There are people who are fond of paying more attention to trivial things and minutest details. When artists show this to their work of art, the result would really be stunning. However, when a friend or a colleague does this to us, he or she can be irritating. When we also become a person who is obsessed of paying more attention to small things and minutest details, things and people can be stressful to us as we would always find mistakes and failures.
This can also be true in the way we practice our faith and move to the tendency to give more emphasis on structures, physical elements and regulations. This is not surprising as others would always find themselves feel guilty when their prayers or devotional practices were not done properly. Thus, a person would already feel a terrible guilt because he/she fall asleep while praying the rosary. Another, would feel sinful because he/she was not able to go to a Sunday mass while being sick. Some may even judge others for not observing the proper ways of praying, in receiving communion and observing religious practices.
While it is also important to pay attention to what is physical and to structures, there is also a need to find balance. Today, Jesus reminds us to be not so over conscious and obsessed of what is merely external. Jesus invites us rather to draw our attention deeper into our hearts and minds where our intentions and motivations are to be found.
The Gospel of Mark was actually addressed to a community of Jews and non-Jews who became Christians. As these two groups of people lived together as a community, the Jews became imposing to non-Jewish Christians by controlling them to follow their ways, and I mean, external ways of doing things. To follow strictly the external practices became a controversy then. This was how Mark reminded them of the teaching of Jesus.
Jesus reminds us that what comes out from within us, matters most. Jesus pointed this out on how our evil intentions and motivations can be kept hidden within our hearts.
We might be too focused on trivial and external things in the practice our faith but then our attitude towards others is filled with insults and malice, envy and lust, or anger and hatred. Jesus wants us to examine our own motivations and intentions in the way we relate with others, in the way we perform our duties as parents, workers, leaders, professionals or as students. Jesus wants us to bring us closer to ourselves and that is to our hearts and minds so that we will also discover God within us.
Let us remember that though evil intentions and motivations can be kept hidden within our hearts, however, our hearts are also capable of nurturing goodness and kindness. Our first reading from the Book of Genesis reminds us of this today. The second account of the creation tells us that as God created us, God blew into our nostrils the breath of life. That breath of life was God’s breath of the Spirit. What gives us life and what makes us alive is God’s Spirit within us.
God is truly alive in each of us. Every time we breath in, may we remember how God breath his Spirit into us. Every time we breath out, we may also realize that we can give life to others through our sincere devotions and practice of the faith founded in God’s goodness and kindness. Hinaut pa.
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.
The Pharisees were known in the Jewish society at that time of Jesus to observe strictly the traditional and written law of Moses. They too were known to follow the law up to its most trivial like practices of washing before meal, washing the dishes and even the beds. With such strict observance of the laws, these people seemed to be filled with pretentions and feeling of superiority.
However, the integrity of their faith was in question. The sincerity of their action was doubtful. This was something that Jesus wanted them to realize. Jesus wanted this people to see that our relationship with God is not tied up in following the minutest detail of the law. Having faith is not about making others look us up because of the many rituals we do. To have faith is never about becoming self-righteous and superior from others.
Hence, Jesus confronted the Pharisees and some of those scribes with them because Jesus knew their hearts. Citing Prophet Isaiah, Jesus said referring to them, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.”
This was how Jesus pointed out the plunder and evil in the heart of these people. This means that what they were really after was not to please and worship God but to make people worship them. Again, Jesus said about them, “You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”
Thus, what is more important, then, is not our good image before the public or the praise that we get by being righteous and upright in front of the people but our heart that expresses our goodness, generosity and love.
This is what our first reading reminds us today. As God created every creature on earth, God created us in his own image and likeness. We, certainly, possess the divine image of God. Hence, suppressing or hiding those qualities given to us would be a form of injustice to the giver.
Therefore, Jesus calls us today to express the divine image in us by participating in the on-going work of God in us and in the world. Express freely the divine image in us that gives life, inspires life and creates life. In this way, we will be able to worship God truly and every day. Hinaut pa.
“Let there be light.” This was the first command of God in order to bring light to earth covered with darkness. Even until now, there are also dark spots in our life that need to be lightened. We experience pain of loss and rejection, of sickness and fear, of injustice and oppression. These areas are what we seek to be illuminated. This is the reason why we do things to overcome the pain of loss and rejection. We seek the comfort of friends when we are afraid. We seek the expertise of doctors to bring us into health. We fight and confront the unjust and oppressive to bring justice and compassion.
These desires to be in the light, to be illumined and to experience that grace of God, are being portrayed to us also in the Gospel of Mark. People followed Jesus wherever he went because they have recognized him to be that person who can bring light into the darkness they experienced in life.
That desire gave them the hope that there was something better for them that God offers to them. People wanted to touch Jesus, then, even just the tassel of his cloak. They believed that even in that small way, God shall bring them the hope they have been waiting for. True, indeed, all those who were sick who touched it were healed. At last, the darkness in their heart and soul disappeared because of God’s creative work in the world.
In the same way, Jesus invites us today to also have that desire in our heart, that we may always recognize his presence and seek to touch God. Jesus as well calls us today to become his tassels in our homes and communities where those who are in need shall also experience light and healing through our kindness and generosity, through our words that bring consolation and encouragement, through our presence that gives assurance and confidence. Hinaut pa.
Who among us here who experienced pain and suffering? Or a failure or a heartbreak? I am certain each of us has these experiences in one way or another. There might be some of us here who have also experienced being humiliated, oppressed or abused. Perhaps there are those who are ill at the moment, or in trouble at work, have lost a job, failed in a business or in a relationship or who are in great sorrow for losing a loved one.
It has been a year when the first report of death from Covid-19 has been revealed. Since then, the outbreak of the virus brought so much difficulty to many of us particularly those who have health issues and those whose source of income are already unstable even before the pandemic. Aside from these, there are also others who suffered very much because of the surrounding circumstances in their life.
This happened to Joy (not her real name). She was working in a big hospital and when Covid-19 Pandemic made the first infection in the City, the hospital became busier. All medical staff felt the pressure as well as the fear and anxiety in working in a very toxic environment.
Joy has a boyfriend. She was happy with him and he too was happy with her. They have been together for several years and thought that the relationship was going to the stage of a life-long commitment. One day, Joy found that she was pregnant. At first, she was surprised and at the same time felt afraid. Though she was happy with her boyfriend, but, she felt not sure after all. Few weeks later, when she was ready to inform her boyfriend, the relationship suddenly became unstable. As she expected it, the relationship was broken and Joy was not able to tell her boyfriend that she was pregnant. Her boyfriend broke-up with her and left her. And she kept her pregnancy to herself.
But, the New Corona Virus came, and the national government declared lockdown in major cities. People were advised to stay home. Hospitals became busier. Herself and her colleagues felt not only the pressure of work but also the emotional burden. With this, the more Joy decided to keep her pregnancy a secret.
For Joy, the situations surrounding her pregnancy, the recent break-up, the pandemic, the pressures at work, the emotional stress brought so much confusion to her. Her heart and mind now filled with darkness. She could not understand herself and her situation anymore. She felt not ready too to become a mother. She was afraid. She was terrified of raising the child alone and bringing the child in the midst of this pandemic and broken-relationship.
With so much emotional/psychological stress from all aspects of her life, Joy aborted the baby after her third month of pregnancy. She thought it would solve the problem, end her troubles, her fears and anxieties, her pain and anguish. However, that was just the beginning of more pain and guilt, of shame and deep sorrow in the heart of Joy.
She could not sleep anymore. Her colleagues began to notice changes in her attitude. She would break-down and sob even at work and even in public places. Joy was lost. She has been carrying a truck of guilt in her heart. She was searching for forgiveness, looking for God, yet, she could not forgive herself. Yet, deep within, Joy desired to find comfort and peace, light and hope in her heart.
Joy has been keeping all those painful experiences in her heart alone. Joy needed a listening ear and heart that will only keep listening to her story without judgment and without any biases. Joy needed a big amount of understanding and it can only be given to her by listening fully to her story, to her anxieties and fears, to her broken-relationship and pregnancy, to her struggles at work and to her sins. And at some point of her life, she began to open up and allowed herself to be touched by the presence of those around her. She took the risk and let herself be embraced by her friends
As Joy was assisted to recognize all of those circumstances that have happened in her life, this paved the way to forgiveness, to the road of healing and freedom.
A reality such as this reminds me of today’s readings. So, allow me to bring you a bit deeper into our readings and let us discover how God unfolds His invitations for us today.
Our first reading tells us about the misery and hopelessness of Job who lost everything, not just his material possessions but especially his family and health. But what was intriguing was that Job seemed to be a good and righteous man. He never oppressed anybody. He had been honest to God. However, being good and righteous did not make him immune to human pain and suffering, to misery and hopelessness. With that horrible experience of Job, he said, “I shall not see happinness again.” This is Job’s testimony of that bitterness in a life filled with so much pain and darkness.
Nevertheless, Job’s story did not end there. He actually saw and experienced joy again in his life because God showed mercy to him. This mercy is what we find in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus, as he began his public ministry, went from one town to another in order to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the diseases that plagued the people of his time and freed those who were possessed by demons. Jesus came in order to let the people know that God has come and is not blind to our suffering and difficulties. God wants to free us from those that enslaved us, that make us suffer and hopeless.
This is what Jesus did to the mother-in-law of Peter and to those people who have been brought to Jesus. Jesus healed and freed them by touching them. This is what our Psalm proclaimed to us, “The Lord heals the broken-hearted.” Our Psalm testifies that God is a healer. God brings completeness, wholeness and healing to the broken-hearted, to the wounded and to the miserable. God brings hope and light to us who find life hopeless, bitter and dark.
Indeed, it is when we allow God to touch us that God also brings healing into our life. God’s touch is showed to us in many ways. And this is what I realized in the life of Joy. God touched her through her friends who showed concern to her. God also touched her through the sacraments that Joy received. Peter’s mother-in-law was touched by Jesus through Peter himself who brought Jesus to their home. The sick and the possessed were touched by Jesus and were healed through the people who brought them to Jesus.
It is in this way that God works wonders in us and also through us. This is the invitation for us today which I summed in two points.
First, God wants to heal us, to make us complete and joyful. Jesus is letting us know that our God is for us the wounded, for the broken, for the sick and for the hopeless. We might be like Job who find life miserable – come closer to the Lord, then, do not lose hope but rather seek healing and ask what you need from God because our God is, indeed, a God of healing.
Second, each of us can be an instrument of healing too. We can be a friend who will be able to bring healing to others by bringing them closer to God. We can show it by being generous of ourselves to others, that is, by offering a helping hand to those in need, by making our ears available to a person who wants to be heard, by assuring a sick friend of our prayers and company, by letting a person know that you are there to support and give comfort. Yes, we don’t have to look far, just be aware of those people around us because he or she might just be one of our friends who has been hiding his/her suffering from a smiling façade, or could just be a family member who has been making himself/herself busy with work or worst indulging themselves in their own rooms with their gadgets or with chemical substances. Let us be instruments of God’s healing presence today. Hinaut pa.
A DOSE OF GOD TODAY 