HOLY BUT NOT EXEMPTED

Feast of the Holy Family
Lk 2:41-52

On this last day of the year 2006, we focus our reflection on the family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We call their family, “The Holy Family”. However, no matter how holy their family is, it is not exempted from difficulties and pain. The Gospel today proves this point.

Mary and Joseph lost Jesus in the Temple, and they are deeply distressed. One thinks that the Son is with the other as they make their journey back home to Nazareth. But both, father and mother are wrong. By now, they have been traveling for already for a day. Realizing that Jesus is neither with any of them, they search for Him among their relatives and friends but cannot find Him. What parent will not panic with his or her child missing?

When finally Mary and Joseph find Jesus in the Temple, Mary runs towards her Son, hits Him in the head, pinches His ears, slaps Him on the face, shouts curses on Him, and drags Him home in the sight of everyone in the Temple. Right? Wrong! That is not how the family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph faces a crisis-situation.

Upon seeing their Son, Mary approaches Jesus. Calmly, but still with great anxiety, Mary talks to her Son. “Son,” the mother asks, “why have You done this to us?” Mary talks to Jesus. She does not shout at Him. She dialogues with her Son. Indeed, there is no misunderstanding that cannot be ironed-out by a respectful and sincere dialogue. Mary does not give in to the sudden outburst of human emotion that is otherwise too often considered ordinary to the situation her family is in right now. As a sincerely concerned mother, Mary could have given her Son a good scolding, for what mother would not go berserk in a similar situation. But no, Mary engages her Son in a parent-child dialogue. She is sincere in understanding her Son, not in scolding Him.

While Mary is very composed, Joseph is even calmer. Typical of him, Joseph remained quiet. He says nothing but is very much present during the mother-and-son talk. Joseph does not rebuke his Son. Neither does he tell Jesus, “For what You did, Your are grounded for a month beginning today” or “From now on, your allowance will be a hundred peso less.” Joseph does not hit his Son. I suppose, just like most fathers, he stands right beside his wife, for while he leaves the talking to the mother, Joseph does not abandon his responsibility for Jesus, his foster-Son.

And the Son, Jesus; He does not raise His voice but rather respectfully answers His mother’s inquiry. With candidness that is immediately recognizable in an honest and polite response, Jesus says to Mary, “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Moreover, now that His parents found Him, Jesus does not put a foot on the ground to say, “Now that you found Me, you, two, go home. I’ll just follow later. This is what I want to do now and so this is what I intend to continue doing. Go home, have you forgotten, I am God?” No, Jesus obediently goes home with His parents, respectfully submitting Himself to their parental authority, knowing that while doing His Heavenly Father’s will in the Temple is, of course, not bad, obeying His earthly father and Mary in their home in Nazareth is doing His Heavenly Father’s will, too, in this particular moment of His earthly life. Jesus is God’s obedient Son and so He is Mary’s and Joseph’s obedient child.

This is how it is with the Holy Family. Even in the midst of the most distressing situation, even at the heart of the most painful experience, even under the weight of the heaviest burden, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph remain loving one another. No problem, no hardship, no anxiety, no nothing can, even for the length of a sigh, diminish their love for one another that is manifested by their mutual respect. The troubles of life can never be an excuse to fight one another, to blame one another, or to accuse one another. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph is the Holy Family because they are the Loving Family.

Holiness is the perfection of charity. The more loving a family is the more holy that family is. And families that are holy are household of love at all times and in all situations. Like the family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, holy families are not exempted from the problems and difficult trials of life. People who belong to holy families are members of a household where the deepest pain and the heaviest burden can never be an excuse to love less or to love not at all.

Let us fix our eyes on the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Let us learn from their exemplary family life. Let us consecrate our family to their family. May we love as they love. May our family be holy as theirs.

But let us not forget, while we see in the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph the best example of the saying “Charity begins at home”, we likewise see in them the best example of a continuing lesson that says, “Charity, however, does not end at home”. Do we not?

HE DID NOT SIMPLY PASS HER BY

Saturday in the Octave of Christmas
Lk 2:36-40

In the First Reading today (1 Jn 2:12-17), St. John the Evangelist reminds us and warns us. He reminds us that this world is passing. He warns us not to love this passing world. Both his reminder and warning are very timely as the present year has forty-eight hours or less left. The year is ending while the world may not be ending today or tomorrow. But it will end! As we have to let go of a year, we must let never cling to anything or anyone in this world. Everything and everyone here, including the world in itself, is passing!

The prophetess Anna in the Gospel knew whom to love and to  cling to. She was eighty-four years old, seven years married when she became a widow, and she never left the Temple since then, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. Her life and everything and everyone in it, like the world around her, were passing, save God, in whom she trusted, in Whom she remained. She loved God and clung to Him alone. She never trusted in the world that passes; thus, when the Newborn Son of God came, He did not just pass her by. He revealed Himself to her. She then passed on to others what passed her not: “…and she spoke of the Child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.”

As another year passes, let us stop for a long while, sit down in prayer, reflect, and examine if we have heeded St. John’s warning and followed the example of the prophetess Anna.

HE SAW AND SO HE WENT

Friday in the Octave of Christmas
Lk 2:22-35

Sometimes we hear someone say, “It is enough for me to have seen you. I can go now.” Simeon can be that someone today. God promised him that he would not die without seeing Christ. Now that he sees the Lord, he may see death. It is enough for Simeon to see Jesus; he is now ready to go.

If I were Simeon, I confess that I might ask God more. After seeing the Baby Jesus, I might request God to make me see the Toddler Jesus, the Adolescent Jesus, and the Adult Jesus before I die. How about you?

But how come Simeon now also tells Mary what her Child will be? How come he can warn Mary about the sword that will pierce her own soul too?

Simeon sees more than the present. He sees the future even in the present. He sees more than the Baby Jesus. He sees the Christ Jesus. He sees with the eyes of faith.

No wonder, Simeon is able to wait for so long a time to see the fulfillment of God’s promise to him. He has faith in God. He believes that God keeps His word and so he sees the Word of God Incarnate.

While we may say that Simeon has a great deal of patience in waiting, it is more than patience that made him live up to this day when he sees he whom he waits for. He believes and so he lives. He has faith and so he sees.

After he saw the Baby Jesus, blest His parents, and confided with Mary, there is nothing more heard about Simeon in the Gospels. You know why? Because seeing the Lord was enough for him and so he went.

NO PRACTICAL JOKES TODAY PLEASE

Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs
Mt 2:13-18

It is very unfortunate that just because today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents (“Niños Inocentes” as we call it), some people think it is alright to do practical jokes on anyone. I suppose “innocents” here is gravely misunderstood.

Innocence is not naiveté. Being innocent is not appearing ridiculous or being treated like a moron. It is not being stupid. Innocence means blamelessness. And these were what the children massacred by King Herod in his pursuit to kill the Baby Jesus. They were blameless and yet the blame seemed to be placed on them by the insane tetrarch.

When the blameless become the blamed, they become martyrs. When the unblemished are violated, they are martyred. When the innocent are regarded guilty, they become martyrs.

But who really is guilty in the massacre of the Holy Innocents?

Not Jesus, but Herod. He is guilty of murder. The blood of the martyred children of Israel cries out to heaven for justice. Herod did not have his day in court, but he served his sentence. He never had a peaceful reign and his end was so horrible and disgusting. Scriptures say that he died, spitting out his bowels.

Certainly, this day is not a joke. This is a day of serious reflection for us. Have we pronounced the innocent guilty? Have we violated the unblemished? Have we blamed the blameless? If we have, we may not have our day in court but we will serve our sentence.

Anyone who wants to joke about this?

MAKING OUR JOY COMPLETE

Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
1 Jn 1:1-4


Today’s First Reading is one of my favorite scriptural passages. “…that we have heard, and we have seen with our own eyes, that we have watched and touched with our hands…we are writing to you to make our own joy complete.” Now we know why John wrote the Fourth Gospel and his epistles.

John heard, saw, watched and touched the Word-Made-Flesh. He could have been happy with that. And indeed, he was! But his joy was never complete until he passed on to us what he heard, saw, watched and touched. His joy was to make us know, meet, and love the Jesus whom he met, knew, and loved. That is the mark of a true apostle! That is what makes a disciple an apostle.

How many of us can say the same thing that John said today? Some of us stop at meeting, knowing, and loving the Lord. They do not care to share Jesus with others. Too bad, they are missing a lot. They may be happy, but theirs is a joy that is not complete. It is in sharing the Lord with others that gives a disciple of the Lord real fulfillment. Unless we pass Him on to others, we have not yet become an apostle.

Let us share Jesus with others. Let us grow from being a disciple to being an apostle. Let our joy be complete.

THE REAL MILLIEU OF THE INCARNATION

Feast of St. Stephen, Protomartyr
Mt 10:17-32

Yesterday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Lord’s Nativity. The Christmas season has just begun. But today, I feel almost sinful to celebrate and be merry. We remember today the death of the first Christian martyr, Stephen.

Stephen was one of the seven deacons who helped the apostles. But he preached like one of the apostles too. The Acts of the Apostles (Cf. Act 6:8-10; 7:54-59) gives us a glimpse on his character: “filled with faith and with the Holy Spirit” and was “full of fortitude”. He was stoned to death outside Jerusalem and died while praying for his executioners. The Acts of the Apostles provides a detailed report on his martyrdom except one thing. It does not say that he was executed on the day following the annual celebration of Christmas.

Can this feast be a “kill joy” in the midst of the Christmas revelries? Of course not. It is rather good that we celebrate the feast of the first Christian martyr immediately as the Christmas season begins. It keeps our feet on the ground.

So quickly after Christmas, we speak of a martyr, of death, of dissension. We are reminded that the holiday is an idealized parenthesis in our life. Right after the last Christmas greetings are said and the last Christmas gifts are sent, dirty politics, human rights violations, and social inequalities return to the front pages of the dailies. This is the real setting of the Incarnation. This is the world where the Word became flesh. This is the world that killed Stephen. This is the world to which we are sent to incarnate the Word each day.

HE IS FROM HERE!

Solemnity of the Lord’s Nativity
Jn 1:1-18

I find it funny that when people want to know who we are, they often ask us, “Where are you from?” Duh?!? I do not get it. Where is the connection between where we come from and who we are? Does the land we come from give the first clue of our hidden identity? Well, perhaps people need to register us in a place and in time before they can really grow to know us and accept us.

It seems the same is true of God. Today, He registers Himself in a place and in time so that we can grow to know Him and love Him. His place? Bethlehem, Israel. His time? When a census of the whole world was made during the reign of Caesar Augustus, when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

The Word became flesh. To be flesh is always to be somewhere, never nowhere. To be flesh is always to exist some time, never no time. “Never Never Land” is nowhere land, but Bethlehem is an actual land. “Once upon a time” is fairytale time, but “the reign of Augustus” is real time. Because of Christmas, the Word-Made-Flesh can be located in space and time. Christmas is the Word made flesh within natural boundaries of every human life-story. Today, Jesus registers Himself in place and time: Verbo caro factum est et habitavit in nobis (“The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us”). Jesus pitched His tent among us. God has a new address: here with us! Jesus is our neighbor. He is Emmanuel. Jesus is one of us!

Let us not allow Christmas Day pass without us visiting Bethlehem. Let us spend some moments in prayerful silence before the Nativity tableau. When we bend to reverently kiss Baby Jesus, may we hear Him whisper to us: "Behold, I came to share in your humanity so that you may come to share in my divinity."

BEAUTY SECRETS

4th Sunday of Advent
Lk 1:39-45

We have today one of the lovely scenes in the Old Testament: the Visitation of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth. It is lovely because of three “L’s”.

First, this second mystery of the Joyful Mysteries is often the subject of art works, particularly on canvas. The meeting between the mother of the Lord and the mother of the Lord’s precursor is very beautiful to draw, sketch, paint, or even curve. The fact that the two women were pregnant makes the scene even more beautiful. I always find women on the family way beautiful because they carry life within themselves. Life is beautiful!

Second, the visit of Mary to Elizabeth is a visit of love. It is Mary’s love for her cousin, who despite her old age was heavy with child, that made Mary go in haste to serve and assist her until John was born. The scene is a scene of love-in-action, of genuine love, of love that reaches out to others in their need. This kind of love is always beautiful.

Third, when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leapt for joy. The visit was more than just between the two mothers. It was very much a rendezvous between Jesus and John. Even in the womb, John recognized the Lord. The Lord is always beautiful.

Life, love, and the Lord – these three “L’s” make the story in today’s Gospel truly lovely. Life, love, and the Lord – these are the true beauty secrets to a lovely soul. And mind you, while lovely face decays, lovely souls do not.

A TIME TO BE SILENT, A TIME TO SHOUT

Saturday in the 3rd Week of Advent
Lk 1:57-66

His father could not speak, but he would, in due time, become the spokesman of God. His father was mute, but when the Messiah was near, he would shout in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight His paths! The kingdom of heaven is near!” His father wrote his name on a tablet, and when Christ appeared, he would point to the Lamb of God.

The birth of John the Baptist broke the silence of Zechariah. Yes, it also broke the long silence of God. The name “John” means “God’s graciousness”. He was God’s graciousness to his parents, to the Jews, and to us as well. Let tongues be loosened to shout: “God is good all the time! And all the time, God is good!”

Christmas day is barely two days away; there will surely be a lot of noise to welcome it. What with all the partying and merry making! But the original Christmas was preceded by silence and greeted by the song of the angels.

It was silent in Bethlehem before Jesus was born until the silence was broken by His baby cry and the angelic voices. It was silent in the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth before John was circumcised until the neighbors and friends came, who to their surprise heard Zechariah spoke again. It was silent when the angel Gabriel visited Mary until Mary visited Elizabeth and both spoke in praise of God. Silence, very often, precedes the great things that God does. Let us not forget to enter into the silence of God this Christmas, no matter how merry we make it.

And when the time to be silent is over, shout: “Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel! He has come to His people and set them free….”

FOCUS ON GOD

Friday in the 3rd Week of Advent
Lk 1:46-56

When two persons who are greatly blest meet, what usually happens? They engage in a very lively exchange. This is what happens today in the Gospel.

Elizabeth, even in her old age and barrenness, conceived. Mary, despite her young age and virginity, conceived as well. Both women were not only greatly blest; they were blest beyond imagination! Today, the Gospel focuses on the meeting of these two unimaginably blest women and their exchange was so lively that Elizabeth’s child jumped even in the womb while Mary rejoices even unto her soul.

Mary’s canticle, the “Magnificat”, highlights their rendezvous. The “Magnificat”, in turn, highlights what God has done. The canticle focuses on God’s action in behalf of His People, Israel. God’s action in behalf of His People, Israel, underscores God’s fidelity to His promise of mercy to Abraham and his children forever.

How greatly blest we can really be if every meeting we have with anyone highlights God’s works in our life! Instead of talking about other people’s lives, speak about God’s action in our life. Discern with everyone we meet how God moves in our life. Focus on God’s faithfulness to us rather than on the infidelity of others.

Christmas can be a whole-year round celebration if we proclaim everyday with everyone how God comes and enters into our life. Christmas should not be reduced to a mere annual commemoration of the Lord’s birth. It must be a daily experience when we focus not on our selves nor on others but on God.

AN ANGEL'S VISIT

Thursday in the 3rd Week of Advent
Lk 1:39-35

First there were the men; now the ladies. First, we heard the stories of the two husbands – Joseph and Zechariah; today we listen to Mary’s and Elizabeth’s, their wives. The angel of the Lord visited Joseph and Zechariah; Joseph in a dream while Zechariah in the Holy of Holies. This time, after the angel’s visit to her, Mary went in haste to visit her cousin, Elizabeth. Mary was like Elizabeth’s angel.

Three reasons why Mary was like Elizabeth’s angel:

God sends us angels to help us. Mary went to Elizabeth to help her. As the Gospel says, she even went in haste to serve her cousin until her cousin gave birth to John the Baptist. Mary was like Elizabeth’s angel.

Angels are God’s messengers. Mary went to Elizabeth to share with her the news about the Holy Baby she also was carrying in her womb. As the Gospel today says that Mary did not even have to utter a single word to make Elizabeth – and her son still in the womb – rejoice. Mary’s mere visit was a source of great joy. Mary’s visit was like a visit of an angel to Elizabeth and, of course, to her son, John, as well who even in the womb leapt for joy.

Angels are servants of God. Mary went to Elizabeth not only to serve her and share with her the news of her own childbearing. She visited her cousin to bear witness to God’s fidelity to His promise. “Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise of the Lord to her would be fulfilled,” Elizabeth easily recognized Mary’s witnessing. Mary reminded Elizabeth about God’s faithfulness to His people and to those who obey Him. As God’s witness to Elizabeth, Mary was a servant of God. Angels are like that too.

When we go to help, to share, and to give witness to God, we, too, are like angels. Many times in a single day, we are visited by angels disguised as the people we meet. Many times in a single day, we can choose to be angels too.

Are you an angel today?

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Wednesday in the 3rd Week of Advent
Lk 1:26-38

I asked a friend of mine, “Will you still remember me after ten years?” “But, of course, Father, I will!” he answered. “How about after twenty years?” I asked again. “Father, I will never ever forget you in ten years, in twenty years, or even in my entire lifetime,” he said.

“Knock! Knock!” I continued. “Who’s there?” my friend asked. “Liar! You said you will never ever forget me. How come you do not know me now?” I joked.

Of course, we heard this joke several times already. It sounds corny to you and me, but this is what the Lord is doing today in the Gospel. He is knocking on Mary’s womb: “Knock! Knock! May I come in?”

When the Lord knocked in Mary’s womb, Mary opened up to Him and let Him in. She did not doubt. Her question, “How can this be since I do not know man” was an inquiry to how she could welcome the Lord in her womb since she consecrated herself to Him in virginity. The angel Gabriel explained to her the unexplainable ways of God. And Mary opened her womb to God who knocked, saying, “I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.”

The Lord also knocks, not on our wombs – for not all of us have wombs and there can be only one womb to carry Him – but on our hearts. “Knock! Knock!” He says and waits for our response. If we open our hearts to Him and welcome Him in, we are blessed too. St. Augustine said of Mary, “Mary is blessed among women because she carried the Word in her heart before she conceived It in her womb.”

“Knock! Knock!” the Lord tells us. This is no joke. Will we answer, “Who’s there?”

SILENCE BEFORE AND AFTER

Tuesday in the 3rd Week of Advent
Lk 1:5-25

It seems that the husbands are God’s target these two days. Yesterday, Joseph, the husband of Mary was visited by the angel of the Lord in a dream. Today, Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth, was met by the angel Gabriel inside the Holy of Holies. Both were men who loved astonishing women. Both were shocked by astonishing news. Yesterday was about a young virgin who conceived by the Holy Spirit. Today is about an old barren whose womb God made fresh again for the birth of the Greatest Prophet.

But there is a difference between these two husbands. The first did not say a word before the news. The other could not say a word after the news. Joseph came to know about Mary’s conceiving without him touching her, but he decided to silently divorce her so as not to expose her to the Law. Zechariah always wanted to have a child from Elizabeth, but when finally he was about to have one, he became silent. The first was a virtue. The second, a punishment. The first was due to Joseph’s love for Mary and faith in God. The second was due to Zechariah’s doubt.

The Lord continues to amaze us, to surprise us, even to shock us with His will for us. When we are silent, let us examine if our silence is due to love and faith or due to doubt. The first is a virtue while the second is punishment.

SOLVE THE PUZZLE

3rd Sunday of Advent
Lk 3:10-18

A class of grade school students was given a test by their teacher.

“Class, I am giving each of you a jigsaw puzzle of the world,” said the teacher. “You are to solve the puzzle within thirty minutes. Anyone who solves it first will be exempted from taking the math exam,” she explained. Then the teacher distributed to each student the jigsaw puzzle. “Your time starts now,” she signaled.

After five minutes, one of the students raised his hand and claimed he already solved the puzzle. “But how did you do it in so short a time?” the teacher asked the boy.

The boy smiled at the teacher and said, “You see, Ma’am, I turned the puzzle over and discovered that there is a figure of a man printed on it. I solved the man and the world was solved!”

The problems of the world can only be solved by solving man himself. The solution to world crises is in getting man straightened out. This was what John the Baptist was trying to tell the people who asked him, “What must we do?” This was the answer he gave to the tax collectors and the soldiers who asked him the same question. This is what he is trying to teach us now through the Gospel today.

Just as we are part of the problems of the world, we are also part of their solutions. Let us straightened out our selves. Let us set our lives straight. Let us prepare the way of Lord. Keep it straight!

THE WORLD WAITS

16 December 2006
Mt 17:10-13

The Jews believe that Elijah did not die. The Old Testament Scripture says that the Prophet was taken by a fiery chariot into the heavens. Elisha, his protégée, witnessed this miraculous event.

Because Elijah did not die, the Jews expect him to arrive ahead of the Messiah. But there was no literal re-appearance of the Great Prophet. There was, however, his symbolic re-appearance in John the Baptist.

In the Gospel today, Jesus did not explicitly refer to the Baptizer as the fulfillment of the Elijah homecoming. He simply confirmed that Elijah already came but was not recognized. It was Matthew who concluded that the disciples understood that Jesus was speaking of John the Baptist.

Before the Lord Jesus comes again at the end of the world, we believe that He is already with us. He is with us in the sacraments, in the Scriptures, and in one another, most especially the poor with whom He so intimately identifies Himself. Come to think of it, the Lord’s coming at the end of time is, therefore, not really an arrival. It is not as if He is not yet here. He is here! The coming of the Lord at the end of the world is an appearance of the Lord, an appearance that will be totally and undoubtedly recognizable for you and me. We will not only see Him; we shall likewise recognize Him as He is.

But for now, do we see Him? Do we see Him in the poor and the suffering? Do we see Him in one another? Do we welcome Him in the sacraments and hear Him in the Scriptures? And do others see Him in us?

It is useless to wait for the re-appearance of Elijah. He already did, the Lord said. He was John the Baptist, the disciples believed. It is now the time to see the Lord. He is already here.

As we end today the first part of our Advent preparation, let us remember that we shall recognize the Lord when He comes at the end of the world if and only if we see Him now. Christmas is not seeing the Lord for the first time. Christmas is making the Lord seen in us and through us always.

The world today does not wait for Elijah. It waits for your love.

STILL DISAPPOINTED UNTIL NOW

Friday of the Second Week of Advent
Mt 11:16-19

Our worst enemy is our selves. Our great disappointments are the ones we our selves create. We want people to cater to our expectations. And when they fall short of our expectations, we are overly disappointed.

Unfortunately, there are times when we do the same with God. We try to fit Him into our categories. But because we cannot put God in a box, He will never fit our categories. And because our categories cannot contain Him, our expectations are not met. Then we are disappointed even with God. But take a deeper look at our situation. We are actually disappointed at our selves.

We are disappointed at our selves because we try to be God’s god when, in fact, we cannot be. We tell God what He should do, how He should do it, and when He should do it. But if God could be determined by our categories and influenced by our will, He then is not God; He is our puppet, our slave, our servant, our creation.

Jesus found His people difficult to please because He did not fit their categories of what the Messiah should be. But Jesus did not come to please anyone except the Father. Thus, “He came to His own but His own did not welcome Him” (Jn 1:11).

In one of my pilgrimages to the Holy Land, our local tour guide – a Jew herself – said that she and her people continue to wait for the Messiah. That was in 1997! She narrated how many times they thought this man or that man was already the Messiah, only to be disappointed with realizing that they were mistaken.

In the Gospel today, who really was disappointed: Jesus or the Jews? Whoever was, surely that disappointment lasts until now.

JUAN'S CROSS IS JUAN'S GRACE

Memorial of St. John of the Cross
Mt 11:11-15

If the Americans have Uncle Sam, we, Filipinos, have Juan dela Cruz (“John of the Cross”). It is not the Juan dela Cruz whom we remember today. The Juan dela Cruz we remember today is a saint, a real, therefore, historical, person. Our Juan dela Cruz as Filipinos is a fiction but not necessarily false because we project to him our traits, strengths and weaknesses, and aspirations as a people.

However, because very often the crosses we bear as a nation prove to be real and heavy, St. John of the Cross may well be the patron saint of our Juan dela Cruz. St. John of the Cross, a Carmelite priest, who lived in the mid 1500’s, was endowed with a spirit of self-denial and a love of the cross, as the Opening Prayer of today’s Mass says. He taught us how to carry our crosses as he went through the different stages in spiritual growth, stages which he referred to as “dark nights”. He called them “dark nights” because those were stages in spiritual growth where one is left without maps or familiar landmarks. They are stages in spiritual growth where one allows God to take over.

For St. John of the Cross, “dark nights” are not identical with spiritual failure. They are, instead, moments when we are changed not by our loving God but by letting our selves be loved by God. They are stages when, in the words of St. John of the Cross himself, “The Lover is transformed by the Beloved.”

As the only Christian nation in the Far East, we are given the grace of bearing witness to Christ to the world by the many crosses we bear. Our country goes through many “dark nights”. And the bright morning seems to remain too far for us to get a glimpse of even today. Many already raised the question as to why would God give us so many crises – political, economic and even religious – if we are His special people in this part of the globe. While equally many are the answers proposed, the best is still the fact that God is changing us, purifying us, pruning us, and transforming us not by our loving Him but by allowing our selves be loved by Him.

Of course, this should not be an easy alibi for us not to work hard in alleviating our selves from the miseries we find our selves in. But it, however, throws all our national pain into a totally new situation. It is the situation of grace.

Our Juan dela Cruz will never be a saint even as it remains our national identity. But we can become like St. John of the Cross who said two important things that may bring some light into our dark nights: “If you search for love and find it not, put love and you will find love” and “At the evening of life, we shall be judged on love.”

Love alone can make Juan’s cross Juan’s grace.

LUX

13 December 2006
Memorial of St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr

LUX
Mt 11:28-30

The Latin word “lux” means “light”. Thus, the motto of my alma mater, “Lux in Domino”, means “Light in the Lord”. It is from the word lux that the name “Lucy” comes. We remember today a saint – virgin and martyr – with this name.

St. Lucy was born in Rome and was martyred during the Diocletian persecution in the fourth century. Perhaps because she belonged to the antiquity of Church history, many legends have grown around and about her. One of which is that she plucked out her eyes to dissuade her many suitors because she dedicated her virginity to Christ. This explains why her statue today has her holding a platter that contains her eyes.

I smile as I recall today what a woman I once courted during college said to me. “Your eyes are the windows to your soul.” I do have a mole in one of my eyeballs but I do not see windows in either of them.

However, it is true that our eyes are the windows to our soul. It is through them that light comes in and goes out from our deepest recesses. We see others through our eyes and others see us through them too. We give light to others through our eyes. Through our eyes we receive light as well.

But just as windows may be closed, our eyes may likewise be shut. Then our light grows dim. Our light may also be totally extinguished, and darkness engulfs us.

Of course, we should take good care of our eyes. No one dreams of living in darkness. No one wants to go blind. Yet here is a woman who opted to be blind rather than lose sight of her consecration to Christ. She would rather be engulfed by darkness than darkness be embraced by her. She knew that even in darkness for the sake of Christ, one could see better with the heart. She believed that losing sight could mean gaining focus. She was ready to suffer blindness for the sake of consecrated virginity. Later on in life, she died for the faith in Jesus, the light of the world.

There once was another nicknamed “Lucy” – from “Lucifer” – who was called the “angel of light”. He was the most beautiful of the angels. But he refused to serve his Creator. With a legion of angels, he waged a battle with those who declared, “Serviam (“I will serve”)!” He became the Prince of Darkness.

MERCIFUL MOTHER

Memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Mt 18:12-14

When the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Juan Diego in the hills of Tepeyac in Guadalupe, Mexico on December 12, 1531, she spoke thus to him:

“I am your merciful mother, the mother of all who live united in this land,
and of all mankind, of all those who love me, of those who cry to me,
of those who have confidence in me. Here I will hear their weeping
and their sorrows, and will remedy and alleviate their sufferings,
necessities and misfortunes…. Do not be troubled or weighed down with grief.
Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here
who am your mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection?
Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle?
In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need?”

Our Lady of Guadalupe is not only the Mother of Mercy. She is our Merciful Mother.

As the readings today, Tuesday in the Second Week of Advent, invite us to return to the mercy of Lord, may the maternal love of Our Lady of Guadalupe convince us even more that the Lord cares for us. He waits for our coming even as we wait for His. As it was the Blessed Mother who brought Jesus to us on the first Christmas day, she is also the same mother who can bring us to Jesus everyday.

Moreover, any devotion should make the devotee become more and more like the subject of his devotion. Thus, because Our Lady of Guadalupe is our Merciful Mother, our devotion to her must make us even more merciful to one another. Otherwise, ours is not a true devotion.

We are in the folds of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s mantle. We are ever in the crossing of her arms. There is nothing else we need. In the loving embrace of our Merciful Mother, we shall find the consolation that the Prophet Isaiah says and the joy that Matthew describes in the Gospel today. By imitating the same embrace, let us give consolation and joy to others.

STRANGE THINGS AND MORE TO COME

Monday in the 2nd Week of Advent
Lk 5:17-26

“We have seen strange things today.” This is how the Gospel today ends. While the scribes and the Pharisees saw that it was strange for Jesus to forgive sins, the rest of the people rather saw that it was strange that the paralytic was made whole again. But both the forgiving of sins and the healing from paralysis are not strange things for Jesus because His very same means, “God saves”.

“Our God will come to save us.” This is how the psalmist responded to the prophecy of Isaiah in the First Reading today. In Jesus the psalmist’s declaration found evidence. The coming of Jesus is God coming to save us. The Gospels show this.

As we prepare to commemorate the birth of Jesus, let us make it a part of our reflection the important task of examining how we have truly lived out the gift of salvation Jesus brought us by His Incarnation and Paschal Mystery. And because Advent is not only looking back to the day when Jesus was born in Bethlehem but also looking forward to the day of His final coming, let us give an account of the things we have done or not have done to make as many people as possible benefit from the saving presence of Jesus in our midst.

Jesus Himself is the powerful in-breaking of the Messianic era. When we strive to be more and more like Jesus, the Messianic era is more and more established in our midst. The more we become instruments of salvation from diseases of body and soul, the more we become like Jesus. In us and through us, the world will continue to see strange things as God continues to come to save the world.

Strange things – seen and heard. And more strange things to come!

NOT ONLY FAST BUT SMOOTH AND EASY TOO

2nd Sunday of Advent
Lk 3:1-6

St. John the Baptist, the Lord’s precursor, could have been a good secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways. He wanted all crooked ways straightened, valleys filled in, mountains and hills made low, and rough road smoothened. This, he claimed, is the only way to see the salvation of God.

Indeed the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. If God were standing at one point and we at the other extreme, a straight and smooth path makes our journey towards Him not only easier but faster. Thus, during this Advent season, a time to reflect on the coming of the Lord, let us examine our lives.

Where there are mounds in our lives, let us make them level. Where there craters, let us fill them in. Mounds in our lives can be our overbearing attitude and our excesses. Lessen them! Craters in our lives are the good we are found lacking. Fill them in!

Let us prepare the way of the Lord. He is coming. But His coming may be very much delayed by the mounds and craters in our lives.

Because the Lord comes to the lives of the people around us also through our lives, our lives are like roads, too. If our ways are crooked, we delay the coming of the Lord to the people around us.

St. John the Baptist is the best Secretary of Public Works and Highways that any nation can have. You know why? He was never corrupt. He himself was a straight road. He made the Lord’s coming not only fast but smooth and easy to those who heeded his call.

PRIVILEGED FOR A MISSION

Saturday of the 1st Week of Advent
Mt 9:35-10:1,6-8

The Israelites are the Chosen People of God. God directly intervened in their history to form them into one nation. Moreover, it was from their race that the Redeemer of the world came. The Israelites are a very privileged people. They did nothing to deserve such a singular gift. The stories of the unfaithfulness of the Israelites to God, which we can read in the Bible, underline the gratuity of this privilege.

But when God gives a privilege, He likewise gives a mission. The privilege of being the Chosen People of God is also the mission of being God’s witness to the world. Thus, Jesus admonished His disciples to first go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.

But did Israel listen?

“He came to His own but His own people did not welcome Him,” says Jn 1:11.

Sometimes we miss great opportunities in life. But may we never miss the privileges that the Lord gives us. In those privileges we also come to know our mission in life.

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION -- GOD'S WORK

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lk 1:26-38

Once I overheard someone pray the Angelus this way: “The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary…and she was conceived by the Holy Spirit.” I was bothered at first then I smiled.

The angelus is not about Mary being conceived. It is about Mary conceiving. Mary was not conceived by the Holy Spirit. She conceived by the Holy Spirit.

That is why what we celebrate today is not the Angelus. We celebrate the Angelus every March 25, the Solemnity of the Lord’s Annunciation. But today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Today is not about Jesus being conceived by the Blessed Mother, but about the Blessed Mother being immaculately conceived by her mother, St. Anne. Yes, Mary was conceived, but not by the Holy Spirit.

Mary, however, was to become the spouse of the Holy Spirit. The Power from the Most High would come upon her and overshadow her; thus, her Offspring would be called “Son of God” – the angel explained to her. The Immaculately Conceived would be the Immaculate Spouse of the Holy Spirit. She who conceived by the Holy Spirit was conceived without sin.

The feast today is first of all about God before it is about Mary. It is about God’s plan for the salvation of the world. He prepared well for the coming of His Son into the world. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is God preparing the would-be mother of the Lord. It is not about Mary being exempted from being redeemed. It is about Mary being saved also by her Son even before the actual events of redemption. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is about God at work in the life of the Blessed Mother.

How about God’s work in our life?

A SHEPHERD TO ANOTHER SHEPHERD

Memorial of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Jn 19:11-16

Only very few people do not know St. Augustine. Still only very few people who really know St. Augustine are not aware that he was once a great sinner who moved from one religion and philosophy to another, sired an illegitimate child, led a licentious life, but was converted by the prayers of his mother and the homily of a bishop. That bishop is Ambrose. Thanks to Monica, Augustine’s mother! Thanks to Ambrose, Augustine’s mentor! Thanks to God who gave Augustine a Monica and an Ambrose!

Today is the memorial of St. Ambrose who lived in the 300’s. He was a lawyer and governor of Milan, during which a ferocious conflict between Arian Christians and Trinitarian Christians existed. It was also then that the bishop of Milan died and Ambrose, governor of Milan, went to the cathedral to supervise the election. While seated in the front, Ambrose was seen by a little boy who, thinking that Ambrose is the new bishop, shouted, “Ambrose is bishop!” The assembly picked up the idea and Ambrose became bishop by acclamation. But Ambrose was not baptized yet at that time. Thus, no time was wasted and he was baptized, ordained and consecrated. He distinguished himself by his apostolic zeal, service to the poor, and effective pastoral care of the faithful. He defended the doctrine of the Church against the Arians who claim that Jesus was not God but man. But the greatest work God achieved through Ambrose was the conversion and baptism of Augustine who later became bishop of Hippo, doctor of the Church and one of the greatest saints of all times.

Augustine describes his first encounter with Ambrose. In his desolation, Augustine went inside the cathedral of Milan. Ambrose was preaching and Augustine became an easy captive of Ambrose’s eloquent homily. So held by Ambrose’s sermon, Augustine could not leave the cathedral even when the Mass was already over. Augustine stayed in his seat and started hearing in his mind the words, “Tole et lege!” (“Take and read!”). It was then that he saw a copy of Scriptures before him. He took the Holy Book and, according to him, read it from cover to cover. When he was through with his scripture reading, he, as he described it, shed copious tears. That was the beginning of his conversion. The rest we can read in Augustine’s book, “Confessions”.

Thank God for Ambrose! He was a shepherd to another shepherd, Augustine.

BRIDGES NOT CLIQUES

Wednesday of the 1st Week of Advent
Mt 15:29-37

Jesus felt sorry for the crowd that followed Him wherever He went. He felt sorry for the people because they were with Him for three days and had nothing to eat. Nothing to eat? Well, not all the people because His close circle has seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. Okay, so not all the people were to die of starvation. Only a majority of them! What?!

Does belonging to the “close circle” of Jesus make us think we are a special breed? Does it make us live as if we are exempted from being hungry while the rest starve? Does it make us feel good to lavish on God’s blessings while the “outsiders” languish? Does it make us justify why we should reserve and keep the little we have while the majority has nothing at all?

Jesus, feeling sorry, for the “outsiders”, asks us today, “What do you have?” Do we dare hide from Him what we keep under our sleeves? Or do we say, “Seven loaves and a few small fish.”

I believe in miracles; and they all begin with an act of love. Bringing out our seven loaves and few small fish is an act of love. Sharing with others even the too little we have is loving in action. Miracles happen when we love. We do miracles not only when we believe, but more so when we love.

Jesus teaches us, His disciples, an important lesson today. We are called to belong to His “inner circle” not to exclude the others but to be bridges between Him and the rest. We are called to be channels of His graces, instruments of His blessings, doers of His miracles. Yes, even with our seven loaves of bread and a few small fish, to be blessings ourselves.

Let us not only be sorry for the people’s hunger. Let us do something. Let us share and turn Jesus’ feeling sorry into Jesus’ doing another miracle through us.

COULD YOU BE MESSIAH TO ME?

Tuesday of the 1st Week of Advent
Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17

The Messianic age is described to be a time when justice will flourish and complete peace will have no end. This is what the responsorial psalm today tells us. This is our prayer too.

We pray for justice because there is so much injustice in the world. We seek for peace because we live in troubled days. But the justice of God is not “an eye for an eye”. His peace is not the absence of trials.

The justice of God is mercy. This is totally absurd for the world because God’s justice takes the form of forgiving love. Love is justice-anticipated. Did not St. Paul write, “After many transgressions came justification”? God’s justice does not demand the death of the sinner though it requires restitution. God’s justice does not deny the need to set aright whatever has been rendered wrong or return whatever has been stolen, but it does not rationalize vengeful deeds.

The peace of God is faith. It completely goes against the strong pull of the world to trust in one’s self, one’s capacity, one’s ability, one’s knowledge, one’s power. It is the peace that the world does not know. It is the peace that the world cannot give nor take away because it is the kind of peace that does not depend on what happens in the world or what the world makes happen to us. It is the peace that only God can give. It is the peace that resides only in the heart whose faith in God strong and deep.

The justice and peace of the Messiah is mercy and faith. When we strive to be more merciful and live by faith in God, the Messianic age has truly already begun. When we treat one another with love and give witness to the strength and depth of our faith in God, we are blest indeed because many prophets and kings wanted to see what we see but did not see it and to hear what we hear but did not heard it.

Once, the abbot of a very troubled monastery consulted a guru from a far away land. He asked the guru what could dissolve the discord among the monks. The guru whispered to the abbot, “Know and believe that one of you is the Messiah!” The abbot went back to his monks with the astounding revelation. Immediately upon arriving, he broke the news that one of them is the Messiah. Since then the monastery became a haven of true fraternal bonding. Charity reigned in the monastic community as each and every monk tried to treat one another as he would treat Jesus, the Messiah.

But the Messiah lives not only in the monastery, does He?

Could you be messiah to me?

DESIRE BIG

Monday in the 1st Week of Advent
Mt 8:5-11

One Christmas in the life of St. Therese of Lisieux, her father came home with gifts for each of his children. The children were so excited to open their gifts while little Therese remained seated in a corner. Papa picked her up, placed her on his lap, and asked her, “Therese, are you not excited over the gift I have for you this Christmas?” Little Therese replied, “No, Papa, I am excited over your Christmas gift for me. But the gift I most want is you because, beside the gift you have for me, you can also give me all the gifts you gave my siblings.”

Each day we have something to ask from the Lord. We may not get what we want but the Lord always supplies for what we need. As in the Gospel today, healing was requested from the Lord. And healing the Lord gave. But more than healing was received. Because of faith, the centurion received the Healer Himself. The centurion might have found himself unworthy to welcome Jesus under his roof, but Jesus was already residing in his heart by faith.

As we anticipate the great gift of Christmas, may we not lose sight of the Giver. The Gift is the Giver Himself: Jesus Christ.

When we ask for healing each day, let us not miss receiving the Healer Himself. Jesus is our Healing and Healer at the same time.

St. Therese of Lisieux as young as a child knew what to ask for. She wanted the Giver Himself. She is fondly called “The Little Flower” but undeniably, she was a “Big Saint”. Her desire was bigger; she wanted the Giver Himself. She desired for Jesus and Jesus she received.

THE ANTIDOTE FOR FEAR

1st Sunday of Advent
Lk 21:25-28, 34-36

In life, we always wait. In life, we all wait. We wait for the wedding of a couple, the birth of a baby, the first steps of a child, the call of a loved one, the return of a traveler, the visit of a relative, the letter of a friend, the healing of a wound, the recovery of the sick, the harvest of our labors, etc.

In life, we wait almost anywhere. We wait for a ride in a bus station, for a flight in an airport, for the bill in a restaurant, for exams in school, for a Mass in a church, etc.

We also wait for almost anyone, do we not? We wait for a child, for an elderly, for a parent, for a friend, for a brother or a sister, for a V.I.P., for a professor, for a priest, etc.

Our waiting may last from a sigh to a whole day, from nine months to a decade, from a century to a millennium. But what ever it takes and no matter how long, we wait because we value what and whom we wait for. We do not wait for occasions that we consider insignificant, for things we judge as trivial, or for people we care less.

The Lord is coming. The Gospels are very clear on this. We love the Lord very much, do we not? His coming must be very important for us. We should wait for His coming.

We wait for the coming of the Lord by preparing our selves and doing everything to make us less unworthy of His return. As He comes at the end of the world, we must prepare our selves not because we fear Him but because we love Him. The lover always rejoices at the return of the beloved. Our love for the Lord keeps us awake as He may come at the hour we least expect. Our love for the Lord will give us the confidence to stand erect before Him when He comes. For as St. John of the Cross tells us, “At the evening of life, we shall be judged on love.”

Love cast away all fears. If we fear the end of the world, can it be that we love the world more than we love the Lord?

MARANATHA...MANE NOBISCUM

Saturday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
Lk 21:34-36

We end the last day of the present liturgical year with the prayer: “Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!” This prayer echoes the deepest prayer in Sacred Scriptures. It is a plea to God. It is a cry from the deepest recesses of the heart. It also implies an attempt to remind God of His ancient promise to send the Savior of the world.

As another liturgical year closes, we ask the Lord to come because the world still hungers for Him. So many people remain waiting for Him though He already came. In one way or another we failed to make His coming real to the world because our sins mock His presence in our midst. In what we failed, we pray that the Lord Jesus Himself would make His grace come and supply.

“Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!” – this is our prayer, our plea, our cry. But Jesus already came. He came and He continues to stay. Jesus is Emmanuel; He is “God-With-Us.” He also dwells in us and, therefore, present through us. We can be the answer to our own prayer. We can also be the answer to the cry of the waiting world. If we continue striving to love like Jesus, we can become the presence of Jesus.

Let us make our plea today before the Holy Eucharist. Let us keep repeating the words “Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!” like a mantra before the Blessed Sacrament. I remember part of Pope John Paul II’s teaching in his final Apostolic Letter, “Mane Nobiscum, Domine” (“Stay With Us, Lord”): Christmas is “Jesus-coming-to-us” but the Eucharist is “Jesus-staying-with-us.” May we become like the Eucharist, too.

LINEAR NOT CYCLIC

Friday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
Lk 21:29-33

We are once again concluding a liturgical cycle. This coming Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent, we begin reading from the C Cycle of readings. Even in our liturgical life, we follow a particular cycle. Life is a cycle.

Philosophers of ancient Greece believed that history followed a cyclic pattern, that history repeats itself. They claimed that great disaster wiped out the world every 3,000 years or so. After the great calamity, human history started all over again until the next catastrophe.

When we look around us, such an ancient belief seems to be true. Earthly life is a cycle of living and dying. Growth follows a cycle of being dependent and independent. Seasons come in a cycle of winter, spring, summer and autumn. Even waste materials are recycled. Everything seems to follow a cyclic pattern.

But Christians should not believe so. We believe the contrary instead. History follows a linear pattern. It moves in a straight line. It progresses towards a definite direction, a specific goal. History does not repeat itself. And we avoid repeating most especially history’s mistakes.

The definite goal of our life is the final coming of God’s kingdom. It is the definitive and complete establishment of God’s kingdom in our midst. It is when the new heaven and the new earth are finally revealed in their fullness.

Jesus inaugurated the coming of the new heaven and the new earth. In His person, the kingdom of God already breaks in into human history. But we are to complete it by participating in His work.

Each day we strive to love like Jesus, the new heaven becomes more and more our new earth.