OUR PARISH PRIEST

STOP REJECTING, START LOVING 4th Sunday, Ordinary The gospel tells a shocking twist about Jesus’ visit to his native town, Nazareth.   This continues last week’s gospel in which we heard that Jesus read from the scroll of the Scriptures and people were filled with amazement.   In the gospel today (Luke 4) the neighbors, maybe including relatives and friends of Jesus, realize that this person who claims to be the fulfillment of the Scriptures proclaimed at the synagogue, was just a native son, a mere neighbor, an acquaintance, a relative, nobody special. What right has he to a claim of greatness?   This led Jesus to declare:   No prophet is accepted in his own town. Initially awed, the people now resort to rejection.   They wanted to throw Jesus out of the town.   He was simply unacceptable to their taste. I think that today there are two ways by which we reject people from our lives.   First, like the experience of Jesus, we throw people out.   This

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU READ THE BIBLE? 3rd Sunday, Ordinary I hope that you do read the Bible.   As Christians, we must fall in love with the book of our faith, the Holy Scriptures, the Word of God, for our God speaks to us through it.   But is this the only way God speaks to his children?   No! God speaks to us also through nature.   Many do not have the Bible but have the moon and the stars, the mountains and the seas to remind them of the Lord’s goodness. God also speaks to us through conscience.   Some people are not Christians and some have never touched a Bible but they follow the stirring of their inner voice to do good and to avoid evil.   Conscience comes from God and therefore is used by God to speak to us. Christians though are very blessed to have above all, the gift of God’s own Word. What happens when we read the Bible? First, when we read this precious book sincerely, prayerfully, reflectively, our hearts are touched by God. In the first re

THE GREAT GOD OF LITTLE THINGS Feast of Santo Nino Early January each year, Manila celebrates what seems to be a feast incompatible with the prevailing Christmas spirit.   This is the annual procession of Senor Jesus Nazareno, the ancient statue of the Black Suffering Christ in agony, humbly carrying the cross. The procession is marked by frenzy, anarchy, ecstasy and popular religiosity.   It has its supporters and its critics. Then we switch to another celebration, this time, national in scope. This Sunday we celebrate the feast of the Holy Child Jesus, lovingly addressed as Senor Santo Nino. Not for adult males only, the entire community prays, sings and dances to honor the childhood of the Son of God. Not centered on suffering, the image portrays the innocence and meekness of a child. No jostling, lawless crowd, here we have only genuine merriment sensitive to the presence of all. Both the Black Nazarene and the Holy Child images are addressed as

THE DAY WE BECAME HIS FAMILY Baptism of the Lord Many Filipinos are conscious of dates, important calendar events that mark milestones in their lives.   We do not allow birthdays to pass without either a grand or subtle celebration.   We become sentimental when wedding anniversaries come and romantic when “month-saries” are recalled.   As Christians, do we remember, do we even celebrate, our baptismal day?   The most important day for a Christian is not his First Communion or his wedding or his Confirmation but the day of his Baptism. Do you even know when you were baptized?   That needs a little investigation work. Baptism is the day we belonged to God with an unbreakable bond.   Baptism is the sacrament, the sacred ritual, that flung wide open the doors of the church, our spiritual family, so that we could enter.   In this simple celebration of faith, God and our families and friends offered to us the means of salvation, even as we were infants unknowi

GIFTS AND MYSTERIES Epiphany of the Lord I like preparing Christmas gifts for my friends long before the season.   And I delight in receiving gifts from thoughtful family members and friends.   Some people are afraid to give gifts because they do not want to be bothered by the purchasing and wrapping and sending.   But gifts are part of Christmas as the story of the Magi tell us today (Matthew 2:1-12). Among the gifts I received this year was a very large package that surprisingly revealed a beautiful painting a friend of mine made just for me.   It fit well on a vacant wall in our rectory where now it hangs.   Then I received the smallest but nevertheless precious gift of a tiny stamp – the commemorative stamp for the canonization of our new Filipino saint, St. Pedro Calungsod. The amazing thing about a gift is that it is more than just an item. A gift speaks and conveys something that warms the heart. It reveals something from the sender to the re