5TH SUNDAY OF LENT C

-


SPARK JOY!



People nowadays rave about a new tidying-up method called KonMari. Developed by a Japanese woman the method makes use of sentiments in deciding whether to keep or get rid of something in your house. For example, touch your clothes and feel if there is a spark of joy that occurs within you. If there is, then by all means keep the item. In the absence of this “spark” you have every reason to rid yourself of the thing.

While we may not be so aware of the presence or absence of a spark of joy in the things we own, we have a similar distinctive feeling when it comes to people. Some people fascinate and interest us. And some people, we naturally detest, specially if these people are those we consider as wicked, dangerous or shameful.

This is what happened in the Gospel today. John writes of a woman caught in adultery and the Jewish sensibility points to an immediate condemnation, judgment and punishment. She must be publicly humiliated and chastised. She was a sinner and there is no room for sinners in the society of the Jews.

To the chagrin of all, Jesus pointed out that the woman was not the only sinner. All around her stood sinners who could not, in the end, throw the first stone. Jesus did not want to embarrass the crowd. All he wanted was to demonstrate how every sinner, specially the most despised, “sparks joy” in his heart, in the heart of God.

For Jesus, no person is dispensable. Every person is valuable. How difficult it is to believe in this attitude and action of the Lord in a time when many of us, even the young, are taught to label, to ostracize, to push people away to the margins of society and to the fringes of our heart.

The wisdom of God saved the woman. This same wisdom saves us too, for we are all sinners who only God can truly love and appreciate. We spark joy in the heart of God. Must we not also imbibe the same attitude towards sinners in our midst?

I remember a meme form Audrey Hepburn: “People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.”

But better still are the words of the Lord to all of us today - “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”

Popular posts from this blog

HOLY MASS IN FILIPINO (TAGALOG)

-
Image
ANG BANAL NA MISA PAMBUNGAD NA AWIT Pari:    Sa ngalan ng Ama, at ng anak, at ng Espiritu Santo. Bayan: Amen P.         Sumainyo ang Panginoon. B.        At sumainyo rin. P.         Mga kapatid, aminin nating ang ating mga kasalanan upang tayo’y maging marapat sa pagdiriwang ng banal na paghahaing ito.             Sinugong Tagapagpagaling sa mga nagsisisi,             Panginoon, kaawaan mo kami. B.        Panginoon, kaawaan mo kami. P.        Dumating na Tagapag-anyayang mga makasalana’y magsisi,             Kristo, kaawaan mo kami. B.         Kristo, kaawaan mo kami. P.         Nakaluklok ka sa kanan ng Diyos Ama para ipamagitan kami             Panginoon, kaawaan mo kami. B.         Panginoon, kaawaan mo kami. P.         Kaawaan tayo ng makapangyarihang Diyos,             Patawarin tayo sa ating mga kasalanan,             At patnubayan tayo sa buhay na walang hanggan. B.        Amen. GLORIA/ LUWALHATI
Read more

GOMBURZA: BAKIT MAHALAGA?

-
Image
      PADRE MARIANO GOMES  (Gomez, ayon sa kanyang orihinal na apelyido)       Isinilang si Padre Gomez sa Santa Cruz, Maynila noong Agosto 2, 1799. Itinuturing siyang isang tornatrás o torna atrás o iyong may magkahalong dugo na Indio, Intsik at Kastila; karaniwang ang ama ay Kastila at ang ina ay mestisang Intsik. Ang kanyang mga magulang ay sina Alejandro Francisco Gomez at Martina Custodio.   Pumasok siya sa mga paaralang Letran at UST. Naghanda naman siya sa pagpapari sa Seminaryo ng Maynila na ngayon ay San Carlos.   Taong 1824 nang maging parish priest si Fr Gomes ng Bacoor, Cavite. Nakakitaan siya ng kasipagan sa pag-aalaga sa espirituwal na kabutihan ng mga tao, gayundin sa pagtuturo sa kanila ng kabuhayan at ng agrikultura. May maganda siyang pakikitungo sa mga kapwa pari. Kabilang siya sa mga nasyonalistang pari na nakikipagbuno para sa pantay na karapatan at pagkilala sa mga paring secular (o iyong hindi miyembro ng mga religious order tulad ng Dominicans, Franc
Read more

SIMBANG GABI DAY 1: READINGS AND REFLECTIONS

-
Image
FIRST DAY: DECEMBER 16   (from the book: Where is the Child?by Fr. R. Marcos (Makati: StPauls);  pls responsibly acknowledge source when using publicly)   fr tam nguyen's photo First Reading: Isaiah 56:1-3, 6-8   Thus says the Lord: Observe what is right, do what is just, for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed.   Hay is the one who does this, whoever holds fast to it: Keeping the sabbath without profaning it, keeping one’s hand from doing any evil. The foreigner joined to the Lord should not say, “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people”; Nor should the eunuch say, “See, I am a dry tree.” And foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, to become his servants—All who keep the sabbath without profaning it and hold fast to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will
Read more