Peace! Kalilintad! Shalom!

Tag: Lepers

  • Life is in Jesus

    Life is in Jesus

    January 8, 2021 – Friday after Epiphany

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010821.cfm)

    When many of us are confined at home because of the pandemic and restrictions in going outside our residence, the rise of the Plantitos and Plantitas (the popular name of those who develop the love of planting) also emerged. Our boredom at home wonderfully bore fruit by becoming more connected with the earth. When we learn how to plant, we also learn how to touch in order to nurture life.

    Touching with the motivation of caring brings wonder and joy in us. This is the reason why many of us find comfort and pleasure in nurturing the life of the plants. More than this, we too are called to nurture human life, to inspire life and heal life. This is what Jesus shows us today.

    Our readings today remind us of this. The first reading from the First Letter of John tells us that “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son, Jesus.” We find this life in Jesus, our Lord.

    John mentions two important and recurring words in today’s reading that tell us that life is indeed in Jesus. These words are testimony and possession.

    The word testimony refers to the witnessing of the Father in the life of Jesus. The testimony of the Father to His Son is the confidence of the Father. This also means that the confidence of God in us will be revealed in our life by having Jesus. This is not about giving testimony to God, but God giving testimony to us through the wonders that God can do for us.

    The word possession means our possession of Jesus, the Son of God in our life. Having Jesus is letting Jesus fulfill his promise to us. Having the Lord in our life is allowing the Lord to do what he desires to do in our life.

    Such testimony and possession of Jesus bring us into the Gospel story. A man full of leprosy fell prostrate and pleaded with Jesus. The man asked the Lord to reveal God’s testimony of bringing healing and fullness of life. The man asked, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” He allowed the Lord to work wonders in him and to let God give testimony through the gift of healing.

    In this way, Jesus touched the man to heal him and bring him that fullness of life. Jesus’ touch surely brought healing and life because his touch was motivated by care and compassion, by love.

    Today, let us be conscious of this invitation to have Jesus in our life and to discover that eternal life or the fullness of life is in Jesus. As we touch people through and by our life, always bring healing and bring life not corruption of life and not violence to life. Allow also the Lord to give testimony to us by making ourselves always open to God’s plan for us. Hinaut pa.

  • Awareness of God’s Grace calls us to gratitude and graciousness

    Awareness of God’s Grace calls us to gratitude and graciousness

    November 11, 2020 – Wednesday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111120.cfm)

    Homily

    In a conversation with a friend, he told me that he was doing some form of sacrifices because he was asking God of something, to grant his prayer intentions. This really reminds me of our usual attitude in our prayers and in the way we relate to God. We make sacrifices so that God may grant our prayers for healing, for success or for material graces that we need. We also take time to light a candle, to offer a mass intention, to say our novenas and rosaries, even visit churches and shrines, and ask the intercession of our favorite saints so that God will grant our prayers and desires.

    This kind of action is also similar to that 10 lepers in today’s Gospel. They too begged Jesus. They cried out to the Lord to heal and grant them freedom from the curse they endured. Certainly, Jesus listened to them. As Jesus told them to make themselves appear before their priests, on their way, each of them was healed from leprosy and experienced freedom from the curse of that illness. However, out of ten healed lepers, only one leper came back to Jesus. This leper came back to thank and to praise the Lord. This leper may not be fully aware yet, that Jesus is Lord, but he was sure enough that God was working in Jesus.

    Hence, Jesus actually wondered on what happened to the nine lepers who were all Jews like him. The leper who came back was a Samaritan, considered as a foreigner by the Jews. And Jews considered Samaritans as enemies, worthless and good for nothing. Yet, it was this enemy of the Jews, this worthless and good for nothing person who became aware not just that he was healed but also of the grace of healing. Becoming aware of the grace he received, this made the Samaritan leper to also recognize the giver of the grace. His awareness of the grace filled him with joy and gratitude. He must have been running back to Jesus out of joy to thank the Lord.

    However, Jesus indeed wondered about the nine Jewish healed lepers. We would wonder and could also ask, “What could have prevented them to thank Jesus like the Samaritan?” Well, we can only suspect. The nine Jewish healed lepers might have become indignant that the Samaritan was also healed and was given the grace. For them, a Samaritan was not worthy of God’s grace because they were traitors. They might have not accepted that an enemy had been blessed and healed by God. That happy occasion of healing must have turned into bitterness. Instead that the nine should be grateful to God, their hearts turned bitter at the sight of someone whom they thought was not worthy, useless, a mere disturbance in their society, and would only bring nothing good but problems and crimes.

    Because of such attitude, they forgot that everything was a grace and so forgot to express their gratitude to God. God’s generosity is endless yet our memory can sometimes become very short especially when we are filled with bitterness. We always remember to ask, but we tend to forget to give thanks.

    Thus, we should be careful on this. We might tend to think that those who always go to Church are the only ones worthy of God’s grace of mercy. We might tend to believe that our enemies, people we hate, people we don’t like are useless and insignificant. Then, this kind of attitude will only cloud our heart with hate and bitterness instead of gratitude and graciousness.

    Thus, we are called not just to be grateful with what we have but also to be more grateful for others who are also blessed by God. This makes us gracious too. And this also was the attitude of the Samaritan who went back to Jesus to thank him, to praise God and also to follow the Lord.

    This healed leper’s action showed how grateful his faith was. Indeed, he was not just healed physically but also spiritually. Jesus told him, “Stand up and go, your faith has saved you!” This healed leper teaches us today to show our gratitude to God so that we may also become gracious.

    St. Paul’s letter to Titus reminds us about this, he said, “the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we have done but because of his mercy.” And because of this, Paul urges us to “exercise all graciousness towards everyone.”

    Indeed, by becoming more and more aware of God’s grace in us and in each of us, we may also grow not in bitterness but with a grateful and graceful heart. Hinaut pa.

    Jom Baring, CSsR