Category: Ordinary Time

October 1, 2022 – Saturday of the 26^th Week in Ordinary Time

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100122.cfm)

The attitude of children, that is, of being trusting, dependent and open to surprises makes them more welcoming. Such attitude of the heart is empty of any judgment and biases, of any pretensions and entitlement. These are the reasons why Jesus would make a child as an image of those who belong to the Kingdom of Heaven because God’s favor truly belongs to the childlike.

In contrast, a heart that has grown old and has become unwelcoming of what is new and to surprises becomes judgmental, pretentious and entitled. This is an expression of an arrogant heart that refuses the Divine Presence and the call of God for a change of heart.

This is where we find the significance of Jesus’ words today in the Gospel. Jesus gave praise to his Father in Heaven for the revelation given to those who are childlike like the disciples. The wise and the learned who claimed knowledge of the world and mastery of life and faith have refused to recognize God’s presence among them through the person of Jesus. Only to these ordinary men and women who followed Jesus that they recognized the great presence of the Lord God in their midst.

This is also the story of Job revealed in the last chapter of the Book in the first reading. Job, though, he could not fully understand the ways of the Lord became more trusting to God. He stopped justifying himself for being righteous and good and insisting that God should be God according to his own beliefs. At the end, Job allowed the Lord God to be God and be more surprised at how the Lord works wonders on earth and in his life. Job realized the importance of growing in confidence with God just like a child.

This is what St. Therese of the Child Jesus also exemplified in her life. Therese was indeed a dear child of God who constantly desired the Divine Presence in her life. Her childlike heart allowed her to see things differently from others. She saw goodness and kindness of every person despite the fact that she too was misunderstood by her co-nuns. Therese’s heart that was most confident in the presence of the Lord made her contemplative life to be more active by reaching the hearts of others even when she was just staying in their monastery. Indeed, her childlike heart that belonged to God touched the hearts of many and brought them to also see Jesus, and encounter Jesus through the young Therese.

Today, as Christians, we too are called to become childlike and not let our hearts grow old, bitter and be filled with pretensions. As we grow in our confidence and trust in the Lord, then, allow the Lord also to surprise us with his Divine Presence, to see what the Lord wants us to see and to hear what the Lord wants us to hear. Kabay pa.

September 30, 2022 – Friday of the 26^th Week in Ordinary Time

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/093022.cfm)

The words of Jesus seemed to be filled with dismay and pain over the three cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. The people in these cities remained unrepentant and unbelieving despite the presence of Jesus in these cities. Jesus walked on their streets, preached to the people and healed the sick. However, the people’s hearts remained closed and hardened.

The Lord has come and made his dwelling among them, yet, still they refused to change their way of life and refused to come closer to the Lord. Though they had many opportunities to respond to the Lord’s invitations and teachings, yet, they were lukewarm, tepid and passive. What the people did in these cities was ultimately a rejection of God. They rejected Jesus and so of the presence of God in their midst. “For whoever rejects me, rejects the one who sent me,” Jesus said.

However, we have heard a different response in the story of Job in the first reading. Job who was overwhelmed with tremendous sufferings in his life questioned the Lord God for allowing those evils to happen in his life. Job actually thought that God is dependent on his goodness and righteousness. Job’s thoughts were grounded on the belief of Divine Retribution, of punishment and reward. Job believed that God was not being God because the evils that he experienced did not fall under this belief of Divine Retribution. Job has been a good and righteous man, hence, he must only enjoy rewards, blessings and the good things in life.

However, in all this quest and unbelief of Job against God, the Lord spoke to Job telling him, that God is beyond what Job thought of. God is not dependent on what we can think and would like to think about him. God is after all the one in control of everything. The wisdom of the Lord is so much beyond our human understanding. This is how Job realized his smallness and his futile belief that God is dependent on his goodness and righteousness.

With this encounter, Job began to focus his heart and mind on God rather than himself alone. Job redirected his thoughts and faith to the Lord rather than on his goodness and righteousness. And so, Job repented and believed.

Today, Jesus’ encounter with the unrepentant and unbelieving three cities and of Job’s encounter with the Lord, we too are called to redirect our focus, our mind and our heart to the Lord. May we become more welcoming of God’s presence and of God’s many challenges for us and allow the Lord to change our ways, our thoughts and even our own beliefs into God’s wonderful ways. Kabay pa.

September 28, 2022 – Wednesday of the 26^th Week in Ordinary Time, Feast of San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092822.cfm)

A couple who was about to be married shared to me their thoughts and plans. They were surely in loved with each other and wanted to live as husband and wife. Yet, as a couple they planned not to have a single child. They just wanted to live as husband and wife. I asked them why. The confirmed that, to have a child is impossible for their individual careers. Both of them were at the peak of their careers and their individual profession was so important that losing such opportunity in their life was not a choice. Thus, even having a single child would be a threat to their careers.

However, Christian marriage is not just limited between the union of husband and wife. This love and union should also overflow towards the possibility of having children. Completely closing the doors to the possibility of having children, rearing, loving and nurturing them is after all, a non-commitment to Christian marriage.

Thus, our attachments in life can prevent us from totally committing to a relationship. It is indeed difficult when we are called to let go of our attachments that have become so dear to us. These attachments could be our careers and jobs, positions and influence, power and wealth, or unfulfilled dreams and desires, our traumatic experiences or past broken relationships.

These attachments prevent us to fully commit to a relationship because we are being held back and we allow ourselves to be caught up. This happened to those whom Jesus invited to follow him.

Jesus said “follow me.” The person certainly wanted to follow Jesus, BUT, in following Jesus, there were conditions attached. Jesus emphasized the urgency of following him but then the person was being held by his attachments. These attachments prevented him to follow the Lord by making conditions.

This is something Job realized also in the first reading. The story of Job tells us about the human suffering of those who find themselves righteous and good. Yet, life is not under our control. God remains the author of life and decides about our life. Job here slowly realized the he was not the master of life. All the things that he possessed are not his, including the life of his family and his very life. His suffering was a proof that attachments in life bring no security and that he cannot set conditions in his relationships with God, the almighty.

Today, Jesus also calls us to follow him freely and without conditions. Each of us is being invited, wherever we are and whoever we are – the Lord calls us to commit ourselves to Him. When we commit ourselves, then, we too are challenged to let go of our attachments that may prevent us from fully following Jesus.

This is what we also remember today in the life of San Lorenzo Ruiz, our own Filipino Saint, who followed the Lord despite the suffering and persecution he endured in Japan. He gave his life as his greatest sign of that commitment to the Lord. Though the grace of martyrdom may not for all of us, but may the example of this ordinary man, Lorenzo, give us the courage and generosity to fully commit in our relationships and in our Christian faith. Kabay pa.

September 27, 2022 – Tuesday of the 26^th Week in Ordinary Time

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092722.cfm)

Desperation and hopelessness in life may push us to the brink of giving up and of total retreat. It would be very difficult also to find meaning, purpose and sense of what is happening especially when what we see is a surmounting suffering. People who have reached such kind of situation in life would somehow wish to be dead rather than continue enduring such meaningless suffering.

This is the very situation that the author of the Book of Job is trying to bring to us today. The story of Job reveals to us such human misfortune and unimaginable tragedy in life. Job found the meaninglessness of his suffering and going through all those tremendous tragedies in his life. Those left him speechless perhaps he was looking for understanding and explanation on why such tragedies should happen to him, a righteous and good person. This difficult moments in the life of Job really pushed him to that brink to give up. He cursed the day of his birth and just wanted to die in order to end his deafening suffering.

This prepares us now how the Lord allows us to realize and see how God works in our messed up life in order to bring healing and the fullness of life. However, God’s ways may not be easy to understand and may be totally different the way we want it to be. What we need then is to tune in our heart and mind into the ways of God and to be more trusting in God’s ways. Moreover, we can take confidence and be more certain that God’s way will not bring us to harm. The way of the Lord is not towards non-life, not towards violence against life as Job wished it to be. God’s way will always be to save life, to renew life and to heal life.

This is how we find Jesus’ way as what the Gospel of Luke revealed to us today. A Samaritan village refused to accept Jesus. They did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. These Samaritans because of their social and religious differences with the Jews became hostile since the Jews also treated them with contempt and hostility. It was because of this that John and James wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume and punish these unwelcoming people. But then, Jesus rebuked them because God’s way is not of violence, not of death. This was how the two got their title as the Sons of Thunder.

The rebuke of Jesus towards James and John against their violent response tells us that God has indeed his own way of calling us and his own way of saving us even when we have become unwelcoming of his presence. Jesus’ way is indeed not of violence.

This calls us now that as we face difficulties, great suffering and hopelessness in life we may be reminded that God’s desire is to rescue us, to bring healing and freedom to us so that we may also have that fullness of life with him. We may become more trusting also of God’s ways even when these may become beyond our demands and beyond our human understanding. Kabay pa.