OUR PARISH PRIEST

2012-02-07T21:34:00.000-08:00

readers of this blog: will you answer the following simple question? in your own little way, how do you share your faith in Jesus to others? please email response to me at ramildrm@yahoo.com i wish to collect and share answers in this blog, in view of the year of faith (2012-13). thanks so much and God bless…

2012-02-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

LOVING THE UNLOVABLE

Ordinary Time - 6

Often we meet the “taong grasa” in our streets. These are the poor, homeless people wandering our roads covered in grime and dirt, often naked and ever in search of food in garbage bins. What is your reaction when you meet such a person? Surely it must be a mixture of horror, avoidance, fear and indifference. Most of us never had a conversation with such people.

The Bible’s version of the homeless, dirty beggar of today is none other than the leper. He too, was avoided and despised because his scourge carried the stigma of sin and divine punishment. The Old Testament reading today advised people on how to isolate the leper in society. To be a leper in the Jewish society of Jesus’ time was not a pleasant, but a most dreadful and painful experience.

It must have been a real shock for people to see that their respected prophet and teacher not only conversed with a leper but also, moved by that encounter, “touched” him and healed him. And it must have been the highlight of this poor man’s life to be regarded again as important by a fellow human being. In his ministry, Jesus would repeatedly defy societal restrictions and extend his love to lepers and to other castaways of his milieu.

Here we see the distinction of Jesus’ approach to the marginalized of society. In his heart there was no reservation towards anyone. His heart was truly open, accommodating and compassionate to all who needed him. In doing this, the Lord did not listen to conventions but only to his Father, whose warm, pulsating heart craved to embrace the poor and suffering.

In our lives today, we rarely meet lepers. I don’t even remember being in the presence of one. As for the dirty, homeless poor, the “taong grasa”, we occasionally meet them but our encounters are as fleeting as they come. But surely we have our own version of lepers in our lives. There are people we refuse to acknowledge as our equals, the ones we consciously ignore and whose presence we loath. To us, they are “non-persons.”

Just think of your enemies. How long have you decisively refused to have any contact with the people who hurt you in the past? Then think of the people who do not belong to your “class” - not of the same social circle, intellectual background or moral attitudes that you possess. Isn’t it true that you live your life comfortably without thinking about them? And then there are the truly needy among us whose experiences spark the littlest interest within us, like the victims of various calamities for whom we give some extra coins at the second collection.

The gospel challenges us to adopt the same mind as Christ. Are we willing to be moved by others’ experiences? Are we ready to touch them with our hands and love them in our hearts? This week, let us resolve to love the leper of our lives. And may Jesus help us to boldly take the first step.

2012-02-02T00:03:00.000-08:00

ALL WORK AND NO “PRAYER”?

Ordinary Time - 5

We always aim for a balanced life. “All work and no play makes John a dull boy” is a famous proverb. It means that if all we do is work then we become both bored and boring. But if all we do is play and avoid work, we will never be good in what we are supposed to do.

This search for balance is true even in our spiritual life. If we are too absorbed in our good works without spending time to pray then our soul becomes famished. And if we pray all the time without translating it into action, then we become escapists and hypocrites.

The Gospel today presents to us Jesus as the model of real balance in spiritual life. Mark’s gospel is known to show Jesus is almost endless busy-ness, doing things with admirable speed and alacrity. And in today’s reading, Jesus goes from synagogue to Simon Peter’s house to heal his mother-in-law to crowds of waiting sick and afflicted people. Such dedication and hard work for the Kingdom of his Father…

But Jesus knew how to prudently handle life’s important matter. He was always available for others. He was always available when his mission is concerned. But he knew he needed a resource that can put a balance in his life. He withdrew from the crowd early in the morning to pray.

What did prayer do to Jesus’ personal life and ministry? Prayer gave the Lord deep personal contact with his Father. He was guiding people to him and so he must be the first to offer his heart to his Father. Prayer energized the Lord to resume his work with more vigor and determination. Prayer gave balance and credibility to Jesus’ preaching and ministry.

How very far is the attitude of many Christians today from the example of the Lord. We give up on prayer because we claim we are so exhausted after a day’s work. We refuse to go to Sunday Mass because even Sunday is a busy day for us. Or we rest our bodies on Sundays but ignore to provide respite and refreshment for our souls. And yet we have time for television, newspapers, texts and malls!

In the Old Testament, God clearly gave the mandate to keep the Sabbath, to observe a day special to the Lord. In the New Testament, Jesus showed the example of someone who draws close to God even in the midst of frenetic activities. The early Christians understood that God must be honored on Sunday, the new Sabbath, the day of Resurrection and Pentecost.

If you’re hearing this or reading this now, chances are, you go to church or have the intention to do so in obedience to God’s will and in conscious thanksgiving. So let us turn our attention on people we love, people we know, who have given up on prayer or Sunday Mass or devotions because they are “too busy” for God. Let us pray for them and given the chance, remind them that “all work and no PRAYER shatters a person’s soul”.

2012-01-25T15:13:00.000-08:00

CATHOLICS MUST RETURN TO THE BIBLE

Ordinary Time - 4

I used it often in grade school to fulfill my class assignments. I was so fascinated by it in high school that I gathered my cousins to share about it. In college I truly fell in love with it after I joined a Catholic Charismatic group. In the seminary, I formally studied and analyzed it. As a priest, it was my constant and daily companion. This year, I have received a great gift, a rekindled love affair with it that I want to savor it again from beginning to end in one year!

Let me introduce to you… my Bible!

Last week we started the celebration of Bible Week and today we bring it to an end. As Catholics, we must remember that the Bible is our book. Our forebears in faith wrote, preserved, protected and delivered it to us in this complete form today. There is nothing here against the Church for it is the book of the Church.

In the gospel, the people are blessed to encounter Jesus, the Eternal and Saving Word of God in person. They heard him speak. They saw his actions. He touched their hearts and freed them from sin and from slavery to evil. Today we still meet Jesus working in a powerful way through his Word, the Bible.

But why are many Catholic allergic to the Bible?

Some of us think that the Bible is a Protestant-thing or a sect or cult-thing or anything connected to non-Catholic believers. No.The Bible is our book, a book that we share with other believers in Jesus. Do you not notice that whenever we celebrate Mass, we devote a long time for reading the Bible, responding to it, proclaiming it and learning a lesson derived from it? The first part of the Mass is Bible part. Listen attentively to it and you will be led to a change of heart.

Some of us think it is boring to read the Bible. This book is all about love. From cover to cover, there is only one message and it is love! God’s love for Israel, for the Church, for you and me. When you read this prayerfully, you will discover that God continues to hold us in the palm of his hand and he guides us to understand his plan for our lives.

Some of us think that it is difficult to read the Bible. But there is a Bible for everybody, for old and young, in various languages, illustrated or straight texts. For the most part, it is stories. Sure there are difficult passages, and for this, we must ask the experts, or our priests and bishops, our guides. But the Bible is always God speaking plainly to us and therefore leading us to the light.

Friends, this week, why don’t you take up your Bible and just read a short verse or a story. Do it with love and reverence. Do it expecting a miracle – that Jesus will speak to you. I am sure you will encounter Jesus as he was encountered by many before you: “They were astonished at his teaching for he taught them with authority.” Read the Bible and fall in love with it again!

2012-01-24T04:45:00.000-08:00

2012-01-18T19:03:00.001-08:00

LISTENING TO HIS VOICE

Ordinary Time - 3

How easy is it to follow the Lord? Jesus was walking along and he sees two fishermen and he says: Come, follow me. They follow him on the spot. Walking farther along, he meets two other working men and he calls them too. They follow immediately, without question. If Jesus appears to you today and calls you that way, will you abandon everything and follow him?

The truth is, Jesus continues to call us even now. But why is it that churches are not full to overflowing? Why do people continue to live in sin and hurt each other? Why is it that many people are losing faith rather than committing themselves to it?

In the time of the Lord and the early disciples, it was quite simple to follow because it was easy to hear the voice of the Lord. There was less noise around and within people. There were less blocks that came between the Lord and men. The voice of God was clearly received and therefore easily responded to.

Today, God’s call goes against a lot of obstacles. God calls us to a holy life and yet the lure of the flesh, the world and the ego seems more enticing and appealing. God calls us to a personal relationship but our world values impersonal and virtual relationships through social media and technology. The messages abound, but there is no time to silently and leisurely absorb what is being said.

Life has become complicated and yes, has become inhospitable to the call. Many young people these days do not think of living a life of service to others because the world emphasizes only personal success, riches and comfort. Vocations to the priesthood and the religious life suffer a downward slope.

For some, the world has to come to an abrupt end before being jolted back into the listening mode. When a person gets sick, then he remembers to pray and to get back to the sacraments. When a person is broke, he gets on his knees and opens his heart to the Lord. When a relationship goes awry, it is easier to entrust to God the bleeding heart. Maybe some of you have rediscovered God’s voice in this painful way, too.

Why wait for your world to crumble before you make a stand for Jesus? Today he calls you to a life united with him and in the service of others. All we have to do is listen, give him a chance, allow him to lead you and unfold his plans to you.

How do we accomplish this? We can start by taking the Lord seriously when we attend the Eucharist, by focusing on the celebration amidst the multitude of distractions around. We can also try praying silently and from the heart, maybe at home or maybe in a silent chapel or church. We can read the Bible as a daily companion in life. We can try not to be in a hurry each time we talk to our loved ones and our daily companions. We can try by deciding to listen.

May we hear the voice of the Lord and like the disciples decide to follow him totally.

2012-01-12T07:06:00.001-08:00

IN THE IMAGE OF THE CHRIST CHILD!

FEAST OF THE SANTO NINO

(2ND SUNDAY - ORDINARY TIME)

Today is one of the merriest, noisiest, fun-filled religious festivals in the Philippines. Carrying the image of the Holy Infant Jesus, locally known as Santo Nino, the Cebuanos cry out: Pit Senyor! (We call on you, Lord!), the Ilonggos shout: Hala Bira! (Go for it; do not be afraid!), and Manilenos intone: Mabuhay, Viva Santo Nino! (Long Live the Christ Child!).

We celebrate this feast so close to the heart and the Catholic imagination – the Feast of the Christ Child. While other countries resume the Sunday of Ordinary Time, we have a special permission to recapture the Christmas spirit by dwelling on the divine childhood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

And just a few days back we saw the hordes of devotees in the procession of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, an ancient miraculous image of the Suffering Christ.

Now, suddenly why the focus on these images? On the one hand, the Christ Child; on the other, the Nazarene? While we Catholics rarely give this a thought, many of our brothers and sisters who do not belong to our Church do not understand, even misunderstand why we give importance to images. They say images were banned in the Bible. They say images make us idol-worshippers.

Yes, images were banned in the Bible, because the Jews were in danger of following the practices of the pagans who adored representations of men and animals. But God himself ordered that images be fashioned if these can help direct attention to the true worship of God. Just read about the brazen serpent in Num 21:9 or the cherubim (angels) over the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus 25. So the commandment against images was not absolute, as it was understood by the Jews and some other Christians today.

On Christmas day, we recall that by becoming human, God showed us and gave us his own image, Jesus, “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15).

When we use images, we do not worship these representations but they serve as reminders of God, Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints. Yes, we treasure some of these images because of the powerful way they remind us of God and bring our attention to God. No Catholic will deny that these images are truly wood, fiberglass, cement or plaster. And we do not adore them. But we value them for the reminder they give to us. We need reminders all around us, specially at a time when the only images we see in the streets, magazines and internet are those showing violence, sex and commercialism.

Of course, not all Catholics rightly practice their devotions. Some are mistaken and must be corrected. The Church seeks to always educate people toward the truth. Let the Santo Nino devotion remind us of the humility, the gentleness, the seriousness of God in loving us, for this is the meaning of this day. May our devotion make us follow the Lord. May the image of the Christ Child lead us to our true spirit of sons and daughters in the family of God.

2012-01-04T07:17:00.001-08:00

THE GIFT OF SELF

Epiphany 2012

We love to receive gifts. But we also enjoy giving them away. I plan my gifts by the middle of the year and I still give gifts until Epiphany.

Today is Epiphany, locally referred to by Filipinos as Three Kings. It is said that gift-giving started with the Magi, the wise men we heard from today’s Gospel. Learned men from the East, who studied the movement of the celestial bodies, they were brought to the Christ Child by the guidance of a mysterious star. When finally they encountered the Child, they brought out their celebrated gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh – the first recorded Christmas gifts.

The Magi were however acting on impulse to an earlier movement, a prior gesture. They offered their presents only because they felt they have received something even greater. The gifts were an acknowledgement of the person of the Son of God, now revealed to them and through them, to the entire world. The first gift came from God and he was a Person, Jesus the Lord.

The gift of one’s person, of self, signals the presence of someone who cares, the involvement of one who loves, the concern of one who is willing to suffer for the sake of the beloved. Today, the best gift is still the gift of person, the gift of self. Though I have received quite a number of gifts, the best ones I truly cherish are the people who cared to remember. Some did so by text messages or facebook greetings or cards and other ways. But the present was a mere reflection of the friendship and support and love that matter the most.

This Christmas, have we been appreciative of the people in our lives, the people around us, the people who daily give us the gift of their presence and love? If we review the Christmas season about to end anytime now, isn’t it that these people really convey to us, and in a daily basis, the love of God in concrete form, the face of Christ in very visible ways.

During Simbang Gabi, two boys who were always hanging out around the church. They were always hungry. And their clothes needed sewing. They were always attracting attention. Later I learned that just days before Christmas, their mother was operated to remove a huge cyst on her chest. For the first time, the boys, together with a younger sister and an older brother, would spend the time by themselves, as their father was also working as a truck driver even during the holidays. I visited the mother on the afternoon of Christmas. She was crying because she missed her children. Later when she went home, she sent a text message saying how the kids shouted and jumped for joy and ate so much to celebrate their mother’s return. How the kids recognized their mom’s importance in their lives.

Before Christmas ends, let us thank God for the people around us and the people with us. And just maybe, was there someone you failed to appreciate and show love to? There is still time. You can still recognize a gift in someone. Christmas never really ends…

2011-12-30T01:05:00.000-08:00

RELEASING YOUR COLLECTION OF BAGGAGE

New Year 2012

A delivery package arrived last week with a carved wooden car inside. It is a collector’s item because it was made by a highly-skilled and famous young Filipino carver from Paete. It is the latest addition to my collection of trinkets that grow as the years go by.

We love collector’s items. We collect all sorts of things. Aside from religious items, I have a collection of books, of pictures, of memorabilia from my previous assignments. What do you collect for yourself?

But one thing about collections is this: we cannot bring all our collection wherever and whenever we want to. A friend of mine said, he couldn’t bring his books with him to a new assignment because they were too heavy. When a friend’s house was renovated, she could not take her puppies to her rented condominium.

You know that when fire or flood threatens we can only take with us the most important things, and normally, we prioritize people over figurines, clothes, albums and appliances. That’s how it should be.

Through the years we have collected not only material baggage along the way. We also collected invisible but very real spiritual encumbrances.

We have collected enemies because of our work or because of misunderstandings. We have new collections of wounds caused by careless words and thoughtless actions. There are increasing collections of regrets and bitterness and anger.

When necessary, we can do away and part with our material collections. But with our spiritual collections, there seems to be a difficulty within us to detach ourselves from them. We prefer to bring them with us year in and year out. Because they are not seen, we carry them also invisibly within our hearts. But because they are felt, we feel the heavy weight it bears on our shoulders. It makes our life sad and grim. It limits our progress.

New Year is here and what are you bringing in your heart as we welcome this new opportunity? Is it anger, jealousy, unforgiveness, regret, misunderstandings with people, vices and patterns of sin? If we are willing to part with material baggage, why are we so hesitant to let go of the spiritual trash that pollute our lives?

God offers us this new year as a moment of change, a chance to start again, an opportunity to renew and restore. God does this through his Son who is the Savior of the world. In the gospel, we once again meet the Child born on Christmas day. Today he is given a name, the human name of God, Jesus!

In becoming human, God assumed a human identity. Like everyone else, we can now call on him. We can now truly know him. Jesus, whose name means, Savior (the One who Saves), is an accessible God who helps free us from our collection of negative things.

As the New Year unfolds, let us bring to Jesus our collections of negative things and lay them down before his manger. Leave them there. Offer them to him. He is waiting to receive our sins, our pains, our rancors. He is waiting to touch our lives so that with his birth there will be a renewal in the way we live. If there is any gift the Christ Child desires to receive, it is the collection of our human sufferings.

I remember a good friend, Bro. Bert Singson. He was a widower who truly trusted in the Lord. After his wife died of cancer, he resumed his active role in the parish and his volunteer work with poor youth. He served as a Eucharistic minister and was part of every activity in his church.

Fearing for his own old age and poor health, he would always call me for confession whenever he was hospitalized. He always sent text messages asking for prayers and intercessions. Whatever anxiety he had, he lay before the Lord in full trust and confidence.

Last Wednesday, Dec. 28, he called for a priest before he was rushed to the hospital. I came and saw him being revived by doctors and nurses. I administered the Anointing of the Sick on him and watched him slowly drift away, giving one last surrender to the Lord. I saw a man die holy because he did not want to bring any collection of human negativity within him. He gave them all up to the Lord.

Let us too, offer to the Lord everything that happens within us and seriously ask him to inspire us to live and love and serve again… Mary lead us to your Son!

2011-12-28T21:56:00.000-08:00

REQUIEM FOR A DEAR FRIEND, BERT SINGSON

Bro. Bert is such a special person in my life as parish priest, as former parish priest of his community at Holy Family’s. And so when Jeanny called on the phone to inform me that he was rushed to the emergency room, I didn’t hesitate to follow him there right away. I prayed the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for him while on the way. God has shown his favor by allowing me to administer the Holy Anointing and grant Absolution and Apostolic Pardon to Bro. Bert.

In this homily, I want to pay tribute to Bro. Bert, from the vantage point of a parish priest looking at the spiritual legacy of his admirable parishioner.

I met Bro. Bert and wife, Sis. Bie when they paid me a visit shortly after I came to Holy Family. They expressed their joy at my coming and their hopes for my ministry. They were very cordial, respectful and authentic in that encounter that I can still vividly remember how they looked that day.

Later someone whispered to my ear, that Bro. Bert and Sis. Bie were precious assets in the community, that somehow they were wounded hearts from the previous parish administration, and that they would certainly want to be back in service if invited. So I gave the go-signal to have them both with us again in parish life.

And there they were. Emceeing at parish events, present in simple and major activities, Bro. Bert giving communion, and always taking pictures – and unlike other photographers, printing them out and sending them to me in a full album.

Bro. Bert became a close friend, however, when he asked me many times to serve the spiritual needs of his wife, Bie, then slowly defeated by cancer. When I visited their home or the hospital, I couldn’t help but realize how special their relationship was. They were so sweet, and being no longer teenagers, that made all the difference. Bringing them together was no longer the impulse of youth, the attraction of physical attributes or the allure of the future plans but their common, steadfast faith in the Lord. They were a model couple, and very faithful to their calling as active leaders in the CFM, Christian Family Movement.

When I last heard the confession of Bie, on her hospital bed, on her death bed, I was sure that for the first time in my life I witnessed what is called a “holy death”. And I thank Bro. Bert and Sis. Bie for inviting me to journey with them in that trying period in their lives.

After Bie’s death, we decided to help Bro. Bert get over his grief by being consoled by the presence of his co-workers in the parish, and by giving him responsibilities to keep him busy in volunteer work. I invited him to chair the scholarship foundation for the poor youth of Holy Family. There was no one more concerned, more committed, more vigorous in promoting the welfare of the scholars than Bro. Bert.

Many images came to my mind while I was praying for Bro. Bert this morning. And the tears fell as I reminisced Bro. Bert silently standing by me in my family home for the wake of my father. Or Bro. Bert just dropping by to give a gift to the parish for any of its project. Or Bro. Bert calling and texting to see how his parish priest is doing. Or Bro. Bert assuring me of his prayer for my own mother in her battle with cancer. Or Bro. Bert following me wherever I went, after I left Holy Family. He visited me in Tagaytay. He visited me in Sagrada Familia. He often visited me in Sto. Tomas de Villanueva, my present assignment. And he never stayed long. He just said hi! He just assured me of support. He just handed me something to be used for a charitable purpose.

And yes, how can I forget the time I was hospitalized at Cardinal Santos after a fatal internal allergy. I told people at Holy Family, “no visitors allowed”, because I didn’t want people to see my disfigured face. But one day, the door opened as the nurse came in, and Bro. Bert took the chance to follow the nurse. I saw him there and wanted to talk to him but he stopped me: Father I am sorry for entering your room. You said no visitors. I didn’t come to visit. I came to pray. And he stood there at the foot of the bed, raised his hand over me, closed his eyes and prayed. After that, he silently left the room. That gesture I will never forget.

And there were the many conversations, the many confessions, the many confidential texts messages. Most of the confessions I heard at the Heart Center. By the way, Bro. Bert was the only parishioner who brought me to Heart Center the most number of times. Because of him, I almost memorized every wing of that hospital.

I cannot tell you the content of these conversations but I can assure you that through these I came to know him even more personally. I came to know his sufferings, his fears, his hopes, his concerns for each of his children and grandchildren, his prayers for his wife. Most specially, his total abandonment to the will of God.

In this last season of illness, he would suddenly text me concerns about his health and his cancer manifestation as he called it. I kept two of his text messages in my folder because they were precious relics of a man holding on to faith in spite of the sufferings he couldn’t totally understand. I always encouraged him to trust in Jesus and in Jesus indeed he trusted.

Yesterday when I arrived at the hospital, they were reviving Bro. Bert. In my heart I felt what maybe Gretchen and Raffy, the doctors and nurses already knew deep inside. I whispered to him the formula of the Anointing of the Sick as I administered the Holy Sacrament. I whispered to his ears the words of Absolution for all his sins. In silence, I bestowed on him the Apostolic Pardon for the dying. And I stood there praying my rosary as I witnessed this time the holy death of a man who was tested much in is life but has refused to let go of faith. I talked to him and said; I f it is God’s will that you come home to heaven, Bro. Bert, then go with God. Years ago I witnessed the holy death of a woman, Bie. Yesterday I once again witnessed the holy death of a humble man of God, Bert.

It is true that in this life, we cannot bring everything with us as we journey along. In the end, as the years go by, we need to lighten our load as we follow our path. As the New Year comes, it is difficult to see how Bro. Bert is one dear person we will no longer see as 2012 unfolds. But he is now united with the true love of his life. He is now united to God for whom he was a lowly and servant worthy of trust. He is united to us all in spirit as he continues to encourage us by his unforgettable examples of service and devotion to Jesus and the Church.

Gretchen and Raffy and the family of Bro. Bert, thank you for sharing your beloved father to us in the family of the church. Only God truly knows how much we will miss him too. We know you grief. But we also know your hope and courage because this is one infectious legacy from this simple and silent but tireless worker for Christ.

Though he is gone, we will always be one with you. The one you love, the one you lost, we too love and we too lost. Only heaven gained much today as another holy man enters its gates.

Eternal rest grant unto Bert Singson, O Lord…

2011-12-21T23:39:00.000-08:00

AND SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS…

“What is Christmas?” - we are always asked. What is its real meaning in a world that speaks only of the commercial value of this great Christian holy day?

There is a picture that reminded me of the real meaning of Christmas.

Lola Aurelia’s husband, Lolo Luis, who was suffering from dementia, left the house and was missing for two weeks. Unsatisfied by reports that said the old man was seen here and there and by the slow success of the search, Lola Aurelia, took matters into her own hands. She would look for him herself, roaming the streets of Manila with flyers of “missing person” pinned on the front and back of her clothes. She also handed to passersby other copies of the flyers.

One day, a young photojournalist took the picture of a weary Lola Aurelia seated on a pavement, tired after a day’s search. The picture landed on Facebook. With the spread of sympathy for her sacrifices, Lola would soon have a definite reunion with her husband, who was located through Facebook.

Finally they re-united. What was that meeting like? Was it like this idealized, rosy picture of young lovers?

No it was not. It was better a thousand times over. It was more spontaneous, more natural, more real. And this is how it looked:

The search is over. Lola Aurelia has found the one man she loves! And she was full of emotions and she shed copious tears as she hugged the man whose picture adorned her clothes day after day during her tireless search.

I believe that in this picture, we see the spirit of Christmas. Christmas is about a serious search initiated by the Great Lover, God, to find his children who were lost by sin, pride and disobedience. Lola Aurelia symbolizes the great love that will not count the cost, that will not spare every effort, that will defy all obstacles just to be reunited with the beloved.

Christmas is God looking for us through his Son Jesus Christ. Christmas is Jesus entering our world as a helpless infant to starting his lifelong crusade of leading us back to the Father’s merciful and forgiving embrace.

We celebrate this day, but the first to celebrate is in fact, God himself. Today he celebrates his love. He celebrates his total devotion for the good of each one of his children, even at the cost of losing his eternal Son at his side.

Christmas reveals to us the true face of our God: he will go to great lengths, do everything humanly impossible, just to bring us close to him again. He is the God of love!

After preparing ourselves for this feast through the Simbang Gabi, through Advent reflections and activities, do you feel God’s love for you?

It is easy to believe in love if everything is like a bed of roses. Love is more credible if events in our lives are running smoothly. We are readily convinced of love when we are happy and satisfied, in good mood and feeling of bliss.

But what if life turns out to be the opposite? What if we come across tragedies, like the recent one wrought by Typhoon Sendong right in the middle of Simbang Gabi in Mindanao? Why does it always have to happen when Christmas is right across the bend?

Where is love in entire villages destroyed overnight…

how do you feel it when you are holding a cold, lifeless body in your arms…

how can you rejoice when you are surrounded by grief…

Where is God and his love in all these? If God is all around us, surrounding us with his love, why the evil, the disorder, the pain in the world and in human hearts?

If Jesus came to bring salvation, why did he not put and end to all misery?

We can all identify with the people of Mindanao. Each one of us has an experience of Typhoon Sendong in our lives. We have events that fill us with sadness and pain, with fears and anxieties.

What is your typhoon – a spouse who committed infidelity? A child in constant rebellion? A friend who betrayed you? dreams that seem so remotely possible? Enemies that wait for you to fail? loved ones who do not reciprocate your love? secret and cyclical sins and vices that eat you up?

But wait… Jesus is born today… where?

It is exactly right in the middle of all these human tragedies that Jesus is born for us today. This is precisely the reason that God visits us and decides to remain with us in spite of the imperfect world we live in.

Real love is not proven by empty words, sweet words, consoling promises. Real love is proven by a Lola Aurelia who leaves the comfort of her home to search for her lost husband under the heat of the sun. Real love is proven by a God who leaves behind the security of heaven by risking all in the company of human beings…

So that he can share their life…

So that he can touch them where they are hurting…

So that he can stay close to them and assure them that he understands…

This is God’s love on Christmas day. Not a party-throwing, gift-giving, merry-making, feel-good love, but a consoling, concrete, suffering love… and this is more real. This is what we truly need. Because this is when love becomes evermore real!

Jesus’ humble, peaceful, beautiful birth was the mere start of everything…

Yes, he is God-with-us! But he did not remain a child forever. His own life was an experience of all our experiences – joys and pains, tears and laughters, successes and defeats, falls and recoveries, darkness and light.

The God of Christmas knows how to love not by being born in a stable but by dying on the Cross…

The God of Christmas lives his love by being with his people today in the most intimate way possible, specially in the Eucharist, from which comes our hope and strength to carry the trials of life.

We are here to celebrate, not because Christmas has dissolved all our problems. We are here to celebrate that our God is not a distant God who is indifferent to our situations. He is a God who loves us and knows us, because he has assumed all our broken situations and joined us as our hope and our gladness as we daily struggle to find meaning. To have him is to have meaning for our lives.

Because of this day, we know that we will never be alone. There is someone who always listens to us, helps us, guides us, strengthens us, embraces us every moment, if only we are aware of his constant presence.

God has found us again today! His search is over when we surrender to him our lives and when we allow him to enter into every area of our existence. Do you feel it? In fact, it is more than a feeling. It is an assurance, it is a truth that we can always hold on to. We say thank you to the Lord. We bow down before the mystery of such great love...

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

POPE BENEDICT XVI ON CHRISTMAS

God’s sign is his humility. God’s sign is that he makes himself small; he becomes a child; he lets us touch him and he asks for our love. How we would prefer a different sign, an imposing, irresistible sign of God’s power and greatness! But his sign summons us to faith and love, and thus it gives us hope: this is what God is like. He has power, he is Goodness itself. He invites us to become like him. Yes indeed, we become like God if we allow ourselves to be shaped by this sign; if we ourselves learn humility and hence true greatness; if we renounce violence and use only the weapons of truth and love.

2011-12-19T00:45:00.000-08:00

TYPHOON SENDONG IN A DEADLY RAMPAGE OF MINDANAO

JUST DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS…

SOME PEOPLE WILL AGAIN DOUBT GOD’S LOVE…

BUT SOME WILL START SHARING GOD’S LOVE….

HOW ABOUT YOU, WHAT WILL YOU DO?

2011-12-14T19:31:00.000-08:00

WHY MARY?

Advent 4

Today we revisit the biblical account of the Annunciation and we encounter the figure of Mary, the maiden of Nazareth, again. Why is Mary important in our approach to Christmas? Is it just because of her role as natural mother of the Divine Son of God?

Yes, the crib is not complete with her there. Christmas cards are all the warmer and more tender when she is seen caressing her baby boy. But Mary is not a mere spectator, not a decoration, not an addendum to the Christmas story. There is a quality in Mary that poses a challenge to our life of faith. There is something in her life that makes us rethink the way we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Mary teaches us how to make room for Jesus. Before the angel came, Mary had whole life neatly planned before her. She was in a peaceful and religious Jewish home. She was engaged to be married to Joseph. Nothing seemed to upset the normal routine of a simple country girl.

But then the angel came, and Mary who was at first troubled by the message she received, gradually stretched her heart to accommodate God’s plan. That was not easy to do. God’s plan was not an alteration of her schedule, her itinerary, her activities. The plan centered on a child, a person. That would mean a lot of adjustments.

But she made space for Christ. In fact, she offered him the center of her heart.

Christmas as we celebrate it today takes our attention to many varied focuses. People are confused what gifts to give. There are so many parties to attend. Workers are eagerly waiting for the bonus. Students are gleefully looking forward to vacation and rest. Churches are busy planning programs for children and for the poor. All these concerns eat up space in our minds and hearts. And because of this, many people really forget the real meaning of Christmas.

A bishop gave a relevant reminder that we should not merely wait for Santa to come, but we must truly wait for Jesus to enter our lives this Christmas. Some people objected to this reminder, but it is very true! How many of us take this moment to celebrate the Eucharist with greater fervor? How many Filipinos take seriously the call of Simbang Gabi? Do we repeat the Christmas story to our family members? Are our celebrations filled with gratitude for the birth of Our Savior?

We need to encounter the Blessed Virgin of Nazareth to truly appreciate the demands of Christmas on our faith. We must make space for Christ, who is the center not only of religion, but of the beating, pulsing heart of his followers.

Mary, teach us how to make room for Jesus again!.

2011-12-11T19:13:00.000-08:00

EXPLANATION OF COAT OF ARMS OF

ARCHBISHOP LUIS ANTONIO G. TAGLE, DD

ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA

The coat of arms of His Excellency Most Reverend Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, has two sides. The left side represents the coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Manila. The right side represents the personal coat of arms of the Archbishop.

On the upper left (red) side, the tower of Castille portrays the Almighty God, He who is called in Psalm 60, “My shelter, a strong tower against the enemy.” The three windows in the figure of the tower signify the Three Divine Persons. To its right is a Crescent, the symbol of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the Archdiocese of Manila.

On the lower left (blue) side, a sea lionengarde holding a pilgrim’s cross on its right represents the origin of Christianity through the evangelization of the Philippines by the Spaniards and the Philippines’ role in Christianizing the Orient. Manila played a key role in the development of faith for the whole of the Philippine archipelago. The sea lion itself is the symbol of the Philippines.

On the right, which represents the coat of arms of the Archbishop, there are three levels.

The top level contains the image of the Good Shepherd. It tells of the centrality of Jesus in the Episcopal ministry of the Archbishop. He who directs the catch of fish is also the Shepherd who goes before his sheep (Jn 10:4) and lays down his life for them (Jn 10:15). The figure also calls to mind the diocesan seminary of Imus, Tahanan ng Mabuting Pastol, that the Archbishop served cumulatively for twenty-two years as rector.

In the top level, there is also an open Bible. The living Word is the ultimate rule of life and service of the Archbishop. He pays tribute to all those who taught him to love the Word of God, especially his family, teachers, students, and the poor. It also stands for his ministry as a theology teacher, a servant of the Word. But more than just being a teacher of the Word, the Archbishop hopes to live by Jesus, the Incarnate Word, so that through his person and service, many may come to know, love and serve the Living Lord.

On the middle and the bottom levels are symbols of two persons who, upon discerning the will of God, made Jesus the center of their lives. The middle level depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom the Archbishop is devoted under her title of Our Lady of the Pillar, patroness of the Cathedral Parish and Diocese of Imus. The bottom level refers to St. Joseph, the just man and worker, to whom the town of Imus and the Archbishop is devoted. He is the patron San Jose Seminary where he underwent priestly formation.

The motto of the Archbishop is taken from John 21:7, “It is the Lord” (Dominus Est!). Following Peter’s initiative, the disciples went fishing but that night caught nothing. When the risen Lord, unrecognized by them, directed their fishing, they had a bountiful catch. Thereupon the beloved disciple said, “It is the Lord!” The motto conveys the Archbishop’s conviction that the Lord must direct his mission. So he entrusts the care of the Archdiocese to Him. The Archbishop’s modest role is to discern His voice, to follow his bidding, and to end every fruitful endeavour in a loving prayer and of recognition and adoration of the Lord.

thanks to rcam.org

2011-12-11T17:23:00.000-08:00

I GO TO THE MOTHER CHURCH (MANILA)…

THE DAUGHTER (DIOCESE OF) IMUS IS READY TO SEND…

NEW MANILA ARCHBISHOP LUIS ANTONIO “CHITO” TAGLE,

TAKES POSSESSION OF HIS NEW ARCHDIOCESE

GOD BLESS YOU WITH HEALTH AND HOLINESS, ARCHBISHOP!!!

2011-12-06T02:29:00.001-08:00

HAPPY AT THE TOP?

Advent 3

There is a game show on television where the contestants are asked what they want to do with their lives. Almost everyone, especially the young, say they want to be a television or movie star. The host then screamed: What is it with you people? Why do you all want to be entertainment personalities?!?

No doubt, many people, the young and not so young, think that exposure in the world of entertainment makes you famous, rich and powerful. And they think that these things are the ingredients for happiness in this life. Becoming a celebrity pushes you up high where everyone can see and admire you. And that will definitely make you happy!

Today, the advent theme is joy, happiness in the Lord! What a great topic. We all need joy in our lives. God is telling us that He is the author of joy, the source of joy. From first reading, to the responsorial psalm, to the second reading, the cogent call is unavoidable – rejoice in the Lord!

But what is the formula for joy? The Gospel shows us John the Baptist living his mission of being the forerunner of the Messiah. He is not the great one and he admits it. He does not pretend to be what he is not. Rather he points to one who is coming to baptize with water and the Holy Spirit.

John was completely happy that he is not at the top; that he is not at the center. He is calmly satisfied that he is doing something for someone out of love. That is his formula for joy. Knowing who you are and offering your life, whether you are noticed or not, bring joy and peace to a person.

I am not saying that we must not aspire for big things. We must glorify God in excellence. I am not saying that we must not strive hard to attain our ambitions. We must endeavor always to succeed and gain fulfillment.

But the Lord is reminding us that in this difficult world that happiness, success, and fulfillment are not only measured by money, applause or acknowledgement. Some people have these and are miserable – we know that. The joy of the Lord is different in quality: it is felt even in the humblest of acts, done out of love and service to God and neighbor.

A mother caring for a disabled child is very happy. A wife caring for a paralyzed husband is joyful. A young man, foregoing selfishness, to assist his parents in supporting the family is fulfilled. Without fanfare, simple people show us how to be truly happy in the service we are engaged in.

What makes you happy? Is it just being at the top or at the center? That is not enough. True joy happens when you learn to offer yourself to Jesus, like John did. True joy happens when you learn to humbly serve the Kingdom, like Jesus did. You can be happy… at the bottom!

2011-12-04T05:35:00.002-08:00

History and Significance of Dogma of Immaculate Conception
Interview With Father Jesús Castellano Cervera

ROME, JULY 18, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The dogma of the Immaculate Conception, proclaimed 150 years ago, rediscovers in its profundity the _expression "full of grace," says a consultor of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Discalced Carmelite Father Jesus Castellano Cervera, a specialist in Marian studies, reflects in this interview with ZENIT on the origin and significance of this dogma. Next month John Paul II will make a pilgrimage to Lourdes, the place in France where the Blessed Virgin appeared in 1858 and confirmed the truth of her immaculate conception.

Q: What is the history and significance of this dogma?

Father Castellano Cervera: It is a long and complex history. It goes back to the understanding of the mystery of Mary in her privileged relationship with God and with the mystery of salvation, to which she is associated from the first moment of her existence, as being full of grace and love of God.

Q: Can you explain how it has developed from its origin?

Father Castellano Cervera: Such awareness is developed first at the level of the people's faith, in the understanding of her conception as a moment of grace; first of all, beginning with the apocryphal Gospels, which recount the grace of the meeting of her parents Joachim and Anne. From this narrative is derived the feast of Anne's conception [of Mary] in Byzantine liturgy, celebrated since the eighth century on December 9.

This feast was introduced in the West around the 10th century, and it celebrates explicitly the Conception of Mary without original sin. The feast was extended to the universal calendar by Sixtus IV in 1476 with a very beautiful formulation, but sadly reduced to a simple memorial of the "Conception of Mary" in the Missal of 1570.

Popular piety and liturgical celebration spark a great debate between theologians of opposing tendencies. On one hand, there are theologians who defend Mary's conception without original sin, and on the other those who deny it in order to affirm that Mary also had to benefit from the redemption of Christ.

Duns Scotus gives the theological key to understand the mystery, affirming that Mary was preserved from original sin in view of the merits of Christ.

The sense of the faithful, the liturgy and theology finally receive the confirmation of the magisterium of the Church which, following situations of different kinds, arrives at the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pius IX on December 8, 1854, with the bull "Ineffabilis Deus."

Q: What were the reasons that led to the definition of this dogma?

Father Castellano Cervera: First of all, a better understanding of the facts of revelation, in the Bible and in the Tradition of the Church, foundation of all dogmatic definitions, with the help of the Holy Spirit, who leads the Church to the fullness of truth.

In a particular way, the _expression "full of grace" has been rediscovered in its profundity, the words that the angel addressed to Mary at the annunciation as revealing of the condition of Mary before the Trinity from the beginning of her existence and as she was willed to be from all eternity in the plan of God: "You who are and have always been full of the grace of God."

In light of the key word, one also sees all the reality of Mary as collaborator of Christ in the Redemption. She who is called to collaborate as Mother of the Redeemer could not be, not even for an instant, outside of the grace of God in his victory over sin and death.

However, in addition to this negative aspect -- the absence of original sin -- Mary is presented from the first instant of her existence as the favorite daughter of the Father, the Mother of the Son-Redeemer, the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit, All Holy, designed and made a new creature by the Holy Spirit, greatly loved by God.

It is the fullness of the understanding of the dogma, as it is explicitly expressed in "Lumen Gentium" and in the beautiful present Preface of the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, which sings of her as Mother of the spotless Lamb, and origin and figure of the Church, Spouse without wrinkle or stain.

In this way it is made clear that Mary is an exception of original sin and in her is intact the original plan of God and the future destiny of the Church, called to be for ever "holy and immaculate in love."

As Max Thurian affirmed, immaculate conception means that in Mary everything is grace from the beginning and she is witness that everything comes from God. And that Mary corresponds to this with absolute freedom of love, not stained by sin.

Q: The Holy Father will travel to Lourdes. What is the significance of this trip?

Father Castellano Cervera: Lourdes is the place where Mary, with her apparition to Bernadette in 1858, confirmed the truth of her immaculate conception, proclaimed by the magisterium. From the beginning, Lourdes has become a charismatic place enveloped by a special presence of the mystery and of the spiritual maternity of Mary Immaculate as remedy for the illnesses of body and soul.

It is a therapeutic place in the most beautiful sense of the word, that is, where Mary continues to exercise her protection and her characteristic maternal function in favor of Christ's brothers, sick in body and spirit because of sin which has introduced in the world illness and death, physical and moral weakness.

With his presence, the Pope highlights these aspects; he goes to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in the place where a special confirmations was received by the Virgin Mary herself, and as a pilgrim he bears in his person the weakness of this world and the imploration of the spiritual presence of Mary to heal the wounds of our society, which needs the Gospel of hope.

Q: Mary is the _expression of God's charity toward humanity. Might it not be for this reason that she appeared in Lourdes? And that she continues to be our Advocate?

Father Castellano Cervera: Mary's maternal presence always accompanies the life of the Church and of every faithful one; what is more, of every person, entrusted by Christ to her from the Cross.

However, this presence in particular circumstances becomes an "epiphany," a visible and solemn manifestation -- in this case, to indicate that the Immaculate Conception is a mystery of faith and salvation, a manifestation of the love of God that conquers sin and death, and a sign of hope for all.

How many in Lourdes have experienced healing of infirmities of body and spirit, the many "pneuma-pathologies" of our humanity, are witnesses of a special presence of Mary that calls to conversion and a new life, source of reconciliation with God and with brothers.

Mary, united to the Holy Spirit, our Advocate, continues to be, as we invoke her in the "Salve Regina," "our Advocate," the one who prays for us, who defends us from evil and the Evil One, but who also inspires us and stimulates us to live in Christ.
ZE04071806

2011-12-01T07:26:00.000-08:00

THE ROLE OF THE MESSENGER

Advent 2

In this time of fax machines, emails, and social networking, who needs a messenger? Do we still need these delivery men and women who walk or ride bicycles and motorbikes as part of their jobs? I was surprised that in a tv show, it was revealed that a great many offices still employ messengers.

Aside from the personal touch that comes with a human being knocking on your door, the messenger is also one of the most reliable means of getting to a client or business partner since he defies traffic, delivers and collects on time and achieves instant feedback from customers.

In the business world, a messenger delivers packages or letters. But in the Bible, a messenger does more than deliver. St. John the Baptist in this Advent gospel according to Mark, states that his mission is to prepare the road. His role is more than just to announce. His role is to ensure that the recipient is ready for an encounter with the One who sends the message.

Our lives are full of messengers. The messenger may indeed be a person. There are persons around us who challenge us to correct our faults and embark on personal reform. Good parents, concerned teachers, loving spouses, neighbors and friends who truly care can be that messenger God sends to inspire us to a life of renewal and change.

But do we always listen to them? Pride obstructs our positive response to the messengers of God in our lives. Many times we waste the chance to live better lives because we drown the message of people who care about us, because we are too familiar with them or because we fail to appreciate their worth. Sadly most of us realize the chance we missed when our messengers are no longer with us. Is this Advent a moment to reconsider how we treat these people?

Sometimes, the messenger is not a person but an event. There are occasions in our lives that point to the clear lessons God wishes us to learn. If we are sensitive, sickness, embarrassment, persecution, promotion, good fortune and other significant moments are God’s ways of inviting us to look deeply into our hearts and of setting things right with God or with people around us.

Recently, a friend sent me a text message saying that the doctors discovered that he has cancer. He is afraid because of the pain and of the cost the sickness entails. I assured him I was praying for him. But I also reminded him to try to discover what God is trying to tell him. Since he is a very godly man, I told him that God is preparing him for a deeper experience of trust and faith. In his response, he affirmed that yes, he saw God’s hand behind this new challenge in his life. Is there such an experience in your life where God also speaks?

Because God loves us, he never fails to send messenger in our lives. Let us take a look at the people and events that awaken in us the chance to live more upright and holy lives. Each one has a John the Baptist who helps us to prepare our lives for the coming of the Lord.

2011-11-23T01:11:00.001-08:00

GETTING INTO THE PERFECT SHAPE

ADVENT - 1

The first reading from Isaiah is a sincere admission of humanity’s guilt for sin and wrongdoing. People have strayed from the right path and abandoned the way of the Lord. Isaiah leads us to ponder how we have hardened our hearts, how unclean we have become, how polluted our actions have become.

And yet, as sincere is the acknowledgement of sins is the confidence in the power God. God, though he might have been angry with our infidelity, is the only one we can turn to once we start desiring to reform ourselves. Nothing can dim the fact that God is our father, the father who remains devoted even to wayward children. And then Isaiah turns to an image of God the Father that is most unusual but very instructive and true – God is a potter, and we are clay in his hands.

Have you ever seen a potter at work? The clay he shapes in his hands never turn out perfect at once. First, it is disfigured. Then it breaks. Then, it leans too much this way or that. But the potter is always patient to repeat the process until he gets the perfect shape.

And God our Father is like that. He patiently re-shapes us when we come to him. He gives us chance upon another chance to be exactly what we must be. If only we allow God to work on us, our lives will slowly change for the better.

The second reading from 1 Corinthians makes Paul assure us that in fact, we are filled with spiritual gifts because God is always faithful. Our lives may not always be focused on the Lord but God is always faithful. If only we return to him humbly, he will manifest his readiness to embrace us again.

Here we are at the doorsteps of another Advent, the time to prepare for the coming of the Lord. For many of us, it is the proximate preparation for Christmas. And yet it is really beyond Christmas that our hearts must yearn for. The Lord will come again and we must be ready to encounter him. “Be watchful! Be alert,” the Lord Jesus tells us in the gospel.

How do we live this watchfulness and alertness to the surprise coming of God? The best preparation is to humbly accept that many times in our lives, even during the past months of this near-passing year, we have been comfortable with our sins and wrongdoing. Filled with spiritual gifts, our endowments were muddled by our sins that they were unable to shine.

What have we done with our lives? How have we treated our family? What gifts have we misused, abused or wasted this year? In what ways have we failed God?

If you are willing to go through the potter’s hands, God will give us the chance to have a new heart ready to joyfully encounter him.

2011-11-22T03:43:00.001-08:00

Prayer for the New Archbishop of Manila

God our Father,
our shepherd and guide,
you tend your Church in many ways,
and rule us with love.
Look with love on your servant,
Luis Antonio,
whom you have chosen to watch over your,
flock with a shepherd’s care.

Help him to be a faithful teacher,
a wise administrator, and a holy priest.
May his word and example
inspire and guide the Church
and his watchful care bring us your blessing.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

2011-11-20T22:13:00.000-08:00

Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916)

feast day, Dec. 1

CHARLES DE FOUCAULD (Brother Charles of Jesus) was born in Strasbourg, France on September 15th, 1858. Orphaned at the age of six, he and his sister Marie were raised by their grandfather in whose footsteps he followed by taking up a military career.

He lost his faith as an adolescent.His taste for easy living was well known to all and yet he showed that he could be strong willed and constant in difficult situations. He undertook a risky exploration of Morocco (1883-1884). Seeing the way Muslims expressed their faith questioned him and he began repeating, “My God, if you exist, let me come to know you.”

On his return to France, the warm, respectful welcome he received from his deeply Christian family made him continue his search. Under the guidance of Fr. Huvelin he rediscovered God in October 1886.He was then 28 years old. “As soon as I believed in God, I understood that I could not do otherwise than to live for him alone.”

A pilgrimage to the Holy Land revealed his vocation to him: to follow Jesus in his life at Nazareth.He spent 7 years as a Trappist, first in France and then at Akbès in Syria. Later he began to lead a life of prayer and adoration, alone, near a convent of Poor Clares in Nazareth.

Ordained a priest at 43 (1901) he left for the Sahara, living at first in Beni Abbès and later at Tamanrasset among the Tuaregs of the Hoggar. He wanted to be among those who were, “the furthest removed, the most abandoned.” He wanted all who drew close to him to find in him a brother, “a universal brother.” In a great respect for the culture and faith of those among whom he lived, his desire was to “shout the Gospel with his life”. “I would like to be sufficiently good that people would say, “If such is the servant, what must the Master be like?”

On the evening of December 1st 1916, he was killed by a band of marauders who had encircled his house.

He had always dreamed of sharing his vocation with others: after having written several rules for religious life, he came to the conclusion that this “life of Nazareth” could be led by all. Today the “spiritual family of Charles de Foucauld” encompasses several associations of the faithful, religious communities and secular institutes for both lay people and priests.

2011-11-17T14:12:00.000-08:00

THE KING OF LOVE, OUR SAVIOR IS

Christ the King

Going through the gospel for today’s Christ the King solemn feast, I heard in my mind the familiar, calming chant of Taize: Ubi caritas et amor, ubi caritas, Deus ibi est (where there is charity and love, there God is). As we summarize another liturgical year by celebrating the Kingship of Christ in our lives, we are forced to consider how the Kingdom of God can really be present in our world today.

We proclaim Jesus our King. We await his Kingdom to come in fullness and make itself manifest as sovereign reality and truth in our world. It is His Kingdom and yet we are entrusted with a share of responsibility in its blossoming. How do we hasten the Kingdom of Christ on earth?

Some people say, by Prayer. To find praying people is truly inspiring. People who go to Mass, spend time in adoration chapels, faithfully recite the Rosary or read the Bible. But to think that we can only pray for the Kingdom is a big mistake. Prayer is an important part and the backbone of our efforts. But resorting to prayer alone might be an escape from the demanding responsibilities of cooperating with the Lord’s plans.

Some people say, by Active Service. Many Catholics are involved in efforts that make the lives of others better and their loads easier and lighter to carry. They build houses, organize medical missions, distribute food and clothes or gather funds for victims of natural or man-made disasters. This form of service is very attractive today. But again, some of us can exaggerate the role of human action in making the Kingdom happen that we forget the equally important role of friendship with God.

The gospel today, says that the Kingdom happens to our world through LOVE. We maintain that this love, this love that brings Jesus glory, is born of both prayer and service. It is the expression of love that Jesus desires from his disciples because it is rooted in our familiarity and closeness to him and in a sense of mission to alleviate the plight of those who suffer.

This love gives us new eyes to behold our neighbor. The other person is not just a man or woman but my brother and my sister, part of my life. The hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick and the prisoner are part of me. In loving them, I love my own. In serving them, I serve the Lord.

Today the Lord is asking us to make His Kingdom happen where we are. We do not need to seek the many poor and disadvantaged people of the world. We must start with the people around us who thirst for our love. They are within the family or among our neighbors or just around the parish. If we sincerely pray, Jesus will lead us to the people we need to love.

At the end of the church calendar, why don’t we take some time looking at the Cross. There we will see our King, the one who loved us first and the one who showed us how to love. Lord, draw us near to you through a life of faithful prayer. Lord, bring us to serve you in the people we meet each day. In praying and serving, may we grow in love. May we grow in your Kingdom of love and sacrifice.

REFLECTION 2

WHAT ROW ARE YOU IN?

Reflecting on the gospel of the Solemnity of Christ the King brought back memories of my childhood studies. In grade school, children were classified by rows. Each row represented a particular attitude in class. Row one students were studious and well behaved. Row two students are a bit more lacking in focus. And row three, four and five… I’m sure you guess what’s going on.

The gospel tells us that the Lord will divide the sheep from the goats, like any shepherd will do; some on the right and others on the left. It is normal. It is done for putting order to the flock. Those on the right receive praise and reward. Those on the left, only rebuke and alienation from the heavenly home.

But how do I get to row one, to the right side? I want to be where the sheep are. How do I get clustered with those who behave properly and well? When it comes to ideals, dreams, intentions, I think it is easy for us to land in row one, among the sheep who are judged worthy of praise for their service of the Kingdom. Who would not want to do good, to share his life, to offer service so that others may live and experience joy? It is easy to dream good things.

But the gospel reminds us that it is not mere intentions or goals that will align us with the sheep. It is real action, practical action, that eventually makes us worthy to be chosen for eternal salvation. And the Lord Jesus gives us hints on what actions we really need to do, what works of love, we must perform for others, what gestures of support we must show as Christians.

Sharing my food, my drink, my clothes. Spending time with the sick, the imprisoned. Kindness to the stranger. – These are the actions, the standards that impel Jesus to say to us: Come, you who are blessed by my Father!

They are not very easy to do however, because our lives have changed. We are busy and frantic with work and other preoccupations. Conscious sharing of our goods become difficult.

In forfeiting the reward of eternal life, God will use the same standards on us. The same actions, when neglected or withheld from others will make us hear the words of the Lord on judgment day: Depart from me, you accursed! Surely we do not want to be in that other row, on the left.

As we celebrate the Solemn Feast of Christ the King, let us look into our hearts and our actions. Do we really desire to be with our King forever and do our actions prove that desire? We are slowly moving on to Advent. May this transition to a new season and church calendar make us more conscious of putting our desires into practical, concrete actions of love, sharing and support.

May we be found worthy of row one!

2011-11-09T13:45:00.001-08:00

IT’S NOT JUST A TALENT SHOW

Sunday - 33

Suddenly there were talent shows one after another, first from foreign television. And when it landed in our country, we had Pinoy Idol, Pilipinas Got Talent, Talentadong Pinoy and Showtime. Not only Filipinos, but people around the world went on a talent craze, a talent infection.

The gospel speaks of talents. But talent here does not mean show business prowess like dancing and acting. Talent refers to the good things we receive form the Lord. God distributes talents; he distributes varied gifts to all his children. There are several lessons we need to remember about talents.

First, we do not receive the same or equal talents. The Lord says, the master distributed talents, “according to the ability of each” person. Nobody has a monopoly on all talents. Susan Boyle was booed in Britain when she appeared as a lousy, unappealing country girl. But when she belted out her tunes, she brought the house down and went home a champion. Her beauty was not external but coming from her deeper self.

Therefore the Lord is telling us not to envy others. We must stop comparing ourselves with others. Instead, we must look into our selves and thank God for what good thing we find within us.

Second, if you discover your talent, your gift, then you must cultivate it. Talents are different from natural endowments. These latter are a given and they also pass away. But talents are gifts that can increase and grow and improve. Some people feel lucky to have natural gifts but forget to focus on their real talents.

A handsome boy in our high school was the crush of all the girls. His good looks and natural charm made the girls swarm around him. Some time ago I found him still in our old home town, no longer handsome but old and untidy. Hanging out with girls on dates, he did not finish his studies. Now he takes on any menial job he finds.

So do not rely on your looks alone, on the face, figure or muscles alone, as is the fad today. Find your real talents and do everything to improve them.

Lastly, the Lord gives a clear reason why we need to enhance our talents. There is a time of reckoning for the gifts we receive. God will confront us on how we applied our talents. Have we used them to glorify the Lord and assist our neigbor? For the Lord, it is not acceptable to be intelligent but unwilling to share your knowledge, skilled but lazy in our work, rich but lacking in generosity.

The good news is that we all have gifts from the Lord. Let us use them to improve our lives and those of others. Let us return the glory to the Lord.

2011-11-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

THANK YOU, FATHER OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF MANILA!

SALAMAT PO MAHAL NA CARDINAL DENCY ROSALES!

SA INYONG RETIREMENT, PATULOY NINYO KAMING IPAGDASAL…

“The poor may not say it, but they look to us for accompaniment. This will take place when we respond with awareness of their presence. Can we put a “spirit” to this hunger of the poor that transcends the longing for (only) food? But company is more than accompaniment. In the example of Jesus accompaniment or being with others is really brotherhood. (Fraternity). We are brothers of the poor.” - His Eminence Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, DD, Emeritus Archbishop of Manila, brother of the poor…

(photo taken when the Cardinal visited the wake of my father on a Palm Sunday morning, a gesture that will never be forgotten by a grateful, unworthy brother priest. salamat po!)

2011-11-02T22:22:00.001-07:00

WHY WISE AND FOOLISH?

Sunday - 32

This is one of the most recognizable parables and also one of the most instructive about this life and the next. The gospel speaks of virgins about to attend a wedding ceremony. They were tasked to welcome the bridegroom and accompany him to the wedding feast. Five were wise virgins. Five were foolish. What does this classification mean - wise and foolish?

Why not wise and ignorant? Ignorant would mean that these virgins were unaware of some things and therefore not guilty of not having oil for their lamps. Why not wise and dumb? Dumb would mean that they were simply incapable of thinking and reflecting deeply on things. Why not wise and lazy? Lazy would imply that these virgins were just plain sloppy in their task.

The Lord Jesus preferred to call the virgins, wise and foolish. The foolish ones knew what they needed to do but simply refused to do it. While the wise virgins brought oil together with their lamps, the foolish ones, the Lord says: brought no oil with them. It was intentional not to bring the oil!

They knew they needed something but they deliberately did not bring any. Not a single drop. Notice that the wise virgins were not said to have brought too much oil. They brought just enough for their needs and passed the test. The foolish ones did not bother to bring any at all.

So it is not a case of forgetfulness or lack of information or laziness. It seems that these virgins simply refused to bring oil because they had no intention of lighting up their lamps. They really did not want to cooperate with the mood of the wedding itself. Physically present but spiritually absent from it all.

Isn’t it that at times we bump into people who join us for the beach but don’t bring swimming gear? Or go to school without their pen and paper? Or attend parties without gifts for the celebrant? They know what’s essential but are simply uninterested in giving their total attention.

The remedy therefore, is interest, enthusiasm, excitement for what’s before you! For life and for eternal life! We can go through life bringing only the basics, the lamp, without the oil to ignite it and make it glow and shine. Cohabiting couples content to live outside the sacrament of Marriage - they have no oil to make their marriage a source of grace. People who work just for the money – they have no oil to aim for excellence and fulfillment. Believers satisfied with rituals and traditions – they have no oil to deepen their relationship with God.

God prepared life like a feast. Are you here to enjoy it? To maximize your participation in the celebration? Or are you simply going through the motions? There is still time. Ask God for the oil that will make your lamp shine!

2011-11-01T01:34:00.000-07:00

2011-10-29T03:22:00.000-07:00

SALAMAT KA LORING

PATAWAD KA LORING

Salamat Ka Loring sapagkat…

Marami kaming nagugutom sa presensya ng Diyos.

Sa pamamagitan ng iyong payak na pagsasaksi - binusog mo ang mga kalooban naming nagpakabusog sa aming pagkamakasarili, pagkamakamundo, pagkamapagmataas…

Pinakita mo sa amin na si Hesus sa Eukaristiya – ang Tinapay ng Buhay ang siyang tanging makabubusog sa amin.

Marami rin kaming nauuhaw sa Salita ng Diyos.

Sa pamamagitan ng iyong pagiging mabuti, masipag, at dedikadong katekista ay ginamit ka ng Panginoon para pawiin ang pagkauhaw namin kay Hesus na kalimitan ay pinupunan namin sa maraming pamatid-uhaw katulad ng kayamanan, kapangyarihan at marami pang kasarapan sa buhay na nagdudulot ng panandaliang ligaya lamang.

Pinakita mo sa amin na si Hesus ang Salita ng Diyos ang tanging papawi sa pagkauhaw ng kaluluwa namin sa Poong Maykapal na tanging kaligtasan namin.

Marami kaming nahubaran ng dignidad bilang anak ng Diyos dala ng aming mga kasalanan. Sa pamamagitan ng mga naituro mo sa salita at gawa, kami’y nadamitang muli ng dignidad ng pagiging Kristiyano. Sa iyong pangangaral, namulatan kami na ang liwanag ni Kristo ang dapat magningning sa aming pag-uugali at pagkakawanggawa sa mga nangangailangan lalo na ang mga dukha.

Marami kaming nasaktan ang kalooban dala ng hidwaan, di-pagkakasundo at alitan sa pamilya at pamayanan. Naging instrumento ka ng paghihilom ng maraming sugatang puso – di lamang sa iyong pangangaral kundi lalo na sa iyong mga panalangin at sakripisyo. Sa pamamagitan mo, kaming may mga sakit sa kalooban dala ng sama ng loob at pagtatanim ng galit ay natututong magpatawad, maghilom at makipagkasundo.

Marami sa amin ay parang mga dayuhang hindi mo kilala. Nagpakilala ka na simpleng katekista, lingkod ng parokya, at katuwang ng pari sa paglilingkod sa simbahan. Pinatuloy mo kami sa puso ng Panginoon, sa tahanan ng Diyos, upang doon maramdaman na kami’y minamahal at kailanma’y di pababayaan ng Diyos.

Marami kaming parang bilanggo dala ng aming pagkakakulong sa mga bisyong nagdala sa amin sa kasalanan. Dinalaw mo kami at sa simpleng ngiti at mas madalas na katahimikan ay naramdaman namin ang dalaw ni Hesus na pinaparamdam na mahalaga kami at di-dapat mawalan ng pag-asa sa buhay.

Katambal ng Pasasalamat ay ang paghingi rin ng tawad.

Patawad sa mga pagkakataong naramdaman mong ika’y kaawa-awang nanlilimos para sa maraming nangangailangan.

Patawad sa mga panahong ni hindi ka namin naalok ng makakain o maiinom, gayung alam naman naming nahahapo ka na rin sa paglilingkod mo bilang Katekista.

Patawad sa mga sandaling di na rin namin halos mapansin at nabalewala sa mga oras na ikaw ay kumakalampag sa amin at humihingi ng tulong para sa iba. Patawad sa aming mga pari, madre at katekistang nakasakit sa iyo, dala ng aming di pagiging mabuting saksi ni Kristo.

Patawad noong sa mga huling sandali ng iyong buhay, wala kami sa tabi mo para hawakan ang iyong mga kamay at maiparamdam sa iyo na hindi ka nag-iisa sa gitna ng matitinding kirot na nararamdaman mo sa nanghihina mong katawan.

Patawad dahil maaari na sa huling sandali ng iyong hininga – di ka man lang namin naisip, naalala o naipanalangin sa pagpasok mo sa dilim ng kamatayan at sa pagtawid mo sa buhay na walang hanggan.

Ka Loring, salamat at patawad – panalangin namin na balang araw – katulad mo – masabi sa amin ng Diyos.

“Halikayo, mga pinagpala ng aking Ama! Pumasok na kayo at manirahan sa kahariang inihanda ko para sa inyo mula pa nang likhain ang sanlibutan.”

Amen.

Bp. Mylo Hubert C. Vergara

Diocese of Pasig

2011-10-27T06:18:00.001-07:00

FAITHFUL TO THE MISSION

Sunday 31

Brace yourselves for this: God is angry at the people closest to him! In the first reading, the Lord issues a strongly worded indictment of his priests, the priests of Israel. They were not being faithful, not guiding the people of God well. And for that, God will remove their blessings.

This condemnation continues in the gospel as Jesus accuses the scribes and Pharisees, people who were very close to the Temple, of duplicity. They teach, they perform rituals, but only to be seen and praised by people. Worse, they teach others precepts, but do not practice their very own teachings.

The readings were written in the distant past, but they do sound familiar to our ears and our eyes. Isn’t it that we discover that priests too, are human beings? They too are weak and faltering in faith. Isn’t it that we also find people who make the church their second home and yet live lives of shallowness? They are in the church not to be close to God but to be seen by others as looking good and holy. In reality, everything is for show.

Why is God displeased? It is because to these people he granted a delicate task, a serious responsibility. The Lord made them guides of the weak, the little ones, the poor. But since they are not faithful, they have no capacity to inspire hope in others.

The message of the Lord is not restricted to these historical figures. It is for us today. Many of us have responsibilities towards others. We are parents, spouses, workers, teachers, friends, students, guardians, elders – and our lives are linked with people who need the light of the Lord. There are people who rely on us for their experience of God.

Are we faithful to our mission? Many of us give up when the difficulties are mounting. We are always tempted to waver in serving and loving when we begin to get hurt. So we settle for the most shallow form of guiding relationships towards others.

In the second reading, the Lord gives us the example of St. Paul who in serving the Thessalonians, did not only give them the gospel but offered them his whole heart. Paul thought not of himself but of the people he could bring to Christ.

Last week, an Italian missionary, murdered for the causes he embraced in the name of service, was laid to rest. He was a faithful servant of Jesus and the poor of Mindanao. Last week, too, I witnessed the funeral of Ka Luring, who voluntarily lived her life as poor, single and servant of others. She lived as a catechist, reaching out to the poor children and families in the depressed areas of Manila.

The anger of God is kindled by our neglect of responsibility but his grace flows for those who are faithful. Let us pray for the gift of faithfulness always.

2011-10-21T17:01:00.000-07:00

once again, an interesting take on the new Manila Archbishop, by John Allen, NCR

Manila receives a new archbishop

The big news from the Philippines has been the Oct. 13 appointment of Luis Antonio Tagle as the new Archbishop of Manila, putting him in line to become a cardinal the next time Benedict XVI hosts a consistory.

In church terms, Tagle is still a kid at 54, and he looks even younger. The story goes that back in the mid-1990s, when then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger introduced Tagle to Pope John Paul II as a new member of the Vatican's International Theological Commission, Ratzinger jokingly assured the pope that the youthful-seeming Filipino had, in fact, received his first communion.

Youthfulness aside, a striking number of people who know Tagle believe that this is a guy who, one day, could be pope.

Born in Manila, Tagle went to seminary in Quezon City and later did his doctoral work at the Catholic University of America. He also studied in Rome before returning to the Philippines to serve as a pastor and teacher. He quickly came to be seen as a rising star in the Asian church, explaining his appointment in 1997 to the Vatican's main doctrinal advisory body. He was named bishop of Imus in 2001.

Theologically and politically, Tagle comes off as balanced. He's taken strong positions against a proposed "Reproductive Health" bill in the Philippines, which includes promotion of birth control. Yet his towering social concern is defense of the poor, and he's also got a strong environmental streak.

Tagle's doctoral dissertation at Catholic University, written under Fr. Joseph Komonchak, was a favorable treatment of the development of episcopal collegiality at the Second Vatican Council. Moreover, Tagle served for 15 years on the editorial board of the Bologna-based "History of Vatican II" project founded by Giuseppe Alberigo, criticized by some conservatives for an overly progressive reading of the council.

Alberto Melloni, an Italian academic and writer, directs the Bologna project. He calls Tagle "a thinker of real value" whose dissertation represents an important chapter in the history of Vatican II, and someone who's "talented and serious."

Back in the Philippines, it would be a gross understatement to say that Tagle, who goes by the nickname "Chito," is simply well-liked. In truth, most Filipino Catholics I know love the guy -- for his warmth and humor, for his simplicity (he routinely eschews clerical dress), for his ability to express complex ideas in attractive and understandable argot, for his balance and openness, and for his lack of ego. He actually told a Catholic radio station in the Philippines this week that when he first heard he was going to Manila, he didn't tell anybody, because "I thought maybe the pope would change his mind."

One Filipino commentator this week said Tagle has "a theologian's mind, a musician's soul and a pastor's heart."

In the Imus diocese, Tagle was famous for not owning a car and taking the bus to work every day, describing it as a way to combat the isolation that sometimes comes with high office. He was also known for inviting poor beggars outside the cathedral to come in and eat with him; one woman was quoted this week describing a time she went looking for her blind, out-of-work, alcoholic husband, suspecting she might track him down in a local bar, only to find that he was lunching with the bishop.

Here's another typical story. Not long after Tagle arrived in Imus, a small chapel located in a run-down neighborhood was waiting for a priest to say Mass for a group mostly made up of day laborers at around 4 a.m. Eventually a youngish cleric showed up on a cheap bicycle, wearing simple clothes and ready to start the Mass. An astonished member of the congregation realized it was the new bishop, and apologized that they hadn't prepared a better welcome. Tagle said it was no problem; he got word late the night before that the priest was sick, and decided to say the Mass himself.

Tagle is a gifted communicator, making him a highly sought-after speaker and media personality. He drew rave reviews for his performance at a 2008 International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec, where observers say he brought an entire stadium to tears. Vatican-watchers also rated him among the most impressive contributors to both the 2005 Synod on the Eucharist and the 2008 Synod on the Word of God. He's also a very 21st century prelate -- he hosts a program on YouTube, and he's got his own Facebook page.

Although a loyal churchman, Tagle is unafraid to raise tough questions (at the 2005 synod, he pointedly said the church must confront the priest shortage, which struck some as a way of hinting at flexibility on celibacy) or to challenge what he considers abuses (some of the toughest language you'll ever find denouncing clerical arrogance and privilege is in his writings).

One Filipino priest wrote this week: "Who knows, we may have in (Tagle) the first Asian pope." Even if that doesn't pan out, Tagle is destined to be an important face and voice for the burgeoning Catholic population in Asia and the entire developing world, and that makes him someone worth getting to know.

2011-10-21T00:34:00.001-07:00

LOVE DEMANDS PROOF

Sunday - 30

If we begin to talk about love, many thoughts enter our minds. We think of youngsters who begin to notice and impress each other, couples hand in hand in sweet demeanor, romantic partners committed to each other or even just for fun.

In the world today, there is a prevalent attitude that love can be applied to the most flippant issue as well as to the most serious action of men and women. Thank God, many still try to explore the real meaning of love.

The gospel contains one of the most familiar biblical verses: love the Lord your God with your whole heart, mind and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. This is not a mere motto for it also outlines the concrete expression that must accompany any claim of love.

First, we love God. And this means that God is our priority and center of attention, the center of our hearts, the horizon of our entire lives. But the Lord insists, if this were true, then we must love God with our “whole” being, not partial remembrance or lip service, not passing though or occasional homage.

As Catholic Christians, do we love God when we perform our religious duties grudgingly and resentful? Do we love him when his Eucharist is a mere activity inserted into our Sunday schedule such that we do not come on time, not listen attentively, not take advantage of the way to receive his grace? Do we love him when we refuse to follow his commands to straighten our lives and our relationships with one another and with creation? Do we love God when we withhold our generosity to projects that involve proclaiming his Kingdom?

Second, we love our neighbor. The measure is our love of self. It is alright to love God but since God cannot be seen directly, we must pass through his image and likeness that is present in every person.

But how can you claim you love your neighbor when you live in hate? When you ignore the poor and needy? When you deliberately deceive and wound people? When we live in our own tiny universe where “I” reign and dominate?

It’s a great thing to come to Mass each Sunday because here is an illustration of how we can make both loves meet. The Eucharist calls our attention to God who stands before us as Lord and Victor of our lives. But we realize that we also surround this God as a community of brothers and sisters who proclaim our love for each other. That is why there is no private, individual Mass. We are in here together as brothers and sisters. Let us find God. Let us find the way to God through the person right next to us.

2011-10-14T17:36:00.001-07:00

PRAYER FOR THE RETREAT OF OUR PRIESTS IN PASIG

LOVING FATHER,

WE PRAY FOR OUR BISHOP AND PRIESTS IN THE DIOCESE OF PASIG

AS THEY PREPARE FOR THEIR ANNUAL RETREAT THIS OCT 17-21.

LEAD THEM, GUIDE THEM, AND BLESS THEM ON THIS OCCASION

SO THAT IT WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM TO RENEW THEIR

LOVING SERVICE, STRONGER RELATIONSHIP AND SELFLESS COMMITMENT TO SERVE YOU AND THE CHURCH.

WE ASK THIS THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THROUGH THE INTERCESSION OF MARY IMMACULATE, OUR PATRONESS. AMEN.

2011-10-14T17:24:00.001-07:00

THE PHILIPPINES’ CARDINALS-IN-WAITING

THE NEW ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA: ARCHBISHOP CHITO TAGLE

THE NEW ARCHBISHOP OF CEBU: ARCHBISHOP JOE PALMA

2011-10-14T07:23:00.001-07:00

WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

Sunday - 29

We go to church in semi-anonymity. Unless you are seated with a relative or friend, you are unknown to your seatmate in the pews. If you go alone, chances are, you are also looking for a spot where you can blend with the congregation and not be truly noticed by others. That’s how most Catholics go to church. Unlike our other Christian brethren, we do not relish an experience of familiar discourse with others.

But the good news is this: you are not unknown in here! You cannot make the church a hiding place. The priest may not know you personally. Your seatmates may not be familiar with you. But someone here knows you perfectly. As you stand, sit or kneel in church, someone is here calling your name.

The first reading is an excellent lesson in God’s supreme knowledge and his sincere interest in all of us. Isaiah echoes the word of the Lord to Cyrus, the king who is to help God’s people rebuild their lives. God says to Cyrus: I have called you by name.

Isn’t it true that there is no more beautiful word in the universe than our own names? Sure, some of us dream of changing their names. But our names are important to us. It is what identifies us, reveals us and makes us known whether intimately or casually to others. We are proud of our names.

And why not? A name is special. It is not only bestowed on you by your parents at your birth. In baptism, we receive our name from God himself. From that time on, we are known to God as his child and known to him by the name he gave us the moment he welcomed us into his family. Yes, one day, when we enter heaven, it is the name God will use to welcome us again!

God does not only know our names, as we know each other by name. In saying that he calls us by name, the Lord is telling us that he has called us for something special and important. We all have a mission. And he knows that because he can see our mind and heart. Yes, everything is open to the Lord.

It is not merely knowing our names but knowing what is happening within us today. When we come to church, somehow, we feel that God is gently leading us here. And he does so because he knows some of us are afraid today. Others are deeply hurt today. Others are full of regrets. Many of us are thankful and joyful. But many of us are hurting. He calls us to heal us and embrace us in his love.

Do not worry. God knows who you are and he is speaking to your heart with the language of love, friendship and intimacy. Jesus does not call us servants but friends, remember? Just be open to this tremendous experience.

Isn’t it good to know that God is interested in us? He knows us by name. Whatever is happening to you right now, rest in that assurance and deepen your prayer. Try to know others also in a deeper way and share your joy.

2011-10-13T04:30:00.000-07:00

GOD BLESS

THE NEW ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA

THE MOST REV. LUIS ANTONIO “CHITO” TAGLE, DD.

MAY THE LORD STRENGTHEN HIM IN HIS SERVICE

TO THE GREAT PRIMARY SEE OF ASIA.

MABUHAY ANG BAGONG ARSOBISPO!!!

AND TO

CARDINAL GAUDENCIO ROSALES, DD

EMERITUS ARCHBISHOP

THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE FOR THE POOR

AND YOUR SINCERE AND HUMBLE HEART

AND YOUR EXAMPLE OF HOW TO BE LIKE JESUS,

THE UNIVERSAL BROTHER.

2011-10-10T06:21:00.000-07:00

Prayer for a Sick Priest (REV. FR. MARS SELMAR)

by Fr John Brian

O Lord send Your angels to help our beloved FR. MARS SELMAR as You have promised in the Psalm - send angels to charge over us to keep us in our ways, so that we will not even stub our foot against a stone - Your wisdom is beyond our understanding and Your mercy is boundless and Your love never ends. In Your love and Your mercy, deal with FR. MARS and us according to your gentleness. Send Your healing touch to bring Your servant, FR. MARS, from this couch of sickness, the bed of suffering - so that he may rise to glorify with us Your Holy Name.

We know you have made our bodies but temporal vehicles. We are grateful for Your mercy, gentleness and love given through him and we ask, through Your eternal kindness for those that follow Your ways that give him strength and healing of body, mind and soul. As You have taught us: "With God all things are possible." (Mark 10:27) So, we put our hope and trust in You.

O Lord let us share tears of joy rather than sorrow about Your continuing work with our beloved FR. MARS. This we ask of You together with the Father which is from everlasting and the Holy Living Spirit - now and always.

2011-10-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

GOD, THE PARTY-LOVER

Sunday - 28

Some people love parties, and if you do, be happy of this fact: God is a party-lover, too. The Gospel today starts with another parable from the Lord Jesus, this time, involving a man who threw a wedding banquet, a party, and invited many people to come. Feasts, banquets, parties are staples in the Bible’s images of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is described as a happy event. It will be a party for all those who are invited by God.

Jesus lived this party-loving, party-making attitude. He went to the parties, ate and drank in them, asked people to invite him to their parties. He even brought with him his friends. Jesus did this in order to show that God was the sort of Father who wants everybody to be counted in and to enjoy themselves in his presence.

As children of God, we are invited to his Kingdom. We are invited to his party and God wants us to be present to taste and see his goodness. It is no wonder then that when the Lord established his community on earth, the Church, the central figure would also be a feast – the banquet of the Lord which is the Eucharist. At Mass, we can find the elements of singing, responding, smiling at our neighbor, eating, welcoming and taking leave, because the Mass is a party. But not any other party. It is a foretaste of the Kingdom because the host and the food is God himself in the Body and Blood of Christ.

The Mass is not any other simple human celebration. It is the most powerful experience of our relationship with God. Some people feel this, as they know that their week is incomplete without the Mass. We feel this, when during Mass, we fight the temptation of boredom or mechanical participation and really pour out our hearts to Jesus. We know this when after attending the Eucharist, we feel that Jesus is present in our hearts to inspire us again as we live our daily tasks. How difficult it would be to miss the Sunday Eucharist if we truly understand its meaning.

There are several considerations we need to look into. Some people, though they are Catholics, have no love for the party that God is throwing for them. The Gospel shows these people busy with urgent things, valid things. But are these things – family, business, responsibilities – the most important things in life? Are they higher than the call of God to be with him and to experience his joy?

And those of us who attend the Eucharist, we must remember that to be invited is one thing but to enter the banquet we must be ready, be worthy or else the celebration is a farce. We need to allow the Eucharist to challenge us to conversion. The Eucharist is not a youth party that ends up in more mess. It is a party that sets our lives right. In every Mass, it would be excellent if after the celebration, we can transformed into the loving, understanding persons we are called to be by the Lord. Let’s enjoy the party and be transformed by it!

2011-10-06T18:26:00.001-07:00

BUMABAHA NG KAGALAKAN

For the thanksgiving Mass of newly-ordained Fr. Kris Habal, Archdiocese of Manila

Masaya ba kayo ngayon? Lahat ng masaya, itaas ang kamay. Lahat ng masaya, pumalakpak ng malakas.

Masaya po akong naririto ngayon. Masaya din kayong natitipon sa Misang ito. Ang simoy ng hangin dito sa inyong parokya ay ubod ng saya at galak. Bakit? Kasi ganyan naman talaga ang dapat maging karanasan ng mga sumusunod sa Panginoon. Opo, hindi maiiwasan ang mga pagsubok. Hindi mauubos ang problema sa buhay. Hindi mapuputol ang mga dalahin ng puso at isipan. Subalit dahil nagsisikap tayong sundan ang ating Panginoon, lahat ng ito, masaya at payapa nating dinadala.

Ang gabay natin sa kasiyahan ng araw na ito ay ang mismong mga pagbasa na ating narinig. Sa unang pagbasa, sabi ni Isaias, ang Diyos ay naghahanda ng isang marangyang piging. Sa salmo naman, sabi sa atin, dahil ang Panginoon ang ating pastol, umaapaw sa kasaganaan ang ating kopa. Sa ikalawang pagbasa, napakagandang pakinggan ang pangako ni San Pablo: my God will supply all your needs. At sa ebanghelyo, isang hari ang naghanda ng isang malaking pagdiriwang para sa kasal ng kanyang kaisa-isang anak.

Tila nagkasundo lahat ng pagbasa para ganyakin tayong magsaya at magalak sa Panginoon.

Napakalaking bagay ang turo na ito lalo na sa ating panahon ngayon. Marami kasing tao ang akala ay kapag nagsimba ka, kapag lumapit ka sa Panginoon, kapag naglingkod ka sa simbahan, magiging malungkot ang iyong buhay. Maraming mga kabataan at maging mga katandaaan na pilit umiiwas sa paglapit sa Panginoon kasi akala nila wala ditong excitement at adventure. Kaya may mga taong kilala natin, kahit pasabugan mo ng dinamita, ayaw magsimba, ayaw maglingkod, ayaw lumapit sa Diyos.

Subalit ang tunay na larawan ng pananampalataya ay isinasaad sa atin ngayon. Ang buhay Kristiyano ay masaya. Ang buhay Kristiyano ay payapa. Ang buhay Kristiyano ay matiwasay at masagana dahil sa bumabalong na awa at pag-ibig ng Diyos. Ang dulot ng Diyos ay biyaya at buhay na walang-hanggan.

Ang taong umiiwas sa Diyos, ang taong tumatanggi sa Panginoon, mayroong kulang sa buhay at puso – iyan ay walang iba kundi ang tunay na kagalakan.

Kayo ay buhay na patunay na ang buhay na ginagabayan ng pananampalataya ay buhay na laging kapiling si Hesus.

Iyan ang kagalakang nababasa natin sa mukha ng ating kapatid na nasa harapan natin ngayon. Iyan ang damdamin na namamayani sa puso ng kapatid nating nangunguna sa Eukaristiyang ito. Kaya tayo masaya ngayon ay dahil may pinagmumulan ang ating saya. Ang malaking biyayang ipinagkaloob sa kanya ng Diyos.

Mga kapatid, si Bro Kris ay Fr. Kris na ngayon. Ang inyong kababayan ay umuuwi sa kanyang parokya na isang ganap na pari. Palakpakan natin ang bagong pari, si Fr. Kris. Palakpakan din natin ang kanyang mga magulang at ang buong pamilya.

Fr. Kris, ang mga pagbasa ngayon ay malaking hamon sa buhay ng isang pari sa panahon natin. Kabi-kabila ang mga trahedya ng buhay. Paggising ng tao sa umaga, masamang balita ang unang bumabati sa kanya. Pagtulog niya sa gabi, masamang balita ang kasama sa kanyang panaginip. Habang inoordenahan kayo noong Sabado, kasabay namang lubog sa baha, gutom at naghihintay ng tulong ang mga tao sa maraming lugar sa Pilipinas dahil sa magkasunod na bagyong nagdulot sa atin ng pinsala.

Dito pumapasok ang kahulugan ng pari. Ang pari ay ipinadadala ng Diyos upang bigyan ng galak at saya ang buhay ng kanyang mga kapatid. Ang pari ay isang buhay na tanda na laging kapiling ng mga tao ang Diyos sa katauhan ng isang tapat na naglilingkod at nagmamahal.

Noong kasagsagan ng bagyong Pedring at pagkatapos nito ang teribleng baha sa Calumpit, Bulakan, nakatanggap ako ng isang text message na ipinasa sa akin ng isang kaibigang born-again. Ang text message ay isang prayer brigade na galing sa parish priest ng Calumpit. Sabi niya: ipagdasal po ninyo ang mga tao rito. Kapag lalong tumaas ang baha, tiyak maraming mamamatay. Ipagdasal ninyo kami.

Nag-imbestiga ako upang malaman kung totoo ngang galing sa paring ito ang text message. Ayon sa aking mga sources, noong maliit pa ang baha, humahakot ng relief goods sa katabing bayan, Plaridel, ang paring ito para sa kanyang mga parishioners. Pero noong tumaas nang tumaas ang baha, pati siya naipit na sa bayan ng Calumpit at habang naghihirap ang mga tao, hindi niya iniwanan ang kanyang mga pinaglilingkuran. Hindi siya perpektong tao, hindi siya ang pinakamagaling na pari sa mundo, subalit pinatunayan niyang mahal niya ang mga taong ipinagkatiwala sa kanya ng Panginoon. At dahil diyan, dinala niya ang mensahe ng kagalakan sa buhay ng lahat.

Fr. Kris, ito ang isang malaking atas sa pari, to be a minister of Joy! Maging sisidlan ng kagalakan na ipamamahagi sa iba. Hindi madaling hamon sa isang bagong orden. Malaking hamon sa isang paring tila isang maliit na bata pa.

Siguro nagtataka ka. Bakit ako? Ito rin ang tanong ng marami. Bakit nga ba ikaw? Bakit siya at hindi ako ang tinawag? Bakit sa pamilya nila at hindi sa amin nagmula ang bagong pari?

May kausap akong babae noong Huwebes na ang tanong sa akin: Fr. walo po ang anak ko at lima ang lalaki. Gustong-gusto ko na magpari kahit isa. Wala man lamang kinuha ang Diyos.

Sa ebanghelyo natin ngayon ang sabi sa huli: many are called but few are chosen.

Many are called. Maraming tinatawag. In fact, lahat tayo, tinatawag maging banal, tinatawag makibahagi sa piging, sa kasalan ng Panginoon. Lahat tayo dito, inaanyayahan ng Panginoon na maging lubos ang ating kagalakan.

But few are chosen. Kaunti lang ang pinipili para sa natatanging misyon. Lahat tayo may misyon. Pero si Fr. Kris, may natatanging misyon na itinalaga sa kanya ng Panginoon. ang misyon na maghatid ng ligaya at galak sa puso ng kanyang mga kapatid kay Kristo.

Kung ako ang tatanungin, meron akong sagot sa tanong na bakit ikaw, Fr. Kris ang pinili? Kilala ko po si Fr. Kris sapagkat ako ang kanyang unang spiritual director nang halos apat na taon sa seminaryo, noong nagsisimula pa lamang siya.

Napakabait na bata, masipag at matalino, seryoso sa panalangin at malalim ang pananampalataya, masayahin, marunong makisama. Sanay magmahal.

Hindi ko makakalimutan na noong ako’y paalis na sa seminaryo upang mag-parokya, marami akong maiiwan na mga seminaristang spiritual directees ko. Dapat silang pumili ng bagong director at ang marami sa kanila’y nakiusap na ako pa rin sana ang spiritual director nila. Dahil hindi puwede, kailangang sumunod sila sa utos ng mg pari.

Minsang dumalaw ako sa seminaryo, nagdasal ako sa chapel. At paglabas ko, naroon at naghihintay si Kris. Niyakap niya ako nang mahigpit at umiiyak sa aking balikat. At ang sabi mo noon: sabi nila father, hindi ka na puwedeng maging spiritual director ko. Nalulungkot ako.

Ang sagot ko naman: sumunod ka sa sinasabi nila. At ang sabi niya: Opo.

Doon ko naranasan ang pagmamahal ng isang seminaristang may kaugnayan sa akin. At ang kanyang pagtalima sa kalooban ng Panginoon.

At nito lamang nakaraan buwan, nagpista sa aming parokya at tatlong araw na mataas ang aking presyon sobrang pagod at sobrang hilo. Naghahanap ako ng tutulong magbinyag sa 103 sanggol, pero wala akong makita. Naalala ko na pwede nang magbinyag si Kris kaya, nag-text ako sa kanya. Walang kiyeme, walang pasubali, agad siyang sumagot: opo, darating ako.

Fr. Kris, pinili ka ng Diyos dahil may nakita siyang kakaiba sa puso mo. Tanging siya lamang ang nakakaalam kung bakit ikaw, subalit medyo alam na rin naming ang dahilah.

Nang araw na naging pari ka, bumaha sa maraming bayan. Pero higit na mas malaking baha ang naranasan naming lahat. Bumaha ng kagalakan dahil nagbigay sa amin ang Diyos ng isang napakabuting pari. Hanggang ngayon bumabaha pa rin ng biyaya dahil kasama ka naming. Mahal ka ng Diyos. Mahal ka naming lahat.

2011-09-28T05:24:00.001-07:00

Disappointed by sin and rebellion

Sunday 27

The message of God for us today comes in two related stories. In the first one from Isaiah, the owner of a vineyard invests every meticulous care on his vineyards hoping to find grapes at harvest time. But there was no yield. In the second one from the pen of Matthew, the Lord Jesus relates the parable of a man who entrusts his vineyard to his laborers hoping to get a share of his harvest. But the workers treacherously claim all the harvest and even kill the owner’s only son. The message is clear: the owner of the vineyard is disappointed at his vines and at his workers!

Disappointment is a serious feeling. You generously endow a person with love and care, hoping that your kindness will be reciprocated or your expectations will be met. But in the end, the person you love betrays your trust. Disappointment is crushing and self-defeating.

How many times have we been disappointed with a person we love or trust? My friend was the apple of the eye in his family, the only one who was given the opportunity to go to college and hopefully, bring hope to the family. In the end, he wasted his chance and thought only about his own pleasure. His father suffered sickness after sickness until he died with a heavy heart and downcast spirit. Disappointment destroys the people who love us and trust in us.

The gospel goes beyond mere human experience and invites us to imagine God in relation to us. God is the owner of the vines, the master of the vineyard, the father of my young friend. Isn’t it that God truly loves us with a love beyond imagining? How many chances has he given us each time we fall and commit our many mistakes? How carefully has he prepared a great future for all of us his children?

But the story of disappointment continues as we ignore the love of God for us. Consider the way we cling to our habitual sins. Take notice of your attitudes that harm and injure others. We who have received so much love reciprocates with cold indifference and neglect of our responsibilities to God and neighbor.

The good news is that God is love! God loves us continuously even in the midst of our sins and faults. The message of today’s reading starts with the Lord’s disappointment at our sins. But the message continues with love and about love. Our God remains faithful to his commitment to prepare for us that which is great and beneficial for our future.

How do you cure a disappointment heart? By changing your ways and returning love for love. Once we hear about God’s undying love and realize how we have hurt the One who loves us most, the only other thing to do is return to his embrace through prayer, sacrifice, acts of love and specially, the Sacrament of Confession. Once you know God, you cannot help but love him and live for him.

Let’s break the cycle of disappointment and start making the Lord proud of us his children.

2011-09-21T19:47:00.000-07:00

THE ESSENTIAL TANDEM OF WORD AND DEED

Sunday - 26

In every family there is a tendency to compare the children. And it seems but natural to do this since children are never the same. Each one exhibits a unique characteristic and demeanor. Each one seems to fight for the recognition of his or her own distinctive self.

In one family, a child is studious while another is happy-go-lucky. One is serious and the other is just wacky. An older one may be responsible and the younger, lacking in focus. We can go on and on with examples from our own family and the people we know around us.

In the gospel today, Jesus presents to us another parable close to our experience of family life. There are two sons. One said yes to his father and yet, neglected to perform his promise. The other said no to his father’s wish and yet, had a change of heart and did exactly what was expected of him. One was generous with words and selfish in his actions. The other was brutally frank with refusal but was later a belatedly obedient son.

Of these two brothers, to whom do we find a closeness or affinity? My group of priests called the Jesus Caritas fraternity had a recent meeting, which was attended by the bishop of some of our members. We reflected on this gospel passage during our adoration and meditation. Surprisingly, most of us, including the bishop, identified with the son who said yes and later on did not perform the father’s wishes.

I saw this tendency in myself too. How many times people came to me and asked a favor, like maybe for prayers or some material help. I readily respond in the affirmative and yet, forget to honor what I said to them. I began to ask myself: how many promises have I broken? How many promises have I forgotten to fulfill? Or maybe I have said things that never were substantiated by my actions. How many times have I said things that were not totally true because I wanted to impress people? How many times have I said things that can be considered lies because there was no action to back it up?

As Christians, our power is in our word. Remember that God’s contact with us is also through his word. And yet his word is always faithful. In God there is no divorce between word and action. In Jesus specially, there is no rift between work and deed. It is this tandem of word and deed that makes God’s presence strongly felt in our midst. It proves God’s love for us.

After our prayer meeting, I recalled the many ways my word and action did not meet. I called one friend and asked pardon for not fulfilling my promise. To another, I tried to think of ways I can still remedy my negligence. I asked the Lord to forgive me for not always delivering what I utter before him in my heart.

We still have time to rectify our faults by being true to what we say. May the Lord help us.

2011-09-15T14:56:00.001-07:00

SEEK THE LORD

Sunday - 25

Seek the Lord while he may be found (Is 55:6). Isaiah opens up a great opportunity for his audience and for us all. “Seek the Lord”, he beckons us. This is not such a strange call, for in the heart of every person is a yearning to find the Lord, to be close to Him, to touch base with God and rest assured that one is in God’s firm embrace.

But to seek God entails a process of liberation. Isaiah says we must forsake our evil way and our wicked thoughts and turn to the Lord for mercy, asking for forgiveness. To truly find God one must be ready for conversion. Conversion from selfishness. From pride. From injustice towards neighbor. From lukewarmness to the will of God.

In the second reading, St. Paul yearns to die and be with God in heaven. But he also knows how to be open and realistic. He must offer up his plans and let the Lord take control. So, he says, if God does not want me to die, then ill seek God in living, instead of in dying. Paul is seeking God in the right place – by looking not far or beyond but here and now, where God wills it.

Some people seek for God in devotions to saints and sacred images, like some devotees of Quiapo. But some of these people do not listen to reason, or obey church order, so they in fact destroy the good name of their own devotion. That is a wrong search for God.

Some people seek God in comfort and convenience, say by attending mass, hospitals, theatres. Why? Because the atmosphere is comfortable and more, there is less commitment than if they take part in their own parishes.

You might seek the Lord in the company of friends, classmates and people you just met and yet not find Him in your own family members whom you do ignore even if they are constantly present before you.

Some people seek the Lord in piety and church practice but refuse to find God in the practice of justice an solidarity. The gospel shows us how envy destroys our relationship with God and with one another.

Seeking for God, you don’t have to go far. You have to start where you are. Open your eyes and discover God in your family, in the face of your spouse and children. Open your eyes and see God where your work, however menial or humble it may seem. Discover God in your community, in your parish, in your neighborhood. These may not be perfect, but this is where the real challenge of belonging and service can be exercised.

Seek the Lord while he may be found…. Yes, and I tell you, he is very near!

2011-09-12T16:27:00.000-07:00

THE BLACK NAZARENE OF QUIAPO

IN STO TOMAS DE VILLANUEVA PARISH

SANTOLAN, PASIG CITY

FROM SEPT 12-14, 2011

MABUHAY ANG PANGINOON!!!

2011-09-07T20:00:00.001-07:00

MERCY IS THE REASON TO FORGIVE

Sunday - 24

Why forgive? If you have been hurt so bad, if you have been betrayed by someone you trusted, if your love was ridiculed and mocked, if you suffer because of someone’s else wrong, the question is understandably “why forgive?”

Life is unfair in many ways. Good people suffer while bad people prosper. Good is ignored while evil is extolled. To insulate your self from this delirious enigma, you must be strong. You must be unyielding. You must seek out revenge. So why forgive?

The gospel today tells us the reason why forgiveness is necessary. Forgiveness is not about weakness. Forgiveness is not about defeat. Forgiveness is not amnesia of past experiences.

Forgiveness is about mercy. God in his mercy has initiated the process of forgiveness. Jesus speaks about a master who in his mercy forgave the huge debt of his servant. He did not think of any gain for himself. He only thought of the welfare of his servant and his family. He wanted him to be free and to have peace. The master’s mercy shone in forgiveness.

But another mystery was at work here. The forgiven man finds a fellow servant who owes him a mere pittance of the debt from which he was absolved. But this forgiven man finds no mercy in his heart towards his fellow servant. He threatens him, pressures him and sends him to prison.

This is what happens when a person who receives mercy does not feel the impact of the gift he has received. He does not allow that mercy to influence the way he deals with others.

This is what happens to us when we, too, forget how kindly and gently God has forgiven us. How often should I forgive? This is our tendency – the inclination to count, to put a limit to our kindness towards each other.

Does God not forgive you many, many times? Does he not answer your prayer: Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy? Don’t you value the experience of liberation in every Confession. If so, why is it so difficult to forgive another who has offended you much less than we you done to God?

It becomes difficult to forgive if we forget how merciful God has been to us.

Is there someone you need to forgive today? No, not from the mind; not from the lips, but from the heart. God forgives you your sins, so that you can extend the same mercy to others. Ask the Lord for the grace to remember the many times he has embraced you in your weakness. Ask him for the grace to be able also to do the same to another person today.

2011-09-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

THIS ONE’S NOT EASY!

Sunday - 23

In human relationships, one of the most difficult demands is that of reconciling with one’s enemies. Why initiate the reconciliation process? That would mean an admission of guilt. Or maybe of weakness! And we don’t want that!

And how will you reconcile with your enemies when it entails communicating with them, talking to them? When you are hurt by your neighbor, your immediate impulse is to cease all communications. We decide to build a wall of separation so that we can easily isolate the source of our misery. This is our defense. I have seen this happen among spouses who have gone their separate ways. I know this happens to erstwhile friends after a big and permanent divide.

The gospel wishes to shed light on this human struggle and constant weakness in relationship. How do you deal with someone who has caused you pain and destroyed your trust? What is the Lord saying about our enemies?

Ezekiel says: you must warn the evildoer about his actions or else you will be responsible for his ruin. The Lord Jesus says: if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. The Lord wants us to talk to our enemies! How easy is that?

Let us probe God’s intention. First, the Lord wants us to be instruments in the conversion, even of the people who wronged us. Though our natural instinct is revenge, the Lord wants instead to use us to help others. Second, this dialogue with the enemy is a condition of true worship. Can you truly receive Jesus in your heart at Mass or in prayer when it is closed to our neighbor?

Jesus surely knows how difficult it is to suffer from another person’s bad action or intentions. Yet Jesus also wants us to keep an open heart, ready for healing, rather than nurse a grudge that will continue to eat us up and destroy our joy. But though this is noble, it is certainly not easy. I feel that myself and I know you do too.

However, there is deep wisdom in Jesus’ words. Our world is wracked in violence and hatred already. As Christians, we must decide to overturn this vicious pattern by our readiness to offer peace and healing. And we can start by praying. We pray for our enemies so that they will be open to the process of reconciliation. We also pray for ourselves so that we will desire to reach out and show compassion, as we have received it also from the Lord.

I had a major fight with a friend and this caused us to avoid each other for years. But when I heard that his mother died, I felt compelled to attend the wake and offer prayers. Reluctantly I approached this person and offered condolences and did the blessing for his mother. After that, I hurriedly left the room to return to my car. But this person ran after me, apologized for what he has done and asked that we bury that unfortunate incident of the past forever. I tell you, it was difficult but it was also a blessed moment that made the gospel alive between us.

2011-08-25T03:22:00.000-07:00

SET OTHERS FREE

Sunday - 22

A boy desired so much to be an altar server in my parish. But for some mysterious reason, his mother objected to his dream. Soon the boy forgot his aspiration and got acquainted with a group of boys who proved to be bad influences on him. Now the mother could not control her son’s forays into a life of irresponsible affairs. She regrets that she did not allow her son to serve in church, where there was a greater chance of growing up a fine young man.

The gospel today tells of the Lord Jesus revealing his dream to follow the designs of his heavenly Father for his future. Indeed, God had a plan for his Son and Jesus wants to execute this design, even if it meant unspeakable sacrifices. Hearing of Jesus’ desire, Peter remonstrates with Jesus to prevent this from unfolding. He was so vehemently against it, he will do everything to spare Jesus the event of the cross.

It is easy to understand the reaction of Peter. It is the same with anyone who knows how to love. When we love someone, part of it is really trying our best to protect him or her. Peter heard Jesus speaking of the tremendous ordeals he must undergo, and Peter, a loyal follower and friend would have none of that happen to his Master. He was prompted by love.

Jesus was quick to correct this attitude of Peter. For sure, Jesus appreciated the concern of Peter, but he could not understand why Peter had to obstruct the way the Father planned for him to attain glory. Peter was too protective, he was “satan” – literally, an enemy of God’s desire to save the world.

The gospel brings us to consider how we deal with our loved ones when they reveal their plans in life, their ambitions, their goals. Are we supportive or are we over-protective? Is it really love to keep people at home than to let them run free to pursue the beating impulse of their hearts?

How many women sadly abandon their careers because their of their husbands’ objection? How many children grudgingly try to finish a college course chosen for them by their parents? How many people live in misery because they are constantly controlled by people around them?

Jesus is reminding us not to stand in the way of other people’s progress and happiness just because we think we know too much what is best for others. Our love must liberate. Our love must not extinguish the fire in another’s heart.

And if you feel that people around you are not supportive of your dreams, do not easily give up. Remember how Jesus for his right to follow the path he freely chose. It is God who plants dreams in our hearts and if it pleases him that you accomplish his dream for your life, you will find a reliable and trustworthy companion on your journey, even though it be a difficult one.

2011-08-17T01:15:00.000-07:00

KEEPER OF THE KEY

Sunday - 21

As you get older, you begin to forget certain things. Where did I put my eyeglasses? Where did I leave my watch or ballpen? In my case, I also forget if I brought my keys with me. When that happens, I have to find another house to stay in for the night!

The gospel today uses the image of the key to express an important component of our Catholic faith. Jesus says to Peter: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

First, it tells us about the important role of Peter in the life of the early Christian community. Peter embodies weaknesses – lack of faith, for instance. But Peter also embodies the exactness and accuracy of faith: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God! Jesus entrusted Peter with a mission not because he was perfect but because he was willing to learn each time how to return to the source of grace. In the end, he was to be the primary shepherd of the flock of Christ.

As Catholics, we believe that the office of Peter is still with us through the Holy Father, the Pope. The popes are the successors of Peter and the sign of the unity of the church. In these days, the World Youth Day is a living expression of the way the Holy Father can call young people together for Jesus. Every papal visit also makes a powerful impact on the faith of people everywhere.

Second, the gospel today illustrates the meaning of the key. A key symbolizes power. He who holds the key controls the entry or departure of people or controls the access to a place that may be restricted to others. Peter therefore has power, a divine power to bind and loose. This power is not that of domination or oppression. It is a power to serve by inviting and leading people to the right door that opens up to Christ.

A key also symbolizes responsibility. He who has the key must be vigilant at all times. He cannot lose the key or neglect it. He must keep the key for the sake of others. So just imagine the sacrifices of the Holy Father for the church as he confronts one trial after another. Pope John Paul not only guided the church but also suffered personally for the Body of Christ.

In a special way, we can say that the key is also given to each one of us. At baptism, Jesus gave us the key to heaven. It doesn’t mean that we automatically become heirs of the Kingdom. We have the power, yes, because we are now God’s children. But we also feel the responsibility not to lose the key but to guard it and keep it safe for ourselves and for others who also wish to enter.

Peter has been an inspiring figure in the early community and even today in our church. Can you also be like him, eagerly keeping the key of salvation and sharing this discovery with others with whom we share our lives?

2011-08-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

2011-08-12T06:34:00.000-07:00

MAN’S TRUE BEST FRIEND

Sunday - 20

The gospel mentions a special animal – the dog. I love dogs, and many people surely also do. In the time of Jesus, the dog was certainly just a domesticated animal - not treated in an extra-special way; fed merely from the crumbs that fall from the master’s table. They were expected to know their place inside or outside the house.

People who were despised were likened to dogs, beneath the dignity of human beings. The Canaanite woman, a foreigner, was easy to dispense with because she was like a dog: “Send her away for she keeps following us”, the disciples counseled the Lord.

But look at dogs today. My own dogs are very choosy with their food. They cuddle up with you on the sofa and they want to be carried around. Yes, most of the time, they don’t follow me. I follow and run after them. They have special toys, clothes, hairdressers. We have spoiled our pets; now they think they are our masters.

Today, we don’t compare people we dislike to dogs, or to any pet for that matter. Because the problem is, we treat our dogs or pets better than we treat people. People talk to their dogs but not to their family members. People cry when their pets are sick but are not worried that an abortion occurred in the family. We spend time with our pets but rarely know what’s going on in the hearts of our spouses or our children. Indeed some of us prefer pets to people.

In the time of Jesus, people you don’t like are relegated to the rank of an animal. Today, we push these people to the level below that of animals we care for at home.

The action of Jesus is a clear reminder: people are more important than any other creature on earth. Jesus used the analogy of the dog in his conversation with the Canaanite woman to test her faith. But in the end, he dignified her humility and sincerity by working a miracle on her behalf. The disciples did not like this woman because she was from another group, another camp. She was not one of them.

Jesus is telling us today that no person should be beyond the scope of our hearts. Much violence has already happened because we did not treat “others” right. We have rent apart our society by designating our friends and our enemies. There are wars between Christians and Muslims, liberal and conservatives, labor and management, government and opposition, rich and poor, and various versions of this conflict at home or in the workplace. When people are not with us, they are not as important to us as our dogs, as our pets.

The Lord Jesus calls us today to bridge the gap between ourselves and “others”. Let us discover the dignity of others and reach out to them. Let us not push them further below and treat them worse than we treat our beloved animals. Man’s true best friend is in fact, another person, and not a mere animal.

2011-08-05T02:04:00.000-07:00

JESUS’ PRESENCE DISPELS ALL FEAR

19th Sunday

I saw this airplane promo ad in the newspapers and so I bought a very cheap ticket to Boracay, that world famous beach in Aklan. One the day I travelled, I realized why the fare was so low. It was typhoon season. I was afraid the flight would be cancelled. But I became more afraid when I was in the boat going to the island. The sea was rough, waves were huge and rains poured down on my face. I thought I would spend my vacation at the bottom of the sea.

Today’s gospel shows us the disciples riding a boat and trying to cross to the other shore. But it was not an easy trip they had. There was no storm but they couldn’t cross because of hostile winds. The winds were so strong the boat was being tossed in the middle of the sea.

There are many symbols in this narrative. The disciples refer to all of us who are journeying in life. The boat reminds us of the boat of Peter, the barque of Peter that carries the disciples – the Church. As member of the Church, as followers of Jesus, our journey is not always smooth. There are contrary winds on the sea. We encounter many problems along the way. These cause us to fear.

As the disciples were fearful for their lives, today fear is also so intensely near to us, so real, so palpable. Going through life is like treading through an ocean of fears. Just last week, living so close to this notorious river, we were afraid that floods might hit our place again. People kept watch and couldn’t sleep well. People prayed that the storm will not bring destructive floods again.

And flood is not our only fear. What else are you afraid of? Some people are afraid that they might not have the things they need to survive. Others are afraid that the relationships they labored to build will come crushing down due to misunderstandings and fights. There are those who are afraid of dying or being left alone or being forgotten. We are afraid for the most material and the most spiritual crises that can occur in our lives.

The gospel is not about fear at all. The lesson of the gospel today is not about Christians huddling together paralyzed by anxieties. There is a very encouraging moment when Jesus appears to the disciples walking on the water. He walks towards them to assure them that he is always near when we need him. He walks on the water to show that all our fears are beneath his feet. He is the victorious one who will deliver us all.

What are your fear, your anxieties and worries? Jesus is Lord because his victory passes on to our lives when we recognize him, call out to him and take his hand. Jesus walked on the water because that is who he really is, the Savior of the world.

But do you trust Jesus enough to allow him to deliver you from your fears? Some of us never make it to shore because we lack confidence in the Lord. Let us focus not on the angry winds but on the Lord walking towards us with outstretched arms.

2011-07-28T03:26:00.001-07:00

YOU TAKE CHARGE!

18th Sunday

Often we hear from some people the boast: Huwag ka mag-alala. Ako ang bahala dito. (I’m in charge; don’t worry). And we have a joke that says: Ikaw nga ang bahala, kami ang kawawa. (You are in charge, and so we suffer).

Jesus makes a striking remark in the gospel today. When problems arose, the disciples normally ran to him for solution. Someone needed healing, Jesus took over and restored to health. Another mourned the dead, and Jesus came to resuscitate to life again. A person is perplexed and Jesus explained or clarified God’s will for him. In many instances, Jesus always seemed to have said to his disciples: I’m in charge here; don’t worry. He was really the reliable Master.

In the gospel today, the roles are reversed. The disciples come to Jesus to explain that there was no food for the crowd and that he should send them home to eat. Instead of taking responsibility at once, Jesus turns to his disciples and says: You give them something to eat. You take charge.

The disciples, like many of us, want to dispense easily of the burden of helping others. They wanted to wash their hands off the need to care for the hungry men, women and children. It was a joy to have them around to listen to the Master, but when problems arose, it was much better to let them go their own way.

Jesus would have none of this attitude. Yes, he was someone who could be counted on to help but his men must also learn to care. When the disciples produced their little share, the Lord multiplied the bread and fish and 5,000 men ate their fill.

This is a perennial temptation. How easy for us to evade the necessary task of helping others ourselves. Isn’t it easier to refer the needy to the church? Isn’t it easier to lead them to the politicians who have the budget for alleviating people’s sufferings?

When we respond to the needs of others and offer our help, even the tiniest effort, like 5 loaves and 2 fish, the Lord will work a miracle beyond our imagination. Taking the bread and fish that were so insufficient, Jesus produced food that thousands could not even finish. The remnants were all over.

Do not be afraid to share what you have. Maybe we don’t have enough but God is a God of goodness and abundance. When he sees your good intentions, he will bless it and make graces for you and others overflow.

This time of the year is important to me and 19 others ordained with me in 1996. We celebrate our ordination anniversary. On that day, Jesus told us: take charge of people, of situations, of people’s concerns. May we always be ready to give what little we have so that the miracle of Jesus will continue to work in the lives of many.

2011-07-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

HAPPINESS DEMANDS SOMETHING

17th Sunday

What makes you truly happy? My friend Marcus, 4 years old, is truly happy when he plays with his bullet trains and practices his Jacky Chan moves. Patrick is truly happy when he goes home to his loving wife and beautiful baby girl. Allan is truly happy when he works abroad away from the family but supporting them monthly in their every need. I am truly happy when I am reading and discovering new knowledge I can share with students and parishioners.

What we are truly happy about… that is our treasure! That is the item of most value in our lives. Every person has this treasure close to his heart.

The gospel speaks about finding your treasure. A man finds one and was filled with joy. Another finds the finest pearl and was likewise in ecstasy. Jesus tells us that we all have the possibility to find what makes us truly happy in life. Often, what makes us happy is not something that we seek out. Rather, we chance upon it. It surprises us, it seems to discover us, instead of the other way around.

Being happy with something demands a corresponding sacrifice. When a child delights in play, he must make sure that he has done his homework earlier and fast. When a man is centered on his family, he must be strong enough to resist peer invitations to after-work outings or gimmicks. Anyone abroad laboring for loved ones must fight his nostalgia and loneliness to be able to concentrate on his job.

A treasure does not come cheap. Look at the gospel again and see that treasures are not only about joy. It is also about giving up something to possess the greatest value of your life. The man who unearths his treasure in a land not his own parts with all his belongings to buy the land. The man who wants to own the finest pearl must sell everything and invest in this one piece of gem.

What makes you truly happy? Ask yourself again. Yes, you feel elated at this person, thing or activity. But do you also feel the demands that go with cherishing your treasure?

If you say you love your friends but think only of yourself, that is questionable love. If you truly value family life but rarely have the time for them, how true is your love for them? If you love your work but is lazy and minimalist, do you think you will grow in your profession? The moment you know how to give up certain pleasures for the one you love, then you have found your treasure.

As Christians, is God our treasure too? Too often, we are absorbed by the beauty and glitter of things around us, people around us, that the Lord is no longer a treasure in our lives. Maybe a lifeboat in times of trouble, a doormat to absorb our dirt, a supplier when our resources run out. But is he our treasure?

Valuing your life’s treasure is not merely feeling attachment to it or paying verbose tribute. It demands sacrifice. It demands proof in concrete acts of love.

2011-07-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

DO NOT BE JUDGMENTAL

16th Sunday

Once I was visiting a terminally ill person and the family members were telling me how good the sick person was. In the end, they could not help but lament and compare the sick with their neighbors. Why does she need to suffer this when there are so many more evil people around who deserve this kind of suffering? Why does God not strike them instead with this painful torture?

How many times we have been tempted to say the same things and think the same thoughts when we are faced with life’s trials. Do we not believe that we do not deserve to suffer because we are better than others? Do we not find reasons why others, who are far worse in conduct and lifestyle, must receive their share of problems? Why me, Lord? Give this pain to them!

The Gospel leads us to reflect on this human tendency by presenting to us the mind of God. Jesus tells the parable of the wheat and the weeds growing together in the field. Since they are indistinguishable when newly sprouting, the master decides to allow both to survive. He overrules the suggestion of the tenant farmer to uproot the weeds. It was an easier solution but God has a better idea.

The Lord clearly wants to instruct us on how the mind of God His Father works. God does not discriminate against anyone in his heart. God plays no favorites among his children, good or bad. As Father, all his children are equal before his eyes.

I’m sure good parents can identify easily with this God on this point. Even the delinquent child needs love and care. Rare are the parents who think of disowning an erring child. Most parents will find in their heart only compassion and concern for the welfare of all their children.

This is what God is telling us today. He is revealing to us his heart, his non-judgmental heart. Our God gives second chances, and remains open to the possibility of conversion and change in people, good or bad, on whom he lavishes his love. Does it work? We would not have the greatest saints today if God did not love them and give them the chance to realize how much better it is to return to his embrace.

There will still be judgment, there will be punishment, yes, if the sinner refuses all of God’s attempts to entice him to repentance and conversion. But God reserves that decision for last. His starting point is love.

The next time you are tempted to compare yourself with others, pray that you may resist the urge to do so. In God’s eyes, we are all equal. The next time you are tempted to feel superior to others, remember how God regards each one with the same fatherly love and concern. Let us strive to have the non-judgmental heart of God.

2011-07-08T04:46:00.001-07:00

THERE WILL BE A HARVEST

15th Sunday

Have you experienced planting a seed? Have you experienced working in a farm? Planting or Farming is a difficult job. Yes it is a noble practice, but it is certainly not comfort and relaxation. The hard part is not the angry hot sun on your back or the constant flow of sweat on your brow. The hard part is about the uncertainty of the results.

Some seeds will never grow. Some seeds will be wasted. Surely there will be some that will grow and yield flowers, or fruits or grain. But then, you have to wait to find out when and how much is the yield.

We all do some planting in our lives, maybe not with actual green herbs, vegetables or trees in a farm or forest. But we do plant seeds in people, in people around us, especially in people we love.

The parable of the Lord Jesus today about the seeds does not mean just literal seeds. That’s just the surface. They seeds and the soil and the harvest refer to people. Jesus is aware that planting in people’s lives can be very challenging and for those who persevere in hard work it can be truly rewarding too.

Sometimes we ask ourselves: is it worth the sacrifice to plant seeds in people’s hearts? Is it worth it to continue to be patient with my spouse and wait for him or her to grow to fuller maturity? How long will I have to stand by my children until they decide to straighten their lives? How much more effort should I put in pursuing my dreams when my attempts have not been too fruitful?

Some people give up because they think the seeds they sow are not growing at all. When we do this, we give up on the surprise that God has in store for us. Yes, it is difficult but like the Sower, Our Lord Jesus, we must continue to sow goodness in the hearts of people and in our dreams, because there will be a harvest. The harvest will come. But we must work hard and trust God even more.

When I was about to enter the seminary, my parents were opposed to the idea. They were dissuading me from entering and my father in particular was furious. Even some relatives joined in the chorus of opposition.

But then my parents asked me: why do you really want to become a priest? I gave an answer that shocked them. I said: as I was growing up, I say the two of you loving each other tenderly and behaving so compassionately towards our neighbors especially, the poor. You planted the seed of love in my heart and now it is bearing fruit. I want to love much more than you do. They did not ask me any more questions after that.

Maybe we think the seed we sow is useless. In fact, it is just waiting for the right time to grow. Work hard. Be patient. Trust God.

2011-07-07T17:56:00.001-07:00

2011-06-27T16:11:00.001-07:00

WHAT A RELIEF!

14th Sunday

The past Sunday solemn feasts have not been very easy celebrations. For one, the feasts celebrated, although forming the core of our Catholic Christian faith, have been anchored on great mysteries that are not easily understood by all. Yes, we can experience the new Pentecost, we encounter the Most Blessed Trinity and we receive with joy the Body of Christ the Lord. And yet, if we mull over the mysteries mentioned, at times, we fail to grasp their entire meaning.

But today, the Lord is as if telling us: enough of mysteries, even those that touch deeply your faith in Me. Jesus is simply telling us to find our rest in him. Jesus is simply inviting us to trust him and experience his great love and concern for everything that happens to our lives.

Let us pause for a moment. Close your eyes if you need to. And listen to your heart and mind. Even before you entered the church, so many concerns have already been affecting you these days. Some of those concerns have been depriving you of sleep or have been giving you much to be afraid of. Feel these concerns emerging and identify them before the Lord. Didn’t you come here precisely because you believe Jesus will pay attention to your concerns?

A man is troubled because he couldn’t pay the school uniform of his children. A woman is concerned that she couldn’t sustain her expensive medicines. A young man is troubled that his parents have recently split and the house is no longer the same with one of them missing. A young wife is anxious because her husband has stopped sending money from abroad for their family. So many concerns! If we bring together all our concerns, we will be truly overwhelmed.

But Jesus is the God of this sweet promise: Come to me all who labor and are overburdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.

When we are troubled are we not frantic about finding solutions? Don’t we want to get well now? Don’t we want to get rich immediately? Don’t we want to restore dead relationships in an instant? Because of this, our hearts become restless and our minds too preoccupied. We begin to think that solving our troubles begin with us.

The Lord tells us to slow down. He invites us to sit or kneel or stand before him. Come, he says to us. He did not promise that if we come, our problems will vanish. He did not say that if we come, solutions will be on the way. Jesus does not believe in quick fixes. He does not perform magic tricks on our woes.

Jesus says “come” because he wants to do something for us. He wants to touch our hearts and empower us. He wants us to learn how to trust again. He wants us to realize that going through life, we need a companion, a companion who is always willing to walk with us. And then, with Jesus, we will solve our problems.

Today, unburden your heart to Jesus and trust him. Come before him and rest.

2011-06-26T02:40:00.001-07:00

HAPPY 6OTH PRIESTLY ANNIVERSARY

TO HIS HOLINESS

POPE BENEDICT XVI

LET US PRAY FOR THE INTENTIONS

OF OUR HOLY FATHER.

2011-06-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

GET THE MOST OUT OF THE MASS

The Body and Blood of Christ

Why do we go to Mass? We go because we are hungry: Hungry for the Word of God that inspires us to live for Jesus; hungry for the Bread that feeds our souls.

After we receive God’s Word, we prepare to receive the nourishment that the Body of Christ brings. As I reflected on the gospel, the message is clear and very enlightening: this Body and Blood leads us to eternal life (Jn 6:54). If we want to live with God, we need to receive the Body of His Son given to us now.

Many Catholics are going to Mass now with a purpose, an understanding of what they are doing. But still we must deepen our faith in the Eucharist to draw from its fountain of blessings. Let me help you with some guidelines.

First, we must PREPARE. We sacrifice for the Mass by fasting one hour before Communion. This show us how important is the spiritual food we are to receive. Then we come to Mass on time. So many people miss the meaning and the blessing of the Mass because they come late. Coming late habitually means that the Mass is not very important in our lives since we do not do it in school, office, meetings or even the movies.

Second, we PARTICIPATE. How? By listening to the prayers, the readings, the homily. When was the last time we truly intently listened? Also by refraining from unnecessary distractions like talking, noise and movements that disturb our focus and other people too. Also, by speaking when it is our turn to address God in prayer, praise and songs.

At Mass we participate with our bodies. Since we are temples of the Holy Spirit, we offer him our selves as we sit, kneel and stand. Unless we are sick, we must observe these gestures properly.

A central part of the Eucharist that shows our participation is when we come to receive the Body of Christ in Communion. Make it a prayerful experience. Say Amen as you receive the Lord, not “thank you”, or “uhummm”, or simply nod. Receive the Lord in the tongue or in hands that are clean and clear of wallets, bags or hankies.

Third, always PRAY. The Eucharist is the highest form of prayer because we are surrounded by the powerful presence of Jesus. Praying does not mean reading or mumbling but being totally present to the Lord. That is why we must be sensitive to the Lord’s presence before, during and after the Mass itself.

That is why we kneel towards the tabernacle as we enter and as we leave the church. That is why we pray in the Adoration Chapel before the Body of Christ. The Mass is prolonged in our sensitivity to Christ as we develop a prayerful heart.

Let us not just come to Mass. Let us truly draw from its riches and enjoy its blessings.

2011-06-17T18:21:00.001-07:00

FEAST OF OUR GOD

Trinity Sunday

If there is any feast that directly teaches us about God, it is the Solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity. As Catholics, we can easily spot other Catholics by their faith in the Trinity. The quiet gesture of someone making the Sign of the Cross reminds us that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. How often we see people surrender to this God as they trace the cross on themselves in moments of joy, life, adventure, death, sickness and prayer.

This Sign of the Cross is the sign of our faith in the uniqueness of our God; He is one and three, the three are but one. In one God, we find a loving Father, we find our brother in the person of Jesus, and we find the perfect gift for our lives in the person of the Holy Spirit. This is neither easy to understand nor to explain. But it is easy to experience because our God is available to all.

In the Gospel today, Jesus shows us the connection between the Father and the Son; a common love for humanity binds them. The Father sends His Only Son into the world, not to condemn but to save the world. Jesus, God’s Son, lives among us and dies for us to dramatize the seriousness of the Father’s love (John 3:16).

The Father gives us the treasure of his heart, even if it is difficult to let go of his Son on the cross. But this is not the end of the story. Finally, when Jesus returns to the Father, there was yet another gift, a friend and companion, the Holy Spirit.

On the cross, God gives us his Son. On the cross, Jesus gives us his Spirit (Jn 19:30). This giving of love continues today as we receive the sacraments, as we are touched by grace, as we join in efforts to serve the needy. God’s Spirit connects us to the love of the Father and the Son.

This is the story of our God and the story of the greatest love of all – God reaching out to us in the Person of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Many people rebel against this mystery and doctrine of the Trinity, for how can you explain one is three and three are one? If we resort to mathematics, logic, mere human relations, it is not possible to fully understand this. But if we open our hearts to experience the love of God shown in the Bible and illustrated on the cross, the complex mystery becomes as simple as making the sign of the cross. In the sign of the cross, we are embraced by God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and we become stronger and more courageous.

A Lebanese young man was kidnapped by Muslim neighbors, hoping to get ransom. In captivity, he remained steadfast in his Catholic faith even if the captors asked him to convert. Offered food one day, he fervently made the Sign of the Cross, a thing that is forbidden in a Muslim home. The captors were enraged at the Sign of the Cross and killed the young man. The murderers could not understand the sign of the cross but the young Lebanese knew it was all about love and he was not afraid that day even to face death.

2011-06-15T00:44:00.001-07:00

watch out for our new parish and parochial school website: http://www.stvpasig.org/

we praise and thank the Lord for this milestone in parish communication in Santolan, Pasig.

our new bishop, Bishop Mylo Vergara will launch the website soon.

2011-06-09T05:59:00.000-07:00

RECEIVE THE SPIRIT, RECEIVE PEACE

Pentecost Sunday

I realized the Solemn Feast of the Holy Spirit was coming and we needed to prepare. I asked someone to execute a fine illustration of the Holy Spirit. Before that, I showed this artist some depictions of the Holy Spirit. The first was fire coming down on people. Then a picture of the apostles praying with Mother Mary in their midst. Lastly, I offered the image of a dove. When the artist saw the dove he excitedly said: This is the one! This is the image most people will understand.

One of the evocative symbols of the Holy Spirit is the white dove. We like this image because a dove is meaningful to us. Why do newlyweds release doves? Why do public holidays feature the releasing of doves? Why do meetings of leaders, church and government, end or begin with doves thrown up into the air?

It is because the dove symbolizes peace. One look at this peaceful creature and you are filled with serenity and calm, an assurance of God’s presence and love.

The gospel relates how Jesus first showed himself to his disciples after the Resurrection. His opening words were: Peace be with you. Then he repeated the greeting. What joy, what consolation it must have been for the disciples who were so afraid of the Jewish leaders who must be looking for the followers of the Man they crucified. But now, Jesus gives them a gift – peace!

There is more - Jesus soon proclaims the source of the gift, the real gift – receive the Holy Spirit! Yes, there will be peace, but only if the Holy Spirit enters your hearts. The peace of God comes to us through this Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, Who completes the triad of Father – Son – Holy Spirit.

How different it is when a person is filled with the Spirit, when a person receives the gift of the Father and of the Son.

Peace is what we need today because it is what we often lack today. How can there be peace at night when the heavy rains raise our alarms of incoming floodwaters? Is peace possible when you just broke up with your boyfriend? Can you enjoy peace when there is anger and hatred at home or when you cannot forgive someone? As long as there is this secret sin you do not confess, will there be peace of mind and heart?

Today is Pentecost and Jesus is seriously offering the Gift, the Holy Spirit of peace. Ask Jesus to send Him to you, to open your heart and to bless you with the Spirit. Pray and reflect and be full of the Spirit.

“Come Holy Spirit I need you. Come Holy Spirit I pray. Come with your strength and your power. Come in our own special way. Come like a spring in the desert. Come to the weary of souls. Lord, let your sweet healing power touch us and make us whole.”

Come Spirit of peace… fill my life with your power!