How do we know the Spirit of God and the spirit of the evil one? How do we identify them? How do we discern them?
The First Letter of John tells us the way to test the spirit working in us. John puts it simply. If the spirit working in us acknowledges Jesus Christ, then, the spirit belongs to God. However, if the spirit working in us denies or rejects Jesus Christ, then, it does not belong to God but to the antichrist, the evil one.
Why is it very important? John warns us. He said, “Beloved, do not trust every spirit.” There are indeed spirits that deceive us. The evil one is a master of deceit and lies. When we are lonely and depressed, in need of help, the evil spirit may tempt to believe that it is much better to be alone and bury ourselves in fear and loneliness. This action leads us to hopelessness and death and does not acknowledge the comfort of friendship that Jesus offers us through the Church, our friends and family. This surely does not belong to God.
When we have achieved so much, gained success and victories, gathered influence and wealth, the evil one may also tempt us to gather more and collect more. This may lead us further to insecurity and corruption. It does not acknowledge the generosity of Jesus.
When we exercise power or authority over others whether at home, in our community or at our workplace, and we are not discerning enough of the spirit behind us, we might be tempted to also exercise control, dominance and manipulation. This will also certainly lead us to violence in our words and actions towards people around us. It does not also acknowledge the authority of Jesus and the power of his love for us.
Hence, for us to remain in the Spirit of God, let us remember these and be always mindful of the spirit working in us, in our families and communities.
The Spirit of God gives us peace, confidence and serenity. The evil spirit makes us doubtful, fearful, anxious and having a low self-esteem.
The Spirit of God encourages us, lifts our spirit but the evil spirit makes us down and depressed. It discourages and upsets us.
The Spirit of God brings us comfort and joy, humor and laughter but the evil spirit makes us angry and irritable.
The Spirit of God makes us appreciate things and others, makes us grateful to God. But the evil spirit makes us unsatisfied, ungrateful, complaining, makes us see only the defects/negatives in everything and everyone including yourself.
The Spirit of God makes us feel loved, accepted and forgiven. But the evil one makes us feel bad, terrible, horrible, disgustful, unloved and accuses us of our wrongdoings making us guilty always (because the evil’s name is Accuser).
By being able to discern the spirit working in us, may we always choose God’s spirit, the spirit of truth rather than the spirit of deceit that only bring us to sadness and death. Hinaut pa.
What is it that you are hoping for this year? Or what is it that drives you most for this year 2021? Are you looking for somebody who will give meaning to your life? Are you searching for something that will give you contentment in life? Are you expecting something that will fulfill the emptiness in your heart, or of something that will at last dispel your fear and anxiety?
Each of us must be hoping or expecting something good to happen for ourselves and for our families. That is why, we have dreams and we make plans on how to fulfill what we envision for ourselves. In the recent Pulse Asia Survey conducted from November 23 to December 2, 2020, it revealed that 91% of Filipinos celebrate Christmas and New Year filled with hope amidst the devastating year of 2020. The same percentage also expressed an optimism for this year 2021 and 87% of people in Mindanao particularly, expressed this optimism.[1] The survey indeed revealed a high hopefulness for this year.
This survey can be an indicator of a high motivation among us to journey forward, to continue searching and making a reality what we hope for ourselves and for our families and communities. This also indicates that as we hope and aspire to fulfill our desires and dreams then we also take risks. The risks here may include investing our time, energy and resources, developing and forming new relationships and venturing into unknown territories.
Such reality brings me now into what we celebrate this Sunday. Today is the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord or God’s manifestation of Himself to us. This Sunday is popularly known as the Feast of the Three Magi or Wise Men. However, this feast is not actually about them but about that baby boy whom they found after their tiring search of the shining star, the fulfillment of their dreams.
Though the three Magi are not actually the focus here, but there are lessons that we can learn from them. There are four movements of the Magi here and these are also the invitations that that I would like you to pay attention now. So, allow me to tell their story again and discover how God manifests Himself in us today.
The first movement of the Magi is searching. These men, who were probably astrologers, had been observing the heavens and they became engrossed so much by this bright shining star. They came from different places yet the star became a common goal for them. The star filled them with dreams and hopes. That is why, they searched for it and followed it. In their search to what will fulfill their hunger for knowledge and wisdom, it required them to go out and look for it. They needed to leave the comforts of their homes and take the risks of unknown territories. In their search too, they realized that it will be demanding because it will require a big amount of their time and energy, resources and presence.
Along the journey, what they found first was the company of each other. Along the way, they found and built friendship and to journey together. Indeed, it is very important that in our journey, we need also to realize that it is better to journey with others, to have friends to accompany us. The road will be less lonely and life will be filled with laughter when we are with friends.
More than this, when at last they found the exact location of the star, they found the greatest gift in their life. They found the fulfillment and the joy that they have been looking for. In their search and journey together, the Lord manifested himself to them.
However, there is something more here too. It was actually the Lord who invited these men. The star that they saw was that glimmer of hope that they were aspiring for. The Lord used the star to lead these men to God who became flesh. That desire and aspiration in their hearts became the entry point of God into their hearts. And because they were open to God’s grace, they were led to Mary and Jesus. They have seen the face of God.
This leads us now to the second movement of prostrating and paying homage. What filled them with knowledge and wisdom as they looked on the face of God in the arms of Mary, they too realized that their knowledge and wisdom were too little to understand this mystery. God became man and he dwells among us, is beyond understanding. This is something that does not need to be understood and something that does not require a wise man to comprehend. This is the reason why these men prostrated themselves and paid homage to the Baby Jesus. When at last they have witnessed God’s manifestation, they too realized their littleness and insignificance of the greatness of God and of the greatness of his love resting in the arms of Mary.
To prostrate and to pay homage are expressions of worship and dependence to God. The three magi remind us that as we also fulfill our dreams and realize our hopes, this should lead us to recognize that we are all indebted to God. God manifests himself in the many good things we achieved and in the many blessings we received.
This recognition of God’s presence leads us to the third movement of the magi and that is the act of offering their gifts. Each of them opened their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The gold is a symbol that Jesus is king. Frankincense is a symbol that Jesus is a priest. Myrrh is a symbol that Jesus is a prophet. The act of offering their gifts was an expression of their deep gratitude to God who fulfilled the deepest longing in their hearts.
This tells us that when our heart is truly filled with gratitude because of the many good things that God has done for us, we also respond with generosity. God indeed manifests himself in us when we also learn to open up ourselves and extend ourselves for the goodness of others.
Thus, a heart that is filled with gratitude begins to see life from a different perspective from before. This leads us now to the last and fourth movement of the magi, which is the returning by a different way. After they beheld the face of God and were warned by the angel of the evil intention of Herod, the magi returned to their homes in a different way. This action is certainly filled with so much meaning. Though this literally means that they took a different way, but, encountering God in their life led them also to a complete change of their heart. Their encounter with God made them new persons, living life never the same as before.
Truly, when we allow the Lord to reveal himself to us, the Lord will also transform us and change our perspective in life and our way of living life. This change of perspective will be according to how God sees us and how God sees the world. The child Jesus will surely bring great joy in us that it will forever change our life. Hence, in our encounter with God, let us never be afraid of taking a different path or of changing the way we live our life from being complacent to being active, from being indifferent to being kind and caring. God will lead us to many surprises.
These are the four movements and the four invitations for us. Let me repeat them now for you, so that you may bring these invitations consciously with you today.
First, search for that something that will give us the fulfillment of our heart. In our search, be with friends and family. Let them journey with us.
Second, in our discovery of God’s presence, allow ourselves to be embraced by the greatness of God’s presence. Pay him homage and worship God. Never forget to come to the Church and express our affection to the Lord through the gift of our sacraments.
Third, as we affirm our dependence in God, express also our generosity. Offer our gifts especially to those who are in need of our help. This is a way of expressing our gratitude.
Fourth, as we encounter the Lord, allow the Lord to transform us, to change our attitude, our perspective in life and the way we live our life. Let the Lord bring freshness in us. Hinaut pa.
The birth of a child within a family is life-changing. Upon child’s birth, life is transformed and became anew not only for the couple as parents but also includes the life of whole family, neighborhood & community. Not only a new life is added & included into the family life, but also each & every members of the family have to take on a new responsibility as grandparents, parents, uncles & aunties, siblings & relatives for the baby. The birth of the child will surely bring about not only great joy but also promises great change within the family for it entails great responsibility.
Same way as we struggle & mature with life-challenges like illnesses, crises, disasters, pandemic and other life-transitions, the normal birth of a child into our life is indeed life-changing, life-transforming. And it challenges us to live life not again & anymore same as before, but to live life anew in a new normal way with new direction, perspective, responsibility, lifestyle & meaning in life.
On this first Sunday of the New Year, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. Known also to us as Three Kings Sunday, we worship & praise the saving act of God in making known Himself to Us All through His Son, Jesus Christ as well as our consent & faith of welcoming, accepting & witnessing God into our lives now. Epiphany is God’s revelation – both made known to us and acknowledged & believed by us. His son Jesus is God’s greatest gift of grace given to us. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise long-awaited by the forefathers of our faith but now we have found in us & with us. By giving us His son Jesus & by our reception of His son Jesus into our lives now, we become & take on the honor of being & becoming ourselves God’s children and now recipient & benefactors of God’s grace of salvation.
In our gospel today, we are reminded of the events that happened when the three kings found the poor child Jesus lying on the manger in Bethlehem. Guided by the stars, with great joy they have finally found the place where the child Jesus is, & then through the child, they adore & pay homage to God. Their encounter of the child Jesus on a manger with His family in Bethlehem brought about great joy & praise since they have finally found what they have searched & long-waited for. With their offered gifts, they honor and thank God’s saving work in the child Jesus. Through the child Jesus, the world is now Blessed & forever will be.
Along with this, we should also credit that after the journey & experiences that the three kings & the Jewish people had to go through to search & find God’s blessing to the world, “warned in a dream, they departed for their country by another way.” Meaning, as they found, acknowledged & accepted God’s grace into their lives, they go back home not on their normal usual way but by another new way of life.
In other words, with their encounter with the child Jesus, unconsciously through their dreams & not only out of fear for Herod, they have to change their ways, & transform their lives for the child. They will not anymore follow the usual normal path in life again, but now they change their ways, paths, plan, thinking, responsibility & will in life. Same way with the birthing of a child with a family, their meeting with the child Jesus has brought a lot of changes into their lives – Great change in their responsibility, meaning, & outlook in life. Their lives now are not anymore same as before, but their lives now are anew & better than before in a new normal, new identity, attitude, meaning & lifestyle.
It is then, not only about paying homage & adoration to God who blessed us with His child Jesus but moreso about changing & transforming our lives for the life-changing Christ child Jesus.
In the same way, as we encounter God, as we recognize God who makes Himself known to us, our lives will never remain the same again. As we welcome & accept God’s gift the child Jesus as Our Lord of our life, we also take on the responsibility to change our lives in accordance with His orientation, ways, meaning, attitude & lifestyle. Same way with the three kings, the family who welcomes a new baby in the family & us now during these pandemic times, we are challenged also to recognize, receive, and allow the child Jesus to be part of our lives now. This would mean that we have to change our normal lives & attune our New normal lives with the life-changing Child Jesus Christ, and be part of His mission of making known & share the fullness of God’s promise of blessing & salvation to all.
Today, we thank God for His grace of His child Jesus, and we ask Him that we may always be steadfast in our faith & responsibility to parent & share His child Jesus to all, on this new year of our lives. Amen.
God looking for a refuge? Can you imagine that? Yes. This happened. Joseph had to bring Mary and the baby Jesus out of danger and find refuge, to find a safe haven for them. The cruelty and the violence around threatened the life of the baby Jesus. Such violence came from those who were in power and those who were rich.
Herod was very threatened of the presence of the new-born King. He was in fact became very insecure that someone will take the throne, the power and his wealth from him. This revealed how King Herod was hungry for power that he became restless. Yet, this is not the first time Herod was like this. History tells us that Herod even murdered his own children so that no one will take what he enjoyed in his life. This insecurity in him had consumed him that he wanted to eliminate those whom he thought were threats to him.
Herod must have thought that he himself was a “god.” For this reason, he felt so entitled that he was most willing to murder innocent people to get what he wanted. In his desire to have power, he ordered the murder of innocent baby boys in his attempt to kill the Baby Jesus. Hundreds of children were murdered right in front of their mothers and fathers and their families. It was merciless. It was evil.
On this feast of the Holy Innocents, it reminds us that this kind of killings did not just stop there. This continued until today. Evil still persists until today. People were murdered in broad-daylight. Killed in front of people. Desecrated. This is evil. Evil persists when we allow it, when we allow our hearts to remain indifferent and violent.
image from thedailybeast.com
That is why, God has to find refuge. Yet, God runs towards us too, to find refuge in us. Egypt was a common place for Jewish refugees and people who seek safety. Egypt had become an important place in the life of Jesus as it had become a safe place for him. This tells us that even God became a refugee because of the people who rejected him.
Today, there are two invitation for us. First, let us be aware of our tendency to be violent, to be corrupt and to be insecure. Let not those darkness in us consume our hearts. They only bring us to death and misery. As the first Letter of John tells, let us come to the light. Let us come to God because he is our light and in him there is no darkness at all but peace and freedom. Thus, seek forgiveness and seek for reconciliation. This will allow us to live in freedom, to live in peace and to live in joy.
Second,Egypt was a safe haven for the Baby Jesus, for Joseph and Mary, allow ourselves to become the “Egypt for others.” Let our kindness and generosity, our gentleness and hospitality give comfort to those who are troubled today. Let people find care and attention, love and understanding in us, in our families and in our communities. Allow ourselves too, our families and communities to become a safe place for the weak and the vulnerable. Protect and nurture life. Defend life and stand against those who want to kill life. Though this will not be easy but demanding, make this as our expression of gratitude to the Lord who gave all to us.
In these ways, we may able to truly celebrate this Season of Christmas with joy and peace. Hinaut pa.
Few days before Christmas, I gave an Advent Recollection to a group of Church volunteers. At the beginning of the recollection, I asked them to describe their gratefulness as well as their feelings at that moment. A couple in their late fifties, were already in tears. At the end of the recollection one of my invitations is “to never forget to embrace their loved one and to spend quality time this Christmas.” The couple again were in tears.
After the recollection, they shared to me the reasons of those tears. They were in so much anxiety and worries because their son has been away from them. They found it difficult to communicate with him and to know his situation. They did not know where he was exactly at that moment. The mother couldn’t sleep well thinking of her son. The father was restless and helpless on how he could help and comfort his son. Both of them were in tears because they have missed so much their son.
To the disappointment of the couple as parents, their other children have shown less compassion and understanding to their sibling. The siblings considered the other one as a black sheep and rebellious. Yet, to them as parents, he is a son in need of so much understanding and love. They wanted to hug him tightly yet, they could not do it. They wanted to comfort him, yet, they could not because they cannot reach him. It was a great pain in the hearts of these parents who are longing of the presence of their son.
Conflict in the family such as this, is just one of the common problems that our families have to struggle and find way to be resolved. The hope for reconciliation is a longing that we pray for.
Moreover, there are also other issues and problems that millions of Filipino Families are facing today. It would be good also to recognize those issues and see how God is inviting us on this Feast of the Holy Family.
The recent SWS survey said that 48% or about 12 million Filipino families considered themselves poor. Out of this, 2 million families were “Newly Poor” while 1.3 million were “usually poor” and 8.6 million were “always poor.”[1]
In addition, the COVID-19 Pandemic restrictions also led to the closing of many non-essential businesses, which resulted to the loss of many jobs and means of livelihood. The SWS survey in October also revealed that the unemployment rate in the country is now at 8.7%, equivalent to around 3.8 million jobless Filipinos.[2]
The Philippine National Demographic and Health survey said that in 2017, one in four Filipino women aged 15-49 suffered domestic abuses, physically, emotionally and sexually. However, this rate has significantly increased since the lockdown imposed in March due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. There is an average of 8 cases of women being maltreated or raped reported from March to May 2020.[3] These are just the documented reports, how about those countless unreported cases? They suffer in silence.
These are concrete situations that many of our Filipino families are suffering. In the midst of these struggles, children are also the most vulnerable. Children suffer the most. Our own families might have also particular struggles and difficulties. Surely, these concerns are most of the time what consume us.
The Holy Family of Mary, Joseph and Jesus is not exempted of struggles and problems. Remember, the holy family had been a refugee. Joseph has to bring Mary and Jesus out of Israel and went to Egypt to seek for a safer environment for their baby.
There seemed to be a constant threat in the life of the young Jesus, yet, this did not discourage Joseph and Mary to abandon the child. Joseph particularly was always conscious of God’s presence. This was the reason also why Joseph would always receive instructions from God on what to do. The awareness of Joseph that God is with them made him more familiar with God’s voice deep within his heart.
In today’s Gospel, this awareness of God is being described to us in wonderful scenarios. First, Mary and Joseph, conscious of their family tradition as well of the identity of baby Jesus, went to Jerusalem and presented Jesus to the Lord God. This was an act of thanksgiving to the Almighty God for the gift of this child.
This is the first invitation for us today – to give thanks. Develop a grateful atmosphere in your family. Consciously say “thank you” to your spouse and children. Whenever your family gathers whether during a meal, a trip or in a celebration, give thanks to each other and to God, the source of all blessings.
Second, Simeon, a devout and righteous man had been waiting for the time to see and embrace the Son of God. And this was fulfilled. The long wait of Simeon was paid with peace and joy. He was able to hold tightly the child Jesus in his arms. That must be a great consolation to him. Having Jesus in his arms, Simeon saw the salvation and the light of God.
This is the second invitation for us – to embrace the Lord and embrace one another. Our family might be longing for peace, longing for comfort – take courage, the Lord is here as Simeon proclaimed. The Lord is waiting for us that we will embrace him. Peace and joy begin to unfold in our families when we also open our arms in reconciliation and in gentleness, to embrace each other. Let not the violence of our fist and anger in our heart destroy our families and children.
Third, Anna the prophetess, was also there to witness this great wonder of meeting the Lord. Anna immediately recognized that the child Jesus was the promised savior. Anna was so patient and prayerful. These attitudes in her made her to long more for God. This longing in her heart made her to be open and welcoming. With this, Anna’s heart found comfort and joy. All her troubles and pain had gone away.
This is the third invitation for us – to pray together as a family. Through our prayer, let usconsciously long for God and joyfully meet the Lord in our struggles and problems. To run away for our problems or to hide because of our fears is never the solution. There are those who find comfort in drinking and gambling and other vices to forget their problems yet, this kind of response only create more problems. Unfaithfulness, indifference and violence in the family will be nurtured by this kind of attitude. We are invited rather to confront our issues and allow the Lord to touch us through our prayers. Gather your family around your altar. Cultivate a family tradition that prays together. Let our families go the Church, and there in our Sacraments, allow also the Lord to be with you and to bless you.
With these invitations, we may hopefully ease the pain of loneliness, comfort the hearts of the troubled, heal the memories of those who are suffering and assure with our presence those who are confused and afraid. May our families then, be blessed by the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Hinaut pa.
A DOSE OF GOD TODAY 