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Tag: Kingdom of God

  • US being Married to God

    US being Married to God

    October 13, 2024 – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101324.cfm)

    In a recent Facebook post, a young man named Seth Adam Smith who, after being married to his childhood sweetheart for a year and a half, realized, and said: “Marriage is not for me.” Why…? after all these months of marriage, eventually he comes to appreciate his Father’s advice before his wedding. Before wedding, His dad said to him: “Seth, marriage is not for you. You don’t marry to make yourself happy. You marry to make someone else happy. More than that, marriage is not for yourself. You are marrying for a family and for your future children. Marriage is not for you. It is not about you. Marriage is about the person you married.”

    Surely married couples could relate to such realization or advice. For marriage is indeed not really for the sake of oneself but for the sake of your lifetime partner. Eventually married couple has to learn along the way that marriage is not all about “I” or about “Me” or about “You” but all about “US”. And surely such realization is a hard-learned lesson, for such wisdom only happens through trial-and-error experiences.

    To be selfless, i.e. to be not selfish and self-centered then is the very challenge of committed love we called marriage. For love is more than just a feeling or emotion but a commitment and decision to go beyond and give up oneself for the sake of the other. In other words, in marriage – in committed love, couples are to love their own spouse and children as much more than they love themselves and one another. Their love should be other-oriented than self-directed.

    A married life in committed love is thus, not for your own but for the sake of your loved ones and for the sake of loving them, same way as Jesus loved us. Love then should not be a story of “I” nor a story of “me” or “you”, but is & should be a story of US.

    In our gospel today, wanting more than just observing and obeying God’s commandments, the rich man asked Jesus for an advice as to how to inherit eternal life. With and in love, Jesus counselled and challenged him to give up and share everything to the poor and follow Jesus. Instead, the rich man however went away sad for he had many possessions. With this, we hear Jesus’ well-known words, “Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom” – harder than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.

    And sadly, we also unwittingly misquote & misuse these words as our usual excuse for our failures and shortcomings in life-commitment, as well as for thinking and even believing that God’s salvation and eternal life is difficult, impossible, and even exclusive only for the few.

    Nonetheless Jesus teaches us in our gospel today that Eternal life with God’s salvation is more than just our longing for sacredness and holiness in life, and our search for contentment and happiness in life. For Jesus, life with God is all about having and being in covenant & committed relationship with God. In other words, eternal life is all about being married to God, and also requires of us to have marriage with God. No wonder why ordained, consecrated, and married life are sometimes described as: “a life married to God” for it is indeed a marriage – a loving commitment to God.

    And since eternal life is our marriage to God, we may also say that our marriage to God is not FOR us, because committed life with God is not about us, and not for ourselves alone, but moreso for the sake of, and all about God’s glory and salvation for all others than just us.

    Jesus also somehow teaches us today that like any marriages, our life with God involves detachment, charity, and discipleship. Same way as the rich man is asked to give up and share everything to the poor. To live life with God, we must also learn detachment, i.e. how to give up, even deny ourselves, and share what we have to other and for others. As married to-God people, our life: our time, talent, and treasure are not for us alone but for

    God and others than ourselves. Life with God also requires us to be and do everything with and for charity, i.e. not for a prize or reward, but for free and out of love, and in responsibility for others. And above all, life with God is to be a disciple – a follower of Jesus in life.

    As people married to God, we must also then learn to lead our lives same way as Jesus lives, serves, and loves God and others. Detachment, Charity, and Discipleship are somehow key ingredients in our marriage to God, and as to any committed-relationship as well.

    As Jesus forewarned us, difficult and impossible for us it may be, such life in marriage to God is also possible, since “All things are possible For God”. In other words, Life with God is possible and meaningful, if and when we do things and have our being not for ourselves but for God’s sake, and for others than ourselves.

    Lord Jesus, guide us continually in life for us to know God deeply, love Him dearly, and follow Him faithfully especially now & always. Amen.

  • Let it grow… let it grow…

    Let it grow… let it grow…

    October 25, 2022 – Tuesday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102522.cfm)

    “Being in a society which justice system works for the benefit of the common good, that protects the weak and powerless and the rights of all citizens and not easily intimated and influenced by the rich, powerful and bullies, or to see how a community expresses concern and care to a person in need of help or a neighbor who offers financial assistance to a sick friend, having a co-worker asking how are we and expressing support in times of stress in work, and seeing a couple who after their disagreement ends the day in embracing one another” – are true expressions of the Kingdom of God that is silently growing in us.

    It is our call to make sure that the Kingdom of God will grow in us and among us by nourishing and cherishing the values of the kingdom. And where should it begin? AT HOME, among husbands and wives, their children and the whole family.

    St. Paul expressed this in his letter to the Ephesians, yet, what Paul said about the subordination of wives to their husbands is not meant to be understood that husbands are masters over their wives who are like slaves. No. Wives are not left without rights and independence, and losing their person and individuality for being a subordinate.

    Paul’s expression of marriage here is to be understood in the context of Christ’s relationship with the Church. The sacrament of marriage is the image that we have between Christ and the church. This is even already present in the Old Testament. The covenant between God and the people is to be understood like that of husband and wife.

    This is where we could also find today’s invitation. We are called to let the kingdom of God grow in us, starting in our very homes, with husbands and wives, the whole family from which God relates to us in the most intimate way.

    Hence, by giving respect to each one, by nourishing, cherishing and taking care of our relationship, by expressing concretely our concern and love for each one at home, by making Christ as the very center of our family life, then, surely like that of a small mustard seed and a small amount of yeast in the dough, the Kingdom will grow silently in our homes.

    Yes, the Kingdom of God will certainly manifest in our hearts and homes where we shall also experience joy, peace, safety, confidence, respect, love and concern. Thus, let it grow… let it grow… don’t hold it back anymore… Kabay pa.

  • GROWTH AND FRUITFULNESS

    GROWTH AND FRUITFULNESS

    June 13, 2021 – 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061321.cfm)

    Have you ever witnessed the actual growing of a seed, or any plant or of a person? We could have claimed that we have witnessed it just as parents looked closely as their child grows, or just as a farmer tends everyday his plants and animals. Yet, because growing is a process, it takes time and it’s very slow. That is why, we don’t usually see with our own eyes how a seed begins to sprout and becomes a tree, or how a flower begins to grow and bloom or how a person develops physically and grows old. We only notice the gradual changes as time also goes by.

    Thanks to our latest technology because a camera can capture this process of growing particularly of a plant or changes that happen in our nature. Through a photographic technique called “time-lapse” we can witness how a seed begins to sprout, take its roots and come out from the soil and become a full bloom plant. This always amazes me to see that.

    (I want you to watch this short time-lapse of a growing seed in silence to bring yourself also into reflection and into calmness in the midst of noise, stress and anxiety that are around us today.)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyRw597JBVg

    With this amazement and wonder of the process of growing, this brings me into reflection for this Sunday’s Gospel. Jesus tells the people about the two parables of the Kingdom of God. These are the parable of the seed scattered on the land and the mustard seed.

    In these two parables, what is common among them is the theme of growth and fruitfulness. From here, I would like you to see and recognize how God is growing in us and inviting us to be fruitful.

    I would like to begin with the parable of the mustard seed which brings us into the invitation of God to let us grow, to be mature and to develop. In fact, the first reading from the Book of Ezekiel has revealed to us how God would plant us so that we may become majestic and fruitful. Indeed, God allows growth and makes it possible for us to become what God wants us to be.

    In this process of growing, we now understand GROWTH to be dynamic. It involves changes, adaptations, shedding off of what was old and transforming into something new. Meaning, growing is a transformation.

    Thus, the parable tells us of the process of growth in a non-aggressive way because growth is gradual, silent and calm. Moreover, it is empowering and life-giving.

    This reminds us of the wonder of creation. Creation is silent and relaxed, yet, destruction is noisy, distressful, aggressive and violent. In destruction, there is no growing because it suppresses and destroys. Surely, this is how we would find life distressful, filled with anxiety and worries, because when we do not grow or when we stop growing then, it leads us to destruction and to death.

    God’s desire is that we develop into our full potential as what God desired us to be. We are called to continue growing no matter how our hair have turned into white or our wrinkles have become more visible.

    Likewise, growing leads us towards maturity which also leads us to fruitfulness. The first parable of the seed scattered on the land which grew in silence and bore fruit, leads us into this invitation, MATURITY and FRUITFULNESS.

    Remember, the man who scattered the seed did not know the entire process of the growth of the seed. The seed silently grew and became mature and bore fruit. This tells us how the Spirit of God works in our life silently. When we allow the Lord to work in us, then, God also make wonders in our life. God will surely transform us into persons that God desires us to be.

    This tells us that the Kingdom of God is already in us because God is with us. The seed has been planted on earth as Jesus was born for us. The Lord is already in our hearts as we are being baptized. Moreover, the Kingdom of God manifests in us when we also become mature in our faith and relationships with God and with others.

    How do we recognize that we have become mature? It is when we are able to give life to others, when we become persons for others. The seed produced grain for people to eat and the mustard seed became the largest of plants and puts forth branches where birds dwell in its shade.

    Now, these are the signs as well as the invitations for us to recognize the Kingdom of God and to let God to grow in us.

    First, as the mustard seed grows the Kingdom of God also begins in HUMILITY not in any form of aggression or arrogance. It is humble and simple. Thus, the kingdom of God can be very present in a family who makes the effort to pray together, in a couple who expresses their faithfulness despite their differences, in a person who shows true kindness and generosity to another who is in need of help, and of a neighbor who refuses to join in a gossip as his or her act of concern.

    Second, the kingdom of God is empowering and life-giving.  The kingdom of God is present when our community empowers the weak. A community that discriminates, judges, condemns and indifferent never empowers but it oppresses the weak. However, when our community empowers, then it also gives life. Let us remember, to be able to give life, we need to give more chances and opportunities for growth. To give life is to give hope. Therefore, our community is truly a kingdom of God when we uphold and protect every life to survive and to mature.

    As we recognize the Kingdom of God in us today, let us also allow the Lord to grow in us, to bring changes and transformation in ourselves, in our attitudes and relationships. As we continually grow and become mature, we may also become individually, a person for others and also a community for others that gives life, gives hope and allows opportunities for growth and maturity. Hinaut pa.

  • Mustard Seed

    Mustard Seed

    June 13, 2021 – 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    + Manny Cabajar, C.Ss.R. D.D.

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061321.cfm)

    A grieving mother, unable to bear the burden of sadness due to her son’s death, goes to a wise hermit who tells her, “What you need is a special kind of mustard seed. Find a home where there is no grief like yours, get a mustard seed from the garden, bring it to me, then I will show you how to deal with your grief.” Strange advice! But she sets off on this unusual quest.

          The first house she approaches is that of a rich family. Is this by any chance where there’s no experience of grief as I have in losing my son? The woman who answers the door bursts into tears. “You just came to a worse place. Let me tell you about grief!” She describes the tragedy her family suffers. The woman who lost her son listens, amazed that one so rich can meet such a disaster. “My experience makes me the kind of person who may understand.” So, she stays a while, counsels the rich woman who appears able to cope a little better. She goes off to continue her journey.

          You guess what follows. The next house is exactly the same: nice on the outside, a sad story inside. Again she leaves but only after helping as best she can. Then, on to the next house of grief; and the next. The curious result is that she gradually forgets her own grief and becomes more focused on helping others. The quest for a mustard seed leads her to where her grief is but a memory while something else grows in its place. Truth emerges in imperceptible ways as in the mustard seed parable.

          The Kingdom of God grows in us like a tiny mustard seed. To find wonder in what is small is as good a place as any to start. Our own start in the Kingdom may be as small as the baptism of a child. But we see the potential in a tiny child introduced with the parents into the life of the Christian community through baptism just as Jesus saw the potential in His disciples entrusted with the next stage of growth. Might it be that, despite our humble beginnings, limitations and failures we too are needed, like the grieving woman who lost her son, as God’s Kingdom continues its mysterious growth? 

          We may not have the chance to do the big, heroic things. But we daily have the chance to do the small ones that show Christian values – the smallest act of kindness, the little gesture we offer a sick friend, the forgiveness we give in our family and to one who injured us. Small seeds, perhaps, but will bear fruit ten, twenty, forty years from now!

          Brothers and sisters, we ask the Lord to transform us into Christ-like holiness, increase our zeal for His Kingdom and instill in us a desire to live for His greater glory. Amen.

        

  • Me & We: Seed for the Kingdom

    Me & We: Seed for the Kingdom

    June 13, 2021 – 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061321.cfm)

    A newly-graduated but non-working young millennial, while hanging-out at home and playing with his X-Box video games, was once asked by his mom to buy some fruits for meals. Though he prefers to go to a mall for convenient–sake, hesitantly he went to a nearby market. He tried to find his way looking for the fruit-stand since he was never been to this market before. Eventually he found the fruits he needed to buy at a particular fruit-stand. While paying, he jokingly said to the vendor: “Sir, I cannot help but notice you do look like Jesus Christ.” The fruit-vendor reply: “Others would say the same. But assuming I am who you seem I look alike. Do you have any questions for me?” Up for the challenge, he asked: “If you are said-to be the Christ, the savior of the world, how come the world is still a mess? Have you and God done and is doing something about these mess?” After giving much thought, the vendor answered, “For sure God has and is doing something about these mess – He created YOU.”

    Defensively, he countered: “Me, who am I to fix these mess? I am not rich, not  successful, still no-job. I am nobody, no hero. I am limited”. So the vendor further challenged him, “So what do YOU need then now to fix these mess?” He dreamingly replied, “Well if only I have more power, resources and opportunities, perhaps like in a computer game, I can be who I am and wish to be”. “That’s all?” the vendor disturbed him and then handed him something, “Take this. It got all what you need.” As he received it, he confusingly asked, “A seed? What am I do to with this seed?” The vendor replied, “Well, God has already done and doing something in creating You, and you have the seed now to do your part. It is up to you then whether to plant your seed and work out with God doing your part and growing your seed, OR do nothing with your seed, but complain, and let your world and our world still a mess.

    After Christmas, Lenten, Easter seasons where we celebrate our faith – what we believe, we are now in the Ordinary times of our liturgical year where we celebrate our life in faith, i.e. how we live, practice and witness what we believe. Jesus have much to teach us not only what we believe (Dogma) but how to live & practice what we believe (Moral). We have celebrated our Faith, but now we are celebrating our Faith-Life – our Faith & Life.

    To offer us meaning, inspiration and directions in our faith-life journey, Jesus made use of parables and our common life-experiences as life-lessons to live by. Like in our gospel today, by sharing us the parable of the growing seed and mustard seed, Jesus taught us not only about the Kingdom of God but also HOW to live our present lives along with our faith & mission in God’s kingdom.

    Here Jesus reminds us that nature and our usual human labor or work teach us that “Big things comes from small beginnings”. Yes, the sower & planter might have planted the seed and harvested the fruit but he does not know how the plant grows. And definitely he is not responsible for the seed to grow into full grain & for the smallest mustard seed to be the largest plant with large branches. It takes a lot of work on our part, AND working in partnership with God for us to fully enjoy the fruits of our labor with God. Yes, we can be the sower & planter, but God is the grower.

    With our advanced technology nowadays, we also tend to prefer to have things easy, instant, fast, disposable and convenient. In effect, we become impatient and intolerant with details and processes. We tend to value more the goals, and fruits that we undervalue & even become heartless to the growth-process, labor, and journey it takes. Like the young millennial, we tend to look at and concern more on the end-product and destination, without considering the process to make it and the travel-journey to get there.

    Never satisfied of what we have accomplished now, we rather tend to criticize & complain about our present mess without doing something about it except criticizing and complaining about it.  While we should enjoy & be satisfied to the advantages of what we have today, let us not forget the whole process-journey it takes to reach at this stage of advancement. Same as saying: While you and others enjoys and be satisfied with the fruits of your labor, let us not disregard and undervalue the efforts, work and sacrifices you have done as well as God’s work of creating you and with you for life to be better than before, better than the usual.

    In other words, to do away with the mess in life and to fully enjoy what God has given and can offer us in life now, we have to be RESPONSIBLE participants for God’s grace and work of creating and redeeming our life anew. As a wise man once penned, “Who & what you are is God’s gift to you & the world, who & what you BECOME is your gift to God & the world”.

    Especially during these pandemic times, teach & lead us Lord to cooperate with Your will & plans for us these days so that we may humbly recognize & fully enjoy the fruits of Your works for our betterment & the glory of Our Father’s Kingdom.

    So May it Be. Hinaut pa unta. Siya Nawa. Amen.