ANG PUSO NG MAGMULING-PAGKABUHAY NI KRISTO

Pasko ng Magmuling-Pagkabuhay ng Panginoong Jesuskristo

Jn 20:1-9 (Gwa 10:34a, 37-43 / Slm 117 / 1 Cor 5:7b-8a)

Happy Easter po sa inyong lahat!  Purihin natin ang Panginoon, magmuli Siyang nabuhay, aleluya!  Happy Easter!

Talaga po bang happy kayo?  Kung talaga pong happy kayo, mabuti naman.  Salamat sa Diyos!  Purihin ang Panginoon!

Magpasalamat po kayo dahil masaya kayo, kasi, alam ba ninyo, may ilang mga taong gumising kanina na mabigat na mabigat ang loob.  Siguro pa nga kung puwede lang sana ayaw na nilang gumising ngayon.  Mabigat ang loob nila.  Masama ang loob nila.  Punong-puno rin ng takot.  Para silang pinagtakluban ng langit at lupa.  Kundi man nahirapang matulog, malamang ang iba sa kanila ay hindi talaga nakatulog. At tatlong araw na silang ganyan.

Noong nakaraang Linggo lang, masayang-masaya silang lahat.  Nang pumasok si Jesus sa Jerusalem, hindi mapigilan sa pagpupugay ang madla.  At dahil kadikit nila si Jesus, siguro pakiramdam ng mga apostol, sikat na sikat na rin sila.  Pinalagay nilang yaon na ang hinihintay nilang pagkakataon para patunayan ni Jesus na walang binatbat ang mga naninira at umaaway sa Kaniya.  Marahil po ang ilan pa sa kanila ang nag-akalang sisimulan na ni Jesus ang armadong rebolusyon laban sa mga mananakop na Romano – sa wakas, lalaya na ang Israel!  Pero, iba po ang naging takbo ng kuwento.  Walang nangyaring armadong rebolusyon.  Meron mga armadong kawal na humuli kay Jesus sa halamanan ng Gethsemane.  Naging trahedya ang lahat.  Mistulang si Jesus ang walang binatbat: hinuli Siya, binugbog, ipinako sa krus, namatay tulad ng isang kriminal.  At ngayon, tatlong araw nga ang nakalipas.  Ayaw man nilang tanggapin pero alam po nila na ang nilibing nila Jose ng Arimathea ay isa nang malamig at matigas na bangkay.  Malamang po nangangamoy na nga iyon at nagsisimula nang maagnas.  At dahil sa naghalong kalituhan at takot, nagkawatak-watak sila, samantalang ang mga pumatay kay Jesus ay nag-iinuman na’t masayang pinupulutan ang kuwento kung paano nila ibinagsak si Jesus.

Tatlo sa mga alagad na ito ni Jesus ang binabanggit sa Ebanghelyo natin ngayon: si Maria Magdalena, si Simon Pedro, at si Juan.

Ayon po sa Ebanghelyo, madilim-dilim pa ng unang araw ng Linggo ay pumaroon na si Maria Magdalena sa libingan ni Jesus.  Subalit, laking gulat niya!  Wala ang bangkay ni Jesus doon.  Hindi po iyon matanggap ni Maria Magadalena.  Nasurpresa siya.  Sinurpresa siya ng Diyos.  At hindi niya iyon masakyan, hindi niya matanggap, hindi niya makuhang magalak.

Di po ba, minsan ganyan din tayo?  Hindi natin masakyan ang mga surpresa ng Diyos sa buhay natin.  At dahil hindi natin masakyan, ayaw nating tanggapin.  Kundi man kalituhan, takot ang naghahari sa puso natin kapag sinusurpresa tayo ng Diyos.  At hindi natin maranasan ang kagalakang dapat sana’y mapasaatin dahil sa magandang surpresa ng Diyos.  Ang problema, madalas po tayong supresahin ng Diyos.  Mahilig ang Diyos sa mga supresa.  Ganun po kasi ang grasya: mga supresa ng Diyos sa buhay natin.  Kaya lang hindi natin nasasalo lahat ng grasyang isinusurpresa sa atin ng Diyos kasi nga po mas gusto natin ang pamilyar, ang alam na natin, ang gamay na natin, ang madali sa atin, ang masarap sa atin, ang kumportable sa atin, ang mahigpit na nakaayon sa metodo at lohika, ang laging nasa loob ng ating comfort zones.  Eh hindi po ganun ang grasya, hindi rin ganun ang himala – mga surpresa sila ng Diyos sa atin.  Pero may mga taong ayaw sinusurpresa.

Ang libingang walang laman – hindi po ba malaking surpresa iyon?  Kaya’t tumakbo agad si Maria Magdalena patungo kina Simon Pedro at Juan.  At hindi naman po niya alam talaga kung ano ang tutoong kuwento, heto ang balita niya sa kanila: “Kinuha nila ang Panginoon sa libingan at hindi namin nalalaman kung saan Siya inilagay.”  Kinuha agad?  Kinuha agad?  Porke wala, kinuha agad?  Porke nawawala, ninakaw agad?  Porke hindi mo makita, wala agad?  Baka hindi mo lang makita kasi iba ang hinahanap mo.  Baka kaya hindi mo makita, sabi ng nanay ko po, kasi bibig at hindi mata ang pinanghahanap mo.  Baka kaya nawawala kasi hindi na Siya ang bangkay na hinahanap mo: Siya’y nabuhay nang magmuli!

Madalas, ganyan din po tayo: mahilig mag-imbento ng kuwento.  Marami nga po sa atin ang talent ay iyan: ang mag-imbento ng kuwento.  At hindi lang sa marami sila, magagaling sila!  Kapani-paniwala kung magkuwento sila, pero hindi naman pala tutoo ang sinasabi kasi hindi naman talaga nila alam kung ano ang katotohanan ng kinukuwento nila.  Pakiramdam lang nila na alam nila at gusto rin nilang paniwalaan sila ng lahat.  Bakit?  Kasi sikat kapag ikaw ang unang nakapagkuwento, sikat ka kapag maraming naniwala sa kuwento mo, sikat ka kapag ikaw ang pinupuntahan at kinukunsulta ng mga mahilig ding makinig at maniwala sa mga kuwentu-kuwento.  At masarap ang ganyang pakiramdam!

Pero hindi naman po ganun si Maria Magdalena.  Hindi po niya sinadyang mag-imbento ng kuwento.  Palagay ko po, litung-lito siya at alalang-alala: patay na nga si Jesus, pati ba naman bangkay Niya ay ipagkakait sa amin?  Palagay ko po, kaya nakagawa si Maria Magdalena ng ganung konkulusyon kasi sobra-sobra ang kanyang pagdaramdam; napakasakit para sa kanya ang kamatayan ni Jesus na, ayon sa Ebanghelyo, ay nagpalaya sa kanya mula sa pang-aalipin ng pitong demonyo.  Binago ni Jesus ang buhay niya, subalit hindi niya nabago ang sinapit ni Jesus.  Napakasakit, hindi po ba?  At ang tanging magagawa na lamang sana niya ay ang dalawin ang mga labi ni Jesus at tapusin ang kostumbre ng mga Judyo para sa paglilibing ng bangkay na hindi raw nila natapos gawin dahil nagsisimula na raw ang Shabbat noong inilibing nila Siya.  Kaya naman po, nang hindi niya matagpuan ang bangkay ni Jesus, ang pumasok agad sa isip ni Maria Magdalena na malamang yaon ay ninakaw ng mga kaaway: kahit sa kamatayan, ayaw patahimikin ng mga kaaway si Jesus.

Para naman po kay Simon Pedro, sukdulan ang pait ng mga pangyayari.  Alam po nating lahat kung paano at makailang ulit niya itinatwa si Jesus.  Nagsisisi nga siya sa kanyang ginawa, pero hindi naman siya makapag-sorry kay Jesus nang personal.  Paano pa nga ba, eh tatlong araw na ngang nakalibing si Jesus.  Maaari tayong humingi ng tawad sa harap ng isang bangkay, pero hindi tayo puwedeng patawarin ng bangkay na.  Naisin man ni Pedro ang tangisan ang bangkay ni Jesus, saan pa siya ngayon pupunta?  Nawawala nga po ang bangkay!

Kaya pagkarinig sa kuwento ni Maria Magdalena, kumaripas daw ng takbo itong si Pedro patungong libingan ni Jesus.  Tumakbo rin daw si Juan, ang minamahal na alagad, at nauna pang nakarating sa libingan.  Ngunit nauna man siya sa libingan, hindi naman nagpatiunang pumasok si Juan.  Si Pedro ang pinuno nila, hindi siya.  Siya man ang pinakamamahal na alagad, hindi siya abusado sa pribilehiyong iyon: sa kabila ng kapusukan ng kanyang pagiging pinakabata sa mga alagad, marunong kumilala’t gumalang si Juan hindi lamang sa nakatatanda kundi sa nakatataas sa kanya.  Pumasok lang siya sa libingan nang makapasok na si Pedro.  Pero huli pa ring narating ni Pedro ang mensaheng nakatambad sa kanilang dalawa ni Juan.

Si Juan ang unang nakarating sa libingan at siya rin ang unang nakarating sa puso ng magmuling-pagkabuhay ni Jesus.  Sa pagtatapos ng Ebanghelyo ngayong araw na ito, sinasabing nakita ni Juan ang nakita rin ni Pedro at siya ay sumampalataya.  Tahimik ang Ebanghelyo kung ano ang naging reaksyon ni Pedro sa libingang walang laman, subalit malinaw naman ang ulat nito tungkol kay Juan: “nakita niya ito at siya ay naniwala.”  Si Pedro nga ang unang pumasok sa libingan, pero si Juan ang unang nakapasok sa diwa ng magmuling-pagkabuhay ni Jesus.  Si Maria Magdalena nga ang unang pinagpahayagan ng balita ng magmuling-pagkabuhay ni Jesus, ngunit si Juan naman ang unang nanalig.  Si Juan nga po ang unang nakaranas ng magmuling-pagkabuhay ni Kristo.  Bakit?

Ang mga minamahal na alagad ay laging nauuna.  Pag-ibig ang puso ng magmuling-pagkabuhay – pag-ibig ng Diyos – kaya ang pinakamamahal na alagad ang unang nakararating sa puso ng magmuling-pagkabuhay ni Jesus.  Sabi pa nga po, “If love can persuade it will bring you to the point quicker.”

Magbunga nawa sa ating buhay ang magmuling-pagkabuhay ni Jesus.  Sana po, higit tayong maging mapagmahal sa Diyos at sa kapwa.  At kung nais nga po nating maunawaan ng iba ang mensahe ng ating pamumuhay, higit pa natin silang mahalin.  Ang problema po kasi, kapag mahirap kausapin, mahirap pakisamahan, mahirap umintindi, mahirap makatrabaho, mahirap mapaliwanagan, mahirap pakiusapan, mahirap mahalin, ayaw na natin.  Dapat po siguro mas lalo natin siyang mahalin, hindi layuan o siraan o pabayaan o pagkaisahan.  Tanging pag-ibig po lamang ang makapagpapabago sa kaninuman, kung paanong pag-ibig ang nakapagpabago sa bangkay ni Jesus at ito’y maluwalhating nabuhay nang magmuli, kung paanong pag-ibig ni Jesus ang nakapagpabago kina Maria Magdalena at Simon Pedro, kung paanong pag-ibig ni Jesus ang nakapagpaniwala kay Juan kahit ang tanging nakita niya ay isang libingang walang laman.

SUNDAN AT TULARAN SI JESUS

Linggo ng Palaspas ng Pagpapakasakit ng Panginoon

Lk 23:1-49 (Is 50:4-7 / Slm 21 / Fil 2:6-11)

Hindi po ngayon Linggo ng Palaspas.  Ngayon po ay Linggo ng Palaspas ng Pagpapakasakit ng Panginoon.  Maling-mali po na tawagin lamang ang araw na ito na Linggo ng Palaspas.  Isang maliit na bahagi lamang po sa simula ng pagdiriwang natin ang pagbabasbas ng mga palaspas.  Kung hindi pa po malinaw iyan, balikan na lamang po ninyo ang napakahabang Ebanghelyo ngayong araw na ito.  Hindi po ba tungkol ito sa pasyon ng Panginoon?  Iyan ay sapagkat nga po ngayon ay Linggo ng Palaspas ng Pagpapakasakit ng Panginoon.  Kung gayon, hindi po palaspas ang dapat na maging sentro ng ating pansin ngayong araw na ito.  Kung hindi po palaspas, ano ang dapat na maging sentro ng ating panalangin at pagninilay ngayong simula ng mga Mahal na Araw?  Ang pasyon ng Panginoon.

Gayunpaman, mahalagang simbolo ang ating mga palaspas.  Sagisag ito ng ating pagiging mga Kristiyano; samakatuwid, mga alagad ni Jesukristo.  Ang mga palaspas na ating pinabasbasan ay hindi pantaboy ng masasamang espiritu.  Sa halip, ang dapat na itaboy nito palayo sa atin ay ang pag-uugaling taliwas sa pagiging alagad ni Jesus.  Hindi rin dapat gawing pansuob sa inaakala nating sinasapian ng demonyo ang mga palaspas na ito.  Sa halip, ang mga puso natin ang kailangang madarang sa apoy ng higit na pagmamahal sa Diyos at sa ating kapwa-tao.  At huwag naman sana nating gawing panghampas ang mga palaspas na ito.  May hinampas na dati sa haliging bato at karumaldumal na kamatayan ang sinapit Niya: si Kristo Jesus.

Hindi po natin sinasalubong ang Panginoon sa Jerusalem ngayong Linggong ito.  Una sa lahat, wala naman po tayo sa Jerusalem.  Pangalawa, hindi naman po isang dula-dulaan ang ating ginagawa ngayon.  Gaya ng ginagawa nating linggu-linggo, natitipon po tayo ngayong araw na ito para sumamba sa Diyos.  At ang ating pagsamba ngayong araw na ito ay higit na nagtutuon sa ating pansin sa pagpapakasakit at kamatayan ng Kanyang Bugtong na Anak na si Jesukristo.

Huwag po nating salubungin si Jesus.  Matagal na Siyang dumating.  At kung pagpasok man Niya sa Jerusalem ang nasa isip natin, nakapasok na po siya sa Jerusalem noon pang mahigit sa dalawang libong taon nang nakararaan.

Sundan po natin si Jesus; huwag salubungin.  At ang Jerusalem ay sumasagisag sa Misteryo Paskal na kaakibat ng buhay ng pagiging alagad ni Jesus.  Sundan natin si Jesus sa Jerusalem.  Sundan natin Siya sa pagsasabuhay ng Misteryo Paskal.

Ano nga po ba ang Misteryo Paskal na ito?  Ang Misteryo Paskal ni Jesus ay ang Kanyang kamatayan at magmuling-pagkabuhay.  Ito ang nasa puso ni Jesus.  At yayamang si Jesus ang nasa sentro ng ating Pananampalataya, ang Kanyang Misteryo Paskal ay dapat ding nasa puso ng bawat-isa sa ating mga nananampalataya.

Ang Misteryo Paskal ni Jesus ang siyang buhay din natin.  Ang ating buhay nang pagiging alagad ni Jesus ay buhay ng kamatayan at magmuling-pagkabuhay.  Bago pa tayo malagutan ng hininga at mabuhay-magmuli, namamatay na tayo ng mga mumunting kamatayan araw-araw.  Sa tuwing ginugugol natin ang ating lakas, talino, at maging yaman alang-alang sa Kaharian ng Diyos at para sa mabuting kapakanan ng ating kapwa-tao, namamatay tayo sa ating sarili.  Kapag tayo ay nagpaparaya, nagpapatawad, at nagbabahagi ng ating sarili, tayo ay namamatay para sa iba.  Kung pinagsisikapan nating mamumuhay nang tapat sa ating bokasyon sa buhay, nagsisisi sa ating mga nagagawang kasalanan, at higit na nakikibaka sa ating mga kahinaan, namamatay tayo sa ating sarili.  Sa tuwing alang-alang sa Ebanghelyo, dumaranas tayo ng pag-uusig, namamaty tayo sa ating sarili.  Kapag sa gitna ng hirap at sa kabila ng ating mga pagkakamali sa buhay ay patuloy tayong nagsisikap na isabuhay ang ating pananampalatayang Kristiyano nang may matibay na pag-asa at tigib ng pag-ibig sa Diyos at kapwa, namamatay tayo sa ating sarili.  At kung paanong namamatay nga tayo ng mga mumunting kamatayan araw-araw, binabangon din naman tayo ng Ama sa isang buhay na higit na katulad ng buhay ni Jesus.  Sa dami ng mga mumunting kamatayan na ating pinagdaraanan sa buhay bilang alagad ni Jesus, dapat sana’y sanay na sanay na tayong mamatay pagsapit ng ating huling hininga at handang-handa na tayo para sa magmuling-pagkabuhay na pangako ni Jesus sa mga nananalig sa Kanya.

Samakatuwid, ang Linggo ng Palaspas ng Pagpapakasakit ng Panginoon ay Linggo ng Pag-aalagad.  Hindi po si Jesus ang pumapasok ngayong araw na ito.  Tayo po ang pumapasok.  Pumapasok tayo sa Mga Mahal na Araw.  Nauna na po sa atin si Jesus sa pagpasok.  Sumunod tayo; huwag sumalubong.  Tularan po natin si Jesus; huwag salubungin.  Sundan.  Tularan.  Si Jesus.  At wala po iyan sa papalas-palaspas.

Kung si Jesus nga ang ating sinusundan at tinutularan, makikita ito sa uri ng ating pamumuhay ang mga katangian ni Jesus na inilalarawan ni San Pablo Apostol sa ating ikalawang pagbasa ngayon, hango sa kanyang sulat sa mga Taga-Filipos: mapagkumbaba; hindi alipin ng mga pribilehiyo; handang maglingkod sa lahat; tapat at masunurin sa Diyos magpahanggang kamatayan.  At kung sa pagtulad natin kay Jesus ay alipustahin tayo’t saktan, katulad ni Propeta Isaias sa unang pagbasa natin, buo ang ating pananalig na ang makapangyarihang Diyos ang tutulong sa atin.

Mabuti nga pong tanungin ang ating sarili: “Si Jesus ba talaga ang sinusundan ko?  Si Jesus pa nga ba talaga ang tinutularan ko?”  Baka po kasi papasok nga tayo sa Jerusalem pero hindi naman pala si Jesus ang sinusundan natin.  Baka si Judas.  Naku po, 'wag naman sana.  Mag-ingat po tayo!

GOD’S MERCY AND IT'S INVITATION, MANDATE, AND WARNING

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Jn 8:1-11 (Is 43:16-21 / Ps 126 / Phil 3:8-14)

This is one of my favorite stories.

To create a chilling effect on his troops, Napoleon imposed death penalty for soldiers who abandoned their posts.  Thereupon, a young French soldier nonetheless broke the ranks of Napoleon’s army.  Not too long, however, he was arrested.  Thus, the apprehended soldier was scheduled for execution.  Upon hearing what had happened, the young soldier’s mother sought an audience with Napoleon and pleaded with him for her son’s life.  Because of the gravity of the offense, Napoleon stood his ground and told the poor woman, “No mercy your son deserves.”

“I know, my lord,” the mother said, “my son does not deserve mercy, for if he does then it would not be mercy at all."

Mercy is a sheer gift, neither a reward nor something one can buy if he or she has the means.  It may not be demanded but one may beg for it.  No one is entitled to it.  Nobody deserves it.

Justice is not mercy, for while no one deserves mercy, everyone deserves justice.  God is just but His greatest attribute is His mercy.

Mercy does not mean that the guilty is guiltless.  No, rather, mercy recognizes and forgives the guilt of the offender, but forgoes satisfaction for the wrong that follows the dictum “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”.  But mercy is never injustice.  It is rather justice anticipated.  Justice may be rendered with a cold heart but mercy is not possible without a heart that loves.

God speaks through the Prophet Isaiah in the first reading today.  Thus, He says to His People, “Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not….”  Indeed, God is doing something new for them and this “something new” is vividly painted: rivers in wastelands, rivers not only for the beasts but also for His chosen people to drink.  What did the Israelites do to deserve such a blessing?  Nothing.  The truth is, with their glaring record of infidelities, they deserved not blessings but punishments.  But God forgave them and, restoring them to the dignity of being His chosen race, God brought about for them an even better world.  Indeed, Psalm 126, our response to the first reading today, echoes well the grateful, joyful, and hope-filled sentiments of God’s People.

The same merciful love, God continues offering to us through Jesus Christ, His Son.  In Jesus, we do not only see how compassionate God is; we experience how unimaginably merciful He is as well.  Indeed, He is the prodigal father of the younger and elder sons in the parable last Sunday.  God is prodigal with His love for all of us.  This love, according to the wise reflection of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, we see crucified at Calvary, is the mad love of God for us.  The same Pope Emeritus, in his first encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est”, pointing to the same cross, wrote, “…we see God’s mercy overcoming His justice.”  Jesus is God’s mercy to us all.

Thus, we hold dear to our hearts the unchanging significance of the words of the Apostle Paul in the second reading today: “I consider everything a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For His sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ….”  For us, Christians, nothing compares to the joy of being intimately united to Christ Jesus who is the Father’s mercy upon us.  However, like the Apostle, we confess to our imperfection, not with hopelessness but with hope in the Lord that spurs us on to pursue our goal of perfect maturity.  This hope emanates from the fact that, as St. Paul says today, we “have indeed been taken possession of by Christ Jesus.”  Notice the words of the Apostle: “taken possession of by Christ Jesus.”  It is not us who possess the Lord.  The Lord possesses us!

The Gospel today therefore invites us to be more trusting of the Lord.  Let us entrust to Him our entire selves, our real selves.  Let us give Him not only what is good in us but also what is sinful.  Unlike our first parents who hid from God after they disobeyed Him in the garden, let us not hide from the Lord.  With hearts contrite and resolving to amend our ways, let us now whisper to God: “I have sinned against Thee, and I do not deserve Thy mercy.  But, O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

This is precisely what the scribes and the Pharisees in the same Gospel today overlooked: their own sinfulness and need for God’s mercy.  They were quick to condemn the woman they caught in adultery but were slow in confessing their own guilt.  Evidently with not an ounce of humane consideration at all, they dragged her and embarrassed her in public, exposing her not only to the curiosity of people but also to the harsh judgment of the mob.

But we doubt if the accusers of this woman were really vanguards of morality, for they used her only to trap Jesus.  It was Jesus whom they really wanted dead, not the woman.  If in response to their query, “What have You to say?” Jesus were to say, “Let her go free”, they would feel justified in accusing Jesus of breaking the Law of Moses and even condoning adultery.  But if Jesus were to reply, “Stone her to death”, then they could declare Jesus unmerciful and even accuse Him of the crime of violating the legal restriction that says that only the Roman authorities may impose the death penalty.

The enemies of Jesus tried trapping Him in the difficult and dangerous situation of “damn-if-you-do-damn-if-you-don’t”.  But Jesus knew better.  To the intriguing question, Jesus responded by writing with His finger on the ground.  What did He write?

Our English translation does not give us any clue about what Jesus wrote on the ground, but the original Greek text of the Gospel today does.  The writer of St. John’s Gospel did not use the usual Greek word for “write”, which is graphein, but katagraphein which means “to draw up a list against someone”.  We may, therefore, surmise that Jesus must have listed on the ground the sins of the accusers of the adulterous woman.  Thus, when nagged for a reply to their question, Jesus stood up and told them straight in the eye, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  But He was not yet done with the listing, so Jesus bent down and continued with the inventory of their sins.

A very important note though: although Jesus did not condemn the woman, neither did He condone what she did.  “Neither do I condemn you,” Jesus told her.  “Go and sin no more.”  His words are words of invitation, mandate, and warning to her.

Jesus invites the woman to conversion that requires much change in her lifestyle, focusing her whole life on God in whom all creation, humans foremost, finds the completion of its joy.  It is an invitation to struggle with one’s self, with the assurance of victory against evil already because of the abiding and loving assistance of God’s merciful love.

That Jesus sends her forth.  “Go,” He tells her – signals a mandate given her.  He commissions her to go and be a witness to the mercy that she herself received from God.  Such a witnessing necessarily and always obliges her to be merciful to others, too.

Jesus likewise warns the woman.  His words – “…from now on do not sin anymore” – seem to beg the question “If I continue sinning anyway, what?”  As there are consequences to each and every action of ours, so does our every sinful act have its effects on us and on others, too.  Whatever those specific effects are, the Apostle Paul summarizes in these words: “The wage of sin is death” (Rom 6:23).

God’s mercy, therefore, should be correctly understood and handled with utmost care and reverence.  It is never a license for anyone to continue sinning, with the thought that the mercy of God is always available anyway to those who are sorry for their sins.  God’s mercy indeed is a sure gateway to salvation but never an excuse for a life of debauchery.  God’s mercy, as we see gratuitously given to the adulterous woman in the Gospel today, is gentle but does make valid and serious demands on its recipients.

We are all beneficiaries of God’s mercy.  The adulterous woman in the Gospel today stands for each of us: sinners yet loved.  To each of us, too, is given the same invitation, mandate, and warning first given to that woman.  We are invited to conversion, always trusting completely on God’s aid and never on our own efforts alone.  We are commanded to share with others, most especially with those who most need it, the mercy that we ourselves received from God.  And we ought to seriously heed the warning that the same mercy issues forth to us.  In these remaining Lenten days, may the Spirit of Jesus, who drove Him into the wilderness when we started this holy season, move us deeply and enlighten us clearly on the immense grace of God’s mercy and the true responsibilities it entrusts to us as well.

We do not deserve mercy, for if we do then it is not mercy at all.  But is always merciful to us.  Ought we not be merciful to one another, too?

THE FATHER’S ROSES

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Lk 15:1-3, 11-32 (Jos 5:9a, 10-12 / Ps 34 / 2 Cor 5:17-21)

       The Lord said in Mt 5:24, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”  These words of the Lord we should reflect and live by not only during Lent but each time we go to Mass.  If not, what meaning does our worship of Him have?  What value does our offering to Him have?  Before we face God, let us first face our brethren and be reconciled with those we hurt. 

       The theme of the readings today, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, is reconciliation and the joy that comes from it.  How appropriate!  For today is Laetare Sunday or the “Sunday of Rejoicing” because Easter Sunday of the Lord’s Resurrection is already near.  Thus, rose is the color of today’s liturgy because the color of joy is rose.

       Let us see the first reading today.  It is not difficult to imagine and understand how difficult life in the desert was for the Israelites as they sojourned to the Promised Land.  They were live, flesh and blood, human beings, each with his peculiarities and differences from the rest.  They had quarrels and some of their conflicts were really grave.  That they had to travel and live in the desert for forty years threw them in a situation that indeed tested how they dealt with one another.  But inspite of what they’ve gone through, of what they fought about, of what they debated on, we can feel their joy as Joshua instructed them, in the first reading, regarding details of the Passover meal which they were to partake of for the very first time already in the Promised Land and no more in the desert.

       In the second reading, great joy, too, for us, Christians, as the Apostle Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, declared that we are ambassadors for Christ.  Unworthy though we are, we are Christ’s emissaries to the world.  Thus, all the more should we heed the Apostle’s admonition: “We implore you,” St. Paul wrote, “on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”  We cannot be God’s envoys and yet be at odds with Him, can we?

       And in the Gospel for today, we hear once again the famous and well-loved Parable of the Prodigal Son.  Sin, forgiveness, reconciliation, re-institution to the former dignity, and joy – these lie under the various emotions at play in the parable.  Despite what he did to his father, if only to follow his inordinate desires, the youngest son was forgiven, re-instituted to his highly esteemed status as son, and given a lavish welcome party by no less than the same father.

       Before going any further, it is also good to reflect on the theme of reconciliation and joy as a reminder for all of us in this season of contrition and conversion.  And having reflected on it, may we be so moved so as to repent from our sins and trace the steps that lead to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  I am sad when people call this sacrament as “Confession”.  I believe, the name “Confession” does not capture the very essence of the Sacrament.      “Reconciliation”, however, does!  This, of course, does not in any way devaluates the need to actually confess – that is, mention – our sins in this Sacrament.  But, we must understand that the very heart of this Sacrament is not what we say but what God does: He reconciles us to Himself by forgiving our sins – regardless of their gravity and frequency – through Jesus Christ and the Church whom the priest-confessor both represents.  Every experience of the Sacrament of Reconciliation must always be an experience of the penitent’s friendship with God made whole again.  So, when was the last time you approached this Sacrament?  What is your experience whenever you are reconciled with God through this Sacrament?  Is it indeed an experience of a joyful celebration of your renewed friendship with God?  And how about us, your priests, as instruments of this very precious Sacrament?
       Like an episode of a soap opera on television, the parable in the Gospel today depicts our selves and how we stand before God.

       Sometimes, we are the younger son who, though his father was still very much alive, nonetheless, shamelessly required from his father his share of the inheritance.  Then, he left home, only to waste in vices and wayward living the fortune that was hard-earned by his father.  But when his stomach grumbles, in the midst of a severe famine, he suddenly remembers not so much his offended father but the house he left behind: “How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger.”  How lower could he get, most especially for a Jew who considered pigs as unclean?  For he even “longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any.”  How clearer could it be: he went home not because he was sorry for what he did but because he was hungry?  Indeed, he had no pity for his father who upon catching sight of him, the Gospel says, “was filled with compassion.”  Indeed, God uses even our impure motives, such as the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, to forgive us from our sins when we ask Him to.

       Sometimes, we are also the elder son.  Indeed, unlike his younger brother, the elder son did not leave the father’s side, but, in truth, his heart was not with him.  The elder son ran away from home without lifting a foot.  He left his father by considering himself a slave and not a son.  “Look,” he complained to his father, “all these years, I have slaved for you and not once did I disobey any of your orders; yet you never gave me even a kid goat to feast on with my friends.”  Now we know why this boy was hurting.  But we can hardly understand why he had to hurt himself that way and that much.  For before him was not a master but his very own father, not a slave-driver but a loving dad.  So, he wanted a kid goat, why did he not ask it from dad?  If the father was as generous as giving his younger son his part of the inheritance, would he not be even more willing and liberal in giving the elder a mere goat or even more than that?  Thus, the father reminded his elder son what he has been forgetting all along: “My son,” he said, “you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.  But we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”

       In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, we are sometimes the younger and sometimes the elder.  But whoever we are between the two, we still need to really repent from our sins and ask from God our Father the loving forgiveness He so easily grants.  And, most importantly, whether we are the younger son or the elder, the truth is God’s mercy is for all of us and His joy at our return to His love cannot be measured by anything.  Seems too easy a teaching for us to accept, but, no, it isn’t.  That is why Jesus, in the Gospel today, evidently needed to defend God’s compassionate love for sinners against the criticism of the scribes and the Pharisees.  Because they were self-righteous and looked down on others as more deserving of punishment for their sins, Jesus had to explain to the scribes and the Pharisees why God is prodigal with His love and why He makes equally available such love not only to the righteous but even more so to sinners.  For God, there are no younger and elder siblings, only children.  In the Father’s house, there are no slaves, only children.

       Today is Laetare Sunday.  This is the Sunday of Rejoicing because what we are expectantly preparing for, the Easter of the Lord’s Resurrection, is close at hand.  The theme of the readings for today – reconciliation and joy – heightens the joy of this Sunday.  The liturgical color for today is rose because rose is the color of joy.  And rose is the symbol of love that is the Father’s inheritance for us all.

HE CARES SO MUCH TO SEE HOW WE ARE DOING

Third Sunday of Lent

Lk 13:1-9 (Ex 3:1-8a, 13-15 / Ps 103 / 1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12)

In my preaching and spiritual direction, I often say that we lose only people we love.  The truth is people we love lesser are people we don’t notice even when they are already lost.  Sadly, some who are not loved at all are even told to get lost.  But people we love?  Oh, we always notice them.  Even when they are not around, we tend to connect almost anything good to them, if not in actual conversation with others, at least in our colloquy with our self.

Though sometimes, we are physically apart from them, the people we love are ever present in our awareness.  When we forget the people we say we love, it may be because we are lying when we say so.  And when we fail to notice them or start disregarding them, we should not question why they doubt the quality of our love.  To ignore people and yet claim to love them is blatant lie.  Yes, indeed, we cannot love people we do not even, frankly speaking, give a damn.  While the hopeless romantics claim that love is blind, the truth of loving dictates that one who truly loves cannot play blind to the beloved.

Love presupposes awareness.  Love grows in awareness.  Love heightens awareness.  Because we love the people we love, we pay attention to what is going on in their lives.  We notice them because we care about them.  We are involved with them.  When we care for people, we pay attention to what is going on in their lives.

God loves us more than we know.  He is, therefore, not only ever aware of us but is also intensely involved with us.  He notices not only us but also what happens to us.  He pays attention to what is going on in our lives because He cares for us.  When we cry to Him with a bleeding heart, He does not say, “I don’t want to know.”  And when we run to Him with a heart thrilled to share the joy it contains, He never tells us, “Who cares?”  In laughter and tears, in victory and defeat, in good times and in bad, we know that God is not only interested in us but is also personally engaged with what is happening to us.  As we go through this year declared as the Year of Faith, we should give witness even more to our belief in the God who says, “I know.  I care.  I am who am.”

In fact, that is exactly His name: “I am who am”.  According to our first reading today, no one else but Himself gave that name to Moses.  From a burning bush, God called out to Moses and introduce Himself as the God of his ancestors.  Moses, realizing it was God who was talking to him, became frightened and hid his face.  But he soon realized, too, that the sufferings of his people were not hidden from God and that God was not afraid to get Himself involved with them.  And as Moses was commanded by God to remove the sandals from his feet before he steps any further on holy ground, God also revealed to him that He always had His eyes on the Israelites and was actually stepping in deeper into their very lives: “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering.  Therefore, I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land….”  Such a revelation confirmed the hope of Moses and his people: “So, God does see what is happening to us!”  The same revelation funded their trust in Him: “So, God does care about us afterall!”  Still the same revelation encouraged them to have faith in God even more: “So, God is not only on our side but is actually already intervening to change our life for the better!”  This revelation is the heart of the whole Old Testament.  Thus the psalmist sings today: “The Lord is kind and merciful.”

God introduced Himself to Moses and also, later on, manifested Himself to the whole of Israel as a God of action, moved to act on what He sees and hears.  “I am who am,” His name He gave.  He is who He is.  Even now, even to us, even forever, God is who He is.  He is unchanging, ever present, always involved, eternally loving, and effectively acting for our good by freeing us from whatever and whoever enslaves us.

As we are reminded once again about the Exodus event during this Lenten season, God’s name – “I am who am” – affirms His constant and consistent fidelity to us.  But how is our fidelity to Him?  Do we trust Him enough for Him to freely move in our life?  Do we really believe that He cares about what is happening to us?  He is involved with us; are we involved with Him?  He wants us to be free, but until when will we allow our selves be enslaved by sin?

The Apostle Paul is quick to remind us in the second reading today that no matter how much God loves us and wants only what’s best for us, there are consequences to the choices we make.  Many among them whom God, through Moses, led out of Egypt, fed their hunger, and cared for in the wilderness were “struck down in the desert” because while their shoulders were freed from the burden of slavery their hearts remained enslaved to sin.  Thus, the Apostle points to those “struck down in the desert” as “examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things as they did and grumble as some of them did, and suffer death by the Angel of Destruction.”  He, therefore, encourages us to be take to heart our Christian life.

As God pays attention to what is happening in our life, so should we pay attention with what we do with our life.  If God cares so much for our freedom, why should we be less vigilant in never allowing sin to enslave us?  Not considering our selves less deserving of misfortunes than others because we stand less guilty of sin than they do, we should rather go into periodic self-examination, conversion, and renewal.  Lent is a special time for that!

But how have we been spending Lent so far?  Have we gone to confession?  Have we joined a retreat or a recollection?  Have we been applying our selves generously and sincerely to the call of the season to pray better, sacrifice better, and give better?  We are entering today the third week of Lent already, and if we have not yet been going through the season properly, when do we plan to do so?  May we never abuse the chances that God gives us, for while the Gospel today tells us that our God, indeed, is the God of many chances, there is always a last chance, at least not from God’s point of view because He is infinite, but from ours because we are finite.  Only, we just don't know when that last chance is.

May this Lenten season truly bear abundant fruits in your life and mine, for God cares so much to see how we are doing but will never save us unless with Him we are cooperating.