SOuLar POWER

Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension

Mk 16:15-20 (Acts 1:1-11 / Ps 47 / Eph 1:17-23)

With the benefits of Facebook, Twitter, and other cyber means of exchanges, many already know that I am an uncle to last year’s Miss Friendship in Binibining Pilipinas and this year’s Miss Photogenic and a finalist in the Miss World-Philippines, Miss Samantha Purvor.  She is competing again.  This time around, Sam is one of the favorite candidates in the Miss Philippines-Earth 2012.  We in our clan are not at all shy to say that our dear Sam has indeed joined the three major pageants in the country, for in two of those, she received a handful of awards and in Miss Philippines-Earth, though pageant night will be on the 27^th of this month yet, she already received a number of awards as well.  Some beauty pageant aficionados claim that Miss Philippines-Earth is the pageant for Sam, and many – both her supporters and critics – say that she should already bring home the crown this time around.  I don’t know.  But what I’m certain about is that Miss Philippines-Earth is really Sam’s first love, but for some good reason she decided not to join two years ago.  For the meantime, the two other major pageants prepared her very well for her first love.

Please don’t get me wrong, my homily today is not about Sam, much less about beauty pageants.  Nonetheless, I decided to mention Sam because of the advocacy she is pushing in the Miss Philippines-Earth 2012.  The truth is, Miss Philippines-Earth is Sam’s first love because it is a cause-oriented, and not only beauty-centered, pageant.  A natural civic leader-volunteer, Sam has been gifted not only with brains and beauty but also with a heart that cares to do its share for a better world.  She is active in the Red Cross and in other cause-oriented organizations and movements.  I should say, Sam uses her brains and beauty to push advocacies for the good of others.  “I want to promote and reinforce the use of solar bottles and solar panels to reduce the usage of coal fuel and consequently reduce carbon emissions in the Philippines,” Sam says.

Sam’s advocacy in maximizing the use of solar energy reminds me of a book written by Denis Hayes, entitled “Rays of Hope: The Transition to a Post-Petroleum World”.  Hayes asserts that humanity is at the crossroads of making the critical choice in favor of solar power.  “The sun,” Hayes explains, “is the world’s only inexhaustible, predictable, egalitarian, non-polluting, safe, terrorist-resistant, and free energy source.  We already know how to use solar energy to grow food, make wine, and operate greenhouses.  Now we need to harness solar power to light up our homes, drive our cars, and run our industry.”  We see Hayes’ dream coming true even here in the Philippines through our first solar-powered vehicles as well as in our solar bottles and solar panels.

Sam and Hayes share a common advocacy.  They both look at the sky with its sun as the main source of our future power supply.  We, too, share in their cause.  But we look at the sky today for another reason.  We are celebrating the Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension.  The Gospel today reports to us that after Jesus spoke to the disciples, He was taken up into heaven and took His seat at the right hand of God.  In the first reading today, the book of the Acts of the Apostles (1:1-11) echoes the same testimony: “When He had said this, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him from their sight.”  The same first reading even continues narrating to us: “While they were looking intently at the sky as He was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.  They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?’”

We look at the sky not only for the future source of energy: the sun.  We look at the sky for our very life itself: Jesus.  Jesus is the Sol Invictus!  He is the Victorious Sun!  On this day when we celebrate His ascension into heaven, the idea of power is given emphasis.

In the first reading, before He ascends into heaven, Jesus promises His disciples that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them.  The Holy Spirit will transform them into His courageous and convincing witnesses.

In the second reading, Paul the Apostle writes to the church in Ephesus (Eph 1:17-23) about the surpassing greatness of Jesus’ power in us who believe.  The Apostle prays that the eyes of our hearts be enlightened to the hope that comes with our vocation as Christians and to the immeasurable wealth of the glory we have inherited with the other believers in Christ.

In the Gospel, the idea of power appears twice – first, as promise by Jesus before the ascension and, second, in the accomplishments of the disciples after the ascension.  Jesus gives His word to those who are saved by baptism: “These signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages.  They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.  They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  And, indeed, when the disciples preach the Gospel, Jesus works with them, confirming their word through accompanying and powerful signs.

It is very clear that power is one of the principal effects of the Lord’s ascension.  Interestingly, while Jesus fades from our sight, His power nonetheless remains operative.  Indeed, He is not visible to us until He comes again at the end of time, but He remains present in our midst.  He is present not only to us but in us and through us as well.  Thus, what our physical eyes fail to see, our hearts never miss to feel.  We continue to experience the power of Jesus.

As the sun is solar power to us, Jesus is our “Soul Power” – the power of our souls.  We cannot see Him with our eyes, but Jesus is the power behind the lives of people who inspire us.  We cannot hear Him with our ears, but Jesus animates us with the power of His Word that is read to us from the Scriptures and explained to us by His ministers.  We cannot feel Him with our hands, but Jesus still touches us though the power of His sacraments, making us children of God, empowering us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, feeding us with the bread of life, healing us from both spiritual and bodily afflictions, blessing our unions, and consecrating for us shepherds according to His heart.  Jesus ascended into heaven, but He is not confined to the skies.  He sits at the right hand of the Father, but He continues walking with us in our journey through life.  He has not left us.  He was Emmanuel, “God-with-us”, once; He is Emmanuel forever for each of us.

Galileo Galilei once remarked that the sun, with all the planets revolving around it and depending on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.  The same may be said about Jesus, our Sol Invictus, our Soul Power.  Though the whole universe depends on His power to stay in existence, Jesus shines upon each of us with the powerful rays of His love as if He had nothing else to do.

How about us?  How many of us seem to have more than what we can hold so that devoting time for Jesus appears to be an added burden?  How in the world can we be too busy to let the power of Jesus’ love shine through us to others?   Does the universe depend on us for its existence the way it does on Jesus?  Do we not instead depend on Jesus for our existence?  Yet how many of us always find something else to do than our own share – no matter how seemingly little and ordinary – in the task entrusted to us by Jesus to go and proclaim the Gospel?

Solar power was Denis Hayes’ dream for the world.  Samantha Purvor advocates the same.  We certainly share in their dream, in their advocacy, in their vision of a better world for a better humanity.  But everything will redound to nothing without Jesus.  He is our “SOuLar Power”.  Until He returns to our sight, can He be our advocacy, too?

JESUS: OUR FRIEND

6^th Sunday of Easter

Jn 15:9-17 (Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48 / Ps 98 / 1 Jn 4:7-10)

Is there anyone here who does not have a friend?  I guess, none.  In fact, most if not all of you have many friends.

Can anyone really live without friends?  I think, no.  Some even have their lives centered on their friends.

Should anyone take their friends for granted?  I believe, not.  Some people are closer to their friends than to their own parents and siblings.

Normal people value friendships.  The smart ones choose their friends wisely.  While the saying “Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are” is not always correct, it still has a kernel of truth in it.  In life we may meet people accidentally, but they become our friends by choice – theirs and ours.  There are no accidental friends.  And because we are what we choose, we are, in a way, what our friends are.  We value the choices we make.  We value our friendships.

In the Gospel today, Jesus makes a choice.  He calls us friends, not slaves, He said.  The truth is, Jesus does not only call us friends, He does truly treat us as friends.  He loves us as His own.  He Himself is the epitome of His teaching, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  He offered His life for us not only by dying for us but by rising again to life for us.  While a local hero, Ninoy Aquino, once said that the Filipino is worth dying for, by His resurrection Jesus tells us all that we are also worth rising for.  We are His friends and this is His choice.  His choice.

“It was not you who chose Me, but I who chose you,” Jesus said.  He takes the initiative to befriend us, to love us, to value us.  What is our response?  Do we choose Jesus?  Are we really His friends?  How much do we value Him in our life?  Do we truly love Jesus?  If we do love Jesus, Jesus Himself gives the criterion to measure the truth of our claim: “If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in His love.”  Is that not clear enough?  The proof that we love Jesus is in our obedience to what He commands us to do.  And what does He command us to do?  “This is my commandment,” Jesus said, “love one another as I love you.”

Many hopeless romantic say that loving entails sacrifice.  They are correct.  But for one who truly loves the sacrifice that love entails is not suffering at all.  Love for the beloved is a sweet yoke.  We do not mind enduring difficulties for people we love.

But who are the people we love?  Are they the people closest to us only?  Are they the people who are easy and gratifying for us to love only?  If we love the lovable, the grateful, the beautiful, the appreciative, the good, the loving only, then that is not the kind of love that Jesus commands us to have.

“Love one another,” Jesus said, “as I love you.”  Unfortunately, many people focus only on the first part of this command: “Love one another.”  But loving one another is not complete.  Jesus said, “as I love you.”  The basis of our loving one another is the love of Jesus for us.  We ought to love as Jesus loves us.  We must love like Jesus.  And how does Jesus loves us?

"As the Father loves Me, so I also love you,” Jesus said.  Can you imagine that?  Jesus loves us as the Father loves Him!  And how does the Father love Jesus?  We cannot fully express in our human language the Father’s love for Jesus.  We can only say that the Father loves Jesus infinitely in all aspects of that love.  While we do know that the Father loves Jesus, what we do know about their loving relationship is infinitely smaller than a speck of dust.  We cannot fully grasp the Father’s love for Jesus and Jesus love for the Father.  Now, Jesus is telling us again, “That’s exactly how much I love you.”  Imagine that?  No, we can’t, for our minds will explode and our heart will burst.  Instead of imagining, better that we strive to obey Jesus’ command that we love one another as He loves us.  Of course, that sounds very ideal, but that is what ideals are for – guiding principle against which we measure our selves and providing direction in our lives.  Despite failures, we must keep on striving to love as Jesus loves.

We may search from the readings today some guidelines how to love as Jesus loves.  The first reading declares the impartiality of God.  God accepts whoever accepts Him, and accepting God means living according to His ways.  This truth challenges us to be impartial with our loving, too.  Our love should be inclusive, never exclusive.  Just as God makes the sun rise and the rain fall on both the good and the bad (Cf Mt 5:45) so should we show kindness to all regardless of who they are.  When Jesus admonished us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Cf Mt 5:48), He was certainly emphasizing the impartiality of God.  God is for all and so should our love be for every man and woman.

The Psalm we both read and prayed today celebrates the love of God as His power revealed to the nations through His deeds of justice, kindness, and faithfulness.  Is that the same kind of love we have for others?  Is our love powerful, and does its power effect justice, kindness, and faithfulness in the lives of others?  But to love like Jesus means more than just being just and kind and faithful to others.  One who truly loves as Jesus loves is restless in the face of injustice, unkindness, and infidelity so much so that he or she struggles with the victims of these oppressive situations for the establishment of the righteousness of God’s kingdom even here on earth.  Loving as Jesus loves shuns all forms of indifference and proclaims the saving power of God by words and deeds.

In the second reading today, John, among other things, writes about God’s initiative in loving us.  God loves us not because we love Him.  Rather, “in this is love: not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as expiation for our sins,” says John.  God took the first step in our loving relationship with Him.  He did not wait for us to love Him before He loved us.  Moreover, He continued loving us even after we have sinned and even gave us His Son to redeem us from our sins.  He continues loving us and will do so for all eternity.  Such should be the pattern of our love for one another!  We are challenged to take the first step in loving, to initiate loving relationships with others, and to continue loving them despite the hurts, the betrayals, the failures they cause us.  But do we not most often wait to be loved first before we love?  Do we not make it a condition to our loving the other the loving that the other gives us?  And when our love is betrayed, many of us, intentionally or otherwise even tend to love less.  We say, “Nakakadala nang mahalin ‘yan!”

Jesus could have chosen otherwise; but, no, He chose us to be His friends.  We are valuable to Him.  He loves us as much as His Father loves Him.  He even wants us to call and consider His Father our Father.  After all, while blood makes us brothers, it is the heart that makes us friends.  Jesus has that heart for us.  But do we have that heart for Jesus?          

ANG HAPLOS DIYOS: HAPLOS NA MABUNGA

Ikalimang Linggo ng Pasko ng Magmuling-Pagkabuhay ng Panginoon

Jn 15:1-8 (Gawa 9:26-31 / Slm 21 / 1 Jn 3:18-24)

Natatandaan po ba ninyo nang minsa’y sinumpa ni Jesus ang puno ng igos?  Hinahanapan kasi Niya ito ng mga bunga pero wala Siyang makita.  Nang isumpa raw ito ni Jesus, natuyo na lamang ito at namatay.  Mababasa ito sa Mt 11:12-14.

Sa Lk 13:6-9 naman ay isinasalaysay ni Jesus ang talinhaga tungkol sa isang may-ari ng lupain.  Hinahanapan ng bunga ang isang puno.  Nang walang matagpuan, inutusan ng may-ari ang kanyang lingkod na putulin na lang ang puno, pero nakiusap ang lingkod na bigyan pa ng isang taon ang puno at baka mamunga pa; kung pagkatapos ng isang taon ay wala pa rin itong ibunga, maaari na itong putulin.

Napakalinaw: naghahanap si Jesus ng mga bunga.  Kaya naman, inaatasan ni Jesus ang Kanyang mga alagad noon at tayo rin naman ngayon na mamunga at mamunga nang masagana.  Ang tunay na alagad ni Jesus ay dapat na mabunga (fruitful) at hindi mabongga (showy).  Mabunga ba tayo o mabonga?  Dapat lagi tayong magbantay na hindi naisasakripisyo ng kabonggahan ang pagiging mabunga.  Kung hindi maiiwasang maging mabongga, ayos lang basta siguraduhing bonggang-bongga rin ang bunga.  Kung wala namang mabuting bunga, huwag na lang.  Hindi bongga ang nais ni Jesus kundi bunga.  Ang tunay na kagalakan ni Jesus ay nasa pagkamabunga natin at hindi sa kabonggahan natin sapagkat nasa sa pagiging mabunga raw natin ang kaluwalhatian ng Diyos, hindi sa pagiging mabongga natin.

Kung tunay ngang gusto nating maging mabunga, kailangan daw nating hayaan ang Ama na tayo ay tabasan.  Yaon lamang daw mga natatabasan ng Diyos, ika ni Jesus, yaon lamang daw napuputulan at nalilinis ng Ama, ang nakapamumunga nang masagana.  Nagpapatabas ba tayo sa Diyos?  Anu-ano na ba ang pinutol ng Diyos sa buhay mo?  Nagtitiwala ba tayo talaga sa Diyos kaya’t hinahayaan natin Siyang linisin tayo, alisin ang mga sagabal sa ating paglago at pamumunga nang masagana, putulin ang dapat putulin sa buhay natin, at tabasin ang mga hindi naman talaga kailangan para mabuhay nang matuwid at maligaya?  Hayan, baka nandito ang dahilan kung bakit minsan ay hungkag na hungkag ang ating pakiramdam, tuyung-tuyo ang ating diwa, at ang buhay man tayo ay wala naman tayong kabuhay-buhay.  Baka mabongga nga tayo pero hindi naman mabunga kasi ayaw nating magpatabas sa Diyos kaya naman puro tayo kolorete sa katawan at kung anu-ano ang ating ka-ek-ekan sa buhay.

Ano nga po ba ang ibig sabihin ng mamunga nang masagana?  Ang ibig sabihin ng mamunga nang masagana ay ang pag-umapawin ang mabubuting gawa para sa kaharian ng Diyos.  Hindi kontento ang Diyos sa mga gawaing mabuti na paminsan-minsan lang.  Dapat palagi tayong gumagawa nang kabutihan sa kapwa, kahit pa ang kapwang iyon ay hindi natin kakilala o kaibigan o kahit pa hindi natin kasundo.  Nais ng Diyos na tayo ay maging ganap katulad Niya na pinasisikat ang araw at pinapapatak ang ulan sa mabubuti at masasama.  Kung minamahal nga natin Siya nang buo nating puso, buo nating kaluluwa, buo nating pag-iisip, at buo nating lakas, dapat din nating ibigin ang ating kapwa hindi lamang gaya ng pag-ibig natin sa sarili kundi katulad din ng pag-ibig sa atin ng Diyos.  At sa pagmamahal nating ito sa Kanya at sa ating kapwa, inaasahan ng Diyos na gagamitin natin sa kasukdulan, ngunit responsible, ang mga kaloob na ipinagkakatiwala Niya sa atin.  “Ad majorem Dei gloriam!” (“Para sa higit na ikaluluwalhati ng Diyos”) – ito ang bukambibig ni San Ignacio ng Loyola na nagtatag ng orden ng mga Jesuita, ito rin ang dapat na maging panuntunan ng sinumang seryoso sa pagsunod kay Jesus.  Kung tunay tayong mga Kristiyano – at, samakatuwid, nagsisikap tumulad kay Jesus sa pagmamahal sa Diyos at kapwa – hindi puwede ang “puwede na ‘yan!”

Puwede ba sa inyo ang “puwede na ‘yan”?  Papayag ba kayong “i-puwede-puwede na ‘yan” na lang kayo?  Palagay ko, hindi.  Pero ilang beses na kaya natin “pinuwede na ‘yan” ang Diyos?

Gusto n’yo bang “pinu-puwede-puwede na ‘yan” na lang ang Diyos?  Siyempre, hindi.  Kung gayon, pagsikapan nating mamunga nang masagana para sa Kanya.  Gayunpaman, kung aasa tayo sa ating sariling lakas lamang natin, mabibigo tayo.  Pinaaalalahan tayo ni Jesus na kung nais nating maging mabunga para sa Diyos dapat tayong manatili sa Kanya.  Tulad ng mga sanga, dapat tayong palaging naka-ugnay sa puno ng ubas na walang-iba kundi si Jesus.  Naka-ugnay ba tayo talaga kay Jesus?  Minsan kung sinu-sino ang kadikit natin; kahit hindi dapat dikitan, dikit nang dikit.  Minsan kung kani-kanino tayo sumasabit; ang iba pa pakabit-kabit.  Pero kay Jesus – matibay ba ang kapit natin?  Baka naman, sa sarili nating kapabayaan, naputol na tayo sa puno ng ubas at kung anong puno na ang pinagkukuhaan natin ng lakas at buhay.  Si Jesus pa ba talaga?  Iisa ang pamantayan na ibinibigay sa atin ng ikalawang pagbasa ngayong araw na ito: “Ang sumusunod sa mga utos ng Diyos ay nananatili sa Diyos, at nananatili naman sa kanya ang Diyos.”  Eh, sino nga po ba ang nasusunod sa buhay natin?  Ang Diyos pa ba talaga?

Sa unang pagbasa ngayong ikalimang Linggo ng Pasko ng Magmuling-Pagkabuhay ng Panginoon, kinikilala ni Pablo, na dating si Saulo, ang halaga ng pagiging nakaugnay sa puno kung kaya’t pinagsikapan niyang mapabilang sa mga alagad sa Jerusalem.  Hindi siya dapat umarangkadang mag-isa.  Sa daan patungo sa Damasco, nang ipaunawa sa kanya ng pangitain na si Jesus ang kanyang inuusig gayong para sa kanya ang mga alagad ni Jesus lamang ang kanyang inuusig, naliwanagan si Pablo na ang mga nananalig at sumusunod kay Jesus ang bumubuo sa katawan ni Jesus.  Dapat siyang mapabilang sa katawang iyon.  Kailangan niyang masanga sa iisang puno ng ubas na iyon.  Ngunit dahil noon una’y inuusig nga niya ang mga alagad ni Jesus, hindi naging madali para kay Pablo ang kilalanin at tanggapin ng mga sinaunang Kristiyano na siya nga ay ka-sanga na nila.  Subalit hindi pinanghinaan ng loob si Pablo; bagkus, sa buong buhay niya magmula noon ay pinagsikapan niyang patunayan ang kadalisayan ng kanyang pagbabagong-buhay sa pamamagitan ng walang-kapaguran sa pangangaral ng Ebanghelyo at pagbuo ng mga sambayanang Kristiyano sa iba’t ibang lugar magpahanggang siya mismo ay usigin at patayin dahil sa kanyang pananampalataya kay Kristo.  Sa iba’t ibang paraan at sa maraming beses, tinabasan ng Diyos si Pablo upang mamunga nang masagana.

Sinabi ni Dietrich Bonhoeffer, isang batikang teologo at manunulat mula sa Alemania, “The hand of God is at times the hand of grace and at other times the hand of suffering, but it is always the hand of love.”  Ang kamay raw ng Diyos minsan ay kamay ng pagbibiyaya at minsan naman ay kamay ng pagdurusa, ngunit lagi itong kamay ng pag-ibig.  Iisa lang ang haplos ng Diyos: laging haplos ng pagmamahal.  Minsan nga kaaya-aya, pero minsan may kirot ang haplos na ito.  Pero laging mabuti ang ibinubunga ng haplos na ito.  Pahahaplos ba kayo sa kamay ng Diyos?

MAGHANAP-BUHAY: MAGING BANAL AT MAGPABANAL

Banal na Alaala ni San Joseng Manggagawa

Mt 13:54-58

Ipinagdiriwang natin ngayon ang banal na alaala ni San Joseng Manggagawa.  Ang pagdiriwang na ito ay itinatag ni Papa Pio XII noong 1955, hindi lamang upang parangalan si San Joseng amain ni Jesus kundi upang ipaalala rin sa atin na ang isang matapat na paghahanap-buhay ay maaari ring maging paraan tungo sa kabanalan.  Kapag naghahanap-buhay tayo nang matapat, pinababanal natin ang ating sarili at ang ating kapwa.  Sa pamamagitan ng matapat na paghahanap-buhay, nakikibahagi tayo sa nagpapatuloy na gawain ng Diyos sa sanilikha at sa mapantubos na gawin ni Jesukristo para sa sangkatauhan.

Samakatuwid, ang pagbabanat ng buto at pagpapatulo ng pawis, na hinihingi ng paghahanap-buhay, ay hindi isang sumpang ipinataw sa sangkatauhan dala ng kasalanan ng unang tao.  Ang paghahanap-buhay ay pagpapala.  Ang maghanap-buhay ay karangalan natin bilang tao, bilang katiwala ng Maykapal.  Ang maghanap-buhay nang matapat ay napakarangal na pagpapahayag ng ating pagiging nilikha ayon sa larawan at anyo ng Diyos – ipinaaalala sa atin ng unang pagbasa ngayon, mula sa aklat ng Genesis, ang malalim na katotohanang ito..  Isang napakahalagang bahagi ng ating pagiging kabuklod ni Jesukristo ang ating paghahanap-buhay nang matapat.

Subalit hindi lahat ng tao ay naghahanap-buhay.  Maraming dahilan kung bakit hindi.  Merong mga gustong maghanap-buhay pero walang makuhang hanap-buhay.  Kulang sa oportunidad ang madalas idahilan ng mga walang makuhang hanap-buhay.  Merong gustong maghanap-buhay pero hindi kayang maghanap-buhay.  Baka may hadlang na pisikal o kaya ay may ibang mga responsibilidad siguro kaya hindi nila kayang maghanap-buhay.  At meron din naman talagang ayaw lang maghanap-buhay.  Ah, iyan, iyan ang mga tamad.

May mga taong naghahanap-buhay para mabuhay at meron din namang mga nabubuhay para maghanap-buhay.  Karamihan sa mga naghahanap-buhay para mabuhay ay masaya sa kanilang ginagawa.  Ngunit lahat ng mga nabubuhay para maghanap-buhay ay malungkot.  Sila ang mga tinataguriang kayod-kabayo kung magtrabaho kaya sa kalaunan ay nagmumukhang kabayo na rin.  Wala pa silang kuwarenta pero mukha na silang otsenta.  Tingnan po ninyo ang katabi ninyo, hulaan n’yo kung ilang taon na s’ya.

Meron ding mga taong hindi patas kung maghanap-buhay.  Meron pamatay ang hanap-buhay: talagang pumapatay sila.  Isang kabalintunaan, isang kahibangan, isang kasinungalingan, hindi ba?  Buhay ang hanap pero pumapatay.  Hindi sila larawan ng Diyos na laging matapat sa paggawa.  Wala tayong masabi tungkol sa kanila kundi masamang tao sila.

Meron pang mga hindi nakakakita na ang kanilang paghahanap-buhay ay pagtulad nila sa Diyos na laging gumagawa para sa ating patuloy na pag-iral.  Para sa kanila, walang kaugnayan ang kanilang paghahanap-buhay sa kanilang buhay-espirituwal.  Nabubulagan sila.  At marami sa kanila, sa tutoo lang, nagbubulag-bulagan.  Puro kita ang nasa isip nila pero hindi naman talaga makakita.  Basta malaki ang kita, kahit ano gagawin, pero nabubulagan pa rin sila.  Walang silbi ang anumang kinita natin sa lupa kung hindi naman natin makikita ang Diyos sa langit, hindi ba?

Meron din namang ang mga magulang ay naghahanap-buhay nang marangal pero, dahil sa baluktot na panuntunan ng makabagong mundo, nahihiya ang kanilang mga anak kapag tinatanong kung ano ang trabaho ng magulang nila.  Tahimik na sila kapag napag-uusapan na ang hanap-buhay ng tatay o nanay nila.  Pero kapag hindi na makaiwas sa tanong, “Anong trabaho ng tatay mo?  Ang nanay mo, anong trabaho?” may karugtong na “lang” ang sagot: “basurero lang po, labandera lang po, tsuper lang po, katulong lang po, tubero lang po, kusinera lang po, karpintero lang po.”  Pero, teka, ayon sa Ebanghelyo natin ngayon (Mt 13:55), hindi ba karpintero rin ang nakilalang tatay ni Jesus?  Nakakahiya ba ‘yun?  Hindi, karpintero ang nagtaguyod, nagpakain, nagpalaki, at nagtustos sa mga pangangailangan ng Anak ng Diyos!  Oo nga, kaya nabuong-tao ang Salita ng Diyos ay dahil sa sinapupunan ng bukod na pinagpala sa babaeng lahat, pero kaya naisilang nang ligtas at natutong maging ganap na lalaki ang Salitang-Nagkatawang-Tao ay dahil sa isang karpintero.

Kayo po, ano ang trabaho ng tatay n’yo?  Ang nanay n’yo, nagtatrabaho rin ba?  Anong trabaho ng nanay n’yo?  Ako po, technician ang tatay ko!  Noong nabubuhay pa s’ya, napakahusay n’yang komumpuni ng airconditiong unit, refrigerator, electric fan, at iba pa.  Sa katunayan, nang sumakabilang siya, kaaayos n’ya pa lang ng centralized airconditioning unit sa Arlington kung saan siya binurol.  At technician man s’ya para s’yang celebrity nang pumanaw: daming bumisita sa burol n’ya – mga pari, mga Obispo, mga artista, mga politico, at iba pang mga kilalang tao – at ang kardinal pa ng Maynila ang namuno sa Misa ng paglilibing sa kanyang mga labi.  Napakabait kasi ng tatay ko eh.  Di hamak na mas mabait kaysa sa paring ito.  Technician ang tatay ko!  Salamat sa technician na ito; may Fr. Bobby po kayo.

Samantalang pinasasalamatan natin ngayon ang Diyos para sa iyong hanap-buhay at mga gawaing kinaaabalahan, hilingin natin sa Kanya ang biyayang lagi tayong maging tapat sa anumang gawain natin.  Samantalang pinararangalan natin ang lahat ng mga manggagawa ngayong araw na ito, ipagdasal din natin silang mga walang makitang trabaho at silang mga hindi kayang makapagtrabaho, pati na rin ang mga tamad magtrabaho.  Samantalang hinihiling natin sa Diyos na Kanyang basbasan ang ating mga pagsisikap, kumilos din tayo at tulungan ang mga walang-hanap-buhay na makatagpo ng gawaing naaayon sa kanilang karangalan bilang mga anak ng Diyos at alagad ni Jesus.  Higit nawa nating maunawaan at maisabuhay ang ating pagiging mga katiwala ng Diyos sa pamamagitan ng mga responsebilidad natin sa buhay.  Maging mabubuting katiwala nawa tayo katulad ng ating mahal na patron, si San Jose Manggagawa.  Italaga natin ang ating mga sarili at mga mahal sa buhay kay San Jose.  Kung ipinagkatiwala ng Diyos sa kanya ang sarili Niyang Anak, dapat pa ba tayong magdalawang-isip na ipagkatiwala kay San Jose ang lahat?  Siya na buong pag-ibig na tumaguyod kay Jesus at Maria ay hindi pababayaan tayong mga iniibig ni Jesus at Maria.

Isang kabalintunaan, hindi ba, na samantalang ipinagdiriwang natin ngayong araw na ito ang “Labor Day”, walang labor ngayon (maliban na lamang sa delivery room ng mga ospital)?  Ngayon ay holiday.  At ang unang kahulugan ng holiday ay hindi bakasyon.  Kaya holiday ay dahil holy ang day.  Pabanalin natin ang bawat araw sa pamamagitan ng ating pagiging mabubuting katiwala ng Diyos sa larangan ng paghahanap-buhay at iba pa.  Maghanap-buhay: maging banal at magpabanal!  Walang bakasyon ang kabanalan at ang tunay na banal ay ang mabuting katiwala.

San Jose Manggagawa, aming patron, ipanalangin mo kami at pagpalain ang aming mga gawa.  Amen.