Do we find ourselves rejoicing at the faults of others? Are we delighted upon learning that our sister or brother has failed? Do we feel victorious when others are found guilty and shamed?
When we find ourselves rejoicing, being delighted and feeling victorious over the sins, guilt and shame of others – this tells us that something is also wrong with us. Our heart becomes an accuser to people who failed. We feel righteous because we are not like them. Then, we make “labels” to others. These are forms of “name-calling or stereotyping” to magnify their guilt and shame. We become rejecting and condemning. We demand evil for evil.
Yet, in the deepest of our hearts, are we indeed sinless, guiltless and blameless? Or do we only hide our own failures and sins by magnifying those of others?
This very kind of attitudes that may be creeping in our hearts as well as in our culture have been revealed to us today. On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, the Lord invites us to look deeply into our hearts. And so let us explore the readings and embrace God’s mercy and forgiveness.
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 that culture, women were the only ones who can commit adultery. Men can’t. Women were perceived to be deceiver and caused of sin. This was the reason why the man was not in the picture.
This culture was influenced by their machismo and patriarchal society. Hence, it was only the woman who was brought in the middle of the people. The intention was to shame her and not to bring justice. She was also brought there in an effort to kill her by stoning her to death.
Such condemnation was so cruel. Yet, despite its cruelty and violence, people found delight and joy over it. They even demanded for such savagery because it was what the “law” mandated them to do.
With the leadership of those influential scribes and Pharisees, they condemned this woman. With this attitude, they refused to give another chance and opportunity for the woman to change and redeem herself.
They demanded punishment from Jesus who could also confirm such penalty according to the Law of Moses. 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 him to death. The thought of it gave them satisfaction.
However, the event was turned by Jesus in the way they did not expect it to be. Jesus said, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” At this, Jesus redirected the condemning fingers of Scribes and Pharisees towards them. By saying that, Jesus brought them to themselves, to look at their sinfulness. To recognize who sick their hearts were.
It was very interesting at how the gathered people responded. They began to look at themselves and found that each of them was sinful. Each one was not worthy to carry out such punishment towards the woman. Each one was also guilty.
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, thoughts and actions. We are invited also to be more understanding of those who failed but not in the sense of condoning such failures and sins. 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.
Pope Francis in his homily on this Gospel story said, “Jesus forgives. But here there is something more than forgiveness because Jesus goes beyond the law. Though Jesus was pure and the only person who is worthy to cast the first stone against the woman, but Jesus did not because he showed mercy. ”
Mercy, as the Pope says, is difficult understand. “Mercy does not erase sins. It is God’s forgiveness that erases our sins. But then, mercy is the way in which God forgives. ”
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 is how Jesus defends us, sinners from the just condemnation of death. And it is because God always sees goodness in us.
We are all invited now 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. Only then that reconciliation will also begin in us. Hopefully, as we enter the Holy Week next week, may our hearts be ready to celebrate the Easter joy of Christ. Hinaut pa.
A month before those lockdowns and enhanced community quarantines were imposed, in March of 2020, I was in Mactan-Cebu Airport waiting for my flight back to Davao. While I was sitting and scanning my Facebook wall, in front of me was a baby girl in the arms of her mother. After a while the baby started crying. It was quite annoying because the baby was too loud. But babies cry like that anyhow.
However, what moved me so much was the response of the older brother who was about 5 or 6 years old. When his baby sister cried, he stopped playing the phone and moved closer to his mother. And then, he started caressing the face of his baby sister and hummed a song I cannot recognize. That caress must have brought comfort to his baby sister because few minutes later, she stopped crying and slept again.
It moved me so much because that small gesture created an impact of gentleness and affection. To be able to touch in a form of a caress truly expresses gentleness and affection. It brings comfort, peace, restoration, healing, and also reconciliation to a heart that is wounded by failures, trauma, anger, hatred, and sin.
Indeed, we are invited to allow the Lord to caress us with his mercy.
Allow me now to read to you a story in the Gospel of Luke chapter 7 verses 12 to 15.
As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
When you get a sprain on your ankle or any part of the body, what usually do you do with it? Is it not that you seek a massage/hilot for healing? When a child stumbles and gets hurt, a parent would console the child by caressing the painful part of the body, isn’t it? When lovers meet together, is it not that they automatically caress one another to show their affection? Among farmers, it is just natural and part of being a farmer to caress many times their livestock and plants. It is in touching them that a farmer makes a connection with his plants and animals. When we visit churches and pray before holy images, is it not that we also touch those sacred statues and images, hoping that our prayers will be granted?
Moreover, there is certainly power of healing in touching. Yet, touching can also be a form of destruction especially when our touch involves malice and greed.
Just like for example, when stalactites and stalagmites and other cave formations are being touched by human hands, there is a danger that their growth will be prevented or will be damaged in a split of a second by a simple touch. When touched by many, the oil and dirt in our hands could also turn these white deposits of calcium carbonate into black and destroy their process and formation which were formed for thousands or millions of years.
When forests are also touched by greedy human hands, our natural resources are depleted and destroyed and could even bring destruction to us and even to unimaginable destruction. This is also true when our government projects, local and national budgets are under the hands of greedy and corrupt officials, then, we get poor infrastructures, poor services, swelling government debts that tax payers will pay, and troubling inflation of basic commodities.
Additionally, when a husband becomes manipulative and controlling over his wife and children, his touch also becomes destructive and abusive. His caress becomes punches and hurtful words towards the people around him. Or when a wife and mother turned to be self-centered, her caress will also become indifferent, her actions become brutal and words become damaging to the self-image of growing children.
Certainly, a touch can bring healing and life or it could also bring destruction, pain and death. As Christians, what we are called is to touch others with the intention to bring healing, freedom and life. And we can only do that when our touch is in a form of a caress as God our friend caresses us with mercy. Yet, we can also only caress with mercy when we allow God our friend to caress us and “caress the wounds of our sins[1]” with mercy.
In fact, the Gospel story that we have read from Luke, tells us of Jesus who witnessed a funeral procession of a young man. This event is actually pregnant with invitations where we shall see how the Lord has come to meet us in order to touch us with mercy and his liberating friendship.
So, allow me once again to bring you step by step, deeper into this story.
First, Jesus was coming in to the city while the funeral was going out of the city. This tells us that at the city gate Jesus met this funeral procession. And it was an encounter, a meeting between life and death, of Jesus, the mother and her dead son in a coffin carried by people.
This tells us too that the Lord, certainly, meets us in a surprising way even when we think and believed there was no hope for us anymore for healing, for freedom and for being happy.
When suffering and death overwhelm us, in an amazing way, the Lord would surely come to us to give us hope. Even when other people around us would think and believe that we are beyond healing and beyond hope, but the Lord always sees hope in each of us. This was the reason why, Jesus stopped this procession, then he dared and cared to interrupt the people carrying the coffin to its resting place.
Yes, Jesus dared and cared to interrupt in order to meet us. Believe in that! This is what Jesus is telling us in this first part of this story.
Second, Jesus saw her! The Lord saw the mother. The mother was inconsolable. She was grieving for her only son. Losing him meant an end of her life too. At that time, a woman had no value in a male-dominated society. A woman cannot live alone by herself. She was already a widow. For that woman to survive she needed her son. Yet, her only protector, strength, and hope was taken away from her.
With this situation, Jesus was moved with pity. In other Bible translations, it says, “And Jesus had compassion for her.” Jesus felt the helplessness of the mother. He felt her pain of losing a son and of losing her life. For Jesus it was just so unfair. Jesus felt pity also of the young boy for being deprived from the many opportunities that his youth can offer, and that is, to grow, to enjoy life, to meet people, to give life to others, to fulfill his dreams and hopes. And so, in compassion, Jesus told her, “Do not weep.” And this was a promise of joy. It is God’s commitment to life, in order to bring joy.
Third, the encounter of Jesus with this difficult situation moved him to touch them, to touch their lives. The Gospel tells us that Jesus stepped forward, without hesitation and touched the coffin of the boy and told him, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”
The young man woke up and rose up to the astonishment of the people. Jesus brought the boy back to life and also brought back life to the mother. The touch of Jesus was very symbolic here. Touching the coffin of the dead boy, made Jesus ever connected with the suffering of the people and at the same time he brought hope and life to them. The touch of Jesus surely brought hope and restored the life of that boy and of her mother. His touch was a caress that turned the bitter and painful day into joy and comfort.
What is more interesting here was how Jesus touched. The Lord actually only touched the coffin and not the body of the boy. The coffin is the image of what limits, prevents and suppresses life. The coffin is after all, a box that hides what is inside. And Jesus touched that coffin, he gave freedom, joy and new life.
To each of us too, Jesus feels the pain when we are in pain. When we are losing our desire to live, losing our dreams and hopes, losing our optimism and enthusiasm, losing our desire to love and to forgive, to be kind and generous, then, we are certainly trapped in a coffin.
Yes, we might not be fully aware this time or we might be pretending as if nothing is wrong with us but we too might be already in a coffin because people around us have put us in a box, or we could have put and limit ourselves too in a box.
Thus, this box or coffin could be our own addictions and unhealthy compulsions and coping. We could be confined within the coffin of anger and hatred, of depression and loneliness, of guilt and shame, of pretensions and self-righteousness. We could also be imprisoned within a coffin of scrupulosity, of corruption and manipulation, of dishonesty and oppression. We could also be in a coffin of pride and arrogance or lying within the coffin of our emotional pain and trauma from abuse, fear and anxiety.
My friends, the Lord desires our freedom, our joy and peace and the fullness of life for us, thus, Jesus invites us to allow him to touch us, to caress us with his mercy and friendship.
Again Pope Francis says, the Mercy of God is great, the mercy of Jesus is great; they forgive us by caressing us.[2]
In this way, hopefully we too will be able to welcome the invitations of Jesus, to ARISE and to GO IN PEACE!
PRAYER
God of Mercy and Friendship, you never cease to bring your loving and tender caress into the world. I ask you now, Lord God, to caress my heart and soul once again, that I may also be filled with life, healing and freedom. Grant me also the faith and courage to caress and touch others with mercy and friendship so that I too may bring life and healing to my brothers and sisters. Amen.
To see the goodness in us as God sees it, can be a struggle. It can be really difficult and might even next to impossible for others. We might recognize the innate goodness in us but we might also forget about it and so fall again into self-pity, guilt and shame.
Time and again, these feelings of shame, guilt and fear may struck us and we will realize how broken and unworthy we are. God has been so good to us and yet, we are sinners, unfaithful to God. This is how we encounter ourselves and so encounter God as well.
But such encounter with the Lord would reveal to us that each of us, does not earn God’s favor and grace. I cannot and will not earn God’s mercy because God grants it freely and generously to you and to me. Friendship with God is also offered freely. We are not forced to accept it. We are rather invited to embrace that friendship. And our friendship with Jesus, cannot be broken,[1] as Pope Francis said. Indeed, it is from this mercy and friendship with Jesus that we are also being transformed, healed and reconciled.
This reminds me of St. Paul’s realization of being transformed by mercy and of friendship. Paul said, 1 Cor 15:8-10.
Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God [that is] with me.
As Jesus revealed himself to Paul whose name was Saul at the beginning, Paul saw his own shadows. Paul was in fact in disgrace because as a Jew, he felt so righteous, and he persecuted those who believed in the risen Christ. He brought many Christians to prison and even to their death. But his encounter with Jesus turned his life upside down. It began when he was on his way to Damascus and Jesus appeared to him in a vision.
Yet, he found the Lord without condemnation against him, but only with love and forgiveness for him. That encounter with Jesus brought him to see how wrong he was. Moreover, that very encounter of Paul with Jesus, was also the beginning of their friendship. And that friendship led Paul to commit himself to the risen Christ to be an apostle to the Gentiles, and that through the grace of God, not earned but freely given.
Aside from friendship with Jesus, Paul also realized the value, the importance and the holiness that can be found in our human friendships. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul acknowledged how this gift of friendship sustained and saved him. In Phil 4: 13-16, Paul said,
I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me. Still, it was kind of you to share in my distress. You Philippians indeed know that at the beginning of the Gospel, when I left Macedonia, not a single church shared with me in an account of giving and receiving, except you alone. For even when I was at Thessalonica you sent me something for my needs, not only once but more than once.
Indeed, the presence of our friends in our life would truly make difference. Well, it is usually with our friends that we share our deepest thoughts and dreams, our fears and confusions, our pains and sorrows, our joys and successes. Sometimes, our friends know more about us than our immediate family members.
Why? It is because friends allow us to be who we are. We find with our friends a space to be fully accepted and embraced. Friends also unconditionally support us and understand us when our homes do not provide that for us. And this is because of our shared experiences, shared stories and shared dreams. These are some reasons that connect us intimately with our friends and that make our hearts truly grateful.
Paul in this letter to the Philippians recalled such gratitude in his heart for the gift of friendship he had developed with the Philippians. Paul who was in prison and in many difficulties, was comforted by the thought that his friends remembered him and cared about him. His friends sent material resources that he would need. This was not just the first time because even during the travels of Paul to preach in other cities, the Philippians expressed their generosity and support by providing his needs for the journey. Paul said it intimately, “it was kind of you to share in my distress.” The thought of being remembered by friends had given Paul assurance and confidence despite the suffering and persecution he faced.
More than this friendship, Paul also expressed that what sustained him was his friendship with the Lord. Paul expressed it in this way, “I have the strength for everything through him (Jesus) who empowers me.” This friendship with Jesus was the very reason of that friendship he had with the Philippians.
This gives us a picture of our capacity to give oneself, to be generous and kind in order to express our support and love for our friends. Moreover, this also makes our heart to be truly gracious for the gift of friendship we have.
Interestingly, Simon Peter had his own story of encounter also with Jesus. Luke 5: 4-10.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.”When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”
This encounter made Simon realize his own sinfulness. Simon was told by Jesus to “put out into the deep waters and lower his nets” even though they had been fishing all night and caught nothing. This tells us that Jesus invited Simon to dwell deeper into his own life and to lower down his comforts, to leave behind his uncertainties and anxieties, fears and guilt. This became possible because of that friendship between Simon and Jesus. The Lord was able to challenge Simon, and Simon trusted because the Lord was his friend. Indeed, when Simon did all those, what he found was God’s goodness and tremendous love and generosity symbolized by the great catch of fish.
This moved Simon to beg Jesus to depart from him because Simon had become aware of his sins, failures, fears and insecurities. However, this realization became the entry point of Jesus to transform Simon. This was how Simon gained another name, Peter, or Rock because he was commissioned by Jesus for a mission.
However, Simon Peter who was an impulsive man also stumbled along the way. During the Passion of the Lord, we recall how Simon Peter denied Jesus, three times. This brought deep sorrow to Peter. Because of his fears, he denied the Lord and refused to be with Jesus in those painful and traumatic moments.
With his leadership, after the death of Jesus, Peter and the other disciples hid themselves because of their fear of the Jews. They were terrified because the same fate might also happen to them. However, most of all, they were frustrated and very disappointed with what happened to Jesus. They believed that Jesus would liberate Israel from oppression and suffering from the Roman invaders. Many disciples must have expected that Jesus will raise an army and start a revolution. They could have dreamed that one day they will be seating on a golden throne near their master. However, all those dreams and desires were shattered because Jesus was condemned by his fellow Jews and was crucified by the Roman soldiers.
Peter and the other disciples left their old life to follow Jesus. But Jesus was condemned to death, what will happen to them now? Peter surely also asked this question. “What will happen now?” Jesus is dead and they have no one else to follow.
Thus, this failure that caused them so much frustrations and fears moved them to go back to fishing – to their old self, to their old habits, and not stepping forward because their dreams were shattered, expectations broken and hope was taken away.
Nevertheless, God has his own way of calling us back again. Let us remember how Jesus called back his friends after they retreated to their old selves. Let us read this Gospel passage.
John 21:3-7
Simon Peter said to the other disciples, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea.
Now, Jesus appeared on the shore but the disciples did not recognize him. That night they caught nothing. This only tells us that when we also succumbed into darkness and sin then we will surely lose our way just as what happened to Simon Peter. But Jesus would never give up on his friends. Remember that!
Lord is ready to meet us wherever we are now. The Lord shall come and meet us in our dark moments, in times of our depression, sadness and sickness, even in times of great confusion and doubts, and in times of failures and frustrations. The Lord is always ready to do that because he wants us to live free from those.
Now, what was also interesting was on how the beloved disciple recognized Jesus. In fact, it was him who first recognized Jesus and told Peter about it. This tells us also, that once we have become intimate with Jesus, our heart will always desire for Jesus. This beloved disciple of Jesus, who had become so familiar with the Lord, recognized Jesus with joy.
This inspired Peter to respond immediately and to come near to Jesus. Again, this was symbolically done. Peter let go again of his boat, that is, of his old self. He jumped confidently into the sea of past failures and frustrations because he knew that Jesus was waiting for him on the shore. This was how Peter showed us that there is indeed “grace beyond our failures and God’s mercy beyond our sins.” Peter embraced that grace joyfully by encountering Jesus on the shore. Again, it was not earned but freely given.
There is also another moving encounter of Peter with Jesus that gives us more perspective on how mercy and friendship with God will transform us. Allow me to read to you this biblical event in the Gospel of John 21:15-17.
Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” Jesus then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” Jesus said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that Jesus had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to Jesus,“Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”[Jesus] said to him, “Feed my sheep.
During the funeral wake of my Papa, my mother told me about a conversation with my 5-year-old niece. She playfully asked my parents, “Tatay, do you love Nanay?” Asking my Papa if he loved Mama. And then she asked in the same way her grand mom, “Nanay, do you love Tatay?” This happened just a week before Papa died in 2019.
In the eyes of my niece, perhaps what she was doing was a mere play of asking questions and relaying the answer to both of her grandparents. Yet, the question entails commitment and faithfulness.
The question of Jesus to Peter essentially involves commitment and faithfulness. The three questions of Jesus were not of condemnation and judgment against the unfaithfulness of Peter. However, the question, “Do you love me?” was an affirmation that Peter was loved and forgiven.
Thus, the question of Jesus, “Simon, Son of John, do you love me more than these?” refers to that attitude of Peter. Jesus was basically asking Peter, “Simon, do you love me more than your fishing career? More than your fears and doubts? More than your sins and guilt? More than your insecurities? More than your dreams, desires and personal wants?”
Positively, Peter understood what Jesus was asking. Jesus asked three times to tell Peter of the great responsibility and also of the joy of the meaning of loving his dear friend, Jesus. To feed or tend the lambs and sheep basically means, “Take charge to care and love others.” This reminds us of Peter’s capacity to care and love others as Jesus did on the cross.
To each of us today, the Lord also asks us, “Do you love me more than these? More than your insecurities and fears, more than your personal wants and ambitions?” Then, the Lord also asks us to take the risk of loving him, who is our dear friend, by being able to love others, to become courageous and confident in loving others. Remember, it is in taking the risk of committing ourselves to love others that we too shall find our true selves.
The Lord knows that each of us has that capacity to love and take care of others. Never be afraid then, never be afraid to love. Never be afraid to express your care and affection towards others. It is in this way that like Peter, we will be able to follow Jesus, who invites us today, to express our love and care to others in the most concrete ways as we have experienced it from our dear friend, Jesus.
These are stories of encounter with a merciful God and of friendship that led to transformation and to a mission. Indeed, real encounter with God’s mercy and friendship would strip us from our pretensions and masks. Such encounter makes us true and without pretensions to see how sinful and unworthy we are before God.
Yet, it is in this moment of openness and honesty that we find God more merciful and forgiving to us. Let us remember this, it is when we own and claim our weakness, sinfulness and failures to God that we are also being strengthened, forgiven and empowered by the Lord.
Thus, for this second part of the recollection, these are the invitations for us.
First, we are called to be fully aware of our own sinfulness and failures, to take responsibility of our sins. Thus, stop blaming others. This, certainly, needs an amount of humility and honesty from us.
Second, we are invited to allow the Lord to transform us through his mercy, friendship and forgiveness. We can seek God’s mercy and affection then, by our constant devotion to the Eucharist, in receiving his grace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and by reflecting and seeking wisdom from the Bible.
Third, we are called to let God empower us by allowing God to make us His own instruments of mercy, friendship and reconciliation. God calls us and empowers us in the way we live our life now. We are called to become God’s witnesses as parents, as professionals, as leaders in our community, as workers or vendors, as children and friends, as students and as young people, as senior citizens.
PRAYER
God of Mercy and Friendship, you have constantly reveal to the world your unconditional love. Through your Son, our Lord Jesus, this love is fully manifested. Grant me now the courage to love and to commit my whole life in loving and in giving so that I may become your own instrument of mercy and friendship in my own home, among my friends and in my community. Amen.
(This is the talk given during the Holy Week Reflection on Holy Monday, April 3, 2023 delivered at St. Clement’s Church, Iloilo City.)
Are we being punished? Are we being condemned because of our sins? Has God abandoned us? Has God given up on us?
When Covid-19 hit us in 2020, we were all afraid and anxious. The world seemed to stop, and the many restrictions of our movements contributed so much to our feeling of being isolated and helpless. With this health crisis, economically or financially, we were being challenged in many ways. Many have lost their jobs and the most vulnerable among us were those who worked and earned on a daily basis and the poorest of the poor, the homeless and street children.
Likewise, every day many were haunted by anxiety of being infected by the deadly virus, or we might have been so worried for those family members and friends who were at the frontline fighting against the virus and ministering the infected. Or we might have been sobbing and grieving in those days because we have lost a family member, a close friend, or a colleague because of the virus.
In total, there are about 761,071,062 cases worldwide of covid infections,[1] and a total of 6,879,644 deaths worldwide as of March 26, 2023. (Last Update)
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine and this war brought economic challenges worldwide especially of the inflation of oil which affected us here in the country. This war continues until now which already affected 14 Million people being displaced[2] , with 140,000 infrastructures destroyed, with 15,000 people missing and 42,295 deaths.
Just last February 6, this year, a 7.8 magnitude of earthquake struck southern and central Turkey as well as the northern and western Syria which affected 24 million people[3], 2.5 million displaced persons and 56,00 deaths.
At the local level, at least in this post-pandemic time, no natural disaster has greatly affected the whole country except Odette in 2021 or any war that has ravaged the country. Yet, what is alarming, aside from the inflation of commodities is the rise of poverty level in the country. According to the recent DSWD Listahan 3, that survey found out that there are 5.6 million Filipino Families living in poverty.[4] In terms of individual persons, there are 2 in every 5 Filipinos who are poor. This is equivalent to 30 million poor Filipinos which is 27% of the 111 million population.
These are just some figures and images of suffering in the world and beyond these, there are more pain, suffering, and deaths unknown to us, not covered by statistics or by many news media. There are many who suffer in silence.
Thus, we ask again, are we being punished? Are we being condemned because of our sins? Has God abandoned us? Has God given up on us?
Talk 1
God’s Caress of Mercy and Friendship. This is the over-all theme that I would like to share with you tonight. We understand “caress” as an action that expresses, closeness, affection, love, concern and gentleness.
As Pope Francis said in one of his homilies, “God forgives not with a decree but with a caress.” And with mercy, “Jesus too goes beyond the law and forgives by caressing the wounds of our sins.[5]”
Mercy has touched the Pope so much that he led us into the Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2015-2016. Thus, Pope Francis affirmed that “mercy is God’s identity card[6].” Indeed, Mercy is the name of God.
Again, Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation called, Christus Vivit addressed to the Young People and to the Entire People of God, he wrote, “Friendship is one of life’s gifts and a grace from God. Through our friends, the Lord refines us and leads us to maturity.[7]” This is how friendship that we have developed helps us to grow and become the person God wants us to be.
Moreover, an author, Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, wrote a section of his book with its title, Friendship is Liberating Too, that, “Friendship can save us. Loving, challenging friends who can melt our bitterness and free us from the need to be angry are as critical within the spiritual life… To neglect friendship is to court bitterness and perversion.[8]”
This explains to us how friendship also plays a role in making ourselves free, free from anger and hatred, from bitterness and corruption that will only bring us into isolation and sadness.
Hence, as I journey with you tonight, let us refresh our hearts and minds with scriptural texts that would bring deeper into God’s caress of mercy and friendship.
I would like to invite you now to the story of Jonah.
Jonah 1:1-3
The word of the LORD came to Jonah, son of Amittai:
Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it; for their wickedness has come before me.
But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish, away from the LORD. He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and went down in it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the LORD.
Jonah was quite rebellious to God because he was sent by God to do something, which he did not want to do. If you remember, Jonah did not like this assignment to go to Nineveh because he hated the people. They were Assyrians, the traditional enemies of Israel who oppressed and attacked them. These Assyrians were known to be brutal invaders.
That is why, Jonah was so against God’s plan of sending him there to call them for repentance. Jonah was anxious that the people might believe in God and thus, God might show mercy to them and spare them from death. Jonah wanted this people to die. He wanted revenge against these people whom he thought were Godless. This was all because he was angry and he disgusted those people.
Yet, this is what really happened. When Jonah called the people to repent, they repented and believed in God and that was why, God showed mercy to them and saved them from death.
Jonah’s attitude may not be far from many of us who cultivate a narrow and vindictive mentality.[9] Like Jonah we too might have asked God, How could you love worthless, good for nothing people Lord? How could you show mercy to those who do not even recognize you as God? How could I also be merciful to them when they oppressed my people?
We might also find ourselves wishing suffering and death to those whom we hate, especially those who have caused us so much pain. We might have wished and cursed those people who did something terrible to others too. When a violence and or a crime is done to an innocent, we might have demanded also the same violence and crime to perpetrators. Like Jonah, we too might have believed that justice is attained through a gruesome death to our enemies. Like Jonah, we also could tend to believe that God should not show mercy to those who have hurt us, to our enemies and people who did terrible things to the innocent.
Yet, with Jonah, the people of Nineveh and God, there is something very interesting here. Jonah was totally honest to God about his thought and feelings against Nineveh. Jonah was comfortable enough to complain to God, to express his dismay and anger over this people. Jonah even tried to escape from God and argue with the Lord. And the Lord God, listened to him, the Lord God accompanied Jonah and allowed Jonah to grow and become mature as a person and as a prophet by being able to recognize his own limitations and biases against others. The Lord challenged Jonah to see beyond himself, beyond his pain and frustrations and to recognize that God’s mercy and friendship are for all.
Now, this exchange between Jonah and God expressed closeness and intimacy and that is evident in Jonah’s confidence to express himself before God. Is it not friendship at all? It is! Jonah was a friend of God. God is Jonah’s closest friend. And it is in this friendship that Jonah was called, challenged and was transformed. In a way, Jonah was the first to receive that caress of mercy and friendship with God which the Lord wanted Jonah to share with the people of Nineveh.
This helps me to realize now that God’s mercy and friendship are not limited to any group of people. God is a God of everybody, of bad and good people, of sinners and righteous, of criminals and law-abiding citizens.
God showed this concretely to us in the person of Jesus, the ultimate sign of God’s mercy and friendship with us. Pope Francis reminds us, “Friendship is so important that Jesus calls himself a friend: ‘I do not call you servants any longer, but I call you friends.’(Jn 15.15)[10]” Thus, in Jesus, the Father tells us that we are never abandoned, that there is always hope and goodness in each of us no matter how broken we are, and sinful we have turned to be. God always sees goodness in us, because we too are God’s friends.
This is the same invitation that we have heard from Jesus when he addressed the adulterous woman brought by the scribes and Pharisees. Like Jonah at the beginning, the scribes and the Pharisees were filled with so much hatred and anger. This made them to become condemning towards the woman. With this attitude, they refused to give another chance and opportunity for the woman to change and to redeem herself.
Thus, they wanted to stone her to death as what “the law” told them to do. But what did Jesus do? Listen now to the Gospel of John chapter 8, verses 7 to 11.
John 8:7-11
But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him.
Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”
This is what Jesus showed to the woman. Jesus said, “I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more.” God has delivered his judgment, showed His mercy and offered friendship. 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.
Pope Francis in his homily on this Gospel story said, “Jesus forgives. But here, there is something more than forgiveness because Jesus goes beyond the law. Though Jesus was pure and the only person who is worthy to cast the first stone against the woman, but Jesus did not because he showed mercy.[11]”
Mercy, as the Pope says, is difficult to understand. “Mercy does not erase sins. It is God’s forgiveness that erases our sins. But then, mercy is the way in which God forgives.[12]”
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 is how Jesus defends us, sinners from the just condemnation of death.[13] Again, (because) God always sees goodness in us and offers us his friendship that we may be renewed and find peace in his presence.
PRAYER
God of Mercy and Friendship, I am confident that it is not your desire to punish and bring us to condemnation, but to caress us with your love. Allow my heart to be ever closer to you, to grow in faith and affection towards you. As you see goodness in me, let me also see the goodness in others that I may learn to caress with mercy and friendship. Amen.
[5] Pope Francis, The Name of God is Mercy: A Conversation with Andrea Tornielli, translated by Oonagh Stransky (New York: Random House, 2006), xii-xiii.
[7] Pope Francis, Christus Vivit: Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Holy Father Francis to Young People and to the Entire People of God (Philippines: Paulines, 2019), n. 151, 64.
[8] Ronald Rolheiser, OMI., “Friendship is Liberating Too,” in Forgotten Among the Lilies: Learning to Love Beyond Our Fears (USA: Doubleday, 2005), 34-35.
Have you ever been judged because of what you have done before? Or because of a mistake or failure or sin that you have committed that people around you believed that you are hopeless and beyond redemption? It is truly devastating to be judged by people around us especially when we are “put in a box,” that, as if there is nothing more in us except our sins and failures in life.
Well, aside from being judged by others, each of us too can be the one who judge others because of their mistakes and failures in life. We could have played to be the righteous individuals who try scrutinize people searching for their faults and failures. We could be that mean person whose main intention is to bring other people down by shaming and gossiping their weaknesses in order to hide our own sins. This happens among our families, circle of friends, communities and our workplaces.
This Sunday, I would like you to listen first to one of the members of the Redemptorist Youth Ministry. Miss Kirsten Dañas will share her reflections tonight. And so, let us discover together how the Lord invites us. Let, us welcome Miss Kirsten.
Sharing of Miss Kirsten
Three years ago, I met this person, she was new to us, she was quiet and so respectful. As time goes by, I can see how genuine she was, that’s why it was not hard for us to treat her like our younger sister. We became good friends, we share stories, we have each other’s company, we let her feel that she always belongs to us. There was this moment when we were talking to our colleagues that she was always bragging about “Loyalty or being faithful” when it comes to a relationship. And yes, there was no second thought on that, we are on the same line when it comes to that part. I can see how she was as a girlfriend to her partner. They were together for like three years, her partner was a good man, anything she asked was being given to her. She was very lucky to have such a wonderful man, a-one-call-away-partner anyone could ever asked.
Months have passed, her partner got laid off from his job, I don’t know the whole reason behind it, but I saw in her eyes that she was also affected with that problem. Eventually, everything changed, I didn’t know why, but we noticed that she became closer with our co-worker whom she really didn’t like because of the past of this person whom she called “Babaero”.
At first, I thought, she was just longing for a brotherly love because that person also gave her everything she needed. Until such time, I never would have imagined that brotherly love turned into Cheating. Yes, she was cheating with her boyfriend that time. We were so disappointed with her, she was the one bragging about loyalty yet she ate all the words she said. We distanced ourselves from her as if she didn’t exist, to the point that we judged her, talking beyond her back about what she did, and even called her a “Gold Digger”, because that only started when her boyfriend can no longer support her needs.
I tried reaching out to her telling her to stop what she was doing. But, she chose to continue such actions. Though I was not expecting it, but this situation and her actions affected our working environment. Our workplace became toxic day by day until such a time that I felt I can no longer stand working there. I left that place without even talking to her or even saying good bye.
Yet, years have passed, I met this man, the reason behind my friend’s unfaithfulness. He told me everything, that what they did was wrong. They were together for almost a year, yet they realized also to end their relationship for some reasons. A shocking truth struck me actually, when that man told me something about her. That friend of mine was a victim of abuse and greed from her own family most especially from her own parents and brothers. They wanted her to get in touch with anyone as long as they can benefit with the money that their daughter can provide them. How selfish her parents are!
I was speechless that time. I realized, who am I to judge her that easily without knowing her story? Knowing all the truth, I felt so sad, I wanted to hug her and I wanted to say sorry for the judgment I made against her. I really didn’t know that she was pressured by her own family. She should have been protected and cherished in the first place yet she was used and betrayed by her own family.
I know that I can no longer take back all the things I did and said. But that circumstance made me realize a lot that indeed, it’s okay to feel down sometimes, it’s okay to feel sad, it’s okay to feel like giving up and it’s okay to have negative emotions. If ever we see someone who feels like this, let us embrace them, speak to them, listen first to their story, and allow them to open their heart. Most importantly, this calls me to be a non-judgmental person, to give my time and presence in order to accompany a friend. This will certainly bring significant and positive change in their lives.
Now, being in this ministry for more than a decade brings me closer to Jesus and I realized how the Lord has changed me to become a better person by accepting that I am also a sinner in need of forgiveness, and that my failures and mistakes are rooms for me to learn and grow.
She shared to us her experience that helped her to realize better about herself and her actions.
The Gospel story that we have heard today conveys this message to us. To become self-righteous only blinds us. Thinking highly too much of ourselves will even prevent us from asking God to show his mercy upon us because we already think that we do not need God’s mercy. Therefore, the self-righteous attitude of the Pharisee is basically a denial of God, a rejection of God’s mercy because he felt that he did not need it. Moreover, this attitude only leads us to build invisible walls that separate us from others.
Thus, we might still have that idea of condemning our brothers and sisters who are considered terrible sinners. We too might have that attitude of separating those people whom we consider as unclean for fear of being contaminated and be associated with them.
On this Sunday, Jesus invites us to rather look closely at ourselves and to examine better our intentions, thoughts and actions so that it may also lead us to recognize our failures and sins. This was the attitude of the Tax Collector and the very reason why he could not look up to heaven. When he saw himself, he felt disgusted for the sins and failures he had done against God and his neighbors. He must have cheated and corrupted a lot of money. However, looking at himself, he realized his need of mercy and the need to be converted. That same realization will hopefully lead us to also join the tax collector in praying, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Such prayer and humility will surely reach the heart of God. In fact, the Book of Sirach in the first reading tells us that “the prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal.” God, our Just Judge, will come to our rescue and will show us his mercy when we also begin to honestly acknowledge our sins and failures. The God of Justice will listen to our petitions especially when the Lord also finds the poverty in our heart. This means that our heart is empty of any self-righteousness, of any self-satisfaction and self-justification.
As the Lord defends us and shows us mercy, we are called to be more understanding to those who failed and sinned but not in the sense of condoning and tolerating such failures and sins. Thus, it is very important that as we exercise understanding, we also need to confront each other of our mistakes and failures. We are invited to be merciful rather than condemning.
Therefore, to both the righteous and the sinners, God does not condemn but God rather desires our healing, reconciliation and fullness of life for all.
This calls us, then, to see more in the person of our brothers and sisters, to stop our harsh judgments and condemnations, to stop our gossiping, image shaming, name-calling and bullying that only destroy the person of our brother or sister.
I would like to invite you then, to embrace a family member, or a relative or a friend whom we know have sinned against us so that reconciliation will also begin in us. In this way then, we will hopefully become witnesses of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Kabay pa.
A DOSE OF GOD TODAY 