OUR PARISH PRIEST

HOW ARE THE POOR BLESSED? 4th Sunday This Sunday we start listening to the teachings of the Master, to the so-called Sermon on the Mount – the summary of the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ in the gospel of St. Matthew. And the first words are somewhat scandalous to modern ears: blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” Since when have the poor become blessed? How dare someone say that the poor are fortunate? I certainly cannot say to a beggar: You know brother, you are actually richer than I. Or to a malnourished child: Hey, little one, your life is better than most people’s. Or to an abandoned grandmom: Smile, because you hold the key to real riches. Does God endorse poverty? Does he want his people to suffer? Suffering, including poverty itself, remains a mystery, because God allows it to happen, given his respect for human freedom and cosmic laws. But God certainly does not cause our suffering and He certainly desi

BE READY FOR CHANGE 3rd Sunday From the vocation ad of a Catholic radio program, I’ll try to paraphrase an exchange: “Hello, friend,” said a woman, “it’s been a long time since I saw you. So you are now a nun?” The nun replied: “Yes I have been in religious life for two years now. Are you also thinking of serving the Lord?” The woman said: “Is it still possible? I’m married now.” The nun said: “Yes, we can serve God in various ways.” The woman answered: “I remember that was what they told us during our marriage preparation. Even married people can serve the Lord!” We, each one of us, are called to follow and serve the Lord. There are various ways of doing this. The important thing is to be aware that God is calling us. Once we hear his call, then we must be ready to make adjustments, to make changes in our lives. In the gospel, we see Jesus becoming conscious of His Father’s call to start proclaiming the Kingdom. He leaves behind his home, departing from Nazareth to take up resid

THE GOD WHO GROWS Why do we honor the Santo Niño? To honor the Christ Child is to pay attention to the process of our own human life. To honor Him who became human like us is to find God in the ordinary events of our lives. To honor Jesus the Child is to learn how to grow graciously in the eyes of God and neighbor. 1 Jesus learned to grow from childhood into maturity. The Sto. Nino is God depicted as a child. Remember though, that He grew up to become a mature man. He did not stay a child forever but slowly He acquired the habits, attitudes and traits of a man with a purpose and a mission. It is our greatest mistake to consider the Sto Nino as only and perpetually a child. The purpose of the Sto Nino is to challenge the child in us to grow into the full maturity God expects us to reach. To be mature is to accept the pain of the Cross but also to embrace the glory of the Resurrection. 2 Jesus learned to grow within the atmosphere of a family. Every child needs a family.

INSTRUMENTS OF KINDNESS Baptism of the Lord 2011 In our country, there is no much talk about justice, demands for justice, protests for justice – both personal and social. And the images we get out of this movement for justice are that of angry mobs shouting at police and police retaliating against provocations. Or there may be a lonesome figure ranting against being victimized by those in power and the powerful ignoring him. Today, the first reading speaks of justice. But it is not an angry justice, a hateful speech or gesture that we find. Here come someone working for justice with an unusual instrument in hand – his kindness. Listen: “he shall bring forth justice to the nations…
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street… (he shall be) a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.” The baptism of Jesus was the start of his gre

HOMAGE TO THE TRUE KING Christmas is about to end, with this Feast of the Epiphany. In our country, we call this the Feast of the Three Kings, actually wise men from the east who travelled far to visit the Christ-Child. But as we are about to close the Christmas season, our brothers and sisters belonging to the Orthodox faith, using another calendar, will only start to celebrate Christmas. In my hometown, when I was young, the old people used to say that real Christmas is to be celebrated on Three Kings, because then the Nativity scene is complete with all its characters around the Baby Jesus. The kings, or wise men, became prominent because of the significance of their gifts. Though we cannot ascertain how many wise men came to visit the Lord, we are sure that there were three types of gifts, now recounted in the gospel. These were gold, frankincense and myrrh. We remember these kings because of their gifts. Gold is an offering that identifies the C