WISHING TO BE JONAH

28 February 2007
Wednesday in the 1st Week of Lent

WISHING TO BE JONAH
Jon 3:1-10/Lk 11:29-32

The story of Jonah is one of my favorites in the Old Testament. In the First Reading today is part of that story. God called Jonah to call the people of Nineveh to repentance. Jonah, however, tried running away from God. God caught up with Jonah though. The First Reading today is very beautiful because it tells us that eventually the Ninevites caught up with God too. At the preaching of Jonah, the people of Nineveh repented from their sins.

How I wish we were living in the time of Jonah. It seemed so easy then to convince people to turn away from sin and be more faithful to God. When Jonah preached to the Ninevites, the king even issued a decree for all the people of Nineveh to fast, including himself! Thus, the Ninevites – from the highest official to the ordinary citizen – fasted and put on sackcloth as a gesture of national mourning and penance for their individual and collective sins. They hoped that God would change His mind about an impending chastisement. Not wishing the death of the sinner, God changed His mind.

But times have changed. Preaching from the pulpit is more mellow, and, more and more, preachers are becoming more accommodating of their listeners. What really is more important nowadays: what the listeners want to hear or what the listeners should hear? And what should they hear anyway?

Times have changed. Quite often, a thousand homilies amount to no change at all in the lives of their hearers. Jonah preached just once and the Ninevites repented and amend their ways! Wow! How I wish I were Jonah, except the three days in the belly of a big fish.

Nowadays, quite a number of people gauge an inspiring homily on the basis of the number of jokes they hear from the preacher. Some people frown at preachers who preach about the horror of sin while others flock to listen to preachers who provide endless comic relief. For preachers who talk about evil in the world and our common need for repentance and conversion of life, it can be very difficult to attract listeners. It is very difficult to talk about guilt without sugarcoating, but it is even more difficult to convince the guilty.

The dramatic changed could already be seen even during the time of Jesus. His generation would not take His words seriously unless they see a sign. What sign were they demanding from Jesus? They were demanding a sign from Him to prove that He was what He claimed to be: the Son of God.
Jesus pointed back to Jonah. Jonah was the sign He gave them. And because Jonah was merely a sign, Jesus was the reality that Jonah was pointing to and, therefore, greater than Jonah. Of course, Jonah was not aware that he was pointing to Jesus when the events in his life happened. But God preached to the Ninevites not only through the words that Jonah spoke to them but through Jonah’s life all together. Jonah was God’s homily. And that homily pointed to Jesus.

As I reflect on my ministry of preaching, I do not hold my listeners totally accountable for making my homilies fall on deaf ears. Rather, I honestly confess that I am part of the blame. Perhaps, my life is not a good homily for them to hear and see. We all need to repent and be converted. This is very much a Lenten call for us individually and collectively.

Let us be signs that point to Jesus and not to our selves. Let us be signs by not only our words but also, most of all, by our deeds.

How I wish I were Jonah. How I wish that when people remember me, they remember not me but how Jesus preached to them, and say, “That was one good homily. I cannot help but answer the call of Jesus to strive to be more holy.”

Well, okay, if Jesus needs me to stay in the belly of a big fish for three days, so be it. I know, He has a point to make, so important that no one should ignore. Can anyone really ignore?

PRAY BETTER

Tuesday in the 1st Week of Lent
Mt 6:7-15

Lent is a time of intensive prayer. However, this does not mean that we increase our prayer. Lent is not about praying more. As it is with fasting and almsgiving – the other two integral elements of Lenten observance – Lent is about praying better. By praying Himself, Jesus teaches us today how to pray better.

Have the right attitude before God. That is the attitude of childlike trust and confidence in Him. “Our Father…” this is how the Lord’s Prayer begins. Prayer is talking and listening to God with the heart of a child. We tell Him anything and are open for anything from Him because we are certain that He cares for us and He always wants what is best for us. Praying better starts in the heart – a childlike heart.

Have the right concerns. Those are the concerns of God. Notice that half of the “Lord’s Prayer” pertains to God’s concerns: “Holy be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It is actually praying not only to God but for God too. God’s concerns are always the best. When they come true, things will never go wrong for us. Praying better is learned from correct concerns – God’s concerns.

Have the right purpose. That is a humble, magnanimous, and holy purpose. The second half of the “Lord’s Prayer” reveals this kind of purpose. Humility helps us to ask for our daily bread and forgiveness for all our sins. Magnanimity teaches us to forgive those who sin against us. And holiness motivates us to beg that we be far from temptation and delivered from evil. Praying better is motivated by the right purpose – humble, magnanimous, and holy purpose.

It is a common misunderstanding that the Lenten call to intensive prayer means praying more. Let us correct this misunderstanding. Just as the pagans do not get a hearing by sheer multiplication of words, as Jesus says today, so are our pleas before the throne of God heard better by praying more.

Remember: Pray better, not pray more. And if you want to pray more, make sure you pray better first.

WANTING TO BE LIKE GOD -- SINFUL OR NOT?

1st Sunday of Lent
Lk 4:1-13

Once in a retreat I was giving, I asked a group of young people, “Why were Adam and Eve banished from the Garden of Eden?” “They disobeyed God,” came the reply. “And how did they disobey God?” I followed up. The answer came unanimously: “They ate the apple!” “The apple? What apple?” I asked. “The fruit that Eve gave Adam, Father, remember?” they said with much confidence. Immediately, I corrected their misguided knowledge of the Bible, quoting Gen 2:16-17: “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.’” “So, you see,” I said, “there was no apple after all. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit, and the forbidden fruit was not from an apple tree but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Leading them deeper into our reflection, I threw another question to them: “Why did Adam and Eve disobey God?” “Because they wanted to be like God,” my retreatants replied. Thereupon, I gave them the question I meant for their reflection that day: Is it a sin to want to be like God?

Is it a sin to want to be like God?

Some may immediately say, “Yes! But of course! It is a sin to want to become like God.” Others may hesitate to answer the question.

But is it really a sin to want to be like God?

In Gen 1: 26-27, we read: “God said, ‘Let Us make man in our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

In I Jn 3:2, this is what is written: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we shall later be has not yet come to light. But we know that when it comes to light, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” And in chapter 4 verse 17 of the same book, we have: “Love is made perfect in us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Him.”

I Cor 15:49 has this: “As we have been modeled in the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we be molded unto the likeness of the man from heaven.”

In II Cor 3:18, St. Paul teaches further: “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

And, Jesus Himself has this to say in Mt 5:48: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect”; and in Lk 6:36: “Be merciful as your Father is merciful.”

That we have in us the God’s own blueprint and that therefore we are destined to be like Him is a very evident claim and teaching of Sacred Scriptures. Thus, our prayers reflect this truth. In the Sacramentary, the book that contains the prayers for the Mass, the Third Eucharistic Prayer concludes with these words: “…on that day, we shall see You as You are; we shall become like You and praise You forever through Jesus Christ our Lord.” That we shall become like God is not only our desire but is also a teaching handed down to us by the Church. In fact, the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, for example, is a devotion that emphasizes our calling to strive to become more and more like Jesus who is truly God even as He is truly human. “Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto Thine” do we not pray?

So, let me return to my question: Is it a sin to want to be like God?

No, it is not a sin to want to be like God. Therefore, Adam and Even sinned not simply because they wanted to be like God but because they wanted to be like God even by disobeying God. God wanted to give our first parents the fullness of His life but they tried snatching it from Him by disobeying Him. Becoming like God was and is always meant to be a gift to be received and not a gift to be grabbed. Adam and Eve, by grabbing that gift, lost it. But God’s plan cannot be frustrated by human disobedience.

From the very first moment of creation, Jesus had already been part of the divine plan. Jesus was not an addendum to creation. He is the apex, the summit, and the goal of all creation. The Incarnation of Jesus is not God’s plan B that was caused by the sin of our first parents. No. God have always wanted us to receive the gift of sharing in His life, of becoming like Him, through Jesus Christ. Had there been no sin, Jesus would still come but there would be no cross. But because of sin, the coming of Jesus has now been marked with the cross. Jesus became man because God loves us and not originally because He had to die on the cross for us. The cross is not the cause of God’s love for us. The cross is the effect of His love.

Jesus came to share in our humanity so that we may come to share in His divinity. He redeemed our fallen race not through the cross in itself alone. He redeemed us through His obedience, the kind of obedience to God that led Him to the cross. In the movie, “The Passion of the Christ”, Jesus says it very distinctly to Mary, His mother, when they met on the way to Calvary: “Mother, see, I make all things new!” Jesus reversed the disobedience of our first parents through His obedience.

Sin is basically disobedience. Sin is wanting to be like God even by disobeying God. Sin says, “I am the center of everything!” Sin plays “god” in the lives of others. Sin is grabbing what is meant to be received. Sin is saying ‘no’ to God and ‘yes’ to Satan.

Jesus gives us today an example of saying ‘no’ to Satan and ‘yes’ to God. He is tempted in the desert and thrice Satan tempts him. The first temptation is to satisfy material needs against the will of God. The second is to have power without God. And the third is to gain popularity against the will of God. All three temptations are temptations against the will of God. There is nothing wrong about satisfying material needs. There is nothing evil with having power. There is nothing immoral with being popular. But when satisfying material needs, having power, and being popular are against the will of God, then they become sinful.

Lent is a time for us to do a serious soul-searching. Let us examine our lives carefully and, like Jesus, make all things new through our loving obedience to God. Remember: it was not because they wanted to be like God that Adam and Eve sinned. Rather, they sinned because they wanted to be like God even by disobeying God.

We are destined for greatness. God wants us to be like Him. Indeed, we shall be like Him. Do not grab the gift. Receive it.

THREE QUESTIONS ON FASTING

Friday after Ash Wednesday
Mk 9:14-15

Today, Jesus talks about fasting. Let us consider three things about the same topic today. Here are three things commonly misunderstood by many, even by devout Catholics.

First, fasting is only about food. Wrong. Fasting is not only about food because fasting does not focus on what is eaten (or not eaten) but on the one who eats. It is not the food that sacrifices when it is not eaten. It is us who sacrifice when we fast. Thus, the focus is on our selves, not on food. If so, then fasting can be on things other than food. We may fast from smoking, alcohol, gossip, “malling”, shopping, gimmick, and many others. But the most important and meritorious fasting is fasting from sin. The Pharisees, mentioned by those who question Jesus in the Gospel today, may do better if they fast from self-righteousness.

Second, fasting is only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Today is Friday but it is not yet Good Friday; thus, it is not a day of fasting, but a day of abstinence only, as far as Canon Law is concerned. But neither is fasting prohibited today. No one and nothing is stopping us from fasting today if we want to. In most monasteries, all Fridays of the year are fasting days, and still in some monasteries all Wednesdays are included. So why just abstain from meat when you can also choose to fast today? Do we not gain more merit when we fast when we are not obliged to do so?

Third, fasting is only about sacrifice. Wrong. That fasting is a form of self-denial aimed at regaining control over our basic cravings is only half of the picture. The other half is about solidarity with the poor. Fasting gives us the opportunity to be one with those for whom hunger is not an option but a daily experience. When we fast, we do not only sympathize with the poor. We empathize with them. We literally feel the pangs they suffer. The torment they endure, we know better not because we study about it but because we feel it ourselves. And in response, we are supposed to be deeply moved so as to live simply so that others may live and to share with the needy not only from our surpluses but even from our needs. It is in this regard why fasting is very much related to almsgiving. Whatever we save from our fasting does not belong to us anymore. It belongs to the poor. The money spared by our fasting should be used to alleviate the plight of the suffering.

Fasting is not only about food. Fasting is not only on the days prescribed by the Church. Fasting is most importantly about solidarity, not only about sacrifice. So what do we fast on? When do we fast? And why do we fast?

PETRUS

Feast of the Chair of Peter
Mt 16:13-19

Jesus asks His disciples today who the people say He is. The disciples report to Him the people’s impressions on Him. That precisely what they are – impressions! But Jesus is not interested how He fares among the crowd. What He is truly concerned about is that they come to know the real He.

If He is interested whether the people know who He really is, He is even more concerned with His disciples knowing Him inside out. Thus, He turns to them and asks them, “But you, who do you say that I am?” Thereupon, the son of Jonah recognizes the Son of God. “You are the Christ,” Simon replies, “the Son of the living God.” Jesus congratulates Simon but gives the credit not to Simon but to His heavenly Father. “Blest are you, Simon, son of Jonah! For flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but My Father in heaven,” proclaims Jesus. Then, Jesus gives Simon a new name and with the new name, a special and specific mission; thereby making Simon’s new name more of an office than a personal tag. “You are Peter,” Jesus tells Simon, “and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.” Thus Simon bar Jonah becomes Simon Peter. Simon the fisherman becomes Simon the Rock.

Today, however, we celebrate not a piece of rock. The liturgical title of today’s feast is “The Feast of the Chair of Peter.” In its deepest essence, our tribute today goes not to the persona of Simon Peter but to the office the Lord has entrusted with him. The Chair of Peter is the “Office of the Rock”. The Office of the Rock is the mission of him who occupies that office to teach and to shepherd the People of God. It is called the Petrine Office. It is an office conferred by Jesus on Simon, and continued in an unbroken line down to the present occupant of that Chair, Joseph Aloysius Ratzinger who has chosen the name Pope Benedict XVI.

Let us pray for Pope Benedict XVI that he may faithfully fulfill the Petrine Office. We offer our Mass today for his intentions, sanctification, and well-being. May he continue to teach us who Jesus really is and to shepherd us with the heart that Jesus truly has. As he sits on the Chair of Peter, may he serve as Peter served the Lord and the Church we both love.

Viva il Papa! Tu es Petrus, Benedictus.

BETTER, NOT MORE

Ash Wednesday
Mt 6:1-6; 16-18

Every year, we go through the season of Lent. As far as we all remember, it always begins on a day like this: a Wednesday. We call this Wednesday “Ash Wednesday”.

Today, we impose ashes on our foreheads as a sign of our willingness to answer the call to repentance and conversion of life, and not only because we want to remember that we are dust and unto dust we shall return. There is no use remembering that we are dust and that someday we will return to dust without turning away from sin and believing in the Gospel. Our bodies decay but we are more than just our bodies. We are embodied spirits. When breath is snatched away from us, our bodies return to dust but our spirits live on. However, this does not mean that we are imprisoned by our bodies. On the contrary, our bodies, though they are dust in origin, are the means for our spirits to touch eternity. Our spirits long for God and our bodies turn to Him.

But our bodies can also turn away from God. We sin. Thus, we need to train our bodies to do good and hate evil. Our Lenten discipline of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are means to focus our selves only on what is truly essential for our spirits thereby making our bodies turn away from sin and cling to God. But sometimes, discipline can be masochistic. It is love that makes our Lenten discipline count.

We should not simply pray, fast, and give alms. We must pray with love, fast with love, and give with love. If we do so, then we will pray even for our enemies, we will fast but not keep for our selves what we save from our fasting, and we will give not only to the grateful nor share only our surplus. Love will make our prayer, our sacrifice, and works of mercy truly life-giving. And that is the whole point of Lent.

Lent is springtime in the Church. It is not about punishing our selves because we realize how bad and sinful we are. Lent is about realizing that, sinners though we are, God loves us more that we know, and so we strive to grow in and through that love until we become more and more like Him who Himself is love. Lent is springtime in the Church because it is about life that comes from loving and about loving that gives life.

When I was a kid, I used to observe my mother, who has a green thumb, cares for her plants. Aside from watering them daily while talking to them and checking if aphids have settled on their leaves, she also scatters some ashes around the plants. She said, those ashes are meant to fertilize the soil and make the plant grow better. May the ashes on our foreheads “fertilize” our hearts and make us pray, fast, and give alms better not more.

THE MEASURE OF ONE'S GREATNESS

Tuesday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time
Mk 9:30-37

Jesus said, “Unless you become like a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” Yes, He did but not today. Today, Jesus says something related but different. “Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name, welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not me but the One who sent me” – this is what Jesus says today.

Becoming like a little child and welcoming little children are different from each other. However, Jesus used both in His teaching about greatness. To be great means to be like a little child. To be great also means to welcome little children. To be like a little child is to be like Jesus who is the Father’s begotten Son. To welcome little children, Jesus explicitly says, is to welcome Jesus Himself. The first is how to be welcomed into the kingdom of God. The second is how to welcome the Son of God. The two are related but different. Both we need to strive to do with all our hearts.

In His earthly life, Jesus grew up in a culture that considered children as minorities. They did not count. Their claims did not matter. They could not stand as witnesses in courts. They were defenseless and could not defend anyone. Children were considered more of properties of their children. Parents were supposed to welcome them and train them to be obedient to the Law of Yahweh.

Jesus identifies with the least, the last, and the lost of society. He is the anawim par excellence, the man whose only hope is the Lord. It therefore explains why Jesus identifies Himself with children. To welcome children is to welcome Him; and to welcome Him is to welcome the Father Himself. The measure of one’s greatness is in how one does that, no matter what his or her position in life is.

THIS ONE THROUGH PRAYER AND FASTING ONLY

Monday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time
Mark 9: 14-29

When the disciples were unable to cast out the deaf and dumb spirit from the boy, they asked Jesus, “Why could we not drive this one out?” Jesus said to them, “This kind can only come out through prayer and fasting.” The answer of Jesus is rather intriguing, is it not?

First, the answer of Jesus implies that evil spirits come in shapes and sizes. There are various kinds of unclean spirit. If we are vigilant, sensitive, and reflective, we know that, besides the evil of not being listened to and not being allowed to speak, not being seen as a human being and not being recognized as a child of God are but another two of the many types of evil in the world.

Second, the response of Jesus also implies that prayer and fasting are not the only means to cast out evil spirits. What then are the other means to expel unclean spirits? I really do not know. But certainly, the best is by loving. True love conquers all evil.

Third and, perhaps, the most intriguing, when Jesus said, “This kind can only come out through prayer and fasting,” He seemed to imply that those who try to drive out evil spirits are not always praying and fasting. Or, at least, those who appear to be praying and fasting they are necessarily prayerful and sacrificial. Let us not speculate on others; let us look instead on our selves.

One thing is certain though: what seems to be so impossible can be made possible through prayer and fasting. Last week, a celebrity friend emailed me from San Francisco. She was asking for prayers for her family that was currently going through very hard times. She herself was praying hard – going to Mass and offering rosaries – for the speedy and happy resolution of the crisis. A final note struck me: “Tomorrow,” she wrote, “I will also begin my fasting.” I was struck because I had the impression that fasting was not a very attractive form of mortification nowadays, most especially for celebrities. To my chagrin, I was very wrong.

Prayer and fasting are never outmoded. During the earthly life of Jesus, they were already effective means to conquer evil. They continue to be so even today. Through prayer, closed minds open, cold hearts ignite and stubborn spirits obey. Through fasting or other forms of self-denial, wild minds are tamed, impure hearts are cleansed and enslaved spirits are freed. Through prayer and sacrifice, sick minds are made whole, wounded hearts are healed and evil spirits are cast out.

Evil exists. It continues to manipulate people. Demonic possessions are true. They continue to enslave people. Prayer always works. Fasting continues to set people free. But it is love that gives prayer and sacrifice the power they need to kick a demon out of anyone. Thus, remember to put love in your prayer and sacrifice in your love each day.

THE HEART OF GOD TODAY

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lk 6:27-38

Saul was the first king of Israel. David was the second. Theirs was a heartbreaking story of friendship, betrayal, and misfortune. Israel has yet to know an epic of ambition, power, and madness more dramatic than that of Saul’s and David’s. Our First Reading today (I Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13) is one of the impressive moments in their story.

Wanting to be like their neighbors, Israel asked Yahweh to give them a king. Yahweh sent the prophet Samuel to anoint Saul as His chosen one. From day one of his kingship, however, war and internal division had always given Saul much difficulty to rule Israel. Because he was the first king of Israel, Saul, unfortunately, had neither inherited experience to rely on nor a trained mentor to teach him what to do. Eventually, Saul became melancholic, isolated, and withdrawn until his power gradually declined.

In his depression, Saul had only one consolation: his new page who was a shepherd boy named David. David played the harp so well. His music soothes the king’s sadness. However, David was not only a virtuoso harpist, he had many other skills and talents, and one of them is defeating Israel’s enemies. He slew Goliath the Giant with stones he hurled with his slingshot; thereupon, sending the Philistines running for their lives. Not too long, Saul grew envious of David’s popularity among the people. The people praised David at the expense of the king: “Saul slew his thousand,” they would shout, “while David his ten thousands!” Gradually, almost to the point of insanity, Saul hated David. But indifference, not hate, is the opposite of love; thus, even as he hated David, Saul loved him just the same. But love for people and love for power cannot go together.

If Saul wanted to eradicate David completely, things were not at all simple and easy. David was not only the best friend of Jonathan, Saul’s son, but he is also Saul’s son-in-law. Worse still, the prophet Samuel, upon Yahweh’s command, secretly anointed David as the new king of Israel even as the throne was not physically vacant.

We know the saying “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Here is one case among many others past and present, far and near: Saul decided to eliminate David by any means. One day, while David was playing the harp for Saul, Saul just suddenly threw a spear towards David who fortunately was able to avoid being pinned to death. Saul, however, was quick to apologize and David continued serving him for a short while nonetheless, while Saul’s own relatives warned David to make himself scarce. But when envy for David and love for power practically made Saul a mad king, a mad race began. Saul kept on running after David who never stopped running for his life.

The Bible describes David with much affection: David was a man according to the heart of God. Indeed, he was! Despite the two great sins – adultery and murder – that David would later on commit during his rule, and for which he greatly repented, David was a man according to the heart of God. And that means not only that he was the choice of God’s heart, but also that he always wanted to live by the dictates of God’s heart. David never returned evil for evil. Though exiled and hunted everywhere by Saul, David still loved Saul and neither wished nor actually did him any harm. Three times David had the opportunity to kill Saul, but three times David let Saul go scot-free. Today’s First Reading is one of those three times.

Stealing into Saul’s tent, David found his father-in-law sleeping with his spear stuck in the ground beside his head. Logically, David’s ally volunteered to strike Saul dead with his own spear, but David – following the heart of God – stopped him and ordered that they leave the king alone in peace. Taking Saul’s spear and the pitcher of water lying by Saul’s head, David left the sleeping king. He knew that the absence of the king’s spear and pitcher of water would put his message across strongly and clearly.

Jesus’ message in the Gospel today is just as strong and clear: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly…. Give, and there will be gifts for you…because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.” What then is the amount of love we must give? It must be the same amount of love we beg for. But what is the true measure of love? St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote, “The true measure of love is love without measure.” That is the measure of love that each of us deserves to receive from anyone and at the same time must give to everyone.

Jesus does not ask us to like one another. He commands us to love one another instead. But is love possible without first liking the other man? Yes, it is because love is a decision. Love is not falling in love. Love is deciding to love. Love is not an emotional appetite; it is a movement of the will towards the good of the other regardless of him being a friend or a foe. Love is to be stubbornly gracious in at all times and to refuse paying back violence with violence. Hatred can be defeated only by love; injury can be healed only by forgiveness; and evil can be conquered only by goodness. Such is not conventional wisdom, but such is the wisdom of David who was a man according to the heart of God. Such is wisdom of Jesus who Himself is the very heart of God.

The earthly life of Jesus was the first and best commentary on His radical and unconventional teachings. He worked hard at honoring His own ethic; and the cost He paid was not only high but bloody as well. He offered love, though He knew love would not be returned. He shed His blood, though He knew many would just waste it. He was never involved in stock-taking returns because He loved even without any gain. The measure of His love is love without measure.

As we profess love for Jesus, let us not forget to love like Jesus too. When we love like Jesus, then the words of St. Paul in the Second Reading (I Cor 15:45-49) today come true: “…we, who have been modeled on the earthly man, will be modeled on the heavenly man.”

We all want to be like David, a man according to the heart of God. But, despite its being already praiseworthy, that is not yet enough. We have a calling higher than being a man according to the heart of God. Strengthened by prayer, let us strive to be the heart of God instead. Let us begin today.

NAGBUBULAG-BULAGAN

Monday of the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
Mk 8:11-13

In Tagalog, there is a pejorative definition about a person who plays blind: “nagbubulag-bulagan”. A person who is “nagbubulag-bulagan” is never a blind person. A blind person is a “bulag”. The fact that a person is “nagbubulag-bulagan” betrays that that person can see.

The Pharisees today is not “bulag”; they are “nagbubulag-bulagan”. They play blind to the many signs that point to Jesus as the Son of God. They are not congenitally blind nor are they blinded; they choose to blind themselves to Jesus’ signs. Showing them more signs is hopeless. It is like showing more pictures to a person whose eyes are closed.

Once, a nomad was asked, “How do you know that there is God?” “The same way I know that an animal has crossed the desert: by its footprints in the sand,” came the answer.

How do we know that Jesus is the Son of God? The same way we know that love has touched us. How do we know that love has touched us? The same way we know that Jesus is always in our midst.

Let us not be persons who are “nagbubulag-bulagan”. Let us keep our eyes open and be surprised by the wonderful signs of Jesus in our midst. Let us surprise others with the best sign that points to Jesus: loving like Jesus.

WHERE IS HAPPINESS?

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lk 6:17, 20-26

I recently came across an article entitled “The American Fairy Tale”. Dr. Harold Treffert, director of the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Wisconsin, writes about the prevalent view on happiness in the world today. He enumerates five ideas we commonly and unwittingly subscribe to regarding happiness. Let us go through them briefly and examine if they, too, are our ideas on happiness.

First, happiness is things. The more we have, the happier we are. Too sad for those who have little, they have little happiness too. Disaster for those who have none, they have no happiness at all.

Second, happiness is accomplishments. The more we achieve, the happier we are. Our happiness is directly proportional to our produce. We earn happiness. He who earns less has less happiness. Happiness is being an accomplished person. An accomplished person is one who achieves happiness.

Third, happiness is conformity. The more we are “in”, the happier we are. We should never go against the tide. Those who are different are sad because they are ostracized. It does not matter if they stand for what is true, just and godly. Happiness is found among birds of the same feather that flock together. Conform and be happy. Differ and be sad.

Fourth, happiness is mental health. The fewer problems you have, the happier you will be. And remember: the other name for happiness is carefree. But if problems suddenly confront you, resort to alcohol, drugs, and sex. When problems persist, call a psychologist. Just hope that it is not yet too late.

The fifth idea is very specific to our times: happiness is having and using electronic gadgets. Happiness is literally electrifying! The more you can communicate with the latest mobile phone, the happier you are. The more top of the line your television set is, the happier you are. The more computer literate you are, the happier you are. The more satellite communications your country has, the happier its citizens are.

Are these definitions of happiness ours too? If they are, then we are very much in danger. But it is never too late.

Dr. Treffert’s study shows that these five definitions of happiness are actually myths. They do not give us true happiness. Instead, they make us crazy. Subscribing to all or any of these five prevalent definitions of happiness in the world today is the common cause of mental heath problems. If that is so, where then do we find happiness?

An ancient myth tells a story about happiness. One day, the gods came together for a match. They wanted to prove who among them was the wisest. They agreed to hide happiness from man. Whoever could hide happiness from man would be considered the greatest among them and would enjoy the subservience of the rest of the deities.

One god immediately stood up and took happiness to the deepest sea. At once, man felt the absence of happiness and searched for it. Not too long, he invented the submarine and various underwater vessels and went into the depths of the ocean. There man found happiness.

Another god took happiness from man again and hurled it into the sky, throwing happiness into the infinite outer space. It took some time before man found a way to get happiness back, but he nonetheless found a way how. Having conquered land and sea, man turned his attention to the heavens, not for the divine however. He soon conquered even the outer space with rocket ships, satellites, and inter-galactic missions. This unprecedented achievement made man feel powerful and proud. It was not long before he equated happiness with pride and power.

Another god took the challenge and hid happiness in cyber space. But man was not only able to travel through fiber optics and alike, he also soon transformed cyber reality into virtual reality. His world did not only become smaller; it likewise became home to another species called “anime”. Happiness seemed to be always within man’s reach.

The gods were about to give up. They could not hide happiness from man. Thereupon, someone from nowhere came and gave the divine challenge a last shot. Quietly, the he hid happiness. Where? Not even the other deities knew. Not man too. Do you?

Jesus knows.

THE VISIT

Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin
Lk 10:38-42

St. Scholastica, a sister of St. Benedict of Nursia, lived from 480 through 547. She was the first Benedictine nun. Today the liturgy venerates her blessed memory.

Despite her being a household name among Catholic families, there are only a few anecdotes we know about St. Scholastica. One is about her brother’s annual visit with her. Another is about how her brother came to know her death.

Scholastica always loved to listen to her brother’s wisdom. But her brother, Benedict, would visit her only annually. In one of Benedict’s visit with her, Scholastica prayed very hard that a storm would force her brother to stay longer. And indeed, a storm came and Benedict was able to return to the monastery only when it subsided.

Three days after that stormy visit, Scholastica passed away. Benedict, who was then at prayer, came to know about his saintly sister’s death through a dove that flew to heaven.

I am sure, Benedict was thankful for the storm that delayed his coming home the last time he visited his sister. During the storm, he did not know that Scholastica would die three days later. At her death, Benedict realized how that storm was really grace.

The Gospel today tells us the story of another visit. Jesus visits Martha and Mary, sisters of Lazarus. Certainly, both women are very happy to welcome Jesus in their home. Each has a way of showing that. One is up on her feet; the other is seated at the feet of Jesus. But both are very busy: Martha with the details of hospitality while Mary with listening to Jesus.

Unlike Benedict’s last visit to his sister, Scholastica, there is no storm, but there is something boiling inside the house today. Martha complains about Mary leaving her to do alone the serving. Jesus teaches her a very important lesson. He visits them to meet them not to check on what they have at home. He visits them to be with them not to see what food they have or what kind of furniture they keep. He visits them to talk and listen to them; the rest is secondary.

When someone visits us, let us be represent to him. Let us appreciate every visit we receive. Should a storm still teach us that? What if we see a dove fly to heaven after someone’s visit, would we be grateful or regretful?

ROCKS

Thursday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time
Mk 7:24-30

From Gennesaret, Jesus goes today to a certain place named “Tyre”. This place can well be remembered among the different places mentioned in the Gospels because it is unique in the sense that two huge rocks poke out just of its shores. The name of this place speaks well of its peculiarity. “Tyre” means “the rock”.

As Jesus enters Tyre today, a Syrophoenician woman meets Him in this place called “the rock”. One who knows the deep differences between the worlds where Jesus and this woman are coming from can easily see that there stands more than one rock in this unexpected rendezvous. Five rocks to be exact!

First, the woman is a Gentile. Jews – and Jesus is a Jew – do not associate with Gentiles. Mingling with Gentiles makes a Jew unclean. And “associating with Gentiles” has a large scope; it includes even a short chat with them. This rock is already to big to start with.

Second, the Syrophoenician is a woman. Jewish rabbis do not speak with a woman in public. And Jesus, though bereft of formal rabbinic training, is considered by the people as a rabbi. This rock is too large to be ignored.

Third, the Syrophoenician woman requests Jesus for healing at a distance. While Jesus can undoubtedly perform remote healing without much effort, this request – coming from a Gentile and a woman – is a precedent in the Gospel of Mark. While prior to Mark 7:24-30, Jesus already healed many from various kinds of afflictions, He healed them by either touching them or being touched by them personally. This third rock may not be difficult for Jesus at all, but it is very daring for the woman to climb it.

Fourth, Jesus seems to be reluctant to grants the daring request. His words appear to be brutally frank, even insulting, “The children should be fed first, because it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.” The fourth rock is most painful to be hit with, I suppose.

The fifth rock is that all these things happen today in public. The public observes the meeting of the two. The public knows the differences between the two. The public hears the exchanges between the two. The public sees more than just the two huge rocks from which the city of Tyre got its name.

But no rock is too hard to climb and conquer when love and faith meet. Jesus represents love, while the Syrophoenician, faith. When the love of the Lord and faith in Him embrace each other, all rocks – no matter how inevitable and invincible they seem – crumble into pieces. Then the public witnesses that God, indeed, makes a way where there seems to be no way.

Rocks do not necessarily mean blocks. It depends on us what role they play in our journey through life. Two individuals standing before the same huge rock may deal with it extremely differently. One may consider it as a hopeless dead-end while the other may take it as a challenge to conquer. When love and faith work together, nothing is impossible to conquer and dead-ends miraculously turn into mere bends along the way.

So, what do we do with our rocks in life? Bump our heads into them or step on them with our feet as we climb them with the wings of faith and the wind of love? The choice is ours. Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman made theirs today. When do we make ours?

FROM WITHIN

Wednesday in the 5th Week in Ordinary Time
Mk 7:14-23

In 170 B.C., the Syrian forces colonized Israel under the dreadful leadership of Antiochus IV. In his consuming desire to wipe out Judaism totally, Antiochus unrelentingly persecuted the Jews.

The story of the seven brothers and their widowed mother in the seventh chapter of the 2nd Book of Maccabees is an example of the violent persecution that Antiochus waged against the Jews. The story narrates how seven brothers were tortured and killed in the very presence of their widowed mother. Their crime was refusal to eat unclean food.

Today, in the Gospel, Jesus comes and, with one stroke, He sweeps aside the dietary laws that the ancestors of the Jews died for. Therefore, it should be easy for us to understand why the Pharisees reacted angrily towards Him.

St. Mark remembers well the words of Jesus: “…whatever goes into a man from outside cannot make him unclean….” The same evangelist even inserts a commentary right after the radical teaching of Jesus. He says, “Thus, he pronounced all foods clean.” It must have been very disturbing for the early Christians, to whom St. Mark immediately addresses his gospel, to accept the genuine freedom Jesus was offering them from the enslaving restrictions of the Old Testament Law. It must have been a very difficult emotional and psychological experience for them.

There is, however, a counter-side to the issue today. Jesus says, “Nothing that comes from the outside can make a man unclean.” If nothing from the outside can render us unclean, then nothing also from the outside can make us clean. If what comes in inside us cannot make us evil, then neither can it make us holy. Therefore, just as what comes out of us can make us unclean, so too can it make us clean.

Spiritual renewal must come from within. Outward displays of religiosity can never compensate for the lack of transformation within. An obsession in the guise of devotion cannot make anyone holy. A seeming humble retraction from a prior decision made that, in truth, conceals self-preservation cannot have a name other than evil. There comes a point in the life of each of us when we must honestly confront our selves and allow honest answers to come from our within. Then, we shall be judged clean or unclean.

This is the exact critique of Jesus against Pharisaic religion. Does it hurt us? Let the answer come from our within.

CHURCH-IN-MISSION

Memorial of Sts. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
Mt 28:16-20

Today we celebrate the blessed memory of our fellow Asians: Sts. Paul Miki and Companions. This group of Asian martyrs, caught in the crossfire of the high politics that dominated Japan in the 1500’s, was composed of twenty-six Jesuit and Franciscan priests, brothers, and Christian laypersons. They were simultaneously raised on crosses and then stabbed with spears in the Nagasaki hill, Japan, in 1597. Their executioners were dumbfounded seeing their joy while they shed their blood for the Faith. Their joy came from knowing that they were associated with the Passion of the Lord. Their blood watered the seeds of Faith in this part of the world and eventually they became the first martyrs of East Asia to be canonized.

It is highly significant to note that these twenty-six martyrs were mostly, if not all, converts themselves. They were the fruits of the labor of the missionaries who first set foot in Japan and preached the Gospel. Indeed, they were the crowning glory of the Church’s mission.

The Gospel today reminds as that the Church is essentially missionary. At the very inception of the Church – at its very beginning – it has always been being sent forth. Ecclesiology is a function of missiology. To be Church is to be Church-in-mission. To reach out is always the direction of the Church.

The Church cannot only be about devotion, most especially when devotion has unwittingly turned into obsession. Church is about mission. And that is not simply about feeding programs, medical and dental missions, street Masses, or even pilgrimages. The Gospel today explicitly indicates the mission of the Church with three verbs: go, baptize, and teach. Let us therefore not forget to go, to baptize, and to teach even as we feed the hungry, care for the sick, bring the sacraments to the masses, and make pilgrimages.

Martyrs are missionaries not only because they went, they baptized, and they taught the Gospel in foreign lands. They are missionaries by the shedding of their blood. Nothing can be more convincing than the love they have for the Lord, for the Church, for the Faith, and for their fellow men and women. It is that love that made them go, baptize, and teach unto the shedding of blood.

NOT MUCH IS KNOWN BUT MUCH IS SOWN

Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr
Lk 9:23-26

We do not know exactly when St. Agatha was born. But we know when she died. She was martyred in Catania (the present-day Sicily in Italy) in the year 251 A.D., probably under the rule of the Emperor Decius.

We also know very little about her life. We know, however, that Agatha was a Roman citizen who belonged to the early Christian community. We also know that she was martyred preserving her physical and spiritual integrity. The pagans whose sexual advances she refused severed her breasts from her body. St. Agatha is a virgin martyr.

Now, here is another thing we do not know much about: the life of countless martyrs of the Church. We do not know much about the life of countless martyrs simply because the martyrs are countless. Most especially in the early period of the Church, many Christians gave their lives for the Lord. Many of them are remembered in places where they were born, lived and died as martyrs. Still some of them are known only to their descendants. But most of them, we know only by names either individually or as a group. This proves one very important fact: countless shed their blood for the Lord and the faith we now enjoy.

When one stands inside a catacomb, he cannot help but be overwhelmed by the remains of the Christian martyrs venerated there. The feeling of awe can move him to tears for both gratitude and shame: gratitude for the martyrs who, by their shedding of blood, planted the seeds of faith in our hearts, and shame for the lukewarm and mediocrity that may infect the faith of a present-day Christian. May our tears be tears of gratitude rather than of shame.

We, too, are called to martyrdom. Unlike that of St. Agatha’s, our martyrdom may not be about dying but about living. After all, “martyrion”, the Greek origin of the English word “martyrdom” simply means “witness”. And living speaks as loud as dying when witnessing is called for. Moreover, one does not simply die a martyr; rather, one dies a martyr’s death because the martyr has first lived a martyr’s life.

When we die, people may cry. But when they cry, may their tears be tears of gratitude for the kind of lives we lived. And if their tears are tears of shame, may the shame not be on us but on their failure to live the kind of lives they should live. In both cases, however, they will not need to know much about us. It will be enough for them to know that we died a martyr’s death by living a martyr’ life.

FISH STORIES

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lk 5:1-11

A Carpenter teaches a fisherman at sea. Jesus tells Simon Peter where to lower down the nests so that a catch may be made. Quite amusing for us, but not for Simon Peter. It is one of Simon Peter’s humbling experiences. It is his fish story.

Simon Peter’s problem is how to catch a fish today. Today, the expert learns from the Amateur. Jesus is the Amateur while Simon Peter is the expert. But Jesus gives Simon Peter this advice: “Put out into the deep and lower down your nets for a catch.” Confident about his knowledge of marine life, Simon Peter replies: “Master, we have worked all night long and caught nothing.” But an argument with Jesus is far from Simon Peter’s mind. He knows He who commands Him. It is the Master! Simon Peter may be an expert in fishing but it is Jesus who made the fish. Thus, he tells Jesus, “…but if you say so, I will lower down the nets.” And a great number of fish – too great that the nets start to tear and the boats are about to capsize – meet the nets half way in the sea.

The miracle today at the lake is not only about catching fish. It is about catching hearts. Simon Peter and his friends caught a great number of fish. Jesus caught the hearts of Simon Peter and his friends however. “For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon,” St. Luke adds his commentary in the Gospel today. Thereupon, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they reached the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus. What else do they need anyway? They already have Jesus with them. Who else should they follow? From then on, Jesus holds their hearts forever.

I wonder how it feels to be a fish. I wonder how it feels to realize that the worm at the hook is actually a bait or the net so enticing is actually a trap only after you bite the worm or swim into the net. It must be very frightening for a fish. But a fish never knows until the bait hooks it or it gets itself entangles in the net. And once it meets your eyes, you do not tell the fish, “Do not be afraid.” Rather, your eyes tells it, “Hmm…delicious!” If I were your fish, I would die even before I get into your kitchen!

When Jesus caught the hearts of Simon Peter and his friends, He told them, “Do not be afraid.” Jesus catches hearts not to slice them into two. He means no harm to anyone He chooses. Rather, Jesus places into their hearts a mission that is actually His, “…from now on you will be catching men.” Jesus makes a fish a fisherman like Him. It does not matter if he or she smells like fish. It does not matter if he or she looks like a fish. It does not even matter if he or she did something fishy before. All that matters is he or she is ready to leave everything to follow Jesus.

I am not a fish. Sometimes, however, I feel like a fish my self. I smell like a fish. I look like a fish. I do something fishy. I can be like a silly fish biting the worm that this world offers only to realize it is a bait I cannot free my self from. “O, Lord,” each morning I pray, “please bless this smelly fish. And if You so will, please make a fisherman out of him.” Then the Lord flashes a fishy smile at me and says, “Be not afraid. Come and let’s go fishing today.”

We all have our fish stories to tell. We all are challenged by our sense of unworthiness. We all have been caught by Jesus and realized more than ever our “fish-iness”. But despite everything, Jesus is a stubborn fisherman: He makes fishermen out of fish.

“Be not afraid” – Jesus tells us, my fellow fish. “Come and let’s go fishing today” – Jesus invites you and me, for He makes fishermen out of our being fish. He has caught us and our hearts are forever His. For Him, let us catch the others. With Him, let us lower our nets into the deep. By our Christian witnessing, our genuine love will make the nets almost tear and the boats almost sink, for there are more fish stories out there waiting to be heard.

CHECK OUT THE LIST!

Thursday in the 4th Week in Ordinary Time
Mk 6:7-13

Jesus sends out the Twelve today two by two on a mission. As expected from a mission-sending event, Jesus gives a list of instructions to the Twelve. Let us review the list. Jesus instructed the Twelve not to take anything for the journey except a walking stick. Food, sleeping bags, extra clothing, and cash are also explicitly prohibited. Sandals are all they are told to wear, and if they are not welcomed in a particular place, they should leave that place while shaking the dust off their feet. They are also directed not to move from house to house for lodging. Quite a list of things to remember carefully! But is there something we are missing here?

Jesus does not tell the Twelve what they are to preach about! There are no about details regarding the message that the Twelve have to spread around. Nothing before Mk 6:7-13 and neither is there anything about it after Mk 6:7-13. It is only when the Twelve returns from their missionary assignment will we come to know what they preached about. They preached the need of repentance. Not a bad topic for evangelization, but, still, it is not explicitly in the list of Jesus’ instructions. Or Mark simply takes it for granted in his narration.

Why?

St. Francis of Assisi is said to have the practice of sending his disciples on a mission each day with this instruction: “Go and preach the Good News. Talk if necessary.” Quite an unusual instruction to preacher being sent out to evangelize, is it not? Yes, but that is precisely the secret of the best preaching. The absence of words is not the absence of message. When words are not present, the messenger becomes the message himself.

By not telling the Twelve the explicit message of their preaching, Jesus seems to be instructing them that, first and foremost, they themselves are the words that will carry out His message to the ends of the world. By their detachment from material things, conveniences and comforts, power and prestige, the Twelve will give witness to the people that they are men dedicated to God. By following His list of instructions to them, the Twelve become the outward signs of God’s kingdom. The signs are, actually, signs of “absence”.

The message to preach seems to be absent in the list of Jesus’ instruction because the more the things He mentions in the list are absent in the life of the Twelve, the Twelve themselves become the message. Are those things present in our life? If yes, then what is absent in our preaching?