NA STAR STRUCK KA NA BA?

NA STAR STRUCK KA NA BA?

Second Sunday of Lent

Gen.22:1-2,9a,10-13,15-18; Ps 116; Rom.8:31b-34; Mk.9:2-10

Star struck! It is an experience of awe before something or someone so good and beautiful or the opposite. Star struck – when inside the jeepney, a very beautiful lady sits beside you. Star struck – when out of nowhere, you suddenly meet your ugly and disgusting neighbor. Star struck – when in April, you will see your name included in the list of those who pass the BAR exams. Star struck – when after school, your only son tells you, “Nay, nagbunga na ang pawis at pagod mo sa akin dahil may apo kana!” Star struck! It is an experience of awe before something or someone so good and beautiful or the opposite.

The characters in our readings today have their own share of “star struck” experiences. In our Gospel, Peter, James, and John, after seeing Jesus “transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them” became star struck. Peter did not know what to say. They were very terrified. In our first reading, Abraham on an ordinary day was called by God, “Abraham. Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you.” Though not explicitly mentioned in the text, Abraham too became star struck. How can you imagine your God asking you without any explanation to kill your only Son as an offering to him? You simply cannot but be star struck!

However, in these two star struck occasions, the disciples were terrified and did not know what to do while Abraham carried out the instruction of God without question and clarification. What spells the difference? As Abraham was about to strike with the knife his son, a messenger of the Lord told him to stop because God knew how devoted he was to Him. This is what we call FAITH. Indeed, Abraham is regarded as the “Father of Faith.”

What then is faith? In Hebrews, we are told that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (11:1)” But we ask further, what makes us assured and conviced? What is the content of faith? Our second reading provides us with an answer: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” With faith, we are assured of what we have hoped for and convinced of the things not seen because of the truth that God is with us. He is always on our side. Emmanuel!

In our lives, one reality that can make us star struck is pain and suffering. When we are confronted with a terminal illness, an unsolvable family problem, and a situation so complicated, we cannot but be star struck! We can be like the disciples who did not know what to do because they were terrified. However, the challenge for us is to be like Abraham – to be men and women of faith – who are assured and convinced by the presence of God in our lives.

Yes, all our questions on God, “Why did you take away my family? Why did you allow these bad things to happen to me? Are you really a loving God? Then, why did you ruin my life with these problems?” are valid. They are expressions of our wounded humanity. However, Pope Francis in his homily for the Yolanda victims in Tacloban has said, “JESUS THERE NAILED TO THE CROSS, AND FROM THERE, HE DOES NOT LET US DOWN. JESUS IS LORD AND THE LORD FROM THE CROSS IS THERE FOR YOU.” We may not see, hear, or feel him, yet Paul in our second reading has assured us that if God “did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?”

In this second Sunday of Lent, let us beg the Father to give us the gift of faith so that when we will be star struck by pain and suffering, we will not be terrified and tremble in fear but continue to carry out His will for us like Abraham, our father in faith.

Star struck! It is an experience of awe before something or someone so good and beautiful or the opposite. However, if God will suddenly pass by this congregation, will he be star struck because of our living faith? Or will he tremble in fear because of our faithlessness? Amen!

N.B. Photo taken from https://sssip.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/star15.jpg

IN THE BEGINNING

First Sunday of Lent

Gn 9: 8 – 15/ Ps 25/ 1 Pt 3:18-22/ Mk 1:12-15

Every beginning is crucial because it will surely affect the future. For example, they say that the first six years of our childhood is very sensitive because during this period our personality is being established. Hence, what we are today is a result of what happened at the beginning of our lives. For lovers, they say that the first date is very important because it is in this first encounter that one gets to know a glimpse of the other. Thus, if you notice that the other is very talkative in your first dinner, probably, he/she is an outgoing or proud person. Every beginning is crucial because it will affect the future.

Our readings today remind us of two important realities when we speak about beginnings. The Gospel according to Mark is the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. And what is interesting is that it begins with his temptation. In the other Gospel texts, we know that he was tempted three times. Thus, this is the first reality when we talk about beginnings – the existence of temptation. The moment we begin to live a good moral life is also the same moment when the devil tempts us all the more. We should remember that the devil loses his job to tempt us if we have been used to committing the same sins over and over again. However, the moment we decide to be good, he will again exert all his efforts to tempt us. Jesus himself was tempted not once but thrice as he began his public ministry. This is also the reason why in the prayer which he taught his disciples, he includes a petition for them not to fall into temptation. 

Thus, it is our challenge to be always sensitive to the voices around us. When we want to do something, we must listen to the voice of God, our conscience, and reject the voice of the devil. May we be attentive so that we can listen to the right voice.

However, our first reading reminds us of another reality – the truth of God’s presence in our lives. Our first reading narrates to us about humanity’s new beginning after the great flood. And from such beginning, God promised to Noah that he will no longer flood the earth again; that he will establish a covenant with humanity. Yes, there is always a temptation every time we begin to do and choose that which is good. However, we must also not forget that there too is the presence of God actively working in our lives.

Thus, aside from being sensitive to the right voice, we are also challenged this Sunday, to be able to discern the presence of God in our lives since the beginning until today.

And our second reading today reminds us of the very important beginning in our lives as Christians because such beginning according to Peter happened so that we might be led to God – his death on the cross. Humanly speaking, the event at Calvary was the end of Jesus’ life. But our faith has told us that such end is the beginning of our new life with God.

And so, as we begin the first Sunday of Lent, may we be reminded of that event in Calvary for such event was the beginning of our renewed relationship with God. And only through such loving relationship with God can we resist temptation and all the more recognize his presence in our lives.

Every beginning is crucial because it will surely affect the future. However, the question is: Have you began your journey towards Christ? Amen.

N.B. Photo taken from morselofbread.net

CELEBRATING VALENTINE'S DAY "CELIBATELY"

Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, February 14

Gn 3:9-24/ Ps 90/ Mk 8:1-10

Finally, the most awaited, or in some cases, much hated, day of February has come. It’s Valentine’s Day! Facebook and the rest of social media will be very busy today accommodating posts, pictures, and tweets on love and loving. And for sure, anywhere you go, you can always see heart-shaped balloons flying or heart-shaped cakes sold in bakeshops. Hearts everywhere! Even our Gospel today talks about the heart. Shall Valentine’s Day be a sad day for us celibates?

In our Gospel, we heard Jesus say, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat.” We see Jesus as a man very much in touch with his emotions. We also see him as a man who was very sensitive to the needs of the people and he was not afraid of having his innermost being moved, shaken, or even broken with compassion. This is important for us celibate lovers and those preparing for this life. In staying within the comfort zone of our academic and intellectual pursuits, we could end up like the dry pages of a book. In our effort to secure our life of celibacy, we could end up sterile, calloused, or unaffected, even bitter. Pope Francis told us “to learn how to weep” and this involves getting in touch with our emotions, with our heart, with our innermost self. Jesus in our Gospel was not afraid to tell his disciples how he felt: “My heart is moved with pity.” And he claims responsibility for the needs of the people. As Antoine de St. Exupery wrote in the The Little Prince, “You become responsible forever for what you have tamed.”

Pity, mercy, compassion, then is God’s response to the hunger of the people, a hunger that could be traced back to our First Reading, when Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden and forbidden to eat from the tree of life. Humanity hungered for the word of God and the signs of God’s closeness to his people. And Jesus satisfied this hunger as he also satisfies their physical hunger. This feeding of the crowd also foreshadows the spiritual food and drink that truly satisfies: the total and unconditional self-giving love of Jesus on the cross made present in the Holy Eucharist.

Here in the Eucharist, “when Sacred Scripture is read, God Himself speaks to His people” and he feeds us with his own Body and Blood. In the Eucharist, we encounter God, his mercy and compassion, and we are assured of a heart that beats for us, a love that Pope Francis says “always goes ahead of us,” “open arms where broken hearts go, a love that’s waiting there.” As celibate lovers, we need not go to Rome, Baguio, or Sagada. We only need to come to the foot of this altar, before this God “who gives joy to our youth” and has been “our refuge in every age.” He will teach us how to be in touch with our true selves, with our deepest emotions. He will teach us how to weep, and with our tears, he will make our lives and ministry fruitful.

This is therefore our challenge today: to claim that we are in love, that we are truly, madly, and deeply in love with the God who calls us, who has loved us first despite our sinfulness. And he sends us forth to radiate his love in a world so much in need of real love, so much in need of God. This truth becomes the firm ground of our being, and we can truly focus on our vocation so that when dark and dry days come, we will never fall out of love nor be overwhelmed by the brokenness of this world.

And so as we go about this day, we need not be forlorn nor be part of those who hate this day. We might not have someone to hold, but we know that we are held by the one who called us, one whose “heart was moved with pity,” who truly, madly, deeply loves us. As we offer bread and wine, let us also once more offer ourselves; let us offer our “seven loaves and a few fish”—our all. And as we receive him in Holy Communion, let us tell him, “Make me cling to you; never permit me to be separated from you.” Amen.

BREAK GLASS IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Lev.13:1-2,44-46; Ps.32; 1 Cor.10:31-11:1; Mk.1:40-45

Where do you usually go when you are sick? If you are physically sick, you go to the hospital to see your doctor. If you are spiritually sick, you go to Church and find a priest for Confession. Well, yesterday was Valentine’s Day. For those of you who are heartbroken due to a separation, you would probably go to Sagada and shout to the top of your voice, “Ayoko na! Pagod na pagod na ako!” (I give up! I am already dead tired) For those who were loveless yesterday, probably, you were together with me lining up in the firing squad. When we are sick, we always look for somebody who can at least lessen the pain which we are experiencing.

In our Gospel we meet a leper who came to Jesus begging for cure. He was not only physically sick but socially excluded from the community. He has no one to turn to for even the Law of Moses on leprosy as mentioned in our first reading failed him. The Mosaic Law did not give instructions on how to get the cure for leprosy. It simply protected the community from becoming unclean because of the presence of lepers.

And so, he cannot but turn to Jesus, whom he probably heard through those who were healed by him. Since Jesus never fails anyone like the four thousand people in our Gospel yesterday, out of pity, he did not only clean but healed the man from his leprosy.

This is our first challenge this Sunday: that we turn to Jesus and focus ourselves on his loving mercy especially when days become dark and burdensome. When we are sick be it physically, spiritually, or emotionally, let us not turn to “apparent healers” like drugs, drinks, and violence, but only to Jesus the fount of living water.

In our first reading, Moses was instructed that anyone who is unclean “shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp.” Thus, the unclean becomes isolated from the community. Today, leprosy is curable. However, there is another leprosy which continues to thrive in our lives and when afflicted isolates us from the People of God. This is called the leprosy of sin. What makes this leprosy pleasing to our lives is that they appear beautiful and seem to taste good. Only later do we realize that it has eaten up our souls. That is why for us to get cured from such leprosy, it is not enough to simply turn to Jesus and all else will be okay. We have to renew such commitment to our Lord daily as St. Paul puts it in our second reading, whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we do everything for the glory of God. And in the end, we become imitators of Christ. Only when we become imitators of Christ that the leprosy of sin can no longer creep in our lives for it is no longer we, but Christ who is living in us.

And so, as we begin the season of Lent this coming February 18 with the marking of our foreheads with ashes, may we be reminded of two things: that we go always to Jesus for only in Him can our leprous selves find ultimate healing. We are assured of his healing for as Pope Francis reminds us, “the cross of Christ is the supreme act of God’s solidarity with us, completely free and abounding in mercy.”

We usually find in a corner of a building a red box with the words, “Break Glass in case of Emergency.” When disaster strikes, we have to look for that box so that we will all be safe and saved. In our spiritual life, when tough times come, we also need to look for that red box with the words, “Break Glass in case of Emergency.” However, the important question is: “What’s inside the glass?...Who’s inside the box?” Amen. 

NB http://arnaiz.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/3sb2-fire-alarm-switch-break-glass-in-case-of-fire-f030243-image738.jpg

WHEN WORDS ARE NO LONGER ENOUGH

A Reflection

While being soaked in the rain standing in the midst of the young people at the UST field, my attention was caught when I heard the words, “Why do children suffer so much? Why do children suffer?” Immediately, those words became my own, “Why do I suffer? Why did my family suffer last year? Why did you allow the most important person in my life to vanish so fast like a thief in the night?” Until now though time has created the distance, I still cannot find a convincing answer with the “why” of my mother’s death.

Pope Francis in his message to the youth has given me not a straightforward and convincing answer but something which assures me of God’s eternal working in my life. “When they posed this question to us, why this tragedy occurs in life—our response must be either silence or a word that is born from our tears. Be courageous do not be afraid to cry.” Silence and crying. The Pope did not give me a logical, rational explanation of what happened in my life. He simply gave me two words that have become insignificant in our world today: silence and crying.

Reflecting on the encounter with the Pope, I remembered that my best moment in the seminary happened not during my graduation day but those thirty precious days of holy retreat. It was during those moments when my silence led me to crying. And I realized that such silence and crying were not done for nothing. They have a purpose. Through silence and crying, I encountered the Lord. I experienced his mercy and compassion despite my sinfulness and unworthiness. I tasted the goodness of God in my life. This is my only certainty—that Jesus amidst pain and suffering continues to encounter me like what he did to the weeping widow at Nain or to the crying Martha and Mary at Bethany.

Until today, I still receive calls from either my sister or my father asking me questions and seeking explanations on what happened to our family. Sometimes, they simply called me that I may listen to the flowing of their tears. At first, I tried to comfort them by giving consoling words on God’s will and healing. However, from that encounter with the Pope, I was reminded that sometimes the best answer is to be silent and allow the tears to flow from the eyes, for time will come when Jesus will see in our eyes our weeping and out of his mercy and compassion, we will be raised back to life, to life in abundance.

While being soaked in the rain standing in the midst of the young people at the UST field, I was moved to tears when I saw the Pope answering the question of the little girl not through words but through his assuring embrace. I never got the chance to even touch the “tassel” of the Holy Father during his visit. However, through his presence, I remembered that in the trying moments in life, silence and crying are the best answers when words are no longer enough. Amen!

NB. Photo taken from http://www.archangelsanddevas.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/word.jpg

"PARA SA MGA BROKENHEARTED"

FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Job 7:1-4,6-7; Psalm 147; 1 Corinthians 9:16-19,22-23; Mark 1: 29-39

All of us have our own share of “brokenhearted experiences.” For teenagers, these usually happen after exerting a lot of time and effort just to win the hearts of young ladies yet ending up being “friendzoned.” For parents, these happen when after working hard to earn a living, they suddenly learn that their children are not doing well in school. Well, February 14 is just around the corner, being brokenhearted for some, probably means lining up in a firing squad on Valentine’s Day.

In our readings today, we can see a lot of brokenhearted people. In our first reading, the entire monologue of Job is simply an expression of his broken heart after losing everything. In our Gospel, Mark tells us that many people, the entire town were bringing to Jesus all who were sick and possessed by demons. They brought to Jesus their broken hearts.

Hence, we ask ourselves, “Is it ok to be brokenhearted?” Reflecting from our readings today, I can say that “it’s ok not to be ok” as one author puts it. And this is what Job tells us in our first reading. He can no longer contain his pain and suffering that he was able to say, “I shall not see happiness again.” What is interesting is that such language of Job’s brokenness is part of Sacred Scriptures, the Word of God.

This is our first challenge: that we do not run away from our broken hearts. Instead, we have to face it. We have to experience such brokenness because it has a purpose.

“It’s ok not to be ok.” What then is its purpose? Why is it ok to be brokenhearted?  Our responsorial psalm already gives us a clue to the answer: “Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.”

In our Gospel, Jesus told his disciples, “let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” Jesus came into the world not to proclaim himself as the authoritarian King of the Israel. No, he came into the world to establish the Father’s kingdom of mercy and compassion through his words and works. Therefore, our own share of brokenhearted experiences has a purpose – for Jesus to heal them through his merciful and compassionate heart. We do not fear our brokenness because we are not alone. Jesus, the Divine Physician, has come to heal us, to set us free. Jesus himself also experienced such brokenness. He too has carried his cross.

In our second reading today, St. Paul admits his obligation to preach. “Woe to me if I do not preach it.” This is our second challenge: that we continue to preach despite our broken hearts because in itself it is already a way of preaching: when people see us joyful despite our brokenness; when people become hopeful because they see us broken yet blessed by God.

All of us have our own share of “brokenhearted experiences.” Yet as joyful followers of Christ, let us remind ourselves that we too have our own share of heartfelt experiences with a God who has loved us with an everlasting love. Amen.


N.B. Title of this blog is taken from the book of Marcelo Santos, Para sa mga brokenhearted, while the picture is taken from http://www.lastdaysministries.org/Images/content/1000000028/1000120996.jpg