In the Book of Genesis, we have heard about the TRANSFORMATION of Abram to Abraham. This transformation of name is not just merely by name but it has a deeper transformation in the very person of Abraham. Let us remember the story of Abram who was from the land of Ur. He was called by God to journey to a land God promised to him.
Abram had to leave behind many things which include comfort of his home, familiarity of the place, affection from his family and friends. Yet, Abram trusted God despite the much insecurity he felt. He took the risk despite the uncertainties ahead.
His relationship with God earned him a transformation of his person, thus, he became Father of many nations because of his faith. What is more comforting is also God’s promise to Abraham. God said, “As long as your descendants keep the covenant, I will be their God and they shall be my people.”
This is an assurance of God’s faithfulness in us, a promise that God will and shall never abandon us. This is a relationship that does not float in abstract form or a mere product of a “theological treatise” of the past – but this is something that we experience in concrete terms as people.
This is manifested and fully revealed to us through the historical person of Jesus. In the Gospel of John, Jesus provocatively proclaimed that he is “I AM.” What does it mean? “I AM” is YHWH’s sacred name which also means “I am always there for you.”
This is provocative and sounds insulting to the Jews because they could not accept that God is truly with us in flesh. For them, God should only remain in the heavens where nobody can go and no one can touch. God for them is very far, remote and distant from His people.
What are the invitations for us then?
First, like Abraham, God also calls us to take the risk, to trust God despite our uncertainties, insecurities and questions. God sends us to a situation we do not expect or even to places and events we avoid. Do not resist and let God’s desire be your desire too. Resistance will only bring us hardship and more difficulties because we will become a closed person, uncompromising and inflexible. Like Abraham we may learn to trust God and be confident in Him. Moreover, be comforted also at the words of God, “I am your God and you are my people. I AM will always be there for you.”
We may surely encounter many discomforts, moments of confusions and times of difficulties. Yet, never retreat from others and from yourself, but rather, be daring like Abraham, always trusting in God. Certainly, in the process of our journey, God will transform us into persons we do not imagine before.
Second, God is truly with us here at the present moment (in the here-and-now). Be confident today because Jesus is “I AM”, he who is there for you and me always. Thus, be conscious always of the present because this present moment is God’s present – gift to us.
Remember, it is when we become aware of our present that we also discover God’s many surprises for us. Allow your present (both as time and as gift) be unfolded for you to discover God’s presence. May it become also the factor for you to recognize, be reconciled and affirm your past and to hope joyfully for what is to come tomorrow. Hinaut pa.
I am sure, each of us wants to be free, to be free from worries, free from anxieties, free from illnesses, free from problems, free from stress, free from pain, free from suffering and free from anything that bothers us.
These days the more we desire such freedom too. We want to live free from the threat of Covid-19. My friends who have been in strict home quarantine and friends who are under monitoring and investigation have expressed their anxiety and fear and their desire to be freed from those. My friends and relatives who are in the medical field also aired the same desire and to be freed from so much stress they have now. Most of our prayers these days also expressed this desire.
Indeed, God wants us to live free. We recall that In fact, we were made to live free at the beginning which we find in the life of Adam and Eve before the “Fall.” Yet, we, human beings chose not to live free and that was the result of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden, from the grace of God.
Yet, God never surrendered on us. The bible tells us that whenever God’s people were made captives and slaves, God sends his representatives to set his people free. Thus, Moses was chosen and sent by God to set the Hebrew free from slavery in Egypt. David was sent to bring into fall Goliath and the Philistines and set Israel free from the threat of other nations. There are many more stories like these that we could find in the bible.
The best story that we have is the incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus, in order to make us free once and for all, so that we will be free from our sins, from our evil ways and will live forever in God’s grace and joy.
The Gospel reminds us now that Jesus has set us free. We, who know Jesus as Savior and Lord, have the knowledge of such freedom from sin and death. However, what we also realize is our tendency to go back again and again to our sinful ways, to our evil tendencies.
This is indeed true because we have the tendency to succumb to our old and bad habits, ways, thoughts and attitudes. Even though we have realized that we have been repeating the same sin or weakness, we continue to do the same thing precisely because we have not yet fully accepted that we have the capacity to live free from those through Jesus Christ.
This is also the case when we continue to hold on to our old anger and hate, to our old wound of rejection and failure, to our decade old frustrations, and to our traumatic and painful experiences. When we continue to hold them tight then the more we become imprisoned by our own past. We are rather called now to live in freedom today and not to be captives of our old and habitual sins and destructive attitudes. There are no truths in here just our cover-ups, pretensions and facades.
Jesus has told us, “If you know me, you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.(Jn 8:32)” Jesus calls us once again to know him more and better, to get near to him and to let him free us from what bothers us now, whatever that may be. Jesus, who is the truth, assures us that if we decide to be with him, he shall make us free. Let us come to him, then. Hinaut pa.
Have you ever met a person who complains a lot? Or have we noticed ourselves when we complain a lot?
We would surely find ourselves in this situation especially when we are overwhelmed by our worries and anxieties of our personal struggles such as our failures and unfulfilled dreams and desires, or the overwhelming expectations from others, or the issues that our relationships are facing today, or the great demands that your family life is requiring you to do, or the illness of a loved one that pains you.
When we let these one or more issues to overwhelm us, then, we will certainly become disturbed. We will be out of focus that may lead us to become complaining persons. Consequently, our relationship with others and even with God will be affected. We could become negligent and inattentive to our relationships because our worries and anxieties have grabbed us to what are more essential and important.
When we become complaining, this makes us ungrateful too. Complaining persons, especially when complaining becomes our attitude or habit, we become very difficult to live with. When we become like this, we tend to be negative with what surround us. We also tend to see what is ugly and imperfect. We become sensitive to failures and mistakes of ourselves and of others. And because we seemed to seek perfection, then, we are also difficult to satisfy whatever there are in our hands.
However, such attitudes are just reflection of our own negativity and bitterness towards ourselves. The ugly we see in our friend or the wrong that we tend to see from others could sometimes be mere reflections of our own mistakes and ugliness, which we abhor and cannot accept.
Thus, a person who complains a lot is also a person who is anxious and worries a lot. And if we let these attitudes to control us, then, we shall also lose the opportunity to become aware of God’s presence. And what follows is the attitude that does not recognize the many gifts and blessings that we have. We shall surely find life difficult, dark, bitter and hopeless.
This happened to the Hebrew people while they were in the desert. The people have grown tired of their journey. They have become impatient because of the hardships on the road. Hence, they began to complain at everything. They complained against Moses and God for bringing them in that place. They complained how difficult life was in the desert. They complained about and were disgusted of the tasteless manna that God gave them. However, they forgot that God saved them from slavery. They forgot that God saved them from the oppressive Egyptians.
Again, this reminds us of our attitude when we tend to complain. When things are not going well as what we are expecting it to be, we begin to complain at everyone and everything.
But let us also remember, when things are not going well, never jump to complains immediately. A Chinese proverb says, “every crisis that we encounter is always an opportunity.” This was the failure of the people at that time. The crisis that they faced was merely considered as difficulty and not as an opportunity for them to grow as people of God.
That is why, the very crisis that we are facing now as a community and also as individuals is not merely an obstacle or punishment for our sins, but an opportunity for us to grow as persons and as a community, to discover ourselves better, to build relationships stronger, to be able to make a difference to people even in small ways and to be more intimate with this God loves us so much.
Let us take comfort with what Jesus said in the Gospel today. “He who sent me is with me and has not left me alone; because I always do what pleases him. (Jn 8:29)”
God also comforts us with his presence. This tells us that we are never alone in our journey. God is always with us and has never left us alone even in the most difficult moments of our life, not even with this dreadful Corona Virus disease.
We are called then, that even in the midst of a very difficult situation never lose that attitude of gratitude to God. Gratitude will always make us hopeful because it helps us to recognize how God makes himself known to us in ordinary things and people and unexpected places and events.
Thus, as the people were told to look up to the bronze serpent in order to find healing and life in their difficult moments, let us also look up to Jesus in our difficult moments now, so that we too shall find healing and life. And it is only in gratitude that we will be able to look up to him not in our complaints and bitterness. Hinaut pa.
The Scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who committed adultery. This whole affair of the scribes and Pharisees with Jesus was filled with malice and hatred directed both towards the woman and also to Jesus himself.
In their culture at that time, it was only the woman who can commit adultery. That is why; the man was not in the picture. This culture was influenced by their machismo and Patriarchal society. Women and children were considered properties of a man. Thus, it was only the woman who was brought in the middle of the people. She was brought there to shame her, and not to bring justice. She was also brought there in an attempt to kill her by stoning her to death. With the leadership of these influential Scribes and Pharisees, they condemned this woman and refused to give her the chance to live again and renew her life.
This must have been the reason why Jesus remained silent. Jesus must have been so sad seeing these people condemning a person, stripping away her dignity, labeling her as public and terrible sinner, giving her no chance to redeem herself.
Thus, they demanded punishment from Jesus who could also confirm such penalty according to the Law of Moses. Indeed, she had sinned and according to their law, she must be stoned. This was where their malice and hatred towards Jesus was also to be found. They were trying to find fault in Jesus so that they too can accuse him of blasphemy and then condemn Jesus to death.
However, the event was turned by Jesus in the way they did not expect it to be. When Jesus said, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her,” Jesus redirected the condemning fingers of the Scribes and Pharisees towards themselves. By saying that, Jesus brought them to themselves, to look at their sinfulness.
It was very interesting then at how the people responded. They began to look at themselves and found that each of them was sinful and each of them was not worthy to carry out such punishment towards the woman. Why? Each of them realized that they were all guilty, all are sinners.
What was more interesting was the way St. John described to us the first initiative of the elders to leave first. The elders of that community left the gathering first because they realized that the length of their life also meant more sins committed.
This Gospel scenario invites us now to look closely at ourselves and to examine better our intentions, our thoughts and actions. We are invited to be more understanding of those who failed but not in the sense of condoning such failures and sins. Like the Lord, who tenderly looks at us, we are invited to be merciful rather than condemning.
This is what Jesus showed to the woman. Jesus said, “I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more.” The beauty of the Gospel lies here. God has delivered his judgment and showed His mercy. Jesus freed the woman and was commanded to sin no more and not to go back to her old sinful self. She had, surely, found her way to freedom and peace in Jesus.
Thus, unlike the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus saw more in the person of that woman. The limited awareness and refusal of the Scribes and Pharisees to see more, prevented them to discover that there was always hope in every sinner, and that there was more in a person’s weakness and imperfection.
This calls us too to expand our vision in order to see more the person of our brothers and sisters. This means that we become welcoming to their stories, to their pains and experiences. Hence, this also means that we are called to stop our harsh judgments and condemnations, our hateful labels and “othering,” to stop our gossiping and image shaming that only destroy the dignity of our brother and sister.
I would like to invite you then, to let go of the stones from our hands and in return embrace a family member, or relative or a friend whom we know have sinned against us so that reconciliation will also begin in us.
And since physical embrace might be impossible for us these days because of the quarantine, then, do it spiritually. Embrace that person in your heart. Hopefully, as we will enter the Holy Week next week, then, our hearts will also be ready to celebrate the Easter joy of Christ. Hinaut pa.
Who among us who have not yet felt or experienced disappointment? Or a failure or a heartbreak? Surely, most of us have these experiences in one way or another. There might be some of us as well who also experienced being humiliated, oppressed or abused.
With the global health crisis that we are facing now, Pope Francis in his message at his Urbi et Orbi (to the city and to the world) tells us how
“we find ourselves afraid and lost, caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm, and realized that while we are on the same boat, all of us are fragile and disoriented.”
Indeed, these realities tell us of our suffering. These realities make our day turn into darkness, our bright tomorrow into hopelessness and make our life bitter and horrible. Again, Pope Francis also affirms this as he says,
“think darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void…”
With this, I would like to tell you the story of Nanay Celia. I met her in Cebu City 11 years ago. She suffered and died of breast cancer. But before she died I had a deep conversation with her. She told me that her husband left her for another woman. Her two sons forgot about her and abandoned her when she got sick and was diagnosed of stage 4 breast cancer. She was all alone. She began to be angry with everything and everyone. She even got angry with God and cursed God for such suffering she endured. Life was so bitter, she wanted to end everything. She was hopeless.
But not until a group of missionary sisters found her in her house. She was brought to the sisters’ institution. And it was in that institution that I met her. She knew that she was about to die but before she died, something has changed. The darkness of being abandoned turned into light. Her hopeless life turned into a life filled with hope. Her anger, disappointment and loneliness were all lifted up because she found love, acceptance and forgiveness through the people around her in that institution.
This story is not far from our readings today that concretely portray these human realities of failure, disappointment, heartbreak, fear, and even of being helpless and hopeless. This was how the people of Israel felt at the time of Prophet Ezekiel. The Hebrew people were exiled. They were in a land they did not know, where there was no Temple and no God. As a people they were humiliated by their foreign captors. They had no identity and were doubtful of God’s presence in their life.
This feeling has been expressed in the Psalm, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice!” It is a lament of a person who is in great misery, who felt that God seemed to be deaf of his/her pleas, who felt of a God who seemed so indifferent to his/her horrible situation.
This is what we find also in the Gospel. Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, were in great misery. They were inconsolable and heartbroken over the death of their brother. That is why Martha, in her sorrow said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died…” It was a statement of disappointment and even of anger. It was actually a statement of blaming God for not doing anything.
But our readings also today reveal something very important to us. The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel conveys God’s promise of salvation where the Lord shall open the graves and shall have them rise as a people and will be restored to their homeland Israel. Our Psalm also says, “With the Lord, there is mercy and fullness of redemption.” It means that God is indeed faithful to his promise. God is faithful to the covenant. God will never betray us. God will never abandon us because God is forever with us and for us.
These characteristics of God are most evident in our Gospel. Jesus reveals not just to Martha and Mary but also to you and to me today, that God is never indifferent to our misery, to fears and anxieties, to our feelings. Jesus reveals to us that he is a loving God and a merciful God. He is a God who feels like us who also feels lonely, feels afraid and even worried, anxious and sad.
In the Gospel Jesus was described twice to have been perturbed, he was distressed and troubled because something happened to his dear friend Lazarus. When he saw the dead Lazarus lying on the grave, Jesus wept! He cried like us. He feels sad like you and me.
What does that mean now? It means that our God is not a God who is so far away who cannot hear our cries or deaf to our prayers. God is not indifferent to our suffering, to our questions and doubts. God understands how it is to lose a loved one, or even to be humiliated, to be lonely and alone. God cries with us when we too are in deep trouble.
This shows, then, the immensity and the greatness of God’s love for you and me. Jesus prayed to the Father to bring Lazarus back to life. Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” What do these words mean to us now? Jesus also wants us to come out from our own graves. That we too will be healed from our own experiences of pain, of bitterness, of hopelessness and loneliness where we too seemed to be lifeless in many ways as expressed in our relationships with others. Coming out from our own graves also means being freed from our own selfishness, arrogance and addictions that come in many forms.
We will only be able to come out from our own graves and lifeless situations when we become like the sister of Lazarus, Martha. Jesus asked her, “Do you believe that I can bring your brother back to life?” Mary indeed believed. We too, each of us is being asked by Jesus, “Do you believe in me? That I am the resurrection and the life?” It is only when we come to realize and believe in the goodness and love of God that God also works wonders in us. As Pope Francis says also, “the call to faith, is not so much about believing that God exists, but coming to God and trusting in God.”
It is only when we come to believe that God is the author of life that we also will value more our life and the lives of others. It is only when we come to believe that God is the God of our life that we also see the many good things we enjoy in this life despite the many difficulties and hardships we encounter. When we truly believe that God is the resurrection and the life that we begin to become true Christians who see light in the midst of darkness, who find joy in the midst of sorrow, who capture a smile in the midst of pain, who embrace hope in the midst of impossibility, who find healing in the midst of so much sickness and who find life in death. Hinaut pa.
A DOSE OF GOD TODAY 