3rd Sunday of Advent 2015

Luke 3: 10-18

My dear friends, let me share to you at least three points based on my reflection on today’s Gospel (Luke 3: 10-18) First point, “even bad people realize their need to change their ways and become a better person.” Our Gospel says that the multitudes, the tax collectors and soldiers approached John the Baptist and asked him what they should do. These people, though how bad they are depicted in some passages of the Bible, expressed their willingness to change their ways. This is possible because even if they are sinners, still their bodies are temple of the Holy Spirit and the same Spirit leads them to take the path of conversion.

Second point, “these bad people usually turn away from their sinful life when they meet someone who inspires them to take a virtuous life.” Our Gospel says that the multitudes, the tax collectors and the soldiers approached John the Baptist to consult him. This situation is not always easy for some people. There are those who are reluctant to seek some advice because they do not want to appear to others as incompetent or they refuse to consult others because of their pride. How many time we have heard stories about some children who are hardheaded and they never listen to what their parents tell them to do. Yet when these children become teenagers and fall in love, they learn to change their ways without being told to do so. This is because they are inspired. In our Gospel, it was John the Baptist who inspired those people to change their ways. Without him as their inspiration, it was difficult to initiate changes from them.  

Third point, “people consult or seek some advice from someone not just because of the latter’s competence to make a sound judgment but more so on the values he made manifest before them.”  In our Gospel, the multitudes, the tax collectors and soldiers sought John’s advice because of the values they had seen from him. John the Baptizer though popular as he was remained humble before them. He never usurped the title of Christ. He exhorted them and preached good news to them. He never destroyed those people by dwelling on their weakness and failures. Rather, he raised them up from their weakness and failures. He brought them a message of hope that no person is born bad and therefore it is a matter of choice to choose good or evil. Most of all, he led them to recognize Jesus as the Christ.

My dear friends, on this third Sunday of Advent, we are reminded to confess our sins and turn away from them. But this is not enough. Like John the Baptist, we need to inspire our fellow Catholics to confess their sins and turn away from them. We do not dictate those people to do what is right. We do not force them to change their ways. We only need to show them our Christian values so that they too would inculcate the same values. We do not lose our hope that even bad people shall change and become better persons. As long as one lives, there is a chance to undergo conversion and sometimes such person needs only someone to inspire him/her to do so. Let us therefore be the first one to inspire our fellow Catholics. Amen.         

Feast of the Immaculate Conception 2015

December 8, 2015

Today we celebrate the Feast of Mary, the Immaculate Conception. In celebrating this feast, we are reminded of the Catholic teaching that Mary was conceived without sin. But this teaching is very difficult for some Christians to accept. Let me quote one Bible verse which is being used to oppose this teaching. It is a passage from the letter of Paul to the Romans 3: 22-23 saying, “For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” With this, it is clear that “all” without exception have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So how come that we in the Catholic Church teaches that Mary was conceived without sin if it is clear that “all” have sinned?

My dear friends, to answer this, let me lead you back to the Gospel which we have read today. Our Gospel is taken from Luke 1: 26-38 which says that an angel came to Mary and said, “Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you” and “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God!” These verses reveal that Mary is sinless because the angel personally declared that she is full of grace as the “Lord is with her”. These verses reveal too that Mary does not fall short of the glory of God because the angel personally declared that she has “found favor” with God.

As a personal note, if we based our faith on the Scripture alone, then these verses are sufficient to establish the special status of Mary among the faithful. Would you then choose to believe a pastor who disregards Mary or the angel who announced that Mary is highly esteemed by God?

Now, how do we settle the conflict between the verses from the Gospel of Luke and from the letters to the Romans? The letter to the Romans refers to a general application i.e., for all the people of the earth while the Gospel of Luke is for particular application i.e., for Mary only. In other words, “all have sinned” refers to us, while being conceived without sin refers to Mary.  Moreover, it is not impossible that Mary was conceived without sin because even Adam and Eve were created without sin. So a pure state of grace is possible because of God. Mary then as immaculate is actually God’s work which the Catholic Church only declares and promulgates. The Catholic Church does not invent this teaching, she just acknowledges the amazing work of God through Mary as written in the Scripture.

This is why other Christians have no reason to accuse the Catholic Church of giving importance to Mary because it was God who first made Mary important in the history of salvation. The Catholic Church merely affirms and confirms what God did to Mary as being a favored one. This is why other Christians have no reason also to deny the Catholic teaching that Mary is the mother of God because it was the angel of God himself declared, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God” (with emphasis on the Son of God). Indeed, it is by necessary implication that Mary was immaculately conceived because she would bear the Son of God. The Son of God shall not just be placed in anybody’s womb but in a womb made holy by God. To say this in another way; Mary would become the mother of Jesus the Son of God, it is therefore necessary that she should have no sin. This said necessary implication may be fully understood quoting a Biblical passage stating, “Do not give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before pigs; otherwise they will trample them under their feet and turn around and tear you to pieces.”

To end, we Catholics should continue to give our special devotion to Mary not only today on the feast of Immaculate Conception, but every day. If God Himself gave favor to Mary, who are we to refuse acknowledging her in her special role in the history of salvation? Moreover, if there are still questions as well as doubts on the holiness or immaculateness of Mary, just read Luke 1: 37 –For nothing is impossible with God. Amen.     

2nd Sunday of Advent 2015

Luke 3:1-6

One afternoon at Starbucks in BF Homes, a guy approached me and told me that he recognized me as a priest assigned at their parish in 2005. Then he asked me a question about baptism. He asked me why Catholics allow children to be baptized though they could not yet have faith in God. He immediately mentioned about John the Baptist who baptized adults like Jesus. I just listened to him and never gave any answer to his question. I was at Starbucks to enjoy drinking my coffee while giving myself a break so I did not entertain his question. When he could not elicit any response from me, he politely left me as he returned to his table.

My dear friends, today allow me to go back to the guy’s question as we reflect on today’s gospel. We, Catholics do baptize children because it was Jesus himself who commanded his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit… (Matthew 28: 19) Jesus never said that only adults should be baptized and ignore the children. Therefore, what Jesus did not prohibit, no man should prohibit it.   

If we also read the Gospel of Mark 16:16, it is said, “The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned,” this phrase does not say that a child is not allowed for baptism. If the problem is the faith of the child in order to receive baptism, then the status of the child shall fall into the second sentence which states, “the one who does not believe will be condemned.” Does this sound Godly that a child who cannot yet believe just because he is a child and dies will go to hell because he is not baptized?

Moreover, is it not more problematic for an adult who would just say he believes in Christ as his savior in order to fulfill the condition of his baptism? Is it not more conflicting when we can see those who claim they believe in Christ and were baptized yet they are experts in the art of criticizing us Catholics?  Is it an act of faith to compare their religious belief with the Catholic faith and claim religious superiority? If their faith in Christ has saved them already, why do they act as if they were not yet saved? Their actions speak louder than their words.

Now, many of us trace the origin of our baptism from the baptism of John. This is also what other Christians think that is why they said that baptism is for adults as Jesus received baptism as an adult. Well, sorry to say but this (the baptism of John) is not the origin of our baptism in the Catholic Church. Try to take a look at Luke 3: 1-6. It says, “John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Here it is clear that the objective of the baptism of John is repentance for the forgiveness of sins. It is not the kind of baptism that Christianizes us. Why? If we are baptized with the baptism of John, then we are called followers of John. But we are called Christians! This is because we are baptized with the baptism of Jesus the Christ. There is a difference between the baptism which John conferred and that of Jesus. John himself even acknowledged the difference saying in Matthew 3: 11, “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am –I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Thereof even if John’s baptism are for adults only, his baptism is not the standard of our baptism. One can also look into the details of the difference between the baptism of John and Jesus in John 3:22-30.

What then is the significance of John’s baptism for us Catholics? Well, the baptism of John is important for us Catholics to remind ourselves the need for repentance especially for the forgiveness of sins which we commit after our baptism. We are reminded that in order to meet the Lord with gladness, we are free from any obstacle: mountains and hills shall be made low; make the winding path straight. The mountain and hill as obstacles may be the occasions of sins, the effects of sins or sins themselves. We are called to decide to free ourselves from sins and choose to live in Christ. We have to give up our addictions which blur our vision to see Jesus clearly as to love Him dearly. We have to cleanse ourselves by immersing in the water of repentance. It means that after we have been made clean, we come out of the water leaving behind our sins. No longer shall those sins stop us in meeting Jesus and living with Him. We shall do this daily and not only during Advent Season. The struggle against sin does not happen only during Christmas, so we must see to it before we sleep at night, we have asked forgiveness from God for both big and small sins. Amen.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2015

Scripture: Mark 10:2-16

2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" 3 He answered them, "What did Moses command you?" 4 They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to put her away." 5 But Jesus said to them, "For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, `God made them male and female.' 7 `For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." 10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

What did Moses command you? -this question reminds us of two important things in marriage. First that marriage is based on the consent or will of the persons as represented by the pronoun YOU and second, that marriage is based on law which supposedly protect the choice which one made in favor of marriage which here is represented by the word MOSES as he is considered the lawgiver. But even with these two, marriage cannot sustain without its third important element i.e., marriage is something spiritual, a vocation from God. This is why Jesus said that what God has joined together let no man put asunder because He knows that one's will or consent may change from time to time and even law could be amended to suit in the whims of those who live in lust. But with the spiritual nature of marriage, we are all bound to protect it and make it work for the glory of God. Amen.

20th Sunday in 2015

19th Sunday in 2015

18th Sunday in 2015

My dear friends, we heard various stories about people who are actively serving the parish or the church. Some have personally experienced the healing power of God, others have been inspired by their priests or parish workers, some others have their own reasons which only they themselves know, and there are other more reasons why people are in the service of the parish or church. But take note my dear friends, our Gospel which is taken from John 6: 24-35, reduces whatever reasons people have in serving the Church into two. To quote Jesus, He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” These words of Jesus would tell us that people seek Him either for physical or spiritual welfare. So too can we say that in the parish or church, people come either for physical satisfaction/relief or for spiritual growth. Although both could be good reasons to engage in the ministry but for Jesus it is a noble reason for one to serve and seek Jesus in the parish or the church with a motive to grow spiritually, to be like the saints if not like Christ. In furtherance with this principle, though it is nice to have our parish programs and projects reach the people especially the poor, hopefully those people under these programs and projects grow spiritually with their priest/s. The parish or church has the duty to help God’s people especially the poor to alleviate their suffering, but it does not mean that the parish or church loses its track to lead the people grow spiritually. One may justify that in order to sanctify the people especially the poor, they must be first introduced to the parish or church. This can be done by giving them aid or assistance including but not limited to food, shelter, and clothing. But the question is, does this prosper in helping people grow spiritually? Most often, the parish or church has mastered in providing the people with things they need like food, shelter and clothing but it has not reached its primary purpose i.e., to lead people to grow spiritually. When there is a change of administration, when there is also a change in the parish programs and projects, then we ask what will happen to those people under the previous programs and projects? Most of the time, many of us think that we have to cater the needs of the people before we can teach them about God. With this kind of mentality, we produce more priests and ministers doing the works of social workers while neglecting to perform the works of spiritual leaders. Just like Jesus, we have to give importance to the needs of the people physically and spiritually, but we shall put more weight on the spirituality especially of those who are actively serving Jesus in the parish or church. It is good to hear people come to the parish or church because they feel their faith is strengthened, that together with their priest/s they grow spiritually in prayers. To end, I wish to end with the story about St. Alphonsus de Liguori who was born of noble parents. At the early age of sixteen he was made doctor in law, and he threw himself into this career with ardor and success. A mistake, by which he lost an important case, showed him the vanity of human fame, and determined him to labor only for the glory of God. He entered the priesthood, devoting himself to the most neglected souls; and to carry on this work he founded later the missionary Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. This story of Alphonsus reminds us that though he served God’s people as a lawyer yet he could better serve God as a priest whose mission together with his community is to take care of the souls. Thereof, salvation of the soul is still our highest law and we obey this law by giving our utmost attention to the spiritual needs of the people. It is all about how we can better seek and serve God that matters anyway. Amen.     

In Memoriam Blas Perez

Any act of separation usually makes us cry. Take for example a woman who is giving birth to a baby. The act of separating the baby from the womb of the mother may either makes the mother or the baby cries. Observe also when a parent goes to work and he/she has to leave his/her child at home, the child usually cries refusing to let go of his parent. The same thing happens when the child goes to school for the first time and his parent or guardian leaves him in the classroom, the child cries. Let us also consider the case of some married couples, if one of them has to go abroad for a job, both cry notwithstanding the good reason of finding a job abroad. In the same manner, some parents cry when their daughter decides to get married. Such parents do not cry because they do not want their daughter to get married but because they know she has to live her own life and decide for herself. The most crucial act of separation happens when death comes in our midst. We do not cry because we do not expect death to happen. We cry because death comes when we are least prepared to accept it. But even if we are prepared for its coming, still we cry because we know we cannot spend our time with our beloved dead the way we used to do. Of course, no one is expected to be happy for the death of the person he/she loves. If there is a moment of consolation for one not to cry during the death of his/her beloved, it is the moment of letting the person go and accept death because it is more difficult to see the latter suffering from his/her situation. Years after one's beloved died, those who are left behind are expected to go on with their respective lives. Although it cannot be avoided that there are times that they long for the good old days, they have to move on. In our Catholic practice, we usually remember our beloved dead and count the years when death separated us from him. We call it "death anniversaries." We celebrate this so called death anniversary not because we realize that we must be happy about death. No! We celebrate such anniversary because it gives us a reason to be happy despite death tries to spoil our meaningful life. What is this reason? Well, in counting the years from the death of our beloved until today, it shows that death has no power to kill or to put an end to our love for the person eventhough he has gone for a long time. To celebrate one's death anniversary would only mean the victory or triumph of love of the living over death. In your situation, your memories of your father are still vivid and alive. It is a great sign of your love for him. Not only this, you might not notice that his character has been passed on to you, how you live your lives and how you handle your own family. Your children and your children's children also have a share of his character whether they are aware of this or not. With all these, death has no power to totally separate you from your beloved father. Eventhough death made you cry, you can still make the last laugh because death could not take away your father from your memories, from your life and from your love. In celebrating today the death anniversary of your father, it reminds us that death can only separate us physically, but never beyond this. Added to this, we also hope that time will come for us to be reunited with him. This is what actually our Catholic faith tells us too; Jesus commanded His apostles to celebrate the eucharist in memory of Him before His passion and death. To remember Him is an act of love and at the same time it gives the apostles hope. This hope is what we always proclaim during the mass, "When we eat this bread, when we drink this cup, we proclaim your glory until you come again." As we celebrate this mass, we also remember our beloved Blas as we await the time we shall meet him on a the last day. So my dear friends, keep on remembering as an act of love with the hope that one day what death has deprived us God shall provide us. Amen.

17th Sunday in 2015

Our Gospel is taken from John 6: 1-15. In this Gospel, we can notice that it was very difficult for the disciples to volunteer themselves in providing people some bread to eat.  But in this same Gospel, it was very easy for them to suggest, appoint or pinpoint someone to do it for themselves. Look at also the words they used: Philip said, “It would take MORE than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread…” Andrew said, “…how far will they go among so MANY.” The words they used somehow reveal to us that when one is asked to give something, either that something is a money or goods, he/she considers not only the amount that comes out from his/her pocket but also the numbers of the recipient. The mere thought of the words MORE and MANY hinder one to give and find his/her justification that one cannot do something about the other’s suffering. Yet, in this same Gospel, Jesus solved what seemed to be a BIG problem by using what the disciples considered SMALL. In the Gospel there is this boy –a small person compared to an adult with 5 SMALL barley loaves and 2 SMALL fish. Jesus took all these and gave thanks before distributing them. Jesus did not focus on the BIG problem, rather He thanked God for what they had though how small these seemed to be. In thanking God for the seemingly SMALL gifts, problems could not grow bigger without any solution. This Gospel reminds us that we should not ignore the small things we have, rather we thank God for them as a sign of His goodness.

Let me end with a sharing of my personal experience in the parish. In our parish at Ca-Ma-Ca, it was very difficult to ask from people some financial assistance for the repair and maintenance of the parish due to their economic situation. I understand that they already have budgeted their money long before they receive it for their family as well as for the education of their children. If ever they could contribute for the parish, I could tell who could give more as well as those who could not give even a centavo. Thanks to the Parish Youth Council then when its members tried to make rounds from one house to another house during Christmas and on the Feast of Christ the King. As they visited our parishioners from one house after the other to say some prayers for them, the home-owners would give them snacks or a maximum sum of 20 pesos. They eventually earned much from these activities that they spent their money not only for the repair and maintenance of the parish but also for its improvements. This is a concrete experience on how small good things can solve big problems. This experience leads me to thank God for both small and great things He has showered upon our parish. Amen.                                

16th Sunday in 2015

Our Gospel which is taken from Mark 6: 30-34 is a very rich source of Christian reflections about the different ministries in the Church. The moment Catholics reflect on this, they cannot but find themselves serving the Church. To start with, the opening of the Gospel tells us that the apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. The Gospel used the word “apostles” which refers to the chosen twelve. Such word is important in order for us to distinguish them from the seventy-two disciples in seemingly similar event which is mentioned in Luke 10:17. In Luke, it is said that the seventy-two disciples returned and they joyfully reported to him declaring, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!” As we compare the two events, the seventy-two are described with emotion using the word “joyfully” while the twelve are described plainly with no indication of emotion. This would give us an idea that when one is new or fresh in the ministry, there is so much emotion and passion involved in the ministry. But as years pass by, it is enough for one to sustain and remain in the ministry.

To continue our reflection, Jesus on his part invited them to settle to a quiet place to take a rest. Jesus invited them to rest because he knew they were tired. Jesus invited them to rest because they needed to regain their energy for the next day to continue their mission. Jesus invited them to rest because the apostles already completed their mission. This leads us back to the Book of Genesis where God saw everything He made was good, He then rested. God blessed the day He rested because it was the day when He rested from all His work of creation. Rest then for the apostles neither means sleeping, nor drinking wine or eating. Rather, rest for the apostles means making their day sacred. This is why all lay ministers and even the clergy have to attend retreat and recollection at least once a year. They need to recharge their Spiritual energies. They have to take care of their souls also.

Now, we go to the ending of the Gospel wherein Jesus saw the people trying to go with them. Here the Gospel states Jesus had compassion on them it is because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  My dear friends, sometimes we interpret this as if Jesus meant that there is scarcity of ministers. Not necessarily! During His time, there were many leaders such as the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, etc. There were many shepherds so to speak. But Jesus knew what kind of leaders they were. They were not compassionate! (Look at what they did to Jesus Himself!) So, when the Gospel states that Jesus had compassion on the people because they were like sheep without a shepherd, Jesus looked for the quality of His ministers. Out of the seventy-two disciples, He chose the Twelve as His apostles. These apostles were expected to be compassionate to God’s people like Jesus the Good Shepherd. We therefore my dear friends in Christ remind ourselves that being ministers of the Church, it is not our personality shall prevail but the compassion of Jesus over everything. We are only caretakers of God’s people and we need to show compassion to people as God has been compassionate in choosing us.   

To end, I would like to share to you my experience the first time I stayed at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 2005. I left the province at that time to enroll at Asian Social Institute as Msgr. Manny Gabriel’s student (Institute for Priests Renewal and Studies). Because I did not know where to reside in the city, a friend of mine recommended me to the parish priest of the National Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to have my temporary shelter. I did not know who the parish priest then but it was only through text that I learned that he was expecting me to be in his parish. When I arrived at the National Shrine, I immediately looked for him. Then a man approached me smiling and asked me if I am Fr. Jude. When I said yes, he took my baggage and brought me to my designated room. It was only there that he revealed himself as the parish priest of the National Shrine. The two months I stayed with him in the Shrine were memorable; I witnessed how compassionate he was to his parishioners. He always tried to listen to his assisting priests, guest priests and priests-companions. He would pray with us in our morning and evening prayers. He would always attend to our needs too. I could not forget the night when he invited me to join their community of priests to dine in a fine restaurant and then watched a movie with them. He was never tired smiling in dealing with people. At that time I learned that people go to church because they could feel God’s compassion through him. He was not tired in doing his ministry well because he was always at the Adoration Chapel to pray and get his energy. Verily, he is one of the priests with a good quality to shepherd God’s people. This kind of minister is what we need in our church. So pray for more ministers who could show God’s compassion to people. Amen.          

15th Sunday in 2015

Our Gospel is taken from Mark 6: 7-13 which states in its opening that Jesus called His twelve disciples and began to send them out two by two with His authority. Notice my dear friends the first two acts of Jesus i.e., to call and to send. Obviously, when Jesus called His disciples, their response was to join Him while when He sent them, their response was to leave Him. Though all these seem to be obvious, look at how the Gospel refers to the disciples. When they approached Jesus as He called them, they were one single unit known as the Twelve. And the purpose of Jesus in calling them was to send them out two by two. Here, the Twelve was divided into pairs, two by two. It was only at this point that Jesus gave them His instructions.

My dear friends, from this Gospel narrative which exposes to us the position of the disciples in relation to Jesus, we are being reminded of two things: our prayer life and our pastoral life.

In our prayer life, we are called to be with Jesus. So as we pray to Him, it is better to bring with us our Christian Community like how the Twelve approached Jesus when He called them. It is better to pray as a Community as this is also in consonance with the promise of Jesus in Matthew 18: 20 –For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. We do not have any problem with this  as we always pray and celebrate our liturgy and sacraments as a community.

In our pastoral life, we are called to go for a mission just as the disciples were sent out by Jesus. This means we do not only pray as a Catholic but we also do something to express our faith. What do you think a good Catholic shall do while seeing someone is drowning in a swimming pool? Shall he say, “I will pray for you while you are drowning” or shall he attempt to save the victim the best way he can? Of course, he has to do something to save the victim aside from his prayers.

Now, we learn from the Gospel that aside from praying we have the mission to be living witnesses of our faith, to preach the Word of God, to preach repentance, and everything which is implied in doing them. But in going to a mission, we need to have a companion on our way. It is better if we have our Community with us while in a mission. Yet, if this is not possible, then we have to request for at least one as a partner. Why? It is because the purpose why we preach is to build a Community in His name. And in building a Christian Community, one man alone cannot do it even if he is a good preacher. On one hand, we know how people dislike those who do not live what they preach. On the other hand, if people see how two missionaries live harmoniously together in Christ, they are more drawn to join the latter. In addition, one man alone cannot do all things to fulfill his mission as he has his own share of weakness and limitations. Working in pair is expressed in the Book of Sirach 42: 24-25 which states, “All things are in pairs, each the opposite of the other, but nothing the Lord made is incomplete. Everything completes the goodness of something else.”

To end, I will share to you my experience as a first time parish priest. When I was assigned at San Lorenzo Ruiz Parish as a parish priest in year 2012, I was not alone in going there. I asked Adonis who was a candidate for the ministry of deacon at that time to help me in the parish. Our first few months were difficult because we cooked our own food, did all the cleaning, celebrated mass just for the two of us during weekdays and talked to each other from morning to evening. This was so because our parish is composed of three barangays and is far from its town. Our parishioners are mostly nominal Catholics who go to mass on Sunday. With this setting, we could not talk to our parishioners after the mass because they would hurriedly go home to rest or go to visit the town. This is understandable because it is only on Sunday that they could rest after working in the field for a week. After sometime, Adonis and I decided to make a pastoral plan and we divided our pastoral work between us. I had to deal with the old ones while he had to deal with the young ones. Within our first four months, we organized the first batch of the Ministry of the Altar and the Parish Youth Council. We revived the inactive organization and strengthened the others. Everything went well until Adonis was ordained and left the parish while I stayed alone. It was there and then that I could feel the burden of being alone in the parish. I could not forget that sometime in May, I suffered from hypertension but I needed to say the mass as it was the feast of San Isidro Labrador. I could not do anything except to celebrate the mass without them knowing that I could not see anything anymore. I decided to baptize the children within the mass too as I knew that I could not stand any longer after the mass. That was the feast that I never enjoyed because I had to go back to the convent to sleep in pain. I needed to take a rest because the next day I had to say mass again which nobody could do in the parish. My dear friends, this is my experience which leads me to appreciate why Jesus had to send out His disciples two by two. And I ask you today to pray for your priests especially for those who are assigned alone in their parish or in a mission area. Moreover, may you be our prayer-partners starting today. Amen.

14th Sunday in 2015

Our Gospel is taken from Mark 6: 1-6. In this Gospel, we learn that Jesus began to teach in the synagogue and many who heard him were astonished. The verb astonished here could either mean as “namangha” or “nagtaka”. So what is the difference between these two? Well, “namangha” is used to express one’s experience of being amazed of something or someone to the extent that he wants to know more about it or him for his better appreciation; while “nagtaka” is used to express one’s experience of being puzzled about something or someone to the extent that he wants to probe the complexity of the said thing or the person to cause a surprising effect. Let me describe this very slim difference; in a school setting, a grade one teacher would be astonished (namangha) to know that one of her pupil knows how to use the multiplication table at the very young age. Where do you think her astonishment bring her? She would say to her pupil, “Eh di wow! Ang galing mo. Believe ako sa iyo!”  Now compare this scenario with a high school teacher whose student hardly passed their exams in all his subjects but when the said student took the National Achievement Test, he was one among the top ten when the result was announced. Of course, the teacher would be astonished (nagtaka). Where do you think her astonishment bring her? She would say to him, “Eh di wow!” but with disbelief. This kind of astonishment (nagtaka) seemed to be the tenor of those people who heard Jesus teaching. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary…” Here we can feel that their astonishment did not lead them to appreciate what Jesus was doing. Moreover, their disbelief is manifested when the Gospel itself states: “And they took offense at him.” My dear friends, because of this kind of astonishment, those people tried to probe that Jesus could not do anything better knowing where he came from. It is just like saying that a stream cannot rise above its source. People like these are usually motivated by envy (inggit). They are not happy if they know someone does something better than them. If only they were astonished in the first sense of the word as in “namangha,” they would follow Jesus and they would know more about Him. They would realize then that they were wrong by thinking that Jesus came only from the house of a carpenter, with Mary, James, and others because they would discover that Jesus came from God, the real source. People of this kind are usually happy seeing others doing great things in the society. They even encourage others to do more great things for the greater glory of God. To end, allow me to share with you my experience last April. Last April, I asked someone to drive my car from Aklan to Manila via Ro-Ro. I was expecting that we would arrive early in Manila and I told him that we would stay in a parish. But due to some reasons, we arrived late in Batangas and I told him that we could not get a good accommodation in the parish especially at such unholy hour being aware of our travel time from Batangas to Paranaque. He told me not to worry because we could sleep somewhere in Quezon City. When we were in Quezon City, we were welcomed by a couple in their home. We ate our late supper then we went to sleep. On the next day, of course we had our breakfast, and I was astonished on how they prayed before and after our meal. I was even astonished the way they talked about their members and pastors with admiration while we were eating our breakfast. The one who drove my car is a deacon of Iglesia ni Kristo and the couple also belongs to Iglesia ni Kristo. In fact, the wife is a professor in New Era University. I really admired them how they love their religion. I do not say this to encourage you to join them. Rather, I say this because this experience leads me to thank God that even though they are from a different religion, they are doing the same thing what our Church teaches us to do. My astonishment bring me to a realization to respect other’s religion as God is also at work with them in a way beyond my understanding. My dear friends, every time we see someone does great thing, let us not be jealous but thank God because all these happen for His greater glory. Amen.                

13th Sunday in 2015

Our Gospel is taken from Mark 5: 21-43 which I call “The Double Miracle” Story. It is a double miracle not only because there are two miracles in this one Gospel event but more of the following considerations: First, there were TWO women as subjects of healing and they were opposite in age and circumstances. One was young and the other was an adult. The young one was at the point of death while the woman was suffering for years and yet she was not dying! The young one had her family, Jairus being her father but the woman seemed to be alone. (There is a legend that says this woman is St. Veronica.) The only similarity they had during the time of Jesus is that both were considered second class in their society. Second, there were TWO wills in this event; one was known and the other unknown. Jairus made known his will to Jesus that he wanted his child to be healed while the woman’s will was unknown to Jesus. Further, Jesus manifested His will before He healed the daughter of Jairus but with regard to the woman, Jesus manifested His will after she got healed. Then lastly, there were TWO different acts which moved Jesus to make miracles i.e., the act of Jairus wherein he begged on his daughter’s behalf for healing and the act of the woman by touching the garment of Jesus. My dear friends, this exposition on two different acts in this particular Gospel passage make us appreciate our identity as Catholics. Why? Because these two acts which resulted to a double miracle in the said Gospel passage, are embedded in our Catholic Tradition which until now most if not all Catholics practice them. Though some Christian denominations criticize us for such religious Tradition, but with this Scripture passage, we can say we do right in our Church. The two different acts which are described in our Scripture, one that of Jairus is now known in our common parlance as “Intercessory prayers” or “Intercession” which means that we pray for the sake of another person. The other is the act of the woman which is known to us today as “Expressions of Pop Religiosity” which are religious practices which keep the faith of many simple people alive and lively outside the Church’s liturgy. The first act, the “intercession”, we always do it especially when dates for board exams or Bar exams are fast approaching. The second act, “pop religiosity”, we can observe this during the celebration of the feast of Black Nazarene in Quiapo,  Senor Santo Nino in Kalibo and in Cebu, during Holy Week rituals, etc. Now, my dear friends, every time someone criticizes us for being fanatics or lunatics because of what we do to express our faith, well remember this “Double Miracle” story. What (act of faith) Jesus never condemned, let no one condemn it. To end, allow me to share my experience about “intercessory prayers”. One Sunday afternoon, after celebrating the mass with the Charismatic community, the elders of the said community had a meeting with me as their new Spiritual Director. After our meeting, one elder approached me and asked me to lay my hands on her because she was going to have her medical check-up with her husband in Manila. According to her, she badly needed an immediate medical attention. I was doubtful about myself that I asked all the elders to extend their hands toward her and pray together with me. I did not say anything except that I told God He could heal her if He wills it. Then we all went home after that. My dear friends, few days later, I was happy when she sent me a message while she was at the hospital telling me that the doctor could not find any trace of her sickness. It means she needed not to worry because everything was normal despite her previous medical results which pushed her to go to Manila for treatment. My dear friends, I myself could not explain what happened, but I believe that because of the community of elders who prayed for her, she has been healed. The power of community praying for a person reminds us of the power of intercessory prayers which is one of the two acts in our Gospel today. My dear friends, starting today, please pray for your priests as we also pray for you in our mass. Let our intercessory prayers for each other make miracles in our parishes. Amen.                              

12th Sunday in 2015

In our Gospel which is taken from Mark 4: 35-41, it is said that Jesus invited His followers to go across to the other side of the sea. In so doing, we could observe two acts which interplay in the scene i.e., the acts of the disciples and the acts of nature. In the first instance, we could imagine the action of the disciples as they took Jesus in the boat. They were secured and confident to take Jesus in the said boat because they had fishermen with them who were expected to be familiar with the course of the sea. We know that Peter, Andrew, James and John were all fishermen, so they knew if it was safe for them to sail on that day. But the acts of nature entered into the scene. It is said that a great storm of wind arose and the waves beat into the boat. At this point, the security and confidence of the disciples were somehow failing and fading. Here we may say, in relation to the boat, the acts of the disciples were constructive but the acts of nature were destructive. It was at this point too that they awakened Jesus and said "Teacher, do you not care if we perish?" My dear friends, if we reflect on these words, was it appropriate to utter those words to someone who was awakened from a deep sleep? Was it not inappropriate that someone who was expected to be familiarized with such kind of situation being fishermen themselves uttered those words to a son of the carpenter? Anyway, the acts of the disciples here towards Jesus were somehow destructive in the sense that they would seem to question Jesus whether He cared about them or not. They were restless and unsteady even in the presence of Jesus. Then Jesus woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Here the acts of nature were somehow constructive that in the sense nature became at peace and steady in the presence of Jesus.   

From these two acts i.e. of the disciples and nature, we could also reflect on our own acts in relation to things and to Jesus. In our Gospel, the boat was the thing which became the object of the acts of the disciples and of nature. Just like the disciples, we too feel secure and confident with things which we are familiar with. Some of us have our cars, cellphones, iphone, etc. and we use them for our purpose. We take care of them because we know it is important for our life. However, if the acts of nature have to take its course, we cannot expect that nature would spare the things we love and destroy only those things of which we would care less. Our Gospel made a statement on this, the boat was already filling because of the acts of nature. It also happened in our parish, at San Lorenzo Ruiz de Mla in Aklan, our native-style convention hall which was built in May and finished in September but was only destroyed by Yolanda (in November). Hence, in relation to things especially those which are beneficial for man and woman, we try to protect and preserve them. We even cry to God for help.

How about the acts of nature and our acts in relation to God? Well, in our Gospel, nature obeyed Jesus. The wind and the sea could not therefore go against God. Nature could never destroy the will of God. But like the disciples in the Gospel, we sometimes fail to see that we little by little severe our relationship with God just because of the things we love. The disciples experienced that the damage done to their boat was also a threat to their lives, such is sometimes what we feel when we are about to lose the things we love or when we actually lose them. I for one lost my newly-bought cellphone, and I could neither eat nor sleep thinking of it. And just like the disciples, we say some words which show our desperation, “Lord, do you not care if we perish?” We have not realized that we make “things” more important than God in saying those words. We have not realized who we are before God. We have not realized that if we protect the things we consider important, then how much more for God to protect us as we are important to Him.

My dear friends, today we are called to evaluate our own actions in relation to things and to God. When all things are eventually destroyed by nature (Don’t get me wrong. I am not praying for the Big One to happen), let us ask ourselves with the question Jesus asked His disciples -"Why are you afraid? And if our life is in danger due to the course of nature, then we ask ourselves with the question Jesus asked His disciples –“Have you no faith?" My dear friends, in God alone we can find our rest. Amen.

11th Sunday 2015

In our Gospel according to  Mark 4:26-34, Jesus gave His listeners a description of the Kingdom of God using two parables.
In  the first parable where He talked about the Kingdom of God, He mentioned -"the harvest has come" and in the second -"the mustard seed becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."
In both parables, Jesus revealed to His listeners that with the dawning of the Kingdom of God, there comes happiness. In other words, God wills to share His happines with us His creatures. But this seems to be difficult for some of us to understand. If God wants us to be happy, then why is there suffering? Why is there sickness, death, famine, poverty, etc. in this world? How can there be happiness? My dear friends, with all these questions, happiness seems to be a mere impossibility. Instead of providing us some answers for all these questions, Jesus maintained to describe that there is happiness. First, this happiness does not happen abruptly or instantly. Then this happiness is imperceptible that it is something beyond what the senses can perceive.

First, happiness does not happen abruptly or instantly. This is indicated in the first parable when Jesus said, "the earth produces of itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear"  while in the second He said, "it is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth". With these descriptions, we get the impression that happiness happens through a gradual process. My dear friends, we believe that God being omnipotent can give us an instant solution by eradicating all of these problems once and for all. Yet our God prefers that things happen in His own time. It is therefore necessary for us to wait for God to address all our concerns while we continue praying to Him. This is what most sick people experience when they say "God, if you want me to be happy, heal me right now", healing does not take place immediately. For some, it takes years to be healed. They have to be patient as they gradually improving their health condition. We have to remember, happiness does not happen abruptly or instantly.

Now we go to the next character, happiness is imperceptible that it is something beyond what the senses can perceive. This is indicated in the first parable as Jesus said, "a man should scatter seed upon the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how", and in the second He said, "a mustard seed is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up..." With these words, we get the impression that happiness somehow is uncapable of being perceived by the senses. This means my dear friends, that despite the many problems we see in this world, those problems cannot stop God in sharing us His happiness. There is happiness. But we have to go beyond our senses to discover it. We cannot rely on just what we see or hear or touch. We might not understand why certain painful event must happen to us but time will come for us to realize why it should happen. What matters on that day is that after all the sufferings, we can find happiess in the end. In short, despite the many discomfort and difficulties in life, God assures us that He shares His happiness with us.

To end, allow me to share my experience. In 1988, after I graduated from elementary, I entered the seminary to fulfill my only dream, that is to become a priest. But it was very difficult for me then to adjust myself in the seminary because it was my first time to sleep without my mother at my side. I also had the difficulty to follow our seminary schedules as well as to pass our subjects especially in Math, Latin and Spanish. I always got sick that I thought I could not make it anymore to become a priest. This situation went on until I was in the second year, when our priest-professor in Latin scolded me during our class with him because I was actually academically poor. He even warned me saying, "You better go home and plant camote." It was on that day that I prayed to God that at least I could finish my high school in the seminary and get out after our graduation. My dear friends, I do not know how and why but I stayed in the seminary after graduating from high school. Then after thirteen years in the seminary, I could not believe that I was ordained priest on September 19, 2001, which was also the birthday of the priest who scolded me when I was in High School. I admit my dear friends, he served as my model-priest while I was studying in the seminary. On that day, I experienced what happiness means. Happiness is a gift from God. It does not happen instantly. It is not always perceptible yet it exists. Happiness comes in God's time. Amen.

Corpus Christi Sunday

Today is Corpus Christi Sunday or the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. I cannot but share to you how I witnessed a miracle resulting from one’s devotion to our Holy Eucharist when I was in college. We were in our Philosophy years that we seminarians experienced great pressure to study due to the seminary’s academic demands. One of our classmates had to study using his penlight during our “lights off” or sleeping time. Because of this, he suffered from an eye defect. So he was brought to the hospital, (Makati Med) and he was advised to undergo surgery because there was something in his brain that needed medical attention. So he agreed with the doctor. When the scheduled time arrived, one of the doctors was not there and so the mother of our classmate decided not continue their plan of having any surgery. They went back home and our classmate went back to the seminary with his defective eye covered by an eye mask. Every day we had our mass, he would take off his eye mask as the priest elevated the sacred host saying, “My Lord and my God.” Of course, all of us prayed for him too. Then after sometime, he regained his normal sight. They went to the hospital to ask how it happened, well the doctors could not explain it. But for us, we believe that it was the power of the Holy Eucharist who healed him.

My dear friends, the Holy Eucharist is important for us Catholics. It is in the Eucharist that we receive the Body of Christ as Jesus Himself said in the Gospel of Mark 14: 22 “This is my body.” In receiving Jesus in the Eucharist we are also reminded by His words in the Gospel of John 6: 54 which says, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” This is why even if some Catholics say that our celebration of the Mass is boring, we cannot change its essence that it is a sacrament instituted by Christ for our salvation. Yes, it is nice to pray while dancing and singing praise and worship songs, but such can neither equal with nor a substitute for the Eucharist which has a saving effect being a sacrament. Moreover, it is never written in the Scripture that when a community has a good preacher, with good dancers and singers too, that eternal life is possibly bestowed on them by God. Rather, what is written, that Jesus commanded His apostles to continue doing what He instituted as a sacrament saying, “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19). To go further, the Holy Eucharist is the great source of our assurance of salvation. This is why satan hated the Holy Eucharist because many souls are saved every day through this sacrament. So satan needs to stop people attending the mass; and if satan could put an end to the celebration of the mass, then he would do so. This is why the first ones being attacked by satan are the priests. If there is no priest, then there is no one who celebrates the mass. If there is no mass, then one cannot receive the Body of Christ which gives us eternal life. So you see, my dear friends, as we celebrate the Corpus Christi, we are once reminded to love the Eucharist. We are called to attend mass every Sunday and if possible, we celebrate mass together every day. And by the way, our classmate who was healed by the power of the Holy Eucharist is now a parish priest -Fr. Kenn Martin G. Estocado. Let us therefore bless the Lord, and give Him thanks. Amen.      

Trinity Sunday

Today is Trinity Sunday. And as we celebrate the feast of the Holy Trinity, I cannot but tell you a story about my favorite saint, St. Augustine.  

The great Doctor of the Church St. Augustine of Hippo spent over 30 years working on his treatise De Trinitate, endeavoring to conceive an intelligible explanation for the mystery of the Trinity.

He was walking by the seashore one day contemplating and trying to understand the mystery of the Holy Trinity when he saw a small boy running back and forth from the water to a spot on the seashore. The boy was using a sea shell to carry the water from the ocean and place it into a small hole in the sand. 

The Bishop of Hippo approached him and asked, “My boy, what are you doing?” 

“I am trying to bring all the sea into this hole,” the boy replied with a sweet smile. 

“But that is impossible, my dear child, the hole cannot contain all that water” said Augustine. 

The boy paused in his work, stood up, looked into the eyes of the Saint, and replied, “It is no more impossible than what you are trying to do – comprehend the immensity of the mystery of the Holy Trinity with your small intelligence.”

My dear friends in Christ, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity or the dogma of One God in Three Divine Persons which we believe is revealed to us by Jesus Himself when He said to His disciples according to the Gospel of Matthew 28:19, 

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." 

In saying this, Jesus revealed to us that there is One God in Three Divine persons –Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. How could I explain this? Well, like St. Augustine in the story I would say it is impossible to comprehend the mystery of the Holy Trinity; and if I or anybody could fully explain it then how could we say it is a mystery? Nevertheless, allow me my dear friends, to use an analogy just to help you understand a little how great this mystery shall affect our Christian lives if we only know something about it.

Allow me to ask you, Where is West Philippine Sea? Where is South China Sea? If you try to search for the location of West Philippine Sea from Wikipedia, you can find a note “West Philippine Sea redirects here” and then you see there “South China Sea”. In short, there is one sea but is called by different names, either West Philippine Sea or South China Sea. Through this analogy, let me say but not exactly as it must be, that when we pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we pray to only one God (the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God yet we do not have three gods but one God).

Now, you might ask if there is one God, why is there Three Divine Persons in God. (You see I am grammatically wrong in using the verb “is” as I talked about Three Persons; but I am doctrinally correct because the “Three Persons” as I have said is but One God.) Again, allow me to use an analogy. If you are a father of a family, you could hear your wife and your children call you “Daddy” while you are in your home. Then if you go to your office to work, you could hear your subordinates call you “Sir”. After your work, you go home and change your clothes because you are going to play tennis with your friends who call you “Nene”. Here, there is only one person who is “Daddy” to his family, “Sir” to his officemates and “Nene” to his friends. Let me say then, but this is not exactly as it must be, there is one God whose presence is that of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

With all these analogies, I now submit to you my dear friends, how the mystery of the Holy Trinity shall affect our Christian lives. We only have one God. This God according to the Scripture is love and thus we say God is love. We have experienced the presence of God. We have experienced love. This love is not just a word but an action word. It is neither an abstract idea nor an empty word. Rather, it is real and true. This real and true love creates life. It always makes something new. God the Father created the world and even until now something new is happening in our world. This real and true love saves life. Jesus the Son has saved us through His death and resurrection. He has given up His life for our sake. This real and true love makes life holy. The Holy Spirit makes us holy. Though we are sinners, the Holy Spirit guides us to our way back to God. This kind of love could also be experienced by most Catholic couples. As husband and wife who love each other, they procreate, they give life to their child. The husband thinks of what to give his wife when he goes home while the wife prepares the home for his husband. They offer their lives for the good of each other. Finally, they pray together. They make each other holy. Therefore, my dear friends in Christ, if we believe in One Holy Triune God, we dedicate ourselves to love. If we really and truly love, we create life-giving atmosphere to the other. If we really and truly love, we offer our lives for the good of the other. If we really and truly love, we make other’s life holy. And at the end, we can all say I love in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Pentecost Sunday

My dear friends in Christ, our Gospel is taken from John 20:19-23. From this Gospel, we could learn somehow what charismatic groups or even born again Christians describe as “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” or “the experience of God’s presence”. Surprisingly, even a deacon of the Iglesia ni Kristo shared a similar experience to me within their community. Well, the sharing and testimonies of the different communities in our present generation would only confirm the religious experience of the early apostles as authentic and true as written in the Scripture.

My dear friends allow me to tell you the experience of the early disciples in seriatim. It is said that it happened on one Sunday evening (on the evening of that day, the first day of the week), which means the apostles were in the dark. Not only that they were in the dark but also hiding in the dark, as it is emphasized in the Gospel that the doors being shut where the disciples were because of fear.

This was the sad setting when Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Notice my dear friends, when Jesus said “Peace be with you” to His disciples, He showed His hands and His side. He showed them His wounds. Why He had to do this? This is to tell us that peace is neither the absence of pain, nor the absence of problems, nor the absence of worries. Rather, peace is an experience of the presence of God despite the pain, problems or worries. It is an experience of the love of God in the midst of the cruelty of the world.  

To continue, it is said in the Gospel that the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So we learn from here, that being aware of the presence of Jesus, of the presence of God, the disciples forgot their fear! The presence of Jesus was so overwhelming that one can say, “wala ka nang hahanapin pa” or “forget muna ang problema”.  

Finally, Jesus said to them, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit”. Here, we are being made aware that the Holy Spirit is with us as we receive Him when we were baptized and in the sacrament of Confirmation just like the experience of the early disciples. It is somehow improper then to say that God has abandoned anyone because God Himself has come for all of us. God the Father gave us Jesus and then the Holy Spirit. What else do we want? Well, it is time for us to do our mission in this world being sent by Jesus to testify that God is with us.

Let me end with a personal sharing; there is this one good young man in our parish whose parents are working in a rented fishpond. He wanted to become a teacher but he did not pass the board exam. So he tried culinary arts and became a chef but he was not rehired due to management’s prerogative. When he applied for overseas work, everything was ok except for the result of his medical exam given by the company. He told me he was confused and did not know what lies ahead of him. He was depressed. I told him to pray more. His father also was worried about him and his future.

One day, I asked his family to have a life-size image of Jesus on the cross which would be used for the Holy Week procession. I told them God will bless them for their efforts for the good of our parish. Though I know how difficult it was for them to accept my suggestion, they willingly did have such image during our Holy Week celebration this year. It was this young man who assisted his parents in preparing the image for the procession. I saw his dedication for the parish during the Holy Week. I reminded him that God will make His presence felt in his life.

My dear friends, this morning when I was browsing my Facebook account, I saw his name as one of those who pass the licensure exams for teachers this year. His dream now comes true. But for me as a priest, it is a concrete manifestation that God is with us to be at peace in this restless world. Amen.      

Ascencion Sunday

In Exodus 2:11-12, it is said that one day, Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, so he looked in all directions to make sure no one was watching, then he killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand.

This Bible passage gives us a picture of one who intends to perform an evil act. First, the person looks in all directions, from left to right, to make sure that no one sees what he intends to do. Second, he performs his evil act with the intention to conceal it from any one.  In most cases, we experience this as a reality when we are tempted to sin. We looked in various directions and thought no one was watching us; thus we fell into sin.

My dear friends, on today's celebration of the Ascencion of our Lord, we are given a reminder that we should not think no one knows what we are doing in secret. In our Gospel, Mark 16:15-20, it is said that our Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to the disciples, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. This verse tells us that before doing anything, we have to look up first rather than to look around. Why? So that we become aware that Jesus is up in heaven and He watches over us. We then have the chance to pray to avoid falling into sin. But most of all, before we begin what we intend to do, we pray first, we ask for God's grace. Today's feast of the Ascencion of our Lord cannot but remind us, pray to God first before we move. Amen.

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Our Gospel is taken from John 15: 1-8 where it says Jesus told His disciples that He is the true vine and God the Father is the vine dresser. This declaration of Jesus reminds us of His intimate relationship with His Father. He tells us about Himself but not without telling us about His Father. In other words, we cannot take away or exclude His Father from the story of His life. Without His Father, we cannot therefore have a complete story of Jesus. To go further, Jesus said, "Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." My dear friends, by using such metaphor, Jesus conveys to us that in His relationship with God the Father, He knows and believes that eveything His Father does is always for the good of everybody. His Father assures not only that there must be fruits found in every branch, but there should be more fruits. And if ever a branch does not bear fruit, He has to cut it off. 

My dear friends, let me use an analogy so that we can understand better this relationship of Jesus and His Father. We may say that like any good father of a family, He wishes everything good for His Son as well as to see His Son growing as a good Son. To do this, any good father makes some checking with regard to the quality of his son's friends or companions. If a father would see his son is keeping a bad company, then he would remind him of the ill effects which his bad friends might bring to him. If his friends are good, any good father will take good care of them for the good of his son.

Now, my dear friends, what is significant here in this Gospel is that Jesus said, "You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you." This statement suggests that those who are connected to Jesus are made worthy companions because of what Jesus does to them. In other words, any son who has a friend whom his father does not like, will make some justification in order to keep their friendship intact. In the case of Jesus, He does not make justifications rather He makes His friends fit and qualified to be His companions through His words. Therefore, it is up to His friends now to show some proof that they are indeed worthy companions. There must be some indicators that they are worthy to be called friends. They should produce fruits. 

My dear friends, this Gospel is relevant for us as Catholics who believe in Jesus. We are made worthy to be called His friends through His grace. We are made clean through His sacraments He entrusted to His Church. In Baptism, all our sins are forgiven. In Confirmation and Holy Eucharist, we sustain our cleanliness. In Confession and Extreme Unction, our sins after Baptism are forgiven and make us clean once more. Jesus has done everything for us to be fit and qualified to be with Him. But all these should not end there. We are expected to bear fruits. It means, Jesus has done to make us good as His friends then we must show in our words and actions that we indeed become good. Good works may not be necessary for salvation as some Christians believe, but for us Catholics, good works are fruits and expression of a faithful who is already saved by Jesus. Therefore, if Jesus said, "Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, the Father takes away", this is but necessary for His Father to do. Any person who has received the grace, blessings and the love of God but does not do anything good in this world is ungrateful. And what is the use of doing good to an ungrateful person? It is better to shut him up! In extension, any person who has already been saved by Jesus when He died on the cross has still the chance to go to hell because he has never treasured the gift of salvation through his words and actions.

My dear friends, let me end my homily by sharing to you my experience. In one parish where I was assigned, there was this homosexual, a teen-ager who did not go to mass. He did not even have the time to visit the church. He had this notion that an homosexual is not loved by God. For him, an homosexual is already condemned while he is still alive here on earth. He concluded that the church has no room for an homosexual or gay like him. One day, I had the opportunity to talk to him. I chose him to organize the Ministry of Ushers and Greeters for the parish. This opened his way to the church. But it was not that easy for me to make our parishioners accept him in our midst. It was one Palm Sunday celebration, while he was performing his duty as Usher and Greeter, he was put to shame by a parishioner in front of many people. He hid himself and cried because of this. It was only later that I learned about what happened. So I talked to him. I made him realize that it is only God who can judge us whether we are good or bad. It is not right therefore to say just because he is an homosexual or gay he shall go to hell. Any person will go to hell not because he is a man or she is a woman but because he or she has not done any good though God has been good to him or her. No matter how he is condemned by all, it does not mean that all who condemn him are right and just. Moreover, I let him know that it is Jesus who has made him clean. He must only focus his eyes on Jesus and do what is good. My dear friends, since then until now, this young homosexual has been the catalyst of the parish in attracting many youth to join the ministry. He is only one of the many branches of Jesus, the true vine. How about you? Do you bear much fruits also? It is all up to you. 

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Dear friends in Christ, today is the Sixth Sunday of Easter and our Gospel is from John 15: 9-17. Here, we learn that Jesus said, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” With these, I ask, can we force ourselves to love someone? If not, then why Jesus has to command us to love one another? Well, in this Gospel, Jesus has revealed to us that love is not just a mere feeling or emotion as we usually believe it to be. He has qualified love when He commanded as to love one another as an act of the will. It means then that when we love, it is not based on just our feeling although it is accompanied with our feelings. When we love, it shall be rooted in our will which we submit to Jesus who wills us to love one another. Such kind of love is what everybody needs and everybody must have. For married couples, they sometimes experience a lull or dull moments in their married life. They think they have lost their love. Well, it may happen that between the husband and wife, their romantic feelings may have been gone, but it is their will to love each other that matters in order to keep their marriage. For some children, they think their parents do not love them. Well, it is possible that parents have not shown a loving gesture toward their children but we can sense their will to love them. Why should their parents send them to school? Why do their parents scold them when they become unruly? On the part of the parents, there is the will to love. With this kind of love, Jesus then has given us what it can do by saying, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lays down his life for his friends.” It is an act of the will in accordance to the will of God that one can give his/her life for the sake of another. It is an act of the will for a husband or a wife to spend all his/her life with his/her spouse. It is an act of the will to obey and respect one’s parents too. This act of the will in accordance with the will of God is called love. It is loving the other even if he/she feels hurt for being unloved in return.

To end, I remember sometime in 2004, I was bombarded with a series of problems. Intrigues and false accusations were thrown against me inside and outside the church arena. I admit, I made many mistakes in the past that hurt many. All the problems then were just part of the consequences of my good and bad actions toward those people. (Note: Even until now I believe I commit more mistakes.) It was the time when I felt I could not defend myself because I could not see the attacks coming. During those times I hid myself in pain. I only had the chance to stand again when in one occasion, I learned that my best friend Fr. Glenn told one person who brought him some bad news about me with these words, “I know Jude, and I love him.” In another occasion, I regained my confidence when Fr. Kenn, my long-time best friend, told me with these similar wordings, “Jude, I could not see what they have seen against you.” These experience of being loved by a friend brought me to the place where I am now. Their love is not based on feelings but on their will to accept me as who I am and not as what people expect me to be. It is with this experience that I understand why Jesus has to command us all to love one another because love can make a difference in our lives. Amen.             

Fourth Sunday of Easter

Today is the Good Shepherd Sunday; this is based on the Gospel of John 10: 11-18 where Jesus made Himself known to His followers as a good shepherd. Now I ask, what qualifies a shepherd to consider him good? What is this goodness in a shepherd? According to Jesus, He is the good shepherd because He is willing to lay down His life for his sheep. Not only that He mentioned this –to lay down His life for the sheep, but also He mentioned this line several times in the said Gospel. We cannot fully understand why Jesus said this for several times unless we relate this with the Gospel of John 15: 13 which states: “Greater love has no one than this; to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” In line with this thought, we can now fully appreciate that Jesus is a good shepherd because He loves His sheep so much that He is willing to lay His life for them. It is the quality of His love that makes Him a good shepherd. In other words, with the quality of His love, everything is good. And for us who follow Jesus, love means to give up one’s life for the good of the other. Moreover, Jesus is willing to give up His life not only for the good sheep who listen to Him. Rather, He also loves those sheep who have not listened to Him as He said in the Gospel: “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.” With His words, Jesus assures us that because of His great love, His priority is to give what is good for us and not what can condemn us.

My dear friends in Christ, today we are called to listen to Jesus. We know if we have listened to Jesus if we are confident that despite the problems or crisis we face in life, there is something good to happen because Jesus is willing to lay down His life for us. If we listen to Jesus, we do not compare our life with others, rather we learn to follow Jesus by giving up our life for the good of the other. For those who are married, it is somehow very difficult to be faithful to each other, but if you listen to Jesus as your good shepherd, you know you have to do what is good for your spouse. You do not seek his/her condemnation but his/her salvation i.e., for the good of each other’s soul. You have promised to love each other until death, then fulfil it. For your children, teach them to love Jesus so that they will love you with the love of Jesus. You will know if your children listen to Jesus as their good shepherd if they will take care of you as parents when you grow old, sick and dying, without resentments. For those who are alone in life, you know you are not really alone if you listen to Jesus as a good shepherd.  

My dear friends, let me end my homily by telling you my experience. Since June 19, 2012, I have been assigned as a parish priest of San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila in a remote barangay of Batan, Aklan. The parish is used to be known as a poor parish if not the poorest in the diocese. I knew what my life would be so I prepared everything I believed I needed for my survival. I brought with me some sacks of rice, canned goods and other ready-to-cook food. But as the days went by, I ran out of resources. My car broke down. There was no more rice to cook. There were even no canned goods left except for the empty cans. I could not pay for the electric and water bills of the parish. I really worried too much what would happen to me then. So, I prayed before the altar and cried. I said, “Lord, why do you allow me to suffer? I accepted this parish and I believe I am doing what is good for the parish but what is happening to me right now?” Of course, I did not hear God answering me when I was praying. But really I could not imagine how good Jesus is as a shepherd. When I began saying our monthly mass in four public elementary schools within my parish, each child would offer me a handful of rice which they wrapped using a cellophane. Believe it or not, when we collected the handful of rice they offered, I have more than enough rice to sustain us every month. How about our food? Believe it or not, although our parishioners are mostly tenants or workers in a fishpond if not fishermen, every Sunday before or after the mass, they would bring me some milk fish, king crabs, lobsters, sugpo, talaba, hipon, my favourite ghost shrimps (kamantaha), etc. Truly I can say that Jesus will always do good for us if we listen to Him as our shepherd. In fact, I was only 120 pounds when I first arrived in the parish. But now I am 185 pounds. My dear friends, Jesus loves us so much that He will do everything that is good for us. Amen.