What Visiting the Grave Means to Me

1 November 2006: Feast of All Saints
Matthew 5, 1-12 for All Souls and All Saints Day

The Gospel today speaks about practicing what we preach. But there are things which we practice but do not know why we preach it. For example, we come to Sunday mass but we totally do not understand what the mass really means. The same applies to our practice of commemorating All Souls Day and All Saints Day. We come to the cemeteries without actually knowing why we go and visit the dead. Media commercializes these two important practices by putting in the Western season of Halloween: Television shows like Eat Bulaga! and various commercial establishments wore Halloween costumes as themes, and many of us associate November 1 & 2 to horror stories of ghosts. I believe Halloween is an empty tradition. I shall therefore embark on an explanation of these two feasts using three perspectives that are easy to memorize.

First, the perspective of hope. When I visit the grave of my father whenever I find the chance to be home, the first thing I encounter is the reality of forever. At the grave, I talk to him about my life believing that he listens to me and he is present. Memories of him flood my mind, and in the remembrance of the times he spent with me and my family, he becomes present to me always. Death therefore as faith has it is never an end. In the preface for Christian Burial, it is said that life has not ended, but changed. The same thing with me: whatever challenges I face, I am always reminded not to lose hope, because in the end, there is life forever. And the proof is my father’s presence to me wherever I am, never anymore limited to physical presence. My father is with me always, all the time, wherever I go.

After grief and sorrow, I find myself feeling a deep joy: that I am happy for Daddy, that he is home in the arms of God. Oftentimes, our grief is about ourselves who are left behind, but that is a different story. We are also taught that Christians should be happy for someone else’s triumph --- the remedy for our envy and jealousy. And right at the grave, we are asked to go out of our own self-absorption and be happy for those who have gone ahead of us. That their life speaks about forever, about hope, about God.

Second, the perspective of love. Closely connected to the reality of forever, we are reminded that all our love, all our life finds meaning, direction, and goal in the desire to finally come home to the arms of God. It is not surprising therefore that true lovers promise to love each other until the end of time. This theme one finds in our literature, in our songs, and even in theater: “Hanggang sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan”, West Side Story’s “Somewhere”, etc. We have known this reality since time immemorial. At the grave of those we love, we have found the meaning of love. My love for my father thus is beyond the grave: not even death will bring us apart.

Moreover, the grave reminds us of the things that are really important. Often we are swept with trivial things that do not last: temporal things that have become the source of our pride. These are our economic status, our educational background, our achievements, and our titles. If we look more closely, we are in a twisted world. The Gospel teaches us that all of these temporal things are to be used for service, in the love of others. Case in point: when we reach the highest educational attainment, post-graduate studies for example, it is expected that our expertise will make us great educators. But tragically, many of those with PhDs are the most boring and horrifying teachers or astutely proud individuals. Our faith tells us that the more we have, the more responsible we become of others: thus, they should be able to adapt to slow learners as well as to gifted individuals. Great service is carried until the next life; the others end at the grave. Proof: we remember the sacrifice of heroes, and are inspired to continue their legacy.

In addition, those who visit us when we die are the recipients of our love. They are the ones who matter. They are the ones whom we should dedicate our lives with. This is the direction of all our courses of action, our decisions, and our sacrifices. The grave redirects our lives.

Furthermore, I find myself connected with my ancestors. At the side walls of the 17^th century church of St. John the Baptist in Camalig, Albay are the niches of my ancestors who have contributed to the construction of the church. I was baptized there. I played the Kawai organ there in high school. And my vocation grew there. I would not be a priest now without the church built by great ancestors. In the cemetery, my mother would give me a tour of all the people there. She would tell me that her mother used to sing at church, and her father used to play the organ at mass. Today, that is precisely what I do. All these ancestors of mine contributed to who I am now. When I visit the cemetery, I find myself connected to generations of familial love and service to the community. I belong there.

Finally, the perspective of faith. Every Sunday, the creed is recited to remind us of the basic tenets of our faith. In the creed, there is a phrase that is the source of the practice of commemorating the dead: the “communion of saints.” Just as I am connected with my ancestors, we who are pilgrims here on earth are connected with those who are still being purified and those who are already with God. And all those who are with God are holy people: they are saints, whether known or unknown.

And their presences are manifestations of God’s personal love for us. By their lives, we are guided. We are assured that we are never alone. I know my father is a saint: his life has been a good example to me and my family. His being father when I was a child was my first encounter of God’s fatherly love; and it continues to be until now, and in the future.

As we visit the graves of our loved ones, let us make our visit meaningful by keeping them in mind. And at the same time, re-evaluate our lives in the perspectives of hope, love and faith. And maybe ask just one question: what would I like people to remember me by when I die or what could be my contribution to the people who will succeed me. As we commune with them, we pray for them that they too pray for us.

Luke's The Mustard Seed

31 October 2006: Tuesday of the 30^th Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 13: 18-19: Luke’s The Mustard Seed

I always like watching cooking shows. Today, I chanced upon Rachel Ray’s 30-minute meals, and she used the yellow mustard paste for a turkey burger. What they used for burger sauces comes from the garden herb, but the Gospel does not talk about this vegetable that we Filipinos, use for sinigang sa miso. The Gospel refers to the Eastern field plant that grows to be a 7-12-foot tree. Flocks of birds feast on the back seed of the mustard tree.

The parable of the mustard seed can be found also in Matthew. There is however a difference. Matthew emphasizes small beginnings --- just as a small mustard seed grows into a tree. Luke, however, tells us that the seed grows into a tree, and the birds make their nests on it. In the East, the symbol of a great kingdom is a tree and the birds that nests on it are lesser nations that seeks the empire’s protection. Thus, for Luke, the Kingdom of God will grow into a vast empire, and all nations will come together and find protection in God.

We can see from this parable that Luke’s point of view is universal: the Kingdom of God has room for everyone. It is this vision that makes Luke different from Matthew. Let us apply Luke’s point in our lives.

First, the Kingdom of God has room for a wide variety of beliefs as long as they stemmed from Christ they too possess a facet of God. Our Christian brothers who has faith in Christ, but may not practice or worship the same way as Catholics, should be treated with respect and love.

It is also true within the Church. There are many methods of prayer. Some pray the Charismatic way --- with dancing and singing and speaking in tongues. Some pray quietly and meditatively on a mat. Some pray while walking and riding the jeepney. I have been giving the Retreat in Daily Life (RDL) to students, and some of them expressed that they have actually meditated on the scriptural texts while walking from one building to the next.

Second, there are many ways to the Kingdom of God. Many people share different experiences of conversion and faith. Some have experienced God through traumatic and shattering events. Some have experienced God through friends and families. Some have experienced God through nature. Some have been inspired by great lives or by the common folk. Whatever road we trek --- as long as we have as our horizon Christ -- we will soon arrive at his doorstep.

Finally, there is room for all kinds of people. There is room for the poor, the rich, the famous and the unknown. There is a place for eccentrics. There is a place for a wide variety of personalities. In other words, all nations and all kinds of people are accepted in the Kingdom of God. There is only one thing that is illegitimate: distinctions and exclusivity.

Fix Our Gaze on Jesus

29 October 2006: 30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah 31, 7-9; Psalm 126; Hebrew 5, 1-6; Mark 10, 46-52

Note: I wrote this for Sambuhay for this Sunday’s mass.

The readings today tell us about movement. The first reading from Jeremiah is part of a series of poems celebrating the return from the Babylonian Exile. This hymn stresses the return of the weak, the blind, the lame, and the pregnant mothers among those coming back from exile. We can indeed say that they are on their way home. Similarly, the Gospel today tells us that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem with his disciples and a great crowd. As Jesus passes through Jericho, Bartimaeus regains his sight. Eventually, Bartimaeus joins Jesus and follows him on the road.

But there is an inner movement too. The experience of the exile is like the experience of blindness; and the experience of restoration is like the clarity of vision. Just as Yahweh was the chance to escape from the Babylonian Exile, Jesus was the chance for Bartimaeus to escape from his world of darkness. And thus, we learn that only God is our chance to escape from what imprisons us --- our sins, our painful past, our false securities, our obsession over success and our spiritual blindness. Only when we follow Jesus on the road towards Jerusalem can we regain our freedom. Let us look at the Gospel and see certain steps towards freedom.

First, determination. Nothing would prevent Bartimaeus from taking his chance at Jesus, even the silencing of the crowd. Bartimaeus was insistent and desperate. If we watch television contests, we see long lines of people auditioning, often braving hours of patient waiting. Nothing would stop them from taking their shot at stardom and from the possible recognition of their talents. And so should we: the road to Jerusalem is the road to the cross. On this road we may encounter difficulties. Think of those returning from exile: they must have questioned their capacity to rebuild their nation and their uncertain future. Think of Bartimaeus: he must have feared that his cries would be drowned by the noise of the crowd. But they have one thing in common: persistence and determination.

Second, an immediate response to the call of Jesus. Bartimaeus grabbed his chance quickly and instantaneously. People say that when your chance comes your way, do not have second thoughts, because certain opportunities come only once. There are many times when we desire to abandon bad habits or to resolve certain strained relationships. And when the occasion comes, our fears overtake us and we retreat from it. How many times have we neglected an opportunity and then regret not taking it? A pass over opportunity does not come back.

Third, a clear desire. Bartimaeus knew what he wanted. St. Ignatius tells us that when you pray, be clear with what you desire and ask God to grant it. This is a fact of life: Those with clear goals are those who make it there. Thomas Henry Huxley defended Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. He was bold and convincing and he traveled to give lectures usually challenging several truths Christians held very sacred. After one of his lectures, he hurried to catch his train, and took one of Dublin’s horse-drawn taxis, and settled to rest his eyes for a few minutes. He said to the driver, “Hurry, I’m almost late. Drive fast!” The horses galloped rapidly and before long they were going west. Henry leaned forward and asked the driver, “Do you know where you’re going?” The driver yelled, “No, sir, but I am driving very fast!” All actions are meaningless unless it has direction or a clear desire that organizes them. Rollo May said, “It is an old and ironic habit of human beings to run faster when we have lost our way.” Clear goals and desires keep us on the road.

Let us see what aspects of ourselves prevent us from moving towards God. And perhaps learn from the readings today how we can fix our gaze on Jesus and follow Him on the road.

*C5's retreat in Caleruega, Batangas

Fire and Division

26 October 2006: Thursday of the 29^th Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 12, 49-53: Fire, Baptizein, and Division

In Jewish thought, fire was always the symbol of judgment or divine punishment. But Jesus was not speaking of a vengeful and destructive fire, as one who would exact punishment. In Luke 9, 54-56, Jesus sternly rebukes James and John who plan on “bidding fire to come down from heaven” on those unwelcoming Samaritans. St. Gregory the Great, Ambrose, Cyril of Alexandria and Jerome say this fire is a symbolic fire, like the Holy Spirit. Jesus speaks of a fire in the hearts of men and women. In Luke 24, 32, the fire in the hearts of the disciples of Emmaus, who said, “Are not our hearts burning?” is the type of fire that Jesus encouraged to be kindled.

Jesus said, “I have a baptism to be baptized with.” The Greek verb baptizein means to dip, to be submerged. It has several use and meanings: a) as a ship sunk beneath the sea; b) as a man submerged in wine, that he was dead-drunk; c) as a student submerged in a teacher’s questions/exam; d) as a person submerged in some grip or terrible experience: “Malas talaga ako.” Jesus used the word baptizein in the last sense (d) to mean that he is going to experience a terrible thing, but through which He has to pass so that He will emerge triumphant.

Thus, His coming eventually means division. Over and over again, Christianity divides people--- not just families, friends but even groups. We are always presented with a choice of priority and importance: Which do you love most, your family or your God? The essence of loyalty is with Christ. As they said, “we belong to our families, our line, but we also belong to God.”

Let us reflect on the point of the Gospel. The fire referred here is a fire burning in the heart of Christ. It is God’s will that something in our hearts should be kept aflame. We have met people whose hearts are consumed by a passion for justice, peace and healing. We have seen people who have dedicated their lives for noble cause: they are in the hospitals caring for the sick; tending the prisoners, and teaching catechism. They have in turn set us afire.

I present a question to ponder: What person are you? Cold or Warm? Are you contented with just what is there, or are your hearts burning and desiring for something more? And inasmuch as we want to light up the earth with the fire of love, to bring about a change or a revolution of perspectives and structures, we are also driven to the same baptism as that of Jesus. We are to suffer division, pain and failure and rejection; and to choose between our friends and the ideals we would live by. Christianity is not just being nice. It means being angry at times, confronting injustice, and making a stand. This Gospel is meant to shake us from being cold-hearted into Christians with hearts ablazed.

*C5 in the MTV Shoot of "O Bayan ng Diyos"

The Privilege of Leadership

25 October 2006: Wednesday of the 29^th Week in Ordinary Time
Ephesians 3, 2-12; Is 12, 2-6; Luke 12, 39-48: Privilege of Leadership

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul uses the Greek word, polupoikilos to describe God’s grace. Polupoikilos is loosely translated as manifold or many-coloured. It means that God’s grace is suitable to all aspects and situations in life. God’s grace is thus true to any time, place, culture and event. Paul regards his privilege to preach the Word of God to all nations as a grace from God. He has extensively traveled and taught people of the magnificent application of the teaching of Christ to all aspects of life. He felt that God has revealed His plan to him that all men and women will soon be gathered as one in Christ. However, this privilege to preach God’s desire to gather all people did not make him proud but humble. He was amazed that this great desire of the Divine was revealed to someone like him. In the Gospel, Jesus answers Peter’s question to which the parable was addressed. Jesus said that the master will put the faithful and prudent steward in charge of his servants, and much is demanded of the leader who has been entrusted with more. As Paul envisions his leadership to be a privilege granted by God, he knew that his whole life is demanded of him.

Jesus is not a nagging dictator. Like a mentor who trusts his students, the master in the parable was not afraid to leave all his possessions to his servants to manage. The master in Jesus’ story left the managing of his properties to the creativity and initiative of his servants. I think this is advantageous to us: Jesus respects our will and person to be able to maneuver well in the specific vocation and responsibilities that are given to us. In the early Church, there were privileges for leadership. There were no specific instructions on how to address certain issues, such as the admittance of pagans in the Church, the relationship of the Church and the Jewish people, the way of enculturation of the Gospel without betraying it, proper behavior and ethics on married life, the organizational functions in hierarchy and the administration of the sacraments. In the modern world, the Church is faced with issues arising from present day technology such as cloning, genetic manipulation, population, sexual conduct, nuclear power plants, contraceptives, etc. Jesus left to his disciples and to us, the care of inventing solutions to these problems. Thus, Jesus, like the master, relies on our initiatives. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “It is to your advantage that I go away” so that the Spirit comes. And when the Spirit comes, He will soon guide us in our decision-making and our response to the challenges of today to our faith. Such freedom given to us is indeed risky, but Jesus takes the risk --- He gives us, as Paul saw it, the privilege and opportunity to use our freedom in the exercise of our responsibility.

A final point. The master in the parable remains the master, the steward’s actions still is in the image of his master. And thus the servant must take on the mind of his master so that in the administration of his master’s property, he continually asks himself how his master would manage it, if he were present. The steward’s decisions are at the service of his master. So that if applied to all Christian leaders --- the Pope, the bishops, the priests, lay leaders--- all should function in line with the values and vision of Jesus. Practically, all of us have been entrusted some form of authority over another, as parents are to their children, teachers to students, student leaders to the student body. However, the exercise of these privileges is to serve. It is not for our prestige, and therefore, not a cause for pride.

There is an antidote for Christian leaders when in the brink of being proud for the privilege of leadership. A. Dudley Dennison Jr., in his book, Windows, Ladders and Bridges tells us:

Sometime when you’re feeling important,

Sometime when your ego’s way up;

Sometime when you take it for granted

That you are the prize winning “pup”;

Sometime when you feel that your absence

Would leave an unfillable hole,

Just follow these simple instructions,

And see how it humbles your soul:

Take a bucket and fill it with water,

Put your hand in it up to your wrist.

Now pull it out fast and the hole that remains

Is the measure of how you’ll be missed.

You may splash all you please as you enter,

And stir up the water galore,

But STOP and you’ll find in a minute,

It’s back where it was before.

*C5 and I giving the Liturgical Music Seminar in Pampanga

Fences and Barriers

24 October 2006: Tuesday of the 29^th Week in Ordinary Time
Ephesians 2, 12-22; Psalm 85; Luke 12-35-38

In the celebration of Eid’l Fitr, the end of Ramadan, Muslim leaders declared in a khutba (sermon) senseless violence haram (unlawful), three times. “Allah has made it haram to kill children; Allah has made it haram to kill women; Allah has made it haram to kill elderly people.” The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports similar pronouncements and prayers were declared in other parts of the country especially the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. These declarations puts to the fore that Muslims and other people who do not share the same faith as ours, share the same desire for peace.

The first reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians and the Responsorial Psalm tackle peace, and the barriers that prevent us from achieving reconciliation and unity. First, Paul cites Jewish worship. The temple of Jerusalem consists of courts each one elevated than the first one, with the innermost court at the highest level, the Holy Place itself. The outermost court is the Court of the Gentiles, the second, the Court of Women, then, the Court of the Israelites, and then the Court of the Priests, and the innermost is the Holy of Holies. If you are a Gentile, you can only enter the first court. You are prohibited to step into the other courts. The punishment of a Gentile who enters it is death. What separates the courts is a stone partition, and one of these has been discovered in 1871. It reads, “Let no one of any other nation come within the fence and barrier around the Holy Place. Whosoever will be taken doing so will himself be responsible for the fact that his death will ensue.” The Acts of the Apostles (21, 28-29) tells us that Paul himself was arrested because he took an Ephesian Gentile, Trophimus, into the inner court.

Fences and barriers like these were not solely the attitude of Jews towards Gentiles. The Greeks for example classified people into two classes: the Greeks and the barbarians. Today, we hear students do the same thing, with a little modification depending on who speaks it. A law student of UP would say that there are only two colleges of law --- UP and the rest. Subdivisions are precisely what they are, people are sub-divided into two: those who live in their exclusive neighborhoods and those who don’t. But even within it, you see that some residents of affluent villages have built their walls so high that it is possible not to know the next neighbor. Technology has brought the world a little closer. We call it the global village. However, the task of each one of us now is not to build a neighborhood, but a brother/sisterhood --- the human family. And this is precisely the work of peace. The McCann Erickson survey notes that the top products in 2005 are communication devices. People feel so alienated and alone that they seek connection with others in cyberspace.

Today, Paul teaches us that only when we find God --- or Allah --- that there is peace. Only when the foundation of our faith is on the love of Christ can we achieve peace. Christ destroyed the barriers between the Gentile and Jew and taught inclusion than exclusion. We have concentrated on our differences for so long that we forgot to see what we commonly share. Perhaps, we must focus on our similarities with Muslims (the central point of the Catholic Church’s Inter-religious Dialogue) and Protestants (the hub of Ecumenical Dialogue). A student once told me that after her best friend took away her boyfriend, she considered her the worse enemy. Now that she has found the man she likes, she has since reconciled with her best friend. She said that the long years of friendship --- since Grade 4 --- suddenly vanished with a single act. Now she is at peace. The fence that separated them has vanished. Sometimes I wonder that often we find ourselves wishing for peace and reconciliation after we have experienced the destructive effects of conflicts. President George Washington of the United States has built a lot of peace monuments, only after every war.

As we pray in union with all the Muslims, we think of the barriers and fences we have built around us that prevent others to come near our inmost courts. Or perhaps, it is our attitude that shut other people from coming close to us. If we find ourselves building fences than bridges, we have to rethink about the sincerity we have in coming to mass. We too can declare that God has made it haram to kill all forms of peace efforts.

* My choir C5 at McDo Katipunan

Greed and Gratitude

23 October 2006: Monday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time
Ephesians 2, 1-10, Psalm 100, Luke 12, 13-21: Greed and Gratitude

The introduction in the daily missal paraphrase Luke Timothy Johnson’s comment that Luke in the Gospel today grasps astutely the function of material possessions in human life. That greed expresses a certain fear, a massive insecurity that seeks to secure life with many possessions.

A person who is greedy is first of all selfish. The rich fool in the parable was so self-centered that he could not see anything beyond himself and his world. In the parable, the rich fool’s dialogue has so many of these pronouns: I, my, mine, and myself. He was so full of himself. He fills his emptiness with material possessions which actually does not totally satisfy him --- proof, he always asks for more. A reporter once asked the elder Rockefeller, “How much money does it take to satisfy a person?” The billionaire snapped back, “Always a little more!” It is like taking softdrinks: the more you drink, the thirstier you become. The satisfaction is immediate, but it does not last.

Second, the greedy person plans on the basis of this world --- never investing on the next. The rich fool is concerned with storing his harvest, and plans to build larger storehouses, even if it means tearing his present barns apart. He puts everything in, so that he can rest and enjoy it for himself in the years to come. He does not concern himself with lasting things: sharing it, so that he builds lasting friendships and relationships; giving it to those in need, so that he is able to help others find new hope in the future. There was once a woman who asked a bank to open a joint account. When asked if the account would be with her husband, she replied, “Oh no, couldn’t I have one with someone who has lots of money?” The rich fool always thinks of a profitable venture that is lucrative only to himself.

What is then the solution for our greed? St. Paul in the first reading tells us to look at life as a gift of God, and that all things are grace, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast.” Thus, to take life as a gift is a counter-attack on our tendency to acquire as much material possessions as possible to fill what is lacking and empty in us. First, if greed is self-centered, gratitude is self-giving. When we are grateful to another person, our tendency is to return the favor. The pronouns changes into something tender and selfless, “You and yours.” It also means to honestly see what one has and be satisfied with what has been given --- not looking for what is not there. It is life, lived simply. To take what is just enough and necessary.

Second, if the person lives according to this world, the person who gives back acknowledges the Giver. His life is now founded on his love for God. The responsorial psalm says, “The Lord has made us, and we belong to him.” There is a traditional prayer that many Christians recite which has acquired many forms. But all these prayers are all in gratitude and in acknowledgement that everything has been given by God. It is the grace before meals. Protestants pray, “Lord, we thank you for this food, and we ask you to bless it for the nourishment of our minds and our bodies in your service.” Catholics pray, “Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.” and end with, “We give you thanks, almighty God, for all your benefits, who live and reign, forever and ever. Amen.”

Our Christian faith has offered this prayer so that we may move from a greedy person to a grateful person. Prayers before and after meals have been passed on from the Jewish life and the early Christians at the beginning of blessings at supper, and encouraged by the early Church fathers such as Tertullian (2 AD) who writes, “But withal, it becomes believers not to take food, and not to go to the bath, before interposing a prayer, for the refreshments and nourishments of the spirit are to be held prior to those of the flesh, and things heavenly prior to things earthly.” And thus, since the beginning, these simple table prayer helps to build our lives not on things earthly but heavenly.

Perhaps, if you think that your greed is still difficult to overcome, do what GK Chesterton did: “You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing, and grace before I dip the pen in ink.” If we do this, I think we can prevent ourselves from becoming rich fools. More importantly, we have prayed. Spirituality has it, that gratitude is the heart of prayer.

The Gift of the Present and the Morning Offering

22 October 2006: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 10, 35-45: World Mission Sunday and the Morning Offering

When I am in the middle of work, I find myself wishing that things will be over, so that I can spend some time to rest. Even when I was in college or in the seminary, I catch myself daydreaming inside the classroom or listening to a priest preaching. Or, I find myself planning the things to do after class or mass, thinking that if I get some tasks accomplished, or some readings done, or my research finished, things will be better. On the other hand, sometimes I look back at the past, replaying the good memories of yesterday, hoping to experience it once more. Either way, we forget to live in the present moment. Living in the present moment is very much part of our Christian faith. And it also tells us of our mission. Often the Lord calls us to do the work here and now, right at this moment --- not next week, not next year.

I have a story in history. At a Jesuit seminary in France in 1844, a lot of Jesuit scholastics (seminarians) were scheduled to head for missionary work in India, and the vision delighted them. Out of their excitement, they could not get enough of it. They talked about India, wondered about it and researched about it. They engaged in wishful thinking, overly anxious to get somewhere else. Their superiors were not exactly pleased, because in their excitement, they were neglecting many things, including their studies in Theology. So Fr. Gautrelet S.J., the superior took hold of the situation and gave them a talk. He made this talk on the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, the great Jesuit missionary to India and the Far East. Fr. Gautrelet said, “Right now, your mission is not India. Right now, your mission is in the classroom, in your studies. Right at this very moment, the Lord calls you to do your present tasks.”

Out of this experience came what we call today as the Morning Offering*, the prayer we say the first time we wake up. The Jesuit seminarians themselves put them together out of their learning. If one still recites the Morning Offering, one can see that it is colored with a missionary receptivity. It is not a prayer of inward strength or about our own needs. It directs the praying individual outwards for a purpose: “for the salvation of souls, the reparation of sins and union of all Christians.” The prayer is not about me, but about others. In the Morning Offering, we become conscious that we are not praying alone, but in union with those who pray and participate at Mass, those who are sick, those who are at meetings, those who pick up their kids, and those who stand vigil at a sickbed. It is also in union with the intentions of the Church and the pope. Every year, the Church gives out two types of intentions: for missionary work and the concerns of the universal Church. In other words, the Morning Offering helps us realize that we are not alone, or that we purely live for ourselves. We pray together with all those who pray in the world. We pray together with the same intentions for others and the world of today. In fact, that is the Apostleship of Prayer. Its members pray for the intentions of the present world. And since the beginning, they promoted the Morning Offering --- helping us see the present moment as a gift.

Second, it tells us that missionary activity is doing our present tasks with the awareness that one does it with God, and for God. When we say, “O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you all my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day,” I am telling myself to be aware of the present day, that this day is an opportunity for holiness, that this day is going to happen always with God around. There is no day that is empty and boring and lifeless and useless, even if the day is painful, hurtful and challenging.
Third, the Morning Offering tells us that the present moment is more important. A Sanskrit Proverb illustrates it well: “Look to this day, for yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision, but today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day.”

Therefore, if we think of mission, we just don’t mean those who are on missionary activity in other countries. We remind ourselves that in Baptism we are all been given a mission in life. And one’s mission in life is about service. If one says that his mission is to be rich or to be popular, this is not a mission. A mission is about what I can do for others, so that I may promote the Gospel of Christ in the manner that fits my vocation and personality. For parents, for example, you fulfill your mission by holding your children close to your heart today. Or, teaching your children how to pray at this stage in their life. For students, your mission is clear: to study now --- as Fr. Gautrelet SJ said to his Jesuit scholastics centuries earlier. And when semestral break comes, your mission remains plain and simple: rest, allowing your body to repair itself for the next hurdle.

Our mission is fulfilled by doing it now, here, at present, at this moment. And so, as we celebrate World Mission Sunday, and reflect on our mission, perhaps we can answer one question: What is your mission as you attend mass at this instant? Your mission is to respond and sing and put your full attention to it, right at this moment, here, now, presently. If we don’t, we contribute to making the mass boring and lifeless. You are not concerned of the present moment, and soon the opportunity to be in union with God and with others will be gone.

Let me end, with what Ida Scott Taylor said, “One day at a time --- this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.” I hope that as we put our mind at hand, focusing and savoring this present moment, this mass will be worth remembering.

*"O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for the intentions of your Sacred Heart, the salvation of souls, the reparation of sins and union of all Christians. I offer for all the intentions of the Apostleship of Prayer and the intentions recommended this month by the Holy Father (intention is mentioned here). Amen."

The Unforgivable Sin

20 October 2006: Friday of the 28^th Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 12, 1-7: The Unforgivable Sin

The passage from the Gospel of Luke is called a charaz. A charaz is actually a string of pearls. But with it a Jewish preaching technique: one has to talk about different ideas, not exactly connected with each other, in order to keep the audience’s attention. Unlike today, modern teachers and preachers are advised to keep their ideas logical.

Today let me talk about just one thing. A part of the passage tells us about the unforgivable sin: the sin against the Holy Spirit. Jesus talks about this unforgivable sin after the Pharisees and scribes attributed the healing miracles of Jesus to devils, instead of God. This incident is recorded both in Matthew 12, 31-32 and Mark 3, 28-29. The circumstances surrounding this message of Jesus should be taken into consideration.

First, when Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit, He meant the way the Jews understood the Spirit. The Jews believed that it was through the Spirit that God shared the truth to us. In addition, we are able to recognize God and His work in our lives, also through the Spirit. This ability to recognize and grasp God’s truth is given to all of us.

However, like all our talents and abilities, it has to be used. For example, if God has given you the ability to sing, and you do not practice and use this ability, soon it will be lost. Many people have started something when they were young. Some have taken piano and dance lessons. Some have started painting and sketching. But if they stop playing the piano, dancing, painting, and sketching for a very long time, somehow those abilities disappear.

The same way with the faculty of recognizing God: if one refuses to use this ability, eventually we will lose the capability to grasp God’s truth. How do we lose it? By refusing it repeatedly and constantly. Like forming a bad habit. Let us look at our sins. The first time we lied, we felt guilty. Then the second time came, and we felt that it was not really too bad because we were able to protect ourselves from harm. The third, the fourth, the fifth time, we find ourselves getting used to it. Until, we become the bad habit itself: we become liars. By the time we become liars, we have already convinced ourselves that lying is good. Thus, the Pharisees and the scribes who have habitually and repeatedly went on their way and shutting themselves from God, did not recognize God when Jesus came, they attributed His actions to evil.

Why is the sin against the Spirit unforgivable? Because in this state --- when someone does not recognize God, or when someone thinks that they have not sinned at all, when in fact they have --- repentance is impossible. How can someone repent when in the first place, they do not recognize and grasp the truth that they have sinned? They have not brought themselves even to the first step in asking for forgiveness.

We may all have recognized some truth about ourselves and about God. But today, we are further challenged to look deeper into our lives and see what more truth have we refused to admit and accept. What dark secrets lay in ourselves that needs awareness so that, when we are able to shed light on them, we are able to respond to them, than be controlled by them? And when we are able to face them, then the truth can set us free.

Grace and Peace

19 October 2006: Thursday of the 28th Year in Ordinary Time
Ephesians 1, 3-10, Psalm 98; Luke 11, 47-54

The first reading today contains St. Paul’s greetings to the Ephesians, which we use to greet each other at mass: grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Two words are important in this greeting. First, grace. The Greek word is charis. It means that there is something attractive or charming; thus Christianity should be attractive. Charis also implies a gift which is difficult for us to procure; something which we don’t earn and deserve. So when we look at our lives as Christians, the beauty of our faith is the fact that we see life as something given by God, out of His abundant love for us. If we begin our lives in charis, then everything that we do is an act of gratitude.

Paul says, “Blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ, with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world.” This illustrates grace. Paul has always believed that everything is gift. In our present world, we find that going to Church or believing in God is one of the options. Megatrends Asia tells us that people regard tradition (including religion) as one of the items that they can choose or not choose. As if, utang na loob pa ng Diyos na pinili natin siya --- that the Lord should be grateful because we chose Him. But Paul has a different view, that the beauty of faith is that the Lord himself has chosen us. That God himself, who does not need us, still has chosen us. And he gives us gifts which can be found in heaven. What is this gift which the world cannot give? Peace. And that is the second word.

Peace. The Greek word is eirēnē and it translates the Hebrew word, shalom. Shalom is not about the absence of war, or something that troubles you. It means everything that makes for the highest good of a person. Christian peace therefore is something that is not dependent on external circumstances. For example, we may have all the things that make life comfortable. We may have a nice house, a stable job and a lot of money, but we may not be in shalom. On the other hand, we may have all the problems in the world; live in a small shanty; or suffer some pain, but still live in peace. In other words, when we greet peace to each one, we actually wish for the real source of peace remains in them. When we give them the sign of peace, we do not mean that all their troubles and worries be gone, but we tell them that only in God will they find peace.

But shalom carries more. God’s will is simple: that we act like God’s children, because it is who we are. Thus, when we do something which we ought not to do, we are not at peace. Or, when we avoid something which we should do, we will not be at peace. It will continue to haunt us, until we are able to straighten it out. Paul articulates this by saying that we were chosen “to be holy and without blemish”. The Greek word for holy is hagios. Hagios has the idea of difference and separation. A church is holy because it is different from other buildings; the altar and other holy things are different from other things; Sunday is holy because it is different and separate from other days. We act differently on holy days, and when we are in holy places or holding holy things. Thus, if we are meant to be holy, then we ought to be different from others --- saints are holy because they have shown that their values and their life are different from the values of the world. And only when we become holy, doing the will of God in the world, that we have peace.

So today, we see that our greeting at the beginning of mass is not a meaningless routine, nor is our greeting of peace before we receive communion. It carries with it the essential elements of Christian faith.

The Scribal Religion

19 October 2006: Thursday of the 28^th Year in Ordinary Time
Luke 11, 45-54: The Scribal Religion

There are three charges against the scribes:

The scribes were experts in the law and they demanded everyone to follow them. But their rules and regulations were inconsistent and ridiculous. For example, one of the forbidden works on the Sabbath was the tying of knots whether it was a sailor, a camel, a driver, or a rope knot. However, a woman might tie the knot in her girdle. Therefore, if a bucket of water had to be raised from a well, a rope could not be knotted to it, but a woman’s girdle could, and it could be raised with that!

Let us take another example. The codified law says, “He who carries anything, whether it be in his right hand, or in his left hand, or in his bosom, or on his shoulder is guilty; but he who carries anything on the back of his hand, with his foot, or with his mouth, or with his elbow, or with his ear, or with his hair or with his money bag turned upside down, or between his money bad and his shirt, or in the fold of his shirt or in his shoe, or in his sandal is guiltless because he does not carry it in the usual way of carrying it out.” We cannot think that God has laid out this law. Much more, it is difficult to believe that this written law demands everyone to follow it religiously.

Second, the scribes and Pharisees admired the great prophets, but they were the ones in history who have persecuted and killed them.

Finally, the scribes prevented people from understanding the scripture because they interpret the scripture in such a way that it is too complicated. The ordinary person will find it difficult to understand the matters of faith.

The Gospel today illustrates that often we demand from people things that we ourselves cannot do. We forget that our credibility lies in the very fact that we can walk our talk --- we do what we preach. Parents for example may demand from their children to be polite in their speech, but if they themselves say bad words (even if it is just an expression), the children will not believe them. Children pick up what they see habitually. Moreover, priests who studied theology may preach using high terminology that the common parishioner cannot fully understand, a discourse that sounds Greek to many, and illustrating a Scriptural point using far-fetched examples. I guess, the objective of many Christians is to bring the faith down to the level of the listeners. And when we do, we don’t snatch from people the opportunity for them to appreciate and understand the Word of God.

Gratitude for Blessings

18 October 2006: Feast of St. Luke
Luke 10, 1-12, 17-20: Gratitude for Blessings

The vision of St. Luke can be seen in the Gospel which he wrote. The Gospel today gives us a wider mission: as workers for the harvest. This mission is intended not just for special people like priests and nuns, but for all of us. You see the Gospel mentions “seventy-two men” who were sent by Jesus. The number 70 was for the Jews symbolic. It was held that during Jesus’ time that there were 70 nations in the world. And thus Luke whose Gospel we read today used the number 70 to mean that the mission of Jesus is for all nations; and therefore, the mission is for all of us. We are sent that all people will hear about Jesus, love Jesus and follow Jesus. It should also be noted that they were sent in pairs. That means, we do not do our mission alone, it is always in the sense of community. Thus, even if we are physically alone --- alone teaching catechism, or visiting the sick all by ourselves --- we actually do it in behalf of the Church, and in unity with the Church. Secondly, it also means that the harvest is assured. What are needed are laborers to harvest. We can be laborers. But what can be harvested, and how can we harvest? What can be harvested are blessings or graces; and thus we harvest by receiving our blessings.

Most of us have been given many more blessings than we have received. We do not take time to be blessed or make the space for it. We may have filled our lives so full of other things that we have no room to receive our blessings. Blessings are all over our lives, but they are waiting for our time and our attention for them to enter our hearts.

Many years ago, two boys were working their way through Stanford University. Their funds got desperately low, and the idea came to them to engage Ignacy Paderewski for a piano recital. They would use the funds to help pay their board and tuition.

The great pianist’s manager asked for a guarantee of $2,000. The guarantee was a lot of money in those days, but the boys agreed and proceeded to promote the concert. They worked hard, only to find that they had grossed only $1,600.00.

After the concert, the two boys told the great artist the bad news. They gave him the entire $1,600.00, along with a promissory note for $400, explaining that they would earn the amount at the earliest possible moment and sent the money to him. It looked like the end of their college careers.

“No, boys,” replied Paderewski, “that won’t do.” Then, tearing the note in two, he returned the money to them as well. “Now,” he told them, “take out of this $1,600 all your expenses, and keep for each of you 10% of the balance for your work. Let me have the rest.”

The years rolled by --- World Way I came and went. Paderewski, now premier of Poland, was striving to feed thousands of starving people in his native land. The only person in the world who could help him was Herbert Hoover, who was in charge of the US Food and Relief Bureau. Hoover responded and soon thousands of tons of food were sent to Poland.

After the starving people were fed, Paderewski journeyed to Paris to thank Hoover for the relief sent him.

“That’s all right, Mr. Paderewski,” was Hoover’s reply. “Besides, you don’t remember it, but you helped me once when I was a student at college, and I was in trouble.”

Today, as many of you students, near the end of the first semester, you remember all those who have helped you. Often, our ambitions shield us from gratitude. When you go out of this church, and travel back home, spend some time to go through the whole semester, and remember your blessings. And do not forget, a large part of your stay in UP is not your own achievement, but God’s.

The Way of Grace

17 October 2006: Tuesday of the 28^th Week in Ordinary Time
Galatians 5, 1-6; Psalm 119; Luke 11, 37-41
St. Ignatius of Antioch and the 10^th Death Anniversary of Richie Fernando

Today, the readings warn us about our pharisaic tendency to reduce our faith in a series of laws.

The Way of Law: The Pharisaic Tendency. Let me first explain about those who want to get circumcised in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. The Galatians were pagans and they were not circumcised while the Jews practice circumcision as a rite of passage. And if the Galatians would like to become circumcised, logically, he or she has to accept the whole law which circumcision introduces. It is like entering a fraternity: if you agree to be initiated --- whether the fraternity employs the paddle or any source of pain --- you don’t just accept the part of the initiation, but you also accept the whole law that governs the fraternity. The neophyte is bound now to all the other rules and regulations as well. You take on their lifestyle and values. No ifs and buts. This is the way of the law. So in the first reading, when Paul refers to circumcision, he refers to the way of law. The way of the law says that one becomes a Christian only when one has followed the law to the letter. It puts salvation in the level of human achievement. In the Gospel, Jesus calls fools the Pharisees who care more about external observances as washing, than one’s internal disposition. There is in each of us the tendency to be Pharisaic!

Simply, a person can reduce Catholicism as merely doing what is required by the book: attend mass every Sunday and other holy days of obligation, come to confessions and receive communion frequently and pray the rosary. A question came to me once about praying the rosary: If you did not follow the intended mysteries of the rosary on the specific day --- for example, you recited the Joyful Mysteries on a Tuesday or Friday --- did you commit a sin? For Paul and Jesus, this is inconsequential compared to what is in the heart.

The Way of Grace. However, there is another way. The way of grace is not like the way of law. The way of grace puts one into a personal relationship with God; the essence of that relationship is not placed on a series of rules and regulations, but on a person. The way of grace puts salvation as a gift from God, and the good that we do is our response and participation to it. Jesus said that if one gives alms to the poor, one becomes clean! This is the way of God’s grace: faith working through love. Paul has his life as an example: he placed himself and his sins on the mercy and love of God, and gave himself totally to Jesus whom he gets to personally know and love, even if he actually did not meet him. St. Ignatius of Antioch whose feast we celebrate today said, “I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the earth. My desire is to belong to God.”

Let me illustrate that further. Today, many of our young have Friendster, Multiply or Blogger accounts. In their web pages, they have data about themselves: their personal information, their interests, a portion for photos and videos, and even testimonies from others about themselves. It even includes tags so that people who have the same interest will be able to find them. The webpage attempts to introduce the ‘whole’ of the person to another one in cyberspace. However, we all know that it would be impossible. To know someone fully well, one has to meet the person (as eyeballing [to meet, young generation term]), spend time with them, experience their inconsistencies and mood swings, etc. There is something that we learn about a person that cannot be put into words, but we do understand them --- it is just difficult to articulate them fully and completely. But because we do understand the person, we get to know what he or she likes and intuitively their taste. When Paul tells us about faith, it is like saying this to another person, “Basta, kilala ko siya. Hindi niya tayo bibiguin (I know the person. He will not let us down). And if the other asks, how do we know? We just cannot explain it, and we just say, “Because she is my friend!” We all know that the statement, “She is my friend” does not completely tell us what we know, but tacitly, it actually does!”

The Way of Law vs the Way of Grace. For Paul, the way of law and the way of grace are mutually exclusive. That means you either follow one or reject the other. You cannot have both. That is why Paul says that Christianity is based on the love we have on the person of Jesus, not on the following of the law. He said, “For in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”

So if we follow the way of grace in Christianity, it demands more than just following the law. It means that studies the Bible well, prays using Scriptures (and not just mouthing oral prayers), and spends quiet times in reflection, so that one establishes a true relationship with the person of Christ. Furthermore, he or she is not just bound by the letter of the law but by its spirit. He begins to discern the will of God in different situations.

We are therefore challenged to follow the way of grace, and be cautious from our Pharisaic tendencies. If one follows the way of grace, one discovers more than what one learns in a religion class or in a short catechism. When one discovers who Jesus really is, one becomes engaged to Him that one gives oneself totally and completely. No ifs and buts. For some, it did require a lot of dying and pain! Some actually died as many saints and martyrs! Ten years ago, my friend and batch-mate, Richie Fernando died from a bomb while protecting his student! This is what he wrote before he died, “I know where my heart is. It is with Jesus Christ, who gave his all for the poor, the sick, the orphan.”

Such is the way of grace--- in other words, the way of love. When one genuinely loves a person, one logically also welcomes pain. So choose: the way of law or the way of grace. If you choose the way of law, you gain a book. If you choose the way of grace, you gain the person of Christ.

How to be Wise

14 October 2006: 28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wisdom 7, 7-11; Psalm 90; Heb 4, 12-13; Mark 10, 17-30

When we are young, we are good at memorizing. And it is a breeze to go from one detail to the other. And often, in the hodge-podge of concepts, theories and terminologies, we often miss the point. Here’s a story:

A young student was using the inductive method to observe the characteristics of a grasshopper. Plucking a leg off the grasshopper, he ordered, “Jump!”

The grasshopper promptly jumped.

Taking another leg off, the youngster commanded, “Jump!”

The grasshopper jumped again.

The student continued this process until he came to the final leg. By now, the grasshopper had a little difficulty jumping, but it was still trying. The student pulled the final hind leg off and again ordered the grasshopper to jump. But it didn’t respond. He raised his voice and demanded the grasshopper to jump. And it failed to jump.

Here is what the youngster wrote as an observation: “When you remove the legs of the grasshopper, it loses its sense of hearing!”

In the Gospel, the young man knows the commandments and followed it to the letter; our student has followed the procedure perfectly well. The young man in the Gospel had all his possessions; the modern student is overflowing with knowledge. The accumulation of knowledge does not constitute wisdom. Wisdom is acquired by giving up what we have. Jesus said, “Take what you have and spend it on others, and you will find true happiness.” The young man could not. With all your possessions, with all your knowledge, with the honor one acquires by studying in a prestigious university, and with the privilege of having opportunities to a better life, what positive good have you done to others? You may not have defrauded anyone, or hurt anyone, but have you been generous to others? Often, like the student, we miss the point when we accumulate wealth. Many intelligent individuals are lonely; many talented people are depressed; many educated individuals wallow in resentment; many rich individuals live empty lives.

Look at Ani Agarwal, an Indian mining tycoon, who gave $1 billion to build a world-class university in India. He said, “India desperately needs to improve its education. What is the point of money if it’s not made to be given back to society?” We hear of John Gokongwei, Jr who donated 10.25 billion to charity. Those who are happiest are those who have given all that they have to someone else. Look at those with friends. Look at those with family. Look at those who truly love.

The point of life is clear: we are given possessions to give it away; we acquire knowledge so that in later life you may pass it on to the next generation; we are given someone to love so that everything we have is shared to them; we are given children to gather them, so that in later life, you let them go. Only when we are able to give away, that we acquire wisdom. The first reading tells us that wisdom then is preferred to gold or silver, health or beauty. Jesus is teaching us now how to be wise. Here’s a story about Mahatma Gandhi. We know him as a wise man.

One day, Mahatma Gandhi stepped on the train, but one of his shoes slipped and landed on the track. He was unable to retrieve it as the train was already moving. To the amazement of his companions, Gandhi calmly took off his other shoe and threw it back along the track almost close to the first shoe. Asked by his companion why he did so, Gandhi answered, “If a poor man finds the shoe on the track, he will now have a pair he can use.”

Mahatma Gandhi is wise. How about us?

Giving up what we possess

15 October 2006: 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wis 7, 7-11; Ps 90; Heb 4, 12-13; Mk 10, 17-30

It is important to see how the young man approached Jesus. He came running. He threw himself at his feet and sincerely asked Jesus what he must do to attain eternal life. And Jesus directed the man’s attention to the commandments that contain the norm of conduct. The young man then answered that he had followed the commandments.

We do find ourselves much similar like the young man. When we attend retreats and prayer meetings or when our prayers are answered and feel God’s blessings on us, our emotions overtake us. We literally throw ourselves at the Lord’s feet. And then we shower the Lord with promises of being faithful to him. And most of us have succeeded fairly well in following the Lord’s commandments. Indeed, the Lord looks at us the way He looked at the young man: with love and personal fascination.

And then, He gently challenged young man, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, give to the poor, and come follow me.” At that the young man went away sad for he had many possessions.”

Jesus has a way of looking at people. The eyes of Christ penetrate our hearts that he sees what we lack. The second reading notes that “everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of God.” Jesus knows us totally that He can tell us what are the things that would prevent us from giving ourselves selflessly and perfectly to Him. His first great commandment is to worship the Lord with all our hearts and there are no exceptions. We are asked to love God in all aspects of our lives. And thus, Jesus knows our obstacles to following God with all of our hearts.

We can be “rich” in a lot of things and not just wealth and material possessions. We can be attached to our reputation, our family, our intelligence, and our friends. To be personally attached means that we love them possessively and that these objects and relationships do not lead us to love God. Jesus’ challenge is to let go of all these selfish attachments so that we can love God with all of our hearts.

I remember the advertisement of Nestea in which different people, scorching from the summer sun, would fall into the swimming pool with a thirst-quenching “ahhh” on their faces. This image describes what it means to let go of all our attachments. We are invited to fall into the arms of Jesus in the same way. The Gospel tells us that we cannot fall freely into the arms of Jesus if we hold on to our wealth, family, reputation and friends. Sometimes we have to severe precious roots that do not help us to praise and worship God.

But letting go of all our selfish attachments requires a decision. And decisions do not come easily. We pray. We struggle. We weep. We go back and forth. We weigh things. To surrender is indeed difficult and often impossible to accomplish. However, Jesus assures us that “nothing is impossible with God.” And thus our relinquishment is a release with hope. In the first reading, the author of Wisdom says that after his choice over “scepter and throne, priceless gems and gold,” all good things came to him.” We are confident that if we fall, we will fall in the arms of God. St. Augustine said that “my heart is restless until it rests in Thee.” The saints know that to be at rest in the hands of God is indeed worth a hundred times than all the riches in this world.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart

13 October 2006: Friday of the 27^th Week in Ordinary Time
Galatians 3, 7-14: the Devotion to the Sacred Heart

During the time of the early Christians, the new converts received the Holy Spirit in a palpable and visible way. They experienced a sudden surge of new life and a certain increase of power (Acts 8, 14-17; 10, 44). This happened to the Galatians who were pagans and never learned of the Jewish law. St. Paul said that they have received the Holy Spirit not because they have done the regulations of the law (which they never heard yet), but because they have heard the Good News of Jesus Christ and believed. Paul gave as an example Abraham. No law has yet been made at the time of Abraham but Yahweh promised that all people will receive His blessings through him (Genesis 12). Therefore, one receives God’s grace, not through the following of the law, but through faith. In other words, we receive the Holy Spirit in a great act of trust in the Lord, in our deep faith in God. We too become descendants of Abraham, not by blood as the Jews claim to be, but when we do the same leap of faith as Abraham did centuries ago. As Jesus said that whoever does the will of the Father is family to Him. When we do God’s will, we show our relationship with one another. In other words, when we embody God’s will, we truly become his children.

When we look at the Sacred Heart of Jesus, what do we see? Do we come to attend Friday mass out of habit coming from the requirement of this devotion, or for extra credit when we die (as indulgences)? Are we here to fulfill an obligation --- another word for fulfilling the law? The reading from the Galatians challenges us to look beyond these regulations and dig deeper into the very meaning of what we do. The devotion to the Sacred Heart allows us to have a faith that has depth --- not just an inherited faith. This devotion began to flourish in the Middle Ages when there was a renewed interest in the humanity of Jesus and his passion. It reached its peak when Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal, and Margaret Mary Alacoque offered a counter-spirituality of tenderness and compassion against Jansenism’s rigidity and sectarianism. In 1673, Margaret Mary Alacoque received revelations from Christ about His heart. It is here that our practice began: our personal consecration to the Sacred Heart, our observance of the hour between 11:00 to 12:00 midnight in unity with the Lord’s hour in Gethsemane (“Will you spend one more hour with me?” as Jesus appealed to His sleeping disciples), the reception of communion on First Fridays in reparation for the sins of the world and the assurance that those who receive communion every First Friday for nine consecutive months will have salvation ensured.

Furthermore, the Church encouraged the devotion to the Sacred Heart against the French Revolution, Communism, and the threats to family life. In 1856, Pope Pius IX made it a feast; in 1899, Leo XIII consecrated the whole world to it, and in 1956, Pius XII included it in the encyclical, Haurietis Aqua (“You Shall Draw Waters”), which talks about God’s love for humanity. In the end, the devotion to the Sacred Heart is about God’s love and devotion, more than anything else --- not about ritual practices. Our devotional practice protects, ensures and enshrines the values of love and faith --- two things that make us family to Abraham and Jesus.

This is not alien to what the heart is all about (things I learned when I was a biology student). 72 times a minute, 4,320 times an hour, 103,680 times a day, almost 38 million times a year --- over 2.6 billion times in the course of an average life, the human heart beats powerfully, sturdy enough to contract and send fresh oxygenated blood throughout the entire body, elastic enough to collect deoxygenated blood. A healthy, supple, and strong heart can only receive and give lifeblood.

The cold heart is dead: rigid people who follow laws as if they are the well-spring of their life are zombies. The real heart is warm as the Bible says it is. It is the well-spring of life, the totality of one’s being. God promised to Israel that He will turn their ‘hardness of heart’ into a ‘heart of flesh.’

And thus, if we are to truly become devoted to the Sacred Heart, we mean that we will become more loving and warm to people. For me, it means that I would be sensitive to the needs of others; it means that I would be more caring towards them; it means that I have to spend time with them; it means that when someone has hurt me, I should not be cold to them.

If we look at the ‘requirement’ of communion on First Fridays, we discover that it is precisely what heaven is: when we are in communion, we mean that our hearts are connected to each other. And when we connect with one another, there is warmth. There is love. It is no wonder that Dante Alighieri describes hell, not as a place with fire, but a place of ice. When there is no love, you get a cold heart.

*Photo by Neo Saicon SJ. These are our Jesuit philosophy scholastics taken in Cagayan de Oro City.

Persistence in Prayer

12 October 2006: Thursday of the 27^th Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 11, 5-13: Persistence in Prayer

The parable today illustrates a primary duty for Jews and also a characteristic trait of Filipinos. Hospitality for Jews was a sacred duty. The parable tells us of a traveler who arrives at a house towards midnight, but the homeowner has nothing to offer the traveler, so the homeowner sets to his friend’s house to borrow. But the friend was unwilling to rise from his sleep. In the end, because of his shameless persistence, the friend lends to the homeowner all that he needs.

Was the friend’s attitude inconsiderate? Let us see. To be hospitable to someone like a visitor means many things practical: beverage and food, a bed, often, a guest room. However, during the time of Jesus, things were not easily available: there was no refrigerator to keep food fresh, or a 24-hour convenient store. Bread was baked at home, and only enough bread was baked for the day --- no one would like to eat stale bread. The homeowner would indeed find accomplishing his sacred duty of hospitality at midnight! Moreover, the friend’s attitude could be explained by understanding his situation. A poor Palestinian house has one room and a little window. The room is divided into two: one at ground level, the other is raised a little higher where the charcoal stove burns all night. All members of the household slept on mats around this fire for warmth. It is also customary that one’s belongings such as cattle are kept inside the house. To disturb someone at midnight means to disturb everyone. It is not difficult to imagine why the friend was reluctant to rise. But only through persistence that he rises to meet his needs!

The recent survey of McCann-Erickson tells us that people now have more needs than ever. Teens for example in 2000 worry about two main items: having to find work and earning a living. Five years later, 2005, the worries and concerns of teenagers range from pollution in the air and water, drugs, being a crime victim, contracting a super virus disease, getting AIDS, and getting sick for a long time (McCann Worldgroup Philippines, 2006). And thus, the content of many prayers are growing as ever.

The parable then is assuring. If the friend in the parable can be coerced to give the needs of the persistent homeowner, how much more will God, who is a loving Father, supply for all his children’s needs? This is not to mean that we can change God’s will, coerce Him, or wring gifts from a very unwilling God. But the parable tells us of intensity or sincerity. The Greek word used was really to mean ‘shameless persistence’ --- walang hiya siyang nagmakulit, walang pakundangang pagkamakulit! The intensity thus tells us that our desire and sincerity is shown by the passion we put on praying! Because, we trust that we are asking God who knows more than we know, who knows our needs better than us, whose heart is more generous than anyone of us, whose love for us is far greater more passionate. We trust that the answers to our prayers --- whether affirmative or negative, which are indeed true answers --- are always towards what is good or better for us. We trust in the wisdom of God! Charles Allen has a poem about persistence. It is called, Keeping On, and is found in his book, The Secret of Abundant Living.

I’ve dreamed many dreams that never came true,

I’ve seen them vanish at dawn;

But I’ve realized enough of my dreams, thank God,

To make me want to dream on.

I’ve prayed many prayers when no answer came,

I’ve waited patient and long;

But answers have come to enough of my prayers

To make me keep praying on.

I’ve trusted many a friend who failed

And left me to weep alone;

But I’ve found enough of my friends true-blue

To make me keep trusting on.

I’ve sown many seeds that fell by the way

For the birds to feed upon;

But I’ve held enough golden sheaves in my hand,

To make me keep sowing on.

I’ve drained the cup of disappointment and pain,

I’ve gone many days without song,

But I’ve sipped enough nectar from the rose of life

To make me want to live on.

So, my dear friends, when you pray, persevere. Pray with passion. Pray with determination. Calvin Coolidge was right. He said, “Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful individuals with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone is omnipotent.” But before Calvin Coolidge, there was Jesus.

Jesus teaches us to pray

11 October 2006: Wednesday of the 27^th Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 11, 1-4: The Lord teaches us to pray

There is no doubt where the Our Father comes from. Jesus has taught the prayer to His disciples and to all His listeners. There are two versions of the Our Father: the shortest is in Luke, which is the Gospel today, and the slightly longer version is in Matthew. Luke’s Our Father is followed by Jesus’ parable of the father, the son, and a fish (“Would a father give his son a snake if he asks for a fish?”), and Matthew’s Our Father is in the Sermon on the Mount after the Beatitudes. Matthew’s version has an added feature found in older versions of Protestant and Catholic bibles, “For the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.” Today, Protestants end the Our Father with this phrase, while Catholics recite this doxology after the Our Father at mass. It is not hard to imagine the versions: people ask Jesus how to pray, several times and at different occasions. Jesus could have taught them the basic prayer with some variations. For example, Matthew’s Your will be done, on earth as in heaven is a parallel: the Kingdom of God comes when God’s will is done both on earth and in heaven.

The structure of the prayer is like a Jewish prayer: First, it begins by honoring God like many Jewish prayers. There is, in fact the Jewish Eighteen Benedictions which a good Jew was to say, three times a day. Second, the person prays that God’s will be done in their lives and in the world. And thus, when we pray, our prayers must be about understanding God’s will and letting it guide us, NOT trying the twist God’s way of thinking into our way of thinking or convince God to approve our decisions. And finally, we ask Him to provide for all our needs, forgive our sins and protect us when we are tempted and tested. In one of the earliest instructions for Christians called the Didache, around the late 1^st century to the middle 2^nd century, the reader was asked to pray the Our Father, three times a day, like the Jewish Eighteen Benedictions.

With this structure, Jesus teaches us how we should pray. Perhaps, we can look into our prayers. Jesus teaches us an attitude. When we honor God, the title we use tells us about our relationship with Him. When we say, “Lord and Master”, we are slaves. But Jesus taught us to use, “Abba”, like the colloquial, “Daddy” or “Papa”, which means that we have a personal relationship with our dad, just like Him (the Jews will never use Abba! to address God). And thus when we say, “Our Father” we are to talk to God as a child talks to his or her parents; trusting God that whatever His response to us, it will always be for our good, as a father who will not give a snake to his son who asks for a fish.

Thus, if we follow what the earliest Christians did --- or finding it inspiring to connect with our ancestors --- we pray the Our Father three times a day, the way we eat our major meals. As we eat breakfast to nourish us during the day, we say an Our Father. As we take our lunch in the middle of our work, we say an Our Father to sustain us. And as we end the day with dinner, we say an Our Father to thank him and help our bodies repair itself while we sleep.

Ask and Receive

12 October 2006: Thursday of the 27^th Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 11, 5-13 “Ask and you shall receive.”

The Gospel today gives us points for prayer and more concretely, how to pray. The first thing about praying is that we need the Holy Spirit, and thus, we must learn how to get the Holy Spirit. However, we are faced with a difficulty: the Holy Spirit is not produced by any efforts of our own. He cannot be “merited” like a reward when we do well in studies, or when we have been behaved the past few days. We cannot do anything to get the Holy Spirit. It is a pure gift. But Jesus gave the apostles instructions on how to receive the Holy Spirit.

First, Jesus said, “Wait.” We can’t produce the Holy Spirit. We can only wait for Him to come. And this is something our human nature finds very hard to do in our modern world. We do not know how to wait. We cannot sit still. We are too restless, too impatient. We would rather endure hours of hard labor, than endure the pain of waiting for things beyond our control, or whose arrival we do not know. We are tired of waiting and praying, waiting for God to come to our lives. We would rather “work for God” and so we drown ourselves in activity and work. Yet, the Spirit is given only to those who wait; those who expose their hearts day after day to God and His Word in prayer. “Wait for the promise of my Father... wait in Jerusalem,” Jesus said. Resist the urge to be active, from the compulsion to act, the urge to communicate to others what you yourselves have not experienced. Second, Jesus said, “You will receive power...” We Receive the Holy Spirit. Yes, receive is the right word: Jesus does not expect us to produce power, because this kind of power cannot be produced no matter how we try. It can only be received.

What do we do concretely? Two things: an attitude and a practice. First, an attitude: one of Great Expectations. St. John of the Cross says that “a person receives from God as much as he expects from God.” If you expect little, you will generally receive little. If you expect much, you will receive much. For example, it is said that the greatest sin against the Holy Spirit is to no longer believe that He can change the world, and/or to change me. This is a more dangerous kind of atheist, a practical atheist who says, “God can no longer change me. He doesn’t have the will and power to transform me because I have tried everything--- retreat, prayer, good will, yet nothing happened.” For this practical atheist, God is dead. He is not the God who showed that nothing is impossible with Him: the barren women like Sarah and Elizabeth, in their old age, had bear sons. Expect. Expect even when there is no hope in the horizon.

Second, a practice. Wait till you feel faith enough in Jesus’ words to really ask for the Holy Spirit in full confidence. And then, ask! Ask repeatedly, ask earnestly, ask increasingly, refusing to take NO for an answer. We believe that the Holy Spirit will be given to you, since he promised, and then constantly ask. You can ask with words like “Come, Holy Spirit. Come!” Or, ask without words. Look up to heaven or at the tabernacle in silence and in a spirit of supplication.

And if you wish that your prayer come with maximum power and intensity, do what the apostles did when they waited for the Spirit at Pentecost: the prayed with Mary. The saints knew this secret: No one had fled to Mary, sought intercessions, and was left unaided. Or use some psalms like Psalm 4 (“Only the light of your face can bring us happiness.”), Psalm 6 (“But you, O Lord, how long? Each night I weep. How long”), Psalm 12 (“How long will you hide your face.”). Or prayers such as St. Anselm’s: “O my God, teach my heart where and how to seek you, where and how to find you.” or St. Augustine’s, “Teach me, Lord how to come to thee. Nothing else do I have but willingness. How I am to reach thee, I do not know. Do Thou inspire me, show me, give me what I need for my journey.”

And when you do these things, you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit, and gain much faith. And then you will obtain what you are asking for.

The Complete Prayer

11 October 2006: Wednesday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time

Luke 11, 1-4: Our Father

It was a regular custom for a Rabbi to teach his disciples a simple prayer which they might habitually use. The Gospel today is Luke’s version of the Our Father, which is shorter than Matthew’s, but it has all the elements of prayer.

The first part: it begins with reverence. The characteristic address of a Christian to God is our Father --- far different from God or Lord. For a Christian, we acknowledge that God is Father, and therefore our relationship to Him is that of a child. For a Christian, we are approaching not a God who is unwilling to give us gifts, but a Father who delights to supply his children’s needs. For a Christian, the name does not mean the name in which a person is merely called. The name means the whole character of the person as it is revealed and known to us.

The second part: the prayer is complete by itself because it covers all of life. First, it covers our present need: Give us this day our daily bread. This goes back to the experience of the Israelites when they were served by God with manna in the desert. We are asked to live a day at a time. Second, it covers the past. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. When we pray we acknowledge our sinfulness before God. We acknowledge the wrongs we have committed in the past, and those people who have hurt us. And finally, it covers the future. And lead us not into temptation. We ask the Lord’s help to overcome temptations in the future, so that we can be ever so faithful to him.

Someone has said that if we pray at the beginning of the day, prayer will awaken in us holy desires which will lead us to the right path, to make the right decisions, and do the right things. And if prayer is said at the end of the day, we summarize all the graces God has given, and all we ought to pray for.

As we pray the Our Father we thus remember our relationship with God is personal, he is not just a God who is far from us, but our Father who loves us. And as we pray the Our Father we also remember that the prayer completes our life: our present, our past and our future.

The Better Portion

10 October 2006: Tuesday of the 27^th Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 10:38-42: The Better Portion

The crucial question in the Gospel reading today is this: Why is Mary’s choice to listen to Jesus the better portion? We make two observations.

First, Martha’s work is undeniably important. To prepare the house and the food for a guest is charity. And in this case, Jesus is not just their guest but a family friend. In Palestine, hospitality is true virtue. Martha’s practical choice is like most of our choices. We always know that how much we have firmly resolved to pray, it is prayer that goes first when the going gets tough. I found an article that is good for thought. It is called the Paradox of our Times.

Can we just go back to the basics and enjoy life in a simple way? The paradox of our time in history is that We have taller buildings but shorter tempers, Wider freeways, but narrow viewpoints, We spend more, but have less, We buy more, but enjoy it less, We have bigger houses and smaller families; More conveniences, but less time; We have more degrees, but less sense; More knowledge, but less judgment, More experts, but more problems, More medicines, but less wellness; We drink too much, smoke too much, and spend too recklessly, Stay up too late, get up too tired Read seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom,

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned to make a living, but not a life; We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, But have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We’ve encountered outer space, but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, To produce more copies than ever, but have less communication. These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce, Of fancier houses, but broken homes.

Nevertheless, Jesus emphasized that Mary’s choice is the better portion. Just as we have described the frenzy of our times, we have lost our center, and our inner peace. Most of us consider ourselves intelligent and smart because we study here in UP. The more work we have, the more responsibilities we take, the more positions we hold and the more degrees we make determine how good we are. But more often, we find ourselves empty and lonely, stressed and overworked. Philip K. Howard has this for us to ponder:

Smart people spend time alone. They don’t fill their days with appointments from 8 AM to 10 PM, as many politicians and executives do. Great science does not emerge from hard logic and grinding hours. It comes from the mysterious resources of the human brain and soul. Inspiration is nurtured by activities like chopping wood and raking leaves, preparing dinner, going to church. These activities soften the rigid pace of the day’s pursuits and allow all our God-given intuition to work its illogical magic. Only then can we reach our fullest potential. Only then can we leap from thinking to understanding.

Mary spent time to listen to Jesus. Therefore, Jesus is the center of her life: in Him alone Mary finds meaning in her work and in her life. We have a term for a person who does not have a center which gives him focus and meaning: kalat (Being all over the place). Only when we have found the true center of our lives will we find identity and meaning. Mary’s choice was indeed a smart choice. We should make Mary’s choice, our choice.