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Tag: Jesus is alive

  • Will you also leave? : A plea from Jesus

    Will you also leave? : A plea from Jesus

    May 2, 2020 – Saturday of the Third Week of Easter

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/050220.cfm)

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    When you want to buy something, how do you choose that thing (cloths, accessories, or gadgets) which you want to buy? Some wise buyers would go through into a selection process before buying. They would consider the quality, its practicality, the price, the evaluation of other buyers, and the specifications of the item.

    However, there are also some of us who actually don’t mind all these steps but would only consider if it is “sabay sa uso” or #trending or popular, used and promoted by famous personalities. Even though they may not be so practical for us but because it’s the trend, we go into that.

    This is not far from what we believe and sometimes spread. I am talking with the fake news that surround us. People tend to believe, spread and adhere to fake news because they have become popular and because many have come to believe in them. We should be very careful then because a popular opinion or belief does not always hold the truth.

    These situations tell us of our tendency to favor and choose things, people, beliefs and principles according to their popularity. The number of people who tend to favor such thing is very influential for us.

    However, this is not the case that happened in the Gospel. Jesus who became popular because of his mighty deeds by healing the sick and multiplying the bread, was becoming unpopular to the people.

    Jesus taught the people that He is the Bread of Life that came down from heaven. Through him, by eating his body and drinking his blood, eternal life will be attained. Yet, the people around him found this teaching difficult to accept and offensive. The teaching of Jesus implied that they were to follow Jesus in his ways and to let go of their old ways. 

    This teaching was understood to be taken with commitment to Jesus. Jesus’ teaching asked them to let go of their old beliefs and renew themselves in God. Yet, they could not let go and accept Jesus fully in their life. They could not believe that God became man and He is with us. They could not believe that God desires mercy and forgiveness of all. Thus, they left Jesus and “returned to their former way of life” because his teachings were unpopular for them.

    Jesus confronted his disciples, “do you also want to leave?” In a similar way, Jesus also asks each of us, “Will you also leave? Will you choose me or return to your former way of life?”

    This is certainly a plea from Jesus to us, not to leave him because he has so many good things for us. Thus, be careful then, when we also start to murmur just like the disciples of Jesus because our murmurs may lead us farther from the Lord. Our murmurs can become bitter complaints that will drag us back to our former way of life, again just like the many disciples of Jesus who no longer walked with him but succumbed to false gods.

    These murmurs in us may tempt us to worship those false gods rather than God, to believe in them rather than in the Word of God, to hold on them rather than trusting in Jesus. These false gods could be our desire to gain power and control, to manipulate and use others. These could also be our own unhealthy behaviors or addictions that we continually keep.

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    We are challenged and called today to choose and commit ourselves in serving and loving the Lord. Choosing Jesus and committing our work, studies, dreams, hopes and our whole life to Jesus may not be the popular thing to do today. Choosing Jesus and following faithfully his teachings is truly difficult as the people complained. Thus, this Eucharist is our way now to renew once again our commitment as we receive the Lord spiritually and sacramentally. This is our opportunity to choose Jesus today! 

    Choose Jesus today then, which means to choose life not death, to choose hope not despair, to chose mercy and love not anger and hatred, to choose humility not aggression and to choose warmth and concern not indifference. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

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  • What kind of bread are you?

    What kind of bread are you?

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    April 30, 2020 – Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/043020.cfm)

    by Reverend Deacon Joey Valross Trillo, CSsR

    Yesterday, my co-Reverend Deacon, Lemuel, shared a story with me. Once there was a monk who asked their cook, “What do you call a bread with salt? It’s Pan de sal. How about bread with coconut meat inside? It’s Pan de coco. How about a bread with COVID-19? It’s Pan de mic. One more, how about a bread that is full of air? It’s Pan-nuhot.[1]

    Nevertheless, the point is that bread has a lot of varieties. So, if you are bread, what kind of bread are you? 

    Our gospel today talks about Jesus, who identified himself as no other than the Bread of Life. He said that he is the living bread from heaven. He added that whoever eats this bread will live forever. And, the bread He shall give is His flesh, and He will give it for the life of the world. 

    Indeed, Jesus is the Bread of Life, the Eucharist. Whoever comes to Jesus shall never be hungry. This is the case of Philip in the First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles. He consumed the Word who made flesh, Jesus, and lived the life as His disciple. 

    In fact, Philip became one of the seven Proto-deacons. He preached the life of Jesus, catechized several communities, and baptized a lot of converts similar to what we have heard in the First Reading. Philip helped the Ethiopian eunuch in understanding the scripture. Then, he told him the Good News of Jesus, which led the Ethiopian to become a follower of Christ. Hence, we can say that Philip is a kind of bread which nourishes other people.

    At this time of health crisis, “What kind of bread are you? Are you the kind of bread who energizes people, the one who empowers the medical front liners and the afflicted through appreciation or good vibes? 

    Or are you a distasteful bread who posts fake news and rants about poor people whom you claimed as stubborn, undisciplined and not worthy for monetary help?

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    Or are you the type of bread that is flavorful, the ones who enjoy your family bondings such as doing TikTok as a family?

    Or perhaps a spoiled bread who discriminates people from the hospitals?

    What kind of bread are you, then?

    Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us ask for the grace to become a bread that nourishes, energizes, and satisfies the needs of others, especially the most abandoned. 

    We pray that like Philip, we may help others to understand the will of God in this trying times; that you and I will give the same joy experienced by the Ethiopian eunuch. In other words, we pray that we may become a bread-like Jesus, the Bread of life. Amen.

    [1] Panuhot has no English medial term. It is a belief among Cebuano-speaking Filipinos that Panuhot is caused by air trapped in the body particularly in the muscles which causes the formation of nodules. Nodules, then, creates pain and weakness in the body.

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  • Come and be filled today

    Come and be filled today

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    April 29, 2020 – Wednesday Third week of Easter

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042920.cfm)

    Jesus talked about the human conditions of hunger and thirst. However, Jesus was not just talking about the physical hunger and thirst but more than that. These include our emotional and spiritual hunger and thirst which could be for love and affection, for attention and recognition from others, for relationship and intimacy. These can also be our own desire to have power over others, to be in total control of our lives, or to have influence to people around us. 

    These difficult days brought by COVID-19 Pandemic, we might hunger for company because he have been separated from our loved ones. We might hunger for healing because we are sick. We might hunger for comfort because we are distressed, anxious, afraid and depressed. Thus, our human hunger and thirst could sometimes be unquenchable.

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    When we become not aware of our desires, of these hungers and thirsts we have within us, the danger is to submit to these greedy desires that we have. In fact, these desires can be reason why we become possessive of material things and even of people, not wanting to share what we have because we feel insecure. Our heart will also become corrupt because we will tend to gather things and people for our own enrichment. These attitudes will surely blind us from seeing and recognizing other people and their needs because we tend to only see ourselves while trying to satisfy our own hunger and thirst.

    Today, we are called by the Lord to humbly recognize our own hunger and thirst that keep us away for others and from God. What are those that keep me selfish and self-serving? When we are able to recognize them, Jesus invites us “to come to him.” 

    What Jesus said to the Jews, he is also saying to us today, “come to me and you will never be hungry, believe in me and you will never be thirsty.”

    Jesus promises us that when we come and believe in him in faith and humility, he will be with us. Jesus assures us of his presence and his company. He said this to us, “I will never reject anyone who comes to me.” The friendship that we shall develop with Jesus will surely bring us into the security of being with God, trusting in his providence and generosity. 

    Thus, despite whatever hunger and thirst we have now never allow those to prevent us from coming to Jesus, or to hinder us from letting Jesus to fill and satisfy our hearts with his presence. And so with Mary, let us come with confidence to Jesus, who shall never reject, but will even gladly, welcome us. Hinaut pa. 

    Jom Baring, CSsR

  • What profit will I gain in believing in you, God?

    What profit will I gain in believing in you, God?

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    April 28, 2020 – Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter

    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042820.cfm)

    “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?” I find this condition to be so bold and shameless. It is equivalent in asking, “What can you give me? What profit will I gain in believing in you, God?” It is a condition filled with selfishness.

    Accordingly, the people who asked this condition to  Jesus were very concerned with what they can profit or gain from Jesus. They asked him a sign that they may believe in him, yet, what they were after was actually the works of Jesus that will be beneficial for them. The people were not concerned about who Jesus was, they are not even interested in his person but on what they can get, out from him.

    Many times, we have also this kind of attitude. This is an attitude similar to a “linta” (leech), a blood sucking worm. We relate and make friends with others for the sake of getting something from them. Indeed, there might be many of us who would use other people, friends and even family members, to get money from them or any material things. There are also those kind of people who like to make friends because they just want attention and so that they will feel important. People like these only serve themselves and not others. These are forms of selfishness – attitudes that only think and enrich the self and only the self. Thus, we become a parasite that takes advantage of others.

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    This is also true in our Christian faith. We might come into a point in our Christian life where we are more concerned with what God can give us, or we might be more focused on the rewards and blessings that we will receive from God. With these motivations in our mind, we tend to become more legalistic in our Christian faith. These motivations will make us people who are preoccupied with what we get from God. 

    Thus, this will blind us from becoming true Christians. We will miss the whole point of being a Christian too because being Christian is not about what God can give me or what our Church can give me but about a personal relationship with a person, with Jesus. Being a Christian, is first having the knowledge of God in our life that will move us to develop an intimate relationship with God through our prayer life and deeds with one another. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

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  • Friendship with Jesus leads to commitment

    Friendship with Jesus leads to commitment

    April 27, 2020 – Monday of the Third Week of Easter

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    Click here for the readings (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/042720.cfm)

    The Gospel reminds us today to recognize also the giver of gifts rather than the gifts and blessings only that we receive. We are called then to develop a deeper and personal relationship with God and not to material wealth and possessions to our successes and achievements or titles which will only fade away later in our life. 

    This is the reminder of Jesus to the Jews when they have failed to recognize him as the Lord and Messiah. The people were only after the bread but not to the person of Jesus. They were looking for him because their stomach were satisfied. Thus, they have failed to know Jesus and to believe in him.

    This is what Jesus said to the people, “you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.” Meaning, the people were merely looking for Jesus because they were more inclined on what they can gain materially from Jesus.

    This is an attitude that only goes towards self-satisfaction, an inward looking relationship. The problem then of this attitude is that, the self does not venture towards taking risks or to let the self be challenged. It is rather more concerned of being fed, of being given attention like a baby. However, the self does not want to commit to go beyond comfort, or to go beyond what is familiar. It stays to what is only self-beneficial.

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    Hence, having this kind of attitude and fostering this kind of self, prevent us to become who we are called to be by the Lord. As Jesus wants the people to believe in him as the one sent by the Father, Jesus also calls us to believe in him. Believing in Jesus is not just about making the sign of the cross, and saying our memorized prayers. To believe in the Risen Christ is more than that. It is about a relationship.

    This is what the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us. Stephen, who was one the chosen deacons to serve the orphans and widows of the Christian Community, was filled with grace and power. He did great wonders and signs among the people. To believe then in the Risen Christ is to be convinced of God’s power that transforms us. Moreover, Stephen’s faith and commitment to the Lord made him confident too in his ministry. This was how he exercised with grace and power because he did not serve himself, he served others.

    Consequently, the Jewish leaders at that time hated him. The leaders created stories in order to condemn him. They twisted the truth because they refused to be challenged to go out from their comforts. Those leaders just wanted the community to serve them and to feed their ego. 

    However, through the person of Stephen, we are reminded that our faith and commitment to the Risen Christ will indeed transform us. This transformation in Jesus gives us grace and power as we allow ourselves to go beyond from our comforts and self-serving egos.

    Indeed, Stephen’s friendship with the Lord became his source of strength and confidence in the midst of trials.

    This is now the invitation for us today – we are called to build a closer relationship with Jesus, a friendship with Jesus, because faith is basically a relationship founded in a commitment. We do not believe in God just because we want to be treated like babies, feeding us and pampering our egos. This commitment in Jesus then, would hopefully lead us to into self-transformation that gives life to others, that works wonders in the lives of our brothers and sisters.

    The very situation we are in now is an opportunity for us to work wonders in the lives of others particularly those who are in great need these days of Enhanced Community Quarantine and Lockdown. May the grace and power of Easter make us more creative and generous too in reaching out to our brothers in sisters

    Having this awareness of God’s friendship in our life, this will hopefully bring us also into the assurance of God’s love and faithfulness that even in times of trials, of loss and poverty, of pain and loneliness, of illness and suffering and even death – we will be assured with our relationship with a God who is ever with us, faithfully journeying with us. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR

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