The Third of the Nine Days before Christmas (December 18)

Story:
When Socrates reached his 50s, he went into marriage and took a wife, Xanthippe. She was known to be very hot tempered and nag. He was no ideal husband. He would leave home every morning without fail and return home sometimes quite late. At the end of every month, there was not any pay check. He was busy discussing ideas and thoughts with his friends. One day, Xanthippe was so fed up and scolded Socrates and his friends. But he continued discussing with his friends until the middle of the night. Xanthippe finally could not take it. She took a pail of water and poured it unto them. Instead of being embarrassed in front of his friends, Socrates declared to them: “By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a great thinker (philosopher).”

Many people rush into marriage for many reasons. But when their marriage is on the rock, they also rush in deciding to get a bill of divorce or separation. They forget that marriage is a vocation.

Scripture:
An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife (Matthew 1:18-24)

Study:
My dear fellow believers, on this 3rd day of Simbang Gabi, it is a good day to talk about marriage. In the said Gospel, St. Joseph shows to us that one should not go into marriage unless he or she discerns pretty sure that it is his or her vocation. St. Joseph knew that Jesus was not his biological son. He knew since the beginning that the child Mary was carrying in her womb was the son of God. This is why he wanted to divorce Mary! He felt he was not worthy to be called the foster father of Jesus. But God’s decision was revealed by an angel in a dream saying –“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.” Thus, we may say marriages are made in heaven as implied in this experience of Joseph. So rising from his sleep, St. Joseph obeyed what the angel of the Lord commanded him. He took Mary as his wife. As St. Joseph embraced his vocation as a married man, he began to manifest his responsibility as the husband of Mary and the father of Jesus in the Nativity Scene, the Flight to Egypt, and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.
Nowadays, there are only few lovers who are responsible like St. Joseph and the Blessed Mary. There are many cases of annulment and divorce made by one spouse against the other. They accused their partners to be psychologically incapacitated, immature, etc. They never thought that their separation affect not only them but their children as well who just forced themselves to accept the decision of their parents. They never thought when they entered into marriage whether it is their vocation or not. They just thought that being in love is enough to establish a lasting marriage. Today we are all being reminded that aside from the couple’s love for each other, marriage is a grace from God. Entering into marriage is more than donating a spermatozoon or the meeting of tiny cells; it is a responsibility bestowed by God to love one another until death as husband and wife.

The Second of the Nine Days before Christmas (December 17)

Story:
There was a man in a faraway village named Victor whose father lived with him. His father was very weak. He could not even walk well. It was because Victor did not give his father enough food. He had given his father a small earthen plate. Even a small quantity of rice in the plate appeared to be much.

Victor had a son. His name is Jess. Jess was just ten years old. He was a very good boy. He loved his grandfather whose name is Fred. He had great respect for his grandfather. He did not like his father’s attitude and character, because his father was treating his grandfather cruelly.

One day the Fred was eating his food out of earthen plate that his son had given to him. The earthen plate fell down. The plate broke into pieces. The food also fell on the floor. Victor was working at the other end of the room. He saw the broken plate. He was very angry with his father and used very harsh words to abuse his father. The old man felt bad about what happened. He was sorry for his mistake.

Victor’s son, Jess, saw this. He did not like his father. His father was ill-treating his grandfather. He was afraid to speak against his father. He was sad about his grandfather. But he was not powerful to stand in support of his grandfather.

The next day Jess took some of his father’s tools and a piece of wood. He worked with the tools to make a wooden plate. His father saw him working. “What are you making, Jess?” he asked. “I am making a wooden plate!” replied Jess. “A wooden plate! What for?” asked his father. “I am making it for you, father. When you grow old, like my grandfather, you will need a plate for food. A plate made from earth mat break very easily. Then I may scold you severely. So, I want to give you a wooden plate. It may not break so easily.”

Our parents, grandparents and even great grandparents are important to understand our growth and development as a person. We somehow realize that our personality, attitude, lifestyle and mentality are not that far from our ascendants and descendants in a sense, our virtues and vices are related or similar with theirs.

Scripture:
…and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations (Matthew 1:1-17).

Study:
My dear fellow believers, on this 2nd day of Simbang Gabi, we may find our Gospel to be boring that is because we are simply reading the account of genealogy of Jesus Christ. Why is it important for us to know the grandparents of Jesus? Well, we can see that in the human family of Jesus, there is a mix of saints and sinners, obedient and disobedient, well-known and unknown. Yet what matters most in our Gospel is that Jesus who is the Messiah came after a generation of families, grew in the family system, shared family values and lived with His family. In short, Jesus who is the Son of God entered human history in the way all of us entered i.e., through our parents, through our parents’ parents or through our great grandparents.

Our existence through these lists of descendants and ascendants is not legendary rooted but historical, real and essential for us. We can somehow see ourselves as products of these different personalities as well as of various genes of personages. On one hand, we feel proud to discover that we belong to a clan with an impressive lineage. Here we come to know that we too have the capacity to do great things and to excel just like some of our ancestors. On the other hand, we are made to humble ourselves to accept that there are also in our clan some members who are not worthy of emulation. Again we come to know that we are also capable of doing the worst things if we allow ourselves. Moreover, we are reminded that we may not in one way or another like the characters we see from our parents, grandparents and great grandparents, but we have the choice to be the best of who we are. We can choose to make a difference like Jesus. We can be a better product in the history of our family.

The First of the Nine Days before Christmas (December 16)

Story:
There was once a man who didn't believe in God. One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a Christmas Eve service in the farm community in which they lived. She asked him to come, but he refused. "That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? So she and the children left, and he stayed home. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window.
In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and could not go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed. The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It is warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and did not seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them and they moved further away. "Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?" He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud. Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. "Why would God want to be like us?
That's ridiculous!" Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. God had His Son become like us so He could show us the way and save us.

Today is the first day of our Simbang Gabi (Night Worship) and we are here this early hour in the church to prepare spiritually for Christmas. We have come to know and to believe in the love of God has for us. We have come to express our faith that Jesus is the Son of God who became man. In expressing the truth of our faith in God today, we are also called to examine ourselves and renew ourselves before God by being baptized with the baptism of John i.e., the baptism of repentance so as to wash away our sins. Our repentance is our response to the love of God which He has bestowed on us.

Scripture:
When they heard this all the people and the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John; but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God themselves, not having been baptized (Luke 7: 24-30).

Study:
My dear fellow believers, on this first day of our Simbang Gabi, it is not important whether you can complete the novena masses that we have before Christmas, what matters is your disposition to offer yourself –your body and soul, as a gift for Jesus this Christmas. A person who does not repent and change his or her evil ways rejects the purpose of God for him or her.

3rd Sunday of Advent Year A

There was a girl whose father was working abroad. She knew her father loves her as he would always send her gifts whenever there were special occasions. During Christmas, her father would send her whatever toys, chocolates, etc. she requested from him. But one Christmas eve, her mother noticed that the girl was sad though she had many gifts from her father. So she asked the little girl why. The girl replied, “Mom, I don’t need those gifts which daddy bought me for Christmas. All I want now is that he goes home and be with us.”

Today is Gaudete Sunday and we are invited by the Church to rejoice! But what would be our reason to rejoice? For some kids, they rejoice when they receive toys and food. For some adults, they rejoice when they receive their Christmas bonus or they have enough money to buy something for Christmas. But what if there were neither toys nor food to receive this Christmas? What if there were neither Christmas bonuses nor money to buy something this Christmas? Could one still rejoice?

Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew 11: 2-11
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

On this third Sunday of Advent, we are not only called to rejoice but also to identify the reason of our rejoicing. John the Baptist was in prison, yet his situation never made him feel bitter or desperate. He sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He is indeed the messiah. Jesus sent His response to John’s disciples by enumerating all the miracles He did. In so doing, Jesus gave John the reason to rejoice though he was stuck in prison. Likewise, Jesus is our reason to rejoice during this season. Although we may be facing some difficulties and problems right now, these would not hinder us to rejoice because we believe that Jesus is with us. Jesus makes us see that amidst the shadow of our problems, we can still see His light. We can feel His presence and experience His miracles. He gives us then the reason to rejoice. My dear friends, let us find our consolation with Jesus, the God who is always with us.

2nd Sunday of Advent Year A

There were two monks clearing the weeds out of a field. One monk was going at it non stop, he did not take a break, he just kept going and going. There were times when he felt weary, but he just kept at it. The other monk stopped every hour for fifteen minutes. At the end of the day, the monk who did not take a break, was so tired and weak. He could not believe his eyes, when he saw how much the other monk accomplished. He was very upset, so he asked the monk. "I have been going at it all day, I did not take a break, I'm exhausted. You took a fifteen minute break every hour, and you got more accomplished, and you are not as tired, how could that be?" The monk replied, "Every time you saw me take a break, I stopped to sharpen my blade."

This is what the Gospel reminds us today; to sharpen our blade so as to clear the weeds of sin out of our heart. In so doing, we need to stop for a moment from all our worldly activities especially during this season of advent and prepare ourselves, our soul for the Lord.

Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew 3:1-12“A voice of one crying out in the desert prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”

On this second Sunday of Advent, we are called to “prepare for the Lord.” In some sense it means, we prepare ourselves for Christmas. Some prepare gifts for their kids, others prepare food. Still others prepare themselves for the Christmas party, for Christmas sale, for Christmas bonus and all others about Christmas. These are worthy of our preparations yet these are just external preparations. Hopefully we do not miss the interior preparation which is more important than the external i.e., to prepare ourselves for the Lord. Just like what John the Baptist desired for the people according to our Gospel: we have to repent, we have to renew our baptismal promises and confess our sins. We have to produce good fruits as evidence of our preparation for the Lord this Christmas. These are the ways we prepare the way for the Lord so that on Christmas day, our clean heart, our clean soul is our gift for Jesus.

1st Sunday of Advent Year A

I remember the poem NO TIME. It says:
I knelt to pray but not for long
I had too much to do
I had to hurry and get to work
For bills would soon be due.
So I knelt and said a hurried prayer
And jumped up off my knees.
My Christian duty was now done
My soul could rest at ease.
All day long I had no time
To spread a word of cheer
No time to speak of Christ to friends,
They'd laugh at me I'd fear.
No time, no time, too much to do,
That was my constant cry.
No time to give to souls in need,
But at last.....the time to die.

I went before the Lord,
I came, I stood with downcast eyes,
For in His hands God held a book,
It was the book of life.

God looked into his book and said,
"Your name I cannot find,
I once was going to write it down...
But never found the time."
This is what the Gospel reminds us today; to give time for God. In the days of Noah, people did not give time to God. They missed the message God relayed to Noah regarding the flood.
Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew 24:37-44.
For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In (those) days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark.
They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be (also) at the coming of the Son of Man… Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
On this first Sunday of Advent, we are called to “stay awake.” In other words, “Do not sleep!” We have to give time for God. We have to spend times for prayers. Praying means staying awake. On one hand, it means we have to give God our time until we meet Him face to face. On the other hand, we have to give time for God in remembering and reliving the Lord’s First Coming –which we call Christmas day. We have to be conscious and aware of renewing our warm welcome to Jesus once again. We prepare our Christmas decorations, our Christmas gifts, our Christmas carols, etc. While doing this, we shall rejoice. However, our rejoicing is different from such rejoicing of the people during the days of Noah. They rejoiced too much that they forgot about God. They never gave time for God. But for us, we shall rejoice because we remember everything about God who sent His only Son, Jesus Christ. We rejoice because we have time to show to God we celebrate this season not for any other reason but for Jesus.

Feast of Christ the King (November 21, 2010)

A story:
Thomas More was a brilliant lawyer and diplomat in 16th century England. His patriotism and loyalty to the throne attracted the attention of King Henry VIII who made him Lord Chancellor of England. When Henry VIII decided to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon, marry Anne Boleyn, and make himself head of the Church of England, More thought this was not right. Rather than approve what he believed to be against the divine will, he resigned from his prestigious and wealthy position as Lord Chancellor. Because he would not give his support to the king, More was arrested, convicted of treason, imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1534 and beheaded in July of the following year. On his way to public execution, More encouraged the people to remain steadfast in the faith. His last recorded words were: "I die the king's good servant, but God's first." Henry VIII then later did know was that loyal as More was to him, his first loyalty was to Christ, the king of kings.
A Gospel:
Luke 23:35-43 –Jesus was crucified and above Him there was an inscription: “This is the King of the Jews”. The inscription was placed to add insult to an injury. It was not meant to express faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God, or the King of kings.
A Reflection:
Today, we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. Just like St. Thomas More, we believe that Jesus is indeed our King. But going back to the Gospel, what sort of a king do we find in Jesus? He was a helpless King! The soldiers jeered at Him calling out, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.” He was not a celebrated kind of a king. His crown was thorn; not a golden crown. He was naked; no royal robe. He was forced to drink some vinegar; not a fine wine for a king. How come we call Him a King then?
Jesus is a King but not the way we usually describe a king is. We have to give up our preconceived ideas of a king so as to understand why Jesus is the King.
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here" (John 18:36). It is Jesus Himself who claimed He is a King. Jesus who can neither deceive nor be deceived declared it. Being a King, He ruled with humility and refused to wear the golden crown, a symbol of pride and power. Being a King, He sacrificed Himself for His people and refused to wear a royal robe, a symbol of comfort. Being a King, He denied Himself of worldly pleasure as He did not drink wine of self-indulgence. Being a King, He opened His arms on the cross to welcome His people and did not sit down on a throne to scare His people. Being a King, His kingdom is not of this world, but in the hearts of men who believe in Him. Being our King, He commands us to love one another, to take up our cross and follow Him. If we choose Him as our King, then we should not entertain other kings. Viva! Cristo Rey!