17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

This is the story about the burning hut.  The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forth coming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions. But then one day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut was in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky! The worst had happened; everything was lost! He was stunned with grief and anger. "God, how could You do this to me?" he cried. Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him. "How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers. "We saw your smoke signal," they replied. My dear friends, it seems at times that God is unfair in answering our prayers. We can hear from others that their prayer-requests are often answered while for some of us, we hardly get what we have prayed for. There are Catholics who transfer to other religion because they thought our God is sleeping or hiding from them that nothing is happening with their prayers. There are also those people bartering or begging before God just to have what they are asking from him. They pray for the recovery of their health, they pray to win in a case against those who implicate them despite their innocence, they ask for justice, etc. They have a justifiable cause or even the noblest intention in requesting God for his positive response. They even think that because they are good people, so they deserve the positive answer of God. They go to mass and pray for their personal intentions expecting that God will never fail them. Yet in the long run they never get what they believe they truly deserve from God. Why? What is the reason for this? In like manner, we also ask: Are all the prayers of a parish priest answered by God because as a priest he is a chosen man of God? Obviously, not all the prayers of the priest are granted by God! Then why or why not? For a philosopher, he can philosophize about it. He can tell us that there are two kinds of responses -positive and negative. If God does not grant you your request, then he has given you a negative answer. If we ask why in a negative, then the philosopher will tell us that the reason depends on God. Though this is a good answer, it can lead one to think that our God is sometimes indifferent to those who are unjustly suffering. Thanks to Jesus! In Luke 11:1-13, Jesus revealed to us that God listens to all our prayers. But Jesus also wanted us to understand that when God answers our prayers, he does it according to how he sees our soul needs it. Whether we receive the particular thing we ask from him or not, we have to understand that God grants us what is good for our soul. Besides, Jesus did not say God will grant us all we ask of him. He rather said, "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" This means whether we receive  what we ask from God or not, he gives the Holy Spirit to make us realize later, if not now, the reason why or why not. What we only need to believe when we pray is that God knows best. He answers our prayer not according to our plan but according to our divine purpose here on earth. Though how hard it is for us to accept that not all particular things we ask from him   will be given to us; we have to find comfort in realizing that God knows what is best for us and such thing he will give us in due time. Amen.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

A lawyer's wife arranged a dinner for three to celebrate her mother-in-law's birthday at her favorite restaurant. However, her husband told her that he was busy with his works and he had no time to party. So the wife told him that she would still go out to dine with her mother-in-law  during the latter's birthday so as not to spoil the day. Before the evening arrived, the wife called up and informed her husband that she was not feeling well. The husband advised her to cancel the dinner with his mother. But the wife persuaded him to meet his mother instead of canceling the arranged dinner. She said his mother was already there at her favorite restaurant alone. So the husband was forced to dine with his mother. While dinning, he began to notice how aging affected his mother. She spoke softly, moved slowly and ate a little. They did not talk together that much because after they finished eating, the lawyer was in a hurry to go back to his office. But before they parted ways, the mother whispered to him how happy she was to see him on her birthday. She asked him to visit her whenever he would be available. The lawyer just nodded to her. After a month, the lawyer was informed his mother died.  My dear friends, there are many reasons to be busy nowadays. The cost of living is too high that we need to work double the time. We work hard for our family. We work hard to build our home. For us in the ministry, we work hard to build the church. We even bring our work to bed. We have been busy for so many years believing we do the right thing. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this. But in today's Gospel, we are being reminded that there is something better than this. In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus said to the busy woman, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her." There is nothing wrong with what Martha was doing. But she could do something better than what she was doing i.e., to stop for a moment to give time for their guest -Jesus. She could have listened to his story. On our part, we have been busy that we have not stopped to listen to each other's story. We work for our family, we work for our church, but we miss the opportunity to establish an intimate and meaningful relationship with one another because all we think of is work and never have time to enter into a dialogue. In the parish, we think of the ministry but we forget to listen to our ministers. We push our catechists to educate children but we do not have the time to listen to their problems. We think of our parish programs and projects, but we forget to listen to the stories of our parish workers, carpenters, etc. We send solicitation letters to our rich parishioners, yet we never know their spiritual needs. We think we already give everything, but in reality we never give ourselves. It is only when we stop for a while and try to give time for one another to share each other's story that we really give ourselves. This is the better part. Anyway, when we die, no matter how many projects we have materialized, it is still the people who have shared their stories with us will be the ones to pray before our graves. Amen.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Once upon a time, there was a long period of drought in the animal kingdom. As a result, almost every day the animals went in search of water. One day when Ant woke up, he realised that he did not have enough water in his barrel so he went in search of some. Fortunately, after walking a while, he came across a river and just as he was about to scoop some of it, he slipped and fell into it. He struggled to come out but to no avail. His continuous shouts for help did not help because of the obscure nature of the location of the river. Ant did his best to come out but anytime he tried he slipped into the river again. Soon, he got tired and stopped to rest. Minutes later, he heard Bird chirping from one of the trees. Ant realised that it was his last hope so with the little strength left in him he called out Bird's name. Bird heard his distress call and was able to trace it to the river. However, she did not know who had called for her help so she got closer to the river. 'Who is there?' Bird shouted. 'It's me,' Ant replied. Ant then begged Bird to rescue him and he would repay her later. Bird laughed over that statement because she considered Ant too little an animal to offer any assistance to her. Nevertheless, she agreed to help him. She threw a leaf into the river and shouted to Ant to climb onto it. The leaf then floated to the side of the river and with that Ant was rescued. Ant thanked Bird and reassured her that he would help her one day. Again, Bird laughed over that and flew away. 'How can small Ant help me?' she said to herself. Many months after that incident, a hunter went to the forest in search of an animal to kill for food. Luckily, he saw Bird making her nest. 'Ah,' thought the hunter, 'I will kill and eat this bird.' By that time the hunter had removed his gun which hung by his side and was getting it ready to kill Bird. Ant, who was close by, noticed that the hunter wanted to shoot Bird and thought that would be the appropriate period to repay Bird for her good deed to him. Ant climbed onto the hunter's leg. He ran through his back, then to his shoulders before landing on the arm that held the gun and bit it as hard as it could. The hunter jumped and fired his gun into the air. Bird was startled by the shot and flew away to safety. Bird moved to a safer place and when she looked down, she realised it was Ant that had saved her life. Later when they met, she thanked him. 'We will always be friends,' she said, and Ant answered, 'Remember, one good turn deserves another.' My dear friends, there are many reasons why we do good to others. Politicians do good to others so that they can get votes from them. Actors and actresses need to do good to please their fans. Priests do good because that is what they do. In our Gospel which is taken from Luke 10:25-37, we are reminded not only to do good to others but the reason why we have to do good. Jesus in this gospel pericope, announced the two greatest laws which are loving God and loving one's neighbor. With this  pronouncement, Jesus simply told his listeners that this is the main reason for doing good -love (of God). Then he told a story mentioning a priest and a levite    who ignored a victim of robbery. Notably in this story, priest was expected to do good to the victim because it is part of his job description, yet he did not. Then a levite was also expected to do good because it is within their bloodline to be good, yet he did not. But a Samaritan, who had a bad reputation and who was not expected to do good, was the one who did good to the victim. This story tells us that doing good to others is not made by virtue of one's office or lineage but by one's personal loving relationship with God. The keywords that the good Samaritan was a God-loving person though he had a bad reputation were found from the answer of the scholar to Jesus, “The one who treated him with mercy.” The samaritan, despite his bad reputation before the public, revealed his inner disposition (being merciful) by doing good to the victim. His  good inner disposition -merciful (in other translation, it is compassion) is only possible when his heart is full of love. (It is difficult for a person, full of hatred to be merciful.) And the fullness of love is possible only when one has established personal relationship with the source of love -who is God. This is who the good samaritan is. At this time, we are made aware through our Gospel that we have to do good not because of anything else except we love God who first loves us. In order to be called Christians, we do good to others for the love of God. Amen.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

A story of an old priest who was sent to a hostile country is unknown to most of us Catholics. He was put in prison because he was caught celebrating mass in its territory. While in prison, he was asked to destroy the crucifix in exchange for his release. Instead of destroying it, he embraced the crucifix and kissed it. It was then and there that he was beaten up to death. The old priest chose to live and die as a Catholic. This untold story reminds us Catholics that though here in the Philippines we are free to move or act for our faith, there are those Catholics who are suffering for the sake of our faith. If ever we are given the same opportunity like them who suffer for our faith, can we still choose to be a Catholic? Being a Catholic, our focus is on our final destination i.e., heaven. No matter what is happening here and now, we do not want to lose sight of this final destination, our ultimate goal. That is why our Gospel (Luke 10: 20)  reminds us that our joy comes when our names are written in heaven.Nevertheless, we do not need to be in a hostile place and die as a martyr to be a Catholic. Here in our country, even if we are not persecuted because of our faith, we can be true Catholics. We can choose to be a Catholic when we go to mass, avail the sacraments, lead others to love God, and make our home a small Catholic church where every one lives in love. However, this is difficult to expect from all Catholics. There are many Catholics who were baptized but not Christianized. They are Catholics in names but never in action. There is even indifference towards Catholicism. They do not see that everything we do in the church leads to our final goal i.e. heaven. They never think of heaven. That is why the sacraments are there yet many do not see them as means of their salvation. Baptism, marriage and even burials become opportunities for social gathering without religious significance. Priesthood or marriage is not even seen as a vocation from God. There are many of us Catholics who become materialistic and love what the world offers us to the extent that we have forgotten what we aim for -heaven. There are many of us Catholics who live comfortably in this world that we have forgotten what heaven is. There are many of us Catholics who refuse or escape suffering and even forget we are Catholics and choose to live in sin. Well, it is now up for us to know where we are heading at. But if we choose to be a Catholic, whether today we suffer or not, let us aim high, aim heaven. Only in heaven that we can have endless happiness. Amen.

For Andrew

My dear friends in Christ, you no longer see your beloved Andrew since last year. And yet in celebrating his birthday today,  you allow us to see who Andrew is for you. You made us see what you see in him. We see how you his family loves him. We see that though Andrew is out of your sight, he is never out of your mind. He is still in your memories, and from your memories, he has been making his way into the depths of your hearts, and from your hearts, he enters, ever so quietly and gently, into your every day life. At this point, it reminds me of the first letter of Peter1:8 which states: You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy. This bible passage reminds us of the power of love. It is love that makes you see Andrew whom the world couldn't see. It is love that makes you believe that he is in your midst though the world could not feel his presence. It is love that makes you hope to see him again and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy. It is love that keeps you waiting for him. I remember last year, during the first few weeks when Andrew was missing, the family hoped to see him coming home. In fact, the family has never been tired of waiting for him. As days went by, the family never realized that it takes too long to wait just as the proverbs say, A WATCHED POT NEVER BOILS. It seems it takes forever to wait for Andrew. The time seems to be too fast for this world yet in searching and finding Andrew everything seems so slow. Though waiting itself might give anybody an uncomfortable feeling, the family has never bothered the discomfort while waiting for Andrew because their love for Andrew is beyond contestation.It is love that keeps you waiting for him. Today, one year has already passed and still the family hopes to see Andrew again. They are not tired of waiting. They are not tired of loving him. Some people would say it is useless to wait for Andrew. Others also say it is now time to make a closure in the family and accept that Andrew is gone. Well, they may be right. But who can stop the power of love? Though the intellect takes the matter of waiting for Andrew as impossible, it is love that makes Andrew worth waiting for.  If one has to understand why the family keeps hoping to see Andrew, he must know how to love first. Jesus once said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to the childlike. -Matthew 11:25 As of now, we do not know where Andrew is and how is he. The only truth we have about him is that we have not seen him. And by not seeing him, we can only speculate and give our presumptions. Yet let us be comforted by the Scripture which we have taken from the first letter of Peter1: 8. You will rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy. It means you will see Andrew again and be filled with joy. This will all take place in God's way and in God's time. Watch out! Stay alert! For you do not know when the time will come. -Mark 13:33. Amen.

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the history of the Church, the first Christians were persecuted by hanging them on the cross, burning them at stake, fed them to wild beasts and were even decapitated. But before they faced the final execution, they were put first in prison. There they prayed to God, keeping their faith alive. Yet there were some who denied their faith in exchange for their freedom. They valued their life, liberty and property more than their faith in God. It was in this kind of situation therefore that those Christians who were about to face death, needed more graces from God to keep their faith alive. It was in this kind of event that Tarcisius, a thirteen year old boy was sent to those Christians in jail to give them the Body of Christ. But on his way to jail, some unbelievers saw him and tried to take away the sacred host, the Body of Christ from him. But Tarcisius never allowed them to get hold of the sacred host. So the unbelievers threw stones on him until some  Christians arrived to help the little boy, Tarcisius.  Before he died, he made it sure that the sacred host, the Body of Christ was on a safe hand of a bishop.   My dear friends in Christ, this story of Tarcisius, the patron saint of altar servers reminds us of the meaning of Christianity. What it means to be a Christian? We know that to be a Christian is to be a follower of Jesus Christ. And in being a follower, early Christians would mean it literally as they were not afraid to face death for the sake of their faith in Christ. But in our time, how do we follow Christ? Well, we are lucky enough that in our time, we do not face death because of our faith. We are never persecuted because we follow Christ. So how do we follow Jesus Christ now? In our Gospel according to Luke 9:58, it is implied that Jesus would tell us that in following him, we have to realize that he did not promise us a comfortable life. From time to time, we face problems of life. Can we still believe in Him when life becomes difficult?  In Luke 9:59, it is also implied that Jesus did not promise us he would erase death. Can we still believe that there is God when death visits our beloved ones? In Luke 9:60, it is implied that Jesus did not promise us that there is no distraction in life. Man needs to exert more efforts to focus on following Christ. All these mean that it is not easy being a Christian even today in our easy world. We need God's grace. We need grace in order to sustain and maintain the faith we have in Christ. If we receive God's grace, then we can be able to follow Christ and be like Christ. We will not just sit down and do nothing for our faith. Like Christ, we have to preach the message of God. Like Christ, we have to become God's channel of his love. With Christ, our faith should always be seen in action. We cannot allow ourselves to be indifferent if we are true followers of Christ. If we want to follow him, then we have to follow him all the way. Amen.

Tay Olen and Ma'am Edna's 40th wedding anniversary

Today, we celebrate the 15th wedding anniversary of Joanna and Ronald and equally important the 40th wedding anniversary of Tay Olen and Ma'am Edna.  Number 40 is significant and symbolic for us Christians. In the Bible, 40 represents "change". The Great Flood lasted for 40 days and 40 nights (Genesis 6: 1-19) which destroyed all the wicked and changed them with the generations of the righteous. The Israelites stayed 40 years in the desert (Numbers 14: 34) to change the wicked who died in the desert with the righteous generation. Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days  (Exodus 24:18) and Elijah walked 40 days to the mountain of God,  Horeb (1 Kings 19:8) and their lives changed after those days. Even Jesus himself fasted for 40 days and his hidden life was changed into something  public. In everything I just mentioned, the Bible seems to convey that life does not only begin at 40 but at 40, a change to be better must begin.   I do not say that there is something wrong with your relationship Tay Olen and Ma'am Edna that you need to change something in your marital set-up. I do not also say that you have to force each other to change the way you look at each other. Rather, I ask you Tay Olen and Ma'am Edna to think of change as a call of God to level-up, to upgrade, to make your good marriage a better marriage. In a better marriage, your wedding anniversary is not just seen as a social occasion but a holy encounter. As you see each other, you also see yourselves. As you love each other, you will love yourselves. For in you Tay Olen, you will find yourself, Ma'am Edna; for in you Ma'am Edna, you will find yourself Tay Olen. As you demonstrate your love towards each other, you learn that you are both love-able and you experience how to love  more deeply. As you learn to love each other more deeply, you experience to be one in a very special way. This oneness is like the oneness of the Father and his son Jesus; when you love the Father, you love the son too. In other words, to love one is to love the other. In your case, to love Tay Olen is to love Ma'am Edna and vice-versa. The children prove this oneness to be true. If we ask Fiscal Chris, Jhoanna, Loanie and Insoy to choose between their Tatay and Nanay, they choose both. One is not above the other. They love both as one.  Moreover, your wedding anniversary is  a holy encounter because your relationship exists to journey together to God. You discover from your relationship who God is. A line in a song from the play Les Miserables says, "To love another person is to see the face of God." The face of God is the LOVE behind the masks that everybody wears. Ma'am Edna, you did not marry Tay Olen because he is a lawyer. Tay Olen, you did not marry Ma'am Edna because she is a doctor of education. Being a lawyer or being a doctor is your mask and it is not the basis of your marriage. The basis of your marriage is the love you found from each other. Finding love in each other is an experience of God. In fact it is our divine calling. It is the happiness we all seek -to love one another with the love of God. You can sustain your experience of God when both of you surrender yourselves to the holy spirit. You allow him to be in charge of your marriage. The Bible says, "And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:5).The holy spirit inspires you to accept each other as who you are. The Holy spirit assists you to seek out each other's innocence and not your faults or failures. The Holy spirit sees you as beautiful creation of God. And so for you Tay Olen and Ma'am Edna, you  see each other as who you really are -a beautiful creation of God. You love what you see in each other. You do not stop loving what you see from each other. This you already have proven to the world today as you celebrate your 40th wedding anniversary. For you, love is eternal. If love is not eternal, it is not love. You are now a living testament, a witness, a sign and not just a symbol of love that is of God. On your 40th wedding anniversary, may you therefore make your good marriage a better marriage. Amen.