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  • Be A Witness

    Be A Witness

    April 4, 2021 – Easter Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040421.cfm)

    Alleluia. The Lord Has Risen. Alleluia. Happy Easter to All.

    Holy Week has just finished. Easter Season has just get started. We come to realize now that our story of salvation is more than just about us, but all about God and what He has done for us through our Risen Lord Jesus Christ. Our redemption & faith-life now are more than just about what we have done in life but rather what Christ has done for us. Remember Jesus on the cross did not say: “I am finished” but rather said, “It is finished.” He has just getting started. So, Abangan. Beware. Be Aware. There are still more yet to come & to happen to us and for our life ahead. Brace ourselves then for God is not finished with us Yet.

    As the Lord has risen now & always in our lives, ours now is to be a witness to God’s acts & messages yet to happen in our lives. Since God is not finished with us yet, ours now is to bear witness what is yet to be revealed in our lives now through our risen Lord.

    For what is it to be a witness? Like a witness to an event or an incident & like those who first witnesses of the Lord’s resurrection in our gospel today, to be a witness and to bear witness is….

    First, to experience first-hand what is being & yet to happen & be revealed. Mary Magdalene, Peter & the beloved disciple saw in person the burial cloth left on an empty tomb. Important thus is the personal direct encounter– what you see, hear, think & feel of the incident & God’s actions in our lives. Second, to allow the incident to happen as it unfolds. We are but bystander witnesses and not active actors. Like Peter, never tamper the scene & evidences or control/program the incident for if so, you become an accomplish – a compromised witness. Third, to allow the incident affect, disturb & move you. Useless is the incident if it has no effect & meaning to you. The other disciple went in, saw & believed. What he experienced makes him realize & understand now (as Paul would call, from above) the meaning of the empty tomb & the rising from the dead. Lastly, to be a witness is to testify to others what you have experienced. Mary Magdalene saw and told others. As in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter & other disciples shared & testified to others what they experienced & believed. What we witnessed & believed then must be claim & proclaim, given & shared with others, so that others may also witness the risen Lord in us from & through what we have witnessed & believed.

    As Easter People – believers & proclaimers of the Lord’s resurrection, we now bear witness to our faith by our personal & communal experience of God’s continuing work in us, by our obedient participation to His plans & ways, by being transformed by our encounter of God’s revelation & by sharing to others what we have received by the testimony of our faith in the risen Lord.

    In the same spirit & attitude, today we also begin our year-long celebration of our five decades of Filipino Christianity this year. With deep gratitude, we thank our Father for continually revealing Himself to us, doing His work of salvation to us, and making us witness & bear witness to what the Lord Jesus Christ has done & continually doing for us now. We are indeed gifted with Filipino Christian faith. This is the time the Lord has made. We rejoice & we are glad.

    With the risen Lord, we believe that there are more yet to come & happen in our lives now and ahead. The risen Lord is not finished with us yet. With this, we, Filipino Catholics pray that may we always be worthy & fruitful witnesses of the risen Lord to our world here & abroad today & always.

    So Help us God. So May it be. Amen.  

  • WHO ARE WE IN THE PASSION OF CHRIST?

    WHO ARE WE IN THE PASSION OF CHRIST?

    March 28, 2021 – Palm Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032821.cfm)

    Four newly-ordained priests were summoned by the bishop for their first assignment. The bishop said, “Now, my sons, after all your theological studies and ordination as well as few months’ vacation, I am sure, you are all ready and excited for your new assignment. But before I give you your parish assignment, I would like to put you into a simple test. Choose one item from this table”. First one chose a pebble, the next, a ball of cotton, the other, a clay, and the last, a cube of sugar. Then the bishop said: “put your item into a glass of water and observe”. The pebble gets wet and making the water increases its volume. The cotton ball absorbs the water thus, lessen the water volume. The clay dissolves but polluted the water. The sugar dissolves in the water.

    The bishop then told them, “this simple exercise is plain illustration of what kind of pastor may you will be in your new assigned parish. You can be like a pebble, except for being a new member; your presence adds nothing to you and the community. Your indifference does not help the faith and growth of the community, as well as yours. You may also become cotton, who joins in the community but your presence absorbs the community. Your selfishness and self-centeredness weaken and lessen the faith life of the community. You may also become clay, where you easily dissolve in the community but you contaminate the community with your negative pessimistic evil and sinful ways. But you may also become a sugar in the community, who easily fits in and with your gentle presence, one could not distinguish you from the community, except when tasted, you make the community sweet and drinkable. So what kind of priest will you be in the community?

    Perhaps, the question is also true with: what kind of church member am I? am I like the indifferent stone, who does not care? Am I the self-absorbing cotton, who sucks all the energy of the community? Am I the dirty-clay who contaminates the community with my negative attitude? Or am I a sugar who makes the community sweet and drinkable.

    Again, in our rather long gospel today, we have heard the drama of the last days of Jesus. We are again reminded of the sufferings Jesus had gone through so that we may live and be saved. Jesus suffered a lot to the point of giving up his life so that we may live and realized God’s great love for each one of us.

    However, the suffering of Jesus did not begin on the cross or in the garden of Gethsemane. More than the thorns and nails were the sufferings of abandonment, rejection and betrayal of his community and his friends. The fact that these are psychological pains & sufferings does not make them any less real.

    In today’s Gospel reading of the passion of the Lord, we have the Lord at table with His closest friends, with His community, His church. There were the ones with whom He shared everything He was and hoped for. Yet even from them, one would rise and leave to betray Him. We cannot help but feel that pangs of sadness, which stabbed the heart of Jesus when He heard the door close and heard the steps of His betrayer hurry on their mission. More than any physical pain, the rejection and refusal of people, his community to accept His love was hurting to the Lord.

    We have no reason to believe that such pain in the Lord is over. He has indeed risen and no thorn or nail can harm His risen and transformed body. But the pains of refusal and rejection of Jesus remain through our own refusal, rejection, sinfulness, indifferences, and insensitivity for other, within our community. Jesus also is still experiencing the suffering we have encountered in our relationship within the community.

    In this sense, the passion of Christ continues in our own day.

    Who are we then in the passion of Christ? Are we the heartless stone who does not care? Or the self-absorbed cotton who cares only about ourselves? Or the contaminated clay who infects virus to others? Or the self-dissolving sugar who contributes to make our life better and meaningful?

    May we have a fruitful and meaningful celebration of Holy Week this year.

    So Help us God. So May it Be. Amen.

  • MISUNDERSTOOD GOD

    MISUNDERSTOOD GOD

    March 22, 2021 – Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032321.cfm)

    A motivational speaker Terry Mark once said, “The world today is ruined more by misunderstanding than by hatred. Hatred is born out of misunderstanding”.

    Misunderstanding is something we are most familiar with in life. True indeed we know how bad it is when we misunderstand things. And we know how much worse it is when we are being misunderstood and to be misunderstood by others. Misunderstanding is indeed dangerous, can caused havoc and hatred among us people and can even jeopardize our faith in God.   

    Our readings today are also about misunderstanding.

    Worn out by their journey, the Israelites misunderstood God’s intentions and actions of saving them from slavery in Egypt. They resorted instead to complaining & grumbling against God & Moses. Thus, they were punished for their lack of faith & trust in God with pestilence of poisonous & deadly snake bites. As they understood & realized their own mistake, they begged for God’s mercy & received God’s protection from the punishment of death, by gazing towards the bronze serpent mounted on the pole whenever they are bitten by the deathly snakes.  Take note, God did not erase their punishment & misfortunes, but required them instead to gaze upon & believe in God’s cure or antidote to protect & spare them from pestilence death.

    In our gospel today, Jesus is also very much misunderstood by the people. The people simply cannot and did not get to understand Jesus. Jesus already explicitly said: “For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins… When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM.” Yes, Jesus is the “I AM” – the one lifted up & must be believe and trusted so that we might not die from our sins. He is the God’s cure and antidote to our sins & punishment. He is the bronze serpent mounted on the pole that will save us from the curse of our sins if & when in life we gaze upon & believe in Him.

    Those who believed Jesus understands. Those who understood Jesus believes. But those who cannot believe misunderstood Jesus… those who misunderstands cannot believe Jesus.

    And the more we misunderstand God & one-another, the more we cannot believe in God & the more we ruin our own lives & each other’s lives. And that is why we should be conscious of the danger misunderstanding in our lives. It can cause havoc to our world & to our faith in God.

    Consider this… Since last year, we have been praying for a medicine for Covid-19 pandemic. We have been praying for God’s intervention to save & spare us from this pandemic & to protect us from the spreading virus. Now that vaccines are available, misinformation & misunderstanding abound as to the efficacy of the said available vaccines. Doubts, fears, concerns, questions are on the rise. God is already intervening & has intervened but we still cannot believe because we miss to understand. Pope Francis said that to be vaccinated is our moral obligation, “morally everyone must take the vaccine… it is the moral choice because it is about your life… but also the lives of others.” In other words, take the vaccine not only to protect & cure oneself but to help protect & cure our world. And regardless how politicized and economized it is, understand & believe then that what we have now is God’s intervention & action for us now.

    Pardon our grumblings & foolishness, Lord. Make us understand that as you said, I AM – that you are God’s saving acts for our healing & redemption, and that we may believe & have more trust in God now & always.

    So Help us God. So May it Be. Amen.  

  • TO SEE JESUS IS TO BELIEVE IN JESUS

    TO SEE JESUS IS TO BELIEVE IN JESUS

    March 21, 2021 – Fifth Sunday of Lent

    by Fr. Manoling Thomas, CSsR

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032121-YearB.cfm)

    Today’s Gospel begins with “some Greeks” approaching Philip with a request: “to see” Jesus! The Greek word used means: “to visit or to meet with.” But for John “to see Jesus” means “to believe in Jesus”! So these Greeks really wanted “to believe in Jesus”. The Gospel never told us whether they actually had the chance “to see” Jesus! But these two statements of Jesus in today’s Gospel provide us the answer. Jesus said:  1) “Very truly, I tell you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit.” [Jn. 12:24]; and 2) “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” [Jn. 12:32]

    “Very truly, I tell you unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit.”

    From Grades One to Four, I studied at the public school in my hometown. To take a “short-cut” to and from the school, we had to pass through rice paddies! I remember being fascinated observing the cycle of growth of these rice planted there! First the palay seeds were sown in a small section of the rice field. When the rice seedlings had sprouted and grown up to a foot, these were carefully transplanted by rows to the rice paddies. As these seedlings continue to grow, they start to bear flowers, which turned into bunches of new grains. These green bunches of grains turn golden, and soon they are ready for harvest!

    Although Jesus’ imagery was about “the grain of wheat”, but I could imagine that the process of growth has some similarity to the rice! Jesus is the “grain of wheat”. Jesus is talking about himself: his dying, burial, and rising up again! Jesus’ death and resurrection brought about “the plentiful harvest of redemption” just like the grain of wheat, or rice! Jesus had to let go of his life and to die, before the rich harvest of salvation for humankind could take place!

    “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

    The phrase, “to be lifted up” in John has a double meaning! This phrase refers to both Jesus’ crucifixion, and resurrection! When Jesus was crucified, he was “lifted up” from the ground. At Jesus’ resurrection, the Father “lifted” him up from death, from the ground, and from the tomb!

    These two statements of Jesus answered the request of those Greeks to Philip: “to see or to believe in Jesus”! “Seeing or believing in Jesus” could only take place after Jesus’ death and resurrection! Only after Jesus was “lifted up” that Jesus was able “to draw all people” to himself! It was only after Easter that both Jews and non-Jews began to join Jesus’ new family, new community!

    But Jesus also invites and challenges all his followers to take part in “this process of dying and rising with him” so that the yielding of a rich harvest will continue on! True disciples of Jesus, must go through the process of growth of the “grain of wheat or rice”, by letting go and by losing one’s life for the sake of Jesus and his teaching! “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” [Jn. 12:25]. If the “grain of wheat or rice” does not let go of itself allowing itself to die and be buried in the soil, it will remain on its own. There will be no rich harvest to look forward to! If Jesus did not let go of his life, there would have been no salvation for humankind! Jesus modeled a life of total surrender to the Father’s Will, for a greater good and for the service of humanity. To this kind of life, Jesus invites and challenges all would-be followers!

    “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.” [Jn.12:26]. Jesus promises, and assures us of the eternal life, that he received from the Father after his suffering and death! Jesus guarantees us that, living “the Jesus way”, will end up the way Jesus’ life ended up! Where Jesus is now, we will also be there! Just as the Father honored Jesus with his resurrection, so too will the Father honor us with that same gift!

    As we come to the end of our 40-day journey with Jesus, he asks us this question: “Do you want to continue your journey with me, until you reach your own “holy week”?  

  • Lesson from Langka

    Lesson from Langka

    March 21, 2021 – Fifth Sunday of Lent

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032121-YearB.cfm)

    Fruit-bearing process of Jackfruit tree is indeed amazing.

    Summertime during my childhood days, my parents used to ask me to strike with a bolo the trunk of the jackfruit tree, (we call langka), so that its tree would bear much fruits. It had always been a mystery to me why, if you scratch or peel off its trunk’s skin, thus, releasing white juices (in a way inflicting pain or wounds around its trunk), would a langka, jackfruit tree bears much fruit. Simply put, why would a jackfruit tree bear much fruit, if one cut and injure the jackfruit tree? Bakit ba namumunga ang puno nga langka pagsinugatan mo ito?“Nganong mamunga man ang punu-an sa langka kon imong samad-samaran ang lawas sa iyang punu-an?”

    For us Filipino, this has been a common practice – for jackfruit to bear much fruit, we cut or scratch the skin of its trunk.   And most of the time, our parents or elders could not explain why it happens. Usually, they would just rationalize that it has been done before and it worked, and it will be like that always. Well, it does work & we definitely enjoy its fruits.

    But if we try to observe closely the fruit-bearing process of a nangka tree, we realize that in order for it to bear much fruits, it is necessary for the nangka tree to undergo such painful process of scratching & peeling off some of its trunk’s skin. Because if you notice, a langka tree normally grows with a lot of leaves, leaves that usually blocks the sunlight to get in. We know then that less sunlight, there would be less chance of growing flowers, thus less chance of bearing fruits. For the sunlight to get in, thus letting flowers to grow and bear fruits, one need to lessen or trim down the volumes of leaves around the nangka tree without damaging its branches, by scratching off the trunk’s skin or inflicting wounds around the tree. Thus, when its leaves fall and sun then comes in, time will come new flowers will bloom and then will produce new fruits.

    Sometimes we do need to go through process of legitimate sacrifices & sufferings for the promise of new life to flourish in our life again & anew.

    In the same manner, our readings today have the same message. The Lords says in our first reading, “the days are coming when I will make a new covenant with them where I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Meaning, the time is near for a personal covenant with God.  Jesus in our gospel today is proclaiming us that God’s glory is about to be revealed, “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” – the good news of God’s glory is near and our salvation is at hand.

    However, for God’s glory to be revealed and our salvation to realized, we must experience legitimate sacrifices and dying. Jesus said: Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world, will preserve it for eternal life. St Paul said, Jesus himself experience sacrifices for he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears. He learned obedience from what he suffered. Like jackfruit tree, we must shed off our sins and be naked & properly exposed before the Lord, so that His glory and life will be revealed to us, & will be received by us.  

    The psychologist Karl Jung says that most mental sickness comes from the avoidance of legitimate suffering. The neurotic maneuvers we make to avoid the legitimate suffering that is part of our reality become much more painful than the original suffering would have been. Avoiding suffering & pains thus hinders us to grow fruitfully in life. For a woman to fully enjoy motherhood, she must go through and endure the sacrifice of childbearing, and suffering of childbirth. Just like the fruit-bearing process of the langka tree, our life must also undergo pain and shedding of sinful ways so that God’s light will ignite and prepare our faith for a new life. In all spheres of life, the secret of deeper joy is in delayed satisfaction and legitimate suffering.

    Season of Lent is usually the moment for our legitimate sufferings and necessary sacrifices to prepare ourselves once again to recognize and receive God’s glory into our live, that we may bloom and be fruitful anew in our Christian life.

    In review, Ash Wednesday calls us to repentance & faith, “Repent & Believe the Gospel”. 2nd Sunday of Lent, God challenges us to Listen to His Beloved Son. 3rd Sunday of Lent Jesus insists that we cleanse & consecrate our lives as God’s temple as we “stop to make His father’s house a marketplace”. 4th Sunday reminds us that we rise above ourselves to these Lenten challenges so that we may have Life eternal with God. And now on the 5th Sunday of Lent, through legitimate process life-sufferings & pains, we are to prepare & expose ourselves to openly receive & accept God’s gift of salvation for us here & now at this very juncture of our life.

    As we are now nearing towards our observance of Holy Week & celebration of Easter Triduum, may these challenges of Lent properly dispose us for the coming flower-blooming & fruit-bearing of the coming life-promises of Easter. So Help us God, So May it be. Amen.