"CEMETERY REMINDERS"

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

2 Mc 12: 43 – 46 / Ps 103 / Rom 8: 31 – 35. 37 – 39 / Jn 14: 1 – 6

Every November 1 and 2, cemeteries in the Philippines become crowded with living people. Aside from offering prayers for the dead, cemeteries become venues for reunions and even “party – party.” Aside from lighting candles, eating has become an activity inside cemeteries. We, Filipinos, are so kind enough to even set aside food for our beloved dead. However, every time we visit a cemetery, we are reminded of two realities in life:

First, the reality that our beloved dead are no longer with us physically. We can no longer see, touch, hear, and even taste them. We can no longer crack jokes with them. We can no longer play around with them. And of course, we can no longer quarrel with them and make some “singil sa ilang mga utang.” Yes, it is a very painful reality but it is the truth. Thus, in the face of death, we cannot but accept such truth despite its pain.

Second, yes, cemeteries remind us of death’s inescapability and the physical absence of our beloved dead, yet, as Christians it also reminds us of our faith in Jesus Christ. Amidst the pain of losing a loved one, we continue to draw strength from the words of Jesus in our Gospel today, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.” And why faith in God? Because Jesus assures us that in his Father’s house “there are many dwelling places.” And he has gone up to heaven to prepare a place for us. Faith, then, is important in the experience of death. Pope Francis in Lumen Fidei beautifully gives an analogy on what faith is. For the Pope, faith is not like “a light inside a room that scatters darkness. Rather, it is like a lamp which one carries along the darkness. Yet the light of the lamp is enough to guide you towards your destination.” He further tells us that “to those who suffer, God will not give explanations. Rather, he will give you his accompanying presence.” Faith, is therefore, God’s accompanying presence in our lives no matter how dark is our journey. And such faith is needed every time we experience a death of a loved one.

In the Philippines, most cemeteries have the so-called, “Dakung Krus,” or a space where people can light candles for the forgotten souls. Usually, an image of the Risen Christ or the Cross of Christ is placed on this part of the cemetery. Aside from being a place dedicated for the forgotten ones, the “Dakung Krus” is a concrete reminder that what gathers us together both the living and dead is Jesus Christ himself for he is the “way, the truth, and life.”

Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen!

Photo taken from thegreatsouthernbrainfart.com 

NOT TO REPLACE BUT TO PUT A PLACE IN OUR HEARTS

Solemnity of All Saints

Rv 7: 2 – 4 . 9 – 14 / Ps 24 / 1 Jn 3: 1 – 3 / Mt 5: 1 – 12

We replace things and people when we are no longer happy with them. When you are no longer happy with your cellphone, then you begin to save in order to buy a newer version of it. When you are no longer happy with your car, then you make a car loan. And for some, when they are no longer happy with their wives, then they look for other women. We replace things and people when we are no longer happy with them.

This can also happen in our spiritual life. Since the God whom we love is not someone whom we can easily see, touch, and hear, then little by little we begin to replace Him with other “gods.” No wonder St. Thomas Aquinas names four substitutes to God: wealth, pleasure, power, and honor. We replace God with these things because they seem to fulfill our desire for happiness. I’d rather make an overtime in my work than go to Mass – wealth. I’d rather go to the beach and have some “party party” than visit the dead in the cemetery – pleasure. I’d rather aim for public office than volunteer in an orphanage – power. I’d rather donate a large amount in the parish than spend for my family – honor. The moment we fail to acknowledge God as the source of our happiness then we slowly replace him with “lesser loves” – wealth, pleasure, power, and honor.

We heard in our Gospel today Jesus’ inaugural speech as he begins his ministry in Galilee. After calling his first disciples, he now gathers them together with the rest of the community and begins his famous “sermon on the mount.” If we take a closer look on the “Beatitudes” we realize that Jesus is highlighting an important truth – that the Kingdom of God is at hand; that God is already in their midst. We should not replace God rather we should give him a place in our lives for He is already with us. Thus, when he taught the “Beatitudes,” Jesus was reminding us of the counter values to wealth, pleasure, power, and honor. For us to be able to place God in our lives, we have to gain poverty in spirit and not wealth; to mourn with those who mourn and not pleasure; to be meek and not to seek power; and to suffer with those in the horror of pain and not to aim for honor. Right at the start of his public ministry, Jesus is reminding his disciples and us today that to be blessed, to be happy means to have a place in the Kingdom of God and not to replace Him with “lesser loves.”

And such teaching of Jesus is made real in the lives of the saints of the contemporary world. “Blessed are the poor in spirit!” Zelie and Louis Martin, the couple saints, gave all their children to God for they became religious sisters. “Blessed are they who mourn.” St. Anna Schaffer, a German, was bedridden at the age of 19 until her death in 1945 yet she inspired a lot of people through her letters. “Blessed are the meek.” The Cebuano Teofilo Camomot was never attached to his power as a bishop. Instead, he used his office in serving more the poor. “Blessed are the persecuted!” Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan of Vietnam was imprisoned for 13 years, nine of which were spent in solitary confinement. Despite such persecution, he remained a magnet of God’s love inside the prison through his secret celebration of the Eucharist.

We replace things and people when we are no longer happy with them. When God seems far and distant, we too replace him with wealth, pleasure, power, and honor. But Jesus in our Gospel today is teaching us that real blessedness, authentic happiness can only be achieved if we place and not replace God in our lives. And our saints are witnesses to this truth. May we not only like the saints today. Rather, may we be like the saints now and forever. Amen.

Photo taken from  www.stjamesmtairy.org

ANG TAMANG PANAHON

30^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, CYCLE B

Jer 31: 7 -9 / Ps 126 / Heb 5: 1 – 6 / Mk 10: 46 – 52

We all have our own preoccupations in life. Some are so preoccupied with their career that they are willing to sacrifice marriage. However, some are so interested on marriage that they get married at a very young age. Some are so preoccupied to watch Primetime Telenovelas that they are willing to sacrifice night outs. However, some are so interested in night outs that they are willing to “morning the night.” We call these interests as preoccupations because they occupy a major part of our lives.

This was also the case of Bartimaeus in our Gospel today. Bartimaeus, a blind man from Jericho, sat by the roadside begging for alms. As a blind man, it was his daily preoccupation to collect alms in order to survive. We also have to remember that it was not Jesus’ first time to pass by Jericho because such place was on the route from Galilee to Jerusalem. And so, it is probable that Bartimaeus may have heard about Jesus passing by Jericho for a number of times. However, he did not take notice because he was so preoccupied by his begging for alms.

We are also like Bartimaeus. Our many preoccupations and concerns in life sometimes make us fail to see and recognize Jesus in our lives. Since we are so preoccupied in gaining health and wealth, we easily find excuses not to spend time with God in prayer. No wonder Rico Blanco was right when he said in one of his songs, “kung ayaw may dahilan, kung gusto palaging merong paraan.”

However, Bartimaeus did not forever stay at the roadside begging for alms. Finally, in our narrative today, dumating na ang kanyang Tamang Panahon! Despite the crowd, he cried out to the Lord twice, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me!” He begged the Lord to make him see. If you notice, he first begged for God’s mercy before asking for the gift of sight. Indeed, it was Bartimaeus’ tamang panahon because he received both spiritual and physical healing from our Lord.

How about us? Dumating na ba ang ating Tamang Panahon? Or have we let our preoccupations occupy so much of our time that we no longer desire to encounter the Lord? Or baka nalipasan na tayo sa panahon because we have already been too comfortable with our own blindness, with our own sinfulness.

Finally, it was Bartimaeus’ faith that made him see. And it was the same faith that made him follow Jesus. Indeed, Bartimaeus’ story is a concrete example on faith as both informative and transformative. Faith informed him of Jesus’ mercy. And such faith also transformed his life forever.  From a beggar he became a disciple. From sitting along the roadside, he walked with the Lord to Jerusalem.

My dear friends, let us try to examine our faith today. If until now we are living in the darkness of sin, then, our faith is lacking. If until now we continue to be blind from the evils surrounding us, then, our faith is lacking.  

We all have our own preoccupations and interests in life. Yesterday, as of 2:07 PM, there were 20.7 million followers of AlDub. Yesterday, dumating na ang taman panahon ni Alden at Yaya. Today, dumating na ang tamang panahon ni Bartimaeus. How about you? Have you truly met Jesus in your life? Has Jesus transformed your life? Dumating na ba ang iyong tamang panahon? Amen.

Photo taken from www.gograph.com

SALVATION THROUGH SUFFERING

29TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Is 53: 10 – 11 / Ps 33 / Heb 4: 14 – 16 / Mk 10: 35 – 45 or 42 – 45

We all want to be saved from the perils of life.  We all want to be saved from family problems, from our enemies, from our worries of the future, and even from our utangs! That is why alongside this dream for salvation is our longing for a Salvador del Mundo! Thus, parents expect a lot from their children to finish college in order to uplift them from poverty. The rising number of OFWs is another indication of our desire for “saviors” who will build our homes, feed our stomachs, and even pay our debts. Even Onyok in FPJ’s Probinsyano is longing for a savior, his Kuya Cardo, who will save him and the other children from the human traffickers. We all want to be saved. We all long for a savior.

Prior to the Gospel text which I read is the conflict among the disciples after James and John asked to sit at the sides of Jesus. However, for this Sunday, let us not go into the discussion of the disciples. Rather, let us go immediately to the point which Jesus wants to highlight. After all, the Gospel is all about the Good News of Jesus Christ.

“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

We have to remember that when Jesus said these words, he and his disciples were going down to Jerusalem where he eventually faced and embraced his suffering and death.  Thus, Jesus is telling us that he is the Savior for he is “to give his life as a ransom for many.” And this work of salvation happens through suffering. In our Gospel today, we learn that Jesus is the Suffering Savior.

Jesus as the Suffering Savior is attested to us in our first and second readings today. In our first reading, the Lord tells Isaiah us that “through his suffering, my servant shall justify many and their guilt he shall bear.” In our second reading, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews tells us that “we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who similarly has been tested in every way except sin.”  Indeed, Jesus is the Suffering Savior. Salvation through suffering!

But we ask ourselves, why did Jesus prefer to suffer in order to save us? Why not save us by a mere blink of his eyes? Why not save us through his angels? Why suffer on the cross? Pope Benedict XVI once said, “the more we can bear pain, the more we will be able to understand others and open ourselves to them.” Jesus chose to save us through suffering on the cross in order for him to truly understand our humanity; for him to open himself more to us who are also suffering. Jesus chose to save us through suffering because he is not manhid o may pusong bato. Rather, he is truly Emmanuel, a God who is with us in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, in good times and bad times.

This is therefore our challenge this 29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time. As we save others from their misery and pain, as we serve other people’s lives, let us never forget that our service is always accompanied with suffering.

Real service happens when the servant is willing to suffer so that others will be saved. And such is the story of a lay minister from a diocese in Central Philippines.

The Bishop of the diocese once interviewed a lay minister of a certain parish regarding his Sunday apostolate of distributing Communion to his barrio. The lay minister shared with the Bishop that it takes 36 kilometers for him to reach the parish from the barrio. And so, the Bishop asked him how much he spends every Sunday for the habal – habal ride. The lay minister humbly replied, “kon plite atong hisgotan, Bishop, nan, dili ko maka anhi sa parokya matag Dominggo kay wala man koy kwarta. Mao nga matag Dominggo, maglakaw lamang ako. (If we talk about money, Bishop, then, I cannot come to the parish every Sunday because I do not have money. All I have to do is walk.) Through his suffering, people in his barrio experienced salvation for they were able to receive Holy Communion. Such story is a story of salvation through suffering. The lay minister is an example of a suffering servant.

Before we choose our next set of officials from either Ro-Ro, Poe Francis, BinGo, or MiBong, the willingness to suffer is a good criterion. However, before going to the elections, let us also ask ourselves. Am I a Christian who is willing to suffer so that others will be saved? Amen.

Photo taken from  thinkclearly.ca453 × 500

FROM DETACHMENT TO ATTACHMENT

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Indigenous People’s Sunday / Extreme Poverty Day

October 11, 2015

Wis 7: 7 – 11 / Ps 90 / Heb 4: 12 – 13 / Mk 10: 17 – 30 or 17 – 27

The “need to belong” theory in psychology states that “people have a basic need to feel closely connected to things, people, and events.” No wonder we all have our own share of attachments. Some of us are so attached to Facebook that our day becomes incomplete without having posted a selfie or an ATM moment in our accounts. Some of us are too attached to our pets that we bring them even to Mass. And some of us are too attached to our “significant other” that we never miss to text him/her upon waking up and before going to sleep. Indeed, it is part of our nature to belong, to cling, and to attach.

In our Gospel reading today, we met the man who asked Jesus a question on how to inherit eternal life. Jesus responded to him by enumerating the “second table” of the commandments which deal about our duties towards our neighbors. Yet he told Jesus that he has followed such commandments. However, Jesus told him that he lacked one thing – the “first table” of the commandments; those which talk about our relationship with God. And according to the narrative, the first requirement to gain the treasure in heaven who is God, is to “go…sell…and give… everything that he has.” And we know that the man went away sad for he had many possessions. The man cannot detach from his wealth, thus preventing him from attaching himself to God.

Detachment does not simply mean desiring or wanting nothing. For that would be against human nature. Rather detachment means to desire nothing more than we desire God; to seek nothing more than we seek God; and to want nothing more than we want God. Obviously we have to detach ourselves from whatever draws us away from God, especially if it is clearly evil. Again our experiences teach us how easy it is for us to get fixated on something already good in itself, and they soon come between us and God who is our greatest and highest good. Truly it is difficult to choose between two good things, yet God expects this of us. God’s love can be a bit demanding and once led St. Teresa to complain, “If this is the way you treat your friends, it is no wonder you have so few of them.”

And so we also have to learn to detach ourselves from something already good for a greater and higher good—and God is our greatest and highest good. But the paradox is that the moment we desire nothing more than we desire God; when we seek nothing more than we seek God; and when we want nothing more than we want God, when we attach ourselves completely to God, then everything else fall into their proper places and we discover that we never really lost them when we let them go. All good things are given back to us—sometimes even better. St. Teresa beautifully expresses this: “Quien a Dios tiene nada le falta!” (He who has God in nothing is wanting!)

However, despite the difficulty, this is still our challenge today – to detach from the good things of this world in order to attach ourselves to our greatest and supreme good in heaven who is God. We have to remember that detachment is a process. It begins with slowly letting go of little things, of particular persons and events in order to arrive at our goal that is heaven. Thus, in our journey from detachment to attachment, let us listen to the advice of St. Teresa who said, “It is essential that you begin well by making an earnest and most determined resolve not to stop until you reach your goal.”

Catalina Piedad, a Yolanda survivor, once narrated her experience after the storm. She, together with some neighbors, decided to hold a procession from their neighborhood towards the Church. While they were walking towards the Church, a truck with relief goods passed by. Instead of following the truck, they continued with the procession despite the hunger. And during the interview, she said these words, “Kung ang Dios nga hindi kami iniwan sa bagyo, bakit naming iiwanan ang Dios para lang doon sa pagkain.” Food is something good especially for the hungry Catalina. Yet like Mary of Bethany, she has chosen something better, the ultimate good who is God. Indeed, Catalina’s story is a story from detachment to attachment.

For the man in the Gospel, it was his material possessions that prevented him from attaching himself to God. How about you? What prevents you from attaching yourself to God? Are they things, people, or events?

And so we pray this prayer of St. Nicholas of Flue:

“My Lord and my God, take from me

everything that distances me from you.

My Lord and my God, give me

everything that brings me closer to you.

My Lord and my God, detach

me from myself to give my all to you.'

Amen!

Photo taken from en.wikipedia.org

PERSISTENT ASKING…SEEKING…AND KNOCKING

FIRST DAY TRIDUUM IN HONOR OF ST. JOHN XXIII

27^th Week in Ordinary Time

Mal 3:13 – 20/ Ps 1/ Lk 11: 5 – 13

We are living today in a world of instants! If you want to satisfy your hunger, you can simply buy a cup of instant noodles or instant pancit canton. If you want to have a lot of friends, you can instantly find them on Facebook or Tinder. Or if you want to leave the seminary, you just instantly do a major offense and you will instantly be sent away for good. We are living today in a world of instants! And such culture of instants makes us lose the virtue of perseverance.

Thus, our Gospel today reminds us of the virtue of perseverance. In the parable, we met the persistent friend who asked for bread from his neighbor. Not out of friendship but due to the friend’s—perhaps annoying—persistence that the neighbor gave him bread. We also heard in the Gospel three important verbs: ask, seek, and find. These verbs simply invite us to persevere! Ask until it shall be given to you. Seek until you shall find. And knock until the door will be opened up for you. Persevere!

And this virtue of perseverance we can find in the life of St. John XXIII. His long life was one of constantly asking, seeking, and knocking. When he decided to enter the minor seminary, his parents were at first apprehensive—where will we get money for his tuition, his board and lodging, his books, his uniform? We are only farmers. But Angelo Giuseppe kept asking, seeking and knocking, and he received and found, not all that he wanted, but all that he needed, and doors were opened. This attitude of persevering in asking, seeking, and knocking deepened throughout his priestly ministry and especially when he was “exiled” to Turkey. There he continued to ask, seek, and knock even among Muslims, Orthodox, and atheists, and he received and found all he needed despite differences and difficulties, and doors were opened. And so when he was elected Pope and many considered him to be a transitional Pope who will keep things as they are, he instead shook the very foundations of the Church, challenging the Church to persistently ask, seek, and knock. This is the Church that we are part of, a Church marked by St. John XXIII’s persistent asking, seeking, and knocking.

This is also our challenge today especially to you, our dear seminarians. I know you have your dreams in life today. Some of you are probably dreaming of becoming the next Archbishop of Cebu or the next rector of Pope John XXIII Seminary. If you want to make your dream come true, then persevere! “Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.” If you really want to become a priest, then starting today, persevere in your formation. Despite the many challenges and difficulties of seminary formation and your own human weakness and limitations, continue to ask, seek, and knock on the Lord who has called you. If kaya ninyo mag-persevere in playing Dota 2 from evening until dawn, I hope you can also bring such perseverance in your seminary formation.

St. John XXIII once said, “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams.” As you persevere in your chosen vocation, do not fear! Rather, hold on to your hopes and dreams. Continue to ask, seek, and knock on the Lord’s heart so that in the end, He will bring to fulfillment what he has begun in you. Amen!

St. John XXIII, pray for us who have recourse to you!

Photo taken from frchriszugger.com

THE PROBLEM ON DIVORCE

Twenty – Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gn 2: 18 – 24/ Ps 128/ Heb 2: 9 – 11/ Mk 10: 2 – 16

In 2009, figures show that nineteen Filipino women were victims of marital violence every day. Among the different forms of violence against women, battering of wives ranked the highest according to the Philippine National Police. Three out of ten perpetrators of women violence were the husbands of the victims themselves. Unfortunately, I was not able to get the figures on men as victims of marital violence. In the end, these figures would easily lead us to think of an easy way out – divorce!

Divorce was also an issue during the time of Jesus. The Pharisees in order to get Jesus to admit that he was contradicting the Great Moses raised the concern on divorce. However, Jesus’ answer highlighted the centrality on the law of God rather than the dispensation from the law which Moses was forced to enact “because of the hardness of the people’s hearts.”

And this law of God on marriage finds its foundation in our first reading today from the book of Genesis. Right from the start, we realize that marriage is not only monogamous but also a life-long relationship between a man and a woman. “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.”

Given this foundational truth on marriage as monogamous and a life-long relationship, we also cannot deny the truth that indeed along the life-long journey between a husband and wife, trials, problems and difficulty exist.

And our second reading today gives us an inspiration to hold on to our family life because even Jesus who was God “for a little while was made lower than the angels.” Jesus too along his earthly journey experienced his own share of trials, problems and difficulty. And this is what Pope Francis meant when he said, “Families have the difficulties. Families, we quarrel, and sometimes plates can fly. And children bring headaches — I won't speak about mother in laws. But in families there is always light, because the love of God, and son of God, opened also that path for us."

Thus we realize that when family problems and marital conflicts come in the family, divorce is never ever a solution. The solution is found in our holding on to Jesus. In our case as Catholic Christians, families must hold on to Jesus in the Eucharist because the Eucharist builds the family.

A true story is told of a deacon who noticed in his parish that a certain family does not go to Mass together except every first Sunday of the month. And so, finally, he decided to ask the father about the family’s situation. The father humbly replied, “Rev., every first Sunday, we, 6 in the family, go together for Mass. However, our monthly income cannot suffice to pay for the habal-habal ride. Thus we decided as a family that on the second Sunday, it will be me and my two sons who will go to Mass. On the third, it will be the turn of my wife and my two daughters. And on the fourth, it will be me and my wife who will go to Mass.” For us who are living near the parishes, failure to attend the Sunday Mass is a mortal sin. But for that poor family, it is sacrifice.

This is therefore our challenge today that in order to prevent divorce in the family, we must not divorce ourselves from the Eucharist. In order to endure the many trials and hardships which family life has given to us, we must hold on to Jesus in the Eucharist.

Come to think of this: If we can spend hours watching Pangako Sa’Yo and On the Wings of Love; if we can spend hours watching Heneral Luna or Etiquette for Mistresses, why can’t we spend an hour weekly with the Lord in the Eucharist as a couple, as a family? Amen!

The above photo is the official logo of the recently concluded 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, USA