13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Gospel according to Luke 9: 51-62 unfolds two types of responses on the actions of Jesus in two different situations.

On the first situation, Jesus sent messengers ahead of Him in their journey to Jerusalem. As they entered a Samaritan village, people there would not welcome Him. Here we could find the first action of Jesus i.e., to go to Jerusalem. We could also find two responses i.e., one which is welcoming and two which is non-welcoming. In this situation, we are reminded that there are always two kinds of people that we are going to face in the ministry. There are always and there will always be people who are unwelcoming as there are those who welcome us. Nevertheless, we must not give much attention whether people welcome us or not. What is most important is that we fulfill our mission regardless of the reactions of the people. Just like what Jesus did, He journeyed with His disciples to another village, so must we. Now, as Jesus continued His journey to Jerusalem, surprisingly there was one who wanted to follow Him wherever He would go. This reminds us that even among those who are unwelcoming, time will come that some of them realize to welcome whom they have not welcomed. In short, Jesus was right in not condemning those unwelcoming people as there  are chances that some would change their mind to do the right thing.

On the second situation, Jesus made an invitation saying, "Follow me." Here we could find the action of Jesus i.e., He invited someone to follow Him. We could also find two responses i.e., a response from one who does not expressly accept the invitation of Jesus and from the other who declares his intention to accept the invitation of Jesus. But for both, Jesus wanted their categorical response. Jesus wanted from anyone He called to follow Him his unconditional willingness to obey Him without mental reservation. This reminds us that in serving God in the Church, we make our ministry our priority. We may have some excuses or alibis to delay or postpone our service to God, but for Jesus it must be in all ways for God and always for God. We too are called to do the same. Amen.

A Tribute to Mayor Diego Luces

"Remember man, you are from dust and to dust you shall return." This phrase sums up the life of Mayor Diego M. Luces. Why do I say this?

Well, first, if this phrase means "Life is short, so be thankful to God for it," Mayor Diego was thankful to God for his life. I remember during Ati-atihan while he was the mayor of Kalibo, he would sing "Roll out the barrel" and shout "Viva kay Sr. Sto. Nino" at Magsaysay Park. He would even encourage people to join the snakedance. I also remember that on the feast of our dear Sto. Nino, he would take the lead in the religious procession and shout "Viva kay Sr. Sto. Nino!" He did this without any malice or purpose of publicity. He did this as expression of thanking God for his life. Thus, Mayor Diego was grateful.

Next, if the phrase means "Life is short, be humble," Mayor Diego was humble. In 1998 when he ran for the third time as an administration candidate for mayor, my mother ran against him as a candidate of the opposition. Even then, Mayor Diego never said anything against my mother. He was a gentle politician. Every time my mother and Mayor Diego met, they still had their usual friendly conversation. Perhaps, this was so because they are relatives or it was because Dr. Nestor Luces, his brother, was a very good friend of our family. When Mayor Diego won, he never humiliated his opponents. He remained humble. Though my mother and Mayor Diego belonged to different political colors, they could see eye to eye and talked as friends. In 1998, I do not know if his family could still remember this, somebody maliciously announced that Mayor Diego died. It was rumored that he was dead. Yet, there was no anger inside Mayor Diego's heart against the person who maligned him. Truly, he was humble.

Lastly, if the phrase means that "Life is short, be simple," Mayor Diego was simple. I remember when I was ordained priest in 2001, Former Mayor Alen S. Quimpo and Mayor Diego would fall in line to receive their snacks after my ordination. They never took their seats in our official table as they chose to stay at the side of Kalibo Cathedral. I also remember Mayor Diego every night when he went to Opings Store to buy something, he was the only mayor who would use a motorcycle instead of a car. He was just driving alone. This showed how simple he was even if he was once the mayor of Kalibo.

To end, my dear friends let us thank the family of Mayor Diego especially the Militar-Luces family for the kind of leadership Mayor Diego left us. He was a gentle politician. He was a politician who feared the Lord. 

Mayor Diego, remember you are dust and to dust you shall return. But above all these, your soul will be in heaven to meet God so as to reserve your reward for being thankful to him, for being humble and simple too. Amen.

God and the Bar Part VI

God provides. I told kuya Danny about my plight and so he reached out to some Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion for help. Among the many good ministers who helped me significantly is Atty. Arce Lim. I asked him to help me in Commercial Law. Atty. Lim was humble enough to tell me he is not well-versed in the said subject. Yet, I insisted. When he discussed to me things about Commercial Law, he brought with him some visible instruments so that I could have a better idea about them. In our last lesson, he told me to pray because he believed he passed the Bar because God listened to his prayer. Prayer makes miracles. This humble man used to work as a consultant of the owner of the biggest mall of Asia until he retired. Another person who helped me understand Commercial Law is not a lawyer but an experienced international bank consultant, Kuya Tom Clemente. Every time we ate breakfast at Ritchie's Diner together with his wife Tita Dede, he would ask me to explain in my own words what was written in the Topic/Outline of Commercial Law. He would cite situations he encountered in his banking career which called for some legal advice and solutions. As I learned many things from him about banking system, I gained weight due to the heavy breakfast served for me. 

In Taxation, the Youth Ministry of the parish helped me learn about the subject. A certified genius in accounting named Gino, with Jaisa, Camille and a fellow Law student named Victor would discuss with me what I could not understand starting from the basic question like what is income tax. A good parishioner also handed me her daughter's book on Taxation which I found better than my reviewer because it was written in a language which a college student could easily understand. I spent much of my time studying Taxation because I knew my bad history in this subject. Actually, even until the Bar Exam I was still confused of many things about Taxation. This happened probably because I never paid any income tax since I was born. 

In Civil Law, I just consulted Judge Belen what I did not understand in the subject. But most of the time, I texted Dan Tejada to ask about laws in the Civil Code which made me confused. My original classmates in Law School, Sheila Tan and Clara Fe Alejandro would also help me when I got stuck in the process of studying Civil Law. 

Time was running out for me. I did not have enough time to cover all the Bar Subjects. I was in the state of dilemma whether to take the Bar or not. I was actually hesitant. I texted my classmate Alan Pelayo and Atty. Candoleta about my bad feeling. I asked my good friends Fr. Glen Baes of Capiz, Fr. Dick Caabay of Palawan and Fr. Kenn Estocado to pray for me. I asked my parishioners at San Lorenzo Ruiz in Camaligan to pray the rosary for me. Every time parishioners of the Resurrection of Our Lord Parish saw me  I begged them to pray for me. The only thing that kept me alive is prayer. I prayed at the Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel at the Resurrection of Our Lord Parish every day and night before I read my reviewers. Even if nothing entered my mind and I could not understand what I was reading, I just continued reading my reviewer anyway. 

God and the Bar Part V

When it was the time to review on Civil Code, I could not absorb any lecture anymore. I fell asleep the whole time. I knew with this kind of setup I would never pass the Bar. I heard my seatmates discussing about their lgal knowledge and I was intimidated because I knew nothing. Some students even told me that they never heard about the school where I graduated from as if they were telling me that they had learned more from a well-known Law School. The only hope for me came when Dean Aligada shared to us his personal experience when he took the Bar. The words I could not forget from him -Just pray, he said, to pass the Bar because he only read his book once, took the Bar and passed it. I was awakened by the Dean's words and I made a decision to stop going to the review center, instead I studied all by myself. I consulted Msgr. Manny if my decision was right. I also asked Fiscal Chris Gonzales about my decision. With them, I finally made a decision that starting August I would review alone. I asked Dan Tejada to buy me the whole set of the review notes from San Beda as my guide. 

But studying alone was not easy. There were times when people asked me for confession and counselling. I would even go to far places to give the last sacrament for the sick. I could not get away with my pastoral duty to people knowing that I am a priest. I had to say funeral mass or give catechism classes. I had to exorcise or bless someone. I had to visit a sick priest in a nuns' place. It was a good thing that Msgr. Manny saved me from trouble by reminding the parishioners to give me space and time for my review. Of course, this reminder could not stop the parishioners to approach me. What they care about is that I am a priest. The difficulty in reviewing alone happened as there were many things in the review notes which only lawyers could explain. I remember when I sought a young lawyer's knowledge on a specific Bar subject, he told me I still have the time to quit. He discouraged me to take the Bar as he tested my knowledge on the subject which I asked him to help me understand. I had only two options: to take or not to take the Bar in November 2015.

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The questions of Jesus, "Who do the people say that I am and who do you say that I am", in our Gospel according to Luke 9: 18-24 are questions which touch the very core of one's existence and essence. 

I say such questions are questions of existence and essence because they require an answer wherein the subject "I" and the verb "am" need a predicate which affirms that the subject exists and the nature of the said subject is revealed. 

So when asked, "Who am I?" I answer, "I am Jude Rebaldo." In my answer, "I am" which is obviously in the present tense means "I exist here and now". If I use the past tense "I were" then I cease to exist.  And if I use the future tense "I will be" this connotes that somehow something is not in existence yet. Thus such question "Who am I?" deals with one's existence.

Moreover, in my answer, "I am Jude Rebaldo," it also reveals my essence that I am a particular individual who is conscious of my existence. In my answer, I do not reveal what I have or what I do but who I am. To explain this in other words, you can love me because of what I have i.e., "I am rich" or you can love me because of what I do i.e., "I am kind and generous." How about if I do not have something? How about if I cannot do any thing? How about if I am not rich or I am not kind and generous, can you still love me? Yes! You can love me as I am. Thus such question "Who am I?" also deals with one's essence as a particular conscious individual being.

Now, in our Gospel, when Jesus asked, "Who do the people say that I am and who do you say that I am", remember they are questions first on existence and then on essence. 

In their answers to these questions, both the people and the disciples testified the existence of Jesus as true and valid. Both confirmed that Jesus exists. However, with regard to the question on essence, only Peter in behalf of the disciples gave the right answer as he knew the essence or nature of Jesus i.e., Jesus is the messiah of God.

From these answers of the people as well as of the disciples, we can have two propositions:

1. That one's existence is affirmed by others.

2. That said existence brings meaning to the existence of the other. 

These two propositions are real and true to Jesus As He Himself declared that He exists in the world of the people and of His disciples saying, "The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third  day be raised." Furthermore, Jesus Himself is conscious of His essence so as to how He lives as a messiah saying, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

In short, Jesus does not exist for nothing. He exists to give meaning (essence) to the existence of others. We should realize and recognize these in our life too that we do not exist for nothing and our existence must bring meaning to the existence of others. These could serve as our guiding principles in life.

To end, let me share an experience so as to explain further what I have just said. In 1998, while I was a seminarian at St. Joseph Regional Seminary, our Spiritual Director Fr. Gerry Alminaza (who is now a bishop) once asked me about my rough and tough attitude. He asked me if my attitude is that of a good father being a priest someday. Then he asked me of the image of my father. To my surprise, I could not give him some answers about the image of my father. I could not even have a picture of my father even in my mind. I told Fr. Gerry that my father died when I was in grade three. He then explained the suffering caused by losing a loved one. He said that sometimes when we remember our loved one who died, there is this feeling of sadness or pain attached to it. In order to avoid such sad feeling, our body system shuts off any memory connected to our loved one who died. (I understood this as no memory, no pain principle.) 

In order to remember the image of my father, I went home and visited my father's grave. As I lighted a candle and prayed for his soul, a memory about my father flashed into my mind. My memory of him brought me back to the days when I was young, when my cousin used to bully me. My father did not teach me how to fight back. He rather installed a doorlock to our room. He told me to run to our room and lock the door everytime my first cousin steps inside our vicinity. I did what my father told me to do. But one unlucky day I received a bloody blow on my forehead from my first cousin. I was tempted then to avenge myself but my mother stopped me as she put some medicine on my forehead. When my father knew about this, I thought he would teach me how to fight. But he did not. I just saw him reprimanding my cousin severely who caused me a scar on my forehead. I could remember how my father protected me. 

When I went back to the seminary, I brought with me the image of my father as a protector. I bear with me this image since then and until now as a priest. For me, I exist as a priest. I exist to bring meaning to the existence of others by being a father who protects helpless people. I protect those who come to me helpless just like my father who protected me from harm. My actual life is my answer on the questions of my existence and essence.

My dear friends, particularly to those fathers who are here today as we celebrate the Fathers' Day, kindly reflect on these:

1. Do you think you exist in the life of your children?

2. Does your existence bring meaning to the life of your children? How are you as a father to them? 

God and the Bar Part IV

My first days in UP Law Review Center were tough and became tougher. When Professor Domondon gave us a lecture on Bar Techniques, I panicked especially when he said that we were there for the re-view and not for our first view of the law books and notes. I even made saddened when he told us about our handwriting and the time we have to alot for each question in every Bar subject. I knew I could hardly pass the Bar if all the words of this well-known professor were true. I felt the frustration in me. I asked myself why did I enter into this mess while I could have a more relaxed life as a priest. What did I do to myself? I was just punishing myself by taking up Law! So I texted Judge Belen, a lector/psalmist in the Resurrection of Our Lord Parish, how I felt. She uplifted me by her words that I could catch up during the review whatever lessons I missed back in the Law School. I was temporarily relieved of my being pessimistic at that time. Atty. Andro de la Cruz also told me the same.

When it was the time to review on Labor with Atty. Poquiz, the more I knew that I knew less on the said subject. Then after Labor, we had our Political Law review with Atty. Cruz and the farther I got lost knowing that I really knew nothing of his subject. There were many new lessons which I only heard for the first time. I had a hardtime to take down notes as the lecturer was too fast for me in giving his lecture which he gave us fluently without using a book as his reference. As months passed by, I was totally lost in the review. The burden of reviewing for the Bar was even made heavy when I had to go back to my brother's house after the review. At night, I could not read anymore as my body was tired and I needed to rest. In the morning, I could not still study because of the noise from the neighborhood. So I had to go with my brother early in the morning and spent my time in his office reading Law Books which I could not understand as the words which I must memorize would not enter my mind. The greatest burden during the review came to me when I realized I was financially constrained. The budget that I prepared for my review was not enough for food, for transportation, for photocopying of notes, etc. It was at this period that I sought the help of Msgr. Manny Gabriel. He welcomed me to stay in his parish at the Ressurection of Our Lord Parish sometime in July of 2015. Msgr. Manny told me that positive vibes in the parish could help me feel good in my review. He said this because he knew that our parishioners were very supportive in my chosen endeavor. I was free to accept mass schedules in the parish if I wanted to. All my board and lodging, accomodations in the parish and others were free through the generosity of Msgr. Manny Gabriel. I had to readjust myself in the new situation. I had to travel at 6 a.m. from Paranaque to UP Law Review Center in Quezon City. I had to go back in Paranaque after our review class and sometimes I arrived in the parish at 10 p.m. or even late at night due to traffic. This always happened when I brought my car with me. But if it was "coding", I needed to commute. Time was of the essence then. It was during these times that I started suffering from vertigo. 

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our Gospel is from Luke 7: 36-50 and it tells us about Jesus and the woman who approached and anointed Him with her tears and her perfume.  It also tells us about the specific reaction of Simon the pharisee, on the attitude of Jesus toward the woman. It was on such occasion that Jesus told him the parable of two debtors.

My dear friends, let us notice the two symbols related to a woman; one is her tears and the other is her perfume. 

A woman's tears express her pain as well as her joy, her fulfillment as well as her frustrations, her love and even her hatred. Any man should remember that the eyes of a woman is the doorway to her heart. When there are tears in a woman's eyes, all she needs is someone who can respect her feelings and understand what she has been through.  

A woman's perfume is so personal to her as she finds the chemistry of how a scent smells on her body. The scent expresses her age, personality, mood, etc. A woman's perfume which becomes her signature scent reminds a man of something about the said woman when he smells it.

In short, both the woman's tears and perfume speak of her essence, i.e., who she really is and what she has.

In our Gospel, these two symbols connected to a woman were offered to Jesus. The woman began to wet the feet of Jesus with her tears and anointed them with her perfume. This act of the woman indicates her submission to the Lord, an act of love. All she is and all she has she gave to Jesus. Jesus in return affirmed everything the woman did for Him saying, "Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much." 

This Gospel imparts to us a message that the Lord forgives those who love Him. In exchange for one's love of God, forgiveness is granted unconditionally (by God). To state this in other terms, how God forgives one's sins depends on how such person loves God. Love is the basis of the forgiveness of sins. To end, we are all called to act always with the love of God. In everything we do, we do it for the love of God. By so doing, we are assured of God's forgiveness. We can go in peace and live as better persons. Amen.

10th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Our Gospel for today which is taken from Luke 7: 11-17 gives us a picture of a funeral during the time of Jesus. This Gospel also tells us that Jesus brought the dead man back to life. In short, the Gospel is one of the many miracle stories of Jesus. 

But let us take a look at verse 12 of this Gospel. It states, "As Jesus drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her." In the said verse, we can identify three personalities aside from Jesus, and the following are the dead man, the dead man's mother and the large crowd. Even though we can identify three personalities in the said verse, in the next verse we can find that one was made significant on the eyes of Jesus, giving His special emotion to her; she was the dead man's mother. It is emphasized in verse 13 that the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." It is through this compassion of Jesus on her that a miracle happened, that the man resurrected from the dead. To say this in other words, Jesus raised up the dead man neither because of the dead man's merit nor of the large crowd's credit but because of a mother who wept. Thereof this Gospel reveals that because of the mother's tears a miracle happened first to her dead son who was brought back to life and second to the large crowd who glorified God the source of life. Moreover, what this Gospel conveys to us today could even be substantiated in the life of Sta. Monica in relation to her son, St. Augustine. A bishop once told Sta. Monica, "Go on your way, and God bless you, for it is not possible that the son of these tears should be lost." It was because of this weeping mother that a miracle happened to the life of St. Augustine. St. Augustine himself testified when Sta. Monica died saying, "If any one thinks it wrong that I thus wept for my mother some small part of an hour -a mother who for many years had wept for me that I might live to thee, O Lord -let him not deride me. But if his charity is great, let him weep also for my sins before thee."

To end, I believe that a mother's prayer for her children is always heard by God. I believe this because I was never ordained priest without my mother's prayers. Seminary life was difficult then. I always had the thought of giving up my studies in the seminary. I could not imagine how I survived for 13 years in the seminary which was a clear miracle. (And now I have been a priest for 15 years and this is a clearer miracle from God.) All of these I call miracles in my life happened because of my mother's prayers. I witnessed how she prays for me when she wakes up in the morning and also before she sleeps at night. I believe that I am sustained by God's grace to be a priest not because of my own merit but because of my mother who wept that I live and die as a priest. Amen.