VISIT

Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lk 1:39-56

Every visit is a gift. It is a precious gift, whose value exceeds what money can buy. Every visit is a priceless treasure not because of the gift but because of the giver. When we visit someone, we give our selves to the person we visit. We give him or her our time. The effort we spend in making the visit is part of the whole value of our gift of self. Let us make every visit a priceless gift. Let us give our selves, our time, and our effort to people we visit.

However, there are visits that are not welcomed. Whatever the reason is, an unwelcomed visit is no visit at all. In our waking hours, an unwelcomed visit is a tragedy. In our hours of sleep, an unwelcomed visit is a nightmare.

Today, we remember the visit that the Blessed Mother paid to her cousin, Elizabeth. We celebrate her visit because it was a gift of her self to Elizabeth. She went to Judea, the hometown of Zechariah and Elizabeth, not for a grand vacation. She went there in haste, despite her own pregnancy, to serve Elizabeth. She ran to her cousin’s side in the moment of her cousin’s need. By doing so, the Blessed Mother did not only share with Elizabeth the unmerited gift of her becoming the mother of the Savior but also to share in Elizabeth’s own cause of joy and anxiety.

That she conceived in her old age and despite her being barren, caused Elizabeth the kind of inexpressible joy that even her husband, Zechariah, could not speak about. However, the same event caused her anxiety, given the difficulties of conceiving and delivering a baby in her advanced age. In such a moment of mixed emotion and confusing experience, Elizabeth welcomed the visit of the Blessed Mother.

The Blessed Mother’s presence highlighted the joy in Elizabeth’s condition and totally erased any trace of anxiety there was. The Blessed Mother’s going out of her way and making sacrifices to be with Elizabeth made the visit we remember today a reason to celebrate for all ages.

As she shared in her cousin’s difficulties, the Blessed Mother brought Jesus not only to Elizabeth but also to Zechariah and John who was yet in the womb. She brought Jesus to them not only because Jesus was already in her womb but also because she herself became to them like Jesus who came to serve and not to be served.

Visit someone today. Serve someone today. The world may not remember and celebrate our visit. But heaven will never forget.

GRANT HIS PRAYER PLEASE

Tuesday in the 7th Week of Easter
Jn 17:1-11

We have in the Gospel today, the Lord’s great priestly prayer. While reading or listening to it, we can also feel the intensity of Jesus’ desire expressed by His words. We are caught up into His prayer, not only because He is praying with us but, most importantly, He is also praying for us. We are the content, the subject, the reason for His prayer.

It is already an overwhelming experience for us to be absorbed in prayer to Jesus. It is, however, more overwhelming an experience to hear Jesus praying for us. Jesus continually prays for us to the Father because He is our one Mediator. For this reason, we always address our prayers to the Father through Jesus.

There is nothing that Jesus asks from the Father that the Father will not grant. However, the answer to Jesus’ prayer to the Father depends not only on the Father Himself. It also depends on us. When we cooperate with the grace that comes from the Father, the fulfillment of Jesus’ great priestly prayer happens. Thus, what we become upon the action of the Father’s grace and our cooperation with it is the answer to Jesus’ prayer.

While we hope that Jesus answers every prayer of our heart, can we be the answers to His prayer to the Father? Please, grant His prayer.

BE BRAVE!

Monday in the 7th Week of Easter
Jn 16:29-33

“Be brave” these are the words of Jesus to His disciples today. He does not request them nor does He invite them to be brave. Jesus commands His disciples to be brave. But can bravery be commanded? Can we expect anyone to be brave simply because we order him or her to be brave?

Jesus can command His disciples to be brave because He gives them the example of being brave. The day following the supper where He ordered them to be brave, Jesus faces His passion and death with such remarkable serenity and audacity. He gives His disciples more than a command to follow; He gives them an example to follow too.

We cannot command anyone to be brave unless we are brave ourselves. We have no right to laugh at anyone’s cowardice if we are coward ourselves. We cannot order anyone to be anything without providing him or her an example – more than a command – to follow.

The same is true with Jesus’ command that we love one another. Can love be commanded? In his first Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict XVI, affirms that love can be commanded because it has been given first. Jesus can command us to love one another because He has first loved us. Love has been given; thus, love can be expected. Jesus was brave for us even unto death; let us be brave for Him in the midst of all the troubles in a world He has already conquered.

WHERE IS JESUS?

Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension
Mk 16:15-20

“To ascend” is “to go up.” “To be assumed” is “to be taken up.” This difference in meaning between the words ascension and assumption intrigues me about the English translation of today’s Gospel. The Gospel today on the Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension says, “So then the Lord Jesus, after He spoke to them, was taken up into heaven….” But the Lord ascended – He was not assumed – into heaven, did He not? He went up to heaven. “To go up to heaven” is for the Lord while “to be assumed to heaven” is for the Blessed Mother. Was the English translation of today’s Gospel accurate? But because I am not yet able to read the Greek original of Mark, I cannot pass any conclusive judgment as regards the faithfulness of the English translation.

Nonetheless, the way the Lord’s ascension is rendered by the English translation of Mark gives us a meaningful view on the Lord’s going up into heaven. The Lord is taken up so that we may take Him in. The “taking up” is the Father’s role while the “taking in” is our task. Jesus was taken up into heaven by the Father so that we may take Jesus into our hearts. Thereby, while Jesus departed from our sight, He is still very much in our midst. That Jesus is no longer seen walking the shores of Galilee does not mean that Jesus is absent. Ascension simply transforms the physical presence of Jesus into spiritual presence. However, this does not mean that Jesus is less present today than when He was physically seen by the apostles. This only means that Jesus is present today in a different way.

Because the Lord’s being taken up into heaven by the Father means that we take Jesus into our hearts, there are three challenges that the Lord’s ascension poses to us. First, we should make our hearts a real heaven for Jesus. Jesus must possess our hearts even more than our hearts possess Jesus. This means that Jesus reigns supreme in all the considerations of our hearts. It is our hearts that follow the will of the Lord rather than the Lord being dictated upon by our hearts. Second, we must allow Jesus to shine not only in but also from our hearts. Like lamps, our hearts must burn not only for Jesus but also with Jesus so that their light that shines to others may be Jesus Himself. To take Jesus into our hearts means to receive Jesus so that we may give Jesus to others. Like a well that never dries, our hearts must always be a reservoir where people may see Jesus, encounter Jesus, and receive Jesus. Third, we have to discover Jesus in the heart of every person we meet. All is given the invitation to take Jesus into their hearts; thus, every person is a possible heaven where Jesus dwells. It is through love and service that we discover Jesus in the heart of every person we meet.

“Men of Galilee,” the two angels asked the apostles, “why are you standing there looking at the sky?” We do not see Jesus by looking at the sky indeed. We see Jesus by looking into hearts, for ascension is Jesus being taken up into heaven by the Father but being taken into heart by each of us.

When you ask my little Pipo (my adopted son), “Where is Jesus?” he does not point to the sky; instead, he points to his heart. “Jesus is in my heart,” he says. He knows better than many of us do, does he not?

WHY THE FATHER LOVES US

Saturday in the 6th Week of Easter
Jn 16:23-28

The Father loves us for loving Jesus. The reason why is easy to understand. The Father loves us for loving Jesus because Jesus is His Son. It is easy to love people who love those whom we love, is it not?

But there are people who find it difficult to love other people who love those whom they love. The worse may even happen when the people they love begin to love other people than them. This may sound like a play of words, but we all know the experience. The experience is called “jealousy”. This is never the Father’s experience. He does not know how to be jealous. He always shares His Son as He has already given His Son to us.

What is the difference between jealousy and envy? To be jealous is like having something in our hands and we do not want others to even look at it. To be envious is like having something in our hands already and we keep on looking and desiring for what others have in theirs. Jealousy and envy are not the same, but both are enemies of love.

We do not love as God loves if we are jealous and envious. The Father loves us because we love His Son. The Father rejoices that the Son loves us too.

HOLINESS IS JOYFULNESS

Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest
Jn 16:20-23

We celebrate today the memorial of St. Philip Neri. Born in Florence, Venice, Philip was born in 1515. Tired of commercialism and lack of Christian principles in his uncle’s business, he fled to Rome. For several years, he lived as a layman but, answering God’s call to the priesthood, he was ordained in 1551. His zeal for reconciling sinners to God through the Sacrament of Penance was outstanding. Biographies about Philip all agree that he was a catechist by nature – gathering groups for prayer and study – and a spiritual guide of extraordinary charism. He founded a congregation of diocesan priests who lived in common and devoted themselves to prayer and preaching. At the age of 80 years old, Philip passed away in 1595.

It is said that Philip was a very happy person at all times. Joy naturally flowed out from him. His joy was contaminating. His joy was also warm. Literally, it is said that there was a light emanating from where his heart was. His temperature was often literally high. It was as if his heart was burning within him.

This kind of joy, we pray to have. We ask the Lord for a joy that naturally flows from deep within us, for a joy that contaminates those around us, and a joy that is ever warm in the midst of a world turned cold by hatred, indifference, selfishness, and malice.

Sanctity is not sadness. Saints are not people with long faces. Holiness is joyfulness. We are all called to be joyful apostles of the Lord even as we are sent forth as the Lord’s apostles of joy. May our joy be the joy – as the Gospel today describes – that turns sorrow into joy. May our joy be the kind that cannot be stolen from us. That kind of joy, only the Lord Jesus can give.

FROM SORROW TO JOY

Thursday in the 6th Week of Easter
Jn 16:16-20

There are two kinds of sorrow. The first kind of sorrow is the sorrow that imprisons. The second kind of sorrow is the sorrow that sets free.

The sorrow that imprisons is the kind of sorrow that leads nowhere except to a sustained or, if not, to an even greater sorrow. We experience or suffer this kind of sorrow when we surrender our selves to sorrow itself. When we allow our selves to be tied down by the mistakes or sins we have committed in the past, we go through this kind of sorrow. When we let some unfortunate circumstances in our lives rub us of our belief in grace and our hope for a better tomorrow, we suffer this kind of sorrow. When we refuse to let go of our hurts and, thereby, deprive our selves of growing unto full maturity, we are enslaved by this kind of sorrow.

The sorrow that sets free is the kind of sorrow that is only but a prelude to joy. This sorrow is like the discomfort a mother may experience in delivering a new bundle of joy into the world. This sorrow is like the anxiety of a parent that has to let go of his or her child at the proper time so that the child may start a life of its own. This sorrow is like the struggles that a student has to go through before reaching graduation day. This sorrow is like the hard demands of discipline that creates a sturdy character. This sorrow is like the remorse of a penitent that leads to contrition and forgiveness. This sorrow is like dying to one’s self, like the grain of wheat that falls to the earth and dies, so that it may bear abundant fruit. This sorrow is like physical death in itself that signifies birth into eternal life.

While there is no life without sorrows, we can choose which of the two kinds of sorrow we wish to endure. Most importantly, we can choose for whom and to whom we want to offer our sorrows in life.

The departure of Jesus from their sight caused the disciples great sorrow. Theirs was the sorrow of letting go. But it was the kind of sorrow that set them free. After the Ascension, the disciples were challenged not to be dependent on the physical presence of the Lord. They had to live by faith. And it is that faith that turned their sorrow into joy and sustained it even unto martyrdom. May we have that same faith, the kind that turns sorrow into joy.

HOW THE SPIRIT TEACHES

Wednesday in the 6th Week of Easter
Jn 16:12-15

When our time is almost up and still we have many things to say or do, we always end up frantic. Panic leaves even more things to say and do unsaid and undone.

The earthly time of Jesus is almost up and still, as He says in the Gospel today, He has many things to tell His disciples. But Jesus is not panicking. He is a picture of a cool man even under pressure. He is not worried about tomorrow. He does not over feed His disciples with His teachings, lest they suffer from spiritual indigestion. Did He not already say in Mt 6:34, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Jesus has confidence on the other Two Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity. He trusts the Father to send the Holy Spirit and He trusts the Holy Spirit to fulfill His role in the economy of salvation. The Holy Spirit teaches.

The Holy Spirit teaches in two ways. First, He teaches by clarifying what Jesus already taught His disciples through inner illumination. Second, He reminds the disciples what they forget among the teachings of Jesus. Evidently, the Holy Spirit teaches nothing new. This is because Jesus is already the final, complete, and definitive revelation of God. There is nothing new after Jesus. The Holy Spirit’s role as the Teacher of truth is to enlighten and to remind us about Jesus. Then being enlightened and reminded of Jesus – who He is and what He stands for – we come to grasp the teachings of Jesus. Thus, the tremendous significance and indispensable role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of all believers.

HAVE YOU TAKEN YOUR PILL TODAY?

Tuesday in the 6th Week of Easter
Jn 16:5-11

A cliché goes, “The truth hearts.” By experience, we know that this cliché is true. However, we also know by experience that only the truth sets a man free. Thus, truth is like a pill that, while it is bitter, it heals. Lie is a disease. Only truth can restore to health anyone who is inflicted with it.

The truth that Jesus had to leave His disciples was a big blow to the men who left everything to follow Him. They were sad. “Still,” though, Jesus said, “I must tell you the truth. Jesus did not hide the truth from them: He had to go. Jesus did not give them a code to declassify; He spoke in the clearest terms about Himself. Telling them the truth helped them face the issue squarely. Facing issues in life is surely the first step to conquering them and growing unto maturity through them.

When the disciples confronted the issue about Jesus’ farewell, they realized that the absence of the physical Jesus to them actually meant the presence of the same Jesus in each of them. From then on, they themselves became an alter Christus, “another Christ”. From then on, they would see Jesus not with their physical eyes anymore but with their eyes of faith. The presence of Jesus in His seeming absence not only made the presence of Jesus more exciting but, more importantly, tremendously meritorious as they should, from then on, strive to be Jesus to one another and recognize Jesus in one another as well.

The absence of Jesus paved the way for His presence. The sadness of going gave way to the joy of coming. Jesus was leaving His disciples but He was not living them behind. In Jn 17:24, did not Jesus prayed to the Father that all those whom the Father gave Him be with Him always? He did. And departing from their sight was part of the answer to this fervent prayer of His. For by vanishing from their midst, Jesus became present in their very midst. His own Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the living Principle of His life and power, the very Breath of God, came not only upon but also into the hearts of His disciples even as Jesus went away. Letting go of Jesus was like the bitter pill the disciples had to take. It was, however, a bitter pill that gave them sweet presence of the Holy Spirit in their hearts.

In life, truth hurts. It is like a bitter pill. Anyone who refuses to take it can never be healed. But one who takes it is healed and become a healer himself.

Have you taken your pill today?

ARE YOU IN TOUCH?

5th Sunday of Easter
Jn 15:1-8

The Gospel today reminds me of the selling theme of the Philippine Long Distance Company (PLDT): “PLDT – Keeping You in Touch”. Jesus is like PLDT. He keeps us in touch.

When we reflect on the Gospel today, very often we consider only our relationship with Jesus. Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches. Our focus is on keeping in touch with Jesus. Of course, that should be our first consideration as regards the Gospel today. However, we miss so much if we end our reflection with such consideration only.

Jesus also keeps us in touch with one another. Anyone who is in touch with Jesus is necessarily in touch with all those who are in touch with Jesus too. Thus, Jesus, as our communion, is indeed our “common union”. He unites us with one another. Communion with Him inevitably and simultaneously presupposes and establishes communion among us who are His branches. This though echoes Pope John Paul II’s teaching in Ecclesia de Eucharistia when he said that the Holy Eucharist presupposes communion and at the same time nourishes communion.

Jesus is the Vine that has many branches. Every branch attached to Him is necessarily connected with the other branches. Each branch cannot help but be attached to the other branches connected with Jesus.

We cannot, therefore, acknowledge Jesus but reject our brethren. We cannot receive Jesus but refuse our brethren. Our “amen” to the Eucharist is our “amen” to each and every branch of the Vine.

We may of course fall in line to receive Jesus in Holy Communion today even if there is someone we refuse to accept, to forgive, to love, and to serve. But is that not a sacrilegious communion? Remember: Communion does not only keep us in touch with Jesus, Jesus should keep us in touch with one another too.

WE SEE THE MOTHER IN HER SON TOO

Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima
Jn 14:7-14
Today, we remember in the liturgy the Blessed Mother’s first of six apparitions to three shepherd children, Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucia, in a little village named, Fatima, in Portugal. The apparitions lasted until 13 October 1917. As it always is in all Marian apparitions,  Our Lady of Fatima, through the three children, called humankind to prayer, conversion, and reparation.

In the Gospel today, Jesus talks about His Father. He tells Philip that whoever sees Him sees the Father. He can say the same thing in relation to His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, can He not?

Many people see in me some features and traits of my parents. Some say that I have my father’s nose and others say that I have my mother’s eyes. Still there are those who recognize in me not only my parents’ physical features, I also remind them of my parents’ attitudes, behavior, mannerisms, and even idiosyncrasies. There is something about my father and mother in me. There always is something of our parents in us.

We see the Father in Jesus. We likewise see Mary in Him. As He is the Father’s only Begotten, He was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Mother. There is something about Mary in Jesus. His flesh was formed in her body and her blood flows in His veins.

Once, I ventured into asking my professor in liturgy. “Father,” I asked, “because the Body of Jesus was formed in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, can we say that we likewise receive something of Mary when we receive Jesus?” To my surprise, my professor could not give me any conclusive answer. Was my question really that difficult to answer?

CAN YOU SHOW ME THE WAY?

Friday in the 4th Week of Easter
Jn 14:1-6

When I received my first assignment as parish priest, the church entrusted to my pastoral care was in a far-flung area in Caloocan City. The road that led to the heart of the parish was dusty and rough. Coconut trees and cornfields abounded in the area. Right next to one of the boundaries of the parish was already the province of Bulacan. It was my first time to be there and I could hardly figure out where the parish church was, so I requested my driver to pull over that I may inquire directions from a group of children playing along the road.

“Son,” I talked to one of the children, “could you kindly tell me where the parish church is?” The boy stared at me blankly, so I tried to break the ice by saying, “If you tell me where the parish church is, I will show you the way to heaven!” But the boy gave me the puzzled look and said, “Sir, you do not even know how to get to the parish church, how can you show me the way to heaven?”

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is no other. When we are lost in the labyrinth of life, in Jesus alone can we find the right direction. When we are confused about the various and conflicting teachings proposed to our belief, in Jesus alone can we know the truth. When we find our selves facing a dead-end or death itself, in Jesus alone can we receive life. Jesus does not only show us the way or teach us the truth or gives us life. He Himself is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Therefore, it is a matter of our survival to keep our selves attuned to Jesus, united with Jesus, and rooted in Jesus. Without Jesus, we are lost, confused, and dead.

My search for the parish church of my first assignment as pastor eventually led me to the right place. The boy I inquired from (after a loud childish laughter) eventually pointed the way to me. Quite often, we need other people to put us on the right track. In the same manner, we need one another to lead us closer, if not lead us back, to our common destination: heaven. We do so by striving to become more and more like Jesus to one another. For there is only one Way, one Truth, and one Life: Jesus.

DO NOT OBSCURE THE MESSAGE

Thursday in the 4th Week of Easter
Jn 13:16-20

Very often, a teacher first explains then demonstrates. He or she lectures on a subject matter then provides examples to prove his or her point. Jesus, the Greatest Teacher, however, reverses the usual order today. He first washes the feet of His disciples then lectures them on Christian servanthood.

Jesus draws His teaching from His own life. He teaches what He practices. He asks us to serve one another because He Himself came to serve and not to be served. He expects us to be humble even as we serve because humility is the trademark of His own service. He commands us to love one another because He loves us first. Jesus makes an overwhelming impression on anyone who encounters Him because He demonstrates His lessons by giving examples not other than Himself.

We are no greater than Jesus. We can only be happy to become like Him. Our lives should clearly demonstrate the message we put across as Christians. Let not our lives obscure the message of the Faith.

PREACH JESUS

Wednesday in the 4th Week of Easter
Jn 12:44-50

I am a priest. I preach everyday. I am always aware that when I preach, I should not only speak. I should speak only what God wants me to speak about. At the end of the day, part of my examination of conscience (or consciousness) is asking my self honestly: “Did I preach about God or did I preach about my self today?”

Jesus tells us today, “…what the Father has told me is what I speak.” Jesus is God’s most faithful preacher. He Himself is the Father’s Word to us.

In one way or another, we preach whether we are priest or lay persons. But what should we preach about? We must preach about Jesus, not about our selves. And if we are to preach about our selves, it should only be because we are like Jesus Himself. Just as Jesus is the Father’s Word to us, so should we be Jesus’ word to the world.

Jesus makes our life stories worth listening to. Jesus makes our life lessons worth learning.

LISTENING IS OBEYING

Tuesday in the 4th Week of Easter
Jn 10:22-30

“Shema” is the Hebrew word for “listen”. The word for “obey” in the same language has “shema” also as its root word. To listen is not only to hear, to know, or to understand. For the Jews – and Jesus is a Jew – listening flows into obeying.

As disciples of Jesus, we listen not merely for the sake of knowing. We listen in order to obey. We listen to Jesus because we want and we mean to obey Him.

We must always listen to the voice of Jesus. Otherwise, we will be lost. For like sheep, we are near-sighted creatures; we see only up to the tip of our noses. We need Jesus, our Good Shepherd to lead us. But the voice of our Good Shepherd will not bring us to green pastures or to safety unless we obey it.

It is always possible that while we do hear the voice of the Good Shepherd, we refuse to follow it. In such a case, there is nothing that awaits us but catastrophe in the jaws of beasts or in the hands of thieves disguised as shepherds. Let us, therefore, pray that we may always obey Jesus.

Listening needs not only our ears to hear and our minds to understand. Listening needs more than our hearts to ponder with. Listening demands our whole self.

BEWARE!

Monday in the 4th Week of Easter
Jn 10:1-10

The Gospel today is fully loaded. We can say much about it because it proposes much for our faith. Its final sentence, however, captures everything the Gospel today wishes to put across to us. Jesus says, “I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full” (Jn 10:10). Thus, Jesus is not only the Good Shepherd who gives His life to His sheep; He is also the very Gate of the sheepfold through which one may enter to have fullness of life.

It needs no explanation that those who enter through the gate of the sheepfold are not only the sheep but also the shepherds of the sheep. The truth is that the shepherds of the sheep, under normal circumstances, pass only through the gate, and nowhere else, and those who enter the sheepfold through some other passages are only thieves and marauders. Because the Gate of the sheepfold is Jesus Himself, the fullness of life, only those who enter through Him can give life. Others who pass through another access do not give life to the sheep; they snatch life from the sheep instead.

When someone presents himself or herself to be a pastor, a shepherd, we must be very careful to examine where he or she is passing through. Is it through Jesus Christ, the Gate of the sheepfold, or through some other means? This should be an easy task for us to do because people cannot give what they do not have. If self-proclaimed shepherds do not come in the name of and through the power of Jesus, they cannot give Jesus. If they have not first received fullness of life, never can they give it to others. If they do not pass through the Gate of the sheepfold, they may be anything except the true shepherds of the sheep. Worse, they can be devouring lions disguised as shepherds.

Beware! There are many false shepherds around. They come not to give us fullness of life. Instead, they suck all the life in us until they have their fill.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

4th Sunday of Easter
Jn 10:11-18

Whether symbolic or literal, there are many shepherds around. But not all shepherds are good. Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

Some shepherds work for pay. When the pay is little, the devotion to their sheep is very slight as well. They abandon their sheep when they do not receive good remuneration for their work. The sheep is not theirs; thus, they are not really their main concern but the wage they earn from them. Their love, if there is any, for their sheep is directly proportional to what they gain from them. The Good Shepherd does not work for pay.

Some shepherds may not know their sheep. Because the sheep is not theirs, they may consider knowing their sheep more than what is required in pasturing them to be superfluous. It takes more than just pasturing the sheep for shepherds to know their sheep. To know their sheep, shepherds must practically live with their sheep. The Good Shepherd knows His sheep because He does not only live with them but actually became one like them.

Most shepherds, if not all, are not concerned about sheep that do not belong to their fold. This is very understandable. For why should a shepherd be anxious about sheep of other shepherds’ folds? Unless, of course, if his concern gains something for him or his own fold. The Good Shepherd’s concern goes beyond the boundaries of His fold.

Because they work for pay, some shepherds will never lay down their lives for their sheep. It is totally insane to die for an animal. Shepherds are expected to protect their sheep but they are crazy, if not unskilled in the trade, if they risk their own lives unmindfully in the process. The Good Shepherd not only defends His sheep, He gives His life for His sheep.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. There is no other. We are called to be like Him, for we are shepherds in one way or another even as we are sheep of His fold at the same time.

MORE THAN JUST BELIEVING

Saturday in the 3rd Week of Easter
Jn 6:60-69

Faith is more than just believing. To believe means to accept a claim. To have faith means to surrender one’s self to a claim. We cannot have faith without first believing. But there are occasions when we believe and yet have no faith.

For belief in Jesus to become faith in Him, we must allow our accepting of Jesus reach the level of submitting our whole selves to Him. Some people welcome Jesus into their lives but do not trust Him enough to entrust their lives to Him.

Believing without faith is possible just as faith without believing is not totally impossible. The Gospel today illustrates this. Some Jews abandoned Jesus because they could not stomach His claim that unless they eat His Flesh and drink His Blood, they would have no life in them. They left Jesus not because they thought Jesus was an ill-meaning teacher or a mere lunatic. They left Jesus because their belief was challenged to take the next higher level of faith in Jesus. Their acceptance of Jesus was called upon to the new definition of surrendering themselves to Him.

Believing means we are still in control because we choose what to believe in or what not to believe in. Faith demands that we resign all of our faculties to Him in whom we believe. If we find our selves choosing only what we want as far as Jesus and His teachings are concerned, then we still have no faith.

THE EUCHARIST: A GIFT AND A MANDATE

Friday in the 3rd Week of Easter
Jn 6:52-59

In yesterday’s Gospel, Jesus said straightforwardly, “The bread that I shall give is My Flesh for the life of the world.” Today, His hearers argue how He can give them His flesh to eat. But Jesus does not make excuses or declares an erratum. Instead, He stresses His claim even more: “I tell you most solemnly, if you do not eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you. Anyone who does eat My Flesh and drink My Blood has eternal life…. For My Flesh is real food and My Blood is real drink.”

It is very clear, therefore, that Jesus truly intended to be food and drink for us. And this desire was of no equal importance to Him that He did not mind offending the sensibilities of His hearers.

The same inestimable importance, we should give the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus, the Holy Eucharist. With utmost adoration, we should approach it and receive it. By doing so, we afford Jesus the importance and adoration He deserves.

Jesus is our food. He wants us to feed on Him. He also wants us to feed others with Him. The more we consume Him, the more we become part of Him. The more we become part of Him, the more we should reflect Him to others. We reflect Him to others by living His life of total self-giving for the sake of others.

The Eucharist is both a precious gift and a precious mandate. Let us not forget fulfilling the mandate even as we always mindful to receive the gift.

MANE NOBISCUM, DOMINE!

Thursday in the 3rd Week of Easter
Jn 6:44-51

In Lk 24:29, the two disciples from Emmaus invited the unrecognized Jesus, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” The verses that followed recount to us that the two otherwise desolate disciples felt how their hearts were burning as Jesus opened the Scripture to them and broke bread with them. Thereupon, they realized that their unrecognized fellow traveler was actually Jesus. Jesus then vanished from their sight but He became more present in their hearts.

Our beloved Pope John Paul II, in his last Apostolic Letter, “Mane Nobiscum, Domine” (“Stay With Us, Lord”), points to the Holy Eucharist as the Lord’s response to the request of the two disciples from Emmaus. In the Eucharist, we have Jesus in our midst, ever present not only with us but to us as well. While Christmas is Jesus coming to us, the Eucharist is Jesus staying with us.

When the two disciples from Emmaus invited the Lord to stay with them, they did not recognize Him. Perhaps, they thought they were actually doing their unrecognized companion a favor by offering Him their home for shelter through the night and their table for a meal. But their invitation was actually a cry from deep within. It was a cry for a companion in their saddest and most confusing moment. Their unrecognized fellow traveler explained to them, in a better light, the sadness and confusion they were going through. Perhaps, they wanted more of that light. They were hoping there would be more of the strength that came from His words. They were hungering for the peace that seemed to overflow from His presence. Jesus answered their need. Jesus gave them the Eucharist. Jesus gave them Himself.

The Eucharist continues to be the source and summit of our life up until today because the Eucharist is Jesus Himself. He is the Bread of Life. He remains always available to us. He answers our deepest hunger: “Mane nobiscum, Domine!”

CELEBRATE THE ROOTS OF OUR FAITH

Feast of Sts. Philip and James, Apostles
Jn 14:6-14

We celebrate today the feast of the apostles, Philip and James.

Though with a Greek name, Philip, like Peter and Andrew, was from Bethsaida. This suggests that Philip must have been a fisherman, too. He brought another would-be apostle, Bartholomew, to Jesus. He preached the Gospel in Phrygia where he was also crucified at Hierapolis. He figures in the Gospel today as Jesus asserts, “He who sees me, sees the Father…I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”

James (“the Less” because he was younger than the other James was) was a relative of the Lord, most probably, the Lord’s cousin. He became the first bishop of Jerusalem and wrote the epistles we read in the New Testament. Like Philip, James died a martyr’s death. He was thrown down from the terrace of the Temple and then stoned to death.

When we celebrate the feast of the apostles, we celebrate the roots of our Faith. We come to believe in Jesus as the Christ through the testimony of the apostles. The apostles handed down to us the Faith we now profess. Fidelity to their teachings is fidelity to the Faith.

Both Philip and James did not only preach the Gospel through words. They proclaimed it very clearly through the shedding of their blood. By handing down the Faith to us, they were handed down to death. Let us treasure the Faith we have received from the apostles. Let us never alter it. Let us be faithful to it even, if needed, to the shedding of blood.

DO NOT COMPROMISE

Memorial of St. Athanasius
Mt 10:22-25

The nature of Jesus is absolutely crucial to us. Of course, for a great majority of us, Jesus is both God and man. But there are some who think otherwise. Others consider Jesus to be only divine and not human while still others believe that He is only human but endowed with divine nature at some point in time. To deny that Jesus is divine from all eternity is to fall into the heresy of a priest named, Arius. His heresy is labeled as “Arianism”. There are still many who are misled by this erroneous teaching. In the Philippines, the religious sect “Iglesia ni Kristo” is a local version of this heresy.

Arianism thrived in the fourth century. The Council of Nicea was convoked by the Emperor Constantine to settle the issue. Athanasius was the unyielding defender of the eternal divinity of Jesus.

Born in 295, Athanasius was bishop of Alexandria, Egypt. He suffered much for not compromising essentials of the Faith. He spent seventeen years in exile. After his tireless defense of the Faith, most especially through his apologetic writings, Athanasius passed away in 373. We celebrate his blessed memory today.

In an age when it is quite easy for many to compromise certain elements of the Faith, if not the whole Faith, we need to pray and emulate Athanasius. He endured persecution rather than deny essentials of the Faith.

Faith is not accommodation; it is oblation. Faith is not compromising; it is persevering. It is not accommodation of new ideas at the expense of apostolic tradition. It is oblation of the total person, which is more than mere intellectual assent to reveal truths. It is not compromising at the guise of diplomacy. It is persevering in the teachings of the Church. While freedom does have an important role in believing, faith is unlike choosing from a smorgasbord of enticing religious propositions. Let us not compromise essentials of the Faith.

WORK ON A HOLIDAY

Memorial of St. Joseph, the Worker
Mt 13:54-58

Today’s memorial was established by Pope Pius XII in 1955 not only to honor Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, but also to remind us all that honest work can be a means to holiness. When we do our work honestly, we sanctify our selves and others. By working honestly, we come to participate in God’s continuing work in creation and Christ’s redemptive work for humankind.

Thus, work is not a curse that befell upon the human race because of sin. Work is a blessing. Work is our dignity. To work honestly is a sublime expression of our having been created in the image and likeness of God. To work honestly is an integral part of our being in union with Christ.

Most people work but not all people work honestly. Most people work but not all people are happy with the fact that they are working. Most people work but not all people work with the understanding that working honestly is their dignity as human beings.

While we thank God for our work today, let us ask from Him the grace that will always enable us to work honestly. While we thank God for workers, let us pray for those who refuse to work. While thank God for the dignity of work, let us help others find the kind of work that befits a child of God and a disciple of Jesus.

It is quite ironic that while we celebrate work today both in the Church and in civil society, there is no work today. Today is a holiday. Let us make each day holy by our work. Work today: be holy!