Once we happened to be night driving from Sagada to Baguio City. As we were fast approaching the city at around three o’ clock in the morning, we got lost looking for traffic signs. We happened to see a police outpost & we asked the police: “Sir, where is the road going to Baguio?” And the police officer replied: “This is already Baguio.” We realized how foolish we are looking for signs that we missed what is obvious – that we are already in Baguio.
In our gospel today, the Pharisees try to test Jesus by asking for a sign from heaven. It seems they have missed a lot of signs & miracles already revealed, like the healings of people, casting out of demons, feeding of thousands, & countless of people following Jesus. Great things have been already happening in their presence but they still look for signs. They are yet to recognize God is in all things, already surrounding us with signs of His presence & love.
Somehow during these pandemic times, like the Pharisees, we may have found ourselves searching for a sign from heaven. We may have asked & looked where God in all these things going on & happening to us.
Be as it may. Jesus however said: “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generations.” Beyond his frustration & exasperation, Jesus is telling us here that we don’t need anymore signs, for His presence is better enough than what we are looking & searching in life. All we have to do is just to look, recognize & believe in Him who is God’s way, will, & plan for us.
True indeed, we may concern & worry ourselves with signs, that we may have missed the obvious presence & blessing already upon us. Remember that God’s graces are not only about the blessings we ask & look for in life but moreso about Jesus, the source of our blessings already given us & have with us – better & beyond than what we ask for, though yet to be recognized & accepted into our lives.
So, stop looking for signs, rather, Start looking at Jesus.
In other words: “If you cannot sleep, stop counting sheep. Talk to the Shepherd.”
“How are you? Fine! And you? OK” (Kamusta na? Ok. Ikaw? Ok lang”).
Usually, we say these words of greeting to express our concern for the health and wellbeing of others, and in recognition that all of us are & can be subject to hurts, pains, and sicknesses in life. Even the healthiest of us live with fear of accidents and diseases, which can suddenly place us on the sidelines. Nobody likes to get sick. But nobody can claim that they have never been sick in life before. Sickness cannot be denied. To get & be sick is part of our human nature. Normal for us then to ask about the health and wellbeing of others whom we have not seen for a while, and meet once again.
But what does it mean to be sick? Experience teaches us that to be sick is more than just an experience of physical illness but a wide range of emotional, mental, psychological, and spiritual diseases. Whenever we get sick, we become incapacitated and limited. We feel dependent, depressed, irritable, helpless and sometimes isolated and alienated from others, and even feel abandoned by God. We know that it is difficult to get sick, especially when we are used to live our life independently and always in-control. Sickness is indeed a dreadful experience, as what was also described in our readings today.
In our gospel today, we may realize that our life-experiences of sickness, though dreadful and difficult, could also be opportunities and another chance for growth and life.
First, sickness can be the opportunity to be converted. The leper came to Jesus. Coming to Jesus is an experience of conversion – instead of turning away from, it is a turning back and toward Jesus. Whenever we get sick, we usually cease from our usual routine, go home, and take a rest. It is in sickness that we need to have a break and be with ourselves & with our God in Jesus, as our Psalm would say: In time of trouble, I turn to you, Lord.”
Sickness can also be the opportunity to have faith and trust in God and others. The leper begged to Jesus, “If you will, you can make me clean”. It is not normal for us to be helpless and dependent on others. We rather be in-control and not needing others. But to be sick is humbling indeed for we really need to stop being independent and on your own, and have to trust on others’ love and care again. In sickness, we thus surrender ourselves and humbly ask for and rely on God’s mercy and providence through others. Amusingly: “Kon maayong lawas: Disco-disco; kon masakit, “Dios Ko-Dios Ko”. PagMalusog- Disco, PagMay-sakit: -Dios ko. In health: Disco, in sickness: My God”
Nevertheless, sickness can also be the opportunity to be cleansed and be healed. In sickness, we witness and experience God’s mercy, love, goodness, and miracles working in us – happening to us. That through our faith and Jesus’ concern for us, God’s power and love is made known to us and others. In our weakness and sickness, God through Jesus wills our healing & His power and glory is thus revealed in us.
Sickness can be opportunity to be reconciled – i.e. to makes things right- with others. Jesus asks the leper to show himself to the priest and offer himself to the Church. Through the sacrament of anointing and reconciliation, we offer ourselves back to God’s church and renew our promises before the Lord.
And lastly sickness can be an opportunity to proclaim our faith – to share our experience of sickness and healing. Just like the cured leper, our healing from sickness makes us express and share our faith to others.
To be sick then can be the opportunities for Christian conversion, faith, healing, reconciliation & mission.
In other words, getting and being sick can be all about “Second Chances” – another chance for God through others to love and take care of us again, and another chance for us to make things right and better for us & others again & anew.
Yes, nobody wants to get sick. And we try not to get sick. But whenever we got sick, take it not as disgrace but rather as “a blessing in disguise” – an opportunity and chance for God’s glory to be revealed in Us and through Us.
In this Eucharist, may our hearts & love be with those who are sick and suffering any illnesses at this time in their homes & at the hospitals. During these pandemic times, may our prayers be also with Jesus who prays to our Father, “Take this cup of suffering away from me, However, not my will, but Your will be Done.”
In social media, one may publicly publish one’s relationship status. This is more than just about our civil status or legal relationship status as single, married, engaged, widow or separated person, but more so about a short description of the state of one’s relationship with significant others in the society. And there are many ways people would describe in their profile their own relationship status in social media. Not only the usual “in-love, committed, happily married,” others would even post some double meaning descriptions like, “complicated, looking & searching, available, negotiable, available but non-negotiable, negotiable but non-available” among others.
All of these are just but reflections that fundamentally as human persons, we are in relationship with others. By nature we are not solitary alone being, but social beings – social animals who are in relationship with others & one another. Our creation story in our first reading today is a reminder that God has created us as related & inter-related with our world & with one another. Lahat tayo ay magkaugnay. And God knows that it is not good for us to be alone, & thus, he looks for our suitable partners in life. Human social being as we are, somehow, we should have our own relationship status in life that would describe the state of our relationship with an-other & others.
Social being as we are, we should also however, be reminded that we are spiritual being. As much as we are in relationship with others, we are also in relationship with God. If we have a relationship status, we should also have our own faith status that would describe the state of our relationship with God in life.
We may realize the need for faith status beyond relationship status in our gospel today. Surely Jesus & the Greek woman shares distinct social & relationship status. Di sila magkaugnay. Dili sila mag-abot. By culture, birth, civil status, race, and gender, there are both unsuitable to one another. However, both share the same quality of faith. By their relationship with God, they can relate with one another. They share the same deep faith in God regardless of their relationship & social status, and in effect, healing & miracle happened.
While we concern ourselves with our social life & relationship status, perhaps we should also consider our faith status? What is the state of our relationship with God? How would we describe the state of our relationship with God? How is our spiritual life?
Today, we honor our Lady of Lourdes. The apparition of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception at Lourdes, France is a constant reminder of our Mama Mary to us that we do have our spiritual life, that we are in relationship with God, that we have & should grow in our faith status in life & only through then miracles & healing do happen in our world & life.
O, Kamusta na? Nakakahinga pa? Ginhawa pa? Still breathing?
With a lot of things happening & going on, to say the least, life nowadays is and can be suffocating. We do find ourselves at times breathless & drowning with a lot of restrictions & limitations that even it takes a lot of effort for us to do simple things as natural as breathing. Wearing face masks & shields outdoor limits us to breath naturally & renders us at times gasping for our breath. So, Jal Jineazoyo? How are you? Are you well, okay? Still breathing?
After putting order into chaos, through his breath, God in our first reading creates life. Yes, by means of his “pneuma” – His breath, God has created, creates, & will continue to create life. All the blessings, graces, & good we have always in life are created by God through His breath. When God breathes, life is created, nourished, protected & sustained. And through the Pneuma – the Spirit of His resurrected Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, God continues to create & renew our Life now & always.
As God continues to do so, however, His creative & creating actions are also hindered by our human ways & traditions.
From our gospel today, we get a sense of how limited & limiting it is for Jesus to continue to God’s work of creation in our lives. While Jesus proclaims & partakes God’s blessing of creation and redemption for all, people then were only concerned about limits, boundaries & restriction as to the proper norms & practices based on traditions. Here we get a glimpse of the tension between God’s offer of fullness of Life and the restrictions of our human ways & standards. Somehow God is giving us His breath – air to breath & live, but we are still struggling on how to breath naturally. We concern ourselves as to how to control our breathing that we are missing & wasting the air, breath, life being given us. That is why Jesus cannot help but to complain: “You nullify God’s word (ways & means) in favor of your tradition you have handed on.” Instead of cooperating in God’s creation, we try to program, limit, control, & restrict His offer of life by our handed-on traditions & practices. Thus, when God breathes, life is created & given us. But when we program & control our breathing, we limit & restrict life and creation.
Be conscious then of our handed-on traditions & standards we expect from life itself for it might not be of God’s life-giving Breath but of our own self-imposed impaling restrictions & limitations. And then, when things are suffocating & breathless, don’t forget to breath. Breath in God’s offer of life to us. Let His Pneuma, breath, Spirit flow into our whole being. Allow it to transform & renew us, rather than be restricted, drowned & strangled by our human traditions & standards.
A group of barangay leaders once went to attend a week-long seminar on leadership and public service. Since they have heard a lot about the speaker of their seminar, they looked forward meeting him hoping that they could learn some new wisdom about leadership and service. As they arrived at the venue, they happen to see a simple man around, and ordered him to bring their luggage to their respective rooms. The man obligingly obeyed their order. And off they went visiting other sites since they still have more time to spend before the seminar. As the seminar begins, much to their dismay, they were all ashamed of themselves because the man whom they asked to bring their luggage to their rooms is the very guest speaker himself.
We hear from our gospel today Jesus responding to the immediate needs of the people. As he arrived in Peter’s house, Jesus healed the fever of Peter’s mother-in-law, and until nighttime he cured all the sick people of the community. Yes, Jesus is indeed a compassionate healer, who reaches out and responds to the needs of the people. But we must also know that in responding to people’s need, Jesus also have to stop and leave them, so that he can continue his mission. Though he is a frontline healer, for Jesus, His main mission is to preach and spread the Good News and to build God’s Kingdom, rather than just responding to the immediate needs of the people.
Jesus is more than just a healer of life but he is The Giver of life. He is more than just trouble-shooter or mechanics but he is the engineer or builder. He is more than just our “kargador” but he is the guest speaker himself. Jesus is the Life-giver Himself, more than just our frontline healer. He is God’s offer of Life than mere health to us.
Like the people of his time, sometimes we only recognize Jesus as he heals and responds to our immediate need. So that we may be happy, we only want Jesus to satisfy our urgent needs. We want Jesus to create miracles or magics, to ease our pain and free us from our life’s loads and burdens. Like those baranggay leaders, at times we may have considered Jesus only as our “Kargador” baggage-carrier to lighten our loads, serve our needs and ease our pains. Sometime in life, we see Jesus as a mere gasoline station – we recognize Him only whenever we need Him, when we run out of gas. Sometimes, we need Jesus to be just our caregiver who should readily respond to our immediate needs – without caring about the message He preached, story to tell, role to play in our lives as well as His life and mission to partake & live with us.
Well, surely Jesus will respond hands-on and on-hand to our needs and hope, for He do know what we need & what we are going through in life. But Jesus can offer us more than just carrying our burden. He is the guest speaker who offers us more than just lightening our loads, cure our sicknesses, free us from our problems or filling-up our gasoline tank. Jesus comes to us to renew our lives and offer us God’s kingdom. His mission is to preach the Good News of Salvation. He came not only to respond to our immediate petty needs but to heal and recreate our land and the world now. He comes so that we may have life – life to its fullness, and not just life to our satisfaction.
Be reminded then of what Jesus say to us in our gospel today, “Let us move on to the neighboring villages so that I may proclaim the good there also. That is what I have come to do.”
In this Eucharist, we pray that our faith in Jesus moves us not to limit & abuse God’s graces for us, but rather move us to be more open & trusting to God’s plans & will for us now during these pandemic times, and thus participate fully in the Mission of Jesus of sharing God’s offer of Life & Salvation to all in our world now & always. Amen.
A DOSE OF GOD TODAY 