16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the movie Doctor Strange, a doctor met an accident which made his hands useless. He tried to look for healing yet he failed. It was only when he met the Ancient One in an enclave that he hoped to find his healing. While trying to heal himself in the enclave, he learned that he was with some extraordinary people at the frontline of a battle against unseen dark forces bent on destroying reality. He had to make a choice then whether to return to his great life as a doctor or to leave it all behind to defend the world. He decided to defend the world. At the end, the good triumphs over evil. But if the viewers waited for the final ending of the movie, it ended with Mordo, Doctor Strange’s friend siding with evil. It actually suggests that evil triumphs so often in this world. This seems realistic as we look at what is happening in our world or society these days. Evil is happening everywhere every day. In a Catholic mind like me, a question arises, “Why does God allow evil to triumph in this world? The Gospel of Matthew 13: 24-43 can help us reflect on the answer to this question. Jesus, in His first parable, said something about a man who sowed good seed in his field but his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat in the field. Evil seems to prosper at first. But Jesus finally revealed the triumph of evil is short-lived by saying  these: “Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

To end, we have to accept the fact that as we live here on earth, we can experience the battle between evil and good. Even in each one of us, we sometimes experience difficulty in making choices, to do good and avoid evil. Jesus told us to be steadfast so as not to succumb to evil. We have to fix our eyes on the everlasting reward in heaven for being good and for doing good. Our world is like the field in the parable that as we grow together, good people and evil doers, we must remain good while waiting for the harvest time when good and evil are separated. For those who have done wicked deeds, hell. For those who have good deeds, eternal life in heaven. Amen.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the book, The Paradox of Choice by Barry Scwartz, it has been mentioned that “Autonomy and Freedom of choice are critical to our well being, and choice is critical to freedom and autonomy.” This quote gives us an idea that there is a causal connection between choice and well being. This idea is relevant in explaining the Gospel we have today.

The Gospel of Matthew 13: 1-23 is a very familiar Gospel passage as it talks about the Parable of the Sower. But if we take a closer look at the explanation of Jesus regarding the Parable of the Sower, we realize that it tells us about four different choices on what to do with the Word of God.

First among the four choices, one hears the Word but chooses not to understand It. Then there is the one who hears the Word and immediately chooses to receive It with joy; yet he has no root in himself. Third, there is one who hears the Word but he chooses the delight of riches and the pleasure of the world instead. The last one, he hears the Word, understands It and chooses to bear fruit.

Going back to the idea that there is a causal connection between choice and well being, the result of the four different choices to one’s well being are the following: for the first one, evil snatches away what is sown in his heart. It means he is spiritually poor in his well being as there is no standard of goodness for him to keep. Then for the one who immediately chooses the Word yet he has no root in himself, he is spiritually healthy only during good times, but sick during bad times. For the one who chooses riches and the pleasure of the world, he may be well at the sight of the world but his well being is detached from any form of spirituality. It was only the last one who made a good choice as it brings good result to his well being. This is indicated by being productive in the community.

In saying all these, we now ask ourselves to choose among the four where we wish to commit ourselves. We may have too many choices to make yet we have to decide what is really important for our total well being. It is easy for us to say that we must choose the fourth one yet we know honestly we are far from it in reality. In my personal journey as a parish priest for 5 years, I know I have been in the first three choices and never in the fourth one. My mind says I must choose the fourth one but I often modify my choices along the way. It is indeed difficult to commit to a choice when freedom and autonomy are also at work in us. Hopefully, with the help of God, someday I can say I give up my will, my mind, my memory, my freedom and autonomy and stick only to the choice I have made. Amen.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Gospel of Matthew 11: 25-30 tells us that Jesus gave this invitation: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Why did Jesus make such invitation?  Well, we know for a fact that many people even those who believe in God keep complaining and whining when big problems come their way. Some become restless and so they withdraw themselves from God. They think that God must make a decision to answer their prayers or else they would stop believing in Him. In doing so, they do not know that they become more restless and cause restlessness on others. They refuse to understand the meaning of Jesus’ invitation.

When Jesus said “come to me,” these words must be interpreted as an invitation to surrender oneself or to abandon oneself to Him (Jesus). Whatever the content is of our prayer, we have to stop insisting first to Jesus by saying “Lord, it is now all up to You”. When Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me,” He was in fact telling us to look at our problems the way He would look at them. We have to seek the will of God just like what Jesus did when He prayed at the Garden of Gethsemane. If it seems that our prayer is not granted, it is time for us to submit ourselves before God. We may not be able to understand why bad things happen to us, let us continue to believe that only God knows the reason why it must happen to us. God will reveal His wisdom to us in His time. In the process, we shall experience pain, anger, disappointment, etc. because we do not get what we want from God. But if we give up everything to God, if we let God decide for us, we act to change our life for the better. Though we can feel the pain of losing the thing or person we are praying for, we decide to move on. We become open to the will of God for us. If then we cannot change the will of God through our prayers, we change ourselves by surrendering everything to His will.