DOES IT HAVE LOVE?

20TH Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mt 15:21-28

Our gospel this Sunday is amusing and amazing. A Caananite woman pleaded with Jesus, a male Jew, and got what she wanted: the cure of her daughter who was greatly tormented by a demon (most probably, the child was crazy).

In any debate, Jesus was never defeated. We often hear Him arguing with the scribes and the Pharisees because of their pride and self-righteousness. But no matter what they hurled against Jesus, Jesus always won. No one could defeat Him. No one. Except this woman. She was the only person in the Gospels who had the wit to outwit Jesus.

There are four reasons why reasons why her story with Jesus is both amusing and amazing.

First, in a patriarchal society, like that of the Jews’, we witness the guts this woman had to face Jesus at close range and bargained with Him. It could be more acceptable if a fellow male approached Jesus and acted as an intermediary between Him and the woman.

Second, this woman was a foreigner. Jesus stressed that fact when He said that His mission was only for the lost sheep of the House of Israel. Indeed, this woman looked Jesus straight to His face at close range, but she seemed to be talking to a wall. Was it not that, at first, Jesus did not even give her at damn? He gave her the cold shoulder treatment. Irked by the scene she was making, the disciples had to plead with Jesus to give her a hearing. Before that, Jesus was simply deaf to her shouting and blind to her pressing presence.

Third, this woman was not onion-skinned. All the obstacles were not obstacle to her, if only to obtain her request. She was not onion-skinned not because she was arrogant but because she was humble. She swallowed her pride and took what seemed to be an insult straight from Jesus Himself: “It is unfair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs.” This woman proved that humility is not weakness but strength: “Ah yes, Sir; but even house-dogs can eat the scrpas that fall from their master’s table.”

And the fourth: for all the trouble and humiliation she went through, what this woman was asking for was not even for her self, but for her daughter. Usually commentaries on this gospel episode say that it was faith that gave this woman what she wanted. That is right. Jesus Himself affirmed thus, “Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.” But what gave her faith the strength to conquer oppressive social structures and endure all the insults that her concern entailed? Love. Indeed faith has no meaning whatsoever if it has no love. When Jesus praised this woman’s faith at the end of the gospel, it is safe to say that He did so because her faith had love.

Jesus conceded defeat and yielded to this woman’s request. How could He not? She had the kind of faith that loved and now had found her only hope: Jesus.

Are you asking anything from Jesus? Do you have great faith in Him? If you do, good for you. But does your faith have love?

SAINTS TOGETHER

SAINTS TOGETHER
Mt 19:27-29

We have a saying, “Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are.” This is a good maxim to live by. Be careful with whom you associate with. Choose your friends well.

She was a very close friend of Francis, the son of a wealthy merchant from Assisi who voluntarily and literally stripped himself of all material goods to follow Jesus all the way. Her name was Clare. When Francis started attracting men to his radical way of following Jesus, Clare likewise was drawn into the same path. She was the first member of the Franciscan order for women that later on was to be known as the Poor Clares. But it did not happen very easily for her. She had to escape from home several times to follow Francis’ way of radical discipleship. Each time she would escape, her brothers would track her down and, finding her, would literally drag her back home. But when they saw her hair cut short underneath her veil, her brothers decided to leave her alone in peace.

Born in 1193, Clare was Italian by birth. Though coming from a well-to-do family, Clare – following Francis, her childhood friend and townmate – left everything to live a life of poverty and penance in a life consecrated to Christ. She had a deep devotion to the Holy Eucharist and saved her city from the invading barbarians by raising the Blessed Sacrament over them. Thus, her statue clad in a nun’s habit with the Blessed Sacrament. After a holy and austere life, she passed away in 1253.

Clare was Francis’ intimate friend.

Need we say more?

Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are.

It is never too late to choose your friends. Choose only those who leads you closer – not farther – to Christ.

Friends, let us be saints together!

LIFEGUARD

19TH Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mt 14:22-33

Pardon me, I’ll brag a bit: am a good swimmer. My complexion used to be dark because sunburn does not peel off on me. For many, am tan, while for some, wishing to flatter me, am Latino. But whatever name you give the color of my complexion, there is no denying I swim a lot. I still remember when I was in the minor seminary, whenever the seminary swimming pool was available, you would find me there. Even when the weather was not good, still I swim. Until in college, for two semesters at the Ateneo, my P.E. was swimming. And here’s more: I am not only a good swimmer, I am a lifeguard. I was yet in senior year in high school when I became a certified lifeguard.

The long hours and discipline of learning how to swim paid off. I know different styles in swimming. I can crisscross an Olympic size swimming pool underwater. And I can float in the water for hours and hours, too. But I confess, there is something I cannot do or hate to do: I don’t like traveling by a sea vessel. Am afraid of drowning. Weird, right? I swim well, but am afraid traveling by sea. Am a lifeguard, but am afraid of drowning.

When I was in Bukidnon, in 1990, I wanted to go home to Manila. It was the first time for me to be far from my family and it was Christmas time then. I was so sad. When I got my allowance from the Jesuit treasurer, Fr. Honesto Pacana, now bishop of Malaybalay, Bukidnon, I asked for more. My plan was to fly to Manila before Christmas day. But my money was not enough for a round trip domestic flight. My money, however, was enough for a boat ride. My solution: travel by bus from Cagayan de Oro to the terminal ni Pasay City. Where was I on Christmas midnight? Sorsogon. When I arrived in Pasay, it was already nightfall and Christmas day was almost over. I would really do anything if only to avoid traveling by sea. But I am a good swimmer.

Simon Peter was different though. He was a bit weird, don’t you think so? He worked out in the sea, but he was afraid of the sea. Worse, he walked on the water but he could not even swim. If he was not a weirdo, Simon Peter was simply daring. He dared Jesus. Jesus dared him. “Lord,” Simon Peter dared Jesus, “if it is You, tell me to come to You.” Jesus obliged, “Come.” But Jesus was standing on water; thus, Simon Peter had to walk on water to reach Jesus. He dared, nonetheless, to walk. On water. But for a few steps only. When he notice how big the waves were and how strong the sea wind was, Simon Peter started sinking. But Jesus did not abandon him. Jesus did not stand motionless, watching Simon Peter drown. He reached out for Simon Peter. He saved Simon Peter, for the meaning of Jesus’ name, which in Hebrew is Yeshua, is “God saves”.

Jesus is the lifeguard of my life. In Him, all my bragging ends. I should have drowned in the sea of life a long time ago because of trials, problems, and sins. I may be a good swimmer, but am afraid of drowning. Jesus is the lifeguard of my life.

Jesus is the lifeguard of the Church. without Jesus, the boat, which is the Church, should have sunk a long time ago. What with Peter himself, its leader, quickly shuddering in fear before the elements that threaten the Church. Without Jesus, the long history of scandals, sins, mistakes, and problems of the Church, the Church would have sank a long time ago and buried in the abyss of those deserving to be forgotten. The Church is holy, but she is also sinful. Jesus is the lifeguard of the Church.

And you, stop the bragging, and say who is the lifeguard of your life?

LET NO ONE GO HUNGRY

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mt 14:13-21

I smile whenever I read the gospel for today. The disciples recognized a problem: there were so many people and the food was in shortage. Notice that not that there was no food but that the food was not enough for all. It even seemed like the disciples tried to hide from Jesus the fact that they had food with them. Thus, their advice to Jesus was to dismiss the crowd. When shortage is real, the temptation to horde is very real.

However, Jesus, from whom we cannot hide anything, addressed the problem by making the disciples address the problem themselves. “There is no need to send them away. Give them something to eat yourselves,” said Jesus (Jesus must be smiling deep inside when He said this). When the problem is so real, the escaping from it becomes an easy option.

Shame must have covered the hearts, not only the faces, of the disciples as Jesus taught them that the answer to shortage is generosity and that problems are better confronted with childlike trust in Divine Providence rather than brushing them aside with the force of human inadequacies.

We are no better than the disciples, are we?

Jesus looks straight at our eyes today as we reflect on His Living Word. His gaze is steady and His voice plain and clear, even disturbing. Is it true that there is not enough to share or it is more accurate to say that there is too much greed to conquer? Do we met scarcity with generosity or flee from with the wings of indifference and self-preservation?

We cannot hide anything from the Lord. Let us be honest with our answers.

Open your hearts. Jesus may be making another miracle. I believe in miracles and they all begin with an act of love. You are that miracle. Love like Jesus. Be bread broken for others. Let no one go hungry.

DANCING FEET

Saturday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time
Mt 14:1-12

Some people are born with dancing feet. I am not. I can sing a tune but I am not good with swaying to a rhythm. When I had to sing fast songs in my previous concerts, the rehearsals were like punishments for me. Many people call me “the Singing Priest”, but no one ever dared to say that I am a “Dancing Priest”.

The world is like a huge dance floor. Living is like dancing. There are two kinds of music being played: one is mundane while the other is divine. There are two disc jockeys: the devil plays the worldly music while Jesus plays the heavenly. All of us, born with dancing feet or not, sway to the rhythm of either music. The choice is always ours: Do we dance to the rhythm of the world or to the rhythm of Christ?

John the Baptist, whose martyrdom is narrated to us by the gospel today, chose to sway with the heavenly music while Herod, Herodias, Herodias’ daughter, the courtiers and guests of Herod chose to dance to the other kind of rhythm. Thus, John was beheaded. But having been freed from this world, John now dances with Jesus, the “Lord of the Dance”.

John the Baptist is remembered as one who lost his head because Herodias’ daughter seduced Herod with her dance. John was the price paid by Herod for a seductive dance. Such a dance was too expensive, was it not?

That is how the world exacts fees into the dance floor. The payment is always someone’s life. It is either the dancer’s life or the life of whoever refuses to dance to the rhythm of the mundane tune. When the fee is the dancer’s life, it is to that dancer’s perdition. But if the fee is the life of one who refuses to dance to the mundane rhythm, it is that person’s liberation from this intoxicating world.

We may not be born with dancing feet, but we dance through life. As with what rhythm we sway, the choice is always ours.

LOVE IS THE ANSWER

Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Mt 5:13-19

Born in Naples, Italy, in the year 1696, Alphonsus was a lawyer before he became a priest. He remains up to this day one of the great moral theologians of the Church. He worked out a system called “Moderate Probabilism” which, in those days, was the most feasible system to arrive at solutions to moral problems. Aside from being a renowned moral theologian, he was also a great apostle of the Eucharist and the Blessed Mother. But he was no self-serving genius. Alphonsus worked with great zeal for the poor and the sick. With his wisdom, holiness, and love for the underprivileged, he attracted a group of men to join him in founding the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer or, fondly called, The Redemptorist. In 1787, Alphonsus was called home by his Lord and Master to live with Him forever in heaven. Today is his feastday.

Three themes blends well on the feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori this year. The first is the theme of Christian morality, of which Alphonsus was an outstanding teacher. The second is the theme of Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, which the gospel prescribed on the memorial Alphonsus declares. The third is the theme of the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus that is the focus of liturgical celebrations on a day like today. The memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori this year falls on the first Friday of the month, the day dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus every month. What blends these three themes is love.

More than about obeying the Law or satisfying the demands of Christian ethics, Christian morality is about loving like Christ. Thus, the lesson that can be drawn from the gospel today is for us to find in Jesus, the Christ, the fulfillment of all moral norms, and to live morally is to live like Jesus. The first and perennial consideration of Christian morality is our daily and sincere efforts to become more and more like Jesus. And the measure of our progress in our efforts to become more and more like Jesus is manifested by how Christlike our love has become. This is the ultimate goal of our devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus must mold our hearts more and more unto the likeness of Jesus’ heart. The devotion has achieved its purpose if over and beyond the novena, the Holy Hour, the Acts of Reparation, and the First Friday Communions, we love like Jesus more and more each day. Configuration is the highest purpose of devotion, not reparation nor supplication. The devotee must eventually be like the object of his devotion.

St. Alphonsus Liguori teaches us the secret to solving even the greatest moral problems of all times. More than his sound writings on moral theology, it is his aspiration to become like Jesus and his actual Christlike love for the poor and the sick that instruct the world what truly fulfills the Law and creates a culture of positive moral values.

Let us live morally. Let us become more and more like Jesus. Let us love like Him.