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.