6TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME B

-
-->
OUR CASTAWAYS





What do we have in common with people’s mentality in biblical times? Well, for one, we both highly appreciate hygiene and flawless skin! The first reading (Leviticus 13) lays out the prescribed status and movement in society of Israel’s so-called lepers. Actually, we cannot be sure if the biblical description of leprosy really points to the dreaded disease known to our modern science.



It seems to many scholars that the Jews were very sensitive regarding skin disorders. So though generically called “leprosy,” the Bible must have referred to other skin irritations, allergies or irruptions which were lumped under one nomenclature. At least today we have a superabundance of skin specialists who distinguish between pimple and acne, and rashes and chicken pox marks!



People with leprosy were considered “unholy” and were treated as outcasts, outsiders, and undesirable men and women who had to involuntarily leave behind family and friends that do not want them anymore. They were not hated like enemies were. They were unloved as nobody should be, especially in a milieu that prided itself with religiosity and faith.



Why is it that in the church we continue to think in terms of the obsolete view of lepers in the bible? Since we are in pursuit of holiness and perfection, today we still throw away people who do not measure up to our standards, who taint the purity of our ranks, and who bring shame rather than honor to our community.



Don’t we have modern lepers in our faith communities today?: people in irregular marriage status, those living in with partners, people with unacceptable sexual and gender preferences, those who failed to make the mark, the ones who live in the margins due to poverty, ignorance, and physical disability. This explains in part why these people leave the church or reject God altogether.



For the Lord Jesus, what is holy does not separate, but integrates specially the unclean and the sinful. This is why Jesus became human. He tells us that the glory of God is not found in heaven above. The holiness of God is lived in union with all men and women. Our Christian commitment pushes us to imitate Jesus who welcomes and embraces all God’s children into the family of the Kingdom of the Father.

Popular posts from this blog

HOLY MASS IN FILIPINO (TAGALOG)

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

SIMBANG GABI DAY 1: READINGS AND REFLECTIONS

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

SIMBANG GABI DAY 2: READINGS AND REFLECTIONS

-
Image
SECOND DAY: December 17   (from the book: Where is the Child?by Fr. R. Marcos (Makati: StPauls);  pls responsibly acknowledge source when using publicly)   fr tam nguyen's photo   First Reading: Genesis 49:2, 8-10   Jacob called his sons and said [to them]: “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob, listen to Israel, your father. “You, Judah, shall your brothers praise—your hand on the neck of your enemies;the sons of your father shall bow down to you. Judah is a lion’s cub, you have grown up on prey, my son. He crouches, lies down like a lion, Like a lioness—who would dare rouse him? The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and he receives the people’s obedience.”     A.             Short Background on the First Reading   1. Who was Judah? Judah was one of the twelve sons of Jacob (or Israel). Jacob was considered the father of the nation of Israel and his twelve sons were cons
Read more