8th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Isidore was born to very poor parents in Madrid, about the year 1070. He was in the service of the wealthy Madrid landowner Juan de Vargas on a farm in the vicinity of Madrid. Juan de Vargas would later make him bailiff of his entire estate of Lower Caramanca.
Every morning before going to work, Isidore was accustomed to hearing a Mass at one of the churches in Madrid. One day his fellow-laborers complained to their master that Isidore was always late for work in the morning. Upon investigation, so runs the legend, the master found Isidore at prayer while an angel was doing the plowing for him.
My dear friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus said we cannot serve two masters. It is either we love one and hate the other. He told us that we have to choose whom to serve best –and it is God. In our story, St. Isidore chose God first. It is God who helped him then in his works.
In our modern world we can say it is now possible to serve two masters without hating or loving the other. We are in the world of multi-tasking so to say. We can do many things at the same time. We can browse through our computer to make our thesis while chatting with a friend in the facebook, and at the same time watching some shows on the television and holding our cellular phone to read the text messages. But this is not what Jesus intends us to answer. He wants us to prioritize God above all else. Although we can do the multi-tasking in our day-to-day activities, Jesus wants us to realize that in spiritual life, we have to fix our gaze on God. There shall be undivided attention to give to God and God shall be the master of our life. We can set aside other things or forget about anything but never about God. And in doing so, God will provide us with everything we need.
Jesus admonishes us His followers to put away anxiety and preoccupation with material things and instead to seek first the things of God – his kingdom and righteousness. Anxiety robs the heart of trust in the mercy and goodness of God and in his loving care for us. God knows our needs even before we ask and he gives generously to those who trust in him. Who is your master – God or mammon?

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

A FARMER, who bore a grudge against a Fox for robbing his poultry yard, caught him at last, and being determined to take an ample revenge, tied some rope well soaked in oil to his tail, and set it on fire. The Fox by a strange fatality rushed to the fields of the Farmer who had captured him. It was the time of the wheat harvest; but the Farmer reaped nothing that year and returned home grieving sorely.

My dear friends, revenge, hatred, anger, or grudge is not good for us. It is like a fire that is burning in us and consumes us. But what can we do? If someone hurts us, it is not easy to treat him well. Retribution or getting even seems to be the most common response to wrongdoing. How can one forgive someone who destroys your reputation and keeps doing it? It is our tendency to say, "Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." [Dt. 19:21.]

In today’s Gospel, Jesus commands each disciple to love one’s enemy. And this seems to be difficult for us to follow. But if we are going to understand what Jesus means by saying this, we will realize it is not as hard as it seems to follow.

When Christ said, “Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you,” He was not asking us to have nice feelings towards an enemy. He was saying that we should not seek revenge. If revenge, hatred or grudge dwells in us, then we are dwelling in sin. And if we live in sin, then we lose our soul and it is the devil that wins.
When Christ said, “Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you,” Jesus was not asking us to condone to what is evil? Shall we allow the culprit to escape? Loving an enemy does not mean forgetting everything about the wrongdoings. No. There must be justice and at the same time we ask God that the culprit will be sorry for his wrongdoings and reform. We have to win the soul of our offender over the devil.

Perhaps the example of Pope John Paul II can provide us a picture of this “love of enemies”. Although the Pope had forgiven Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish who had attempted to assassinate him on May 13, 1981, Agca remained in jail for years to atone for his crime.

The Eight of the Nine Days before Christmas (December 23)

Story:
There is a story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident. The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn't understand why, after three months of training, the master had taught him only one move.
"Sensei," the boy finally said, "shouldn't I be learning more moves?"

"This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the sensei replied.

Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training. Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals. This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.

"No," the sensei insisted, "Let him continue."

Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion. On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.

"Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"

"You won for two reasons," the sensei answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. Second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm."

Life is full of mysteries. Sometimes we ask ourselves why we are here on earth. What is our purpose? What is the meaning of our life? And in searching for an answer, we try to guess, and later we become confused. Life then remains a mystery for us. What we hardly understand, we can turn to God and ask Him what His purpose is for us.

Scripture:
And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him (Luke 1:57-66)


Study:
In our Gospel, people were asking about the fate of John the Baptist, saying, “What then will this child be?” In their question, there was an affirmation that they saw God working in the life of John: “For the hand of the Lord was with him.” This Gospel really reminds us that our life comes from God. But He does give us life to live on our own. Rather, our life shall always be in relation or in connection to Him. The meaning of our life does not depend on what we shall do with our life but what God wills us to do with our life.

Our life has a purpose. We have a mission to fulfill like John the Baptist. It is wrong to say, “I am unlucky or unfortunate” or in our popular term, “malas sa buhay.” God would neither give us life nor expect our life to be meaningful if He allows us to live our whole lives in misery. God is working with us since our birth. He gives us our talents, skills and abilities to discover our call, our purpose, our mission. Of course, there are difficulties in searching for our mission in life. But in the last analysis, everything that is happening around us happens because it is how God shapes our lives to find His will for us. Remember the words from Desiderata: “You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.” Our life has a purpose for God. Let us not waste it. Let God use it for His glory.

The Seventh of the Nine Days before Christmas (December 22)

Story:
Once upon a time there was a king who had everything the world had to offer – all that money could buy, plus absolute power over his people. But despite all the money and power and prestige he possessed, he had a major problem. He was not happy.

And so he summoned the wisest of wise men in all his kingdom and asked them to provide him with a solution to his problem. “I want to be happy,” he said. “I command you to tell me how to achieve happiness.”
After consulting with one another, the wisest of all the wise men in the kingdom came up with a solution to the king’s problem. “You must find a truly happy man in your kingdom, take his shirt from him and wear it yourself. Then, you too will be happy.”

So the king dispatched his elite horsemen to every corner of the kingdom in search of a truly happy man and, eventually, they found one.

The trouble was, he didn’t own a shirt!

Happiness is defined in various ways. In the song “Happiness” (by Leah Salonga), one beautiful definition of happiness therein is: “For happiness is anyone and anything at all that’s loved by you.” Dismissing this view however, a further reflection on the definition of happiness will lead us to the view that happiness is a gift of God.

Scripture:
And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden” (Luke 1:46-56).

Study:
In our Gospel, we hear Mary praising God as she expressed her happiness to be the mother of God’s only son as foretold by an angel. Her happiness lies in a selfless life lived in the trust of God. Her happiness never depends on money, business success, good health, friends, etc. but on God. Mary teaches us that happiness comes when you learn to believe that everything is a grace from God. Happiness is seeing God in every event of one’s life.

Most of us are unhappy because our life does not go the way we want it to be. We sometimes measure our happiness by looking at what our present life is and what we think our present life should be. Then we see a big gap in-between them. We believe we cannot be happy unless we can bridge the gap. But then again, bridging the gap itself seems difficult to undertake. So we begin complaining. We complain we do not have a new pair of shoes this Christmas, but we do not know what to feel for some people who have no feet. We complain when we wake up early in the morning to attend the Misa de Gallo, but we do not know what to feel for people in an ICU of a hospital who are unconscious. Yes! We do not stop complaining until we will be happy. But we do know, we cannot also be happy if we do not stop complaining.

If we only stop complaining first, and then look at the grace of God in our present situation, we can find better reasons to be happy. If we only stop thinking of what we want and begin to think what God wants for us, then we become happy. Instead of complaining for having a wife who serves you the same food for dinner every night, why not thank God for this because there are others who are hungry and they have nothing to eat. Instead of complaining for having a husband who goes early to bed, why not thank God because he is at home and not with some women at the bars. Instead of complaining for having some children who make noise in the house, why not thank God for this because there are others who have no families, no children to call their own.

Happiness is no other than being confident that God is at work with us in all events. We know He loves us and He will not allow anything evil to prosper against us. 1 Corinthians 2: 9 states: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and no human mind has conceived –the things God has prepared for those who love Him.” In every event, whether good or bad, God is preparing us for something great. So like Mary, let us live our lives in the trust of God and it is only then we can really be happy.

The Sixth of the Nine Days before Christmas (December 21)

Story:
One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!" To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took them to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake.
As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right" he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."

"No," his friend replied, "this is good!"

"What do you mean, 'this is good'! How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year."

"If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you."

Everything happens for a reason. No matter how many bad things happened in one’s life, there is always something good that can be taken from the situation. If one looks at his or her experience with the eyes of faith, one can always find lessons, opportunities and blessings even from confusing moments of one’s life. There is nothing which happens, good or bad, beyond the power of God.

Scripture:
And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord(Luke 1:39-45).

Study:
In our Gospel, Elizabeth was almost six months pregnant when Mary visited her. It would not be unusual that she could feel her child move in her womb. However, she believed the movement was a leap of joy in recognition of Mary's baby. Elizabeth was shown here to be very optimistic. Her positive outlook of life was rooted in her experience of God’s power. Elizabeth was barren and was already old (Luke 1: 7). It was difficult for her to get pregnant as her husband Zacharias was also already old. At that time, a barren woman was often believed to be cursed by God while a woman with children was blessed. In Psalm 127: 3 it says, “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.” However, the blessing of motherhood was announced by an angel to Zacharias when everything seemed to be impossible (Luke 1: 13). This event unfolds the truth that God really intervenes in the affairs of man in some mysterious ways. God has a plan for all of us which most of the times we cannot understand. God will be in control of everything. What we only need is to put our trust in Him and let Him be the source of our optimism in life. Even if someday we shall feel that the situation tears us apart, trust that God has a reason. Let us be reminded by what the Scripture says in Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

The Fifth of the Nine Days before Christmas (December 20)

Story:
There was a son who once told his story about his mother. He said:
“My mom only had one eye. I hated her... she was such an embarrassment. She cooked for students & teachers to support the family. There was this one day during elementary school where my mom came to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed. How could she do this to me? I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school one of my classmates said, "EEEE, your mom only has one eye!" I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my mom to just disappear.

So I confronted her that day and said, " If you're only gonna make me a laughing stock, why don't you just die?!!!"

My mom did not respond... I didn't even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger. I was oblivious to her feelings. I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with her. So I studied real hard, got a chance to go to Manila to study. Then, I got married.
I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts.

Then one day, my mother came to visit me. She hadn't seen me in years and she didn't even meet her grandchildren. When she stood by the door, my children laughed at her, and I yelled at her for coming over uninvited. I screamed at her, "How dare you come to my house and scare my children! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!" And to this, my mother quietly answered, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address," and she disappeared out of sight.

One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house in Manila. So I lied to my wife that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went to the old shack just out of curiosity. My neighbors said that she died. I did not shed a single tear. They handed me a letter that she had wanted me to have."

Then I read mom's letter:

My dearest son,

I think of you all the time. I'm sorry that I came to Manila and scared your children. I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you. I'm sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were growing up. You see........when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn't stand watching you having to grow up with one eye. So I gave you mine.
I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye.

With my love to you,
Mom


Mothers are loving persons by their nature. Their loving nature pushes them to take many risks for the sake of their children. Mothers will endure great sacrifices and dedication to see their children safe and secure. Mothers eventually play an important role for the success of a child.

Scripture:
And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:26-38)

Study:
My dear fellow believers, on this 5th day of Misa de Gallo, our Gospel speaks about Mary, the mother of Jesus. Though she was betrothed to Joseph, God has chosen her to be the mother of Jesus –the Christ. When Mary accepted the will of God for her, she took many risks. First, Mary knew that according to their law, if a man believed that his wife was not a virgin when he married her, he could have her judged by the elders of the city. If they found her guilty, she could be put to death (Deut. 2:13-21). Then she also knew that if a man thinks the woman to whom he is engaged is bearing someone else's child: both the woman and the man whose child it is get death by stoning (Deuteronomy 22:23-24). The Law of Moses also allowed a man to divorce his wife when she found "no favor in his eyes, because he has found some uncleanness in her" (Deut. 24:1). Indeed, Mary was even at risk of being abandoned by Joseph. Yet, she accepted the consequences of being the mother of Jesus. And Mary continued to put her life in the risk in the Nativity Scene, during their Flight to Egypt, during the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and when Jesus was lost though at the end he was found all because she is a mother. Mary experienced many pains and heartaches in her life and she surpassed them all. She was a survivor –though a silent one of many life’s battles.
Mothers are the greatest persons who show what love is. They are unmindful of their children’s status, position and social standing, and all they know their children always remain their babies. They are more willing to take risks for the sake of their children. They can take risks because they are full of love for their children. It is true, mothers know best.

The Fourth of the Nine Days before Christmas (December 19)

Story:
It was on the eve of December 24, a father decided to welcome the coming of Christmas with his family when friends came to invite him to drink outside. He promised his wife and son to be home soon. This was actually the last scene he could remember. He woke up the next day with a hangover. He did not remember how he got home. So he tried to figure out what happened on the night of December 24. He saw his son eating his breakfast and asked him, “Son, what happened last night?” “Well, you came home after 3 A.M., drunk and out of your mind. You fell over the coffee table and broke it.”

Confused, he asked his son again, “So, why I did not hear anything from your mom? Was she not mad at me?”

His son replied, “Well, when mom tried to put you to bed, you screamed, “Do not touch me, I have a family. Leave me alone, I have a wife and a kid.” That puts off mom’s anger!”

Fathers play an important role in their children’s lives. They (fathers) should remember that one day, their children will follow their example instead of their advice.

Scripture:
…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 (Matthew 1:18-24)

Study:
My dear fellow believers, on this 4th day of Misa de Gallo, our Gospel speaks about Joseph, the human father of Jesus. Joseph is described as an upright man. Being upright, it means he was obedient to follow God’s commandments. Joseph knew the Law of Moses and one of which states if a man believed that his wife was not a virgin when he married her, he could have her judged by the elders of the city. If they found her guilty, she could be put to death (Deut. 2:13-21). As an upright person, he initially planned to divorce Mary. Yet at the same time he would like to make the divorce in secret because he loved Mary. In other words, Joseph was shown as a man who loves Mary (by planning to get a divorce in secret so that Mary would go unpunished) and loves God more (by showing obedience to God’s law). Because of his uprightness and obedience to God, he was chosen by God to become the foster father of Jesus. An angel in his dream revealed to him the will of God to take Mary as his wife; she will bear the son of God, and he shall call his name Jesus.

To go deeper in our reflection, we can find a kind of example Joseph would show as a father to Jesus. Joseph proved to be the worthy person to act as the human father of Jesus through his obedience to God. Jesus as we all know from the Bible is obedient to God, obedient even until His death. Jesus’ obedience may be a mystery for some faithful, but may we give credit to the role of Joseph as a father who set an example of obedience to Jesus in His younger years. I have mentioned this earlier, and I will mention this again as Joseph proved this through Jesus: every father should remember that one day, his children will follow his example instead of his advice.
I know we all have fathers. But I do not know how many of us have responsible fathers. If you want to check whether you are a responsible father or you have a responsible father, try to recall at least five good memories you have of your father when you were a child. Yes, we need fathers who are willing to commit themselves to father their children. Yes, the world needs responsible fathers like St. Joseph. We demand fathers to be responsible and take care of their family for better and for worse.