“Be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” This is what Jesus said to his disciples and now addressed also to us. What does Jesus really mean about this? In biblical understanding, the serpent is an image of Satan or of the devil. We remember, that it was the serpent that tempted the humanity to commit sin as told to us in the Book of Genesis. However, there are also other characters that the serpent possesses. The serpent is also believed to be wise, resourceful, flexible, adaptable, observant and cunning.
This means that a serpent adapts to its situation in order to survive. It finds ways as it observes its environment. It is in this way that Jesus invites us to be wise as the serpent, that is, to have the character in us that is wise, resourceful, has the quality to adjust to a given situation, observant and discerning. Like the serpent, Jesus invites us not to react immediately out of our emotions only, or to make decisions imprudently.
The dove is also understood to have the characters of being innocent, gentle, relax, peaceful, understanding and meek. The dove also represents the Spirit of God that brings comfort and peace, enlightenment and freedom. The dove reminds us of the gentle presence of God, never intimidating yet powerful, never imposing yet forceful.
It is in this way too that Jesus invites us to be as innocent and simple as the doves. Like the doves, we are called to keep calm and to always claim our peace so that we may be able to respond to life with wisdom. We are also called to be gentle and to be simple in order to bring encouragement and hope to others around who are already troubled and anxious. Kabay pa.
Is it not that we long for peace and prosperity for our family and for our community? Who would not want and hope for a peaceful home and a comfortable life? I am sure, each of us desire this kind of life. With all the troubles that we experience in life such as personal problems, failures and struggles; family demands, conflicts and grudges; crimes, disasters and corruption in the community, we want peace. If only we have peace within ourselves, in our homes and communities, then, our life would be very different. Life would surely be harmonious and more productive.
The hope and dream of peace and abundance in life had been already imagine long time ago. In fact, this was prophesied by Isaiah. We have heard it from the first reading how Isaiah had seen the day when Jerusalem will be comforted with peace and prosperity. The people longed for this because of the suffering they went through. The people of Israel agonized so much from oppression and slavery. Wars had been waged left and right and the people suffered greatly from these devastations.
Yet, God is not blind of our human suffering. In God’s goodness, peace and prosperity will be upon the suffering people. That is why, the message of Isaiah is to “rejoice and be glad.” God will see to it that He will comfort the grieving and suffering people. God’s comfort will surely bring joy, peace and contentment in the life of God’s people.
This is what we also discover in the life of St. Paul in which God’s comfort was revealed to him. Indeed, Paul in his letter to the Galatians expressed his experience of peace and confidence in Jesus. Despite the many trials that he underwent, Paul found peace and confidence in Jesus. Even the conflicts within the Christian communities at the time of Paul can never destroy the peace that he received from the cross of Jesus. And Paul was boasting about it. Nothing will trouble Paul because he has Jesus with him.
In that cross of Jesus, Paul experienced tremendous love and forgiveness. Because of this, Paul also found his true self and became a witness of Jesus. This moved Paul to preach the Gospel, and in fact, to preach to others the peace and confidence that he received from Jesus.
Preaching and bringing peace to others was actually done even earlier. This is what we have heard in the Gospel. Jesus sent 72 people in pairs to bring peace to the many homes that they will visit. Jesus is, certainly, aware that our homes are in need of peace. This was the mission of the 72 people sent ahead, to bring peace and to bring Jesus himself to their homes.
This is the promise fulfilled in Jesus as what has been prophesied by Isaiah. Jesus is the peace, the comfort and the confidence that God promised. This peace brings openness to God’s friendship and God’s healing.
But let us remember, Jesus needed the help of his disciples to bring peace to many homes. This reveals to us now that preaching and being a witness of Jesus is not just limited to the closed group of the 12 apostles. This means that everyone of us is being sent by the Lord to preach, to bring peace and to bring healing wherever we are.
Indeed, the promise of peace, confidence and prosperity are not fulfilled outside of us but, through us and within us. The confidence and peace that Paul was telling about was not an outside experience, but rather, Paul himself experienced it personally. It is through his personal encounter with the risen Jesus.
The 72 people were able to bring peace to many homes, not because of an outside influence but it was coming from their personal relationship with Jesus. The presence of Jesus in their life allowed them to become agents of peace and healing.
This is where we now find the invitations for us this Sunday.
First, Jesus calls us and sends us to be part of that fulfillment of the promise of peace and abundance in our families and communities. The Lord, certainly, fulfills his promise through us and with us. Peace is achieved not outside of us. Confidence is attained not apart from us. This tells us again that God’s wonders are made through us and with us.
Indeed, God desires that we become part in making and working wonderful things in this world. This involves bringing peace and healing to our troubled and wounded homes, relationships and communities.
Second, Jesus reminds us too that by being part of God’s work, let not material things and our other insecurities trouble us, limit us and hinder us.Paul also did the same thing. He did not allow anyone and anything to trouble him and remove him from the peace that he experienced from Jesus. Let us not allow our complains and anger, hate and bitterness with one another and even our insecurities to steal from us the peace that Jesus has given to us. Let us rather allow the joy of having Jesus in our life to empower us in bringing peace and healing. Kabay pa.
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The LORD has removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies; The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear. On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged! The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals.
Gospel Reading : Lk 1:39
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
St. Luke described to us the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. He included this story in his Gospel to bring a message to a particular Christian community to which Luke was in-charge. What we can learn from this particular passage of the Gospel of Luke is the role of Mary in the Christian Community.
Even at that early stage of the Christian faith, Mary had already become a mother and a model to every disciple of the Lord. Mary who received the Lord in her womb and in her whole life manifested in her actions the wonders of God done unto her. She became a model of charity and service to others which is an expression of bringing the Lord to others. This is clear enough in Mary’s willing heart to help her cousin, Elizabeth.
The exchange of greetings between these two women was the amazing thing we find in the Gospel. Luke described to us how the baby in the womb of Elizabeth leaped with joy upon hearing the voice of Mary. Mary, the THEOTOKOS or bearer of God, brought such great joy to Elizabeth and to her baby in the womb.
Mary’s visit was certainly God’s visitation to Elizabeth, to her baby and to Zechariah. God visited them through Mary. And this is what our theme for the Feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help is all about, “Mary’s Visit is God’s Presence: Our Call for Mission Today.”
On this feast of the Visitation, we who are disciples of the Lord are reminded to be like Mary, to be charitable in our words and actions, to be aware of those who are in need of assistance, to be at the service of others especially those who are most in need of our help. In that way, we bring the Lord to them, we let others feel God’s presence through us and this is our mission as devotees of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
Indeed, each of us has that capacity to bring God’s presence to others. The Lord is with us, he is with you and with me; he is in our midst, as the Book of the Prophet Zephaniah tells us. Thus, as Christians we are called to make a stand and to be aware of what is happening around us – not just within our small community but also in the wider picture of our society.
It means that we are called to be socially aware and not to remain indifferent to the difficulties of our sisters and brothers. That is why, when we are indifferent to the difficulties of others, there is surely something wrong with our Christian life. It is good then to ask ourselves, are we socially aware or indifferent to the plight of the poor, the weak and the oppressed?
In concrete terms and in small ways, a challenge is given to us now and that is to become God’s presence to others. It would be good then to remember those people whom we have not visited for a long time. Visit them if possible. Remember also those people we know who will surely need our help, or recognize the people around us who need help from us in one way or another. Then, in hope, we may be able to let them feel God’s presence through us, through our generous words and service. Kabay pa.
What would usually stop us from dreaming and hoping? What would usually prevent us from learning new things, from adapting change, from being creative and innovative? What would usually hinder us from fully committing ourselves and fully giving ourselves for others? What stops us from being truly free?
There could be more similar questions like these in your mind. Questions and concerns that limit us, hinder us and make us prisoners of our own fears. Yes, what we might find deep within us is this fear that shackles our spirit, our heart, and our very person to be truly free and life-giving.
Thus, Fear of being not accepted, of being rejected, and thus, of being hurt prevents us from being free, from sharing and opening up ourselves to and for others.
This is how we find that a traumatic or a painful experience of abuse in whatever form that is, or of betrayal, of failures, shame and guilt, or of separation and death – can paralyze our relationships, damage our self-esteem and hinder our maturity in all aspects of life that basically include the emotional-mental, spiritual and social aspects of life.
However, God desires that we become fully human according to God’s image, and that is by being truly free and having developed our full potentials as persons in all aspect of our life.
St. Irenaeus whose memorial we celebrate today, was bishop and a martyr in the Second Century. According to him, creation including us, every man and woman is not sinful by nature but only distorted by our sins. Moreover, he also said, that “the glory of God is to see every man and woman fully alive.” This means that indeed it is God’s desire that we will live life to the fullest expressed by being free, by being mature and by being able to develop our full potentials and building healthy relationships.
Yet, we are also aware that there could be hindrances in this vision of living life fully. Hence, it is good that we acknowledge them so that we will also be able to know on how we shall address them, healthily and maturely. And it is good that we do this, as all of you guys are about to end your academic year and move up to the next level of your academic studies. So, allow me now to bring you deeper into our readings today and let us discover together how God calls us today to become free from fear.
The Gospel of Matthew that has been proclaimed to us today tells us about the terrified situation of the disciples. “Why are you so afraid, you of little faith?” Jesus asked his disciples when they woke him up because they were terrified by the storm that was sweeping their boat. They were terrified because they thought they would all perish at that moment. The violent storm was too overwhelming for them that they did not know what to do anymore. The boat was being swamped by waves. And they were filled with fear.
This tells us that fear can actually paralyze us. Fear can prevent us in making movements and in making sound decisions.
Consequently, fear can also breed two unhealthy attitudes of the heart. First is STAGNATION. The second is COMPLACENCY.
There will be times that we become stagnant in life that we do not know what to do. The failures that we experience, the pain and the hurts that we are enduring could make us become stagnant especially, when these things are all being experienced at home, with our friends and with our community. Stagnation is not being able to move and go ahead. This tells us that when we become stagnant in life, we too become lifeless because we stopped from being creative and imaginative.
Second, we may become complacent, not wanting to move and go beyond, and not wanting to grow and mature perhaps because we have become comfortable to the point that we do not want to be challenged. Complacency is an attitude that settles to what is only minimal, staying always to what is only safe and easy for us. Though, it seems that complacency is not that bad, however, when complacency also affects our perspective in life and ways of thinking, then, it also affects the way we relate with others and the way we share our life with others. In fact, when we become complacent, we will refuse to do more, to be more and share more of ourselves to others. Being complacent will make us then, cold, unmoved and indifferent to the needs around us because we become self-centered.
These two unhealthy attitudes of the heart caused by our fear could also make us controlling and demanding in our relationships to the point that we direct others on how they should treat us, or accommodate us and love us according to how we want it to be. We do not think of others then, because we do not want any compromise. We only think of ourselves, locked in those painful past but terrified of the present.
Furthermore, the fear in us is also God’s entry point to bring renewal into our terrified hearts, to bring true comfort and freedom in us. Thus, going back to the Gospel story, Matthew also tells us that while the storm was sweeping the boat and the disciples were terrified by it, Jesus was fast asleep. Jesus was there in the boat with his disciples but sleeping. It seemed that Jesus was not so concerned with the violent storm. He was actually confident that they would arrive at their destination safe and sound. Therefore, the Lord calls us today to take these two important lessons that are also your take aways today.
First, do not forget that the Lord is with you. The forgetfulness of the disciples that Jesus was with them brought them tremendous fear and anxiety. They forgot that Jesus was in the boat and that their Lord was with them on that journey. Consequently, they have actually taken for granted the very presence of Jesus in their life. This is an invitation for the disciples to always recognize the presence of Jesus.
To each of us today, this is an invitation to recognize Jesus in our journey. The Lord is not distant. He is to be found and He is journeying with us, with you guys, to each of you! Thus, unawareness of God’s presence in us will only bring us fear, anxiety and uncertainty. When we become fearful, anxious and uncertain, then, we will be paralyzed mentally and spiritually. It will be very difficult for us to move on and to find opportunities for growth because we will tend to focus on the storm, on our fears rather on Jesus who is with us.
Second, the Lord confronts us with his presence. Because of the terrifying situation of the disciples, it became an opportunity for Jesus to reveal Himself as Lord and Savior. At this revelation Jesus assured his disciples that his presence brings comfort and peace, calmness and confidence. At the same time, the Lord’s presence also is confronting. Jesus confronts the fears and the little faith of his disciples. This is the reason why it was not only the wind and the sea that calmed down but also the terrified and anxious hearts of the disciples.
This reveals to us now that the presence of Jesus brings assurance and confidence in us. The disciples calmed down and found peace because at last, they have recognized the presence of Jesus who was there in that boat.
This invites us again to recognize the comforting and peaceful presence of Jesus in our life. Let us also allow Jesus to confront us especially our doubts and fears, and even our selfish, unkind and ungenerous actions and words. Do not walk-out and hide when we are confronted of our sins and failures, those are opportunities for growth. By being able to recognize Jesus and confront ourselves then we shall certainly find peace and calmness, confidence and assurance in Jesus. Kabay pa.
As we grow older, we also develop fondness and attachments to few or many things, people, events and even memories of our past. This fondness and attachments could just because of our liking or comfort and pleasure. But to a deeper level, we have grown attached to it because it fills our emptiness, it satisfies our deep longing, and pampers our deepest desire.
However, when we are not conscious of these, such attachments that we have developed could make us stagnant, uncompromising, and indifferent to the point that our attachments to things, people, belief or memories become an obsession.
In fact, the younger generation today may have more chances to be more fixated and attached to things. Like for example, it is a common sight today of parents allowing their young children as early as 2 or 3 years old playing with smartphones, iPads or tablets to be entertained and to keep the child occupied. Perhaps because parents are multi-tasking and of the amount of workloads they have, that they cannot be always available to their small child. Thus, giving a smartphone to them would be the most convenient to do and to let these gadgets do the babysitting.
However, when this is not regulated and parents are not mindful enough of its effect to the child, the child may also grow a deeper attachment to gadgets that when a gadget is taken away, the child could throw an endless tantrum. That deeper attachment to a gadget of a child will be intensified when physical presence of parents is deprived in the formative years of the child. Consequently, gadgets fill up that emptiness in a child and satisfy the longing from a child to his or her parents.
Our attachments, whatever they may be – things, people or memories, that also become an obsession to us, could hamper the quality of our relationships with one another and of our freedom to be available for others and for God.
On this 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, our readings invite us to look at ourselves, to look at our attachments and to examine the quality of our commitment in our relationships with others and with God. Thus, allow me now to go a bit deeper into our readings today and let us see how God invites us to be free and to be more available.
St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians acknowledges that Christ sets us free from the yoke of slavery. This yoke of slavery is our very attachments to things, to pleasure and to comfort that only satisfy oneself but indifferent to the needs of others. St. Paul further reminds us that this can be very dangerous because we will never be satisfied but rather will only go on biting and devouring one another. Though this sounds horrifying, but Paul wants to tell us that when selfishness fills our heart, then we also become corrupt and vicious in our relationship with one another. Accordingly, for St. Paul, this is not true freedom but slavery. Freedom, as St. Paul reminds us, is to be able to serve one another through love.
This is what Jesus is trying to teach to his disciples especially when James and John suggested to him to call fire from heaven and to consume a Samaritan Village. The reaction of James and John tells us of a fixation to power and authority. As disciples of the Lord, the two could have also grown entitled who wanted to assert their power and authority to people who did not belong to their group. Yet, Jesus reprimanded them because power and authority is not about being able to punish people or to become destructive and cruel to those who are against us. Power and authority is freedom to give life, to inspire life and motivate life in the community. Thus, when we ourselves become obsessed with power and authority, we also become entitled, demanding and abusive in our relationships. And this happens in our homes, workplaces, organizations and communities. Indeed, beware that we will not be consumed by this obsession.
Moreover, Jesus points us another aspect of being free and that is in following him. Many expressed that they want to follow him, yet, because of their personal attachments to comfort, to people and other things in life, they cannot fully commit to the Lord. Jesus calls us that in order to follow him whether in religious life, in married life or in friendship is to fully commit ourselves. This calls us also to detach ourselves from whatever that prevents us to be more available in our commitment.
This is what Elisha shows us in the first reading from the First Book of Kings. Elisha who was called to follow Prophet Elijah gave up his attachments in life symbolized in slaughtering his oxen and giving it to people to eat. This was his form of giving up and detaching from what would prevent him from responding to the call of God through Elijah. Elisha made himself free so that he will be available for God and for the ministry he was called to do.
Now, there are at least three take aways that I want you to bring home today.
First, acknowledge our attachments, fixations and obsessions that prevent us from being free. This could be a thing, a person, a belief, an opinion or a particular unreconciled memory of our past. As we recognize them, may we come to realize and get hold to what really satisfies us, to what truly gives us life and freedom. Thus, may we always come to the point that it is Christ who sets us free, that it is God who fills our emptiness and longing in our heart, and who heals our broken hearts.
Second, slowly but consciously detach from those attachments, fixations and obsessions. It won’t be easy to stop an old habit already engrossed in our subconscious. Thus, we also need people to accompany us and to help us in order to remind and motivate us. In case we need a professional help, then, seek that help.
Third, humbly serve others by being physically and mentally present. St. Paul tells us that we are called for freedom, not to serve our ego, but to serve one another through love. Let this be a reminder to all us, to parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, collogues, ministers and religious that it is in a loving-service and not in controlling and manipulating others that we find true freedom and that we are able to give life. Kabay pa.
A DOSE OF GOD TODAY 