Reflections

15th Sunday Ordinary Time JULY 10, 2011

2011-07-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

The color GREEN used in the stole of the priest for Masses during the Ordinary Time signifies LIFE. I was in Palawan a week ago, and the sight of the place full of trees, indeed Palawan's forest remains to be its treasure, was very rejuvenating for a person seeking some break from the hassles and bustles of daily life in the mission.

I remember we were taught that when someone living in places where snow abounds (and I've seen how the place can be literally painted white when snow falls) sees a green leaf, the feeling of hope is awakened. Soon, the cold of the snow will be gone when the green shoots start to come. Green really stands for life, the cycle of life.

The Word of God is His Word spoken for life. It comes out from His heart out of love. And it goes, fulfilling its mission, and then coming back to God. Such is the cycle of the Word of God: from God to give life and returning back to God, the cycle of life.

And the Word today is "sown," literally and figuratively. Literally because it is announced, spoken, for all to hear. He talks to us, but do we really stop and listen? What is sown has life, to nurture life, so it will live in God. One notices that between two people who know and care for each other, talking is their sign of caring for the other. Children who grew up in environments where they were rarely talked to likewise rarely talks, and develops their speech abilities only when someone who cares for them starts talking to them. When the talking stops between two people, or when there is no talking between two people, the care becomes unclear, the gap becomes evident, and the distance makes them cold to each other. But God "sows" His Word. He reaches out to us, so we can live in Him.

The question then is the kind of listening we give, which in Scriptures today identifies as "the soil" or "the kind of ground" on which the seed is sown. Let me divide, using the Scriptures themselves, these kinds into four:

1. Listening with disinterest - an action done by someone who seems to simply pass by, the sound is heard in one ear, it goes away in the other ear, doesn't even settle in the mind, and is rarely given meaning. It doesn't resonate anything inside the person. It dies and withers, taken away, so to say. Is it a matter of inability to listen? Is it a case of disability to listen? In any case, what is sown is not able to live in the soil. They say, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Does this mean that meaning is in the ears of the hearer? But the ears here definitely involve the mind and the heart, just as the eye in there involves both faculties of the mind and the heart.

2. Superficial interest - What is heard is given some moments of focus and interest, but unable to grapple with its meaning, what is sown dies. Just like the lessons learned in school, unless it is written for students to re-view (view again), short term memory of the lessons fades and dissipates into thin air. Again, what is sown dies.

3. Cluttered interest - there may be interest and meaning given to what is heard, what is sown in us. But this interest competes with other interests, the "weeds and thorns" alluded to in the parable, Our ability to give meaning to what is heard becomes colored by the environment that surrounds the input. When what is heard is simply allowed to grow, nurtured less, it rarely really grows. It becomes clobbered by the other interests given co-equal importance. Oftentimes in life, what is given importance is the immediate. If only we realize the art of prioritizing. I say "art" because it involves giving time for it, just like an artist gives time in what one is painting, or a composer's attention given to the music being composed. All other things come secondary, of less importance. Of course, in time, what was sown dies. Would that its life potency were so strong as to wiggle itself in great struggle to seek the focus it deserves. But rarely does it survive.

4. Real interest - the seed sown on this type of soil is given the focus it deserves, finds resonance in the person listening to what was spoken. Meaning is enkindled, and the relationship blooms. What is learned becomes part of life. Indeed, the seed bears fruit as much as it has been given due credit and attention.

Now I understand even more fully why SILENCE was required during my Novitiate Days way back 1983, and required in religious life. Because "seeds" really grow in the silence of the earth. It can only be as loud as the attention given it. It is only after "overlearning" my lessons did I manage to really remember, not just for exams, but for life.

The story of the dogs that saw the thief illustrates very well a good summary for these thoughts. One night, I woke up hearing the dogs of the neighborhood barking. I opened my windows and saw a man carrying a rooster it stole running hurriedly as dogs were at his back chasing him with their barking. Soon other dogs joined the fray, barked along. After a few minutes I saw some dogs return while I could still hear other dogs barking as they chased the thief. Soon the thief was caught. Only the dogs that saw the thief pursued the thief. Those who barked along stopped, exhausted, and returned.

The thief can give meaning to the dogs barking. The Word of God can continuously provide the meaning that can sustain its life in the right soil. If only we allow it to grow in us, giving it the nurturance it deserves, so it can give us life.

God bless and take care

WHO IS THIS WOMAN?

2010-12-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

(Thanks to the site where I got this: http://www.google.com.ph/imglanding?q=immaculate+concepcion&hl=tl&sa=X&sz=21&biw=1024&bih=551&tbs=isch:1&tbnid=8PFmRaX1sDyCfM:&imgrefurl=http://catholicseeking.blogspot.com/2010/11/immaculate-conception-novena-day-2.html&imgurl=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O6K_h61str8/TPWO6vz189I/AAAAAAAAFeM/mFtd5_VN-Ns/s1600/murillo-Immaculate-Conception.jpg&zoom=1&w=302&h=405&ei=yMb-TM-AMM66ce7p4fEF&iact=rc&oei=jsb-TOH5CIfRcJXysYcG&esq=3&page=1&tbnh=120&tbnw=94&start=0&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Dec. 8, 2010
St. Jude Catholic School
Manila, Philippines

Who is this woman whom the Church addresses as the Immaculate Conception?

She it was who gave birth to a boy named Jesus
With Joseph her husband, she traveled to Bethlehem for the census announced then
She was found with child even before the wedding was made
Joseph even started to doubt whether he would marry her
But with the angel’s word in a dream, he went ahead
Because what was happening was in fulfillment of the plan of God
Announced to her that she would be the mother of God’s Son
Who will save everyone from our sins

She it was who said “Let it be done unto me according to your word.”

Accepting the will of God, living with Joseph and giving birth to Jesus
Giving life to Jesus in her womb, taking good care of Him
Offering Him as the law prescribed – a pair of turtledoves and young pigeons
Hearing Simeon say “a sword shall pierce your heart”
And keeping these words in her heart
She even asked Jesus why He stayed in the temple after their visit to Jerusalem
Only to hear Him say that He is to be busy with His father’s business
Keeping again these words in her heart.

She who accepted the will of God in her life kept these thoughts in her heart
So she could continue to do His will in her daily life.

The next thing we hear of her in the Scriptures is her seeing her son carrying the Cross on the way to Calvary
And at the foot of the cross where her son hung
She stood faithful, gazing at the Savior of the world dying on the Cross
Hearing Him say “WOMAN, Behold your son” – John and all of us
Hearing Him say to John “Behold your mother” – she is ours to take care as well
What with her husband gone, and now her only son going too.
She was there holding her Son by her arms after he was brought down from the cross.

From her Son’s birth up to His death and Resurrection
She stayed faithful and committed.
Mary indeed our Mother, and we her children too.

Mary, the woman who stood by her son, stood by her Church when the Holy Spirit
Came, poured as tongues of flame on the Apostles in the Upper Room
Fulfilling Her son’s word to take good care of His followers after He had died
Risen from the dead, He had even given her the solicitude of a mother
Of those in the 1st Community and until the Last Community when he comes again.

But why IMMACULATE CONCEPTION?

If all fidelity was in her from the start of her accepting the will of God
Never giving up in the midst of questions to be answered only totally by God Himself
These only point to the greater possibility that She must have been graced so well.

Oh yes, didn’t she hear the angel say to her at the Annunciation
“Hail, FULL OF GRACE, the Lord is with you.”

GRATIA PLENA, the fullness of God’s confidence was with her
To become the worthy Mother of His Only Son.

Hence the IMMACULATE CONCEPTION is the way of the Father
To prepare a womb worthy of divinity – the Son would be born in there
Even if He would be born in a manger later
He was first conceived in a womb unstained by sin
IMMACULATE, CLEAN and PURE
As Her fidelity, as God’s fidelity to His plan to save us from our sins
Allowing the possibility of our communion with divine life
The possibility for eternity to be ours as well with God and the angels.

Yes, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION she was given the title and identity,
Because she was prepared for her mission: giving birth to our Savior
Leading, guiding, watching over him and taking every event in His life into her heart
Never forgetting that she had committed her life to the plan of God.

FIAT VOLUNTAS TUA – Let it be done unto me according to your word
The faithfulness of Mary revealing the faithfulness of God Himself.

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION – God’s way of saying to all of us
That we were created in His image and likeness, unstained, and even when stained
We remain called to live to the best that we can a sinless life, a saintly life.

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION is Divine Providence at its best
Always thinking of our happiness and salvation

Mary, Mother of God and IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
Pray for us before your Son so we may one day see Him and You
And the Father as well with the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Narrow Road: 21st Sunday Ordinary Time 2010

2010-08-21T16:26:00.000-07:00

For ten Sundays now since June 17, 2010 (12th Sunday in Ordinary Time), I have been doing short sharings in a TV MARIA station (channel 160 in our Sky Cable provider) program entitled: Salita ng Dios, Salita ng Buhay aired every Sunday. Actually, the program is shown daily with different SVD priests sharing, at 7AM, 12nn and 6PM Philippine time. Salita ng Dios, Salita ng Buhay appears to be a translation of the SVD Bible Diary published every year as a help in understanding the Word of God in order to strengthen our Christian Catholic faith. The title of the SVD publication is Word in other words. The pattern of the publication is such that after the Gospel for the day is made, one of the SVD (Priest or Brother) or SSpS (Blue Sisters) or SSpSAP (Pink Sisters) religious shares a reflection. The program opens with a Welcome Greetings, Opening Prayer, Reading of the Word of God, Sharing, Closing Prayer and blessing. Having this blog, I thought of publishing here what I share in there. I use Tagalog in the TV program; here let me use English. Maybe I can put it into Chinese as well for the sake of the Chinese readers.

Allow me to start this project here.

The texts of the Word of God are as follow:

1st Rdg - Is. 66: 18-21
2nd Rdg - Hb 12: 5-7, 11-13
Gospel - Lk 13: 22-30

The evident topic for this Sunday is about SALVATION. The 1st Rdg speaks of the plan of Yahweh to save His people. In the Gospel, as Jesus was going around the towns and villages on His way to Jerusalem, he was once asked if there will be many (or not) who will be saved. The answer of Jesus was not a categorical YES or NO in response to the inquiry. His answer came with an action word: "STRIVE to enter through the narrow door."

To understand what SALVATION is through the image of the NARROW DOOR, it might help to envision it as against a WIDE ROAD. Here in Metro Manila, the widest road I have ever driven is the Commonwealth Road which I usually take when visiting friends on that side of the metropolis. Before it is the Elliptical Circle, which used to be called "Epileptic Circle" when it was on construction many years ago, due to the potholes that almost made traveling feel like an epileptic attack. In these wide roads, driving is fast though careful. Everyone gets to speed up amidst the constant caution one needs to make to avoid an accident and reach one's target destination. There seems to be an "I DON'T CARE" (carefree) attitude as one drives the lanes, overtaking the others, ensuring one gets there safely.

The NARROW DOOR may be compared to any one of two-lane roads wherein one lane gets occupied by the construction debris - as when the canal has to be cleared in preparation for the floods, or when the water lines and electric cables have to be checked every now and then. Right in front where the obstruction is a device that stops the use of the said lane. All drivers passing through the road have then to squeeze themselves into the only lane available. The Skyway has a bottleneck portion as one reaches Alabang, and sign says it clearly: ALTERNATE passing only. All drivers passing through the bottleneck needs to slow down, anticipate the other with care to avoid an accident and to let the other pass ahead of oneself. There is thus in this image the picture of the STRIVING we need to make. The personal, careful rather than carefree attitude is shown. No matter how slow, traffic keeps on moving.

The image of the NARROW DOOR or LANE thus provides the spirit of our striving: with care and concern for the other, which does not become evident in the fast lane WIDE ROADS of carefree-attitude and speed.

To strive to be saved - that belongs to us. That we want to be there too in heaven - that belongs to us. I remember a spiritual guide who once said (was he St. John Bosco?) "Pray as if everything depends on God, but work as if everything belongs to us." Saving belongs to God; being saved belongs to us. I remember during my regency in Tefuyeh, a remote mountain village of the Tsou tribe in Chiayi, Taiwan, my neighbor, a teacher of the tribes passed away. His house was just across my room. In between us was a road that went to the higher area of the village, and this man's house sat atop the edge of the cliff overlooking the parish Church just opposite my room. I heard from the villagers that he was not baptized. Many of the Christian churches there, including the Catholic Church, invited him to be baptized, which he refused. Death overtook him before he could be baptized. The question dawned on me: will he be saved? What shall happen to him? I raised these questions to my supervisor-priest Fr. Anton Weber, SVD. His answer never left me: "That now belongs to God." Indeed, saving belongs to Him. What we are left behind is the STRIVING to be saved.

In our STRIVING, to be baptized is the first Step to salvation. It is the sacrament of our INCORPORATION to Christ. We belong Him as He belongs to us. We are INITIATED into the family of God, the Church. In adult baptisms, the person baptized makes a PERSONAL, CONSCIOUS choice to believe Him Who saves. In the baptism of babies, like most of us had, our parents and godparents had us belong to the Church just as they already belong to the Church.

As we grow in Christian life, another STRIVING we make is through understanding our faith. One of the experiences that can strongly convey this journey towards understanding our faith is when we are disciplined, when God corrects us, perhaps through suffering and pain. The second reading says it clearly: "Do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by Him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every child he acknowledges." Hence, we are to "endure trials as discipline. (For)God treats you as His children. For what child is there whom his father does not discipline?"

Allow me to share some pictures I received in the email with the subject: "Why boys Need Strict Fathers... (Por que los peques necesitan de padres que son estrictos)"

Without a strict father, danger and death are just lurking in front of us! Salvation may be too far without our understanding why!

If we still cannot understand how God saves, I pray the Holy Spirit gives us His wisdom and enlightenment so we can understand and STRIVE to be saved! May the Lord bless us all. Amen

Dec. 18, 2009 Reflection: JOSEPH and JESUS

2009-12-17T15:15:00.000-08:00

Let me share here my reflection submitted to a confrere's blog for the Christmas season. Thanks Frs. Jerome and Randolf for the initiative to have this series of reflections.

The nursery home in every hospital has always been a very amusing place. That is especially true when the father gets to see his son for the first time. Together with his wife, they would look at the baby and oftentimes say the following words: Father: “Look at his nose, it looks like mine.” The wife would say, “Yes, look at his forehead, very much like yours and your father’s. He really is your son.”

Though we know that St. Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, there appear traces of Joseph’s influence on his foster child. Hoping that we can get some model for our fatherhood on our sons (and daughters, and modeling for motherhood as well for those matters), let’s look at some of them:

1. Joseph must have been really in love with Mary, his wife-to-be. The Scriptures we have just read tell us that he “was unwilling to expose her to shame.” He knew that a woman in Mary's situation would have very easily landed in a very precarious situation – being killed by stone-throwing at the city gate. But Joseph’s love became her security and that of the baby Jesus in her womb. Her honor was something that Joseph must have really treasured in his heart. When a man really loves a woman, that love is best expressed in protecting her honor and dignity before others. Haven’t we heard many a man with chivalry say that “this is the woman I married” ("siya ang pinakasalan ko"). Isn’t this the content of the covenant sealed in the sacrament of marriage – when both husband and wife pledge love and loyalty and preserve the good honor of the other?

Joseph’s love for Mary, a woman, may have become the primal example of the Lord Jesus’ sound respect for women. Didn’t he have a lot of women following and serving him in his many journeys? Didn’t he literally free the woman caught in adultery (“in flagrante delicto” as lawyers would love to quote) by saying that “if nobody is left to accuse you, neither would I.” This would have been Joseph’s line spoken to Mary, had the evangelist Matthew allowed a dialogue between them during this stage in their lives.

Before I bring in the second point, allow me to share a text message I had just received the other day. It reads: “Now it can be told why Jinky cried ang was very emotional during the homily at the Mass after Manny’s historic victory over Cotto. The priest pala made a mistake. Nasabi daw ng pari: “Manny, Jinky, ito ang payo ko sa inyo: hayaan ninyo na nasa gitna lagi ninyo si Krista.” Of course the priest was supposed have told Jinky and Manny to allow Christ – Kristo – to stay in their midst, in their marital life.

2. Joseph must have been a very God-fearing righteous man. From the example of Joseph we see two qualities of a righteous man: respect for the law, and fear of God. The law contains a capacity to make us in society live in order and decency. When we live against it or have committed an infraction against the law, we are accountable to its sanctions and penalties. However, we may notice that the law can be really cruel, particularly in the case of the law that imposes the death penalty. That is why the fear of God has to go side-by-side with our respect for the law. We often hear that “what is legal may not necessarily be moral.” The sound foundation of morality rests on the primacy of God over everything, and our fear of Him Who knows everything. Hence, we are shown in the readings today Joseph in a dream. As psychologists would love to say, dreams often tell us something about the conscious activities of every one during our waking hours. When something really bothers us, it can continue into the dream state. We can then imagine Joseph searching and asking questions like “How do I solve this problem (like Maria, as in that famous song)?” His heart must have been reaching out to God for an answer, and even praying “not as I will but as you will, O God,” which God answers through the dream.

When we extend that unwritten prayer dialogue between Joseph and his God, we may actually hear Jesus Himself, on the night before He died, in the garden of Gethsemane, praying to His Father, “take this cup away from me, but not as I will but as You will.”

We know the rest of the story of Joseph. He may not have been the biological father of Joseph, but we can see his evident impact on the way Jesus lived his life: Joseph’s love and respect for Mary’s honor became the sound bed of Jesus’ love and respect for the women who came into his life. Joseph’s righteous life is seen in Jesus’ willingness to do the will of God in his own life.

Fathers, and mothers included, your role in the lives of your children is very important. Live your lives with respect for each other’s honor, and always do your best to make sure the will of God is alive in your lives so your children will live as you do. In this way we can really say “As the tree, so the fruits.”

You owe more? Love more!

2009-09-16T16:49:00.000-07:00

On my way to the 1st Mass today, I wore my cassock. People I passed by greeted me (whereas before when I was in casual wear no one would even greet me!); the beggars went and asked that I touch them. The vendors likewise extended their hands and asked that they kiss my hand (Mano Po Father!). Before I turned right to enter the compound of the Church, I heard loud voices coming from two women who were apparently in an argumentative mood (very early in the morning!!!), and I noticed that they toned down their voice as soon as they saw me coming closer. I thought “My cassock must be bringing to these people the awareness of God with us!

How I pray that this presence of God be likewise felt in the presence of every person. For that is what we have been given in Christ: the dignity of man, restored in Christ brings to us the enduring love and salvific presence of God!

Yes, that is what we have been given in Jesus: His sacrifice on the cross, His rising from the dead, His sending us the Holy Spirit after his Ascent into heaven, has given us back our dignity as beloved. Therefore, we each carry the love of God in our bodies and selves. That is why the Church stands for this dignity: in the one newly conceived in the mother’s womb, up to the one about to exhale the last breath (we even respect the dead, how much more the living!). Thus, every one of us alive has that dignity as a beloved who is called to live in love as He has loved us.

Therefore, the 1st reading challenges us to cherish the gift of salvation we have been given in Christ. St. Paul exhorts Timothy to always rekindle the fire of the Spirit of service bestowed on him upon ordination, when the hands of the elders were laid on him. No one is now so young as not to be able to stay focused on one’s ministry with much fidelity and conscientiousness. The Word for today thus calls us towards nurturing our dignity as beloved so it grows and bears much fruit – the salvation of all. To stay faithful and true to the One Who calls us until He comes again – that is the enduring challenge given everyday.

Interestingly, the Gospel reveals a reality each one of us is in: we owe God so much. But since we cannot pay back what we owe, God has forgiven us in His Son. Thus, the challenge is to love as much as we have been forgiven those debts. Loving is really that measure of being loved: we love as much as we have been loved. We love as much as we are conscious of our being loved. We love in as much as we acknowledge being loved. So we ask and pray for as much as we need in order to be able to love back.

Surprisingly, this Word today reminds us of St. James’ word last Sunday: you have faith? Have good works too! If we say we believe, we are thus called to also do good. As we have been loved, so we have believed! And as we believe, we live out our faith in loving works to those God sends us everyday.

May God bless us all. Amen

Fathers Day 2009 Homily

2009-06-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

This is to just account for the sharing or homily I delivered on June 21, 2009, the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, the 3rd Sunday of the month of June when we celebrate Fathers' Day. The Gospel then was from Mark where he described Jesus sleeping in the boat as it was crossing the Sea of Galilee.

Homily:

On this Fathers' Day, I'd like to share in this homily stories about fathers.

1. A few days ago, a friend told me about her family experience. They were 8 children, and after their father was assassinated, their mother single-handedly brought them up with such strength and discipline. They had to keep the curfew, study well their lessons, and always obey what they were told as children. Immediately after a low score was received, the mother would let them go up to the highest floor of the house where the picture of their father was there. They would be asked to kneel in front of that picture, and ask forgiveness for not doing well in class. Their mother was always noted for these words: "Your father has done everything good for you. He is a well-respected man in our village that even people from Taiwan come and pay respect to him when they come to the Philippines. So, do nothing to blur that good name. Do nothing to disrespect his good name."

Hence, their doing good in class, their coming home on time, their behaving well among themselves (although they'd quarrel every now and then the way siblings normally do) was always in view of the charge to keep their father's good reputation.

I believe that we as children need to remember this good motivation to keep the good reputation of our parents. As good Catholics, it would be good to live like Christ Who only gave good witnessing to the good reputation of His Father Who loves us all.

2. The "Divine Word" in our congregation name has a father-inspiration background. St. Arnold Janssen, when he was still a boy, remembered those times of storm and low harvest, and even when their cows were getting sick, when his father would call the whole family to kneel around the altar as he proclaimed the Prologue of St. John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God..." The same father would even share at supper with his children the homily of the priest at Sunday Mass. Hence, when Rome tried to disagree with the name he wanted to give our congregation, St. Arnold simply asked them "How come you agreed with Society of Jesus?..."

St. Jude Catholic School and St. Jude Archdiocesan Shrine, two institutions built by our Chinese confreres here beside Malacanang, all have a father-background. The name of the father of one of the school founders happened to be Jude. I haven't heard anything about him, although I would like to believe that had it not been for the good they had left on their children, these children would have never even thought of extending their legacy in their lives.

Hence, this is a challenge for all fathers (and mothers for that purpose): you are their first catechists of your children. Teach them by way of your witnessing to our Catholic faith. Be good role models to your children who will most likely protect your good reputation and most of all, even extend your posterity to the generations behind the children.

3. The third father is a handsome priest my friend mentioned having met at the University of San Carlos in Cebu as a college freshman. "Father, I was an atheist before, but when I saw that handsome priest, I thought "God must exist." Why? Because such a handsome man was willing to offer his life in His service. If God did not exist, surely living like that would be utter foolishness." So, this friend of mine started really learning the catechism until baptism was chosen and administered.

We are really called to make others know that God exists, and that He is with us in our journey.

The early Church had many experiences of trials and tribulations. They were really scary moments, which the storms and the squalls one meets at the Sea of Galilee best symbolize. Jesus "sleeping in their midst" was a figure in their lives which became their refuge. They just had to "awaken Jesus" from slumber, awaken themselves to the fact that indeed they need not be afraid but trust because He is there to calm the storms and give us peace.

I hope this year's Fathers' day will bring us closer to our fathers, challenge us to be good fathers, and give us courage to life for the Father in heaven Whose only will is that we live and have our lives lived to the fullest in His Son.

The Holy Trinity Reaching Out to Us

2009-06-14T00:27:00.000-07:00

I may be late in writing this reflection because we had already celebrated last Sunday June 7, 2009 the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. But nonetheless, I'd like to share these thoughts here for those who are searching for some ideas about the Holy Trinity from an experiential perspective. They so spontaneously came as I was administering psychological exams to a seminarian in Tagaytay City. The seminary in Tagaytay is simply so serene and I savored it so much. As the examinee was answering the tests, I just made my silent prayer and reflection in preparation for the Sunday Mass homily as I walked outside the testing area. Thank God indeed for inspiring me with these thoughts which I shared in my Mass that Sunday at the Corinthian Hills. It was even a great coincidence(?) that the readers of that day were the Garcia family: the father, the mother and their only daughter. The human trinity?

As we celebrate one of the tenets of the Christian faith, an indispensable core of our faith and life, i.e., the Blessed Trinity, maybe it is good for us to ask WHO and WHAT is the Trinity for us as Christian. Yes, this dogma in Christianity is not so easy to understand, but the Holy Trinity is very much related to us, and yes, it is relating to us. There is this story of St. Augustine who wanted to go into the depths of the Holy Trinity, that he dreamt walking along the seashore and seeing a child digging a hole in the sand. He stopped and asked the boy what he was doing. The boy said, "I am digging this hole so that I can put the water of the sea into it." St. Augustine was supposed to have exclaimed, "Impossible!" At that the boy was supposed to have disappeared, and lo! he realized that it was an experience of the impossibility of understanding the truth of the Holy Trinity.

From our catechism we all know that the Holy Trinity is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Let me delineate here the three Persons in this One God, the Holy Trinity.

1. The Father, the First Person in the Holy Trinity is the Source and Origin of life - our life and the life of all around us. Isn't He called the Creator - of heaven and earth. Everything that we are, have and will be, everything above us, below us, and with us, both the seen and the unseen - came from Him, God the Father. We were taught that He created everything IN LOVE, OUT OF LOVE, FOR LOVE. Without Love, He wouldn't have created; without Love, He wouldn't be Father. The Father is thus, LOVE.

This implies that individually and socially, even globally, we all came from God. We have a divine origin, and a divine end. The Father is where we all came from, and we hope to end in Him.

2. The Son, The Father's Only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ - is the Second person of the Holy Trinity. In Him, God for us became a human person, a MALE one (why not female? Please ask God when you meet Him), born of a woman like all of us, had a body, mind and spirit. He walked, He talked, felt, related with others like and me do. The God that we have in Christ is no longer simply an idea. In Jesus Christ, we have seen how it is to live the life of a human person. If we'd like to really live as a human person, we have in Him an excellent MODEL - the 2nd person of the Holy Trinity.

This Jesus, our Lord, suffered, died and was buried like you and me. Everyone of us has sufferings, and we will all die. And how we hope to be buried. He died the most ignominious way of dying - the most shameful way - ON THE CROSS. Jesus Christ really showed us the truth of our lives, that we are all crucified to our sins and will die in them.

Yet this Jesus Christ rose from the dead to show us that our lives, borne from God, are not only meant for dying. He showed us that we are meant to live eternally, to rise from our own graves and deaths, living the Resurrection itself in our lives. He ascended into heaven. His life was brought up to heaven. And when we live like Him and follow Him, we are called to likewise go to heaven and be with Him at the side of the Father. Just look at His Mother who was assumed into heaven.

3. The Holy Spirit is the 3rd Person of the Holy Trinity. He was sent from above by the Father and the Son. He witnesses and points to the Son so we can follow and serve Him. he breathes on us the Father's Love Itself.

If the Father created us and gave us a model in life, He gave us the Holy Spirit to abide by us, protecting us, sustaining us. It is the Holy Spirit Who inspires us to pray, to be good to others, to love them and grow as human persons. When we are in the Holy Spirit, indeed we are blessed in every single moment of our lives. We are not alone, not abandoned when the Holy Spirit is with us. While we believe that God the Father and Son are in heaven, God the Holy Spirit tells us that He is with us, in us, and even through us.

When we look at the sacramental life we live in the Church, the Holy Spirit is there and has been given to us.

At Baptism, the Holy Spirit has made us children of God.

At Confirmation, the Holy Spirit strengthens us.

At the Holy Eucharist, the Holy Spirit gives us the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

At the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession, the Holy Spirit inspires us to be contrite of heart, amend our lives, and He forgives us.

At the Anointing of the Sick, the Holy Spirit heals us of our ills and restores us to health and life.

At Matrimony, the Holy Spirit makes the couple Jesus Christs, loving and being loved in their mutual service as husband and wife, in their love for their children, like Him Who gave His life for the service of everyone in the human race.

At Holy orders, the Holy Spirit shows us His preference for us, His Choice for us to belong to Him. He continues to teach and renew us.

Just looking at these celebrations of our life in Christ, it is the Holy Spirit Who leads us in every moment of our lives.

Hence now we see that the Holy Trinity is no longer simply an idea of God for us. God is a Person, in fact 3 Persons reaching out to us: in love, loving and constantly abiding. Indeed the Holy Trinity tells us that God is alive, the God of the living. He started life, gave us life, and will lead our lives to eternal life.

That is why we say WE LIVE FOR the FATHER, WITH the SON, IN the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Trinity is really our God, and we belong to Him, Amen.

God bless

Ash Wednesday 2009

2009-02-24T01:45:00.000-08:00

Today, we break the cycle of the 7th week in Ordinary Time as we enter the Lenten season. We will not hear the bell anymore until it rings again on Easter Vigil; no more Alleluias until we say it again on Easter Sunday. The stole of the priest will be violet in color. We are encouraged to have more silence than ever in order to promote an atmosphere conducive for sober reflection.

The rites are so rich that they dispose us to start these 40 days with a spirit of openness to the life God wants to bestow on us fully in Christ. With this openness, we are shown and given the gift of humility, acknowledging our sinfulness. At the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we will receive His mercy and forgiveness, a reconciliation made possible only with Christ's ultimate sacrifice on the Cross and consequent Rising from the dead. With fasting, prayer and almsgiving, we spend this day in His presence so that we may see the glory He is preparing us for: the Resurrection and life in the Spirit.

The ashes tell us about this fact of life: that whatever we have today, like the palms we waved in last year’s Palm Sunday, will all become ashes in death. The specter of death always looms ahead, awaiting us like a hole in the cemetery, ready to close us in total isolation, unreachable to the loving hands of people who love us, making us unable to reach out and beg for help. It is only Christ, Whose Hands, stretched out on the cross, Who can bridge that hole in the cemetery of our lives with eternity in God the Father, making us see the light again, making us belong again, making us alive again. Indeed, these ashes have power to bring us back to our senses, making us ask ourselves again (who knows this may be the last time we are given to face and raise this question): WHAT IS IT THAT REALLY MATTERS TO US INDIVIDUALLY, COMMUNALLY AND UNIVERSALLY? It is only when we have known the love of this Hand and seen for ourselves its power to forgive, accept, and grant us a new life that we shall experience how it is to be saved. And knowing and believing we are saved, we proclaim this Good News. We thus pray that He abides by us through these 40 days so that we will celebrate His victory over death that keeps us locked in the darkness of being unloved.

Reflections for Feb. 24, 2009

2009-02-24T01:41:00.000-08:00

Feb. 24, 2009

In our Mass today we include our seminarians in Tagaytay who are having their comprehensive exams. We know how good it was for us when we were seminarians to know that people are praying for us.

When we listen to the Readings today, we hear in the book of Sirach a father telling his son to be ready for difficulties once he ventures into serving the Lord. It’s like the Father telling His Son Jesus to be ready for his own sufferings and never forget the God Whose ways are evident throughout history. The Gospel shows Jesus telling his disciples about his impending suffering and death but the followers appear unmindful and unable to understand.

We are listeners of the same Word of God and are challenged today to keep in mind that history is the field where God shows us His saving power. When we learn this, may we grow in courage to face our own struggles and difficulties.

17th Sunday 2008 Year A Reflections

2008-07-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

Today's readings are easy to remember. The first reading is from Solomon's experience with God Who asked him what he wanted. Solomon, realizing the weight of David's legacy on his youth (David being the greatest King Israel ever knew), as well as the fact that his mother was Bathsheba whose husband Uriah David had ordered killed, must have found himself in utter helplessness. Not asking to be born into this situation, yet he must rule amidst any controversy for the good of Israel, Solomon asked for an understanding heart. God thus bestowed on him the wisdom none has ever had and may ever have. Note that God was particularly struck that Solomon did not ask for riches or power or even the life of his enemies. Solomon really seemed in search for that which can truly make him happy. And God granted him way beyond what he could ever ask for.

The second reading quotes St. Paul's "Everything works for the good of those who love Him." This message of St. Paul becomes an overarching principle in God's generosity.

The Gospel has three parables about the Kingdom of God. The first is about a man who found a hidden treasure which he buried again and bought back after selling everything he owned. He must have realized that such a treasure was of such a value that it was worth everything he owned, hence his investment to own that piece of land where the treasure was. The second parable is on the Pearl of Great Price which the man found and also bought with everything that he had. These two parables alone speaks about the value of the Kingdom - that it is that essential such that nothing can compare with it. Everything else counts as nothing before these treasures. The third parable is about the net that was thrown into the sea catching as much as it could, and at the shore, the fishermen collected the ones that were good and threw away those that were useless. This last parable has an eschatological dimension in it. There will be on the last period of all life a judgment such that those who do evil shall be thrown away while those who've done good shall be collected into eternal life.

Fr. Munachi's homily today mentions that of the summum bonum or the highest good to which all other goods gel together like the hen that can gather all chicks together. I am always reminded of the figures 1 and 0 every time these two parables of the Kingdom are mentioned. 0 stands for all that perishes and vanishes, and 1 for God. If we choose only the material, only those that vanish in death, we choose 0; no matter how many zeroes we choose ahead of God will lead us with nothing at the end. However, if we choose God first, all the zeroes that come after Him will only make us richer.

Indeed, God seems to be asking each and every one of us what is it that we would like to have? Like the question he asked Solomon, He also breaks for us this question: what shall make us happy? What is our highest good? What is it that our hearts seek for? If our hearts love God first, then everything else we so choose or seek for will only make us even better. Seek first the Kingdom of heaven, and all the rest will fall in line, as the song goes.

Reversing the Parable

It just dawned on me: has God made humanity created in His image and likeness something like the Pear or the Hidden Treasure? When I look at the Crucifix and the sacrifice He made if only to gather us back unto Himself, I realize the meaning of these parables of the Kingdom. We must have been so important, our salvation so imperative that He had to sacrifice even His divinity if only to own us back. Think about it.

God bless

June 25, 2008 Reflection

2008-06-25T02:27:00.000-07:00

The date for this reflection is a day faster than the one this blog site uses - apparently American, hence I entitle this sharing with the date I actually wrote it since it is so here in the Philippines. The readings are taken from the 12th week in Ordinary Time Year 2.

1st Rdg - 2 Kgs 22: 8-13. 23: 1-3
Gospel - Mt 7: 15-20

In the Gospel, Jesus warns us about "false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them...Every good tree bears good fruit, and rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit... By their fruits you will know them."

The Israelites in the first reading have heard again the Word of God, the Torah which was found in the Temple. The king asked the priersts and his servants to consult the Lord for him "about the stipulations of this book that was found" for he realized that "our fathers did not obey the stipulations of this book, nor fulfill our written obligations." The king together with all the Israelites, they made a covenant with the Lord to "follow HIm and observe HIs ordinances, statutes and decrees with their whole hearts and souls,..."

Much like their experience in the first reading, one feels humiliated and challenged to ask oneself: "What fruits do/did I bear?" No one wants to be a false prophet and thus bear bad fruit. And yet this Word today challenges us to do something - remove the bad fruit and try our best to bear good fruit, lest we risk being cut and thrown away into the fire.

Going on deeper, it dawned on me that God must have wanted to show us that His fruits are good fruits. Look at His creation - all the filth that we see nowadays seemingly much similar to those at the time of Noah - and all the acts the Old Testament have shown us - remember Moses and Yahweh when the Yahweh wanted Moses to wipe them away, angry at their idolatry in the desert while Moses was in the mountain receiving the Decalogue? Can we then say that since we may not have been good fruits, then He must be a bad Tree?

Indeed, God must have been challenged by Christ's word, and showed us the Resurrection - His fruit is LIFE, and if we follow Christ, we can be this good fruit too - our own Resurrection - even on a daily basis, from our deaths and evil.

Today, He challenges us to start bearing good fruit if we are to really participate in the prophet-hood of Christ. For as baptized, we share in the kingly, priestly, and prophetic roles and identities of Christ, our Saviour.

God bless

Christianity & Religious Behavior

2008-06-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

This is a rephrasing of my first reflection which I thought was erased after publishing and losing it. Am thankful that it was saved in the previous post. Anyway, for comparative purposes let me have it published here so we can document this computer glitch today.

June 18, 2008
2 Kgs 2, 1.6-14 / Mt 6, 1-6.16-18

The Gospel speaks of three behaviors in religion: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Jesus practiced these Himself. Didn't we hear Him tell Judas, when Mary (Lazarus' and Martha's sister) at Bethany a few days before He was crucified "The poor you will always have but me you will not" (Jn 12, 8). The Gospel of Mark even adds "...and you can be kind to them whenever you wish" (14,7). We have read that Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and even shared them (and us too) His own prayer - the Our Father. He fasted too, didn't he? 40 days after His baptism at Jordan!

When the words in today's Gospel Matthew attributes to Jesus hint at is the pride and false belief these three religious behaviors can give us. The legalese in these pious behaviors can make us so self-righteous before God and deride others before the divine Presence. Didn't Jesus tell us to beware of the Pharisaical attitude: "I thank you Lord for I am... not like this tax collector..." It can make us think that our prayer can make God work for us. Our fasting can make God have mercy on us.

What Jesus came to tell us what the fact that God Has His will, and a plan which He Himself came to fulfill, respecting Him in its disposition - didn't He tell the apostles that "sitting at my right is not for me to give for it is reserved by my heavenly Father...," that the restoration of Israel is not up for me to decide but it is the Father's (see Acts, in Luke's account of the Ascencion). No amount of our piety can ever manipulate God to act. Our bargaining - I do this if you do that - therefore is something we may really need to rethink and reconsider.

What is then left for us to do is this: when we pray, we are called to be sensitive and docile to His will, making ourselves as ready and willing as Christ to live out that will for us. Our fasting is to make us master ourselves so that we live not as we like but as God likes. And our fasting is to make us remember that whatever we have is not for ourselves alone but for those whom He gives us to share "whenever we wish."

Indeed, Christ came to bring us the freedom of the Kingdom, for in Him we have all become beneficiaries of His generous mercy and love.

"May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace, and may the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen."
- St. Arnold Janssen

Christianity & Religion

2008-06-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

June 18, 2008 Reflection

2 Kgs 2, 1. 6-14; Mt 6, 1-6, 16-18

The Gospel mentions three things religion is usually associated with: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Jesus learned these things himself. Didn't he say "The poor you will always have, but me you will not always have" (Jn 12, 8). This was when Mary (Lazarus' and Martha's sister) annointed her with expensive aromatic nard and Judas wished it were sold and given to the poor. We read of Jesus' going alone to the mountain to pray; and most especially, the 40 days he fasted after his baptism prior to his active ministry. In a way we can say that Jesus was every inch trained and lived a religious and pious life.

As he lived out these three things though, he saw how these became the leverage in one's relationship with God. Didn't he tell us how the Pharisee made it an object of pride before God and a reason to deride others - "...I thank you Lord for I am unlike this tax collector; I fast twice a week, pay tithes on all I get..." (Lk 18, 11-13). The legalese in religious behavior seems to make one so self-righteous as to forget that God cannot be manipulated by our religiosity. God remains to be God, simply an Other Whose acts are not effects of our acts. Yes, He hears our prayers and grants them when it is His will. What we do then in prayer is to seek for His will, giving time and space in our lives so that we become familiar and docile to His plans for us. Fasting then becomes sorrow for our sins, for the loss of the Savior in our lives. And almsgiving is not so that others may have some good impression of us, but that we may remember that whatever we have is not only for us.

The faith Christ came to sow in us then is one that makes us know Who God is and respect and fear Him and His ways. It calls us to master ourselves, and most of all reach out to those He gives us in our lives. In this way our religiosity becomes God Himself in our midst - generous, loving and forgiving.

"May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace and may the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen."

St. Arnold Janssen

Sufferings & Peace: April 22, 2008

2008-04-21T16:22:00.000-07:00

There are two lines in today's readings that particularly struck me. From the readings taken from Acts 14:19-28, St. Paul's exhortation to the early Christians sounds very encouraging indeed: "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God." He had just had a traumatic experience after "Jews from Antioch and Iconium...stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city supposing (him to be) dead." Had it not been for his fellow disciples who gathered around him, he could not have risen back. Did he remember what he did to the Christians when he was still the Saul breathing with a murderous heart? In this case, he must have thought, "what happened is not even enough to pay for all their lives." But knowing that he has been forgiven in Christ may have given him the realization that suffering indeed is inevitable if he was to be a faithful follower of the Master, Jesus Who suffered death on the cross. This experience of Paul has made him one, in solidarity with the other Christians who constantly live in suffering, constantly under the threat of death.

The second line is quite consoling. "Shalom" or peace Christ gives His followers, "not as the world gives" (Jn 14: 27-31a). It is a peace that wells from the heart of Someone Whose love cannot be taken away from us, that will never give up, that will "call back to life" the dead who live in suffering. Hence, Jesus could tell His disciples "Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid."

Indeed, as we follow the Lord faithfully, we may not be spared of sufferings, either in payment for our sins, but mostly because if we have to be really followers of Christ, we are not to be spared of sufferings. So, I have to brace myself up for sufferings to come. If it is God's will, then peace will be with me. Peace will be with the Church as each one of us takes up our crosses, our sufferings, "suffering for the Name" as the early Christians valued. If we are to enter the Kingdom of heaven, we better be realistic. The way there is narrow, hence, we have to be ready for suffering, even if these are not what we want but He may want for our salvation, and growth in His love.

God bless

April 20, 2008 Easter 5th Sunday Cycle A Homily

2008-04-20T06:33:00.001-07:00

Every time I celebrate a funeral Mass, I particularly love to proclaim the Gospel we heard in today's liturgy: "Do not be troubled, you have faith in God, have faith also in me." Death can be so disconcerting an experience, to say the least. It was one question that haunted the husband of a friend in Taiwan, making him wonder what will happen after his last breath, and what about his father and uncles and grandparents, and constantly finding in Christ some little consolation. And since death is something that basically scares each one of us, the words Jesus says can give a calming effect. In fact, if I am not mistaken, the line He spoke connotes the same meaning which is 365 times used in Scriptures: "Do not be afraid." Faith thus becomes our courage in the face of such a powerful enemy as death, and fear that ensues with it.

This brings us to the fact that in Jesus, human nature has nothing to hide before God. For those among us who are more sceptical, the evidence that God truly understands us is this: In Jesus, He has truly taken a human body; hence His speaking about not becoming troubled before He would be crucified was to show us this basic nature in us - that we can be troubled when someone close to us goes away in death, or in any separation for that matter. I remember my first day in school way back 1970. While seated where I was assigned, I would now and then look back to see my sister who sat at the back. The moment I missed her because she had to go for her classes, I cried. Hence, for parents who would be bringing their kids to school the first time, talk to them about it weeks before so they can ready themselves for this must-happen situation, and begin to know that he needs to stand on his own and find himself and his security as he faces the world. We will be there for him, that's for sure, just as Jesus assured His disciples that He goes ahead to prepare a place for us and will come back to take us with Him wherever He is.

The same logic goes for those among us who are thinking of going abroad to earn more. I remember Paul, one of our guys involved in caring for our old and sick confreres, who once approached me years ago if I could lend his wife some capital so she could go to Taiwan. Before addressing his immediate concern, I asked him: have you talked about it? As a couple, they had. But to their children, they haven't. This may be one of the key factors that make children feel even more isolated nowadays because parents don't consider the reactions they have with their absence, particularly for years, and the effect on them of growing without their parents there when they so need their mom or dad. Let's not look at children only from the monetary or material angle. Let's keep this tip from Jesus Who's shown us something about ourselves, and let's talk about it so we are prepared. Come to think of this: even after He had told them about His imminent departure and death, the apostles ended up scatted in fear when He was crucified. But as shown by Peter, it was not difficult for him to acknowledge where he failed because he knew ahead of time what was going to happen. Remember how Jesus told him that he would three times deny knowing the Lord before the cock crows? This is in the same line as "Do not be troubled." Assure each other then of your empathic stance for the other so that fear need not permanently destabilize us.

Indeed, what Christ did for us, was to raise our dignity back to its original state: that of a beloved. He created each one of us in His own image. Thus, in Christ Jesus, the human person, particularly the believer, the follower of Christ is something sacred, precious. In the words of Peter in the second reading, "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation." We have been ransomed by His blood. Therefore, let's live within this dignity and not allow ourselves to stay enslaved to whatever keeps us from living the life of a beloved, someone special and very important for God.

Now in Christ, the other is really entitled to our respect. None of us is then given the right to hurt the other. Or as in the experience of the early Christian community, we have no more right to simply neglect the others. The more we know what's inside of us, what's taking place in our emotional life in particular, the more free we become because we need not act out our anger, our rage at the other. Once we know what's inside of us, we can make a choice as we search for better ways to solve problems than create new ones because of the carelessness we do when disrespecting the other by our shouting or cursing at or belittling the other. If only we can learn from the lessons of history, of the ruins that lay announcing the destruction of our careless disrespect for the rights and dignity of the other. Followers of Christ are really rational people, those are more calm than the rest, those who know better what other alternatives to choose to protect the human right of the other, one which we will ourselves appreciate when guaranteed by the other. The more we do this, the more peace we have as we await our ultimate and complete salvation in Christ.

God bless and take care

April 18, 2008 Reflection

2008-04-17T16:15:00.001-07:00

St. Paul speaks today at the synagogue, telling his listeners (including us today) that despite all that Jesus did for the people, these same people were the ones who had Him crucified, took him down from the cross, had him buried, but God raised Him back to life. And those who followed Him now proclaim Him as God's appointed One for our salvation.

I am amazed with this magnanimity of God in Christ. Imagine, if Jesus was only human, like anyone among us, it would have been normal for him to just stay away from those who killed him, feeling so unsafe and living in fear. But no, the divinity in Him gave Him life, a new one, which shows what the Resurrection can do for us: it can wash away the pain, take away the hurts, and restore us back to life sans the revenge and the hatred.

Maybe there was still pain like most healing usually gives that sensation, but with the proclamation of Him for our salvation, the revenge is out of the picture. The hatred is gone too. What remained was love, for all even the ones who nailed Him to the tree. If this is not love, then what is it?

This is another scriptural evidence of the love of God in Whom we find our healing, our strength and our courage. Without His love, we will just be "normal" in our fears, in our anger, and in our bitterness. May today's Word of God give us life.

This is what the Church does - START OVER - in the Eucharist. As Jesus says in the Gospel, have faith in Him too if we have faith in God. He has prepared for each one of us a room in His Father's place. And mind you, only He has guaranted us this promise which He will definitely fulfill.

May we live our lives starting today always thinking that in Christ we are destined for heaven. We are not hated by God and He doesn't intend to avenge His Son's death. All He wants since He created us is that we live our lives to the full. "I came that they might have life to the full." (John 10:10)

God bless and take care

I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE: The Call to Faith

2008-04-08T16:39:00.000-07:00

It's April 9, and this day's Gospel shows us Jesus telling His listeners that He is the Bread of Life. People were looking for him after He had just fed 5,000 men with the five loaves and 2 fish, and He noticed that they wanted to make Him King. So He kept distance from them, but they searched for Him. In their dialogue, Jesus tells them to do the work God wants: Believe in the One He sent them. They say that Moses gave them bread, the manna in the desert, so what sign has Jesus got for them? Jesus tells them that it wasn't Moses who gave them bread, it was God the Father Himself. He thus says: "I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me willnever thirst...Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day..."

This dialogue reminds me of television commercials or advertisements showing a mother worried about her child who doesn't eat but only loves to play. One particular ad says "When Sabina was this age, she only loved to eat hotdog, hotdog, hotdog. If not, she wouldn't eat. It's good I shifted to ...(the milk brand)." This ad seems to carry with it a message which by analogy we can use in the Father's giving us His Son as Bread of Life. Like a mother, God has always searched for and done ways so that we His creatures would live. Since we are all His creatures and He created us in His image and likeness, hence we can see some of our own actions and values contain in them the divine intention and plan. His giving us His Son as Bread of Life is really to ensure that all who go to Him in faith has life. This thus reminds me the Church's constant running back to the table of the Eucharist from which it gets its life. Now I understand why the Church has such a long life. May we live faithfully our faith in Jesus.

God bless

Fears, Worries & Conflicts

2008-04-04T16:40:00.000-07:00

FWC - fears, worries & conflicts - these are three experiences which none of us is spared from. They can debilitate us, paralyze and in the end destroy us unless we take a second look at our helpless, devastated selves. When we're into these three, we lose sight of what we have and feel so small and unable to cope. We make the problem bigger than it really is. This makes me remember one text message I received quite a few times: "When you have a problem, don't say 'God I have a big problem;' rather say 'Problem, I have a big God.'

The apostles in the boat today were scared at seeing someone on the water approaching them. In a parallel text from the Synoptics, this seems like the experience of Peter who asked the Lord, "Lord, if it is really you, tell me to cross the water." Walking on the water then signifies being able to weather through all fears, worries and conflicts. The words of Christ, and Scriptures for that matter since "Fear not" is mentioned in there 365 times - once a day it seems said for us! When in the midst of FWC, keep the thought back.

The Early Christian community experienced conflict wrought by the folly of human weakness. But when the apostles came together and talked about it, they found a solution which we are still using up to now! Imagine what a long-lasting solution the Lord gives!

The message seems clear: The Lord has truly Risen! He triumphed over death! What other lesser power can conquer Him? He has shared us that new life, so what is there for us to really be afraid? As we entrust our lives to the Lord, so we trust in His mercy. "Lord, let your mercy be on us as we place our trust in You," says the Responsorial Psalm.

God bless

"To Be Born From Above" & Fr. Francis Maddhu, SVD

2008-03-31T16:07:00.000-07:00

On this day, April 1, one year ago, which was a Palm Sunday (why is it Tuesday today and not Monday? - it's because 2008 is a leap year!), Fr. Francis Maddhu, SVD was shot at close range shortly before he was to celebrate the Palm Sunday Mass in a mission station in Barrio Mabongtot, about 4 hours walk from his parish in Lubuagan, Kalinga. He arrived in the Philippines exactly a year, if the liturgy were the basis of this chronological account. He arrived in the Philippines in 2006 also on a Palm Sunday! The killing was senseless as there seemed no apparent reason for shooting him. His dying seemed senseless as well. Until this time, the case has not been solved. The last time I read about his case mentioned that the suspect ran scot free after a few days ofbeing arrested.

From the human point of view, vengeance is the immediate feeling upon realizing this current situation. Justice remains to be served for him. But as it is, a year after his death, justice for his death remains an illusive dream! It is good that he was a priest; hence the thought that Someone knows what has happened can give some consolation. Wasn't Christ likewise killed almost senselessly? But today he speaks about being "born from above."

To be born from above is to be born of the Spirit. It is to live, knowing that our life is not simply our own. Someone owns us, Someone knows us. Hence, to remember that by virtue of our baptism this being "born from above" has indeed taken place, that God has taken us unto Himself through His Son, Jesus, is to realize that living now our lives is living for Christ, for God. Hence, whatever way we die, if it be as God allows, doesn't really matter. What matters is how we live this life of "being born from above." I'd like to believe that Fr. Maddhu was born from above because he lived his life as a priest, and died a priest as well.

To be born from above is to be begotten by the One Who has recreated us anew. Hence, the human person being an image of the Creator, undergoes an identity and reality that surpasses all we can ever imagine about ourselves, that is worthy of respect and valuing. Indeed, if I can say it here, the human person can be higher than the priest simply because the person born from above is the image of God Himself, even today in our midst. Whoever fails to see this reality fails to live his life of being born from above.

To be born from above is also to live as Christ lived. The Crucifix appears to be the best way to show what it is to be born from above. He who hung on the Cross is above all. Hence, it is from this perspective that life has meaning, has direction and has worth. The film "The Passion of the Christ" showed Jesus really hanging from on high on the Cross. Living our being born from above from this angle can really show us lots of insights and meaning. The experience of being abandoned, in pain, thus gains some vicarious benefit. Sometimes the pain and the abandonment can defocus us from this fact and make us forget that we are "above" already with Christ. May our knowing that while "above" in our pains and sufferings we have Christ, may we be strengthened to do the will of the One Who has sent us as He Himself was sent to show us how it is to be "from above."

God bless

Why We Need To Forgive

2008-03-30T07:09:00.000-07:00

The Gospel of the 2nd Sunday of Easter always brings us that scene in the Upper Room where for fear of the Jews the Apostles stayed locked and in the dark. I've been in that room myself when I had the chance to visit the Holy Land way back year 2000. Jesus comes and greets them "Peace be with you" three times. On the second time, he breathed on them and gave the Holy Spirit. "As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Whose sins you forgive shall be forgiven, whose sins you hold bound, they are held bound."

Why must we forgive?

Before I answer that question, I'd like to share what I read lately. Last month I underwent a personal crisis, and in the process of healing myself, I chanced upon in the internet a journal article entitled "Interpersonal Forgiving in Close Relationships: II. Theoretical Elaboration and Measurement" by Michael E. McCullough, et al. (1998) in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology vol. 75, 6, 1586-1603. If I may summarize here what particularly struck me, it was the dynamics of the experience of being hurt. According to the study which asked people about their experience of being hurt, avoidance of the person who had hurt them, or withdrawal from contacts with them was a common experience. (Now I understand that keeping distance has a self-healing end. Thus, it is a challenge for me to understand the other when he starts to keep away from me when I shall hurt that person.) While alone, the rumination of thought took place. Revenge was a common experience as well among those who've been hurt.

But asked if those who've experienced hurt had forgiven those who hurt them, asking apology by the "hurter" was a common factor in forgiveness. This seemed to be a common denominator for forgiveness to be truly given. And those who forgave tended to have had close relationships with the "hurter."

Come to think of this: how come it is those who are close to us who dare to hurt us? What makes anyone among us think we have the right to hurt those we love? Is there really love when we hurt the other? Accepting the apology of the "hurter" seems to convey the following victim's message: "Ok, I accept your forgiveness, and hope you don't do it again. Because we've had some good times together, and for the sake of those times, we can start again. I am here to help you understand yourself in your process of learning how to control yourself."

Indeed, to forgive is to give the other another chance to grow and become better. Hence, the Resurrection becomes that great opportunity to really extend our patience at the other who's hurt us, and also a challenge for us to stop the hurting of others as well.

But why forgive?

In the many times I've been hurt myself, whenever the hurt was done in public, there was in me the need to be vindicated also in public. I remember one classmate who had hurt me in the presence of my other classmates. Even now, after I told that classmate to apologive in public, no public apology had come. Indeed, there seems to be too much self-enhancement in the person that may have kept that other from apologizing in public! But I remembered one scene, so poignant it sent shivers down my spine. That scene was when Pope JPII went to the jail cell of his assassin, Ali Agca Memet. Pope JPII had been hurt in public, but he forgave his "hurter" in public. I bet the Crucifixion experience of Christ that public forgiving God has given us. The Crucifixion is a public declaration of God that He has forgiven us in the many times we have hurt Him. Having been forgiven, having been sown the seed of forgiveness by the Lord Himself, we are then taught and challenged to make that seed of forgiveness bear fruit in forgiving the other. This is believe is the reason for forgiving.

Dr. Schlesinger of Australia, a forensic psychologist once in 1996(?) came to the Philippines. He brought with him the Spiral Test he himself had invented in order to identify those who are truly suffering from whiplash injuries from those who are simply malingering. I remember very vividly the directions he gave me since I volunteered to take the Test myself. The Spiral Test went this way: In front of me was a plate-size round object on which was printed the Spiral. The moment he put it on, I watched as it rolled clockwise. After some moments, he announced to me that he had stopped it. From that time, he started counting the time until I pushed a button to signify it had stopped. To my surprise, when he announced that he had put off the Spiral, the spiral in my head continued to move, but this time counterclockwise. I pressed the button after this movement stopped.

This experience helped me understand the nature of the rumination process. Like the epxerience of those who've gone through trauma, the coming back of thoughts and memories about the incidence seems to be a natural part of the brain's reaction to the experience. I remembered the spring of the notebooks we have. Once freed from being twisted, it recoils back until it has gone back to its former form. The rumination process seems to be that recoiling process of the brain in order to achieve a state of equilibrium and stability.

Sometimes, the rumination seems not just a physiological process, but a psychological process as well. For how do we account those who don't seem to have forgotten even after some time? For me, when we shall have gone through the insight of why something happened to us, the lessons shall have become the receptacle which ensures the "forgetting" of the experience.

Thanks be to God Who started this forgiving process, or else what a life to live without being forgiven! Truly, the Lord is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia.

Reflection for March 28, 2008 Duc In Altum

2008-03-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

The Gospel for today March 28 speaks about Jesus' 3rd apparition after He rose from the dead. St. John starts the text by showing us Peter telling his 6 other companions that he intends to go fishing. These six others decide to join him. However, they caught nothing for the night. While they were getting near the shore, Jesus asked them if they caught anything. They did not recognize Jesus yet and replied in the negative. Jesus told them to throw the net into the starboard side, after which they caught a haul-full! It was the beloved John who recognized Jesus, and told Peter, "It is the Lord."

In the Scriptures, the Synoptics mention this account before Jesus rose from the dead. The apostles' experience of Jesus' telling them to throw the net again ["Duc in altum"] was particularly striking for Peter, because he seemed to not have given Jesus the adulation He deserved when the latter told him to fish again. Didn't Peter tell the Lord that they had gone out to fish the night before and got nothing? But after they got a big catch, didn't Peter kneel down and tell Jesus, "I am a sinner." This catching fish then, being his way of life in the first place, has become for Peter something altogether personally significant because here he encountered Jesus so concretely and personally. This could have been one of the foundational experiences for Peter's later confession after being asked by the Lord "Who do you say I am?" "You are the Messiah, the Son of God."

In the Gospel of John, this catching fish episode is mentioned after Jesus rose from the dead. Note too that Peter had just denied Jesus three times as the latter predicted during the Last Supper.

In both instances, Peter showed the Lord the worst of himself - his tired self in the Synoptic accounts, and his denial of knowing Him to those who asked if he was in His company. And yet, here the Lord approaches him, again, and telling him to catch "men" from then on. It is indeed a poignant scene, one that sends shivers down the spine. The Lord has truly Risen, He who doesn't mark out our offenses but sees the many possibilities in us if only we are open to aligning our wills with God's, like He definitely did.

Towards a Morally Rebuilt Nation

2008-03-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

Here is the Bishops' Statement for Palm Sunday 2008 here in the Philippines courtesy of Frt. Felmar Castrodes, SVD who had this posted in his blosite at http://fielsvd.blogspot.com/2008/03/towards-morally-rebuilt-nation.html yesterday Saturday March 15, 2008. Happy reading!

Today we are experiencing a social and political mess. This however goes beyond the question of truth to the search for probity. Probity is about the integrity of all, the accuser and the accused. We are unhappy and we feel betrayed. And yet as Pope Benedict XVI reminds us “in spite of our great disappointment our great hope can only be God who has loved us and who continues to love us to the end, until all is accomplished”, (Spe Salvi, 27). We also know that together we have the capacity to correct and purify the nation by starting with ourselves.

The Model for Change is the Desert.
The history of salvation teaches us that the long road to freedom inevitably passes through the desert of purification and conversion. Having escaped from Pharaoh, via the miraculous crossing through the Sea of Reeds, the Israelites considered themselves liberated. But they were not yet free, because they wanted to go back to their old ways in Egypt. “Should we not do better go back to Egypt?” (Numbers 14: 2-3).

The chosen people hesitated at the shores of the Sea and remained enslaved. So Moses led Israel away from the Sea of Reeds, and they entered the desert of Shur. (Exodus 15: 22). Believing that Pharaoh was the idolater refusing them the worship of the true God, it was in the wilderness where the people discovered that they too were guilty worshipers of golden idols. (Exodus 32: 1-29). People were disciplined and converted from their greed (Exodus 16: 17-21); and the desert which the Israelites feared to enter became for them a place of purification, discipline and conversion, before they could enter the promised land of freedom, forty years later. There are yet no proven easy short cuts to conversion and renewal.

Looking back at EDSA I, euphoric and heroic as it was, it appeared that the event became the Filipinos’ day of crossing to freedom; but that was only the first step that hardly anyone knew. The “desert” awaited the people who would be purified and converted, before they become fully liberated. But people preferred the convenient streets as the easier route to an imagined freedom, and feared the “desert experience” that awaited conversion and new beginnings.

Corruption as the cancer of the nation.
We cannot add more to the wrath of God for lies, untruth, injustice and evil. Conscience, as the voice of God within, already tells us of what good there is to pursue and what evil to avoid. Our people are known to be God-fearing and God-loving; sadly, they fight, deceive and kill for money.
Shamefully we have been known to be a nation whose prime industry has been identified as politics simply because politics is the main route to power, which, in turn, is the main route to wealth (1). In this country people use politics to get money, and more politics to protect more money. “Corruption radically distorts the role of representative institutions, because they become an arena for political bartering between clients' requests and governmental services. In this way political choices favor the narrow objectives of those who possess the means to influence these choices and are an obstacle to bringing the common good of all citizens.” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 411).

The subordination of the public good to individual or group interests is what corruption is all about. In whatever form it takes, the practice of corruption is both immoral and unjust. Corruption is worse than lies, because lies are employed only to cover it. Whenever Government money is stolen or whenever suppliers or contractors’ money is offered as bribe to secure projects, to the disadvantage of the Government graft or corruption is committed. Graft is the acquisition of gain by dishonest, unfair and sordid means through the abuse of one's position in politics, business, etc., while corruption is the improper enrichment of politicians or civil servants or those close to them by the misuse of public power entrusted to them. [BIR, Revenue Memo Circular 12-2005]. As an injustice to the Government and people graft and corruption are against the Seventh Commandment and have the added element of betraying one's country.

The Universal and All-time Application of the Seventh Commandment.
The Seventh Commandment, “Thou shall not steal”, applies to all, as individuals or as groups. Thus, if one holds on to money or its equivalent that is not his or hers (or theirs), justice demands restitution of the stolen or bribe money to the owner. (CCC, 1459). If the owner can no longer be located, then the money should be given to the poor, or to a credible institution that will give the money for the poor or give true services for the poor.

Restitution was the constant teaching in relation to the violation of the Seventh Commandment in the Bible. “If anyone steals..., he will pay back”. (Exodus 21: 37).“Look Lord, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount”. With this confession, the Lord Jesus blessed Zacchaeus with salvation. (Luke 19: 8-10). The teaching of the Church on stealing is this: No Restitution, no Absolution. In the words of Jesus: with Restitution, there is Salvation. (Luke 19: 9). An authentic conversion demands willingness to restore what has been stolen and the resolve not to steal again.

The penitent should not be so complacent about one's faith as to consider oneself truly absolved before God on account of faith alone, even if one has no contrition... For faith without penance would effect no remission of sins. (Council of Trent).

The mandate of the Seventh Commandment is also addressed to traders and ordinary citizens in all practices of business, commerce and trading. Fraud in business, over pricing, bribery in contracts, cheating in scales, cheating in legitimate taxes and the smuggling of taxable goods, including also the smuggling and trafficking of substances for abuse to damn the innocent and the weak members of society, etc. --- all these are among the many forms of violating the Seventh Commandment.

Our Response: Our desert experience.
The old and the young, from kindergarten through high school on to the tertiary level of education till up to the licensure exams, are all to be formed and guided towards integrity, trained never to cheat in studies and exams. The “discipline of the desert” is to be taught and applied, if anyone is to succeed at any level towards “the fullness of life.”

The Seventh Commandment covers not only the present corruption deals that have been recently exposed, but also all deals, at all levels of government service, of all administrations and governance, no matter what came out of the past or will come out of the present or future inquiries. “Thou shalt not steal” covers also all trading of even ordinary citizens.
We suddenly notice that the widespread corruption we see in others is also the corruption we detect in ourselves.

Corrupt practices and fraud prevailed in the cities, towns and even in small Barangays. In the last two generations there had been tens of thousands of graft-ridden contracts in Government, the biggest single controversial project ever recorded in Philippine history was the Westinghouse’s Bataan Nuclear Plant (2).

True liberation will mean that we enter our desert of repentance and conversion. Change lies only at the heart of every person. Let us begin there. Values for living justly will be preached in parishes, prayed for in the homes, re-taught in schools, discussed in small communities and groups. Support structures will be required for a righteous life and fair dealings. After our personal and communal “desert” conversion, we will, please God, be ushered to the freedom we seek.

God’s Help is always needed.
We need God’s grace, if we are to encourage one another, forgive each other, pay our debts to the justice that we all violated, and start again, not at the banks of “our Sea of Reeds”, but beyond the streets of EDSA. Believers and lovers of God, like true Christians, do not have to hate, destroy each other even if they want to correct the mistakes of the past or the present and of each other. Many are critical of the present governance particularly in the areas of truth and justice. But we can restore truth and justice without resorting to violence and hatred. A nation built on contempt is completely unimaginable. As pastors we cannot tell you less, even if some will resent the way we teach. It is for everybody's good, especially the very poor among our brothers and sisters that we now address this call for communal renewal.

We need the leaders from the highest to the lowest and their families not only to lead us, but also to give us examples of repentance and true humble conversion. We also need people with other ideas but with positive emotions in nation building. Given the example and encouragement, the citizens will be inspired to follow where in the past they hesitated to proceed --- to their “desert” transformation.

Ngayon, diretso na tayo sa hindi natin kaagad gustong puntahan --- sa Disyerto ng ating mga masamang karanasan at kasalanan na dapat nating baguhin! May Pag-asa po ang ating Bayan at ang ating sarili. Basta’t sa pagbabago kay Kristo Hesus tayo ay magsama-sama.
In prayer let us beg Mary and Joseph to lead us back to the Christ that we had lost in the past! God bless us all!

+ Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales
Archbishop of Manila
Bp. Honesto Ongtioco
Bp Jesse Mercado
Bishop of Cubao
Bishop of Paranaque

Bp. Deogracias Iniguez
Bp Francisco San Diego
Bishop of Caloocan
Bishop of Pasig

Bp. Gabriel Reyes
Bp. Antonio Tobias
Bp. of Antipolo
Bishop of Novaliches

Bp. Jose Oliveros
Bp. Leo Drona
Bishop of Malolos
Bishop of San Pablo

Bp. Luis Antonio Tagle
Bp. Pedro Arigo
Bishop of Imus
Vicar Apo.of Puerto Princesa

Bp. Edgardo Juanich
Bp. Leopoldo Tumulak
Vicar Apo. of Taytay
Military Ordinariate

Bp. Francisco de Leon
Bp. Broderick Pabillo
Auxiliary Bishop of Antipolo
Auxiliary Bishop of Manila

Bp. Bernardino Cortez
Auxiliary Bishop of Manila

Palm Sunday, 2008
(1) Samuel Huntington, Political Order in Changing Societies, p. 67.
(2) Ricardo Manapat, Some are Smarter than Others, ($1.9B in 1981 to $2B in 1982), pp. 324328;

Paranoia, The Word of God & the Christian Faith

2008-03-06T16:32:00.000-08:00

Being beloved = having everything that we need to live eternally.

If you went to Mass last Sunday and still remember the Gospel then, (Jesus' healing the Blind Man born blind from birth), one can easily understand today's readings, today being Friday of the 4th week of Lent. The first reading is from the book of Wisdom which mentions the plan of the evil ones against the righteous one. The Gospel shows us Jesus in Jerusalem in view of the Feast of the Tabernacles which every devout Jew is called to celebrate. The Gospel text ends up with the often-used phrase "his hour had not yet come."

As I read the Word of God, it dawned on me that there can be people who have serious difficulty in the area of trust. I thought about those who are classified as PARANOID or those who have PARANOIA. They usually keep in their minds thoughts of others intending to hurt or kill them, hence their very strong and rigid defenses. They can be so isolated because of their fears, and a very strong sense of self-protection is paramount in their minds. They limit their relations and activities and take every precaution in order to maintain their security, their sense of safety. Lacking trust in others, they may have sleepless nights and have a very high stress level which can lower one's self-esteem. However, it can be a lonely life, one that has in mind only limited views and ways. Sooner or later, the paranoid person can break down, trapped in his fantasies and psychosis.

But the Word of God can be very freeing. Jesus Himself, knowing that He was to be killed, something that may have really harrowed him as days of its fulfilment came closer "braved through" it all and fulfilled His mission. Knowing that He was doing things not on His own will but because He was sent for that mission became the rock on which He stood and worked. He must have known that if the time comes, that time would be the time of God: the kairos and not the chronos. Just remember this: when the kairos came, Jesus was given courage to face it all, carry the cross, bear the pain and forgave. The reward? The Resurrection on the third day!!! Kairos can indeed be very liberating!

What the Christian faith gives us is God's call to live the freedom of a beloved. In Christ, the Beloved, we all partake of His Love and mercy. God is calling us during this Lent to learn to trust in Him as He can recreate us anew. Being beloved = having everything that we need to live eternally. Everything in between or along the way to its fulfilment becomes bearable, tolerable, forgiveable. One need not imprison oneself in false thoughts! God's plan in Christ is not to condemn but to save, to love and to give us His life.

Indeed, the Word of God can be very liberating. It can set the Spirit free to live in the freedom of the beloved. It can make us sing with praise and worship. And if you care, the youtube of Sandy Patti's song can help a lot in this: please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-J2CbJ-fEc&feature=email and enjoy this very uplifting song.

God bless

The Beauty of Colors, a pps

2008-03-01T18:09:00.000-08:00

It looks like I can't post the powerpoint I received from a friend entitled The Beauty of Colors 3. But if you want, I can send it to you by email as an attachment. Email me at berngu721@gmail.com where I still have the pps attached in an friend's email. Please put in the subject Request for The Beauty of Colors 3. Or else, your email might be placed in the Spam section. I have been duped before, hence I want it not to happen again.

Anyway, after seeing the powerpoint, what came into mind was this: Light doesn't seem to be enough. The first part of every picture is in grey color, or black and white. After a second or two, the color comes and shows the grandeur of His Creative Power. Wahhw! The whole experience has in itself become a contemplation. I call that LOVE, which brings in color, which colors our life. The hues bring in the quality of life we live, the grandeur of all that God continues to do as he has created us and continues to recreate us to become the person or creation He wants us to become. Hence, I'd like to share you the powerpoint so you can contemplate as well. God bless

The Blind Man

2008-03-01T16:38:00.000-08:00

Today's Gospel focuses on the blind man. From the Jewish point of view, amalady such as this is a sign of sin. Hence, it was even believed that the blind man was blind from birth due to his parents' sins. This kind of thinking stems from their experience of God Who punishes those who sin, and as can be seen in the Jewish history, the punishments were evident through the signs, such as blindness or leprosy. One who has the sign of punishment logically is imputed as being the bearer of being a sinner, or has been so due to the sins of one's parents.

But for Jesus, the blind man's blindness is not due to his parents' sins, but that through his blindness, God can show His greatness. This is a totally new perspective and thus makes this Sunday really "Laetare" Sunday, a day of rejoicing because for God, sin no longer counts. His mercy counts. He wants to show us His mercy, His greatness He wants to show us if only we were such a blind man who has alllowed God to do things His way .

Focusing on the blind man, he hasn't seen anything since birth, hence, it may not be fair to say he is blind when he hasn't lost anything since he was born. I remember in 1995, when I was new in the Philippines having just come back from Taiwan, I attended lessons in sign language. Among the things we were told was to remember that the deaf are people some of whom may not have heard anything since they were born, hence they shouldn't be imputed something they have never lost - the sense of hearing. Those who've never heard shouldn't be called deaf, hence, since the blind man in the Gospel has never seen anything, then he can't be accounted for what he never had. This thought seems to have some divine quality which wants to work with what is there that is open and ready, if only to show His mercy and Love. This seems the reason for our Laetare today: God is in our midst if only we are ready, and He works for us so that we may believe.

I am right now immersed in darkness. It may have been due to my sins, but the thought that He wants to come into my life, into my darkness, to show me His mercy and goodness, His Love, makes me rejoice. I don't have to choose to stay in the darkness. In fact I am called to believe and live as light the way St. Paul says in the second reading.

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord 2008

2008-01-13T02:38:00.000-08:00

The Christmas season for 2007 ends with today's celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. Ordinary Time begins tomorrow, Monday. The color of the stole of the priest shall then be green, like the plants in all its ordinariness. Today's Sambuhay reflection shares something about odinariness, with the word "ordinary" often connoting common-ness, humdrum and routine, uneventful, the "nothing special season." And yet, come to think of this: even in the ordinariness of time and life, when in Christ, ordinary time is as well God's time, a time when God manifests His works of salvation. Everyday then is a day of salvation. Everyday is a day calling us to conversion, to deeper following of Christ. Fr. James Kroeger, M.M. mentioned Mother Teresa of Calcutta (our Living Saint who is now Blessed) saying "We cannot do great things; we can only do ordinary things with great love."

It is good to remember this thought of ordinariness as we celebrate the Feast of the Lord's Baptism. Like St. John the Baptist, I also asked the Lord in my prayer: "Why do you have to be baptized, cueing like the rest of the Jews asking for John's baptism? You were no sinner like them?" The answer that came into mind was this: "Look, by doing so, God is entering into the human history, into the human reality." Indeed, the human situation has become in Christ something altogether not to be rejected but valued and loved. God in Christ has deemed it worth His life to join and participate.

In fact, by having Himself baptized, Jesus showed how deeply He has entered the life of each one of us. Now we can say that God understands what we may be going on personally, each one of us. Talk of empathy: God in Christ can now be seen as Someone Who very much knows what we are going through because He himself has gone the way we went, except sinning. The mystery of the Incarnation has then become a stupendous fact, a reality we cannot altogether simply brush aside! God has become now in Christ a human person, capable of deep understanding of our plight as humans! Thus, calling on Him, letting Him know what we're at should not be a difficulty if only we are ready and willing to trust Him.

By having Himself baptized like the rest in St. John the Baptist's time, it became easy for Jesus to share with us His own baptism. In fact, as we remember that He was baptized Himself, we remember our own baptism too. He has us baptized into His own life: we have become like Him, a Child of God. Remember when St. Paul, then Saul, was confronted by Jesus on the former's road to Damascus? Jesus asked Saul, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting "me"? He did not say "Why are you persecuting the Christians? (as if they were any different from Him.)"Indeed, by our own baptism, Jesus identifies Himself in each one of us. The person beside you in Church or at the train or in work, when baptized is Jesus Himself! Wow! What a thought! A powerful one at that! We are indeed seeing in each baptized person Jesus Himself, having Jesus Himself right in him/her. The other, baptized as s/he is, is therefore worth our respect and adulation, service, and love. Each of us baptized has Jesus to defend us with His very life!

Herein lies our dignity and calling to mission. Like Christ, we too are called to share in the mission of Christ as mentioned in the First Reading: "...for the vistory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand: I formed you, and set you as covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness." (Is 42: 7)

Herein lies our mission: that doing our best, we may be Christ for today! As He has done His role to save us, so we are also to help in saving others, bringing others out of the darkness of ignorance, poverty, sin, and corruption! We who have been brought into the light are called to bring out into the light many more we know who are in the darkness of their lives.

Let us therefore heed this call, for as long as we live out our Christian life to the best that we can, in whatever situation we may be in, being faithful to Him, we may actually, before we even know it, bringing Christ into this world, God Who is with us everyday in the ordinariness of time.

God bless

Give credit where credit is due

2008-01-10T17:57:00.001-08:00

I forgot to specify the internet site where I got the GARMIN pics I used in the foregoing entry. Thanks to this site for giving me these pictures. You may go to it yourself for more information. Here it is:

The first pic was downloaded from this site: http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-3-5-Inch-Bluetooth-Portable-Navigator/dp/B000EXS1BS

The second pic was downloaded from here: http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-4-3-Inch-Widescreen-Bluetooth-Navigator/dp/B000H49LXQ

Thanks a lot to Amazon.com God bless

Two Parables of Life

2008-01-10T16:28:00.000-08:00

Parable # 1: The GARMIN Parable

While I was in the U.S.A. last December, wherever I went (someone else was usually at the driver's seat), one thing I particularly liked was the GPS by the windshield. It looks like a Palm-V gadget. Here are two models for your view:

The black holder is simply attached to the windshield for the driver to have an easy and convenient look at the Garmin hanging on.

Here is another model which shows how handy this gadget can really be:

The words in the upper portion in green color tells you the direction you are to take. The highlighted portion where your see the car shows you the actualy road you're taking. The roads in different colors surround the road you're taking. The number on the lower left (in white background) gives you the estimated time of arrival at the destination, while the number in the lower right (also in white background) gives you the distance you are still to trek ahead to reach the area specified in the upper portion. Shortly before you reach the portion mentioned in the green area on the top, or when there is need for it, a voice over speaks "In .3 miles, keep left and take a left turn." Or in another manner, "In .4 miles, keep left and keep left..." One needs to program it though upon opening, specifying the terminal point we want to reach, and virtually inquiring the gadget to specify for us the way to take to reach our destination. Believe you me, it knows how to reach your chosen destination.

With GARMIN, it is fun driving the complicated highway system of the U.S.A.

However, on the first time I drove from Chicago to Florida, while passing through the highways of Kentucky, I missed the right exit. Suddenly I heard the word "Recalculating." GARMIN usually says this word when one takes the wrong road other than the one specified. The word actually means so, but sans the tension one feels at having done something wrong, or sans the pointing finger that accuses. It's a calm and relaxed voice, as steady as usual, alerting you that it is actually looking for a way to bring you back on track. Just follow what it will say and surely, in no time, you're back on the right track.

I call this "The GARMIN Parable" because it has told me the goodness of God: how He has been "Recalculating" for us everytime we swerve away from Him. If you look at the history of salvation, God has always done the Recalculating all throughout for us. Even when already in Christ, whenever we make the wrong turn, He specifies the right way back (through the sacrament of reconciliation perhaps, or maybe Scriptures, or mabe through a counselor) for us to stay on track.

Stick to Him then, and you won't be ever on the wrong track. For He shall bring us to eternal life, our ultimate destination which we can freely choose by His grace.

Parable # 2: THE PARABLE OF MY CATS SIM & MERLIN

I have two cats, Sim and Merlin, living with me in my room. Sim is the Grand Lady (in her Queen Tricolor), while Merlin is her youngest daughter (predominantly white). Merlin was returned to me after staying with a human family for two weeks. Since Sim would be alone after her last litter, I decided to keep Merlin when she was returned so at least Sim will have company to play with everyday.

Aren't they cute? Merlin is in front, as if to smell you. Sim, the Grand Lady is at Merlin's back, quite secure as she is.

Surprisingly, Merlin still behaves like her young self, sucking her mother's teets every now and then.

Just this morning, both were meowing to me. They usually do this to tell me that they need food. However, when I see their plate, there usually is something left, about 30 more pellets. They wouldn't touch this left-over, and I would usually pour these remaining pellets into another plate outside my room where Boxer's son usually comes and calls for his ration. Then I'd pour in new fresh pellets on their plate from where they eat.

This for me is Sim and Merlin's way of saying, "we have reserved that for the poor relatives outside."

Sim and Merlin may have knowledge that they have food forthcoming, and they always reserve something for the poor.

That's it: for us who have (more than) enough, it's always worth it to reserve something for the poor.

GIVE ME A BREAK

2007-12-26T07:15:00.000-08:00

I am posting here an account of what happened to me in relation to an internet scam so that others may know and learn something about. I emailed this already to those who replied to the scam letter (I saw them when I got full control of my email again, and THANKS anyway to whoever s/he was for not erasing the emails in the inbox). Happy reading! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Dear Everyone who was written to (by i don't know who - the scammer) last Dec. 18,
Peace be with you!

First I'd like to greet you Merry Christmas! I was at Holy Hills, Wisconsin this morning and concelebrated at the 1130(?) AM Mass. At the communion time, one guy said "Father, tagalugin nyo po kasi ang tagal ko nang wala sa Pilipinas. Namimiss ko na ang Pilipinas." It gave me the inspiration to ask the main celebrant (I forgot his name, he's a Carmelite priest though) to give me the chance to greet everyone in Tagalog, and Chinese before everyone leaves the place. I did, and realized that indeed we may be far away from home and feel so lonesome, but the birth of Christ on Christmas day has made me realize He is family to us and wherever we are, we are home! May you be with those whom you love and love you this Christmas! Christ does love you, and wants you to feel at home!

Secondly, allow me to apologize for the inconvenience of that scam you received. Please read this account so I can have myself cleared: 1. On Dec. 16, 2007, that was a Sunday here in the US, I was at a classmate's house in Carlsbad, California. I remember having checked on my emails in the morning before Mass. In my gmail account, I read one which wrote (am copying here what I actually received for purposes of pedagogy):

Dear Account User
This Email is from Gmail Customer Care and we are sending it to every Gmail Email User Accounts Owner for safety. we are having congestions due to the anonymous registration of Gmail accounts so we are shutting down some Gmail accounts and your account was among those to be deleted.We are sending you this email to so that you can verify and let us know if you still want to use this account.If you are still interested please confirm your account by filling the space below.Your User name,password,date of birth and your country information would be needed to verify your account. Due to the congestion in all Gmail users and removal of all unused Gmail Accounts, Gmail would be shutting down all unused Accounts, You will have to confirm your E-mail by filling out your Login Information below after clicking the reply button, or your account will be suspended within 24 hours for security reasons.
Username: ..............................
Password: ................................
Date of Birth: ............................
Country Or Territory: ................
After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences.
Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.

I might have been shocked and scared, as I naively replied:

Okey, I am putting in here whatever data you have required. I don't understand why you have chosen mine when it has been very good and I hope I haven't done anything to disturb your system. Please check below the information. I hope I can continue availing your services. I just don't understand what made you choose mine and give me the impression that mine is "unused." I have very essential communications going on through this my gmail account. I expect your respecting my privacy and confidentiality of these informations.Thanks & God bless

Yes, I gave away my password!!!!!!! which I never did before in my life!!!!!

2. By the 18th of Dec., I was on the car my friend drove to Burbank, the place where I had to take my flight back to San Francisco. Azell Banoza, our former Social Worker at Sarnelli in Baclaran (she's on a training at north Carolina) rang me up, and asked a question which I thought I never heard her ask. She told me she had received a letter saying I was in Nigeria, and that I needed money… (you must have read it yourself already). Immediately, I remembered what I did last Dec. 16; so to race with time and whoever did it, I asked her to go into my gmail account, and change my password. In five minutes, when she called me back, I realized the email was no longer under my control. I felt like I gave someone the key to my house and when in, s/he locked me out in the cold. As soon as I reached my niece's place that evening, I checked my emails, and discovered that my yahoo account was untouched, and in there was the letter Azel received from my gmail account! I couldn't enter my gmail account as the password was already changed!! Whew!!! How I wanted to call the police!!! I called up Fr. Noel to cancel my previous schedule with him because I wanted to solve this problem. I knew I was getting into a mess which might have become bigger had I left it unsettled. Fr. Laput gave me the idea to email abuse@gmail.com and report the incident about my gmail account. Here's what I wrote them (this is still in my yahoo inbox):

To the person in charge of G-mail accounts,

Peace!I am Fr. Bernard Collera, SVD. I have received an email yesterday Dec. 18, from my gmail account berngu721@gmail.com and would like to report the abuse that's going on with this account. Friends have told me about this too, that it has been soliciting money, the amount of $3150 which i am purportedly to pay back when I go home. My classmate has told me to email your address so what's going on stops. I have actually written back to that account and pleaded that it be given back to me because the emails of my students are all in there. Please help me on this. I was stupid to reply and give away my password last Sunday, Dec. 16 to an email which purported that gmail was closing and that if i didn't reply my account would be closed. Sorry, but i admit that was clearly stupid (sorry for the word) on my part to have so naively given away my password. What's more disconcerting is the fact that I can't anymore access my two blogspot accounts, namely counpsychphil.blogspot.com and reflectscriptures.blogspot.com. Hence, whatever should be done so I can have those back would be the best. Please please assist. God bless
You may reply to me here since I can no longer access my gmail account. Thanks a lot. Take care
Bernard Collera

In a few minutes, the Google Team responded and gave me options. I sent them two more letters after following their directions, until I got to the site which asked for my Verification Number (which gmail sent to my secondary address upon opening my gmail account way back 2006). I gave as much information as I could, and even the right for them to "storm" into my account if only I could have my email back. 3. To keep this long story short, on Christmas eve, last night, while at our family Christmas party here in the US, when I checked my emails, The Google Team sent me this message:

Hello,
We have completed our investigation and we are re-enabling your access to this account. The account settings have been restored to the first name, last name, and secondary email address that you provided. We sincerely apologize for what you have experienced in this regard and appreciate your cooperation and understanding. To reactivate this account:…

I did as directed, and PRESTO!!! I GOT BACK MY GMAIL ACCOUNT!!!

I went through everyone's replies to that scam letter, and for all your concern, thanks a lot. You have to produce me evidence that you sent that guy money because he said he was me…if you want me to pay up. Sa totoo lang, sana wala akong dapat harapin! Chocolate lang ang maibibigay ko for you as pasalubong! Whew!!! Thanks The Google Team for all your efforts. May the Lord bless you! Pasensya na po talaga sa lahat ng idinulot na kaba ng scam na yon. Takot ko lang talagang lumaki ang mga bayarin pag-uwi ko sa Pilipinas sa January 2008! HAhaha. Di ko po ugaling di magsabi patungkol sa aking pagpunta sa isang malayong lugar (formation output kaya ito?!); at mas lalong di ko ugaling manghiram lalo na ng pera (wala kasi akong pambayad!!!: seminary and family training output!).

May this account let everyone who reads about it know
(1) what NOT TO DO and
(2) what TO DO when into what I went through. God is really GOOD! All the time! God bless--

Fr. Bernard, SVD

It's about 19:30 AM here as I publish this blog. I am publishing this document in my blog so that others get to understand what had happened to me (in case they might be interested). It's about 1135 PM Dec. 26 in the Philippines, so tamang tama gets nyo na to. God bless again and take care. See you January 4, 2008.

Life Through The Narrow Door

2007-10-14T07:50:00.000-07:00

It's the 28th Sunday already, and I'd like to write down here those insights that have since stayed with me since the 21st Sunday when Jesus responded to the question "Lord will only a few be saved?" - STRIVE TO ENTER THROUGH THE NARROW DOOR! Since then, my Sunday reflections for the homily have been guided by this striving to enter and live inside this Narrow Door - Christ!

21st Sunday - Strive to enter through the Narrow Door. I had this chance way back year 2000 at the Shrine of Mount Carmel. It was a Sunday then, and many people went there: people with blond hair, white hair, black hair; tall, short, man, woman, child, people in pants, people in skirt, people of all colors, races, yes for that was the year Pope John Paul II went to the Holy Land and I was blessed to have been given that once in my lifetime trip (I hope I can go there again, God willing). We were lined up, cueing for our time to see the tower of the Shrine. Everyone was shoulder to shoulder, elbow to elbow, and moving slowly in. And Lo! The door was shut right before my face. And I remembered the Gospel where Christ was supposed to have told His disciples that it will indeed be shut. Woe is me! I said. I was moved to tears at that experience. What if this really took place when I am about to enter heaven. I just prayed and hoped that moment won't happen. Meantime, I waited with the rest. I stayed put, waited, and thoughts came as time passed by. Soon enough the door was opened again, and I was able to enter that door. We went up and Lo! What a beautiful sight. Up in that tower was a sketch such that if you see North certain places in Israel can be seen; the same with the South, East and West. Waah!! If the door did not open, I would have missed this chance of a lifetime. But that experience made me realize the generosity of God. Yes, my entry through that door was through the mercy of God. That made me realize that for as long as I wait, the door will be opened, and He will let in those who have patiently waited. Hence, Christian life is really a life through the mercy and love of God Who in His Son has invited everyone to come and enter through Him, the Narrow Door.

The 22nd Sunday showed us Jesus dining in the house of one of the leading Pharisees in His time. He said there: "When you're invited to a wedding banquet, recline not in the place of honor at table lest a more distinguished guest come up and you be told to step back to give way..." That Sunday gave me the thought of our self-importance often coming with us. Now that we're inside the Narrow Door, it may be of great help to learn to place ourselves in such a way as to be given importance, and not to aggrandize that importance on ourselves, lest we be embarrassed. The human person can indeed be vulnerable to this because each one craves to be given that importance. And He has indeed given us that importance. He has given us His only Son. Before God, we are important or else, how could He have decided to offer us His live in His Son Jesus? Indeed, none of us in Christ can say we are not important. We have been given such value as to be ransomed at such a price: His Blood! Christian life then is a celebation of being given that importance such that we don't have to take upon ourselves that importance in case we may feel we haven't been given so. The word humility really brings the idea clearer: humus or soil from which we have been created. We have been raised from the dust, so to say and been breathed on His own Spirit that cries inside of us Abba Father, as His Son Jesus cried our Abba Father to the One Who sent Him.

On the 23rd Sunday, a challenge was posed. Jesus told His disciples that "if anyone comes to me without hating his faher, mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." Then He spoke of two parables: one about someone who wanted to build a tower and needed to assess one's resources before doing so lest he not finish it and be jeered at; the other was a king who was to wage war with another king who had more forces than his own. That Sunday made me think that indeed, while we're still close to the door, we can still make a choice: are we really in, is this really what we want? Or, if we don't think so, we can still exit. The Door is not far away yet, so to say. Yet, come to think of it: our entry has been out of His generosity. Our survival, growth and happiness inside that Narrow Door will also be due to His ongoing mercy and love! He will supply whatever we lack. It is important that whatever we meet while in, we learn to trust in Him Who has more than we can ever think of. Carrying ones cross and following Him is learning to accept the reality of life without fear, and with realism learn to entrust to Him Whom we follow. We do our best, He does the rest.

The 24th Sunday had the whole 15th chapter of St. Luke's account of the One Gospel: Jesus Christ. My thoughts then were these: (a) like the coin the old woman looked for, our being found was to be so essential. Had the woman not found that coin, she would not have been able to buy what she wanted. It's as if, if we were not found, we continued to be lost, God would not have become really God. Money that is not exact can't buy anything. God without mercy and love is not yet the God Who is Mercy. (b) The lost one's value is equal to that of the 99's. The Shepherd went out searching for the lost one while having the fact that he still had 99! No, one less is not his joy. Joy is greater at finding the lost one! For the lost one is equal to the 99 who are left waiting. And each one among the 99 can be given such an importance and value. Well, there is no need to give the Shepherd such difficulties at finding us by allowing ourselves to be lost only to be found?! If only we learn what difficulties the lost one has gone through! (c) The Parable of the Prodigal Son really tells us what the lost one goes through. And God very well understands, He waits on us, runs to us and gives us back our dignity as beloved, celebrating our having been found in conversion! Oh what a life inside the Narrow Door we have been allowed entry into!

The parable of the Sower was proclaimed on the 25th Sunday this year. As we live deeper after we have been allowed entry into the Narrow Door, God continues to sow in us His life-giving Word. He talks to us in our lives, and when we let His Word live in us, we are letting that Word bear fruit in us. The other types of soil on which the Word fell are challenges for us to learn about ourselves. And HE gives us a choice: to be the fertile soil borne out of fidelity. Or to live in doubt and fear, to live in hard-heartedness and unforgiveness. If only we are generous enough to let His Word grow in us through a faithful life!

Indeed, life inside the Narrow Door can be very challenging! Yet, the Gospel of the 26th Sunday showed us a rich man (without a name) and Lazarus, the beggar living outside the rich man's house's gate. The parable was addressed to Pharisees, and these are the thoughts I had then: (1) the disparity between the rich and the poor appear symbolic of the rejection the Pharisees did to those who were classified as "sinners." This disparity between heaven and hell was also demonstrated, hence, already from the perspective of the Pharisees, no one gets to the other side. (2) I thought it was really unfortunate for the rich man to have not even given the poor man even just a look. I think this takes place when there is some internal obstacle. When I look back at my own experience, this difficulty comes when one has resolved to no longer allow oneself to be hurt by the other, or maybe fooled by the other. I just thought of the many times beggars came and asked for some aid, and some of them really came armed with fake prescription papers. They say they want medicines, but actually they need money. When someone gets hurt by the other or gets fooled, the tendency is to keep the other out of one's life such that even a glance becomes too difficult to do. Had the rich man even given just a look at the poor man, he may have had experienced already here on earth the "drop" of water he was asking Abraham for Lazarus to drop on him. (3) The challenge then for us who are "in" the Narrow Door is to learn compassion which can only take place when we shall have known what is deep inside us. Let me end my reflection here for a while. I shall write some more on this in the coming days. God bless

A little while you will see me...not see me

2007-05-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

Today's Gospel is taken from Jn 16:16-20:
Jesus said to his disciples: "A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me." So some of his disciples said to one another, "What does this mean that he is saying to us, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while later and you will see me,' and 'Because I am going to the Father'?" So they said, "What is this 'little while' of which he speaks? We do not know what he means." Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, "Are you discussing with one another what I said, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me'? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve. but your grief will become joy."

Upon reading this text, in fact every time I do so, I always think of children when our parents were testing our hearing and doing skills (auditory-manual or action coordination) and actually showing us the CLOSE-OPEN-CLOSE-OPEN while actually doing the actions with their palms. I don't know if Jesus is trying to insert humor here at his impending death, and the loss that the disciples will experience. Is this his way of balancing our way of living, i.e., in anxiety, broaden the perspective; do not get stuck with what is there for there will be something more. Be open, in other words. For indeed, suffering will have to be taken the way it is if we are ever to really overcome it. Denial of suffering was not what Jesus wanted us to have. Suffering has a purpose, and trust in God the Father is better than being trapped in the moment.
The other picture I see whenever I read the above text is related to Piaget's Object Permanence theory. Here is a picture which I got from this site: http://wondertime.go.com/learning/article/putting-the-fun-in-peekabo.html

By Object Permanence is meant an understanding or belief that objects and events continue to exist even when they cannot directly be seen, heard & touched. The peek-a-boo play with kids shows this reality, i.e., try to hide something from a baby, and when the baby tries to look for what was hidden, the said baby has object permanence. While this is part of the child's cognitive development, it has implications for our faith experience. Object permanence seems to create in us a sense of security that even if we don't see something, especially when it is hidden from our sight, what we only need to do is search and we will find it. There really is no need to be too anxious that what was hidden is lost. The belief that something we saw continues to be even beyond our sight is an indication that it has been installed in us, and we can learn patience, trust, and most especially happiness when it is shown again.

Whenever I play peek-a-boo with my little nephews and nieces, and even any child for that matter, and I see the glow in their eyes, as if at first wondering where I went, and then when I show myself again I see the smile and laughter in the child, I always feel the joy of security and peace. This can become our peace as we live even without seeing Jesus the way we see others as we live in this world.

God bless us all

Why Christ had to Rise from the Dead

2007-04-08T14:02:00.000-07:00

It was JUNE 19, 2006 when I wrote this entry here:

The Easter Season of this year 2006 has been quite impactful for me as a Catholic priest. While I admit having studied and learned my theology in the Chinese language, this year was my first time to encounter the difficulty understanding the Resurrection. Hence, in one of my reflections, I remember having asked the Lord "Why did you rise again from the dead?"

It was the Sunday before Ascencion Sunday, and the text from the Gospel of St. John rang so loud in me: "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love. You will remain in my love if you do what I command you...My command for you is this: that you love one another...as I have loved you...and your joy will be complete."Human loving seems to be quite romantic, but selfish. My experience in the clinic assessing marital cases for declaration of nullity by the civil and Church courts has shown to me what human loving is all about: it can be filled with passion and desire, but as the years go by, love dries up. Our human friendship also shows the fickle nature of love. Once one of the parties starts to show some negative traits, a gap starts to creep in between the bond. Human loving seems to last for only as long as the other remains to be good. But when the other starts to hurt the other, the love is challenged. If we love the way we love, we most likely would fall out of love.

I was once assigned for chaplaincy at Lourdes Hospital. At 6AM, the phone rang from the emergency. A man was being revived by the nurses and doctors at the emergency room. The wife was busy picking the pockets of her husband's shorts as the doctors were pumping the chest of the man. I busied myself anointing the man. As soon as the doctors stopped and told the woman that her husband is gone, the wife started crying out with these words: "You said you'd love me and wouldn't leave me. Now where is your love. I cannot believe in your love anymore." This incident showed to me what death can do: death can falsify love!!!

AHA! Now I know why Christ had to rise from the dead! The Father has risen His only Son back to life because that was the only way to show the world what LOVE REALLY IS: It calls the dead back to life. The love of God is such that it can wait for the dead to rise back to life. And only the one who loves also rises in obedience to the One Who loves and calls him back to life.

No wonder the Church always goes back to the table of the Eucharist because it is here where each member receives the One Who can love with us as He loved us. It thus becomes possible to say in the words of St. Paul: "The life I live is no longer mine. It is Christ Who lives in me." Each one is gifted with the call to rise from our deaths and daily dying.

May we love as Jesus has loved us.

I find this original more dynamic than the one I shared in my Easter homilies this year 2007. But what I did add was this thought: that Christ rose from the dead because that was the only way to show the truth of love. Death erases love. With the victory of death (read: Christ not rising from the dead) love would have easily been nullified. Love without Christ rising from the dead would simply be fooling the other. Yet we all know how we strive to make our love real and long-lasting, but with the reality of death, and if God is not there, our efforts prove to be rather futile. The purely human situation apart from Christ can be quite doomed. Each person only wins the first prize of death, and remains there 6-feet below the ground!

It is thus hopeful to be shown the Resurrection: for with Him rising from the dead, love can really be love. The divine nature of being love, loving becomes self-evident. This reminds me of the Scriptures which says "Not for your sakes do I act, house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name...I will prove the holiness of my great name...thus the nations shall know that I am the Lord, when in their sight I prove my holiness through you... (Ez. 36: 16-28 - I don't exactly know which numbers are these quoted verses since I am only copying from The Vatican II Sunday Missal).

It really is very consoling to have at least an insight into the Resurrection. May we live life as we have been given this: "life is called to live"

FELMAR'S MISSIONARY JOURNEY: SLAIN SVD PRIEST: A HERO

2007-04-06T18:14:00.000-07:00

FELMAR'S MISSIONARY JOURNEY: SLAIN SVD PRIEST: A HERO

Fr. Madhu & The Agony in the Garden

2007-04-05T04:57:00.000-07:00

It's been quite some time since my last entry here. Actually, what stirs me to write here is my confrere who's right down there lying in state. Fr. Frans Madhu was killed last Palm Sunday Barrio Mabongtot, about 4 hours walk from his parish in Lubuagan, Kalinga. He arrived here in the Philippines last Palm Sunday 2005. What a coincidence? He did come full circle in only two years!!! On that fateful afternoon of Palm Sunday 2007, April 1 to be exact, his life was taken away from him sans any motive!!! I heard that comment quite a few times from the confreres who brought his body last Holy Wednesady from his place in Kalinga down here in CKMS for burial come Easter Monday.

One Claretian sister was supposed to have commented yesterday afternoon that her uncle and nephew were murdered last November 2006 by Fr. Madhu's assassin. What has kept that man scot free during these five months? I heard that the police assigned there could not simply do that - for fear that there would be a tribal war? Where's the connect?

What really interests me most is this: Fr. Madhu mentioned about his fears to some confreres - at least 2 of them - and I talked with them about his fears. These fears appeared to be kind of unfounded. Last December, in a conversation with Fr. Alphonse, he mentioned he was afraid for his life. He texted Fr. Alphonse three times after that short talk - once when he was on the bus on his way to Kalinga, another time some two hours later, and a third time upon arriving Kalinga. His text message always carried that line: "Please pray for me..." Wasn't that ominous enough?

Fr. Siervas mentioned that once last January this year Fr. Madhu himself went straight to his room in Urdaneta to tell him about his fear. What that fear was all about he never really got to say apparently. But there was this lingering fear. This sounded to me like Jesus on His Last Thursday experience at the Garden: He agonized at the thought of a violent death. Was it this type of fear that Fr. Madhu experienced? It made me ask this question: What is death then for? What makes us scamper in fear at the thought of death?

Maybe I'll keep these thoughts here for a while. The truth is: there is a need to resolve this killing, or else it may provide fuel for some more serious crisis up there in Kalinga between the tribes in Mabongtot and Lubuagan. That CICM priests and even diocesan priests have been killed there and that their bodies have not been found since then - aren't these sufficient enough to keep the police more courageous to do their jobs! Or else how else are we to be freed from fear? Well, for one, guns aflourish in that place as if there were no gun ban these days! HAAH! Really scary!

PIP: Peter, Isaiah & Paul

2007-02-04T01:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, the last entry I saw made here was last Dec. 18, 2006? That was more than a month ago! Whew! Mea culpa. I allowed myself to be busy with a lot other tasks instead of sharing here what were in my mind.

But today was particularly beautiful. Just look at the readings, and realize how beautiful the implication for us is as individuals.

The First Reading speaks about Isaiah's experience of seeing the Lord, and yet realizing one's being of unclean lips and also "living among a people of unclean lips" (Vat. II Sunday Missal, 1973, pp. 200), he experienced the purifying mercy of the Lord. "One of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it." (The scene is supposed to elicit pain since fire does burn!) But what do we get instead? "See, now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin is purged." WOW! Wasn't that great?!

Paul's experience is even more fantastic. Imagine a killer of Christians given a parole by the Lord. Paul was on his way to Damascus for more Christian killing, but instead he got a mild lash from the Lord. All this now is past, and Paul has since become the foremost proclaimer of the mercy and love of God in Jesus Christ!

Peter's is really very personal. We might think that Isaiah's and Paul's experiences might have been fantasy at the least, or maybe guilt-ridden the most, but Peter's was up-close and personal. Jesus Himself was right there and then, in flesh and blood, asking him to throw the net again. "Duc in altum," as has been quoted in the millenium letter/document of Pope JP II.

What do we get from these experiences of PIP?

Despite their being sinners, killers and wicked, they have been given the chance through the mercy of God! They have seen for themselves God's salvation, never really intending to kill out of wrath, but giving the chance to make up for lost chances to give life and share life.

Fr. Cantalamessa, the papal household preacher wrote in his commentary for today's Gospel something worth quoting here. He spoke of two perspectives in looking at "fishing and shepherding" which Jesus gave Peter, and I guess Isaiah and Paul too, albeit using different terms perhaps. Fr. Cantalamessa said that from the perspective of human experience, the world shows us that fishers and shepherds do their tasks primarily from a selfish point of view. Fishers fish for food and income; the same seems true with those who pasteur sheep, primarily for wool they can use later and the meat and milk as well. This seems to be really obvious.

But from the Scriptural perspective, fishing and shepherding are tasks not for one's own benefit, but for the benefit of the fish and the sheep. Wasn't Peter "fished out" of water when he was drowning as he was walking towards Jesus on the water? And we all know the famous Good Shepherd Who lays down his life for his sheep, even looking for the lost ones!

When we realize what we are called to by virtue of our being chosen at baptism (yes many among us did not ask for it: baptism was given to us by our loved ones, hence baptism is really a gift!, gratis!), we realize that God has our best interest considered. He made us His own so that we may realize how important we are, how beloved we are, even before we asked for it. In the life of the Church, we are fished out from sin through the sacrament of reconciliation; we are fed at the table of the Lord by His Word and His Body and Blood. When we get sick, we get healed by the sacrament of anointing. And our acts of service are given importance at marriage and ordination. This Fisherman, this Shepherd has given us the best consideration so we can really live, coming to our midst, riding in the boat of our lives in order that He may give us His life that can make us live our lives to the full.

Hence, when Peter was sent to be "fishers of men" Jesus showed him a very good model of how to fish,of how to shepherd. "Feed my sheep...tend my lambs...feed my sheep."

Indeed, we have seen in the lives of Peter, Isaiah and Paul (PIP) the mercy of God that calls, challenges us to give as we have received, not to think more about ourselves first, but the interest of others. God's mercy must really be good! While it saves, it also strengthens the saved so others can be saved through the saved.

This is our mission. This is our challenge. With His help, it should be possible! Be a fisher of men (and yes, women are included in there!).

Character Change & St. Joseph

2006-12-18T18:40:00.000-08:00

There is an interesting development going on in Philippine society these days. The latest political developments may have actually inspired this direction. Our elected Congressmen of the House of Representatives have last week changed the house rules, spending two sleepless nights to ensure that they could lay the ground for Congress becoming a Constituent Assembly sans the Senate. This however was met with stiff opposition from a wide sector of society. People felt that the congressmen and congresswomen were aggrandizing the power unto themselves by becoming an institution (Constituent Assembly or Con-Ass) authorized to change the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines without the other half of the legislative branch, i.e., the Senate. There are other modes for charter change, the other two namely, Constitutional Convention (Con-con), and People's Initiative. The most salient point in the opposition was the manner by which the House of Representatives had done it, thereby giving many in the country the impression that the changes they may have wanted were to be railroaded without consideration for due process. While the congressmen and congresswomen of the House of Representatives may have everything to defend themselves for their actions, they seemed to heed popular disagreement by shelving their plans. But a prayer rally, originally intended to voice opposition to Charter change through Con-Ass-sans Senate took place yesterday at the Quirino Grandstand under the auspices of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Newspapers today headlined the event, quoting the new word for Cha-Cha "Character Change" and no longer Charter Change. Character Change first before Charter Change.

The Church, when she speaks of Character Change, does not invent a new term, nor is she simply giving an ideal. We have in the Catholic Church models by which we can follow and be guided. St. Joseph, the Husband of Mary, and the foster father of the Lord is one model of character which we can learn from.

Character and its meanings

Before I go to St. Joseph's character which we can sum up here into three, namely intrapersonal integrity, interpersonal or social consciousness, and openness to the Divine, I would like to mention what we oftentimes think of with the word "character". One site mentions the following qualities very much in character, and identifies them as the 6 Pillars of Character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship. In fact, the same site links us to another site where a deeper discussion about these words is made.

Indeed, character seems very much connected with being ethical and moral in one's actions and being. And St. Joseph seems to be no stranger to this.

St. Joseph's intrapersonal intergrity

St. Joseph's intrapersonal integrity refers to his knowledge of and conviction about what is right and wrong, and choosing the right. As soon as he knew that Mary was pregnant before he had ever lived with her in marriage, he thought of divorcing her. Marrying her was something considered wrong in his time. (Even today, it still is.) It was wrong because it would provide a model which others could easily follow. Accepting Mary in marriage would be telling people that such situation was acceptable, thereby opening the flood gates for illegitimate children, premarital promiscuity, and even sexual irresponsibility in the sense of enjoying the pleasures of sex while running away from one's responsibility in case a child is conceived. By opting to divorce Mary, St. Joseph was actually communicating to himself and others his moral values.

St. Jsoeph's interpersonal or social consciousness

His interpersonal or social consciousness can be gleaned in his decision to consider divorcing Mary "quietly." Had the divorce been made public, Mary would have been at a loss. Women pregnant before the wedding by someone other than the one she is to marry were supposed to be dragged to the city gates and stoned to death. Had this happened, the Lord Jesus would not have survived. While St. Joseph may have considered social mores, she likewise considered the personal reality of Mary and the child in her womb. We can see St. Joseph being particularly considerate of these two persons' predicament. We can see his valuing life and capacity for sacrifice to protect life, the life of two human beings.

St. Joseph's openness to the Divine

The third is St. Joseph's openness to the Divine. This appears to be one angle of character wherein the Transcendent becomes veritable. Nowhere does it say or allude in Matthew that St. Joseph prayed over the matter. Yes, he may have ruminated about his plans and decisions. Consulting others may have contradicted his original plan to divorce her "quietly", since consultation means allowing a third party into his plan, thereby effectively making public the whole affair. However, Matthew provides us with a hint about what predominated St. Joseph's consciousness. The resolution to the problem through a dream suggests St. Joseph's being open to Divine intervention. Had this quality of his character not been mentioned or at least alluded to, Jesus would not have been born into our midst. We would not have had Emmanuel, God with us, around. The plan of God would not have materialized. The Incarnation would not have had taken place. But St. Joseph was open and docile. He fulfilled the plan of God as revealed to him in a dream.

If we are to track the road to Character Change, it is important to be persons of integrity: knowing and choosing what is right; social or interpersonal consciousness always considers the consequences of one's choices as basically related to others, thereby considering the best interests of the other in such a decision; while openness to the Divine simply refers the decision to let God come in and make a difference. I believe that if these three qualities were always to be in mind, character change should be possible. How I pray that we be always conscientious of what is morally right and choose it; how I beg the Lord to make us always think about the other who may be affected by our self-centered choices no matter how morally sound they may seem to be; and how I plead before God that we be not too humanistic as to edge God out from our considerations. It is God Who is Lord of all, knows the blueprint of our development, and holds our future. When we this takes place, Jesus' coming into our midst would not be long. He should easily feel welcome, as He may have felt so welcomed and protected by St. Joseph.

My next door neighbor

2006-12-14T18:59:00.000-08:00

My next door neighbor has shared me a beautiful material for reflection especially this Christmas. I have actually linked it to this entry and for you to easily download it, here is the site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5js77uJUGA

I find this very revealing about our current status in life, what we have and what we can yet be. The Gospel today speaks what Jesus Himself said to the people: "we sang you a tune but you did not dance, we piped you a dirge but you did not wail." What I get from this line is that of our unfaith in each other, how we can be so unbelieving about the other in the midst of what we hear, or may have heard about the other with whom we may have lost faith. In the meantime we stack a lot of material things to protect ourselves from our own guilt of unbelief. Our Founder of the Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) St. Arnold Janssen's motto is: "May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace, and the may the Heart of Jesus live in every heart." It is a prayer as well as a challenge so that we learn how to open ourselves again to the other and discover what has been neglected by the rejections we do in our hearts of unbelief. It's not that I did not believe my next door neighbor. Had I been, I would not have even discovered his products that uplifted my spirit.

See the point now? Indeed, when our hearts remain open, then wisdom is really vindicated. It's a beautiful life we've been given. Our categories of others can sometimes keep them from entering into our lives and enrich us, inflame us, inspire us. Am so thankful that the other has not been closed to me, and shared me what he has done. This is the reason for celebrating Christmas: Someone Who may have been so unknown and so "distant" has dared to come into our midst to share us what He has: His love that gives us life, more life, and yes, eternal life.

The Blogger's Face

2006-12-11T01:54:00.000-08:00

A while ago, I had four pictures downloaded from My Pics folder. When the pics were downloaded, publishing became a difficulty. I don't know what happened. I wanted to place a face in here like I did in my other blog since a reader has emailed his comment that I have myself kept my face in the dark. For him and anyone else who may want to know me, here are my pics. My email address is in (http://www.counpsychphil@blogspot.com). Just click it and read through the blogs. Even my celphone numbers are there.

The first pic was taken in Baguio at the Mansion when my sister came with her husband and two daughters together with my other sister. The other pic was in one of the islands of 100 Islands, Pangasinan in the same trip with my sisters. The third pic was in Subic's Ocean Adventure during our community outing. The fourth appears like a presidential address during the 2006 Annual Convention in Manila Pavilion. No, I was just introducing the poster and paper presentors who were to receive some certificate of appreciation for gracing the convention with their posters and papers.

There it is. I am no longer in the dark. Thanks Jun. God bless

Advent & John the Baptist: 2nd Sunday of Advent 2006 Reflection

2006-12-10T06:13:00.000-08:00

Every 2nd Sunday of Advent, whether it be Year A, B, or like this year which is Year C, we are always introduced the person of John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, Mary's cousin Elizabeth's son. I'd like to share here my thoughts for my homilies which I delivered in the Eucharistic celebrations for today.

We are given this person John the Baptist in the context of his times. He was supposed to be a memorable personality because he was one of those whom Herod beheaded. These data only prove to us that the Lord we believe in and wait for at the time of Advent, and beyond of course, is a real person. At least John the Baptist knew Him, and testified to Him. As many homilists and commentaries for today have pointed out, the Lord Jesus is not a fiction of the mind. God became flesh in Him, and we have seen Him, as the Gospel of St. John the Evangelist has further written. The reality of the Lord thus becomes evident when we are shown John the Baptist.

I often received text messages in my cell phone from people who are not in my list. I used to simply ignored them. Even in my email, there appear now and then, names of senders whom I don't have memories of. I used to spam them. For me, nameless and faceless senders are common in this hi-tech world we live in, and the feeling of being in the dark often catches me anxious. My way of coping would be the silence of ignoring. But there was this particular sender whose email must have been simply so clean the spamming feature of my email provider failed to shut him out of my inbox. Hence I decided to write him, asking him to refresh my memory of him. I further encouraged him with this thought: even God showed Himself; He gave us a face we could recognize in the light: Jesus. You might want to imitate Him and come out into the open rather than stay in the darkness of anonymity. He replied, telling me that we met at a wedding in Makati. As he narrated the occasion, the memory of that night at a reception of a wedding I had just solemnized came back like a film. We were all sgtrangers in that table, but since the wedding was a happy occasion, we broke the ice. What struck me further was his mention of the walk I had after the meal while looking at the enlarged wedding pictures of the bride and groom. It was there where we talked and got to really know each other. It was there that I gave him my email address. He even sent me a picture of him, and the memory became alive again. I had to reply back with joy and gratitude as a happy moment of my life was rekindled. I had to admit to him that honestly my having forgotten him and that wedding night may have made me think negatively of him. Indeed, like the emails and text messages I receive, John the Baptist brings back to us the reality of the Lord we have met in our lives: at baptism no matter how young we were; at the Eucharistic table no matter how awake or drowsy we may have been; at the religion classes we attended in class and in Church no matter how forced we may have felt at attending. John the Baptist thus serves as a memory retrieval device, if I may use the term.

As I searched for more thoughts in the internet, I read Fr. Cantalamessa's commentary for today's readings. He said: "The traditional prophets helped their contemporaries look beyond the wall of time and see into the future, but John helps the people to look past the wall of contrary appearances to make them see the Messiah hidden behind the semblance of a man like others. The Baptist in this way inaugurated the new Christian form of prophecy, which does not consist in proclaiming a future salvation ("in the last times"), but to reveal the hidden presence of Christ in the world." My understanding of his thought goes this way: the prophets of the Old Testament foretold of something yet to come. But John the Baptist as prophet told us about the Christ, long foretold, and is already in our midst. This thought thus further heightens the mystery of Advent: we await for One Who is actually in our midst already. Advent thus becomes a moment of opening ourselves to the presence of Christ "coming" to us. The future "is already but (the) not yet," a phrase we were taught in Eschatology. It is here that the significance of Advent for this year gets its inspiration.

We have recently been battered in the Philippines by four super typhoons. Reming was the worst because it had left so many dead and yet more homeless and nearly hopeless. Here in Manila, classes were suspended for us to prepare to avert what we experienced when Milenyo ravished the place last September 28. Even though Reming skipped Metro Manila, I felt the desire to see for myself how this Reming would fare. I saw for myself the cruel winds and rains of Milenyo the killer typhoon. Hence, I waited for the television footage in the late night news. There I first saw a woman saying before the reporter: "Wala na kaming Pasko." (We have no more Christmas [this time].) I felt a certain pinch in my heart which stirred me to ask you to please remember them this Christmas. The least we can do is pray for them, here in our Mass, in our personal and family rosaries, and even when we adore the Blessed Sacrament in the Adoration Chapel. If ever we decide to buy something new for ourselves and our loved ones, do let go of the old and share them with these people. The Churches and other non-government and charitable organizations are busy collecting whatever we can share with them. The governors of the battered provinces, as well as the people have said that they don't need money, for money can't feed them as there is virtually nothing to buy. Everyone seemed to have been affected. Food, so basic and yet so scarce is what they need so badly. Ricefields and vegetable gardens where they could get some subsistence were all ravaged cruelly. Roofs were simply blown away. The floods have carried many houses, including the weak, burying them under mud and sand. If we shall be celebrating the birth of Christ this Christmas, and thereby remember that we have shared even the least to these people of Albay, Sorsogon, Catanduanes, Mindoro, Marinduque, and many other areas, then we shall have really celebrated the joy of His birth in our midst. Our sharing with them would have then become our clear message to Christ: "Look, Lord, we are ready for more of the life You want to give us with Your coming."

The Immaculate Conception & Advent

2006-12-10T04:56:00.000-08:00

While preparing for my homily for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, I caught myself waking up from bed one morning asking the question "What's the connection between the Immaculate Conception and Advent?" We all know that the Immaculation Conception "cuts" through the Advent Season, and oftentimes we go through life as Catholics without having reflected upon this "cutting." Hence I wrote the following thoughts. I first gave it as a conference to the Pink Sisters, the third congregation founded by our common Father and Founder St. Arnold Janssen last Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006. I also gave this reflection to the communities I got invited to celebrate the Eucharist for this year's Solemnity.

The Church's Dogma of the Immaculate Conception

The Church dogma on the Immaculate Conception, declared in 1854 by Pope Pius IX, tells us that God the Father had kept the Blessed Virgin Mary free from the stain of original sin. That is what "immaculate" means, to be free from stain, to be totally clean. Since all of us born into this world share in the sin of our forefathers and ancestors as early as Adam and Eve, Mary's Immaculate Conception thus reveals a particular privilege granted her in view of her pending motherhood of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. This salvation given her is one of "anticipation." A beautiful and convincing article describes the analogy of two people and a pit. A man, (and everyone who falls into the pit for that matter), who gets a hand reaching out to him gets "saved" from the pit. The Blessed Virgin, about to fall into the pit, has a hand reaching out to her before she falls, thereby also getting "saved" from the pit, and without having been mired by the dirt of the mud in the pit. Indeed what a "glorious" salvation she has been given. This must be the meaning of the Greek κέχαρίτομήνη, Mary's being "full of grace," a characteristic quality which we Christians hold about Mary, something she was given from the moment of her conception onwards.

Advent and the Immaculate Conception

This Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, placed in the context of the Advent season, heightens the ideas of preparation and waiting. God Himself prepared for the coming of His Son by keeping Mary free from the stain of original sin which all human beings share with the first parents Adam and Eve. Thus, if the Church asks us to prepare for the coming of the Son, we are shared a model - God Himself - preparing for His Son's coming. We can hereby say that when we faithfully prepare for the coming of Christ, whether it be the Parousia or His Birth, the act can be said to be divine in itself. We share with the Father this active desire to have for the Lord a ready place when He comes.

Of course waiting comes immediately with the thought of preparation. Preparation is actually an active stance of waiting. We wait for someone we know. And when we look at our experiences, there are times when we wait also for someone we consider important. And most of all, we wait especially for someone who said he will come. Our waiting reveals to us the value we give to the one we await for. The preparations we make as we wait show the joy we have for the one who will come. Our preparation as a sign of our waiting manifests our faith in the promise of his coming.

In the Immaculate Conception, we have seen for ourselves the Hand of God that kept Mary from being mired in the dirt of the pit (of original sin). That Hand of God has also kept Mary from the trauma of having "fallen" into the pit. In these recent days here in the Philippines, two men fell into a well which the owner had requested opened and cleaned after a long time of keeping it closed. There was a water shortage in the area, and remembering the well that was closed for a long time, he called for a company to have it ready for home consumption. The first man went in and started to brush the concrete circular walls down the pit. But he accidentally lost his grip and plunged into the water. The other man tried to save his companion, and upon reaching out to the hand of the one in the water, he couldn't take the weight of the guy, hence he also slid into the water. The well was more than 100 feet deep, and efforts to save them proved futile until the decision to siphon out the water was chosen. The bodies of the two were taken out only the next day, lifeless of course.

Granted that both were saved and continued to live, they would most likely have agonized through the memory of falling. The harrowing experience of falling into the pit can give temporary memories of helplessness and inadequacy which oftentimes reveal to them some weakness in their part. Those who have weaker egos further weaken with this experience, and self-blaming may ensue. There are people I've talked to who've gone through traumatic moments in life, and who manifest signs of difficulties in their faith, often asking "why God allowed it to happen" to them. Having been saved thus becomes an occasion to learn from that dreadful moment, and the salvation becomes an occasion for deep gratitude. Mary's Magnificat "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior" only shows the deep gratitude she must have felt being given such a great honor and dignity in this way of salvation.

Hence, in the Immaculate Conception, we can see the love of God for us so evidently real as to renew everything despite all the sins we may have committed all our lives, and all the lives of men and women down the generations. Her Magnificat may also become our own song as we do all our preparations for the coming of God's only Son Who comes to love and save us all.

In the Immaculate Conception, we can also see how important is the one Who comes whom we await. Like the men who fell into the pit, had they been saved, they could have shared with uswhile there in the pit for the longing they had for someone to keep them out and alive. That someone would have then become for them so important they would grab his hand as soon as it was reached out to them. At Advent, we long for the One Who can save us from our sinful world and sinful selves, and give us another chance to rebuild ourselves so that we too can save others, having learned from our own weaknesses and failures.

Implict in the Immaculate Conception is the plan of God, a promise of salvation through His Son. His Son our Lord Himself told the apostles He will come again. We hold on to this with deep faith. At Advent, this faith is called to be reignited and fortified as it strengthens us in our waiting.

May we be drawn closer to this One Who prepared for His Son. We have seen His ways, the great love through which He did it. We are full of joy like Mary, and we do believe because Christ Himself has said He will come again. When? Let it be In His Time. What matters for us is that we await with deep longing, with deep joy and with deep faith. Indeed in the Immaculate Conception, faith, hope and love are all alive and real, giving us more life, more joy and more love to share.

1st Sunday of Advent Year C 2006

2006-12-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

Actually, today is the first of several New Years we have every year. New Year? Yes because today we start the first day of the liturgical year C. Every liturgical year begins on first Sunday of Advent. Last year was liturgical year B. Next year we will begin the cycle again with Year A. Among the mnemonic devices taught us was to remember that this year the Gospel readings shall usually be taken from St. Luke. Last year's was from Mark. Of course, Year A has Matthew's Gospel read throughout most of the year's Sundays.

While the celebrative mood of most New Years is loud and festive, the New Year Advent leads us seems rather sober and reflective. The symbolic lighting of the 1st candle in the Advent wreath, especially on the eve, i.e., last night which was Saturday, is supposed to make us feel like we are in the darkness waiting for the light. As the Sundays before Christmas come, more candles are lit, and the light becomes brighter. It thus makes us feel that we are not meant to live in the dark but are called to live in the light.

The sobriety is also made more special because the readings usually begin with frightful things which we usually react to with fear and trepidation. The readings today, particularly the Gospel, seems to connect so easily with that of the last day of last liturgical year: it is almost the same except for a verse or two removed. We are shown a world in chaos and disorder, and amid these terrible situations, Scriptures tell us to be ready, with heads held high, "for your ransom is at hand." Fear is not to control our consciousness when such terrible things start to happen; faith calls us to be ready and watchful.

The image becomes easy to remember when typhoons are around. Television footages of the latest typhoon Reming (internationally known as DURIAN) show such a dreadful moment: strong winds and heavy rain make visibility virtually zero, trapping everyone wherever one is. When it will stop may be the concern of most, but keeping oneself and one's loved ones' safety too preoccupies the mind and heart. Fear is around us, but courage is further strengthened with love in our hearts. I saw this occasion many times in my life, and thank God for Scriptures: fear becomes something that can be overcome and gone through. The Word of God thus becomes the one factor that tips the other side for our balance. Next time fear comes to trap us, the thought that God is with us, coming to us to save us may yet become our refuge. Indeed the Lord is my true shepherd,...He is by my side with His rod and staff that give me courage.

Hence, as we wait during this advent, we do what we usually do when something good for us comes, whether it be a new appliance or someone important: we prepare a place for that thing or someone so when it comes we enjoy its/His/the other's presence. The President (GMA) was reported to attend the Mass in the seminary just a while ago, and soldiers dotted the grounds. It has become for me a fitting example for our waiting: we keep our minds, eyes, ears and hearts, our whole being awake and ready. The image of the soldiers with their arms ready to protect the President becomes fitting for us so that we also practice vigilance and keep at bay anything that shall harm the One Who will come to us in our lives. We know how sin can blind us and lull us to numbness, making us unable to recognize the One Who comes. If we are not vigilant, we might lose our lives, our jobs, our meaning.

So Advent thus becomes a fitting way to celebrate New Year in a different way: sans all the trappings that drown us, but with all the hope: the One Who comes is someone Who loves us and wants to give us more life, in fact eternal life. Awake then and be ready. Without fear, but with lots of patient waiting. Maran atha! Come Lord Jesus!

The Week of Christ the King

2006-11-29T19:04:00.000-08:00

It's the last week of the liturgical calendar, and Thursday of this week. I have long wanted to write about a thought that has helped me in my priestly ministry, particularly as I prepare for reflections shared during daily Mass. It was brought about by the realization that the readings, particularly the Gospel on Sunday, being the Day of the Lord, can be the "guiding light" in understanding the daily readings at Mass. Being the Day of the Resurrection, Sunday can be compared to a big light that can shine on the whole week's journey.

Last Sunday we celebrated the Solemnity of Christ the King, a feast only 81 years old in age in the Catholic Church. Declared by the Holy Father in 1925, it seemed to have helped the world from becoming overly and uncontrollably chaotic, what with wars and dethronement of royal people from their thrones as men discovered their power over others. The declaration of Christ as King and the Church's loyalty to Him has made man think of subduing one's thirst for power over others before the power of the Eternal and Boundaryless King. With Christ as King, indeed every human act becomes tempered, and man's dignity is restored and respected.

The Gospel of Monday is about the widow's mite, instilling a sense of self-surrendering loyalty to Divine Providence. This King knows definitely our needs and with our iving, authentic and dynamic fidelity, He won't discount the best we can give for His glory no matter how lowly like the widow's last 2 cents. That she has given "more than all the rest...from her poverty" clearly signifies the kind of fidelity Christ the King is calling us to. It should even be clearer when we realize that the widow's mite is God's own self-offering to us: His only Son Himself to show us His undying and indomitable love. Would you be so hardhearted as not to be touched by His love?

Tuesday's Gospel had apocalyptic content: how everything on the altar, the costly stones adorned by votive offerings "will all be thrown down." This Gospel brings back to mind earthly reality as basically passing away, and that if we put our hearts on these material reality, it will only lead us nowhere. While every material reality has in itself "the seed of destruction", i.e., everything tends towards death, the seeds Christ the King has sown through our baptism and active Christian life tend toward life. Therefore, having Christ as our King while facing the possibilities of chaos and death gives us the right perspective in our daily living. We need not be bullied by earthly powers that only want to engulf us. When Christ is our King, all these become nothing, and we live with a clear sense of security. Indeed, as this King has said "do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end." Earthly kings perish, but the Eternal Boundaryless King lives forever.

Wednesday's Gospel spoke of a much more personal, therefore humanly significant suffering - that of being harried to courts and persecutions left and right BY those who know us and our fidelity to Christ the King! Isn't this such an enormous overwhelming pain when our own reject us and expose us to death! I know of a Chinese confrere whose young members in the family reported their aunts and uncles (the priest's brothers and sisters) who were Christians and belonged to the educated group during the Red Revolution. One brother of this priest was exiled to the north, in a place where he was forced to labor on dry and often snow-covered land when he had never tilled the land before because he was an educator. This King's reassurance that "not a hair on your head will be destroyed" indeed calms the nerves in the face of death and unbearable suffering. One of my classmates who managed to be freed after 40 years of imprisonment together with Cardinal Gung Ping Mei kept this in mind and he managed to be free from the daily brain washing sessions by praying his rosary using his fingers. Others can reject us, and persecute us; but the King gto whom we are constantly faithful shall be our courage.

Today's celebration reminds us of one of the apostles: ANDREW, the brother of Peter. While Jesus was crucified on the cross, Andrew and Peter also had their own. Peter was crucified with his feet up for he claimed to be unworthy to be crucified the way Christ was. Andrew was crucified to an X-cross. Our King suffered for us; and if we shall be loyal to Him, as the master is, so shall the follower be. But when Christ is our King, the persecutions we experience today cannot compare to the glory that awaits us in Him.

Indeed, the thought of Christ the King which last Sunday's liturgy has given us can constantly give us the meaning by which we can reflect on the daily readings of the week. I shall be doing that for tomorrow and the day after. Hopefully, this should usher me (and you the reader) into a new liturgical cycle that begins with patient waiting or ADVENT. May He be my King forever and ever.

Jesus weeps

2006-11-22T20:08:00.000-08:00

Reflections
It's been five months since my last blog. A lot of events have happened, and I got simply too entangled that I virtually forgot about adding something. Thanks God I got this precious time to write some more thoughts to share.

The Gospel for today speaks of Jesus weeping for Jerusalem. I remember one episode of Mike Enriquez' (Philippine TV station GMA newscaster and show host) IMBESTIGADOR where a husband was shown weeping over his wife who joined a cult. Everytime he wanted to ask her to come home, she would become uncontrollably in rage. The husband was shown saying, "Kahit nagkaganyan siya, mahal ko siya." (Even if she has become like that, I still love her.) I'd like to believe that Jesus' heart cried much like this husband whose happiness included his wife.

This brings me to a story which one of our missionaries Fr. Oliver Quilab, SVD used in his reflection in the SVD Bible 2006 Diary Word in Other Words sometime last week. He quoted the late JPII's story of an Irishman who was at the door of heaven, so hesitant to get in because as he was overhearing St. Peter inquiring each one whether one has given food to the hungry, or water to the thirsty, or visited the sick and those in prison, all that was mentioned in Mt. 25 - whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers... - he simply couldn't remember one occasion in his life when he did any of those written. Everyone else was rushing in, but this Irishman was biding by his time doing his life examen.

Until Jesus took over Peter who needed to rest, and the Irishman was called. "You've been here a long time. What's keeping you from drawing near?" asked Jesus. "I'm embarrassed because I couldn't remember one single occasion when I did any of those you spoke of in Mt. 25." Jesus was surprised himself. "Not one?" Jesus chuckled. He then picked up a book of the man's life ang pored in, page by page, trying to verify the truth of the man's admission. He really couldn't find one. But he said, "wait, you had a friend who was very very sad, and here you came telling him a story, in fact it was supposed to be a joke, and that friend smiled, and since then found back his life stance?" The Irishman lighted up and said, "Yes, I remember him. He was like a brother to me." And Jesus said, "Welcome to the Father's kingdom. He was Me!"

It thus looks like Jesus would go all the way to pore through our lives, and if he'd go so far to find one to remind us of at least one moment we did, although not literally as has been written, but nevertheless done in the same spirit, when we had responded quite selflessly. It looks like Jesus' tears for Jerusalem was his way of going so far to wash away the sins of the chosen people. And He continues to invite those who may have missed His coming before even through us. This God is really generous.

On Vacation

2006-06-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

I will be on vacation starting June 26, 2006 and will be back in the seminary only on July 14. My next reflections and sharings will be done then. God bless

My other blog site

2006-06-19T06:35:00.000-07:00

This might be of interest to you. Since I am currently involved with counseling psychology, I opened a blog site. It was my first blogging opportunity, thanks to one confrere currently based in Italy. You might want to access it. Here is the address: counpsychphil.blogspot.com just click it and you will be led into the site. Happy reading. God bless

The Resurrection & The Love of God

2006-06-19T05:01:00.000-07:00

The Easter Season of this year 2006 has been quite impactful for me as a Catholic priest. While I admit having studied and learned my theology in the Chinese language, this year was my first time to encounter the difficulty understanding the Resurrection. Hence, in one of my reflections, I remember having asked the Lord "Why did you rise again from the dead?"

It was the Sunday before Ascencion Sunday, and the text from the Gospel of St. John rang so loud in me: "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love. You will remain in my love if you do what I command you...My command for you is this: that you love one another...as I have loved you...and your joy will be complete."

Human loving seems to be quite romantic, but selfish. My experience in the clinic assessing marital cases for declaration of nullity by the civil and Church courts has shown to me what human loving is all about: it can be filled with passion and desire, but as the years go by, love dries up. Our human friendship also show the fickle nature of love. Once one of the parties starts to show some negative traits, a gap starts to creep in between the bond. Human loving seems to last for only as long as the other remains to be good. But when the other starts to hurt the other, the love is challenged. If we love the way we love, we most likely would fall out of love.

I was once assigned for chaplaincy at Lourdes Hospital. At 6AM, the phone rang from the emergency. A man was being revived by the nurses and doctors at the emergency room. The wife was busy picking the pockets of her husband's shorts as the doctors were pumping the chest of the man. I busied myself anointing the man. As soon as the doctors stopped and told the woman that her husband is gone, the wife started crying out with these words: "You said you'd love me and wouldn't leave me. Now where is your love. I cannot believe in your love anymore." This incident showed to me what death can do: death can falsify love!!!

AHA! Now I know why Christ had to rise from the dead! The Father has risen His only Son back to life because that was the only way to show the world what LOVE REALLY IS: It calls the dead back to life. The love of God is such that it can wait for the dead to rise back to life. And only the one who loves also rises in obedience to the One Who loves and calls him back to life.

No wonder the Church always goes back to the table of the Eucharist because it is here where each member receives the One Who can love with us as He loved us. It thus becomes possible to say in the words of St. Paul: "The life I live is no longer mine. It is Christ Who lives in me." Each one is gifted with the call to rise from our deaths and daily dying.

May we love as Jesus has loved us.

2006-06-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

This site is on-construction. All thanks to my Filipino confrere in Italy who introduced me into this missionary space.