St. Lorenzo Ruiz

28 September 2006: St. Lorenzo Ruiz and companions
Ecclesiastes 1, 2-11; Psalm 90; Luke 9. 7-9

The book of Ecclesiastes in the first reading declares that all things are vanity. If everything passes, then what stays? If everything dies, then what is eternal? If we look at the lives of the saints, they lived in the horizon of what is stable and eternal. Lorenzo Ruiz said, “Had I a thousand lives, I shall give them all to God.” Earlier, Teresa of Avila calmed the troubled heart, “Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing affright you. All things are passing. God only is changeless. He who has God wants nothing. God alone suffices.”

Everything then moves towards something or someone. We too are pilgrims on a journey. Our questions illustrate our movement: Where am I headed? What is the direction of my life? Where will I be happy? Will I meet the person who is right for me? Each one of us walks and struggles with our own destiny alone. Once in our lives --- to some, even until now --- we have trekked the road that everyone has trod. We choose the road our parents and our friends have chosen --- the tried and tested course. Lorenzo was a family man, taking care of his wife, two boys and a daughter in the Chinese district of Binondo, Manila. His life was like all others. Until he was suddenly accused of a crime he didn’t commit. To avoid arrest, he joined the Dominican missionaries to Japan. This sudden turn of events, this bend at the crossroad of life, had brought Lorenzo and his companions to their death. We too find ourselves at crossroads. When we have made our decisions, we find ourselves blazing our own trails, taking our own chances, running risks, getting hurt and beaten up and rejected, and surviving defeats. For Lorenzo and his companions, it was a decision towards martyrdom. But the same question remains: why take your chances?

Francois Mauriac wrote the foreword in a bestselling book entitled, Night, by Elie Weisel, a Jew who records the terrifying death of his family, taken from Sighet, Transylvania to Auschwitz concentration camp and then to Buchenwald. Francois met Elie, a journalist, who requested an interview with him. The two warmed up with each other and Elie related his story. Francois wrote this:

“And I, who believed that God is love, what answer was there to give my young interlocutor whose dark eyes still held the reflection of the angelic sadness that had appeared one day on the face of a hanged child? What did I say to him? Did I speak to him of that other Jew, this crucified brother who perhaps resembled him and whose cross has conquered the world? Did I explain to him that what had been a stumbling block for his faith had become a cornerstone for mine? And that the connection between the cross and human suffering remains, in my view, the key to the unfathomable mystery in which the faith of his childhood was lost? And yet, Zion has risen up again out of the crematoria and slaughterhouses. The Jewish nation has been resurrected from among the thousands of dead. It is they who have given it new life. We do not know the worth of one single drop of blood, one single tear. All is grace. If the Almighty is the Almighty, the last word for each of us belongs to Him. That is what I should have said to the Jewish child. But all I could do was embrace him and weep.”

Indeed no one knows the worth of Lorenzo’s blood and tears, only the Almighty, in the view of eternity. No one knows the worth of our blood and tears shed for those whom we love and suffer for. And so, let us look at the life of Lorenzo and his companions in the past, and then examine our lives in the present, and ask the same question: If you were given a thousand lives, will you give it all back to God? But my suggestion contains a context. Pop the question when faced with your unmet desires, your forgotten dreams, and your deepest regrets. Will you trade your life now for someone more popular, famous and rich? If given a thousand lives, will you choose the same person to love and spend the rest of your life? Will you give your life to what passes or to what is enduring and changeless? Will you offer them all to God? And if not to God, to whom? What gives your life some worth?

Simplicity

27 September 2006: Wednesday of the 25^th Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 9, 1-6. Simplicity

The 18^th Episode of Smallville’s Season 3 has Chloe Sullivan talk to Lex Luthor. Chloe has been infected with a truth serum that made people tell her the simple fact. Chloe asked Lex why he wants to ruin his father, and he said simply, “Because I want him to love me.” Usually, the truth can be said using a simple sentence. And a simple sentence can be very powerful.

In the brutal days of the Civil War in America, a simple note ended the war. The note came from President Lincoln to his general, Ulysses S. Grant. Three lines with the date and time on top.

April 7, 1865

11 o’clock am

General Sheridan says, “If the thing is pressed, I think that Lee will surrender.”

Let the thing be pressed.

A. Lincoln

Grant got the message and pressed it. Two days later at Appomattox, Robert E. Lee surrendered and the bloodiest war in American history ended. Simplicity is indeed powerful.

Jesus sent his apostles to preach and heal like him. He advised them to take only the barest necessities and to depend on God’s providence. The first reading from the Book of Proverbs had a wise man named Agur ask only for the truth and the little food he needed to live.

I used to give moral cases for my students to solve. I asked them to state the problem in a simple sentence. If they were able to tell me the problem plainly, I knew they understood the case. The one who can said it straightforwardly, knew it best. We all can complicate what is simple; but whoever can simplify what is complicated is a genius.

And so with the rest of us. Let us look into our lives, honestly, sincerely and truthfully. After all the things we acquired and the events and activities that occupied our days, what we want can be said simply: I love you. I am hurt. I am angry. I lost my faith. I am tired. I am sorry. Even God’s advice to a happy life is simple: Love God. Love neighbor. Nothing else.

Only when we are able to put our finger on the real issue and say it in easy words can we actually face them. It can end a disagreement. It can heal a hurt. It can deepen a relationship. It is powerful. The rule of composition which Fr. Joseph Galdon SJ taught me holds true also in life: simplify, simplify, simplify.

Families and Gardens

26 September 2006: Tuesday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time Luke 8, 19-21: Whose family to us?

The Gospel today tells us the value of the family. We shall use the family here in broader definition: whether the family is blood-related (like our biological parents and siblings) or by association (like friends, the church as the ‘family of God’, the global family, etc.). In the Gospel, Jesus tells us that family can go beyond blood-relations. In fact, many family environments now are unusual. And many young men and women find other people more family than their biological family. Nevertheless, what make us family are the things that are common to us: sets of rules and norms as God’s commandments, traditions handed down from generations, and all other things that bring people together. The book of Proverbs which we have read in the 1st reading contains principles which the Jews lived by. The bible for Christians also acts the same way: it is the principle and norm of living. It is what makes us family. Perhaps, we can learn today how we can tend the relationships we hold dear by looking at the family like a nice piece of garden. I found this section in Charles R. Swindoll’s book, Living Beyond the Daily Grind.

An anonymous piece portrays the family as a garden. It suggests various things we can plant in our family relationships that will result in great benefits.

A family is like many things, perhaps most like a garden. It needs time, attention, and cultivation. The sunshine of laughter and affirmation. It also needs the rains of difficulties, tense moments, and serious discussions about issues that matter. And there must be spade work, where hardness is broken loose and planting of fresh seeds is accomplished with lot of TLC. Here are some suggestions for fifteen rows worth planting.

4 rows of peas:
Preparedness
Perseverance
Promptness
Politeness

5 rows of lettuce
Let us be faithful.
Let us be unselfish.
Let us be loyal.
Let us be truthful.
Let us be loving.

3 rows of squash:
Squash gossip
Squash criticism
Squash indifference

3 rows of turnips
Turn up with a smile.
Turn up with a new idea.
Turn up with determination

And then? Well, from then on it’s pretty simple. Water, weed, tend with care, and patiently watch the garden grow. Someday you’ll look back and realize it was worth all the years of all the work and effort and prayer. Like a lovely garden, your family will be a thing of grateful pride, of seasonal beauty, or daily sustenance.

The e-generation Child

24 September 2006: 25^th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 9, 30-37 The Child of Today

A father of a teenager said, “When I was young, I listened to my parents, so I looked forward to becoming a parent myself. Now that I am a parent, they ask me to listen to my children. I think I will complain to the One up there.”

I guess the Gospel today poses a challenge for many of us who are grappling with the question of the present generation, the e-generation. Jesus places a child to his disciples who were arguing who among them is greatest. He said that if anyone wants to be great must first learn to be small. If Jesus was here with us, and He places an e-generation child with us, will He say the same?

Let’s look at certain statistics. Dr. Mercy Abad gave a talk on the youth to Catholic Communicators at the University of Santo Tomas. She gave the following data: the 2000 Philippine Population Census tells us that the median and average age of our country is 20. It is easy to imagine it like a pyramid. We have more young people now. 50% of our population is below 20 years old; 29% are 21-39 years old; and 21 % are 41 years old. So let’s do a broad division for our purposes. Those above 40 are senior citizens; those 20 to 40 are members of the youth; and the 20 and below are the young.

	Senior (40 + )	Youth (39-21)	Young (20 - )
Milieu	grew up in hard times, traditional values	In relative prosperity from their parents, educational opportunities	Tumultuous times, Political/ Social/ Eco/ Tech change.
Technology	Transistor Radios	Touch Phones & TV	Cellphones, cable TV, email, computers. MP3/MP4, cyberspace
	May IQ ka ba?	May EQ ka ba?	May IT ka ba?
Attitude towards technology	Intimidated	Challenged	Dependent
Change	As long as they are protected	Change is risk-taking	They celebrate change; they love diversity
Mental State	Long Suffering	Stressed	Angsty
Family	Extended family	Father and Mother	Father or Mother
Marriage	Top Priority	Can be postponed	What’s the big deal?
Institutions (eg. church, education)	Great respect for institutions	Questions & shatters institutions	Reject institutions: often very irreverent
Money	save	spend	invest
Sex	for marriage, on honeymoon	if you can’t be good at it, at least be careful; in car backseats	just an expression of love; virtual sex on the internet
Sex in movies	1st French kiss in movies	Real but artistic	leaves nothing to the imagination

So the child today may not be innocent and humble anymore, have more knowledge about the things of today, can adapt to changes, do not have solid values, and do not believe in the institutional church. I was wondering: Should the e-generation child still be Jesus’ icon of humility, the example of one who is totally dependent on God (they’re dependent on technology than their parents who are not always there anyway, except sometimes at meals)?

That father of a teenager may find his life conflicting and confusing, but his remark is true: he has to listen to his children to become a great father. In 1809, the world was busy emphasizing the bloody scenes of tyranny by Napoleon Bonaparte, the small dictator of France. From Trafalgar to Waterloo his name was a synonym for superiority. During that time of invasions and battles in Europe, no one was paying attention to Britain and America. Babies were born in 1809, but who is interested in babies, and cradles and cribs while history is being made by the Fall of Austria. Somebody should have. A host of thinkers and statesmen drew their first breath in 1809: a) Alfred Tennyson began his life in Lincolnshire; b) Edgar Allan Poe, started his brief and tragic life; c) A physician named Darwin and his wife called their infant son, Charles Robert; d) In a rugged cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky owned by an illiterate wandering laborer, was filled with the cries of a newborn boy named Abraham Lincoln.

Only a handful of history buffs today would remember Austria in 1809. What appeared to be super-significant to the world has proven to be no more exciting than a lazy afternoon in the barrios. What seemed to be totally insignificant was, in fact, the beginning of a new era.

To be great is to take care of the new generation, confusing it may seem. Influence one of them (with the statistics, we have to influence MORE of them), you have paved the way for the future. Jose Rizal reminds us that the hope of our country is truly and literally the young of today. To be great Christians, maybe we should think about how to care for our children.

Against Discrimination

21 September 2006: Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle
Matthew 9, 9-13 Against Discrimination

There are two things to be said about the Feast of St. Matthew, apostle and evangelist.

First, about who he is. St. Matthew, one of the twelve Apostles, is the author of the first Gospel. This has been the constant tradition of the Church and is confirmed by the Gospel itself. He was the son of Alpheus and was called to be an Apostle while sitting in the tax collectors place at Capernaum. Before his conversion he was a publican, i.e., a tax collector by profession. He is to be identified with the "Levi" of Mark and Luke.

Writing for his countrymen of Palestine, St. Matthew composed his Gospel in his native Aramaic, the "Hebrew tongue" mentioned in the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. Soon afterward, about the time of the persecution of Herod Agrippa I in 42 AD, he took his departure for other lands. Another tradition places the composition of his Gospel either between the time of this departure and the Council of Jerusalem, i.e., between 42 AD and 50 AD or even later. Definitely, however, the Gospel, depicting the Holy City with its altar and temple as still existing, and without any reference to the fulfillment of our Lord's prophecy, shows that it was written before the destruction of the city by the Romans in 70 AD, and this internal evidence confirms the early traditions.

Second, about what we can glean from his life for our life. St. Matthew's Gospel was written to fill a sorely-felt want for his fellow countrymen, both believers and unbelievers. For the believers, it served as a token of his regard and as an encouragement in the trial to come, especially the danger of falling back to Judaism; for the unbelievers, it was designed to convince them that the Messiah had come in the person of Jesus, our Lord, in Whom all the promises of the Messianic Kingdom embracing all people had been fulfilled in a spiritual rather than in a carnal way: "My Kingdom is not of this world." His Gospel, then, answered the question put by the disciples of St. John the Baptist, "Are You He Who is to come, or shall we look for another?"

And thus the life of St. Matthew points at certain things about our faith. Before Jesus called him, Matthew was a publican, who was discriminated against by the Jews. As a publican, he worked for the Roman Government. And the Pharisees often would remark to his apostles about Jesus, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus would say, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” And yet, Matthew never took it against the Jews, his Gospel was written for them.

Thus, our faith is against all forms of discrimination. Let me quote from the document, Nostra Aetate, Proclaimed by Pope Paul VI, October 28, 1965:

5. We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a brotherly way any man, created as he is in the image of God. Man's relation to God the Father and his relation to men his brothers are so linked together that Scripture says: "He who does not love does not know God" (1 John 4:8). No foundation therefore remains for any theory or practice that leads to discrimination between person and person or people and people, so far as their human dignity and the rights flowing from it are concerned. The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against men/women or harassment of them....

As we celebrate the feast of St. Matthew, we look into our hearts: do we discriminate: people of a different color: with whitening lotions flourishing, how do we regard those with darker skin? Do we ostracize other people: people outside of our circle of friends or househelps for example? Do we think that we are far better than them: people of a different religion?; people of a different culture?; people with a different sexual orientation? Do we think we are cleaner or better Catholics than others judged solely by external practice such as appearing pious? Let us reflect on our lives and see the times when we have put ourselves higher than what we truly are.

If you are without love

20 September 2006: Wednesday of the 24^th Week in Ordinary Time
1 Cor 12, 31-13,13; Psalm 33, 2-5, 12, 22; Luke 7, 31-35

Many claim that the 1^st reading from the Letter of Paul to the Corinthians is the most wonderful chapter in the New Testament. It is used very often in weddings and quoted in love notes. It will take a lifetime, however, to fully excavate its meaning. Paul tells us that a person may possess many gifts, but if it is without love, then that gift is useless. For example, one may have the gift of tongues, but does not have love, it is worthless. The gift of tongues is a characteristic of pagan worship of the gods Dionysius and Cybele. It is accompanied by the clanging of cymbals and the sound of trumpets. The gift of tongues was for the Romans a most coveted gift. But Paul tells the Corinthians that even with the most desirable gift, if they do not love, they are worthless. We can interpret it this way: a person may be a good-talker or a cultured conversationalist or even an intellectual, but if he or she does not love, his or her words are empty. Walang laman, walang kagat. Moreover, a person may practice charity, but without love, it is useless. A person may give dole-out goods, as a duty, sometimes with some contempt, like throwing out leftovers to a stray dog, is not genuine charity. It is arrogance, not love. In the end, what makes our talents meaningful are what make them enduring.

Paul lists fifteen characteristics of Christian love. We shall choose a few. First, love is patient. The Greek word, makrothumein, is used to describe patience with people and not patience with circumstances, as waiting for the bus. It describes the person who is slow to anger and it is used to describe God’s relationship with people. Hindi madaling magalit. Mahaba ang pasensya. Such patience is not a sign of weakness, but of strength. Only the person with a very strong heart can withstand the intensity of our emotions especially anger. Second, love is not envious. There are two kinds of envy. One is the one who wish that they have what another possesses. Naiingit ako sa kanya dahil mataas ang grades niya at ako hindi. The other is worse; it grudges the very fact that others should have what one has not. Minamasama ko ang pagkakaroon ng ibang tao. “Hmp, nagpunta lang yan sa Saudi, kaya yumaman sila.” Finally, love never flies into a temper. The real meaning of this passage is that we are never exasperated with people and with circumstances. We are people of hope and therefore, we always hope in people. If we forgive a person who has hurt us, we actually mean that we hope in him or her. Forgiveness is giving another chance for someone whom we believe can also change. If we can master our tempers, then we can control anything.

When we stayed glued to the television series such as Pangako sa ‘Yo, Bakekang, and Bituing Walang Ningning, we believe in what Paul says, “Love can endure anything.” Love can bear any insult, any injury, any disappointment, any pain, any suffering, and any trial. At the end of the day, what matters is that we love.

And so today, we first name those we love. Who are they? Identify them. And then, look at the quality of our love by evaluating it according to the characteristics given by St. Paul. However, if we find ourselves like noisy cymbals or like people in the marketplace as Jesus describes the present generation --- us --- in the Gospel today, do not lose hope. As Christians we always believe that today --- and every day for that matter --- is the best time to put some heart into our relationships.

The Secret of the Messiah

17 September 2006: 24^th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 8, 27-35: Surrender

What we read today is the center of the whole Gospel of Mark. It is a turning point. Everything changes direction from this passage. My teacher in the Synoptics, Fr. Nil Guillemette SJ, tells us how. First, geographically: From Galilee, we go up to Jerusalem. Second, content of Jesus’ teaching: from now on, it will deal with the Passion of Jesus and the theme of true discipleship. In the Gospel, Jesus ‘predicts’ his passion (actually, an after-event prophesy), and tells us that true discipleship means to take up one’s cross and follow Him. Moreover, it is the connection between the two parts of the Gospel.The first half of the Gospel, deals about the fact of the Messianic secret; the second half reveals the content of the secret.

What is this Messianic secret? Many of us wonder about this secret --- passages where Jesus tells those who experienced miracles not to inform anyone about Him or about what happened. It is like, “It’s between the two of us.” However, we hear that even if Jesus advise them not to report anyone about him and his deeds, the people who were cured still spread the news to everyone. That is why He became so popular. Why does Jesus have to keep a secret? Jesus believes that the disciples and the others do not yet possess a correct idea of the Messiah and they would just be misleading the people if they would disclose it as they imagine Him to be. What is the correct idea of the Messiah? In Jesus’ time, the Jews expected the Messiah to be a political leader, like King David, who would deliver them from all who colonized Israel such as the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and Roman Empire. During King David, they were an empire, they were independent. But Jesus was not a political messiah, he was a suffering one --- someone who would save us through pain on the cross, someone who would suffer and die for us so that we will be saved. In other words, Jesus is not just here to save Israel, but to save everyone. Therefore, the way of suffering is also our way if we would like to be His disciple: we are to take up our cross. It is required of all Christians. No wonder, Peter and the disciples were scandalized when Jesus revealed to them that his mission as Messiah would lead them to a violent death just as we are scandalized by our ever-present pain and suffering.

Often, we are burdened by worry over work, status, recognition, success, acceptance by people and wealth. And yet, our inner worth does not increase in proportion to the wealth and reputation we have acquired. Thus, if we want to live Christ’s life, we must die to ourselves. This means that we concentrate our efforts on carrying the cross instead of carrying our belongings. We always hear of the epitaph, “Let go. Let God.” They said that the origin of this is an experience of a college student who placed on sheets of paper each of the letter in LETGOD. A wind blew the letter “D” and he realized that in order to let God, he has to let go. We must let go.

For example, in order to grasp the truth objectively as it really is, we must give up our previous ideas about it. We must quiet our passions, our personal interests and motives, and our easy solutions on problems. Likewise, if we want to experience love, we must surrender ourself in the hands of another person, share that person’s suffering and risk betrayal, even exposing ourself to losing the person’s presence like in goodbyes, in separation, or in death. If we would like to know where we would be happy, then we have to run the risk of making mistakes and facing the consequences of our decisions.

I have a story. A little piece of wood once complained bitterly because its owner kept carving it, cutting it, and filling it with holes. The carver was so remorseless when he was carving and cutting, that he paid no attention to the wood’s complaining. He said, “without these holes, and all these cutting, you would be a black stick forever. What I am doing now may make you think that I am destroying you, but instead, I will change you forever. You will charm the souls of people and comfort those with a sorrowing heart. My cutting is the making of you, for only by becoming a flute, can you be a blessing in the world.”

Carrying our crosses may feel like torture, being carved, being cut. Look at our lives and see how much of our growth and beauty as a person have been forged by our crosses and by suffering. Our crosses has been the making of ourselves.

The Sign of the Cross

14 September 2006: The Triumph of the Cross
Num 21, 4-9; Psalm 78; Phil 2, 6-11; John 3, 13-17

The sign of the cross has always marked the Christian, more so the tracing of the sign of the cross marked the Catholic. Who among us make the sign of the cross at every moment in our lives everyday? We make the sign of the cross at the start and beginning of a prayer. We make the sign of the cross when we start and end our meals. We make the sign of the cross when we are afraid. We make the sign of the cross when we mark holy places such as churches and cemeteries. Why do Catholics trace the sign? Protestants have lambasted us. But little do they know that Martin Luther did not abandon the sign of the cross. In fact, he recommended it in his Small Catechism in an appendix on family prayer. It says, “As soon as you get out of bed in the morning, you should bless yourself with the sign of the Holy Cross and say: “May the will of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be done! Amen.” (Martin Luther, Luther’s Little Instruction Book, trans. Robert E. Smith at http://www.iclnet.org)
Well, we, Catholics, are doing what the early Christians were doing as early as Paul. It seems it becomes a practice at baptisms. It was a normal, everyday experience of Christians in the first centuries as attested by many Christian writers. Tertullian (160-225 AD) said, “In all our travels and movements, in all our comings and goings, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupies us, we mark our foreheads with the sign of the cross.”
St. John Chrysostom (347-407 AD), the eloquent saint whose memory we celebrated yesterday, was the patriarch of Constantinople (now Baghdad), said, “Never leave your house without making the sign of the cross. It will be to you a staff, a weapon, an impregnable fortress. Neither man nor demon will dare to attack you, seeing you covered with such powerful armor. Let this sign teach you that you are a soldier, ready to combat against the demons, and ready to fight for the crown of justice. Are you ignorant of what the cross has done? It has vanquished death, destroyed sin, emptied hell, dethroned Satan, and restored the universe. Would you then, doubt its power?” Let us see what he meant.

***

There is a story about Alexander Solzhenitsyn found in the internet and circulated through email. Alexander leaned on his shovel and watched the gray clouds drag sullenly across the sky. A merciless wind tore at him through his prison garb. He felt as though it penetrated to his soul. Every one of his bones and muscles ached. Hunger gnawed his stomach. Years of hard labor in the Siberian work camp had ruined his health and stripped him of hope.
Alexander could endure no longer. He dropped his shovel, left the work gang, and sat on a bench nearby. Soon a guard would command him to return to work. When he would ignore the order, the guard would beat him to death with his own shovel. He had seen it happen to others many times. “A quick, bloody death today,” thought Alexander, “would be better than a slow death in a bleak, empty future.”
He stared at the ground, waiting for the inevitable. Soon he heard footsteps and braced himself in anticipation of the guard’s harsh words. But when he raised his eyes, instead of a guard he saw a gaunt, elderly prisoner standing before him. The old man said nothing but knelt in front of him. With a stick he scratched the sign of the cross in the dirt and then hurried back to work.
He looked at the cross, and as he reflected on it, a ray of light penetrated his dark thoughts. In that moment, his perspective changed radically. He realized that he did not have to face the evil of the gulag and the Soviets on his own diminished strength. With the power of the cross, he could withstand the evil of not one but a thousand Soviet empires.

He got up from the bench and returned to work. Although the record does not say so, I think that he must also have traced the ancient sign of the cross on his breast. None of Solzhenitsyn’s external circumstances changed that day, but internally he had experienced a gentle revolution. The sign of the cross had blessed him with the grace of hope.

***

Alexander’s experience is not strange to many of us. The sign of the cross has given us hope. Who among us experienced some assurance when we make the sign of the cross before we hurdle a hard exam? Who among us experience some healing when we ask a priest to make the sign of the cross over our heads, or trace with holy oil on the part afflicted with pain? When we travel and our transportation --- land, water or air --- seem unsteady, didn’t we make the sign of the cross to assure us that the Lord will bring us safe to our destination?

When we make the sign of the cross then, we are not doing an empty gesture. The sign of the cross is an opening to God. It is a prayer itself that engages the Trinity to help us live a true Christian life. It is a renewal of Baptism. When we trace it on our body, it stirs up the new life of the Spirit that we received in Baptism and vitalized our prayer drawing us closer to God. It is a mark of discipleship. Making the sign affirms our decision to follow Christ, allowing Him to assume our burdens and free us to live joyfully. It is an acceptance of suffering. The sign of the cross is a practical tool for dealing with problems. It is a defense against the devil and a victory over self-indulgence. It invites Christ to support us in our pain and suffering and works handily to defuse our worst inclinations and sins and to dispel the temptations of the devil. And the sign is much more, for with a slight motion of the hand and a few simple words, it sums up the truth and power of the Christian life.

In other words, when we trace the sign of the cross, we remind ourselves of our identity and our responsibility: I am a Christian! I am a Catholic! We follow what Paul says in the 2nd reading: Put on the mind of Christ! When we trace the sign of the cross in public, we tell them that we are not ashamed to be branded with the cross of Christ. Just as St. Paul said to the Galatians, “But as for me, it is out of the question that I should boast at all, except of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world... After this, let no one trouble me; I carry branded on my body the marks of Jesus.” (Galatians 6, 14 &17).

Offenses

12 September 2006: Tuesday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time
1 Cor 6, 1-11; Ps 149; Lk 6, 12-19

With regards to offenses, the culture of the Jews is to settle their dispute among the elders of their village or the synagogue. For the Jews, disagreements are more settled in the spirit of family than of law. The Greeks find litigation entertaining. They would take their disputes to court. When Paul saw that the Corinthian Church was settling disputes the Greek way, he was shocked. Paul wanted the Christian way --- there a way of proceeding. They must settle it among themselves first; then it is settled within the church community. In the first reading, Paul seizes on the great essential principle. To go to law at all, and especially to go to law with a brother, is to fall far below the Christian standard of behavior. Long ago, Plato had laid it down that the good man will always choose to suffer wrong rather than to do wrong. If the Christian has even the remotest tinge of the love of Christ within his heart, he will rather suffer insult and loss and injury than try to inflict them on someone else --- still more so, if that person is a brother or a sister. To take vengeance is always an unchristian thing. A Christian orders his relations by the spirit of love; and the spirit of love will insist that he live at peace with his brother or sister. Ibig sabihin, mas gugustuhin ng Kristiyano ang magtiis sa mga paninirang ginagawa ng mga tao sa kanya, sa mga maling sinasabi ng mga tao sa kanya, kaysa gumawa ng masama sa kanila. The Prayer of Sacrifice that we say after communion every mass puts it aptly, “Teach my mind and direct my will to humbly endure the pain of undeserved suffering even when my intent was good and done what is right.”
The reason is that the Christian believes in the power of Christ to change people --- as St. paul enumerated the great sins, but it also includes those who accuse us wrongly, those who inflict pain on us. The power of Christ is still the same. No person can change oneself, but Christ can change him. A contemporary of St. Paul, Seneca declared, “men love their vices, and hate them at one and the same time.” He called himself, homo non tolerabilis, a man not to be tolerated. Since we love and hate our sins at the same time, our sins should not be tolerated. Into this world, conscious of a tide of decadence, sinfulness and darkness --- nowadays they call it, the culture of death --- nothing could stop, the radiant power of Christianity, which was triumphantly able to make all things new.
In other words, when Jesus chose his disciples, it is to make things new. We are his disciples, how do we make things new. Do we hope in people that they can change with God’s power? Or have we inflicted pain in vengeance? Would we rather get even or would we rather talk to them so that we may live in peace?

Discipline

11 September 2006: Monday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time
1 Cor 5, 1-8; Luke 6, 6-11 Discipline

In Jewish literature, leaven stands for an evil influence. It was dough which had been kept over from a previous baking and which, in the keeping, had fermented. The Jews identified fermentation with putrefaction, and so leaven stood for a corrupting influence. Now, the bread used for the Passover feast was unleavened (Exodus 12). And on the day before Passover, a law has been laid down that a Jew must light a candle and searches his house ceremonially for leaven, and that every last bit must be cast out. It means that the last remnant of evil must be cleared out of our lives. Thus, St. Paul in the first reading tells us that if you let an evil influence into the Church, it can corrupt the whole society, as the leaven permeates the whole lump of dough.
There are two things I want to say. First, the young generation calls people who are like leaven, “BI” (meaning, bad influence). If a friend, for example, has taught someone to smoke, that friend is a BI. If someone in office has initiated a new employee into the system of graft and corruption, the person is a BI. In school, we become who are friends are because they influence our way of thinking, our actions and behavior. In the new TV hit, High School Musical, there are the nerds, the basketball team, the punks, etc. And if anyone differs from the mold, they are ostracized. An old adage has it, “Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are.” Nothing illustrates this more than the influence of Osama bin Laden to terrorists.
Second, it tells us what discipline does. The second reading tells us of a sin that shocked Paul and the rest of the Christian community at Corinth. There was a man who had illicit sexual relations with his own step-mother. What shocked Paul was the attitude of the Corinthian church: they complacently accepted the situation and done nothing about it when they should be sad. And Paul said that he must be excommunicated. When a child is grounded for example, the person is literally “excommunicated”. That means he is prevented from doing the normal thing he or she does. When a person in school is suspended, he is prevented from participating in the normal thing that a student does in school. These are all ways and means in order to discipline a person who has to clear out the evil that he or she has. Therefore, when Paul “excommunicated” the man who has committed incest, Paul is not being vindictive. Discipline is thus carried out not to punish, but to awaken. It is not to break the person, but to make the person. Discipline therefore is carried out as a form of love and care. Thus, in the Gospel, when Jesus cured the man on the Sabbath, he tells us that beyond all our rituals, charity must have priority. The person takes primary importance over rituals.
Disciple has sometimes to be exercised for the sake of the Church. To shut our eyes to offenses is not always a kind thing to do; it may be damaging. A poison must be eliminated before it spreads; a weed must be plucked out before it pollutes the whole ground. A practice --- for example, the uncharitable disregard of the dignity of the lay minister here in UP --- should be removed before it influences the perception of people that God gives more grace if you receive communion from the priest than the lay minister. In truth, God gives the same grace to all --- whoever the person is. The Church has officially chosen lay people to be extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and if a person disregards it, then he or she disregards the Church.
Here we have a whole principle of discipline. Discipline should never be exercised for the satisfaction of the person who exercises it --- or else it would be power-tripping--- but always for the mending of the person who has sinned and for the sake of the Church. Discipline should never be vengeful; it must be curative and prophylactic.

Ang Pipi at Bingi

10 September 2006: 23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 7, 31-37: Ang Pipi at Bingi

Note: Not a literal translation of this Sunday's English homily.

May awit na kinakanta tuwing Adviento na ang pamagat ay Balang Araw. At pinapahiwatig nito ang pangako ng Panginoon na narinig natin sa unang pagbasa. Ganito ang mga salita:

Balang-araw mumutawi sa bibig ng mga pipi ang kagandahan ng umaga, pagmamasdan sa twina.

Balang-araw ang liwanag, matatanaw ng bulag, pasasalamat at papuri, awit ng luwalhati.

Balang-araw tatakbo, ang pilay at ang lumpo, magsasayaw sa kagalakan, iindak sa katuwaan.

At itong pangako ng Diyos ay naisakatuparan sa pagdating ng Manunubos. At nakita natin sa Ebanghelio ngayong linggo.

Bagaman hindi lahat sa atin ay bulag, pipi at bingi, maaaring sa ibang paraan tayo may kapansanan. Una, bulag: May mga pangyayari sa ating buhay na tayo’y nagbubulag-bulagan. May mga bagay tayong ayaw nating makita. Kahit sinasabi na ng ating mga kadugo o kaibigan, pilit nating di pinapansin dahil alam nating ang kahihinatnan ay masakit. Maaaring kailangang maghiwalay, magbagong-loob, o magbago ng mga bagay na nakasanayan na.

Pangalawa, bingi: Tulad ng pagbubulag-bulagan, tayo rin ay nagbibingi-bingihan. Ang mga payo ng ating mga magulang at feedback ng ating mga kaibigan ay di natin pinapakinggan. Kahit alam nating tama ang kanilang sinasabi, natatakot tayong harapin ang katotohanan dahil nangangailangan itong lakas ng loob. At kadalasan natatakot tayong hindi natin kayang gawin ang nararapat.

Pangatlo, pipi: Maraming pagkakataong nais nating sabihin ang ating tunay na niloloob at hindi natin masabi-sabi. Hindi natin mailabas dahil natatakot tayo na magalit ang ating mga minamahal, o natatakot tayong makasakit ng damdamin. Kadalasan sa ating mga Pilipino, mas ginugusto nating kimkimin na lamang ang damdamin dahil ayaw nating maalog ang ugnayan. Nguni’t ang ating mga saloobin lalung-lalo na ang mga galit at sama ng loob ay lumalabas at nakikita pa rin sa iba’t ibang paraan. Marami sa atin ang nagiging masungit, mainitin ang ulo at bugnutin. Minsan, ang ating galit ay higit pa sa dapat na reaksiyon natin sa isang pangyayari. Nakalimutan lang na bumili ng bigas ng anak, nahalata natin na andami na nating nasabi --- naglitanya na tayo ng mga bagay na kinalimutan nagmula sa pagkabata hanggang sa pagtanda!

Dalawang bagay ang makikita natin sa paggagamot ni Hesus. Una, inilayo ni Hesus ang bingi at utal sa karamihan. Ginamot ni Hesus ang bingi at utal nung sila’y nagkasarilinan. Naintindihan ni Hesus ang kalagayan nila. Ang bingi at utal ay nahihiya sa karamihan. Halimbawa, alam nila na sumisigaw na ang kausap pero hindi nila maintindihan dahil di nila marinig. At kadalasan, pinagtatawanan natin ang mga utal. Sa buhay, nakikita natin ang katotohanang ayaw nating makita, marinig o masabi kung tayo’y nag-iisa. Dahil sa ating pag-iisa, kaharap natin ang tunay nating pagkatao. Sa pag-iisa, nasasalita natin ang ating mga tunay na kinatatakutan or sinasaloob. Alam natin ang gusto nating mawala sa ating buhay --- ang mga bagay na kailangang gamutin at hilumin.

Pangalawa, pisikal ang lunas ni Hesus: isinuot ang kanyang mga daliri sa tainga nito, at lumura at hinipo ang dila. Di tayo nagkakalayo sa mga paggamit ng laway. Di ba isinusuot natin ang ating daliri kapag nasugatan sa ating bibig? Di ba nginunguya natin ang dahon ng bayabas bago ilagay sa sugat? Sinabi ni Hesus, “Ephata” ibig sabihin, “Mabuksan.” Ang gamot sa ating mga sugat ay nagkakaroon ng lunas kung kasama si Hesus. Kadalasan, ang mga payo ni Hesus ang lunas sa ating pagbibingi-bingihan, pagbubulag-bulagan at sa ating pagiging utal. Sa mga nagbubulag-bulagan, sinasabi ni Hesus na buksan at tingnan ang puwing sa ating mga mata. Sa mga nagbibingi-bingihan, sinasabi nating buksan ang ating mga tainga, at pakinggan ang payo ng ating mga magulang at kaibigan. Sa mga utal, sinasabi ni Hesus na huwag matakot sabihin ang ating mga niloloob lalu na kung makakabuti ito sa kapwa. Sa mga may galit, kausapin ang kagalit at patawarin.

Sa araw na ito, tingnan natin ang ating mga kapansanan at humingi ng lunas sa piling ni Hesus. Sa Koro ng awit ng Balang-Araw sinasabi, “Narito na ang Manunubos, Luwalhatiin ang Diyos.”

The Deaf Mute

10 September 2007: 23^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 7, 31-37 The Deaf Mute

When Jesus arrives back in the regions of Galilee, he came into the district of the Decapolis, and there they brought to him a man who was deaf and who had an impediment in his speech. Usually, the deaf and the mute go together. The person’s inability to hear made his speech so imperfect. Here we see how Jesus treats people.

First, Jesus showed some physical healing. Jesus put his hands in the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. In those days, people believed that spittle had a curative quality. Seutonius, the Roman historian, tell us of an incident in the life of Vespasian, the Emperor, that a certain man who was blind and lame came to Vespasian and craved for a remedy for his infirmities, and thereby shown in his dreams that all he needs is spittle or saliva (Seutonius, Life of Vespasian). This belief exists today. When our cut our hands, the natural reaction is to put the wound in our mouth. In the Philippines, we chew guava leaves and put it on the wound. In whatever case, people who are sick want healing.

But not all those who are deaf, mute or blind want healing. After all, begging is an easier way to eke out a living. We hear on television stories of many prisoners who would intentionally commit crimes in order to be brought back to prison. Being in prison has advantages: food is provided. There are many people who in their heart of hearts do not dislike their weaknesses. They do not wish to lose their sins especially if they derive pleasure and comfort from it. For those who are involved in graft and corruption, they do not actually wish for its abolition. Alcoholics and drug addicts do not wish for freedom from these addictive substances. Many people do not desire healing. Or else, the very source of their relief and enjoyment vanishes.

Today is a day of healing and growth. It is a time when we bring to God our wounds and illnesses, and ask for healing. It is a time when we should take a moment to think about what we need to bring to Jesus for healing; to identify our pain and wounds; and to accept the fact of our deafness and brokenness. St. Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises recommends that we should be clear with the desire we request of God and that the grace being asked is articulated. Are we sincere and genuine enough to desire healing? What would you say to Jesus if He asks you what you need?

Second, he took the man aside from the crowd, all by himself. Here is the tender considerateness. Deaf people are always a little embarrassed. In some ways it is more embarrassing to be deaf than to be blind. A deaf person knows he cannot hear; and when someone in a crowd shouts at him and tries to make him hear, in his excitement he becomes all the more helpless. Jesus showed tender consideration for the feelings of a man for whom life was very difficult.

It is interesting to note that Jesus answered his desire, not in the streets, but alone. You see, it is only when we are faced with ourselves and when we are alone with Jesus that we are able to be honest with ourselves. It is when we are alone that our wounds stare at us closely. We can hide our wounds and dark secrets from a crowd; we can make promises to God like an avid fan for all to hear; and often we shout to everyone what they would like to hear, so that they will appreciate us. We can loudly claim our commitment to Christ in the middle of a spiritual frenzy and when we are emotionally charged like many of those who went into a charismatic fellowship, or a retreat that employs letters from parents and significant people to highlight affirmation as an experience of God’s love. But what matters is what happens when the crowd is gone, when the emotional high has dipped, and when we return alone to the privacy of our rooms, if not our existential isolation and loneliness

A wound or any disease can consolidate and reveal our true character, our true self, our real home. Our wound can thus bring us to who we are, to that inner home which we yearn for. And thus healing happens in the passage of time, when we face ourselves squarely and answer truthfully the questions raised by our wounds. Carl Jung said, “If you get rid of the pain before you have answered its questions, you get rid of the self along with it.”

Today is the time for self-awareness, and for answering the questions of our sickness, our pain, and our brokenness. What are the areas in my life to which I am deaf? What are people saying about me, and I do not listen to them, because they are painful. Although many truths in our lives are painful to accept, the very awareness of these wounds helps us to see our true selves. When our ears are opened to the truth of our lives, healing happens.

The Three Gestures of Mary

8 September 2006: The Nativity of Mary
Matthew 1, 1-23: The Three Gestures of Mary

At lunch today, we had lechon kawali, pancit and a Goldilock’s cake. I asked Nene, our cook, what’s the occasion. She said, that Fr. Raymund told her to order them because it is Mary’ birthday. The cake makes ordinary meals special and the pancit is a Chinese-Filipino tradition to wish someone a long life. When we celebrate birthdays we are grateful for the gift of the person to us. At birthdays, we remember who the celebrant is to us, and how he/she affected our lives. As we celebrate Our Mother’s birthday, we thus remember who she is to most of us. The significance of her birth is seen in the significance of Jesus in our salvation. Without her, salvation couldnot have been possible. We will use three common gestures of Mary taken from the pictures and statues we have of her. These are our images of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

First, Mary who prays. Images of Mary whose hands are clasped on her chest or those whose hands are outstretched are images of Mary praying. The outstretched hands tell us that she welcomes all of our needs. It is not surprising that many of us Filipinos, run to Mary when we are afflicted. The prayer, the Memorare tells us, “Remember O Most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known, that anyone who fled to your protection, or sought intercession was left unaided.” Mary prays for us and continually opens her heart to all of us, listening to our petitions, whether it is of lesser consequence or of greater urgency and importance.

Second, Mary who is loving and tender. These are the images of Mary who embraces and keeps Jesus close to her heart. It is Mary who is mother to all of us, just as she was a mother who cared for Jesus.

Michael Jordan, whose father was murdered in the summer of 1993, said to Bob Greene: “My heroes are and were my parents… It wasn’t that the rest of the world would necessarily think they were heroic. But they were adults I saw constantly, and I admired what I saw. If you are lucky, you grow up in a house where you can learn what kind of person you should be from you parents. And on that count, I was very lucky. It may have been the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.” I guess, the luckiest thing for many of us Christians, is that we have a mother like Mary. It is not surprising, that when we are frightened, we cling to the rosary for protection. And we pray that Mary embraces us, like a mother who encloses her arms around us, and assure as that everything will turn our fine.

Third, Mary who points at Jesus. These are the images of Mary that tells us that she is not the center of attention, but her Son. These are images that remind us that Mary’s life and example leads us to where it should be, the love of Jesus, her Son.

Raising children like Jesus, guiding them through their struggles, comes from instruction and teaching. And as one mother said she had to say the same lesson over and over again. Wise parents provide this sort of training all the time. They teach their children to act with virtue and thereby develop the ability to do so on a regular basis. Here are some everyday advocacies:

Anak, alam kong mas gusto mong maglaro kasama ng mga kaibigan mo, pero meron kang assignment na kailangang gagawin mo. Gawin mo muna ang assignment, pagkatapos, pwede ka nang maglaro. (Son, I know you want to play with your friends, but you have to finish your assignment first. Do your assignment, then you can play with them.)

Alam kong ayaw mo ang binigay ng lola mo, pero isuot mo para matuwa siya. Mas mabuti sa kanyang kaarawan, kahit di mo gusto ang t-shirt mapasalamatan at mapasigla mo siya. (I know you do not like the shirt your grandmother gave you, but make her happy by wearing it on her birthday.)

How many times did Mary remind us to repent and to pray the rosary? The rosary reminds us of the life of Jesus, so that as we continue to pray it everyday, the life of Jesus becomes our life. Our children get what parents teach them by doing it consistently and repeatedly, like the repetitions in the rosary.

And so, as we celebrate the Birth of Mary, we remind ourselves that we too can be like her. We can pray for all peoples, care for them, and finally, lead our lives towards union with Jesus.

Wisdom in Discipleship

7 September 2006: Thursday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 5, 1-11 Wisdom in Discipleship

When Jesus called Simon Peter, the night was past and all the circumstances were unfavorable. Peter said that they have toiled all night long and they caught nothing. However, Simon Peter’s move was to trust Jesus and follow his command to go into the deep and throw the net for a catch. And just as Simon Peter did so, he had a great catch that the nets were town into numbers. Later, Jesus would tell Simon Peter that from then on, he will be catching people.

I believe in the importance to going into the deep. The Latin of this is, “Duc in altum”. To go into the deep is the condition in order to catch people. All Christians are called, the same way as Simon Peter was called, to proclaim the Good News to the world. Thus, we are asked to go into the deep. To acquire depth in our faith. Maging malalim.

What does it mean to acquire depth? Socrates once said that the unexamined life is not worth living. We should not breeze through life without reflection, learning, and authentically living. We must develop the ability to see what is beyond sensible reality; to see the eternal truths beyond the empirical. At sea, one finds two major layers: the surface of the sea and its depths. The surface of the sea is what we see and what we touch. Sometimes we smell its saltiness. We hear the sound of the waves. In our life, the surface symbolizes what can be sensible to us. We see trees and microscopic organisms; we hear the noise of civilization and the reverberations of our heart. All the facts we memorize in class and the theories that claim order in the universe. We experience joy, pain, loneliness, and anger. Life can be a jumble and mixture of facts, tenets of knowledge, snippets of experiences but all of these can be a meaningless mess.

The deep symbolizes the things that makes life meaningful and worth living. At a family reunion, our relatives tell us that we look like one of our parents. The surface is the first thing they see, and then we ask, “Who am I?” apart from them. At the brink of a transition, whether graduating or taking the bar exams, the last step towards becoming a lawyer, we begin to ask, “Where will this lead me?” We know that our action is senseless unless it has direction. These questions lead us into the very center of our hearts, to the very purpose of which we were made. It is a journey that we take within ourselves. To find meaning in our lives and to have a sense of direction and purpose, mean to discover wisdom.

And what is wisdom? Wisdom is the ability to see things in God’s eyes. The university as an institution can guarantee the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and perhaps, the arts. It requires the objective credentials of instructors; it grants degrees and diplomas after appropriate testing and examination. But none of that guarantees wisdom. Not all of those who have been given awards and recognition by the university have wisdom. It takes a community to cultivate wisdom. Wisdom is learned in conversation, in friendships, in small groups, from and with wisdom figures such as teachers. Wisdom is an interpersonal endeavor. Wisdom is more than knowledge and skill; it includes values and a grasp of one’s own ultimate meaning and purpose. And only in a religious perspective, in the eyes of God, can one find wisdom.

It is strange that when someone close to us dies, the most consoling gesture is not an explanation of the facts of death, but the kisses our family give us, the hugs of friends we value, the assuring words of those who come to visit. Because in the end, death gives us a perspective of the truth --- that God is the beginning and end of our lives. He is the thread that connects the mixture of facts and experiences in our lives. And when we are able to see things in God’s eyes, then, whether we pass the bar exams or not, whether we experience sickness and health, whether we have a short life or a long one, it does not matter. What matters is that these experiences, negative or positive, lead us to God. Then, we may find ourselves at peace. We find wisdom. We discover depth. We find God.

The Queenship of Mary

22 August 2006: Queenship of Mary
Luke 1, 26-38: The Annunciation

Note: As requested by those who celebrated their birthdays last August 22.

For many of us, Filipinos, the idea of a queen is a foreign notion and do not quite draw out inspiration from us. The celebration of the Queenship of Mary was established at the end of the 1954 Marian Year by Pope Pius XII in his encyclical, Ad Caeli Reginam. The encyclical says that Mary is Queen because of her divine maternity and her association with Jesus’ redemptive mission. In other words, she is queen because she is the mother of God’s son, Jesus, and she is queen because she shares in the work of her Son.

Salvation history is a story that involves human participation When God willed that He saves us, He employed human beings to participate in His work. He worked with both men and women: Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Ruth, David, Isaiah, Deborah, etc. He worked with the young as Jeremiah was. He worked with the old such as Abraham. He worked with mothers such as Sarah and Elizabeth. The Apostle Paul spoke of this mystery when he stated, “We are God’s co-workers” (1 Cor 3,9). Why? Can’t God get the job done by Himself? Of course He can. But, like all parents, our well-being is nurtured by them, but eventually determined by us. We share in our redemption. Parents and children are co-workers. Like God and us. In an unparalleled way, with Mary to whom God entrusted such tasks as feeding His Son with her own milk, singing Him to sleep, and accompanying Him all the way to the Cross where she gave her sorrowful yes to His self-offering. In short, the Father willed that His Son’s entire existence as a man would hinge, so to speak, upon the ongoing faith of Mary. Just imagine if you were Mary: the whole thing is not just one dramatic event as we think of the Annunciation or Christmas with all the angels singing. The whole thing involves the daily tasks and the heartaches that comes when Jesus is lost or being tortured to death.

Being a disciple, a co-worker with Jesus, takes effort. At times, it takes a lot of suffering. In one passage St. Paul said, “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, that is, the Church.” (Col 1: 24). In the event of an unsuccessful basketball game, a bruised knee, a broken heart, a difficulty in running organizations, a disastrous project, a difficult person in the family, Catholics may remember with some fondness being told to “offer it up to the Lord” (Ipagpaubaya mo na sa Diyos). This simple phrase is the key to a basic understanding of our faith. By consciously uniting our sufferings to Our Lord’s redemptive sufferings on the cross, we become co-workers. By uniting her heart to His, especially at Calvary, the Blessed Mother became Christ’s co-worker. Vatican II (1962-65) said, “This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. (Lumen Gentium 62; Catechism 969).

When I was a child, we would go to see my grandparents and I could count on my mother turning around at some point, taking her handkerchief, and cleaning me up in order to see Lola and Lolo. Remember the time when we smelled like sweat and our mother cleans us? In the same way, when we are about to encounter some difficulty in our lives, Mary our mother says, “Come here. You have some things in your life that needs to be cleaned up. One thing I appreciate about Mary is that she is our mother and there is a great difference between a mother’s prayers and anyone else’s when it comes to children’s needs. Mothers do not miss anything. They see the details of their children’s lives. If you look at it closely, Mary does not live out a role or a duty, but a love --- as mothers do.

This is therefore the reason why we celebrate Mary’s Queenship: as the mother of Jesus and ours too. Her queenship is being mother to us yesterday, today and tomorrow. And we do not also forget that it also means that we are responsible for each other’s growth and development into mature Christians.

The Healing of Peter's Mother-in-Law

6 September 2006: Wednesday of the 22^nd Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 4, 38,39 The Healing of Peter’s Mother-in-Law

Luke is a medical doctor. So he writes a medical term. “In the grip of a major fever” is the medical Greek for someone definitely laid up with an illness. The Greek medical writers divided fevers into two classes: major and minor. Luke just described this illness.

There are two things to be said in this Gospel.

First, Jesus was ready to help. He just left the synagogue and thus he is tired. Every preacher in the synagogue knows what it feels after a service. It is draining and a person needs to rest. In fact, after this passage of Jesus helping Peter’s mother-in-law, and at sundown, all who had friends who were ill will be brought to him. After the demands of the crowds, Jesus will eventually go to a deserted place alone to pray and to rest.

Many of us are busy. Our work, our studies, our daily routine often diminishes our energies, including the energy to be able to help others. The demand of people will always be there and should be responded to. But it also mean that we too have to recoup our strengths, renew the source of our core energy, regain our health. Without our health, we will not be able to rest. Even if Jesus was ready to help, He needed to recover, recuperate and gain back his strength by praying. By going alone to pray and to rest, He constantly centers His life on God. The experience of prayer issues out in service. This is precisely the point in the order of the commandments: Love God with all your heart is the first and primary commandment; then from it comes the second, love one’s neighbors. When we pray we regain our strength, and gain a sense of perspective.

Finally, when Peter’s mother-in-law was cured, it is written that “immediately she began to serve them.” In gratitude and in the realization that her life has been given back to her, she did not lose time to return her gratitude by cooking and serving. We would do well to remember that if God gave us the priceless gift of health and strength, he gave it that we might use it always in the service of others.

Speaking with Authority

5 September 2006: Tuesday of the 22^nd Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 4, 31-37: Speaking with authority

In the environment of Jesus, it was the scribes --- the teachers of the Law --- who were customarily addressed by the title, “rabbi”. Rabbi was a title of respect for a teacher. In Aramaic, ‘rabbi’ means ‘my lord,’ which can be translated in a substantively as ‘teachers.’ Most often, the New Testament uses the Greek equivalent, ‘didaskalos’ for ‘teacher’. When Jesus went to the synagogue and taught, the people were amazed at His way of teaching, because he taught with authority. By teaching with authority, Jesus differs from a ‘rabbi.’ Let us do a comparison and contrast.

Jesus shares similarities with rabbis. He proclaims the divine law, teaches in the synagogue, debates with other scribes concerning the Law in the manner of their profession and under the same authority, that is, the authority of the Scriptures. He uses parables and explains Scriptures. He was approached for decisions on the points of the Law. And He has disciples and gives them special instructions just like the rabbis do.

However, there are differences between the rabbis and Jesus. He was no scribe or rabbi in the strict sense, because he lacked the basic requirement which is the prescribed course of instruction. He did not have the theological studies under another scribe. To become a teacher of the law, a person had to spend years studying the Law under another scribe. Second, he did not teach only in the synagogue. He taught in open fields, on the shores of a lake, and the like which are very unlike a scribe. And at the same time, Jesus’ disciples included those which a rabbi would avoid because His disciples included women, tax collectors whom scribes regarded as sinners, and the like. And Jesus’ message was for all, while the message of the scribes concern only Jews.

The Gospel today shows us that the manner of teaching of Jesus differed profoundly from that of other rabbis. A rabbi’s authority is derived from Scriptures. A rabbi must show that his teaching conformed to Scriptures, the tradition of the Fathers (authoritative rabbis of the past who gave interpretations of the Law). But Jesus taught in his own authority. His authority is immediate. His teachings never consist merely in the interpretation of an authoritative sacred text, not even when the words from Scriptures were quoted. The authority of the will of God is always directly present in him. This is true to such a degree that he even dared to confront the literal text of the Law with his own authoritative declaration of the will of God. In doing this, he modifies the Mosaic Law given by God on Sinai. At the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus modified the teachings on killing, adultery, and oaths (Matthew 5, 21ff). He would say, “You have heard it said to the men of old (meaning, men of the Sinai generation whom Moses gave the Law)... But I say to you ...” Jesus modified the teachings on divorce, revenge and on the love of enemies by giving his own view on these issues, without referring back to others. And this is the reason why his audience in the Gospel today is astounded.

Many of the teachings of Jesus are hard to apply --- even the laws he modified. When we try to live out Jesus’ teachings, do we follow them with an open heart, or do we wish them changed and conformed to what we want. For example, a married couple who have problems with each other would choose to abandon ship than try to reconcile, would wish that Jesus’ law on divorce be modified. Those who have enemies would not like Jesus’ challenge to love and forgive. In other words, how trusting are we to the authority of Jesus’ teaching?

Ang Ating Mga Sinasabi

3 Setyembre 2006: Ika-22 Linggo ng Karaniwang Panahon
Mark 7, 14-23: Ang Ating Mga Sinasabi

Note: Filipino version of this Sunday's homily. I had three masses in Filipino and one in English. The English is below.

Narinig natin sa Ebanghelio na pinagbintangan ang mga alagad ni Hesus na hindi naghugas ng kamay bago kumain, ayon sa utos ng kalinisan ng mga Judio. Sinagot sila ni Jesus, na hindi ang pumapasok sa bibig ang nakapagpaparumi sa mata ng Diyos, kundi ang nagmumula sa kanya. Sapagkat sa puso ng tao nanggagaling ang masama. Idinagdag ni Jesus ang sinabi ni Isaias, “Paggalang na handog sa akin ng bayan ko ay paimbabaw lamang, sapagka’t bibig at hindi sa puso ito bumubukal. May kuwento tayo ukol sa lumalabas sa ating bibig, ang binibigkas ng ating dila:

Isang pilosopo si Xanthus. Minsan tinawag niya ang kanyang katulong upang mamalengke ng pinakamainam na lulutuin para sa isang hapunan kasama ang kanyang mga kaibigan. Kinabukasan, nang magsalu-salo na silang lahat, walang ibang putahe kundi lengua --- iba’t ibang luto ng dila. Nagalit si Xanthus at pinagsabihan ang katulong, “Di ba sabi ko na bilhin mo ang pinakamainam na lutuin sa palengke?” Sagot ng katulong, “Opo, binili ko po ang pinakamainam. Di ba ang dila ay ang bahagi ng ating katawan na ginagamit para sa pakikipagkapwa, pakikipag-usap, pagpapakita ng kabaitan, at pagsamba sa Diyos?

Kinabukasan, sinabi ni Xanthus sa kanyang katulong, “Bukas magkakaroon dito ng piging para sa aking mga kaibigan. Mamalengke ka ng pinakamasamang uulamin.” Pagdating ng oras ng kainan, nakita ni Xanthus na ang putahe ay puro lengua --- iba’t ibang klase ng dila. Nagalit si Xanthus at tinawag niya ang kanyang katulong, “Di ba sinabi ko sa iyo na bilhin mo ang pinakamasama sa palengke?” “Opo,” sabi ng katulong, “di ba ang dila ang pinakamasama sa lahat ng bahagi ng ating katawan? Ito ang sanhi ng paglalapastangan, paninira, at pagsisinungaling?”

Sa palagay ko, sinasabi ng ating mga pagbasa na tingnan ang kalagayan ng ating puso sa pamamagitan ng ating mga dila. Ang ating mga sinasabi ay nagpapakita ng mga bagay na nasa ating puso. At tama si Hesus, na lahat ng bahagi ng ating katawan --- kasama ang mga bibig --- ay sumusunod lamang sa laman ng ating puso. Sabi nila na ang ating dila lamang ang nagiging matalim sa patuloy na paggamit. Sabi ni Johann von Goethe na sanayin natin ang ating mga sarili araw-araw, na makinig sa isang awit, magbasa ng isang tula, pagmasdan ang isang magandang larawan, or kung maaari, magsalita ng may konting laman at katuturan. Hindi nakapagtataka, na ang dahilan kung bakit tinuturuan tayo ng panitikan ay upang sa pamamagitan din ng ating mga dila, sa pagbigkas sa mga sulatin ng mga magagaling na manunulat, matututo na rin ang ating puso na humangad ng kabutihan.

Our Tongues

3 September 2006: 22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 7, 14-23: Our Tongues

In the Gospel, the disciples are accused of not washing before dinner, as the purity laws require. Jesus replies that it is not what people eat that defiles them; it is their inner heart, issuing in outside behavior, that matters. What does this mean? He means that only persons can really be defiled; and what defiles a person is his own actions, which are the products of his own heart. Jesus says that every outward act of sin, for example, is preceded by an inward act of choice; therefore, Jesus begins with the evil thought from which the evil action comes. Jesus adds that uncleanness has to do with what comes out of our heart and it is manifested by our lips, our tongues, or what we say.

Thus, Jesus quotes Isaiah about empty, pretentious worship --- they use their lips but their hearts are far from God. There is a story about Xanthus, the philosopher. He once told his servant that he will have some friends for dinner the next day, and that he should get the best thing he could find in the market.

The philosopher and his guest sat down the next day at the table. They had nothing but the tongue --- four or five courses of tongue --- tongue cooked in this way, and tongue cooked in that way. The philosopher finally lost his patience and said to his servant, “Didn’t I tell you to get the best thing in the market?” The servant said, “I did get the best thing in the market. Isn’t the tongue the organ of sociability, the organ of eloquence, the organ of kindness, the organ of worship?”

Then Xanthus, the philosopher, said, “Tomorrow, I want you to get the worse thing in the market.” The next day, Xanthus and his friends sat at table, and there was nothing but tongue --- four or five courses of tongue --- tongue in this shape and tongue in that shape. The philosopher lost his patience again and said, “Didn’t I tell you to get the worse thing in the market?” The servant replied, “I did; for isn’t the tongue the organ of blasphemy, the organ of defamation, the organ of lying?”

I guess, today, we are asked to look at our hearts --- by way of the tongue. What we say, will tell us about what is in our hearts. The tongue, like all body organs, follows what proceeds from the center of our persons. Our tongue is the only tool that grows sharper with constant use. So just in case we find our tongues the source of other people’s hurt or even ours, or even if we find our tongues also the source of greatness and goodness, we can get advice from Johann von Goethe: At least once every day, one ought to hear a song; read a good poem, see a fine painting and if possible, speak a few reasonable words. By doing so, we also can practice our hearts.