9th Day of Simbang Gabi 2013

There is a Chinese story of a farmer who used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer's neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?" Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg, they let him off. Now was that good luck or bad luck? Who knows? My dear friends, for those who do not believe in God, they depend on luck. But for those who do not believe in luck, they have to surrender themselves before God. In our Gospel, Luke 1:67-79, the birth of John the Baptist was recognized by Zechariah that it was brought by a divine intervention and not by luck.  With the eyes of faith, he exclaimed, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of his servant David." His words reveal his total dependence on God. If ever there is what we call "luck" in life, it happens most probably in accordance to the will of God. Good luck or bad luck? Just pray because God knows best. Amen.

8th Day of Simbang Gabi 2013

Oedipus was born to King Laius and Queen Jocasta. In the most well-known version of the myth, Laius wished to thwart a prophecy saying that his child would grow up to murder his father and marry his mother. Thus, he fastened the infant's feet together with a large pin and left him to die on a mountainside. The baby was found on Kithairon by shepherds and raised by King Polybus and Queen Merope in the city of Corinth. Oedipus learned from the oracle at Delphi of the prophecy, but believing he was fated to murder Polybus and marry Merope, he left Corinth. Heading to Thebes, Oedipus met an older man in a chariot coming the other way on a narrow road. The two quarreled over who should give way, which resulted in Oedipus killing the stranger and continuing on to Thebes. He found that the king of the city (Laius) had been recently killed and that the city was at the mercy of the Sphinx. Oedipus answered the monster's riddle correctly, defeating it and winning the throne of the dead king and the hand in marriage of the king's widow, his mother, Jocasta. Oedipus and Jocasta had two sons (Eteocles and Polynices) and two daughters (Antigone and Ismene). In his search to determine who killed Laius (and thus end a plague on Thebes), Oedipus discovered it was he who had killed the late king: his father. Jocasta also soon realized that she had married her own son and Laius's murderer, and she hanged herself. Oedipus seized two pins from her dress and blinded himself with them. Oedipus was driven into exile, accompanied by Antigone and Ismene. After years of wandering, he arrived in Athens, where he found refuge in a grove of trees called Colonus. By this time, warring factions in Thebes wished him to return to that city, believing that his body would bring it luck. However, Oedipus died at Colonus, and the presence of his grave there was said to bring good fortune to Athens. My dear friends, every child carries with him/her all possibilities of becoming. Their parents have to face their crucial role in their children's formation years. Some parents would name their children "junior" so that the latter would follow the former's footsteps. In our Gospel, Luke 1:57-66, we are taught how to deal with children to forego a better path. In the words used by Luke -“What, then, will this child be? For surely the hand of the Lord was with him," we can find the wisdom of instilling to a child the fear of the Lord. If the child is God-fearing, then he would always seek what is good before God's eyes. His/her parents are blessed because they surely grow old but their children will be their worthy companions. Hopefully, people would learn that the best parenting technique is to let the children live in the holy fear of the Lord. Amen.

7th Day of Simbang Gabi 2013

There was a blind girl who hated herself just because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry her boyfriend. One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her and then she could see everything, including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, “now that you can see the world, will you marry me?” The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend was blind too, and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to her saying: “Just take care of my eyes dear.” My dear friends, it is sometimes true to say that love is blind. When one is blind, he can't see who the person is physically. He cannot have an exact knowledge of the other's physical perfection and imperfection. And when one's love is blind, he is not concerned of the other's perfection or imperfection but instead he just loves the other no matter what. He just loves and lets his love make things perfect for his beloved. In our Gospel, Joseph learned about Mary's pregnancy. With his human eyes, he saw this event imperfect for him as a trying-to-be perfect guy. Since he was a righteous man, he could had exposed Mary to shame. But his love for Mary prevailed. He decided to divorce her quietly instead of exposing her to shame (Matthew 1:18-24). At this time, God's angel appeared to him and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home." These words suggest that God encouraged Joseph to listen to his love for Mary for more. With the angels words, Joseph's love was made blind. He did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no if's or but's. As his love went blind, he knew God is his eyes.

5th Day of Simbang Gabi 2013

Thomas A. Edison was working on a crazy contraption called a “light bulb” and it took a whole team of men 24 straight hours to put just one together. The story goes that when Edison was finished with one light bulb, he gave it to a young boy helper, who nervously carried it up the stairs. Step by step he cautiously watched his hands, obviously frightened of dropping such a priceless piece of work. You’ve probably guessed what happened by now; the poor young fellow dropped the bulb at the top of the stairs. It took the entire team of men twenty-four more hours to make another bulb. Finally, tired and ready for a break, Edison was ready to have his bulb carried up the stairs. He gave it to the same young boy who dropped the first one. This story gives us a clear idea of what it means to trust. Edison knew that the young boy is fallible yet he offered his trust to him. He wanted to convey to the boy that human as he is, he is entitled to commit mistakes. Those mistakes are not the reasons in offering his trust. Rather, it is because of his continued trust to the boy despite his mistakes gives the latter a reason to avoid making the same and similar mistakes in the future. My dear friends, in talking about trust, our Gospel has something to say about it too. In Luke 1:26-38, the Bible reveals that God trusts a human being in the person of Mama Mary. God is never afraid that Mama Mary, though human as she is, becomes the mother of God's only son, Jesus. This means that despite the reality of human weakness, God believes that a human being can follow His will. Mama Mary accepted the trust bestowed on her by God saying, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Hopefully, we too receive positively what God has entrusted to us. Amen.

4th Day of Simbang Gabi 2013

One old man was sitting with his 25 years old son in the train….  Train is about to leave the station. All passengers are settling down their seat. As train started young man was filled with lot of joy and curiosity. He was sitting on the window side. He went out one hand and feeling the passing air. He shouted, “Papa see all trees are going behind”. Old man smile and admired son feelings. Beside the young man one couple was sitting and listing all the conversion between father and son. They were little awkward with the attitude of 25 years old man behaving like a small child. Suddenly young man again shouted, “Papa see the pond and animals. Clouds are moving with train”. Couple was watching the young man embarrassingly. Now its start raining and some of water drops touches the young man’s hand. He filled with joy and he closed the eyes. He shouted again,” Papa it’s raining, water is touching me, see papa”. Couple couldn’t help themselves and ask the old man. “Why don’t you visit the Doctor and get treatment for your son.” Old man said, ” Yes, We came from the hospital as today only my son got his eye sight for the first time in his life. I am happy to see my son happy." My dear friends, children are blessings from God. On one hand, there are many couples who have been married for some long years, but they do not have any children even if they wish to have at least one. On the other hand, there are some couples who refuse to have children and yet they get many. Can't this be a proof that God is in action in the life of the couples? In our Gospel, the message that children are blessings from God is clear. Zechariah had experienced this when an angel declared to him: "Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness,and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord" (Lk 1:5-25). Children are not only blessings from God but also bearer of joy to the family and the community. The problem however happens as the children grow, some become disobedient to their parents. Others become unruly. They become the opposite of blessings to their family. They are ungrateful to the kindness their parents showered them. If only those children realize why they came to life, that they should bring blessings to their family, the world would be filled with happy families. My dear friends, we are all children of our parents. Above all, we are God's children. Let us recognize why we are here on earth i.e., to be a blessing from God to one another. Amen.

3rd Day of Simbang Gabi 2013

A man told his story: When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, “I’ve got something to tell you. I want a divorce.” I raised the topic calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, “Why?” I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, “You are not a man!” That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; I had lost my heart to a lovely girl called Dew, a woman at my work that I had developed feelings for. I didn’t love my wife anymore. I only pitied her! The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Dew. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again. In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that for that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our broken marriage. This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into our bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that every day for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door each morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request. I told Dew about my wife’s divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. ”No matter what tricks she tries, she has to face the divorce,” she said scornfully. My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, saying, “Papa is holding Mama in his arms!” His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; “Don’t tell our son about the divorce.” I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office. On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest.. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her. On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn’t tell Dew about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, “I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy.” I drove to the office and jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind… I walked upstairs. Dew opened the door and I said to her, “Sorry, Dew, I do not want the divorce anymore.” She looked at me, astonished. Then touched my forehead. “Do you have a fever?” She said. I moved her hand off my head. “Sorry, Dew,” I said, “I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our lives, not because we didn’t love each other any more. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death does us apart.” Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away. At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote: “I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.” My dear friends, marriage is a sacrament. Its sacred nature cannot be changed although the circumstances of the couple change. Even if there is a good reason to legalize divorce, still the validity and efficacy of marriage should not be left to the will of the couple. Rather, the couple should adhere to the will of God. In our Gospel, (Matthew 1:18-25) Joseph was acknowledged as the husband of Mary. It means they were already married. According to their custom however, there are two phases in a marriage. The first phase is the wedding ceremony and the second phase is the taking of the wife to her husband's home. In Joseph and Mary's case, they were about to enter into the second phase when Joseph was deeply troubled by learning that Mary was pregnant. So the Bible says, "Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly." Here, Joseph had a valid reason to ask for a divorce! Yet the Bible says, "Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home." This event reminds us that the nature and consequences of marriage should not be left to the will of any spouse. Rather, they should submit their own will to the will of God. Joseph should ratify their marriage by taking Mary into his home. They have to live as husband and wife with all its possibilities. Marriage is from God. It is sacred. Let us keep it that way. Amen.

2nd Day of Simbang Gabi 2013

Once a man was polishing his new car, his 4 year old son picked one stone and scratched lines on one side of car. In anger, the man took the child’s hand and hit him many times, not realizing he was using a rock. At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures. When the child saw his father with painful eyes he asked “Dad, when will my fingers grow back?” The man was so hurt and speechless that he went back to his car and kicked it many times. Sitting in front of the car, he looked at the scratch that was made by his son. After a  closer look  he saw what was actually written there, “LOVE YOU DAD”. A tear trickled down his cheeks. He felt very bad about his action . He has already damaged his son’s fingers forever . My dear friends, a father has a big role in the family and particularly in the life of his children. A father is not just a sperm donor that after impregnating his woman, he has no more obligation to fulfill. It is deemed unreasonable to carry the surname of a father who has not contributed anything good to his children. A father is an important figure being the head of the family. In Matthew 1: 1-17, the genealogy of Jesus is traced back with reference to the fathers of the said family of families. Their names are mentioned with the implication that the birth of the child is not only the work of the woman but of a man too. (Ordinarily, a woman alone cannot conceived a child without carnal knowledge with a man.) When the woman then gives birth to a child she becomes a mother, and her man becomes a father. As a father, he is called to be the head of his family. Together with his wife, their parental roles begin there and then until their death. This means that a father of a family should not leave the responsibility to raise his children to his wife. Now, how many Catholic fathers do we have in the parish who diligently take care of their families? How many of them set good examples to their children? Being a father of a family is not just a figurehead or an honorific title. A father should serve as an inspiration of his children to live good Christian lives.

1st Day of Simbang Gabi 2013

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out a way to get him out. Finally he decided it was probably impossible and the animal was old and the well was dry anyway, so it just wasn’t worth it to try and retrieve the donkey. So the farmer asked his neighbors to come over and help him cover up the well. They all grabbed shovels and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, when the donkey realized what was happening he cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down and let out some happy brays. A few shovel loads later, the farmer looked down the well to see what was happening and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was shaking it off and taking a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he continued to shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, to everyone’s amazement, the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off! My dear friends, in life, there are people who try to shovel dirt on us. We somehow experienced being maligned or being accused of evil things which we did not even do. Just like the donkey in the story we have to shake the dirt off and try to step up. Yet we cannot deny that we feel exhausted sometimes of proving our innocence. We think of giving up. We think we better cover ourselves with dirt so that people can't see us anymore except dirt. But let us not succumb to such temptation. We have to remember that God is not concerned with our dirt or the dirt which people shovel on us. Rather, God is concerned of seeing His image and likeness in us. This is why on our first day of Simbang Gabi, our Gospel makes us realize this plan of God who cleanses us with the water of baptism. God even sent John the Baptist to make us clean. In our Gospel (Luke 7:27), it is clearly stated why He sent John: "This is the one about whom it is written, 'Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'" My dear friends, no matter what people say about us is not as important as what God says to us. We are meant to reflect His image and likeness. Amen.

1st Sunday of Advent

The wild boar was standing beside a tree, sharpening his tusks. The fox asked him why he was sharpening his tusks now, when there was no immediate need for him to do so. The wild boar replied, 'I have my reasons! This way, when danger threatens, I won't have to take time to whet my tusks but will instead have them ready for use.' My dear friends, we know that there are events in life which are certain to come though we do not know when shall they come such as death. Death is not just a reality for old people but also for the young ones. Aside from death, our Gospel passage which is taken from Matthew 24:37-44 reminds us that the second coming of Jesus is certain though we do not know that very day of his coming. We are therefore reminded to prepare ourselves, to be ready, to be in our best position to meet him. We can best prepare ourselves by praying and by living good Christian life. Today, we examine ourselves if indeed we are well-prepared or at least ready for whatever will happen next in our life.

2nd Sunday of Advent

Leonardo, the noted Italian artist painted the Last Supper. It took seven years for him to complete it. The figures representing the twelve Apostles and Christ himself were painted from living persons. The life-model for the painting of the figure of Jesus was chosen first.  When it was decided that Leonardo would paint this great picture, hundreds and hundreds of young men were carefully viewed in an endeavor to find a face and personality exhibiting innocence and beauty, free from the scars and signs of dissipation caused by sin.  Finally, after weeks of laborious search, a young man nineteen years of age was selected as a model for the portrayal of Christ. For six months Leonardo worked on the production of this leading character of his famous painting. During the next six years Leonardo continued his labors on this sublime work of art. One by one fitting persons were chosen to represent each of the eleven Apostles -- with space being left for the painting of the figure representing Judas Iscariot as the final task of this masterpiece.  This was the Apostle, you remember, who betrayed his Lord for thirty pieces of silver. For weeks Leonardo searched for a man with a hard, callous face, with a countenance marked by scars of avarice, deceit, hypocrisy, and crime. A face that would delineate a character who would betray his best friend.  After many discouraging experiences in searching for the type of person required to represent Judas, word came to Leonardo that a man whose appearance fully met his requirements had been found in a dungeon in Rome, sentenced to die for a life of crime and murder. Leonardo made the trip to Rome at once, and this man was brought out from his imprisonment in the dungeon and led out into the light of the sun. There Leonardo saw before him a dark, swarthy man his long shaggy and unkempt hair sprawled over his face, which betrayed a character of viciousness and complete ruin. At last the famous painter had found the person he wanted to represent the character of Judas in his painting. By special permission from the king, this prisoner was carried to Milan where the picture was being painted. For months he sat before Leonardo at appointed hours each day as the gifted artist diligently continued his task of transmitting, to his painting, this base character representing the traitor and betrayer of our Savior.  As he finished his last stroke, he turned to the guards and said, I have finished. You may take the prisoner away. As the guards were leading their prisoner away, he suddenly broke loose from their control and rushed up to Leonardo, crying as he did so, "Leonardo, look at me. Do you not know who I am?" Leonardo, with the trained eyes of a great character student, carefully scrutinized the man upon whose face he had constantly gazed for six months and replied, "No, I have never seen you in my life until you were brought before me out of the dungeon in Rome."  Then, lifting his eyes toward heaven, the prisoner said, "Oh God, have I fallen so low?" Then turning his face to the painter he cried, "Leonardo, look at me again for I am the same man you painted just seven years ago as the figure of Christ." My dear friends, all of us are created by God who is good and here it follows that we are all His good creation. However, all of us fall into sin. We become bad then by our own choice. We set aside our goodness as we cling to our sinfulness. But God reminds us that we are not meant to be bad or remain in sin. We are called to claim the good which is ours even before the fall of man. In our Scripture passage for today which is taken from Matthew 3: 8, we hear John the Baptizer saying, "Bear fruit that befits repentance!" He means to say, we have to claim what we have lost -the goodness which God instilled in us. Today, we shall remember, if some good people became bad by choice; bad people can become good by choice through repentance.