Christmas Mass During the Day

25 December 2009: Christmas Mass during the day
Isaiah 52, 7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1, 1-6; John 1, 1-18

At the end of Christmas Day, when the Misa de Aguinaldo is over, when the Midnight Mass has been done, and text messaging becomes easier from last night, and the celebrations become sober, and we have all opened our gifts, a thought sometimes comes to me: What’s next?

What’s next? Christmas in the Philippines is far the longest of all celebrations. And its peak reaches on Christmas eve, when we troop to Midnight mass and noche buena. During the day, the excitement drops and the whole world suddenly becomes silent and restful. After the Christmas frenzy, what’s next?

Yes, what’s next? After we have eaten the last piece of the Christmas cake, or the last chunk of lechon from the table, or the last plate of spaghetti, we ask, what’s next? After all the magic of the season, what’s next?

Two things come to me: It is the why of Christmas. First, Christmas reminds us of our faith in Christ, the reason for the celebration.

There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. Have you ever wondered about THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS? What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality, which the children could remember. 



1. The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

2. Two turtledoves were the Old and New Testaments 


3. Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love. 


4. The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & 
John. 


5. The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of 
the Old Testament. 


6. The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation. 


7. Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit: 
Prophecy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and 
Mercy.
8. The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes. 


9. Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy, 
Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self 
Control. 


10. The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments. 


11. The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples. 


12. The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in The 
Apostles' Creed.

And finally, we remember why Christmas is celebrated. In the Gospels, the story of Christmas, or the Infancy Narratives tell us that God has always extended gracious mercy even to sinners. God has always lifted the lowly and has always heard the prayers of the faithful and obedient. God has always willed that the revelation given to the chosen holy ones be shared more widely for the glory of Israel and as a light to the nations.

And so we ask: What’s next? There a song called, “The Work of Christmas”:

When the song of angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky in gone,
When the prince and princess are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins.

To find lost, to heal the broken,
To feed the hungry, free the prisoners,
To rebuild nations.
To bring peace among brothers,
To make music in the heart.

Perhaps that is what’s next. It is a cliché to say that Christmas is every day. But it is true. We make people experience God’s gracious love to all of us sinners, by sending His only beloved Son, and our faith reminds us that it is something that we should do and put into practice.

One final thought: In Manila, people do tell you right away: Merry Christmas: Where’s my gift? Though jokingly, it tells us a grain of truth.

Christmas is not about expecting gifts. We teach children to expect gifts. We tell them that Christmas becomes meaningful if we receive many gifts.

Christmas, rather, is about thanksgiving. Our parents have dedicated their lives for us, don’t you think that Christmas is the time to thank them: it is our turn to give gifts to them.

Because, it is in giving that we receive. And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Christmas Midnight Mass

ika-24 ng Disyembre 2009 Christmas Vigil
Isaiah 62, 1-5; Psalm 89; Acts 13, 16-25; Matthew 1, 1-25

Note: This article appears in Sambuhay for tonight’s midnight liturgy. Sambuhay is a publication of the Society of St. Paul. Sorry I don't have time for an English translation. But the homily in the previous post can be used also for Christmas.

Hinihimok ni San Ignacio de Loyola sa nagninilay ng Spiritual Exercises na pag-isipan ang isang eksena bago ipinadala ang anghel Gabriel kay Maria. Minamasdan ng Banal na Santatlo ang buong mundo. Tinitingnan Nila ang kaguluhang nagaganap hindi lang sa sanlibutan kundi sa bawat puso ng mga tao. Wika ni Propeta Isaias, “balot ng dilim” ang ating lupain. Nakikita nila ang maaaring patutunguhan ng mundo kung ipagpapatuloy nila ang kanilang pagkamakasalanan. Sa kabila ng matagal na pagtitiwalang magbabago ang mga tao, nagugunita na nila na panahon na upang iligtas ang sanlibutan; kailangan na nilang maki-alam sa mga karumaldumal na nagaganap. Panahon na upang ipadala ang Liwanag sa kadiliman. At dahil dito, napag-isipan Nilang mabuti na ipadala ang pangalawang Persona sa sanlibutan. Kailangang makiisa Sila sa sangkatauhan upang iligtas ito, kaya kasama sa plano ng Diyos ang pagsasakatawang-tao ng kanyang Anak na si Hesus. Kaya nagsimulang ibinunyi ng angel Gabriel ang balak ng Banal na Santatlo kay Maria; at dahil sa pagsang-ayon ni Maria, ibinalita nito na magaganap ang Salita ng Diyos sa kapangyarihan ng Espiritu Santo. Alam na natin ang mga sumunod na eksena. Alam na rin natin na ito ang pinaka-rurok na dahilan sa ating pagdiriwang ng Pasko.

Kapag pinag-isipan ang ganitong eksena, makikita natin na ang Pasko ay hindi lamang isang eksenang naganap na, kundi isang pangyayaring patuloy na nagaganap. Kapag sinusundan at binabantayan natin ang mga nagaganap sa buhay, bansa, sanlibutan at kalikasan, isinasabuhay natin ang unang-unang katangian ng Pasko. Tulad ng Banal na Santatlo, nakikita natin na hindi na dapat hayaang mangyari ang mga nababalitaan nating masama. Panahon na upang makialam. Tama na ang panggagahasa sa kalikasan: ayaw na natin ng bagyo, baha at anumang sakuna na dulot ng Global Warming. Tama na ang pangungurakot ng gobyerno: ayaw na natin ng pamahalaang walang pagmamalasakit sa bayan. Tama na ang ating pagiging makasarili: ayaw na nating saktan pa ang taong minamahal natin. Isang gawa ng nagmamahal ang pagmamasid: habang nire-respeto ng magulang ang mga desisyon ng kanilang mga anak, nakikisangkot ito kung alam niya na walang kinahihinatnang mabuti ang ginawa nila.

Pangalawa, makikita natin sa Santissima Trinidad na kusa Silang nagbalak na maki-alam. Tama na. Panahon na. Tayo mismo. Hindi na sila nagturuan o naghanap ng masisisi. Alam nila kung sino ang maysala, ngunit Sila mismo ang nagsimula ng pagbabago. Si Hesus mismo ang nagkusa upang itigil na ang mga sistema ng kasalanan sa mundo. Siya na ang nagsabi,: “Ako na ang ipadala mo sa mundo.” At dahil labis ang pagmamahal ng Panginoon sa atin, ibinigay niya ng kusa ang kanyang anak upang iligtas ang sanlibutan. Dahil dito, isinasabuhay natin ang Pasko kapag tayo mismo ang simula ng pagbabago. Nakikisangkot. Nakikibaka. Nagbibigay ng buhay.

Pangatlo, isang pagganap sa kahulugan ng Pasko ang pagsasakatawan sa katangian ng Diyos. Ang paglalaganap ng isang mabuting plano ay isang pagsasabuhay ng katangian ng Diyos. Laging niloloob ng Diyos ang kabutihan nating lahat. Isa sa mga bayani ng mga nakaraang sakuna ang mga nagpalaganap ng balita ukol sa mga pangyayari at mga pangangailangan ng mga biktima ng baha at bagyo. Sila ang gumamit ng iba’t ibang paraan tulad ng internet, radyo at telebisyon, text at iba pa upang manawagan ng tulong. At tulad ni Maria na nakisama sa balak ng Diyos, tumugon sa panawagan ang iba’t ibang tao sa pagtulong sa kapwa Pilipino. Kung hindi sila makabigay ng donasyon, ang kanilang sarili at ang kanilang inalay. Bata o matanda, mahirap o mayaman, nakita natin ang kanilang kagandahang-loob sa mga relief centers na nagbabalot, namimigay o naglilinis. Wika ng isang Pinoy na taga-ibang bansa, “I belong to a country of heroes.” Buhay na buhay pa rin sa ating kultura ang bayanihan.

Ngunit ang Pasko ay patuloy ding nangyayari sa mga biktima mismo. Nagkuwento ang isang guro sa Tulay ng Kabataan. Inayos nila ang mga damit ayon sa sukat upang ang mga bata mismo ang pipili ng kasya sa kanila. Limang damit lamang ang maaari nilang piliin. Namasdan nila ang isang bata: iba-iba ang sukat ng kanyang piniling mga damit. Alam ng guro kung para kanino ang damit na yon; at alam na rin natin. Ang mga kuwentong ito ang pagsasabuhay ng Pasko. Nais kong isipin na hindi lamang isinabuhay ng bawat taong naging bayani sa nakaraang sakuna ang katangian ng Diyos. Isinakatawan nila ang Diyos mismo. Naging tagapagligtas sa panahon ngayon. Sa pagsasabuhay sa iba’t ibang katangian ng Pasko, pinapanganak natin si Hesus hindi lamang tuwing Disyembre, kundi sa bawat sandali ng ating buhay.

Day 9: Simbanggabi

24 December 2009. Misa de Gallo
2 Sam 7, 1-17; Psalm 88; Luke 1, 67-79

There are few times in a year that makes us easily smile and uplift our spirit, and perhaps, bring a few tears of remembrance than Christmastime. Nothing surpasses the season’s magic, and the world is transformed from a world of darkness, to a world of light. When traffic is caused, not by people off to work, but by people off to find a present for a loved one; when bus terminals are packed with people, not on their way to sell their wares, but on their way to be with their families; when our minds are bombarded not with business deals, but the gifts we bring. When what matters is not how much we earn, but how much we love. It is a time when we fulfill our promises of love.

Life is complicated. Yet, in a deep sense, life is finally about one thing: it is about how much we love, how much we make others feel loved.

Christmas is indeed a time of hopeful love. A love that conquers us only by winning our hearts. A love that doesn’t count the cost, because it is so engrossed with giving. Christmas is the story of God’s connection to all of us in the world who are dear to him. It is story of God’s self-giving.

You see, we ask ourselves, in anguish, why we are suffering, why we are sorrowful and lonely and in despair, we are plagued with tragedy and senseless accidents. Why we are not lucky. And God promised us a Savior.

At Christmastime, God answers at last. He keeps his promise. And we are silent and still: God is born a child, and makes himself as one of us, as part of our history. Here, in this magical season, God does not speak words to tell us WHY we are suffering, simply, he shares our suffering. He does not tell us WHY we are in pain and plagued with problems, simply, he shares the pain and accompany us in our struggles. He does not explain, WHY we are broken, simply, he himself is broken. We are no longer alone in an immense world of suffering. His name bears humanity’s answer: Emmanuel. God is with us. Leonardo Boff, OFM, says, “God does not ask questions, but lives out answers; he does not give any explanations, but whose life is the explanation itself.”

There is a story of a five-year-old named Janie who woke and began screaming for her parents, as a violent storm occurred. Her mother came quickly to comfort her. After calming her down, her mother began to leave. The child protested vigorously. Her mother, trying to reassure her, gently responded, “God is always here with you.” Unpersuaded, Janie replied: “But I need someone with skin.”

God knows we need someone with skin: people with whom we can connect as ‘one of us’ as ‘flesh of our flesh’. At Christmastime, God has put on skin. And we too are asked to reconnect with the whole of humankind, of people with skin. Those without skin cannot express love the way we need it: the hands that wipe our tears, the arms around our shoulders that relieves our aching heart, the kind words that soothes our souls. Or, simply, those who rush through traffic to touch the life of love ones with gifts of love, those at the terminal who eagerly awaits reconnection with family, those whose minds recall sweet and tender moments, are those who live out the answers to humanity’s questions. They are the Emmanuels of our lives who teach us the way God loves. These are the people we remember at Christmas. God’s gifts to us.

Let us gaze on the child’s eyes in the manger and adore him. God made flesh. Love made flesh. Let the ever self-giving goodness awaken in us our own goodness, let light shine in the darkness of our hearts. Much of our suffering comes from a heart of stone. Even those we love--- our families, our friends, our partners--- we have deeply hurt. And let God’s grace transform our hearts with that of his heart. The great philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard said, “When one has once fully entered the realm of love, the world--- no matter how imperfect--- becomes rich and beautiful, for it consists solely of opportunities of love.” If only politicians will honor their promise, if only friends will fulfill their promises, if only husband and wives will live their promises to each other, how different our world would be. Let God’s grace enable us to unhesitatingly grab all opportunities of love, and to keep our promises and the commitments of our lives.

And just as Zechariah, in his old age, proclaims with gratitude in the gospel today, that “God… raised a horn of saving strength as he promised… he remembered the holy covenant he made, the oath he swore”, we too remember that God indeed keeps his promises to be with us till the end of time.

Day 8: Simbanggabi (Filipino)

ika-23 ng Disyembre 2009 Misa de Gallo
Malakias 3, 1-4, 23-24; Slm 24; Lukas 1, 57-66

Note: This post appears in today's Sambuhay, a publication of the Society of St. Paul. The English homily is the previous post. But it is not a translation of this post.

Ang pagsilang at pagpapangalan kay San Juan Bautista ang kuwento sa ebanghelio ngayong araw. Sa gitna nito ang iisang mensahe: ang kalooban ng Diyos ang pinakamahalaga sa lahat ng bagay. Maaaring matuto sa paraan ng pagpaplano ng Diyos.

Unang-una, malinaw na alam ng Diyos ang gusto niyang mangyari at walang makakahadlang nito. Walang makakapigil sa kalooban ng Diyos upang ipatupad niya ang binabalak na pagliligtas. Nang magduda si Zakarias o mawalan ng tiwala, hindi siya makapagsalita hangga’t matanggap at sundin niya ang utos ng Diyos. Hindi mahahadlangan ng ating mga kakulangan o ng ating mga kasalanan ang mithiin ng Diyos sa atin, gaano mang katigas ang ating puso.

Pangalawa, alam ng Panginoon kung papaano niya sisimulan. Kasama sa plano ng kaligtasan ng Panginoon ang isang sugong ipapadala upang ihanda ang daan ng Tagapagligtas. Ipapahayag niyang kailangang ituwid ang ating buhay sa pamamagitan ng pagsisisi at pagbabalik-loob sa Diyos. Sa pamamagitan ng kanyang ipinahahayag, dadalisayin niya ang mga makasalanan tulad ng “apoy sa bakal”, wika ng Propeta Malakai.

Pangatlo, alam ng Dios kung kanino niya ipagkakatiwala ang pagpapatupad nito. Kailangang nakaukit sa kanyang puso ang mithiin ng Diyos. Dahil dito, mahalaga na nakaugat sa puso ng Diyos ang puso ng kanyang mga magulang. Bagaman matanda na si Zakarias at baog si Elisabet, biniyayaan sila ng Panginoon ng pinaka-asam-asam nilang anak. Kahit nasa kanila na ang lahat tulad ng estado at kinalulugdan na angkan, nanatiling walang anak si Zakarias at Elisabet. Sa mata ng mga Hudyo, isang kamalasan ang kalagayan nila. Subalit sa mata ng Maykapal, karapatdapat ang mag-asawa dahil matuwid ang kanilang pamumuhay at malalim ang pagmamahal nila sa Kanya. Si Juan ang sagot sa kanilang pinakarurok na mithiin. Kaloob ng Diyos si Juan, at para sa mag-asawa, pinagpala sila ng Panginoon. Ito ang kahulugan ng pangalang, Juan.

Dito nakaugat ang kahalagahan ng pagpapangalan na noo’y isang malaking pagdiriwang. Binibigyan natin ang isang bagay ng pangalan dahil kung hindi ito makita, maiintindihan natin ang itinutukoy. Nagbibigay ng pagkakilanlan ang isang pangalan. Halimbawa, pagsinabi nating, “lapis” alam natin kung ano ang kailangan nating pansulat. Bagaman hindi tinutukoy ng ating pangalan ang lahat-lahat sa atin, ayon kay Elza Dinwiddie-Boyd, una tayong nakikilala sa ating pangalan. Maraming bata ang pinagtawanan dahil sa pangalang binigay sa kanila ng kanilang mga magulang. At dahil sila ang laging napapahiya, nagkakaroon sila ng isyu sa buhay. Sa mga pangyayaring nakaikot sa panganganak at pagpapangalan kay Juan, namangha ang lahat ngunit alam nilang “sumasakanya ang Panginoon.”

Kaya noong panahon, nakapangalan ang isang bata sa isang banal upang ipakita kung sino ang tunay na nagmamay-ari sa kanya. Ang buhay ng bawat santo ay halimbawa ng daan tungo sa Panginoon; isang huwaran ng pagka-maka-Diyos. Sa binyag, nakaukit sa ating pangalan ang ngalan ni Kristo. Bilang Kristiyano, pinapahayag natin na Siya lamang ang tinatangi ng ating buhay.

Nang pinangalan ni Zakarias ang kanyang anak, pinakita niya kung Sino ang pinakamahalaga sa kanyang buhay. Bilang “mapagpala ang Diyos”, kinilala niya ang katotohanang nakabalot sa pagkatao ni Juan. Dahil sa Diyos ipinangalan si Juan, pinakita ng mag-asawa ang kanilang utang-na-loob. Higit sa lahat, ibinalik niya ang kanyang pagtitiwala sa Diyos sa kanyang pagtalikod sa tradisyon. Hindi magkasing-halaga ang kalooban ng ating mga magulang o kaibigan sa kalooban ng Poong Maykapal. Dahil dumarating na ang kaligtasan, wika ng Salmo ngayong araw, lagi nating “itaas ang ating paningin sa Diyos.”

Day 8: Simbanggabi

23 December 2009: Misa de Gallo
Mal 3, 1-24; Psalm 25; Luke 1, 57-66

In Palestine, the birth of a boy was an occasion of great joy. At the time of birth, friends and musicians gathered at the house of the parents. When the child was a boy, the people sang with jubilation: they believed that a boy causes universal joy! If the child was a girl, the people and the musicians just left silently. For Elizabeth, her joy was doubled. She had a child at last, and she had a son!

The Gospel unfolds during the eighth day since childbirth. The eighth day was the day designated for circumcision and the naming of the boy (a girl’s naming happens within 30 days). During the time of Jesus, the naming of a boy was an important occasion where friends and families meet. The naming of a child is descriptive. It can be by circumstance attending the child’s birth (Esau and Jacob), a description of the child (Laban means white or blond), a parental name (Saul/Samuel), what one asked for, and historical significance (e.g. Elijah: “Jehovah is my God” a testimony when Elijah’s parents asserted their faith in the time of Baal worship).

In the past, names are given with meaning, not just because it was a popular name, or it was nice to hear. A child was named according to a saint such as Antonio, Juan, Santiago, Francisco, Ignacio, Maria, Barbara: together dedicating their child to the care of the saints. Often the names become a guide to moral life: their names are reminders on how they live their lives. For example, Gerard was derived from the Germanic element ger "spear" combined with hard "brave, hardy". The Normans introduced this name to Britain. Gonzales is from the medieval name Gundisalvus, which was the Latin form of a Germanic name composed of the elements gund "war" and salv which sounds like salvation. Jesus is the English form of Iesous, which was the Greek form of the Aramaic name Yeshua. Yeshua is itself a contracted form of Yehoshua. Yeshua ben Yoseph (after his father Joseph) is the name of Jesus Christ. It might be helpful for us to regain the meaning of our names, and see whether its meaning may provide a motto or a guide for us to live by.

When Zechariah named his son, John, he meant several things. First, John means Jehovah’s gift or God is gracious, an acknowledgement of the truth surrounding John’s birth. Second, it is a discreet way of showing gratitude to God. Finally, it is obedience to God: it is the name which God asked Zechariah to name his child. Despite the people’s expectation to name the child after his father or ancestors, Zechariah defied convention if it was God’s will. Zechariah then proved his trust in God’s word, and finally regained his voice. Because of this, people began to wonder what the child will turn out to be.

A child is a bundle of possibilities. You will never know who they will turn out to be. For parents, a child is reason enough to thank God for. On the other hand, a child is his parents’ supreme responsibility. Often it depends on parents and those who stand in their place such as teachers, family members, friends how these possibilities will or will not be realized.

For many of us, we therefore look back on how we have contributed or not contributed to another person’s realization of their growth and possibilities. We first take into consideration ourselves, and see how others contributed or not contributed to our growth as persons. We look at our relationships in the family, with our friends, at our school or workplace and see how they are helping you grow and realize your possibilities. Finally, we look at ourselves: how do we contribute or stifle another person’s growth and the realization of their possibilities.

Part IV: The Desire to Be Part of God's Plan

Final Installment for the Advent Season

Note: I would like to share with you four dimensions of Advent. Each dimension will correspond to the four Sundays of the liturgical season. And just as it prepares us for the Christmas season, we too are being led to ally with God’s plan to save humankind. So the Sundays of Advent homilies will have a common thread. It will have four parts. This is the final part. For the second part, check the previous post titled Advent Part III: The Face of Joy.

This week’s readings will introduce to us those who conscripted to be part of God’s salvation. We heard about Manoah and his wife whose son, Samson, was given a mission to save the Israelites from the Philistines. We had Hannah whose son, Samuel, would play an important role in God’s choice of Israel’s kings. Prominent among them is David, on whose line Jesus will trace his roots. We hear about Zechariah and Elizabeth, whose son, John the Baptist, will be missioned to prepare the way for Jesus. And then we have Mary, whose willingness to be the mother of Jesus paved the way for the fulfillment of God’s salvific plan.

Even Jesus subscribed to His Father’s plan. In the beginning of the contemplations in the second week of the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius proposes a meditation prior to the annunciation of the birth of Jesus. He suggests to imagine the Trinity gazing on the world and seeing the reckless lives of many people. They see how terrible people are becoming. And if they will not intervene, the world will head towards its doom. So they decide that it is time to send someone to fulfill their promise of salvation. They know that they have to be one with humanity, thus they have to be incarnated into the world. While they were deliberating, they asked whom to send. And Jesus volunteers.

And then the angel Gabriel was sent to invite Mary to be the mother of Jesus. We already know what happens next. And we also know that this is the deepest meaning of Christmas: God sends His Only Son into the world to save us.

The first point. The Blessed Trinity looks at the world and decided to be actively involve and intervene in human history. Meditating on this scene, we realize that God continually gazes on us. Time and again, He intervenes in our personal lives. He sees the effects of global recession and climate change. He witnesses the death of many victims of violence on men, women, children and now the environment. He perceives the evil in the hearts of those who carried out the Maguindanao massacre. In the midst of the unfortunate events around us, the Lord invites us not to tire in our peace-keeping efforts. While terrible news are broadcasted on television, there are many people who begun serious efforts to ensure that justice is served. It is now our time to be actively part of God’s present plan of salvation. God does not need our ‘offerings’ He needs our will to participate.

Hebrews 10, 5-10 tells us: “Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in.” These are offered according to the law. Then he says, Behold, I come to do your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second. By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Second, change cannot happen unless we participate in the work of God. Every commitment is an agreement, a promise to see it through. It may begin in a single act and in a few minutes, but it would often require a lifetime. Signing up for charity will take a few seconds, but it would demand more than a few hours of our time. The marriage rite is around fifteen minutes, but the whole commitment demands all of our lives. Jesus’ agreement during the Incarnation will include his death on the cross at thirty-three. Mary’s yes at the Annunciation is inclusive of the many sorrows she will undergo as Jesus’ mother. We have to be the change we dream of. But we have to be willing to take the bitter pill.

Finally, how are we going to change? The plan of God seems too great and overwhelming. The answer is in the story of Christmas. Mary was not a “somebody.” She was an ordinary woman who did what she could, within her limitations. Manoah and his wife, Hannah, Elizabeth, and Zechariah were not exactly people with superpowers. But they began with a great desire. They are not exactly 100% holy. They doubted as Zechariah and many others. The great missionary, St. Paul, acknowledges his weakness. Sts. Augustine and Ignatius never concealed their recklessness. But they tried to live holy lives.

Someone once said that every virtue will eventually branch out into all other virtues. Thus, we can change by focusing on one virtue we like to attain. Take one such as kindness, especially if you think you’re not. At first, you will feel awkward and self-conscious. Give yourself time. They said it requires around 30 days to develop a habit. Later on, you will find yourself spontaneously charitable to people.

Want to help reverse the effects of global warming? Start by segregating your trash. Little efforts are like viruses. They spread until they take over your system. But this time, it will not make you sick, these good efforts will make you and the world better.

The fourth week of Advent invites us take action. St. Ignatius said that love should be expressed in deeds than in words. To God, He did not just promised in words, but enfleshed His promise. So we too should enflesh what we have, in the first place, vowed ourselves to do in baptism.

Day 7: Simbanggabi

22 December 2009 Misa de Gallo
1 Sam 1, 24-28; 1 Sam 2, 1-8; Luke 1, 46-56

Hailed as one of the greatest hymns of the Church, the Magnificat is overwhelmingly disorienting for the mind of the world. It effects a paradigm shift. It is, as William Barclay said, revolutionary. It is like Galileo’s uprising against the old Copernican geocentric universe. When everyone believed that the world is the center of the universe, Galileo proposes his heliocentric theory --- that the earth revolves around the sun. And those who took pride in being the “center” of everything, found themselves disoriented. The old way of thinking is forcibly overthrown in favor of a new social order.

The Magnificat is influenced by the canticle of Hannah which is the first reading and the responsorial psalm today. Hannah is the mother of Samuel. She had been praying for a son whom God granted. And out of sheer joy, dedicates him to Yahweh. The son is Samuel who will soon be a prophet.

Mary’s Magnificat interprets the coming of the Messiah. It takes its title from the first word in the Latin translation. Barclay said that the Magnificat espouses a moral, social and economic revolution. And it proposes a new worldview.

Mary said that the Lord “has shown the strength of His arm, and has scattered the proud in their conceit.” People who are proud think that they are the center of the universe. They think that all people should think and see the world only from the viewpoint. They believe that they are the standard-bearer of the world, and thus their opinions is always right and their way of life is always the best. The proud believes that whatever abilities they have comes from them. They want to be God. The Magnificat, however, exults not the proud, but the humble. The humble knows their abilities and use their abilities because they know that everything they have, in fact, are gifts from God. Thus a person who sees that everything is God-given will always share and care for others as they care for themselves. It is a moral revolution. When the world takes pride in itself, Christians take humility as a virtue. This is therefore the world in which Christians should build: a God-centered world.

Second, Mary said that the Lord “casts down the mighty from the thrones and has lifted up the lowly.” When the world recognizes as virtue popularity and prestige, the Lord loves the least, the lost and the lowly. This has proof in everything about Jesus. His genealogy ended the inequality between men and women, by including women in his family tree when the culture didn’t. His parables are about finding the lost even if it entails leaving the ninety-nine. He mingles with sinners and heals them. His disciples come from all forms of lowly backgrounds: the fisherfolk, the tax collector, the rebel. Mary was not a queen, but she was chosen to be the mother of the King of kings. Thus it is a social revolution: those in the lower ranks of society are placed on the pinnacle of importance.

Third, Mary said that the Lord “filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” When consumerism is the way of the world, the Lord’s way is altruistic. When we are acquisitive, the Lord invites us to give until it hurts. To be totally generous as He is. Many of us would always think automatically in any endeavor: What will I get from this? Christianity asks us to volunteer: How can I contribute? Where each one of us wants to horde as much as we can, the Lord wants us to save the best for the last. Thus, it is an economic revolution. No one dares to get more when there are others who have less.

The Magnificat has always been the canticle in evening prayers in the breviary. It is not just something we read, but it is something that we have to work on. From the Magnificat, we are to evaluate our lives. Reflect whether we have moved according to the eyes of God, according to how God sees the world and where it should be going. And from the Magnificat, we are to look at ourselves. To see ourselves as God sees us. In the Magnificat, Mary sees herself blessed: The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.

Day 6: Simbanggabi

21 December 2009 Misa de Gallo
Song of Songs 2, 8-14, Psalm 33; Luke 1, 39-45

When we pray the Hail Mary, we mumble the words without wondering about what it truly means. Upon Mary’s visitation to her cousin Elizabeth, Elizabeth praises her blessedness: “Blessed are you, among women!” But her blessedness is a paradox: To her was given the responsibility of rearing the very Son of God. Her pregnancy of this Son of God is a source of great joy and excitement! And yet, her heart will also be pierced by the sword of sorrow. In the end, her very source of joy will be crucified on the cross, like one of the worst criminals.

To be chosen by God so often means that it is at one hand, a privilege and a source of joy; but on the other hand, a cross of sorrow. The truth is that when God chooses us, He does not promise us comfort and ease in our life; but requires all of ourselves: our minds, our hearts and our bare hands. God chooses a person in order that He may be used as instruments. St. John of Arc, knowing that she will not last for a year, prayed, “I shall not last for a year, use me.” There is a religious tenet that is traditionally attributed to Teresa of Avila: when you suffer, it means that God loves you. It does not make any sense: usually we protect someone we love from being hurt, but it seems that God loves his beloved children to suffer more. And the greatest is Christ’s fate --- He allowed His Son to suffer on the cross until death!

Second, take other examples: We know of Manoah and his wife. In their old age, was granted a son, whom we know as Samson. Samson was a herculean figure; granted by God with great strength than ordinary men. He would wrestle with a lion, wipe out an army with a jawbone and eventually destroying a temple. However, Samson was not just a miracle, he was missioned to deliver Israel from the Philistines. He falls in love with Delilah who betrays him by revealing to the Philistines the secret of his strength. When his locks were shaved, the Philistines blinded him and he was treated like a slave. Eventually, his locks grew, gained strength, and killed many Philistines when he destroyed the temple, which also claimed his life.

Elizabeth and Zechariah: John was named “God’s graciousness” because John was God’s gift to them despite their age. They have rejoiced in the Lord for John’s coming to their lives. And yet, in the end, John would leave them and live in the desert. Eventually, John will be beheaded, not out of justice, but out of the whim of a dancer.

And yet, the blessedness of a person often lies in the very struggle that she or he has. It is one and at the same time, the greatest joy and the greatest sorrow. In other words, we grow when we choose. And many choices are not pleasureable especially when we are to choose between two or more things we like. When we live in this tension, the development that comes out of it is that which makes us holier and better. But that’s the way it is: Jesus came to us, not to make life easy or to remove our problems and sorrows, but to make people great! Greatness is tested in adversity and in pain. Who survives the fire becomes the purest gold!

The first reading from the Song of songs tells us that the lover rejoices and yearns to see the beloved. What we are in love with will decide everything.

Fr. Pedro Arrupe SJ, former General of the Jesuits, said, “What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, what you know that breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything.”

Day 5: Simbanggabi

20 December 2009. 4th Sunday of Advent
Micah 5, 1-4; Psalm 80; Hebrew 10, 5-10; Luke 1, 39 – 45

We remember that the message of the Annunciation was that both Mary and Elizabeth would become pregnant. The visit of Mary to Elizabeth confirms what the angel had told her, and it was a proof that God kept His word. Elizabeth’s words also confirmed Mary’s pregnancy: she knew about her pregnancy too. She greets her, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Sharing their pregnancies was a reason for so much joy. James A. Wallace in his book, Preaching to the Hungers of the Heart, tells us that “Mary is a model of responding to God’s grace and the Spirit’s counsel as she goes forth to be with Elizabeth and to utter the prophetic song that proclaims the agenda of God and her willing part in it.”

Mary sings the Magnificat, the prophetic song. She sings about how God reverses all plans and designs, defies conventions, chooses the weak instead of the strong and lifts up the lowly like Elizabeth and her. Mary sings with gladness! She sings because she knew she doesn’t deserve to be the mother of the Savior, nor does Elizabeth deserve to be the mother of a future prophet (all she asked was a son!). And in their being ordinary, God broke into their lives. The reaction of both women was not surprising for common folks. I have seen the difference when one gives a gift. One Christmas, I gave the same CD to two different persons: a poor and a rich friend. They both acknowledged the gift, but one can’t stop thanking me for remembering her. My friend from one of the urban poor areas where I was once assigned was elated more than the one from the affluent subdivision. Indeed, when one has nothing, a little gift means a lot!

Mary does not sing about herself, but about God: ever thankful why God has broken into the lives of two simple insignificant persons such as Elizabeth and her. God’s attention means a lot to them! And if Mary and Elizabeth experienced God’s personal preference, then God would do the same for many of us who are simple, insignificant, lonely, lowly, poor, and ordinary. In fact, Mary’s description of herself is this: “I am the handmaid (a servant, a slave girl) of the Lord.”

The world’s standard has it that kings are born of queenly rich women. God’s standard is its reverse. We are all unworthy to be in the presence of God, or for any visitation from God. His arrival on earth is not our achievement, but God’s. God chose us, thus, He has made us worthy of His breaking into our lives. And this is the reason of the deep joy of Mary and Elizabeth: a sharing of the experience of God’s preferential option to those who are poor.

Today, the Gospel encourages us to be like Mary and Elizabeth. We develop the habit to share not just our personal problems and opinions, our ideas and daily routines, but include in our conversations, the stories of how God has visited our lives. We prepare for the visit of the Lord in our ordinary lives by preparing our hearts as we prepare our homes to our visitors, and opening our doors to God’s graceful entry into our lives.

Day 4: Simbanggabi

19 December 2009: Misa de Gallo
Judges 13, 2-7, 24-25; Psalm 71; Luke 1, 5-25

There were two reasons why Zachariah in the Gospel was lucky. First, he was a priest, belonging to the section of Abia. Priests were estimable in Jewish belief. Second, Elizabeth, his wife was a direct descendant of Aaron, and all of Aaron’s descendants were priests. To marry a descendant of Aaron was highly praiseworthy. But Zachariah and Elizabeth had but one tragedy: they were childless. Jewish culture regards childlessness as a misfortune, belonging to the list of people who were excommunicated from God. Childlessness therefore was a ground for divorce.

With this in mind, it is not difficult for us now to imagine what Zachariah was praying at the temple when the angel Gabriel appeared to him. You see, Zachariah had the time of his life. There were too many priests at that time, and among all the priests, he was chosen to burn incense at the altar where burnt offering of a male lamb was offered. The smoke from the burnt offering and the incense brings the sacrifice to God. It was not unusual that many priests will not be able to burn incense the whole of their lives. And if the lot fell on any one of them, it would be the greatest day of their life. Such was Zachariah’s lot on the day the birth of John the Baptist was announced. It was indeed an answered prayer. However, owing to the fact of old age, Zachariah began to doubt. Who would not among us doubt the possibility of children at an old age? Nonetheless, for God nothing was impossible. Elizabeth in a short time was with child.

We can pause here to look at Zachariah and see what we can glean from him. Zachariah was lucky on many aspects. And like him, we too are lucky on some aspects of our lives. However, like Zachariah, we also have our deepest desire, the thing that we definitely yearn and pray for. It is the petition which we yearn God would answer in His time. So we ask, what do we pray for? Among all our petty needs, what seems to be the constant yearning and desire in our lives? What are answer from God are we waiting for?

Second, we can look at Elizabeth’s barrenness. Barrenness reminds us of a passage from the Gospel of John: “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away” (John 15, 2). Some of us interpret this passage like the Jews interpreting barrenness: if you don’t bear fruit, you are out of God’s hands, you can’t be a Christian. But if we think more closely: can anyone be out of God’s attention? Every one is within God’s heart, sinner or saint, fruitful or fruitless. Jesus used the phrase, “every branch in Me” almost like how believers are described as “in Christ” (1 Cor 1,30; 2 Cor 5, 17; Eph 2, 10 and Phil 3,9). Many Christians do not bear fruit, but they are nevertheless belonging to Christ; they are in Christ. We know this by heart: we have resolutions at the beginning of the year, and we find ourselves not fulfilling them; we have plans for our lives, but we find the plans only written on paper; and we have been trying on work, but we have not saved on things we intend to acquire. There are things to do, but we have not started any of them.

The Greek word used in John 15 is airo, meaning to ‘take up’ or ‘lift up’ not ‘take away’. Airo was used when the disciples took up the twelve baskets of food in the miracle of the loaves and fish, when Simon took Jesus’ cross, and John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Airo never means “cut off”. “Lifts up” gives us the image of a vinedresser leaning over a branch and lifts it up. You see for vineyard owners, every branch is important to be cut off. Each branch promises a large number of grapes. When grape branches begin to grow, many of the branches trail from the trellises, down to the ground where it gets coated in mud. When a branch drops to the ground, it does not bear fruit. Thus, the vinedresser “lifts up” (airo) the branch, cleanses it in water (like the cleansing of our sins), and puts or ties it on the trellis. Soon, that branch bears fruit. The barren branch becomes fertile. Elizabeth’s barrenness needs God’s hands to be fertile. Like all those who are childless, the couple cannot do anything about it: it needs God’s intervention.

We all have experiences of barrenness. We are stuck on certain issues in our lives. We cannot let go of an anger or hurt. We have a behavior or an attitude which we have to confront. We know our dark secrets and our sins. We know a certain tendency that we find ourselves powerless to control. We have people in our families we are ashamed of. We have certain experiences in our personal histories that we deny. And all these contribute to our wayward behavior: instead of gaining from these experiences, we find ourselves unable to move on --- we cannot function in freedom from them. In addition, just as barrenness means emptiness as a womb unable to fill in a child, we also feel that there are certain things that we lack: that hole in our hearts that needs fulfillment. The emptiness may be the reason why our lives have become static, rigid and lifeless. The emptiness that can only be filled by a person whom we yearn to be with, a friend who is far away and can’t make it home this Christmas, and a relationship that needs repair.

I would like to believe that Zachariah’s inability to speak after his doubt, was God’s way to intervene in his life of barrenness: for him to learn that God keeps his promises, that God listens to our deepest yearnings, that God has plans though his ways may often be painful. Like parents who discipline their child, they have to do it for the good of child. Let me give you an insight I got while working with parents: they said that when they discipline their child, they also get hurt in the process: it is also painful to them. I guess the Lord is also hurt when He disciplines us. In the end, it is the child’s obedience to his parents that frees him from misbehavior, the way Zachariah was freed from his inability when he followed the Lord’s bidding to name his child, John.

So we pray that the Lord may lift us up into our barrenness, and strengthens our trust in His plans.

Day 3: Simbanggabi

18 December 2009 Misa de Gallo
Jeremiah 23, 5-8; Psalm 71; Matthew 1, 18-25

There are three names of Jesus that are important in this angle of the story of His birth.

First, Jesus is “Son of David.” As an extension of the genealogy of Jesus, the story is about Jesus becoming a Davidic child through Joseph’s assuming the legal obligations of paternity. When Joseph learned of Mary’s pregnancy, he was embarrassed to take her as his wife. He must have thought that Mary was seduced or raped. And as a devout follower of the law of the Old Testament, he could not take Mary as his wife (Deut 22, 23-27). Not wishing to subject Mary to the trial of the woman suspected of adultery, he decided to divorce Mary quietly. Divorce proceeding were carried out on the initiative of the male (Deut 24,1). But the fear of Joseph was put to rest when the angel appeared in a dream. The angel tells him that Mary will conceived a Son by the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, He deserves the names, Son of David, Jesus and Emmanuel.

Names matter. Our names identify us and distinguish us specifically from one another. Like the name, “Son of David”, our surnames point to our genealogy and trace our blood relations with an identifiable line of ancestors we term our family tree. It connects us with them. In fact, through a genogram, we can visualize hereditary patterns and psychological factors that enlightens the dynamics in a family and in other relationships. If we want to understand our medical and psychological make-up we can refer to our family tree.

The second is “Jesus” from the Hebrew word, Yeshua, meaning “God saves.” In Jewish tradition, names are given with some significance to the course of their lives. Solomon, for example, means peace and he was the king whose reign was without warfare. So, the belief of Matthew and the whole of Christianity is in fact that Jesus saved us from our sins.

Like Jesus’ name, our names are sacred. It is not just a word, but it refers to a person made in the image and likeness of God. Our names should be said with reverence. On the 29th of June 2008, the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship published a directive about the use of the divine name of God, Yahweh. It says that YHWH should not be pronounced nor used in the liturgy. In the Old Testament, the proper name of God was held to be unpronounceable because the name expressed the infinite goodness and majesty of God.

Finally, Emmanuel from Isaiah 7, 14, “And they shall name Him, Emmanuel.” In Hebrew, Emmanuel means, “God with us” which expresses the significance of Jesus for Matthew and the early Church. At the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus would further affirm his name, “I am with you always, till the end of the age” (28,20).

Our names suggest a relationship. If we trace the names people call us since childhood, each particular endearing name associates us with a person who has been with us. In different parts of the country, Nonoy, Nene, Inday, Dodong, Palanga are used by people close to us. In elementary and high school, we are sometimes called by our full or given names. And in work, our names will now have a title and uttered with respectability. If we identify the names our companions in our lives call us, which particular name is significant to you?

With these three names, Jesus is placed in the whole history of salvation. With the name, Son of David, Jesus becomes a descendant of Abraham and David. Thus He was the fulfillment of all their hopes and the promises of God to them. In addition, with the names, Jesus and Emmanuel, it gives attention to the extraordinariness of His nature and life. His unusual mode of birth tells us that He surpasses all those of his ancestors and all other generations after Him.

Day 3: Simbanggabi

18 Disyembre 2009 Misa de Gallo
Jeremiah 23, 5-8; Psalm 71; Matthew 1, 18-25

Tatlong pangalan ang mahalagang maunawaan sa kuwento ng pagkapanganak kay Hesus.

Una, ang “Anak ni Dabid”. Bilang kakabit ng kaangkanan ni Hesus, kinukuwento ng Ebanghelio kung paanong naging “Anak ni David” si Hesus sa pagtanggap ni Jose sa lahat ng legal na obligasyong bilang ama. Noong nalaman ni Jose na buntis si Maria, inakala niya na ito’y nabuntis ng iba. At bilang masugid na sumusunod sa utos ng Lumang Tipan, hindi nito maaaring pakasalan ang isang disgrasyada (Deut 22, 23-27). Dahil ayaw niyang maranasan ni Maria ang inabot ng babaeng nakipag-apid, pinag-isipan na lamang niyang hiwalayan nito nang tahimik pagkatapos ng kasalan. Sa Lumang Tipan, ang paghihiwalay ay nakabatay sa pagkukusa ng lalaki (Deut 24, 1). Ngunit naglaho ang pagdududa ni Jose nang magpakita ang anghel sa isang panaginip. Sinabi nito na buntis si Maria sa pamamagitan ng Espiritu Santo. Dahil dito, tatawagin Siyang: Anak ni Dabid, Hesus, at Emanuel.

Mahalaga ang pangalan sa ating buhay. Nakikilala ang ating pinanggalingang angkan sa pamamagitan ng ating mga apelyido. Tinuturo ng pangalan ang ating mga kamag-anakan. Sa katunayan, magagamit natin ang ating ‘family tree’ o genealogy upang maunawaan ang ating pakikitungo sa ating pamilya at kaibigan. O kaya, maunawaan ang ating kasaysayang medikal.

Ang pangalawa ang pangalang, Hesus. Galing ito sa Yeshua, kahulugan sa Hebreo, “Nagliligtas ang Diyos.” Sa tradisyon ng mga Hudyo, may kahalagahan ang pangalan sa buhay. Halimbawa, kapayapaan ang ibig sabihin ng pangalang, Solomon. Sa kasaysayan ng Israel, walang digmaan sa panahon ni Haring Solomon. Para kay Mateo at sa lahat ng mga Kristiyano, ang pangalang Hesus nagpapahiwatig ng ating panananampalataya sa Kanya. Iniligtas Niya tayo sa ating pagkamakasalanan.

Tulad ng pangalan ni Hesus, banal ang ating mga pangalan. Dahil hindi lang isang salita lamang ang ating pangalan, kundi tinutukoy nito ang ating buong pagkatao --- ang ating pagiging anak ng Diyos. Noong ika-29 ng Hunyo 2008, inilabas ang kautusan ng Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship ukol sa paggamit ng Yahweh sa liturhiya. Sa Lumang Tipan, hindi sinasalita o ginagamit itong pangalan ng Diyos dahil sa labis-labis na paggalang, pagpapahalaga at pagbubunyi sa Kabanalbanalan at Kataas-taasang Diyos.

Panghuli, ang ngalang Emanuel ay matatagpuan sa Isaias 7, 14. “Nasaatin ang Diyos” ang kahulugan ng pangalang Emanuel. Mahalaga ang pangalang ito kay Mateo at sa mga Kristiyano. Sa Ebanghelio ayon kay Mateo, ang huling pangako ni Hesus ay isang pagiging Emanuel, “Tandaan ninyo na ako ay sumasainyo sa lahat ng araw hanggang sa wakas ng daigdig” (28,20).

Bawat pangalan natin ay may kaugnayan sa ating mga naging kasama sa buhay. Kung iipunin natin ang lahat ng pangalang tinawag sa atin, may kakabit itong mga kapamilya’t kapuso. May kalakip itong alaala. Nagbabago ang ating pangalan ayon sa mga taong nakasama natin. Ang tawag na Nonoy, Nene, Inday, Dodong, Palanga kadasalang galing sa kapamilya. Ang ating tunay na pangalan ay ginagamit ng mga kaklase natin. At kapag nakapagtrabaho na tayo, may mga titulo na ang tawag ng ating mga kasama. Kung ikaw ang tatanungin, anong pangalan ang pinakamahalaga sa iyo?

Makikita natin kung sino ang Panginoong Hesus sa buong kasaysayan ng ating kaligtasan. Bilang Anak ni Dabid, siya ang kaganapan ng lahat ng pangarap at pag-asa ng mga tao sa Lumang Tipan. Siya din ang katuparan ng mga pangako ng Diyos. Sa pangalang Hesus at Emanuel, pinapakita ang kahanga-hanga at katangi-tanging pagkatao ni Hesus. Sya ang Diyos na nagkatawang tao.

Day 2: Simbanggabi

17 December 2009. Misa de Gallo
Genesis 49, 2-10; Psalm 72; Matthew 1, 1-17

The genealogy or family tree for the Jews is very important. It tells us who he is and what is his worth. The reason for this interest in genealogies or pedigrees was that the Jews set the greatest possible store on the purity of lineage. If in any man, there was a slightest admixture of foreign blood, he lost his right to be called a Jew, and a member of the people of God. Thus, Matthew first presented the lineage of Jesus. Matthew established that Jesus was a descendant of Abraham and of King David. His regal character is emphasized. To trace the lineage of Jesus to Abraham, he proved that He was indeed a Jew; and to trace his lineage to King David, Matthew established that Jesus indeed is the Messiah, fulfilling the prophecy that the Messiah is to come from the line of David. The repetition of the number 14 in the genealogy, cries out the letters daleth (4), wav (6), daleth (4), which are the consonants of the name of David (Dod or Beloved).

But the most amazing of Matthew's genealogy of Jesus are the names of the women who appear in it. It is not normal to find the names of women in Jewish family trees. The woman had no legal rights; she was not regarded as a person. She was regarded as a thing. She was merely the possession of her father or of her husband, and she is in his disposal to do as he liked. In fact, the regular morning prayer of a Jew is to thank God that he had not made him a Gentile, a woman or a slave. Jesus will radically change all these as illustrated by his lineage.

But when we look at who these women are, the genealogy of Jesus becomes interesting and more amazing. Rahab, was a prostitute of Jericho (Joshua 2:1-7). Ruth was not a Jewess, but a Moabitess (Ruth 1:4). And as a foreigner, she was not allowed to enter the assembly of the Lord. To make things worse, the Jews hated the Moabites. Tamar was a seducer and adulteress (Genesis 38). And finally, Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, was the woman whom David seduced from Uriah, her husband (Samuel 11 & 12). These are the women in Jesus' genealogy.

And what does it say to us?

First, God’s love is inclusive. It includes the Jews and the Gentiles. Rahab, the prostitute of Jericho and Ruth, the woman of Moab, find their place in the lineage of Jesus. Thus, in Christ there is no Jew nor Greek. God's love includes everybody. God's love is universal. It goes beyond color and race; beyond rich or poor.

In a communion line, a rich woman with her sparkling jewelry wanted to cut the line. The poor woman at the line motioned to her that she should line up like the rest. The rich woman was annoyed. She asked sternly, "Whose daughter are you?" The poor woman answered, "I am a child of God. How about you?"

Second, God loves all of us equally and distinctively. His love is beyond gender. The old contempt for women is gone. Men and women stand equally dear to God, and equally important to His purposes.

An English professor on the blackboard wrote these words, "Woman without her man is nothing," and directed the students to punctuate it correctly.
The men wrote: "Woman, without her man, is nothing."
The women wrote: "Woman! Without her, man is nothing."

There is another saying that "A woman is like a tea bag, you never know how strong it is, until it's in hot water."


Finally, God loves both the sinner and the saint --- especially the sinner. Somehow God uses anyone, sinner or saint, for his purposes. The greatest saints like Mary Magdalene, Augustine and Ignatius were the greatest sinners before their conversion. Sinner or saint, we all fit in the scheme of God. We, sinners, have a place in God's plan. "I came," Jesus said, "not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matthew 9:13). Jesus frees us from slavery from sin.

One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting. "Yes sir, I just caught the world full of people down there. I set a trap, used bait I knew they couldn't resist. Got 'em all!"
"What are you going to do with them?" Jesus asked.
Satan replied, "Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse. I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I'm really gonna have fun!"
"And what will you do when you get done with them?" Jesus asked.
"Oh, I'll kill 'em," Satan glared proudly.
"How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked.
"Oh, you don't want those people. They ain't no good. Why, you take them and they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you and kill you!! You don't want those people!!"
"How much?" He asked again. Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your tears, and all your blood."
Jesus said, "DONE!" Then He paid the price for the sinners by dying on the Cross.
And thus to save us from our slavery, he came down to earth and gave us himself.

And so we pray with Gerald Manley Hopkins' "Now Begin on Christmas Day."

"Moonless darkness stands between,
Past, O Past, no more be seen!
But the Bethlehem star may lead me
To the sight of Him who freed me
From the self that I have been.

Make me pure, Lord; Thou art holy;
Make me meek, Lord; Thou wert lowly;
Now beginning, and always;
Now begin on Christmas Day!"

Day 1: Simbanggabi

16 December 2009 Misa de Gallo
Isaiah 56, 1-8; Psalm 66; John 5, 33-36

Note: the Misa de Gallo readings are special. So I can't, at this moment, find a link.

There are movies that begin with the ending, and the rest of it is a flashback. These movies tell us that the incidents that led to the climax is as important as the ending itself. I believe this is what Simbanggabi is to many Filipinos who religiously try to be part of this tradition. We already know the climax of the 9-day novena: Christ’s birth at Christmas. But what spurs us to come to mass as early as four in the morning? Jonathan Velasco, a world-renown conductor says this on facebook: “But it's the thrill of going to church at that crazy hour, and finding that all your neighbors also got crazy and woke up at that hour, that makes it nice. hahaha! There was a year we sang in all 9 dawn masses at 4am!” The “craziness” is thrilling itself; and we find it enjoyable to be crazy!

What for? Because the ending is ‘crazier’ -- it is a celebration of what is surprising in our faith and in our lives. Think: a mother who is a virgin (ha! Who among you are mothers and virgins at the same time? ha!ha!ha!); a God who becomes human (while Presidents hold on to power, our God opted to come down His throne); or a child who is God! In Kung Fu Panda’s memorable words, we are preparing for some awesomeness! Because Christmas is a story of the impossible becoming possible. For the unthinkable and the unimaginable becoming real and true. The word, “becoming” is emphasized: the process is as important as the climax. The verb tells us that the possibility did not happen in a flick of a finger, but incrementally. That to be possible, the impossible will need time and our participation in the transformation.

Many Filipinos come to Simbanggabi with a great need. They pledge (panata) to God that they would sacrifice some precious sleeping time to come to mass as a proof of their sincerity. And hoping that God would see their desires, He would fulfill them. When we acknowledge our need for God, we are drawn closer to Him, as the needy clings to the source of hope. Thus, the Simbanggabi tells us that it is good to be ‘in need’ --- even if our desires seem impossible and crazy. I have a friend who completed the 9-day novena on December 2007 for a ‘crazy’ need: to pray for a boyfriend! A year later, she got her wish. On August 2009, I officiated their wedding. Call it whatever, but in faith, nothing is impossible with God.

Second, we come to the early dawn masses to celebrate the awesomeness of family and friends. We have observed that the excitement of the Simbanggabi lies in coming to mass together with a group of people we love. The gradual nine-day event tells us that the awesomeness of family and friends carry with it the years spent together, in life’s highs and lows. Two days ago, a group of elderly ex-Jesuits came to carol their batchmates (Jesuit priests) at the infirmary. This is truly BFF (Best Friends Forever!) To see these guys singing to their friends who are ill is simply awesome.

Finally, we come to mass to celebrate community. In the first reading from Isaiah affirms that we become a house of prayer when we are just in the sight of God. St. Paul tells us that we become one despite our differences when we have only one love. Christmas draws us to that One and Only Love. The experience of unity amidst diversity --- in opinion, in political position, in color and race, in gender and orientation --- is an experience of awesomeness. Think again of the throng of people everywhere coming to worship!

But we still have many desires. We are waiting for God to fulfill them. In the Philippines, the desire for peace and order becomes more intense. Simbanggabi proposes that we have to be part of God’s plan for peace to be achieved. The process includes both God and humanity. In other words, the “nine-day” novena is the whole process of fulfillment. The readings are exactly designed for it. (See here for a diagram.) Applied concretely, it is the steps we take to make peace possible in war-torn Maguindanao. If God grants boyfriends/girlfriends, He will grant peace --- but we have to show how serious we are in wanting it. Because the opposite is true: some people would rather be in power and would hold on to it even if it means war.

When we express our love in many ways this season, we are surprising our love ones. We let them taste what is awesome. And to many of us, experiencing the love of others is amazing. I believe those who are heartless are those who didn’t feel the surprise of love. So while we are amazed at how our children are growing up, we must surprise them constantly with love. So that when the temptation to be bad comes to their minds, their experience of love will conquer it.

Advent Part III: The Face of Joy

13 December 2009: 3rd Sunday of Advent
Zephaniah 3, 14-18; Philippians 4, 4-7; Luke 3, 10-18

Note: I would like to share with you four dimensions of Advent. Each dimension will correspond to the four Sundays of the liturgical season. And just as it prepares us for the Christmas season, we too are being led to ally with God’s plan to save humankind. So the Sundays of Advent homilies will have a common thread. It will have four parts. This is the third part. For the second part, check the previous post titled Advent Part II: The Face of Remorse and Reconciliation.

The source of our joy is God’s assurance. The future becomes certain with God’s promise of a Savior. And we become healed and peaceful because God promised us forgiveness.

The celebration of the 3rd Sunday of Advent is a celebration of joy where we light the rose or pink candle that symbolize joy. It breaks that misconception of Christianity as a religion of seriousness. Joy is at the very core of our faith. Paul set before the Philippians in the second reading the quality of joy: he stressed, “Rejoice!” When he was writing his letter to the Philippians, he was in prison almost certain of his death. But still, he said, “Rejoice!” The prophet Zephaniah also said, “Shout for joy!” You see, Christian joy is independent of all things on earth because its source is the continual presence of Christ no matter what situation we may find ourselves in. Take for example two sweethearts. They are always happy when they are together, no matter where they are. As long as they are together, whether they are in middle of the smelly fish market of Balintawak or the scented ambiance of cafés, they are happy. Their joy is not dampened by their human situation. The source of their joy is beyond their life situation. This common expression illustrates this point: “kahit saging, basta loving.” (even if you eat banana, as long as you're loving)

The message of John lays down important principles of joy. First, John stressed our social responsibility. He tells us that we should share what we have with one another. There is a certain deep fulfillment that we feel when we are able to help others. We find joy in giving, not in hording.

Second, there is joy in our daily, routine work. John said that our salvation is worked out in our daily work. John ordered that a person should not have to leave his job to work for his salvation. For example, many of us compartmentalize faith --- we do our daily routine as if they are separated from faith, and we go to mass to fulfill our duties to God. But John tells us that our daily menial work is part of faith. If one is a tax collector, be a good one; if one is a soldier, be a good soldier. Do not take advantage of one’s position. In our present situation: if you are a teacher, you will be saved by becoming a good teacher. If you are a student, you will be saved by becoming a good student. If you are church or civil official, you don’t have to leave your work to be saved, but do your job excellently and you will be saved. Our faith teaches us that nowhere can a person serve God fully well than in one’s daily work.

Finally, there is joy in prayer because we meet the very source of our joy: God who loves us. When we pray we remember the love of God, and only desires what is best for us. He the joy lies in the very quality of God’s love for us: He loves us for whatever and whoever we are.

A few weeks ago, a husband said to me: “My wife had a mudpack, and she looked great for two days. Then, the mud fell off.” (joke!) With or without the mudpack, God loves us. Isn’t this a real source of joy? It is not surprising then, that when Jesus described to us what the Kingdom of God is, he said, “a banquet” --- a celebration, a party, a gathering to celebrate. Because Christianity is about joy: we know when a person has Christ in his heart, because the person lives and exudes a certain joy in his heart. Perhaps a practical exercise: look at yourself in the mirror. Is your face exuding the dryness and lifelessness of the desert, or is joy emanating from it?

A Celebration of Simplicity

8 December 2009 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Gen 3, 9-15,20; Psalm 98; Eph 1, 3-12; Luke 1, 26-38

Note: Filipino homily in previous post.

The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is indeed an extraordinary event. It tells us that God has ordained that Mary, who would be the Mother of Jesus, would be free from the stain of sin. Thus, Mary was given the grace of being conceived without sin because of her future role as the Mother of God. This grace is purely an unmerited gift of God.

The feast of the Immaculate Conception was established as a universal feast in 1476 by Pope Sixus IV, but it was defined as a dogma by Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854 in the document, Ineffabilis Deus. This dogma is supported by Scripture --- the Gospel today --- when the Angel Gabriel addressed her as “full of grace” as well as the writings of Church Fathers such as Ireneaus of Lyons and Ambrose of Milan. The devotion of Our Lady of Lourdes made the dogma ever more significant. In the apparition to Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes, she identified herself as “the Immaculate Conception”.

In addition, what made this event extraordinary is the realization that God has chosen an ordinary woman -- not a beauty queen or a rich girl --- to be the Mother of God. But this one great event of her birth acquired more ‘flesh’ in her daily life. She has lived this holiness every single day. So that what was once extraordinary became part and parcel of ordinary life. She carried out this holiness, which reached its peak when she said yes to the will of God, despite the threat to her life (Women caught to be pregnant without a husband were stoned to death). Furthermore, she followed through her promise to remain holy forever.

I believe that celebrating the Immaculate Conception is a celebration of a possibility: that ordinary people like us can live holy lives. There is a growing cultural pessimism about human nature. There is a belief that we cannot be holy thus we just have to be resigned to this view of human nature. No matter how hard we try, we will eventually sin. To me, having to be holy begins with a trust that our nature is good; that we can live holy lives. Often we become what we believe: if we believe we are forever sinful, then we become indeed sinful. Eventually, we become pessimistic of human nature. Many of those who do not believe in the goodness of persons have made a generalization. Because of their traumas and hurts, they think all of us are the same as their oppressors. For example, we know of those who have become bitter. Because they have been hurt by their boyfriends, they think all men are the same. Or because they have witnessed graft and corruption in government, they think all those who work in government are all dishonest and unprincipled.

But many saints precisely offered their lives in full service of humanity because they believe that every single human being is basically good. They believe that what God said in Genesis was true: everything He created is good. And thus, we are all worthy of His grace. Catholic theology teaches us that when Jesus rose from the dead, everything became new. Christ’s redemption freed us from original sin. We became God’s children, not merely God’s creatures. Do we not carry the Spirit of God with us? We are God’s temple and therefore we are holy. And if we respond to the Spirit of God in us, we, ordinary human beings, can live holy lives. John Brown defined holiness as “thinking as God thinks, willing as God wills”.

To think as God thinks and will as God wills can be applied to ordinary lives. There is a holy studying; a holy taking a bath; a holy talking to a friend. When we love someone as God loves, then we put forth who we really are.

Ang Pinipili ng Diyos

8 December 2009. Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Gen 3, 9-15,20; Psalm 98; Eph 1, 3-12; Luke 1, 26-38

May kuwento ako. Bago makarating sa sabsaban si Jose at Maria, nagpakita ang Angel Gabriel sa lahat ng mga hayop. Pipiliin nito ang karapatdapat na makakasama ng banal na pamilya. Sabi ng leon, “Dahil ako ang hari, ako ang karapatdapat na maging bantay ng Hari ng Sanlibutan. Papatayin ko ang lahat na lalapit sa kanya.” Sabi ng angel, “Masyado kang malakas at mayabang.” Sabi ng paboreal (peacock), “Kung ako ang pipiliin ninyo, papagandahin ko ang buong sabsaban,” at pinakita niya ang kanyang napakamakulay na buntot. Sabi ng anghel, “masyado kang banidoso.” Walang napili ang anghel sa kanyang nakausap. “Wala na bang iba?” tanong ng anghel. Sa labas ng sabsaban, nakita nito ang isang asno at isang kalabaw. “Kayo, anong maipapakita ninyo?” sabi ng anghel. “Wala. At kung meron man, maari naming paypayan ang sanggol para hindi dapuan ng mga langgaw.” “Kayo! Kayo ang kailangan ko,” tuwa ng anghel.

Pinagdiriwang sa Kalinis-linisang Paglililhi kay Maria ang kakaibang pagpipili ng Diyos sa kanyang magiging katuwang sa pagpapatupad ng Kanyang plano sa atin. Si Maria ay isang simpleng babae: hindi siya mayaman, artista, beauty queen o prinsesa. Ngunit, sa lahat-lahat na babae sa buong mundo, isang payak ang pinili ng Diyos na karapat-dapat na magdalang-tao kay Hesus. At dahil dito, minabuti ng Diyos na hindi madadapuan ng kasalanan si Maria, dahil magiging ina siya ng mismong Diyos.

Kahit sa kasaysayan, ang mga pinili ng Diyos ay mga taong makasalanan. Kilala natin sina Tamar, Rahab, Jakob, Dabid at Bathsheba na nanay ni Haring Solomon. Ang mga kasama at naging alagad ni Hesus ay may iba’t ibang pinanggalingan tulad ni Mateo, Simon na Zealotes, at siyempre ang kanyang mga pinatawad tulad ng babaeng naki-apid, si Zakeo, si Maria Magdalena, atbp. Marami sa mga tinaguriang banal tulad ni San Ignacio at San Agustin ay may mga nakaraan.

Sa araw na ito, pinapaalala sa atin na kahit tayo ay makasalanan maaari tayong tumugon sa tawag ng Diyos sa atin. Kailangan nating maniwala na kahit simple lang ang ating mga kakayahan, magagamit natin ito para sa ikabubuti ng lahat.

Pangalawa, walang imposible sa Diyos ayon sa Ebanghelio. Ang kabanal-balang paglilihi kay Maria ay isang pagpapatunay nito. Sino ang makakapag-akala na ang kanyang pagbubutis ay sa pamamagitan ng Espiritu Santo? Sino ang makaka-isip na magpapasiya ang Diyos maging tao tulad natin? Sino ang makakapaniwalang ang isang bata ay Diyos? Higit sa lahat, kahit maraming balakid tulad ng mga may-ari ng matutuluyan sana nina Maria at Jose, o kaya si Haring Herodes na nagtangkang patayin si Hesus, hindi nila napigilan ang Diyos sa ganapan ng Kanyang binalak.

Pinapalalim sa araw na ito ang pagtitiwala natin sa Diyos. Maraming mga oras na akala natin ay walang nang pag-asa. Kapag maraming balakid na sa pagpapatupad ng ating mga plano sa buhay, inaakala natin na imposible na itong mangyari. Kapag ang ating mga pangarap ay matayog, sinasabi natin sa ating sarili na mahirap na itong maabot. Ngunit maraming tao ang nakamtan ang kanilang napakalalim na hangarin sa pamamagitan ng pagsisikap at paniniwala sa kakayahan at, kasama nito, ang tiwala na hindi kailanman binabalewala tayo ng Diyos. Walang imposible sa Diyos, kung tinutulungan din natin ang ating sarili --- naging posible ang lahat dahil sinikap ni Maria isabuhay ang kanyang “Oo” sa Diyos.

Advent Part II: The Face of Remorse and Reconciliation

6 December 2009 2nd Sunday of Advent
Bar 5,1-9; Psalm 126; Phil 1, 4-11; Luke 3, 1-6

Note: I would like to share with you four dimensions of Advent. Each dimension will correspond to the four Sundays of the liturgical season. And just as it prepares us for the Christmas season, we too are being led to ally with God’s plan to save humankind. So the Sundays of Advent homilies will have a common thread. It will have four parts. This is the second. For the first part, check the previous post titled Advent Part I: The Face of a Promise.

Part II. The Face of Remorse and Reconciliation

We used insights of the Jewish-German philosopher, Hannah Arendt to begin our reflections on the Sundays of Advent. She said that we are in a state of chaos because of our uncertain future and our wounded past. Our uncertain future is secured by our promises; and our past is healed by forgiveness. In the first Sunday of Advent, we see that God saves us from chaos by promising us a Savior and a life that is safe and secure. This Sunday, God promises to bring back those who were scattered. In the first reading from the prophet Baruch, Jerusalem is portrayed as a mother who yearns for the return of her children. By promising to bring them back, the mother is consoled. The resolution is therefore a gathering, a reconciliation, a return of those who are scattered. When this reunion happens, a new relationship is established.

Every waiting consists of an evaluation in view of a restoration. When my close friend informed me of his return to the Philippines, he asked me to meet him and his daughter in Makati. As I waited, I could not help but remember the times we spent together in the novitiate and the juniorate. We were together in the first two stages of Jesuit formation. The memories that flooded my mind and my heart led me to assess the depth of our friendship. And part of the remembering is to accept the times when we have “forgotten” each other as we both pursued our own vocations: he as a family man and I as a priest. In the remembering -- and the catching up -- the desire to deepen our friendship intensified. We do assess our relationships while we wait for the person to arrive.

That is why in the second week of advent, we are asked to look back and assess. It is indeed a pagbabalik-tanaw. To “prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths” is the cry of John the Baptist in the desert. But we have to keep in mind the purpose of this assessment so that we will not be led to some form of self-condemnation. St. Paul sets the context in his letter to the Philippians: “that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” The assessment is in view of love.

With this note, we are to be aware that in our life there is a mysterious ambivalence: in the abundance of sin, there is the super-abundance of Grace. In the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola clearly asks that we pray for the grace of a deep sorrow for our sins and our patterns of predisposition towards sinfulness. At the same time, to beg the Lord for a deep sense of awe because God continues to accompany us and to give us the grace to become whole and holy despite the sinfulness around and within us. In the headlines of newspapers here in the Philippines, we see this ambivalence: as we are shocked by the recent Maguindanao massacre and the extent of our heartlessness; we also hear the stories of heroes and the breadth of their ‘heartfullness.’

Because this is the truth. We are NOT waiting for Christ to come, AS IF, He isn’t here now. He is with us, always with us. We need Him to assess our lives. In fact, it is the Holy Spirit who teaches us to pray. I am therefore convinced that it is God who waits for us, not we waiting for Him. For all our attempts at conversion and penitence, God in His unconditional love and acceptance of us can make us realize how real our sins are. Scripture uses different images of sin, but it also gives us a corresponding image of the sacred. Stain is revealed in bright white. The miss is revealed against the target. Darkness against the light. Enslavement vis-a-vis our freedom of heart. Alienation and division brought by sin is revealed most clearly in the context of a relationship of wholeness and unity. That is why when we need space to re-think our relationships, we ask how far or how close we are to the person we love. We think about how we have alienated or caused the rift that affects the ties that bind us. So that knowing the source, we are able to reconcile and strengthen the relationship.

In the second week of Advent, we look back at our lives and our selves. We look deeply at God’s overtures, drawing us to return to Him. Where lies our pretenses, our masks and our idols that plague our hearts? And more importantly, why and how we are led to maintain them? Sometimes, we have to look at the things we are afraid of, such as our fear of rejection or failure that keeps us from forgiving others and ourselves. Because they pose as obstacles to our return to the God who waits.

Jesuits on Stamps

Pinoy Kasi
By Michael Tan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:02:00 12/02/2009

This is not a guest post. But a reprint from the Opinions section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Here is the link.

With Ateneo de Manila University’s sesquicentennial coming up, I began to read up on the history of the Jesuits in the Philippines. There were numerous publications on this topic in libraries—real and virtual—but the most entertaining one I found was on the Internet, with the Jesuits’ story told in stamps.

The story is posted on the website of the Manresa House, a Jesuit retreat center in the United States, and is managed by Fr. Peter Fennessy, who has included stamps from all over the world as long as it has something to do with the Jesuits. The collection is immense, with one webpage after another, divided into three sections: Jesuits, Jesuit Institutions and Jesuitica.

Click on Jesuit Institutions and you have an index listing the many countries in the world where the Jesuits are present. Click on the Philippines and you have 10 pages of materials, providing an excellent overview of the Jesuits in the Philippines. The many stamps that our Post Office has issued to commemorate Jesuit institutions is in itself a testament to the strong impact of the Jesuits on the Philippines.

Schools

There were four stamps issued in 1981 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Jesuits in the Philippines. Pope Paul III gave recognition to the Society of Jesus as a new order in 1537, so the Jesuits were still very new when they came to the Philippines.

The Jesuit presence in the Philippines is mainly associated with schools. Their first school in the Philippines was not Ateneo de Manila but Colegio de Manila, dating back to 1601. This institution later became Colegio de San Jose. When the Jesuits were expelled from the Philippines, it was taken over by secular clergy and remained with them until 1910, when Pope Pius X returned the school to the Jesuits. Today, Colegio de San Jose still exists but as San Jose Seminary.

The Bureau of Posts issued a stamp to commemorate the 400th year of this institution in 2001 but curiously, we were not the first to commemorate Colegio de San Jose. In 1988, Spain issued a stamp showing Plaza de Manila with Real (which means “Royal”) Colegio de San Jose next to Seminario Real de San Carlos and the Manila Cathedral. (The caption on the webpage mistakenly identifies the seminary as San Jose when it should have been San Carlos.)

The Jesuits went through Suppression (the word is spelled with a capital S) from 1767 to 1814 because of politics within the Catholic Church and the Spanish aristocracy. They were expelled from the Spanish colonies, including the Philippines.

After they returned in 1859, they took over a municipal school, Escuela Pia, which was transformed into Ateneo de Manila. Our Bureau of Posts issued stamps to commemorate the 100th, 125th and 150th anniversaries of Ateneo, all with their most famous alumnus, Jose Rizal.

The latest stamps issued this year for Ateneo’s sesquicentennial are filled with all kinds of iconic images related to Ateneo de Manila: Fr. Horacio de la Costa, the Manila Observatory, the Blue Eagle Gym, the Chapel of St. Stanislau Kostka, a statue of St. Ignatius, Jose Rizal, Ateneo Gawad Kalinga, Fr. William Masterson, the Intramuros Manila Campus and the Rockwell campus.

Other Jesuit institutions that have been commemorated through Philippine stamps are Xavier University (which started in 1933 as Ateneo de Cagayan High School), Ateneo de Davao (founded in 1948, when Ateneo brothers took over St. Peter’s Parochial School), Xavier School (established in 1956 for Chinese-Filipinos) and Cebu’s Sacred Heart School (began in 1957 as a Jesuit school also for Chinese-Filipinos but now managed by Hijas de Jesus, an order of Catholic sisters).

There’s also a stamp issued as part of a series to commemorate Rizal’s life, depicting the Church of St. James in Dapitan, where Rizal once lived in exile. The Dapitan mission was established by a Mexican Jesuit, Fr. Pedro Gutierrez, in the 17th century.

I should mention, too, that one of the four stamps issued to commemorate the 400th year of the Jesuits in the Philippines showed the Manila Observatory and Fr. Federico Faura (yes, this is Padre Faura, after whom a street is named in Ermita, Manila). The Manila Observatory was a Jesuit institution and was the first in Asia to issue warnings about approaching typhoons. The Spanish government eventually put up secondary institutions throughout the country, forming a vast meteorological service that also monitored earthquakes. The Observatory also conducted astronomical studies.

The large number of stamps issued by other countries with Jesuit-related themes reminds us of how much influence the Jesuits had through their various institutions. We learn from the website that the United States was the first country to issue a stamp depicting a Jesuit. This was in 1898 and the Jesuit was Fr. Jacques Marquette.

Friends and enemies

The stamps mainly commemorate institutions and somehow miss out on many of the other important contributions of the Jesuits at the level of communities, similar to the Dapitan mission. People tend to forget that the Jesuits also tried to reach some of the more remote areas of the country. The Dapitan mission was set up to reach the Subanen. In the 19th century, after they returned to the Philippines, their first mission in Mindanao was Tamontaka, where the Tirurays lived.

In the 20th century, the Jesuits chose to work with the Chinese in the Philippines, almost as if to follow in the footsteps of Francis Xavier, who died on an island off the southern coast of China after a long wait trying to get into the mainland. The opposite happened in the 20th century, with Jesuits expelled from China after the communist victory in 1949, but they found they could continue to work with the Chinese in the Philippines.

Let’s get back to that Jesuit stamps website. Under “Jesuitica,” there is a subsection called “Friends and Enemies” which reflects the ambivalence of feelings toward this religious order, even within the Catholic Church.
There is one stamp from the Philippines showing Mother Ignacia de Espiritu Santo, who founded the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM). The Jesuit connection? Her spiritual adviser was a Jesuit, Fr. Paul Klein. The stamps issued to commemorate Sacred Heart School shows another Catholic sister, Blessed Candida Maria of Jesus Cipitria, who founded Hijas de Jesus and was influenced by St. Ignatius, the founder of the Society of Jesus.

So there you have it, the Jesuit story through stamps. Check out the site: http://www.manresa-sj.org/stamps/

Building a Solid Faith Foundation

3 December 2009 Memorial of St. Francis Xavier
Isaiah 26, 1-6; Psalm 118; Matthew 7, 21-27

A musician may spend years studying music, but cannot be a great one without practice. He begins to read the notes of a piece, tediously playing each note on the keys or the strings. At first, every single note is played consciously. As one progresses through constant practice, the fingers play automatically, as if playing on its own. But the musician remains attune to the spirit of the piece. In music, this is called muscle memory.

The same thing in our spiritual life. It is through constant practice that we become prayerful and in-synch with God. St. Ignatius of Loyola called his most famous book, The Spiritual Exercises, because they are like instructions on what to pray for, what to ask, and how to go about praying, but it is not the prayer itself. It is like an exercise book that guides you. When accustomed to it, the pray-er (the person praying) gets into contemplation right away, thereby praying. Here the person begins to enter into prayer, conversing with God, but not anymore conscious of every single step St. Ignatius proposes. Like a relationship: the first time you meet, you get conscious of what to say; as the relationship gets deeper, you say things spontaneously like “muscle memory”. In constant prayer, we build a relationship with God. And like relationships, the bond changes and acquires a shape.

This is the basis of a strong spiritual foundation or a solid relationship. Since the prayerful person has a relationship with a Person, one begins to see as God sees, feel as God feels, love as God loves. The spiritual person, grounded by love for God, will be able to withstand any storm in life. St. Francis Xavier SJ possessed this solid foundation. This basis enabled him to volunteer to work as a missionary to the India (esp. Goa) and explore creative ways to evangelize. This includes long sea journeys to different islands in the Malaccas, Borneo and Japan. Or to use art as an aid to preaching in Japan, since the language was difficult. Francis Xavier died in Sancian while keeping his eyes and dream to China. Years later, Mateo Ricci SJ would creatively choose a procedure in preaching the Gospel to China by donning a merchant’s robe to acquire the respect and the ears of the Chinese aristocracy. Though acquiring the ire of many in Rome for this unthinkable way, years later, what has been condemned by many in the Church will become a norm to all for Vatican II. They even called it, “inculturation”. If one has a strong foundation in God, we can be ‘wild’ in finding ways and means to further God’s enterprise.

The Season of Advent urges us to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. But in truth, Jesus already came and is present; we don’t pretend that He has not yet come. In the Season of Advent, however, we are to realize that we are preparing for the time when we will be finally see God face to face. We can think of our whole life as a Season of Advent. To build a solid faith foundation is a lifetime achievement. We should see Advent as an opportunity towards a spiritual maturity. So that grounded in authentic faith, we can read and respond to the signs of the times, in the manner Jesus would have done. And we will only be attune to His heart and desires only if we pray, and pray, and pray.