cannot blame Jesus for being a Jew and teaching through parables, but we may trace our tendency for looking the plain and even instant answer from our highly Westernized education system. Gerhard Lohfink, an author of Jesus of Nazareth, revealed the western obsession to facts and data. Truth has to be measurable, observable and verifiable. Thus, things that fall short of these categories, has no claim to be called truth. I do not say that Western style of learning is not good, but I am saying it differs greatly from the ancient East. In fact, without rigorous and discipline sciences of the West, it is impossible for us to have a computer to type this reflection and a printer to produce this article you are reading now!

When we encounter Jesus and His parables, we are invited to set aside our western-trained mind and see the beauty of the parables. In this fast-moving world, reading parables slows us down and allow us to reflect. We need to chew them slowly and let the truth unveil itself in our own understanding. As a novice preacher, parables are a great help for me. When I write a reflection on one of Jesus’ parables, I spend a moment of silence every day for a week, just to have a dialogue with the parable. How can I relate the parable of the good soil into my life as a students? How does the parable of the yeast speak for married people? Amazingly, the parables always give me fresh answers.

Dear brothers and sisters, often, we are like the disciples. We are impatient and rushing in looking for the meanings behind various happening in our lives. Why did I flank the exam? Why didn’t I have an ordinary and normal family? Why did my close friend have to suffer HIV? Please, Lord, answer me now! There is no easy and fast solution to those questions. The more we demand, the more we are frustrated. Thus, Jesus taught us the parables. He gave us a method to cope with life’s hardest moments, to walk straight in a crooked way and to rise again every time we fall. Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP, my favorite author, once said that hope is not about attaining our expectations or a quick fix to our problems, but despite an unwanted results, we are still able to discover meanings. Let us enjoy every parable we encounter, let them sink deep into our system and allow them to lead us into God’s time and wisdom.

Naghahasik pa rin ng Binhi ang Magsasaka

Minsan, sa pakikipag-kwentuhan ko sa isang kaibigan, nabaling ang aming usapan sa isa pang kakilala namin. Di ko namalayan, napunta na kami sa panlalait sa kanya. At napansin ko na habang nag-uusap kami at negative pa rin ang usapan, nagiging tense din ako, nagsimulang maging negative din ang aking nararamdaman. Bago kami nabaling sa usapang iyan, masaya kaming nagkukuwentuhan. Matiwasay at mapayapa ako. Pero nung nagsimula kaming manlait at pagtawanan ang kapwa, nawala ang kapayapaan at katiwasayan; naging balisa ako, medyo galit, at malungkot din.  Naghiwalay kami ng aking kausap, nagtatawanan pa rin sa panlalait sa kapwa, pero may masamang lasa sa aking kalooban at buong araw na balisa at mainit ang ulo. 

Habang binabalikan ko ngayon ang aking karanasan, nakita ko rin na hindi lamang sa pagkakataon na iyon na ganito ang nangyari. Sa bawat pagkakataon na nilait ko ang aking kapwa, naging malungkot at hindi kanais-nais ang aking naramdaman. Pero kapag ang usapan ay tungkol sa mga mabubuti, ang epekto ay kapayapaan at kasiyahan na nagtatagal. Natatapos ang usapan, pero umaalis ako na buo ang aking pakiramdam; hindi nabawasan ang aking pagkatao di gaya nang kapag ang pinag-usapan ay panlalait o sa mga iba pang hindi kanais-nais na bagay.  

Sabi ni Thomas Merton, isang Trappist monk, “Ang bawat minuto ng ating buhay ay nagdadala ng mga binhi ng pagmumuni-muni kung saan nakikipangusap ang Diyos.” Sabi rin ni William of St. Thiery, isa pang dalubhasa sa buhay spiritwal, “Umaalingawngaw ang boses ng Diyos sa kalawakan, ngunit hindi natin naririnig, sapagkat hindi tayo nakikinig.” Si Hesus ay Emmanuel, “ang Diyos na nasa ating piling.” Bawat minuto at sandali, kinakausap niya tayo sa pamamagitan ng ating pakiramdam, sa pamamagitan ng ibang tao, sa lahat ng kanyang mga ginawa.
 
Kung babalikan natin ang mga pagkakataon na ramdam natin ang ating pagiging tunay, hindi ba ito yaong mga pagkakataon na kumilos tayo bilang mga tao—at hindi mga hayop? Yaong nagpatawad tayo, umintindi ng iba, hindi pinahintulutan na manaig ang galit o sama ng loob; ang mga pagkakataon na ginawa natin ang ating katungkulan bilang mga magulang, anak at kapatid; ang mga pagkakataon na tumigil tayo upang damhin ang ganda ng isang tanawin, magdasal sa gitna ng katahimikan, o makipag-usap sa matalik na kaibigan; pati ang lasapin ang sarap ng kape sa umaga at magpasalamat sa kabutihan ng Diyos—sa lahat ng mga ito nandoon ang binhi ng Salita na inihahasik ng Panginoon, at magbubunga ng kabanalan. 

Patuloy na naghahasik ang Diyos ng Kanyang Binhi sa ating mga kalooban; nawa matuto tayong tumigil panandali at tanggapin ang mga binhing ito.  

CALL ME SAKURAGI

During my childhood days, there was this famous anime series which most of the children in my generation loved to watch. The anime was about basketball, and the title was Slamdunk. The story revolved around the life and struggle of the main character named Hanamichi Sakuragi.  Before becoming a varsity player in basketball, he had a bad reputation, of being a troublemaker, siga, hot tempered, etc. Because of this, people were afraid of him, even his schoolmates. No one wanted to be in his company because they already labeled or stereotyped him as a bad guy. Usually, others called him by this alias: ‘the red haired guy.’ But there was a girl, his classmate named Haruko, who recruited him to join the varsity team. She saw his goodness and believed in his true potentials. In fact, she never addressed Sakuragi by any other names, but she called him by his first name, Hanamachi.

The story of Zacchaeus speaks of a wealthy man and a tax collector. During the time of Jesus, tax collectors were considered public sinners because they betrayed their own people by collecting taxes for the Roman Empire. They paid Rome a fixed amount and collected as much as they can, pocketing the excess. Actually, the Gospel never mentioned anything good about Zacchaeus. Aside from being a persona non grata, he was also described physically as a short man, pandak. This was how the people saw Zacchaeus, and it was quite true, but not all the truth. On the other hand, Jesus saw in Zacchaeus what nobody saw – his inner goodness. That is why Jesus called him by his very name; ‘Zaccheaus, come down quickly.’ In Hebrew, the name Zaccheaus means ‘the pure or innocent one.’ This was what Jesus saw in Zaccheaus, his being pure and innocent--unlike what the other people saw about him.

Sometimes in our life, we experience being associated by other people with names or titles which are discriminating like kalbo, mataba, patay-gutom, masama, bobo etc. similar to what Sakuragi and Zaccheaus had experienced. But these names do not define us. Rather, those names given by God and our love ones are the one that define and reflect the goodness in us. In my experience, I admit, during my high school days I was considered as pasaway. Many of my friends and classmates could not believe that I wanted to enter the religious life. I could not blame them for such reaction because that was the way the judge me as a person. However, I still pursued my desire to become religious. I responded to the call of God. Although I am not worthy, yet he still believes in me. He is the one calling and forming me in becoming a good religious or person. Maybe we also shared a similar experience in life. Somehow we are like Sakuragi or Zaccheaus – who were judged as sinners. But still God is calling all of us to conversion. He sees goodness in us because we are created in His image and likeness. God loves the sinners just as much he loves the saints. And like Zaccheaus, He called us by our own names. He says in Isaiah: “I have called you by name. You are precious and honored in my sight. I love you and you are mine.”

WAIT!

Ang tatay ko ay isang seaman. Kung kaya naman lumaki ako na madalas wala sa aming piling ang aming tatay upang magtrabaho sa ibang bansa. Mahirap at masakit sa amin iyon dahil kadalasan ay wala siya sa mga mahahalagang okasyon sa aming pamilya tulad ng pasko, kaarawan at graduation. Pero alam ko na mas mahirap sa kanya iyon na tiisin mapalayo sa kanyang pamilya upang matustusan lamang ang aming pangangailangan. Kung kaya naman dito ako unang natuto magpahalaga sa oras at mag-antay. Walang matagal na paghihintay at walang naaksayang maiksing oras sa taong minamahal mo 

Sa ating ebanghelyo ngayon, pinaalalahan tayo ni Hesus sa kahalagahan ng pag-aantay. Nagbunga ang pag-aantay ng isang balo na matugunan ang kanyang panalangin. Sinabi mismo ni Hesus, “Hindi ipagkakait ng Diyos ang katarungan sa kanyang mga hinirang na dumaraing sa kanya araw-gabi, bagama’t tila nagtatagal iyon.” Mahal na mahal tayo ng Diyos. Kahit na malayo tayo sa kanya, ang ating kabutihan at kapakanan ang lagi niyang iniisip. Patuloy lamang tayong lumapit at magdasal sa kanya. Matuto tayong mag-antay, may tamang oras para sa lahat ng ating panalangin.

Tunay ngang walang matagal na paghihintay at walang naaksayang oras sa taong minamahal mo. Huwag tayong magpadala sa makabagong kultura ngayon na hindi na marunong mag-antay, laging nagmamadali. Sa taong marunong mag-antay, tunay na kaligayahang walang maliw ang siyang nag-aantay. Upang ito ay makamit, ang wika ni Hesus ay ating sundin, “manalangin lagi at huwag manghinawa.”