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  • Our Capacity to Receive and Embrace

    Our Capacity to Receive and Embrace

    January 15, 2023 – Sunday, Feast of the Sto. Niño

    Is 9:1-6; Eph 1:3-6, 15-18; Mt 18:1-5,10

    A study by the Save the Children revealed that one in three households around the world reported violence during the Covid-19 pandemic.[1] The study also found that 1 in 6 children suffered violence at home. This study also said that there is an increase of negative feelings and psychological distress when lockdowns were imposed. This explains the significant cases of depression and suicide during this time as reported by Department of Health and World Health Organization.[2]

    Moreover, according to UNICEF Philippines Representative, “The Covid-19 pandemic is worsening the incidence of online sexual abuse and exploitation in the country. Children are increasingly becoming victims of circumstances that are harmful to their development and well-being.”[3]

    While I was stationed in Iligan City at the height of this pandemic, there were concerned neighbors who asked for help in our Church. They asked for a counseling and legal assistance for a girl who was raped at home. The parents were not that concerned on how to take care of their daughter because of poverty. Both parents lost their job when the lockdown was imposed in the city. It was the neighbors who responded and wanted to rescue and help the girl. But then, when the incident was reported, the police authorities even suggested not to pursue the case because it will only become troublesome to them and will cost them a lot of money. It was suggested to just settle it with some money and let it go.

    What have we become? Have we succumbed to darkness to abuse and oppress the weak among us?

    These situations are just few reported examples of rejecting, ignoring and hurting attitudes towards the small and the weak and to children particularly. No wonder why Jesus expressed indignation towards those who try to abuse the weak and try to promote themselves to be great.

    On this feast of the Sto. Niño, the Gospel of Matthew tells us how the disciples asked Jesus as to who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Naturally, each of them must have been boasting one another about their closeness with Jesus, their great qualities, their faithfulness, on who was the first to be called and who was the favored one among them.

    At this point, the disciples must have thought that Jesus’ kingdom will be like those of kings sitting on a golden throne in the palace with a great army, a political king. They must have believed that Jesus will inherit political power and vast riches and material wealth. Thus, obtaining a position and having a closer relationship with Jesus will give them the security and assurance of a higher and influential position when Jesus reigns. What they aspired was to have power. This was their idea of greatness in the kingdom of heaven.

    As Jesus knew them, he had to teach them and to mold their hearts according to God’s desire. That’s why Jesus taught the disciples an important lesson through a child. Jesus took and placed the child in their midst and said, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

    Children, at the time of Jesus were considered not important because they were dependent, they have no rights and thus cannot be called as fully man at all. Jesus teaches us that in the Kingdom of heaven, greatness is measured in the capacity to receive God. To receive God is best expressed in welcoming, in embracing and in receiving the least in our community.

    We are called to receive God in the person of those who are the least in our church and society. We are called to aspire to be great but not in the way that we will be above others, or to seek a higher position at the expense of others, but in the way of embracing others.

    This capacity to embrace others and to embrace God fully is the message and call on this feast of the Sto. Niño. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, our God Almighty, has appeared to us as a child, who was born in a manger because through the image of a child, God shows us gentleness, not wrath and violence; the Lord embraces us with mercy, not anger and death.

    Hence, Jesus also calls us, “See that you never despise one of the these little ones.” On our part as a Church, as a community and you as parents and guardians, and all those in the position of authority and power, may we be instruments of protecting the weak in our communities. Let not our hearts be corrupted by our desire to be great and be above others by abusing the weak but we aspire to be great in the kingdom of heaven through our loving and life-giving service. Let our decisions and actions in life, let our relationships and our very person be filled with the grace of the Sto. Niño that brings freedom and the fullness of life. Kabay pa.

    [1] See https://www.rappler.com/world/global-affairs/one-third-households-globally-report-violence-home-during-coronavirus-pandemic-study

    [2] See report https://www.who.int/philippines/news/detail/10-09-2020-doh-and-who-promote-holistic-mental-health-wellness-in-light-of-world-suicide-prevention-day

    [3] See https://globalnation.inquirer.net/190923/unicef-pandemic-worsening-child-online-sexual-abuse-exploitation-in-ph#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20COVID%2D19%20pandemic%20is,their%20development%20and%20well%2Dbeing.&text=The%20child%20has%20no%20interest%20in%20school%20and%20friends.

  • GREAT in God

    GREAT in God

    January 15, 2023 – Feast of the Sto. Niño de Cebu

    Is 9:1-6; Eph 1:3-6, 15-18; Mt 18:1-5,10

    During our Wednesday novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help, we always ask our mother to help us learn to adapt to our growing children. Praying this, we acknowledge before the Lord that as Christians and in particular as parents, we are imperfect. We recognize that we encounter problems and difficulties in dealing with our growing children and that, at times we fail to love and respect the children as persons and as God’s children. And for this, we implore Our Mother’s guidance and assistance.

    Filipinos love the Sto. Nino, the child Jesus, and today – every third Sunday of January, we celebrate the Feast of Sto. Nino. Like the Sto. Nino, we honor our children of today as also God’s gifts and instrument of salvation for humanity. They are God’s blessing and signs of hope for our Christian families and communities. As gifts, children must be accepted, love and provided with the love and care they need for their growth and well-being. As God’s instrument, they must also be respected for what they are and will be, with talents and limitations, for in their own unique way children can contribute to the building up of Christian families, and communities, and in God’s kingdom as well.

    In our gospel today, we hear how Jesus  emphasize Greatly the value of us being God’s children, and of being children in God’s kingdom. For Jesus, our being beloved children of God is our very dignity and rights as a person. As God’s beloved children, we enjoy personal relationship with Jesus and the Kingdom of God. We have the right and duty to grow in faith, to grow in our own personal relationship with God. It is also our vocation to be His disciple – to come and follow Jesus Christ and express our response, by our love and respect for others. Today, Jesus invites us to especially love and respect our children, as much as we demand respect from them. Our today’s children are also God’s beloved children, like us now adults Christians.

    Now if we wish to learn how to adapt to our growing children – to respect God’s beloved children, take a good look at the picture of Our Mother Perpetual Help, a portrait of Mary carrying her child Jesus. By merely looking at the picture of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, we readily notice the relationship between Jesus and Mary – Mary as the mother, the parent of Jesus the Redeemer. As a mother, Mary presents to us the child Jesus, a child who like any other child needs nourishment, love, guidance, protection and care of a parent. We see Mary as the model of Christian Parenthood for she teaches us how to love,  care and protect our children. The picture also shows us Jesus growing and gradually learning that in fulfilling his vocation in life, there will be coming great changes and suffering (as shown by angels at the side bearing cross & hyssop on spears). And Mary has to adapt gradually to the changes going in her son’s life. As Jesus grew, so did Mary grow to respect and share the giftedness of the growing Jesus to others.

    As we honor today the Sto. Nino, Jesus want us to remember that our devotion to the Sto. Nino must reflect not only our deep joy and thanksgiving to God for sharing us His only Son, but also expresses our love and concern for today’s God’s little children, His ninos and ninas. And the most relevant and meaningful way of honoring the Sto. Nino is not by merrymaking, parades or street dancing, but by concretely expressing our Christian respect, love and concern to our growing children, especially the poor and abandoned little children.

    Concretely, I invite you BE with children & spent a quality time with them these days. Listen to their stories, their concerns, and their hopes in life. Respect and Learn from them for they are also God’s children and messengers. As a Filipino song would say: “Itanong mo sa mga bata. Ang buhay ay hawak nila… at Ang sagot iyong makikita.” Ask the children. Life is in their hands… and you will find the answers.

    Through our children, may we discern and respect God’s ways and plans for a better life ahead of us.

    So May it Be.

  • IN SEARCH OF THE TRUE MEANING OF THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY

    IN SEARCH OF THE TRUE MEANING OF THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY

    The Epiphany of the Lord

    Many decades ago as we were growing up, January 6 was celebrated by the Christian world as the Feast of the Three Kings. The event being celebrated was the arrival of Melchor, Gaspar and Balthazar in Bethlehem to offer gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newly-born child whom they came to worship.

    Today, liturgically this is known as the Feast of the Epiphany (referred to as Theophany for Eastern Christians). Epiphany means the manifestation of a divine or supernatural being and for us Christians this feast celebrates the revelation of God incarnate in Jesus. Instead of referring to the three visitors as Kings, they are now more popularly known as Magi or Wise Men.  Across the world the celebration can range from January 6 to whatever is the Sunday nearest this date.  Thus in our country, it would be celebrated on January 8.

    Except for Matthew (Mt 2: 1-23), the narrative involving the three Magi does not appear in the accounts of the three other Evangelists. It is a very brief account where the tyrant ruler Herod is also mentioned.  There are very few details that help us know the wise men better except that they were from the East and that their journey to Bethlehem was guided by a star. Otherwise, the narrative ends up as a mythical story shrouded in mystery thus leading to all kinds of conjectures.

    Consequently, many have deconstructed the text and provided a deeper meaning to this narrative. Just this year on the Feast of Epiphany (celebrated at the Vatican with Cardinal Luis Tagle presiding and Pope Francis giving the homily), the Pope provided us his own reflection of the meaning of the Epiphany. Thus, his words:

    “The Magi’s restless questioning and continuous journeying in dialogue with the Lord finds its end in the worship of God… Like the Magi, let us fall down and entrust ourselves to  God in the wonder of worship. Let us worship God, not ourselves; let us worship God and not the false idols that seduce by the allure of prestige and power…  let us love God and not bow down before passing things and evil thoughts, seductive yet hollow and empty.

    The purpose of everything is not to achieve a personal goal or to receive glory for ourselves, but to encounter  God. To let ourselves be enveloped by his love, which is the basis of our hope, which sets us free from evil, opens our hearts to love others, and makes us people capable of building a more just and fraternal world.”

    We can further reflect on how this narrative relates to our contemporary life in our own society and focus our reflection on who were these wise men? The biblical reference indicates they were from the East, which should make it interesting for us Filipinos as we are in this part of the world – the East or the Orient. Some writers theorized that they came from the nearby countries of Israel, namely Persia (now Iran) even as far as India.

    But why were they referred to as wise men? Relying on ethnographic data providing us data  on the Oriental civilizations existing long before the West entered into its Industrial Revolution, there were advanced societies already existing in the Orient from China to India to the Arab countries. They had developed the various fields of philosophy and science, much earlier than the Western world.

    Thus, we can conjecture that Melchor, Gaspar and Balthazar – as they were guided by the star – had knowledge of astronomy if science had developed to that extent during that era. There is, however, one better explanation that anthropologists would posit. Could they be shamans who had developed the gift of communing with the supernatural?

    If they were coming from the East, what faith traditions have evolved in their societies? While there were established religions already during the reign of Herod in other parts of the world and in Israel (Hinduism, Judaism, etc.), Islam and Christianity were still to evolve. But were the magi also shamans who served as ritual officiants of their communities which were ensconced within an indigenous belief system?  We know for a fact that across the world and through the centuries, shamans have developed a keen sense of understanding the mystical realm.  Could this have been the case of the three wise men?

    Perhaps it is futile to have the answer to this question even if there theologians who would like to pursue this question in dialogue with anthropologists. However, we can expand the search of meaning and link it with our attempts to better pursue some of the pastoral challenges in our post-Vatican II Church especially in the discourses of inter-faith dialogue and inculturation.

    A fundamentalist reading of the Matthew text would insinuate that as the magi worshipped the child as God, they had abandoned whatever faith tradition they belong and embraced a new faith. On the other hand, a progressive reading of the text allows for an encounter of faith traditions in dialogue with each other. Thus the Matthew narrative would be very useful for advocates of inter-faith dialogue, as one of the first events in Jesus’ early life pointed to the possibility of faith traditions entering into a dialogue with each other.

    In this day and age, when there are still countries where different groups of believers – Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and others –  are engaged in conflicts leading to the eruption of violence, the encounter of Jesus and the Magi provide the hope that a day will come when all faith traditions would learn to embrace the gift of an encounter that brings peace!

    When that moment arises, all of earth’s people of goodwill can truly celebrate all together a feast of the Epiphany no matter what faith tradition they worship God (in whatever God’s name is invoked!).

  • Chosen Gift

    Chosen Gift

    January 8, 2023 – The Epiphany of the Lord

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010823.cfm)

    A woman once asked me to bless her new Rosary beads she got from her recent pilgrimage in the Holy Land. So, after blessing, I said: “This must be very precious and would be a good companion with your prayer life.” She replied, “Yes, father, this is very dear to me. But, no, I will not to bring it with me. This might be misplaced or lost. So, I will just put this Rosary on my altar at home, along with my other valuable rosaries. It would be much safer if I keep it there. Anyway, I rarely use and pray the rosary.”

    Christmas has just ended. We are starting a New Year. This would be the time for us to see again the gifts we received during the Christmas season, and to sort out those gifts we happily received, from the gifts that are of no great value to us. Usually in doing this, we give importance to the gifts that are pleasing and less demanding. Then, we put aside gifts, which are not-so-urgent, time consuming and demanding, but still important. It is like receiving a rosary. We know that praying the rosary is important to our Christian faith and life. But because having a rosary bead demands us to set a time to pray the Holy Rosary. Sometimes it would be easy to use the beads, as decoration on our altar rather than as a means for prayer – an aid to encounter the Lord. Yes, using the beads as altar decoration is a valid expression of faith but surely, it lessens the very purpose of Rosary beads, which is to lead us into prayer.

    Today, we celebrate the feast of Epiphany. This is our celebration of our remembrance of God’s loving act of reaching out to us (God making himself known to us) and our acceptance of Jesus, as God’s self-revelation. We, Christians believe that God has given us His only Son, Jesus Christ, as His first gift to us for our salvation. By sharing us His Son Jesus, we become related to God our Father, and we become His adopted sons and daughters, and sharers of His divine life. Indeed, Jesus is God’s greatest gift to us.

    And like rosary beads, Jesus, as God’s gift, is given to us with a purpose, that is to bring us closer to God. Accepting Jesus is not only accepting him as a valuable gift which we can put aside and decorate, but moreso letting ourselves be influenced by the grace Jesus can offer and we choosing to become His responsible witnesses. To accept Jesus, as God’s gift to us, is also to choose to accept with total commitment the responsibility of continuing His mission – which is to present and bring all people closer to the Father.

    Like the three wise men in our Gospel, we are called to wholeheartedly accept Jesus, and to choose to become responsible witnesses of God’s love. This would mean to let our lives be changed and renewed by the presence of Jesus, and to share and make Jesus and His mission known to the whole humanity.

    Here in our gospel today, we are reminded us of what happened when the three wise men found the child Jesus lying in the manger in Bethlehem. Guided by the star, in great joy, they saw the child Jesus and they did him homage. Their encounter of Jesus and the Holy Family in Bethlehem brought the three wise men great joy for they have finally found what they are searching for. With this, they offered their gifts in homage and thanksgiving to God’s greatest gift to all.

    We may learn two things from their experience. First, like Herod, those who are comfortable & established – (those who have enough & even more than) in life, fail to recognize the value but just accept the gift of Jesus as decoration & interruption. But like the three wise mens, the searchers, travellers, & strangers of life (those who have less & lacking enough) appreciate & give great value to the blessings & responsibilities the gift of Christ being offered us. In other words, we choose to receive God’s gift to us from our needs & not just from our wants. Those who are in need willingly choose to accept the gift-given, while those who have enough & plenty undervalue & reject God’ gift for us.

    And this is also to remind us, that after they have witnessed the Son of God, the wise men departed for their country by another way. This is not because they were afraid of Herod, but because of their encounter with Jesus has also changed their lives. Because of their experience with the baby Jesus, their lives were never the same again. They did not follow the usual path, but they now tread a different way, perspective, and attitude to life. Like our experience with a newly born baby, after they have recognized God in the child Jesus, the lives of the three  wise men were never the same again. The child Jesus brought them great joy as well as great changes in their way of life.

    We all believe that the birth of Jesus has brought great joy as well as great changes in our lives because when Jesus became part of our lives, life has never and will never be the same again. Jesus, God’s gift to us, is not like the gifts we receive this Christmas, like shirt or pants that we will sometimes use, or books that we may never read at all, or good food we will eat, or a figurine or rosary beads we will just decorate. God giving us the gift of His son is like having a new baby, a new member in your family. Inasmuch as it brings great joy in our family, it also entails a lot of responsibilities and a lot of changes, making our lives different and never the same again. In the same way, the moment we recognize and choose to accept the Lord, life will & should never be the same again.

    As we receive and welcome Jesus into our lives now, may we choose to be responsible beneficiaries of God’s gift of revelation as well as sharers and witnesses of God’s offer of salvation to the whole world.

    Amen.

  • Blessed to Bless

    Blessed to Bless

    January 1, 2023 – New Year; Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010123.cfm)

    God bless. GBU. God bless you. In our world of social media, easy for us to hear & say, to send & receive these words. God bless you. But what does it mean? How do we understand it?

    Usually, we use these words to express what we really mean as “May God bless you” – which implies that God is the one who gives blessings, at the same time we  do hope that God will grant you & me the blessings you & I need or expect from Him now.

    God indeed grants us His blessings. However, we must never forget that His blessings are given TO us but also THROUGH us. When Jesus gave his blessings to the people, he does not only assure them of God’s blessing but preach to them that God’s glory and blessing may be fulfilled through them. The poor, hungry, weeping, hated, rejected, insulted are fortunate & blessed  – not only because they receive but also they reveal & share God’s blessings and graces to others. Meaning, God grants everyone his blessings by making you, me, us and others not only receivers but also sharer and giver of blessings. In as much as God is the author of our blessings, by our words and actions, we can also be agents of God’s blessings to others. In other words, we are BLESSED to also bless others.

    Our readings today are all about blessings. St. Paul describes how blessed we are for thru Jesus we have now come to recognize God as Abba, our Father. And in our gospel today, Mary recognizes not only how blessed she is and we are through her child Jesus, but she cherishes all these graces as she “kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” in order to share this very blessings to others. And lastly in the first reading, the Lord teaches us how to bless others.

    Meaning, we should be grateful, for we are blessed, and should cherished, savor, and ponder our blessings in our hearts. At the same we must learn how to give and share our blessings to others. Blessings are ours to joyfully receive and celebrate, at the same time blessings are ours to give & share with others.

    Here also we must remember that God’s blessings are not only “yet to come” but are “here and now”. It is not only a promise but a reality. It is His gift to us now, not only the reward that we expect, wish and need from him, for what we receive from Him is more than just what we need and expect from Him. And usually, it comes as a surprised Gift – beyond our expectations. As a text message I once received say:

    God’s blessings may come as a surprise and how much we receive depends on how much our heart can believe. May you be blessed beyond what you expect.

    As we begin a new year in our life with the Lord, We must then be a sacrament of God’s graces – an instrument and sharer of God’s blessings to others by our good words and deeds, and be more concern as to how we can be instruments of His blessings for this year to be.

    Another year of Blessing is about to begin (has begun). We greet each other not only with a Happy New Year but a Blessed Year ahead. May God bless me. God bless You. God bless us, as He has already blessed us always now & forever.

    Nawa’y pagpalain kayo at tayo ng Panginoong Dios. Kabay na bendisyonan kamo kag kita sa Dios sa gihapon. Amen.