IF GOD RISKS ON US

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mk 9:38-43. 45. 47-48

That we may function well, we depend, almost our entire life, on others who give us validity, identity, and reality. Validity is the verification of the truth about our selves. Identity is the recognition of the truth about our selves. Reality is the truth about our selves.

A psychologist named Professor Smail said, “You cannot be anything if you are not recognized as something; in this way your being becomes a dependent on the regard of somebody else.”

We may not agree with Professor Smail’s opinion, but is it not true that there are people who boast of their being members of some exclusive organizations or movements? For some people, the more difficult to become a member of a club the better. Sikat ka!

Nonetheless, there is still something good about joining clubs, organizations, and movements, right? Our world expands. We are not imprisoned in our own shells. New acquaintances who become new friends, new experience – all these are good, are they not? New relationships are created and we develop a sense of belongingness that is very important in the building of our identity. Acceptance in an organization, a movement, or a club proves how our acceptance and recognition of our selves are accepted and recognized by others. To be rejected, refused, and snubbed is cleary a disapproval of how we regard our selves.

In our gospel today, the disciples of Jesus refuse to recognize the authority of a man they saw exorcising simply because that man does not belong to their company. John reports to Jesus, “Master, we saw a man casting out devils in Your name; we tried to stop him because he is not one of us.” Does the success of the outsider worry the disciples?

Who will not feel insecured? In the first chapter of the gospel of Mark, a father appealed to Jesus to heal his son who is possessed by an evil spirit that renders the boy unable to speak. According to the father, he already brought his son to the disciples of Jesus but they were not able to do anything at all. Apparently, as far as exorcism is concerned, the disciples are failures. Then, here comes an outsider who expels demons in Jesus’ name! The disciples’ reaction may not be right, but it is not difficult for us to understand how they feel. They do not want the outsider to continue in his exorcising and they hope that Jesus would stop him or, at least, would refuse to recognize him. If Jesus gives in to his disciples’ implicit request, the entire identity of the outsider will be subject to suspicion.

Indeed, we are disciples of Jesus, for sometimes, we think, act, and speak like them, don’t we? We feel threatened by the success of others, most especially those who do not belong to our company. We lose sleep over the possibility of being dampened in favor of the better, the more popular, the more patronized one. We fear being exchanged for others. Even among those who minister and serve in the church, competition is a menace. Ministers – lay and even ordained – can sometimes consider one another as rivals rather than co-workers in Christ. Why, can the success of other disciples lessen our being disciples ourselves? Do we become better servants of God by destroying His other servants? That is not what Jesus wants. Jesus is angry at disciples, church-ministers, and God’s servants who are like that.

“Whoever is not against us is for us,” Jesus says. Instead of approving what His disciples did to the outsider, Jesus challenges them to widen their view on God’s goodness. “Leave him in peace,” Jesus orders them. Jesus approves of the outsider whom His disciples want Him to disapprove. However, Jesus also assures His disciples that whoever welcomes them because they are His disciples will certainly not lose his reward. To be a disciple is to bless, not to curse. To be a disciple is to be a blessing to all, not be blest more than the rest.

The disciples seem to forget: they, too, are outsiders, are they not? The society in which they live refuses to welcome and recognize them. Almost all of them are uneducated, many of them are fishermen, and some are even public sinners. In a world they hope to find recognition and acceptance in the name of Jesus, Jesus asks them to give the same unto others. If your tolerance of others is low, what right do you have to expect others to accept and regard you with kindness? Jesus does not worry if, other than His disciples, there are those who do good unto others. If the good of everyone is Jesus’ passion, that passion can be served by anyone. For Jesus, as far as goodness is concerned, anyone can!

May we learn this lesson and really live by it. The value of whatever good we do is never raised by despising the good that others do. And we can boast of our membership in any organization, movement, or club without belittling those who do not. No one – neither the disciples of Jesus two thousand years ago nor, we, His disciples today – has a monopoly of goodness and success.
Let us break the boundaries of our constricted world. Truth is always greater than any of us. The real Christian accepts and recognizes this. A genuine disciple of Jesus welcomes the fact that goodness blooms and grows even beyond the borders of world we claim to own. The authentic sons and daughters of God sincerely respect God’s freedom in moving according to His desire and in choosing anyone He pleases to be an instrument of His goodness. This is humility before the greatness of God. May we have this humily always in us.

Think: If God takes risks on you and me, why should He not do the same on others? They may even be better indeed.

WELCOME THE CHILD

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mk 9:30-37

There once was a king, John by name. One day, King John decided to visit the schools in his kingdom. In one of the schools he visited, he went inside the classroom of a kindergarten class. He wanted to chat with the children. “Who are the great kings of our kingdom?” King John asked the children to start a conversation with them. The children shouted almost in unison: “King Peter the Valiant! King James the Wise! King Philip the Kind-hearted!” Embarrassed because not one of her students mentioned King John, the teacher bent and whispered something to Biboy’s ears. “King John!” Biboy suddenly shouted. “Really?” delighted, the king asked. “And, tell me,” he continued, “what made King John great?” Biboy looked blankly at the king and stuttered, “A…I don’t know.” The king blushed yet managed to smile, saying, “It’s alright, son. I also don’t know.”

King John readily accepted Biboy’s answer. He even agreed to the child’s candidness: Biboy said King John is great, but Biboy did not know why. Such are children! From their limited insight, they have their own way of self-expression. They are not like the elders who can hide the truth behind complicated or eloquent speech. It is natural for children to tell the truth. Having learned by experience quite early in their lives that they are almost completely dependent on their elders, children cannot lie about their real needs and limitations. There is much to be done for them, much to give them. In order to live, children really need to be trustful.

A child takes center stage in the gospel today. Jesus puts a child on center stage: “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in My name,” He said, “welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me, welcomes not Me but Him who sent Me.” Do you notice something in these words of Jesus? Do you remember that once He already said that whoever wishes to enter the kingdom of God must become like little children? This time, Jesus does not admonish us to become like children; instead, He asks us to welcome children. Do we have a problem welcoming littleness that children symbolize? Perhaps, we do. But the gospel today shows us that even before it became our problem, it was already the problem of the apostles themselves.

Do you still remember the gospel last Sunday where Jesus, refering to Himself as the Son of Man, declared that He must suffer, be rejected, and be killed? After such a disturbing declaration, Jesus invited those who wish to be His disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. That gospel last Sunday was the first of the three predictions of Jesus about His passion. Today, the gospel gives us the second. With His ministry in Galilee already done, Jesus headed straight to Jerusalem. He really wanted His disciples to understand the meaning of the things yet to happen there; thus, He traveled with His disciples in secret, teaching them in private, far from the mob. Again, He told them that Son of Man – no less than Himself – would fall into the hands of His enemies who would put Him to death on a cross.

St. Mark, who wrote the gospel for today, tells us how the Twelve reacted to these horrifying predictions: They did not understand what Jesus meant but were afraid to ask Him. They could hardly understand what kind a Messiah Jesus was. They could not accept Jesus as the powerless Messiah. They were afraid to ask Jesus Himself, for He might confirm what they feared most: Jesus, the Messiah, would be liquidated by His enemies. The disciples could not face such a scenario; thus, they amused themselves by discussing who among them was the greatest, the most powerful, the most important. Soon enough their amusing discussion turned into a threatening argument.

Arriving at Capernaum, Jesus asked them: “What were you discussing along the way?” Their face fell as silence fell upon them all. No one could answer. No one dared answer. How could anyone of them dare? While the Master was telling them how low He would yet bend to serve humanity through His own death, the Twelve were arguing who among them was the greatest. With Jesus’ inquiry about the topic of their heated exchange, shame suddenly made all the Twelve mute but not deaf. They could not answer Jesus except with the silence of shame. Jesus broke the silence of their shame through the quiet littleness of a child. He placed a child in front of them, put His arms around it, and challenged all His disciples to welcome littleness. If and only if they could accept the littleness of a child, could they accept the real Jesus. Welcoming Jesus means welcoming littleness.

Jesus likened Himself to a child who stands powerless in the face of threats and maltreatments. As the child’s protection should always be the child’s parents, Jesus’ only defense was His Father. Jesus placed His trust not in power, wealth, influence, prestige, arms, and tactics, but in God His Father alone. And when His passion and death actually came, Jesus did not withdraw this trust: “Father, into Your hands,” He cried out as He breathed His last, “I entrust My Spirit.” On the cross, Jesus appeared powerless and little because of this trust. He still does to the world until today. However, unless His disciples – then and now – welcome this powerlessness and littleness, they never really understand the way of Jesus.

Therefore, Jesus Himself challenges us who call ourselves His disciples.

First, welcome the little and value the weak members of our community. We can find Jesus in them. Be more compassionate to those who cannot repay us any debt of gratitude. Jesus does not only share in their vulnerability; Jesus values their vulnerability even more.

Second, do not be anxious if we do not have the kind of power that the world gives. Do not be afraid to come down from positions of power when it is needed or when it is already time to step down. Never be intoxicated by power. Never forget that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. At all times, place your self-worth and security in God. He is your Dad. Trust Him. Abba loves you more than you know.

In the gospel today, Jesus traced the road to Jerusalem, and we know fully well what welcomed Him there. His own vulnerability exposed Him to those who wanted Him dead. People manipulated His goodness and tested His endurance. In all these, Jesus captured the attention of a world enslaved by inordinate desire for greatness and He inspired models of discipleship in countless of His followers. Today, He invites us, as He invited His disciples two thousand years ago, to discover anew our relationship with God, a father-child relationship where true openness to each other is not optional and loving trust is never secondary.

The crucifix constantly reminds us that nothing and no one saved Jesus from death in Jerusalem. But, knowing the whole Jesus story, we believe that God His Father saved Him from those who wanted Him left for dead. For on the third day, the Father raised Him to life, gloriously affirming all that Jesus stood and lived for. That is what the Father does. That is how the Father welcomes the trust of the little ones.

Welcome the child, welcome Jesus.

Welcome the child, be like Jesus.

THE TOUCH OF HIS HAND

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mk 7:31-37

An old, dusty violin was up for auction. Its starting price was a mere $3.00 only. Despite it being cheap, nobody was attracted to it. From nowhere, an old, grey-haired man approached the violin, held it up, dusted it, and started to play music with it.

The old, grey-haired man and the old and dusty violin soon filled the whole auction hall with sweet, enchanting music. When the man finished the piece, the price of the old, dusty violin started to jump to thousands of dollars.

What transformed the old and dusty violin? What is the reason for the sudden rise in the bidding? Myra Brooks Welch answers: “The touch of the master’s hand.”

In her poem, entitled “The Touch of the Master’s Hand,” Ms. Welch says:

“And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap, to a thoughtless crowd,
Much like the old violin.

“But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
Never can understand
The worth of a soul, and the change that’s wrought
By the Touch of the Master’s Hand.”

The three readings today may well be linked together by this one theme.

In the first reading, the Prophet Isaiah paints for us the picture of the wonderful things that the hand of God will do for His People. The eyes of the blind will open. The ears of the deaf will be unsealed. The lame will leap like the deer. The mute will sing for joy. The burning sands of the desert will become springs of water. Thus, the prophet’s advice: Do not be afraid. Do not loose heart. Courage!

In the second reading, James the Apostle teaches us that we should not relate with people on the basis of their external appearances or on the basis of their status in life. We should imitate God who is generous to all but whose hands favor the poor of this world. The apostle tells us that the poor of this world will grow rich in faith and inherit the kingdom promised by God to those who love Him.

In the gospel, the cure of the deaf and mute person tells us that the very hand of God is Jesus Himself. Whoever Jesus touches, God touches. Jesus is God-touching-us. Through Jesus, God touches us to heal us, to make us whole, to renew us, and to transform us.

The hand of God continues touching us even today. Through the sacraments, the hand of God reaches out to us to touch us and heal us. Through the Sacred Scripture, the hand of God gives us either a pat of approval or a tap of reminder. Jesus is the Sacrament of the Father and the Word the Sacred Scripture proclaims.

We are not only touched by the hand of God. As members of the Mystical Body of Christ who is the Hand of God, we, too, collectively and individually, are hands of God. Jesus continues touching people through us. Are our hands the hands of Jesus?

Open your hearts. Ephphatha!
Open your hands. Ephphatha!
Open your eyes. Ephphatha!
Open your ears. Ephphatha!
And open whatever doors kept shut between you and your neighbor. Ephphatha! How long will you keep those doors locked?

In the hands of the old maetro, the old and dusty violin can become new again. In his hands, whatever kind of violin can produce an enchanting music. That which is neglected is treasured again. That which otherwise is trash becomes valuable again.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite tales was about a man whose touch was likewise truly amazing. He was a king. He was King Midas. Everything he touched became gold. However, he was not for real. Jesus, instead, is very real. Whatever and whoever Jesus touches become more precious than gold. How about us – are we real, too? And what become of those we touch?