BAYANG PINILI – BAYANG PUMILI SA DIYOS

Ikadalawampu’t Isang Linggo sa Karaniwang Panahon

Jn 6:60-69 (Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b / Slm 33 / Ef 5:21-32)

Ang mga pangunahing tauhan sa sinaunang bahagi ng kasaysayan ng Israel, tulad nila Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, at Moises, ay mga taong lagalag.  Kung saan may mainam na pastulan, doon sila naninirahan pansamantala.  Wala silang permanenteng tahanan at sa mga tolda lamang sila nakatira.  Kaya naman napakahalagang pagbabago sa buhay nila nang magsimula silang manatili sa iisang lugar at magtayo nang mga kongretong bahay para sa kani-kanilang pamilya.  Hindi lamang nila kailangang itiklop na nang tuluyan ang kanilang mga tolda; ang kanilang kaseguruhan, na dati ay nakasalalay sa kanilang pagiging kabilang sa isang pamayanang naglalakbay, ay nagsimulang sumentro sa pagkaka-ugat nila sa lupa.  Nag-umpisa silang magmay-ari ng mga lupain.  Sa gitna ng pagbabagong ito sa kanilang kasaysayan, naroroon si Josue, ang humalili kay Moises bilang pinuno ng Israel – ang Bayang Pinili ng Diyos.

Matapos pumanaw si Moises nang hindi nakapapasok sa Lupang Pangako, ang kanyang pangunahing alagad at chief-of-staff, si Josue, ang nagpatuloy ng pamumuno sa mga Israelita sa kanilang mga digmaan, lalo na laban sa mga taga-Canaan, at nagtawid sa kanila sa Ilog Jordan upang makapasok sa Lupang Pangako.  Nang masakop na nila ang Canaan, hinati ni Josue ang Lupang Pangko at binigyan ng kani-kaniyang distrito ang bawat tribo ng Israel.  Bayani si Josue para sa mga Israelita.

Sa ating unang pagbasa ngayong Linggong ito, matanda na si Josue at napahinga na rin sa wakas ang Bayang Israel sa mga pakikipagdigmaan.  Tinipon niya ang mga lipi ng Israel, sa pangunguna ng matatanda ng bayan, mga pinuno, mga hukom, at mga eskriba, at binigkas niya sa kanila ang kanyang “Mi Ultimo Adios”.  Subalit sa kanyang huling pamamaalam, hindi niya ipinaalala sa kanila ang mga tagumpay niya sa digmaan ni hindi niya hiniling sa kanilang pahalagahan ang mga ginawa niya para sa kanila.  Sa halip, hinamon niya silang magpasiya kung sino ang kanilang paglilingkuran: ang Diyos ba na ng kanilang mga ninuno o ang mga diyus-diyosan sa lupaing kanila ngayong pinananahanan.

Kahanga-hanga itong si Josue.  Nais niyang maalala siya ng kanyang mga kababayan hindi bilang isang magiting na heneral na namuno sa kanila patungong tagumpay kundi bilang isang dakilang propetang humamon sa kanilang magmuling-piliin ang Diyos.  Bago pa siya pumanaw sa lupang ibabaw, isa pang digmaan ang kaniyang nais pagtagumpayan.  Ang digmaang ito ay hindi nakikita ng mga mata sapagkat ang digmaang ito ay nagaganap sa kalooban ng bawat-tao: ito ang digmaan ng pananampalataya.  Bago siya lumisan sa buhay na ito, pinagkalooban ni Josue ang kanyang mga kababayan ang pagkakataong isara ang aklat ng kahapon at magmuling italaga ang kanilang sarili sa Diyos ng Israel.

Sana tulad ni Josue, ipanalo natin ang laban ng Diyos.  Sana laging tagumpay ang Diyos sa atin at maging daan tayo ng tagumpay ng Diyos sa buhay ng ating kapwa-tao.  Malaon pa, gaya rin Josue, sa halip na ibilanggo natin ang ating kapwa sa kanyang kahapon, tulungan natin siyang lagyan ito ng closure at alalayan siyang makapagpanibago sa kanyang pananalig sa Diyos.  O baka tayo naman ang hadlang para makapagsimulang muli ang ating kapwa at magmuling-magtiwala sa Diyos?  Panalo ba sa atin ang Diyos o talo?

Sa ating unang pagbasa, pagod na si Josue; matanda na siya at halos nakatitig na sa kanya ang kamatayan.  Lubhang maraming dugo na ang nakita niyang dumanak at nasayang para masabi niyang mabuti ang pakikipagdigmaan sa kapwa-tao.  Paano pa niya masasabing may nananalo sa digmaan gayong napakarami na niyang nakitang mga bayang nawasak, mga mag-anak na nagkawatak-watak, mga taong walang-awang pinatay?  Sa kanyang katandaan, ang kaabalahan ni Josue ay hindi ang iba pang mga lupaing puwede pa sana niyang sakupin kundi ang mga pusong dapat pang pasakop sa Diyos.

Tayo kaya, habang tayo ay tumatanda, ano ang ating kaabalahan?  Ano pa ang gusto nating sakupin?  Mahalaga ring malaman natin kung ano ang sumasakop sa ating puso.  Sa taunang pagtatapos sa Ateneo de Manila University noong 2003, sinabi ng panauhing tagapagsalita, ang butihing namayapang Kalihim Jesse M. Robredo, “Later on in life, you will realize that it is neither your successes nor your conquests that will give you satisfaction.  It is your contribution that really matters – paying back what you owe the community that nurtured you.”  So, I ask each of us now, what gives us satisfaction as we grow old?  When it is our time to go, what can we consider to be our greatest conquest, our contribution to the world?  Before we close our eyes so as to open them in eternity, will we be able to say that we have paid back the community that nurtured us?  And do we not owe everything from God Himself?  Even now, therefore, what do we do to pay Him back and how do we do it?

Dahil sa hamon ni Josue, ang ganda ng nangyari sa Israel: ang Bayang Pinili ng Diyos ay naging Bayang Pumili sa Diyos!  Tunay na mabuting pinuno sa pagiging uliran para sa lahat, si Josue ang unang nagpahayag ng kaniyang pasiya: “…ako at ang aking angkan ay sa Panginoon lamang maglilingkod.”  Sumagot naman ang bayan: “Wala kaming balak na talikuran ang Panginoon at maglingkod sa mga diyus-diyosan.  …kaya’t kami rin a sa Panginoon maglilingkod.  Siya ang ating Diyos.”

Sana ganyan din tayo: tayo at sampu ng ating angkan ay sa Panginoon lamang naglilingkod.  Pero ganyan nga ba tayo talaga?  Ganyan pa ba talaga ang ating mga mag-anak?  Talaga bang walang karibal ang Diyos sa buhay natin?  Talaga bang hindi pa pinagpapalit ng ating mga pamilya ang Diyos para sa mga makabagong diyus-diyosan tulad ng salapi, kapangyarihan, karangyaan, at iba pang mga iniaalok ng mapanlinlang na mundong ito?  Baka hindi na.  Samantalahin natin ang pagkakataong ibinibigay sa atin ng Salita n Diyos ngayong araw na ito, sagutin po ninyo ako nang malakas: Para kanino kayo – sa Diyos o sa mundo?  Ang pamilya po ninyo, para kanino – for the Lord or for the world?

Basahin po ninyong muli at pagnilayan ang ikalawang pagbasa ngayong Linggong ito at kayo na po ang kumilatis kung makikita sa inyong pamilya ang mga katangiang binabanggit ni San Pablo Apostol na dapat na tinataglay ng tunay na para kay Kristo.  Ang ating ikalawang pagbasa  ay mula sa sulat ni Apostol San Pablo sa mga taga-Efeso 5:21-32.

Ang ating mga pagpili ay nangangailangan ng pana-panahong pagpapanibago.  Kilala natin ang ating sarili.  May karupukan tayo at hindi iilan sa atin ang napakadaling magbago ng isip, manlamig, makalimot, at tuluyang tumalikod.  Kaya’t tila inaalingawngaw sa atin ng ebanghelyo ngayon ang hamon ni Josue sa kanyang mga kababayan noon.  Sa ebanghelyo, malayang pinagpapasiya ni Jesus ang Kanyang mga alagad kung nais nilang manatiling kasama Niya o sumama na rin sa mga tumalikod sa Kanya dahil sa hirap tanggapin ng Kanyang aral.  “Panginoon, kanino po kami pupunta?  Nasa Inyo ang mga salitang nagbibigay ng buhay na walang-hanggan,” sagot ni Simon Pedro sa ngalan ng Labindalawa.  Ito rin po ba ang sagot natin kay Jesus?  Naniniwala rin ba talaga tayo at ngayo’y natitiyak natin, gaya ng sinabi ni Simon Pedro, na si Jesus ang Banal ng Diyos?  Kung “oo” ang sagot natin, ipakita po natin nang malinaw sa ating araw-araw na pamumuhay.

Hindi tulad ng mga pangunahing tauhan sa sinaunang bahagi ng kasaysayan ng ating kaligtasan, may mga permanente na tayong tahanan.  Hindi na tayo lagalag sa ilang.  Naka-ugat na tayo sa sariling bayan.  Ang Diyos may permanente bang tahanan sa ating puso?  Naka-ugat ba ang ating pamilya sa Diyos?  Tayo ang makabagong Bayang Pinili ng Diyos.  Eh, ang Diyos po, pinipili rin ba natin?

BE WISE: DON’T SETTLE FOR THE “GOOD LIFE”

20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jn 6:51-58 (Prv 9:1-6 / Ps 34 / Eph 5:15-20)

          

I find it quite interesting that the words “full” and “fool” are homonyms.  They sound the same; and though they do not mean the same their meanings are somewhat related.

The term “fool” came from the Latin word follis which means “a bag or a sack”.  It also refers to a large inflated ball or a windbag.  Thus, in the Latin vocabulary, follis is a container that contains nothing but air.  In later years, Latin-speakers saw the similarity between an inflated ball and a person whom we may describe as an “airhead”.  This pejorative meaning of the Latin follis reached the English dictionary via French.  It was in the early 13^th century when the word “fool” first appeared in an English writing to mean “a stupid, ignorant, foolish person.”

Interesting, is it not?  And how appropriate!  For indeed, a stupid person appears to have nothing in its head but air.  Worse, if such a person even thinks he knows everything when in fact he has a vacuum for a brain.  He goes around trying to impress everybody how full he is when in truth he is starving.  He is a follis.  He is not full.  He is foolish.

In our modern vocabulary, the antonym of foolish is wise.  Do you know the etymology of the word “wise”?  The term “wise” came from the Old English vocabulary and was rendered “wis”.  It meant “to show”, and therefore “to know”.  Now, isn’t that interesting, too?  A foolish person parades himself puff-up when he is actually empty.  But wisdom shows a person his hunger so that he may know better.  A fool is not full, but the wise knows his emptiness.

Are we full or empty?  Are we foolish or are we wise?  What is our emptiness?  What is our hunger?  What fills us up?  Just as it is important to know what we eat so is it vital to see what eats us up.

The world suggests to us its own menu to satisfy our hunger and fill up our emptiness.  Advertisements frequently appeal to our basic cravings, don’t they?  Jollibee’s selling theme, “Langhap-sarap”, claims that its hamburgers do not only taste delicious, they smell as delicious too.  Pop Cola describes itself as “Tama ang timpla” while Sarsi is “Angat sa iba!”  While Mang Inasal claims for its roast chicken, “Hahanap-hanapin mo”, Max’s Restaurant proudly describes its fried chicken, “Sarap to the bones!”  But don’t forget Andok’s Litson is the “Pambansang Litsong Manok”.  Century Tuna sardines says, “Think healthy.  Think Century Tuna”.  Coca-Cola declares, “Coke adds life.”  KC’s secret for her long and split-end-free hair is Palmolive and Piolo Pascual needs Centrum to be complete.

Evidently, the motive behind every advertisement is to sell us the “good life” by assuring that its product will satisfy our desires.  But, we know by experience that the “good life” they sell us satisfy our desires temporarily only.  There are new products to try simply because we are not satisfied with the one we presently patronize.

But why settle for the “good life” when we can have the “best life”?

In the first reading today, wisdom is personified, interestingly, as a woman (Why not a man?).  She prepared a meal and sent her maidens to invite the simple and those lacking in understanding.  She sets as condition to living the need to forsake foolishness.  Wisdom alone satisfies human hunger, but wisdom here does not mean possession of high intelligence quotient but seeing and knowing one’s folly so as to fill up one’s emptiness with what is the truly good things.  If “good life” is what we are really after, then we must concern our selves only with the good things in life.

The Psalm that immediately follows the first reading today teaches us right away what is really and ultimately good: the goodness of the Lord.  That goodness we are invited to taste and see.  The psalmist testifies to that goodness: “I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”  That goodness, the psalmist continues, makes us radiate with joy, saves us from shame, and pays attention to the poor in whose behalf the Lord acts.

Thus, in the second reading, the Apostle Paul exhorts the believers in Ephesus to be vigilant about the way they live so that they may always conduct themselves with wisdom.  And how should that be?  St. Paul tells the Ephesians to understand the will of the Lord – that is discernment.  He directs them not to get drunk on wine – that is discipline.  He advises them to address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in their hearts – that is charity.  And he encourages them to give thanks always and for everything in the name of Jesus – that is prayer-life.  The same essential teaching is also for us today.  For who among us wants to be foolish?  Not one, I suppose.  We all want to be wise.

Yet, no one can be any wiser than him who fills up himself with nothing less than the Lord Jesus Himself.  In the gospel today, Jesus declares that He Himself gives life to the world.  This life we receive when we eat His Flesh and drink His Blood.  “…the one who feeds on Me will have life because of Me,” Jesus proclaims.  What can be better than that?  The wisest among us is not the most intelligent among us or the one who easily gets his way through anything but he who has the life of Jesus in him.  Are we that person?

Shall we settle with the so-called “good life” that the world offers or should we not nourish the “best life” that Jesus gives us with nothing less than Himself?  Advertisements may shout about the essentials of life, true; but, they feed us with nothing more than the superficial.  Jesus alone shows us how to live fully…interestingly not by grabbing but by giving, not by preserving life but by laying it down for others.

And yet, the world considers Jesus a fool.  But, hey, look who’s talking!

ANO PO BANG NAKAIN NINYO?

19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jn 6:41-51 (1 Kgs 19:4-8 / Ps 34 / Eph 4:30-5:2)

When someone acts strangely, people ask, “What has gotten into him?”  When a player suddenly follows a game plan different from what the team agreed on, his colleagues wonder, “What has gotten into him?”  When a beauty elopes with a goon, her friends speculate, “What has gotten into her?”

In our language, we have an equivalent to “What has gotten into him”.  And it is even better!  We say, “Anong nakain niya?”  Thus, when someone indifferent to you suddenly becomes extra-sweet to you, you are suspicious and question, “Ano kayang nakain nito at ang lambing-lambing sa akin ngayon?”  When a usually shabby dude starts taking a bath and grooms himself well, his friends ask him, “Uy, ano bang nakain mo?  Mukhang tao ka na ha!  In church, when you unexpectedly bump into someone who never joins in community worship, you may catch your self wondering, “Ano kayang nakain nitong mokong na ito at biglang nagsimba?”

Interestingly, the difference between the English expression and its Filipino equivalent is the concept of “kain”.  The English speaker asks, “What has gotten into him” but the Filipino inquires about what the person ate.  This is very telling.  Underneath the Filipino expression “Ano bang nakain ng taong ito” is the belief that what we eat – literally and otherwise – influences our thoughts, words, and deeds.  Our total behavior and even our usual preferences in life is shaped, to some extent if not comprehensively, by what we eat.  This idea clearly resonates with the commonly accepted dietary principle that we are what we eat.  Such a line of thinking should be important for us, Filipinos, because we are a people who enjoy eating very much: our cocktails quite often appear as banquets and our banquets like street-parties.

So, what have you been eating?  Do your thoughts speak of your daily menu?  Do your words have the aroma of your favorite dish?  Does your behavior reveal your last meal?

In the movie, “Babe, Pig In The City”, this saying strikes the audience more than the pig-protagonist: “What you eat and drink today walks and talks tomorrow.”  This should also be true in our understanding of the Holy Eucharist.  How much peaceful and loving a place our world would be if every believer and recipient of the Holy Eucharist – the very Body and Blood, divinity and humanity, of Jesus – consciously strive to live according to this saying.  Imagine, we would have million “Jesuses” walking and talking around…indeed, as many as there are communicants in all the Masses in the entire planet!

In the first reading today, the Prophet Elijah walked for forty days and forty nights to Mount Horeb, God’s mountain.  So what has gotten into this prophet?  Well, an angel of the Lord served him food.  But no matter how heavenly the food served him by an angel tasted, no matter how divine its ingredients and preparation, it was still human food and drink: hearth cake and a jug of water.  Soon enough, if not right after forty days, the Prophet Elijah surely was hungry again.  Imagine if he could have not only food served by an angel but the “Bread of angels” itself!

Imagine not, because the Bread of angels is with us here on earth.  It becomes the Bread of men in every Mass.  “Panis angelicus fit panis hominum…” thus we sing.  This Bread of angels becoming Bread of men is the Holy Eucharist which we partake of in the Mass.  And whoever eats this Bread not only gains strength for his earthly sojourn but also receives eternal life even now here on earth.

Further, this Bread of angels and men is Jesus Himself!  In the gospel today, He declares, “I am the bread of life.  Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.  I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world.”  That Bread we shall now eat in a short while.  That Bread we may eat as often as we want.  That Bread, while its effects are unimaginably priceless, costs us nothing.  But that Bread, who is Jesus Himself, should change us, transform us, and make us what St. Paul the Apostle describes in the second reading today: “All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice.  And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.  …imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed Himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.”

So, what’s gotten into you?  Ano po bang nakain ninyo?  What have you been eating?  Whatever it is, may it never be difficult for anyone to know right away that it is Jesus – our Eucharist – the Source and Summit of our life.  

“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord” is our response to the Psalm today.  Gustate et videte quoniam suavis et Dominus.  In this Mass we taste and see the Lord’s goodness.  From this Mass, let us go forth and give our brothers and sisters a taste of that goodness and a vision of the Lord.