4th Sunday of Lent

In the hymn Amazing Grace, the lyrics in its first stanza almost capture the healing scenario narrated in John 9: 1-41; It was about a blind man who experienced the healing miracle of Jesus.  The lyrics go this way, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretched like me. I once was lost but now I’m found. Was blind but now I see.” What happened to the blind man was amazing in the sense that first, it happened on a Sabbath and second Jesus was just passing by. For the Pharisees, it is a violation of the sabbath rest to heal someone yet Jesus healed the blind man. For Jesus, He was just passing by yet He stopped to heal the blind man. The blind man neither begged nor approached Jesus to heal him. Nothing on the part of the blind man that made him special over the others to convince Jesus he deserved to be healed. This was indeed an experience of pure grace. Pure grace is to receive the good which one does not actually deserve.

To end, I remember a story of a man who died and was standing before St. Peter. The man told the saint that he deserved to enter heaven because he had a faith larger than a mustard seed. St. Peter said it was not enough. Then the man told St. Peter about his good deeds and all his accomplishments when he was alive on earth. St. Peter said it was not still enough. So the man told the saint that he was a benefactor of the church and he was a defender of faith. St. Peter said it was not still enough. The man was desperate so he said, “If this is the case, only by the grace of God that one can enter heaven!” St. Peter said, “Now that you know, welcome to heaven.”

3rd Sunday of Lent

The Gospel of John 4: 5-42 does not only narrate the encounter of Jesus and the Samaritan woman. It also presents to us how Jesus dealt gently the situation which was seemingly considered forbidden at that time. First, Jesus talked to a woman. During the time of Jesus, women were expected to be more private. It was part of their unwritten rule that a woman must confine herself in private matters like that of her family and home. So in narrating that Jesus was talking to a woman, Jesus was doing what was unconventional in His time. This is why in verse 27, the Gospel of John states that the disciples of Jesus were marvelled that He was talking with a woman. Next, Jesus was talking to a Samaritan woman. During the time of Jesus, there existed a long-standing hostility between Samaritans and Jews. The woman was a Samaritan while Jesus was a Jew. In verse 9, the Gospel of John narrates that even the said woman was well aware of the hostility between Samaritans and Jews. The woman herself expressed through her words that there existed such state between Jesus and her, being a Jew and a Samaritan respectively.  Lastly, Jesus was not only talking to a Samaritan or to a woman, but to a sinner. We know from the Bible how sinners were treated during the time of Jesus. They were considered outcast. Yet, Jesus did not hesitate to talk to her. For Jesus, she was a soul to be saved. True to His mission, Jesus showed to her the love and mercy of God. He thereby brought salvation to the woman.

My dear friends, we are called today to see others as souls to be saved. We must participate in the salvific works of Jesus not only for our family and friends but also for others who are strangers to us. We have to treat people as souls to be saved especially the poor and the outcast. Instead of rejecting or avoiding them, we have to think how we could help their souls find peace in God. Let me end with my experience. I notice many people of unsound mind enter the church or parish. But most often, guards are called to drive them away either by the priests themselves or the Parish Pastoral Council. It is very seldom to find a parish or church which can show the love and mercy of God for those people. It seems that they are not part of the salvation history. One instance that I wish to share, there was a mass in one parish where many priests were gathering, a mentally deranged person tried to enter the church. When the parish administrators saw him, they called the guards to prevent him from entering the church. Instead of pacifying, the guards seemed to intimidate him that he started to create some noise. The guards were about to physically hurt him when a visiting priest approached him and hugged him to his surprise. The mentally deranged man cried at that moment to the visiting priest. Then he began to tell his sad experience to the said priest. He was an OFW who sent all his money to his wife only to find out that his wife left their home with another man. After some few minutes, the said man and the visiting priest parted their ways in silence. The man had left the church’s vicinity with some relief from his grief. In this sense, the visiting priest treated the mentally deranged man as a soul to be saved and the said man found the love and mercy of God from the said priest. To end, I invite you to start seeking the salvation of souls while dealing with people. Amen.

2nd Sunday of Lent

Our Gospel, Matthew 17:1-9, tells us about the Transfiguration of our Lord before His three disciples on a mountain. The said Transfiguration is a revelation that Jesus is not an ordinary person, but a Son of God. Upon knowing the true person of Jesus, Peter in behalf of the disciples rejoiced believing that there would be no more bad days in their lives as long as they stayed with Jesus. In fact, Peter would even love to see Jesus safe and unharmed with Moses and Elijah. For Peter, nothing could be against them if Jesus would be with them. Yet, Jesus Himself led them down the mountain and told them to tell no one about the vision they witnessed. This act of going down shows that Jesus was telling Peter and all the disciples that even if they are with the Son of God, they should not feel comfortable with their lives. There would always be these times in their lives that problems and conflict arise and they need to deal with them patiently. To deal patiently means that problems and conflict must not destroy who they are as a person, but rather build up their Christian character. Instead of being disfigured by the troubles of life, they have to transfigure to reveal to others that they are the true followers of the Son of God; that they are good Christians.

In my recent experience, I happened to go to a drive thru of one of the fast-food chains in Aklan. I remembered while I was at the counter I had these two cards with me which I freely received during my past visits in the said chain. In fact, I have been visiting the said place almost every day!!! These two cards gave me the privilege to get a free sundae for every card. Mathematically, I had two cards so I expected to get two sundaes. I followed the instruction stated on the card that in every single receipt of the targeted amount, a card holder may get a free sundae. In short, I had this single receipt with the targeted amount and I had these two cards with me so I could avail the two free sundaes. But the crew refused to accept all my cards and insisted that I should just give her one card to avail one sundae only. When I saw her frowning at me, immediately I got irritated. I asked her to call her superior who was there at that time. Her superior wanted to give me two sundaes for the two cards yet the crew insisted that they must accept only one card for every single receipt. I could sense that there was no exact rule for their promo. It was then at that moment that I told both of them that I would not insist anymore for two sundaes. I took off knowing my time is worth more than any sundae. The next day when I had my breakfast at the said chain, I saw that same crew at the counter. I approached her and I noticed she wore a different nametag. I told her that I could still remember her as the crew at the drive thru. After saying it, I just smiled.

My dear friends, this experience was crucial for me to choose either to disfigure or to transfigure my person. I know that with my personality, I could not allow someone to offend me without me seeking for vindication. It is difficult for me to let go of the person who causes my irritation. But on this occasion, I chose to transcend beyond my personality. I wish to see the person in me and not just my personality. The person which I wish to see in me despite the many difficult circumstances in my life is no other than my identity as a Christian. I wish I could treat all people as a good Christian and in a similar way, those people could say that I am indeed a good Christian. Amen. 

1st Sunday of Lent

Our first reading which is taken from the Book of Genesis tells us of "what went wrong" when man succumbed to temptation. This is in contrast with "what went well" when the Gospel tells us that Jesus never yielded to temptation. The letter of Paul to the Romans (5:12-19) was clear in stating this: "Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous."

Before these contrasting events in the First Reading and the Gospel, both Bible passages speak of the presence of the tempter. The tempter in the Book of Genesis was personified by the snake while in the Gospel by satan. Temptation came in the Book of Genesis to urge Adam and Eve to eat. Temptation in the Gospel came while Jesus never ate for forty days and forty nights. In both instances, however, temptation was all about weakening one's will. In the Book of Genesis, man must submit his will to God, to obey God's will. But he rather succumbed to the will of the tempter i.e., to disobey God. Everything then for him went wrong just because his will was weak to resist temptation. He was punished by God and had to leave paradise. In the Gospel, Jesus showed us how strong His will was for the love of God His Father. Adam and Eve were only tempted once but Jesus was even tempted thrice. Yet, His will was strong that satan could do nothing to tempt Him but leave. His will was strong to will the will of the Father and no other. Jesus obeyed the will of the Father that all must be saved. Jesus obeyed this will of the Father even until death, death on the cross.

Today, on the first Sunday of Lent, we are called to strengthen our will to follow Jesus in submitting our will to God. This is not about will power. This is about obedience to God. In the Lord’s Prayer which Jesus taught us, we say God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This prayer to do God’s will shall be frustrated only when we are tempted to follow our own will or the will of the tempter. Just like my experience this Friday after Ash Wednesday I knew I had to abstain from eating meat but out of my daily habit, I drove through a fast food chain and bought a hotdog. In this instance, I found myself struggling to submit my will to God. If in this little way I could not obey the will of God, it would not take a long time that I could not resist temptation whether it is big or small. So, today’s readings and Gospel are great reminders for all of us to strengthen our will for the love of God. To strengthen our will means that we have to seek God’s will through fasting and prayers. Temptations are always there to lead us to sin but we can always make a choice either to resist or yield to them. We know if we could not resist temptations and fall into sin, everything would go wrong just like what happened in the Book of Genesis. But if we would not yield to temptations, if we would stop giving in to temptations, everything would be well in our lives. My dear friends, the season of Lent gives us time to strengthen our will. Let us not resist this invitation. Amen.