FROM SEPARATION TO UNION

Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, Year B

IS 50:4-7; PS 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24; PHIL 2:6-11; MK 14:1—15:47

We all have our own stories of separation. Some of us cannot forget that childhood experience when one fine morning while walking around the busy market with our mother, we were suddenly separated away from her, and all that we can do was simply to cry out for help. Some of us cannot also forget those teenage moments when after enjoying the company of our "significant other" for years, one fine evening, we realize that we are not meant for each other. Wala pa lang forever! And of course, who can never forget those dark events in our lives when forever we were separated from our loved ones because of death. These stories of separation are unforgettable because they have left us painful memories in our lives. They are painful because of the closeness we have established with these people over the years.

We just heard the passion narrative of Jesus according to the Gospel of Mark. It is very clear from our story that Jesus was in pain and suffering because of the physical assault which he received from the Jews and soldiers alike. Harsh words and mockeries too contributed to his agonizing pain. However, if we try to look closely into the narrative, we realize that what all the more increased Jesus' pain and suffering was his experience of separation. Jesus was separated from his people whom he has served for three years. He was separated from his disciples who fled and ran away when he was seized at Gethsemane. He was separated from Peter who denied him for three times. He was separated from the women especially his mother who has ministered to his needs well. Finally, at the moment of his death, his soul was separated from his body. Indeed, Jesus' experience of separation shows to us how fully human he was.

This is also our experience in life. We get hurt because of the physical pain people inflict upon us. However, this is nothing compared to the pain brought about by an unexpected separation. We all the while think that this person is our friend, yet, at the moment of difficulty, he/she is the first one to run away from us. We all the while think that this loved one will be with us until the end, yet, out of a sudden, he/she loses his/her own life. All these are our own share of separations in life.

However, our second reading today reminds us of a deeper reality when we talk about the passion of Jesus Christ. Yes, on the first level, the passion is a story about separations. Yet, in his letter to the Philippians, Paul preaches that “though Jesus was in the form of God, he did not deem equality with God, something to be grasped at. Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of a slave being born in the likeness of men...and remained obedient even unto death, death on a cross." Thus, the passion narrative is therefore a story of union between God and man. At the Incarnation, Jesus became closer to us. However, at his passion and death, Jesus was closest to us because he united himself to our innermost fears and worries on life and death.

This is therefore our challenge today as we tell our own passion narratives- that we read them not simply as stories of separation but as moments of closer encounter with the Crucified Christ. Pope Francis when he was in UST was asked by a little girl why innocent children like her suffer from the hands of cruel people. The Pope was not able to give a straightforward answer. Rather, he invited the child to respond to Jesus' invitation to "come to him all those who are weary and find life burdensome for his yoke is easy and burden light." Only when we unite our stories of separation to Christ can they become stories of union, of encounter between us and a merciful and most loving God.

As we enter into the holiest days of the week, may we separate ourselves from our sins so that we can truly meditate and experience the grace of Jesus, who suffered, died, and was buried. Amen!

N.B. Photo taken from www.patheos.com

“AND SO I FACE THE FINAL CURTAIN”

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Jer. 31: 31 – 34; Ps. 51; Heb. 5: 7 -9; Jn. 12: 20 – 33

All things pass away. Memory. At an early age, you can enumerate without any mistake all those people who have not paid their debts to you. However, as you mature in age, you even forget your own name. Beauty. In your teenage years, as you pass by the corridor at school, other students would look at you from head to toe. However, as you advanced into your senior years, when children see you at a distance, they run away thinking that you are an old wicked witch. And the thing which easily passes away without us knowing it is TIME. Our complicated and busy lifestyle diverts our attention on time that in the end, we simply say, “I ran out of time. I do not have the time anymore. Dumating na ang panahon at wala na akong magagawa.” Memory, beauty, and time – all things pass away.

For the first time in the Gospel of John, we hear Jesus declaring that “the hour has come.” If you read the entire Gospel, from the first until the eleventh chapter, we hear Jesus or the evangelist saying, “The hour has not yet come.” However, starting from our text today until his passion, Jesus acknowledges that the time has come. Jesus’ public ministry of preaching and healing has come to an end. He is now getting ready to enter into his hour of glorification. “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

The “hour of glorification” is not the moment of Jesus’ “graduation.” He will not be receiving a medal of excellence but a crown of thorns. His glorification is not about people praising him for his achievements but ungrateful and angry people mocking at him. The hour has come for Jesus not to stand on the stage of honor but on Calvary, the place of the Skull, of death and misery. Since this hour is something dark and dangerous, Jesus, fully human, was troubled. “I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’”

Scott Peck in his international bestselling book, “The Road Less Travelled,” begins his work with the sentence – “Life is difficult.” Indeed, he was right. We have to admit it that life is never a walk around the park. The Book of Ecclesiastes has reminded us that “there is a time for everything – for life, for death, for joy, and for sorrow.” The hour for us to undergo pain and suffering will also arrive in our lives. It is simply irresistible. Human as we are, we have a lot of responses when the hour has come. Some of us face it squarely while others simply run away and disappear. Jesus in our Gospel has taught us a very important attitude when times become rough – “I am troubled now.” In times like this, we have to humbly accept it before God and others that we are in trouble; that we are afraid; that we do not know what to do. For in doing so we are not simply experiencing our truest humanity but also expressing our longing for divinity, our need for a God who is love.

If we fast forward our Gospel, we know that even if Jesus was troubled, he embraced his “hour of glorification” by taking up his cross, carrying it up along the streets of Jerusalem, and eventually die hanging on his cross.

Both our first and second readings today give us an insight on why Jesus faced and experienced his “hour.”

In our second reading, the letter to the Hebrews tells us that “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.” His passion and death was not a show of cowardice and tragedy. It was a carrying out of the Father’s will so that in the end, he will become “the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”

Such obedience of Christ on the cross is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah in our first reading today. The days will come when the Lord “will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah… when the Lord will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.” Through the death of Jesus Christ, God entered into a new covenant with us where there is forgiveness and mercy.

In our life, when we are in the midst of “necessary suffering,” our invitation is to see it not as a punishment of God but an obedience to his plan in our lives so that we will be led to a new horizon, a better understanding of life. As they say that only those who have gone through the evening of their lives can appreciate the beauty of the morning. All that we need to do is to trust in his love and mercy.

As we draw near into the saving paschal mystery of Christ, let us ask the Lord to grant us the faith which takes away the doubt in our minds; the hope which holds on despite the pain; and the love which gives us a new horizon, a new life with God who is love so that when we will face our “final curtain” we will humbly bow in joy and humility before God and others. Amen!

NB. Photo taken from wall.alphacoders.com

RIGHTEOUS…RIGHT CHOICE…

SOLEMNITY OF SAINT JOSEPH

SPOUSE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

2 Sm. 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16; Ps. 89; Mt. 1:16, 18-21, 24a

“Why do bad things happen to good people?” Such question has been queried by sages and philosophers of the distant past and continues to be asked even until the present. It remains to be a question with no definite answer for until now no one can fully and convincingly explain the existence of a generous and merciful God vis-à-vis terror and evil.

In our Gospel, we heard about Joseph who was already betrothed to Mary. For the Jews, betrothal is more binding than our custom of engagement before marriage today. Hence, Joseph could have been planning out already of what will happen next – his plans for the wedding and probably his dream of establishing a family.  Then suddenly, he learned that Mary, his most loved lady in Israel, got pregnant. With what happened to Joseph, we can ask, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Why did such terrible event happened in the life of a very pious and obedient Jewish carpenter?

However, the silence of Joseph in the Gospel is already enough to give us an answer. We heard Matthew telling us that Joseph was “a righteous man” (dikaios). On the first level, he was righteous because he was obedient in following the Law. Mary got pregnant before their marriage. And so, to show his faithfulness to the Law, Joseph silently divorced her. However, Matthew furthers the righteousness of Joseph. In a dream, Joseph learned the reason for Mary’s pregnancy – to fulfill God’s plan for humanity through the coming of his only Son, Jesus. When he woke up, he obeyed what has been commanded to him. This is the second level of Joseph’s righteousness – to obey the command of the Lord in order to fulfill his plan of salvation in the world no matter what will happen to us.

In our lives, to be men and women of righteousness initially begins in our faithful observance to the law set before us by our nation, family, community, and God. We need it so that we can preserve order and thereby radiate beauty inside and outside of our lives. However, despite our careful obedience to the laws and even to God, we still find ourselves in difficult situations like a religious lay minister in Tacloban who lost his home and family during super typhoon Yolanda. We, therefore, ask St. Joseph, to bring us today to his level of righteousness so that even if we are in troubled waters because of our faithfulness to God, we can still remain strong and steadfast in our relationship with him, because we consider our present worries and distress as part of the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation for you and me.

As we celebrate the solemnity of St. Joseph, we also remember that we are still in the season of Lent today. And the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is the most perfect kind of righteousness set before us. Jesus embraced death so that his Father’s plan of salvation will bear fruit in the lives of men and women in the world yesterday, today, and forever. For some, what happened in Calvary was horrible and terrible. But in the eyes of faith, such event was Jesus’ right choice so that we can be righteous before the Father in heaven.

“Why do bad things happen to good people?” It is not so much on the adjectives, “bad” and “good.” Rather, it is about our right choice in everything that we do so that we can be righteous in and out of season. Amen!

St. Joseph, Most Chaste Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

Intercede for us at the throne of mercy in heaven!

NB. Photo taken from http://www.friendsofsaintdavidlewis.co.uk/images/SolemnityofSaintJoseph1.jpg

"NAMING GRACE, SHARING GRACE"

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

1 Chr 36:14-16.19-23/ Ps 137/ Eph. 2:4-10/ Jn. 3: 14-21

There are many reasons in giving. First, we give because we want to get something in return. For example, an ordinary employee works hard in order to have a promotion. Second, we share with others because we are forced to do so. It is like in order to avoid a beggar who is knocking at your car window, you give him a peso and ward him off away from you. Finally, we give to people simply out of our love towards them. This is the generosity shown by a mother who continues to love a very hard headed and stubborn son.

In our Gospel, we heard Jesus telling Nicodemus that “for God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” God gave the world a very special gift, his only begotten Son. And the reason for such giving is his love for the world.  However, such love is not ordinary. We heard in our Gospel the word, “so” preceding the word, “love.” Thus, God’s generosity is due to his SO intense, SO tremendous love for humanity. Why such intensity? Why is God’s love “to the max?”

It is not so much on the part of God but on the recipients of his generosity. Who then are the recipients? Our first reading from the book of Chronicles tells us who they are. “In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelity, practicing all the abominations of the nations and polluting the Lord’s temple. They mocked the messengers of God, despised his warnings, and scoffed at his prophets.” Indeed, we can say that God’s generosity is really out of his so great a love for us, his unfaithful and stubborn children.

That is why St. Paul in our second reading is reminding us recipients of God’s generosity that “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.” It is not from our credentials that God gives us but from God himself; from his abundant love for you and me.

In our lives, we have to accept the truth that God has given us a lot since the moment we existed here on earth. The fact that we have reached this age in life is already a gift from God. The fact that despite your ugliness, you were still able to find a loving husband or a faithful wife is a great gift from God. And God has given us all these things not because of our goodness, intelligence, or beauty. It is simply out of his great love for us. That is why our first response to his generosity is to “NAME GRACE.” Let us sing with our Psalmist today, “Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you.” May we not forget the goodness of God in our lives by claiming and naming grace day by day.

However, naming grace is not enough. It should lead us to SHARING GRACE. Just as God has given us so much despite our unworthiness, let us also learn to share grace to those people who have been deprived of it – the poor. Pope Francis has told us, “Yes, we give to the poor, but do we touch them? Charity that does not change the situation of the poor is not enough.” Thus, it is better to ask ourselves, when was the last time that you gave wholeheartedly to the poor, to your house helps, to your suffering brothers and sisters? If until now, they have not improved even a little, then we have not given much.

In this Fourth Sunday of Lent, may we FEAST on NAMING GRACE for God despite of our unworthiness has continued to shower us with his blessings. Yet, let us also FAST from selfishness so that we could SHARE GRACE to the least, last, and lost in society.

And so we pray, “Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous; teach me to serve You as I should; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labor and ask not for reward;

save that of knowing that I do Your most holy will.” Amen.

NB. Photo taken from http://vnuit.com/giving-back/

"LIKE A BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER"

Third Sunday of Lent, Year B

Ex.20:1-17; Ps. 18; 1 Cor.1:22-25; Jn.2:13-25

Bridges are very important. That is why every time disasters strike, bridges are the first ones to be rebuilt. We need them in order for an easy and effective flow of our goods and resources. Can you imagine Leyte and Samar without the San Juanico Bridge?

When we want to have an immediate result of our requests from the government like business or health permits, we usually look for “bridges” who can make us do away with the long list of requirements.

Even in your love life, when you want to know someone who caught your heart at first glance, you usually look for someone who can be your “bridge” toward that significant other. Just be careful, usually, ang nagkakatuluyan ay hindi kayo kundi ang “bridge” at siya na gusto mo. Ouch!

In our first reading, we heard the famous story of the giving of the Ten Commandments by God to Moses. The Law was given to the Israelites not for them to be controlled and ruled over by God. The Hebrew word for “law” is “derek” which means “way.” Thus, the Law serves as the way for them to remain faithful to their covenant with God. The Decalogue was their bridge to God!

In our Gospel, the Temple plays a very significant role in the lives of the Jews. Every year, they make it a point to visit the Temple and offer sacrifices as a way for them to renew their covenant with God. Thus, the Temple serves as their bridge to God. However, when Jesus said, “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up!” He was introducing to them a new “bridge” – his very self. His mission on earth was to restore that broken bridge between man and His Father because of sin.

And this is the core message of Paul’s preaching in our second reading today. He proclaims Christ Crucified, who for the Jews is a stumbling block and for the Gentiles a foolishness, but for Christians, for us, is our only bridge back to the Father.

Why insist on such proclamation? Why is Jesus, the only bridge to the Father? St. John in his letters has told us that “God is love.” Therefore, only love can bridge us to the Father. And it was through that event at Calvary that such perfect bridge was constructed! It was through that dying on the cross that love was seen at its most perfect moment. And such most perfect moment was also the same moment when we were able to cross over the bridge and reach the dwelling place of God. It was through Christ’s bridge of love that our humanity once again experienced divinity.

This is therefore our challenge for us followers of Christ Crucified – that we too become bridges for others to experience the love of God. Pope Francis in his Lenten Message 2015 has reminded us about the reality of the “globalization of indifference” – when we are no longer sensitive to the needs of others; when we no longer allow others to pass by our bridge so that they too can enjoy life. And our Pope has taught us that only through love can we stop this indifference.

In this Third Sunday of Lent, let us be “bridges” so that others will reach their destination safely; so that others will also come to know and experience the abundance of God’s love and mercy. May we learn to allow people no matter who they are to pass by our bridge through our small acts of kindness and forgiveness like Christ who became our bridge to the Father.

The famous American music duo, Simon and Garfunkel, once sang this song for us:          When you’re weary, feeling small

  When tears are in yours eyes, I’ll dry them all.

  I’m on your side, oh, when times get rough

  And friends just can’t be found

  Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay you down

  Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay you down

How about you? Are you a bridge for those people in troubled waters? Or are you the cause of why are they in troubled waters? Amen.

N.B. Photo taken from http://unbornmind.com/myblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/bridge-over-troubled-waters.jpg