A Fresh Start (1st Sunday of Advent C)

In 2009, Roland Emmerich came up with the film 2012, an apocalyptic sci-fi thriller following the prophecy stated by the ancient Mayan calendar which says that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012.  Fortunately, there must have been a mistake in the calculation. 

I would like to submit though that we can have a fruitful reflection on this subject by drawing a parallelism between the movie 2012 and today’s apocalyptic gospel (Lk 21:25-28, 34-36) even as we welcome a new liturgical year on this first Sunday of Advent. I suggest, without trying to be exhaustive, three elements: The impending end, the promise of new beginning, and the transformative anticipation.

The impending end: The movie 2012 is at first glance all about the end of the world as we know it now.  In the vein of classic disaster movies like Armageddon, Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, etc. 2012 depicts a cosmic disaster already foretold by the Mayan calendar centuries ago to happen in the year 2012.  As such it certainly sends shivers down our spines. The end as depicted in 2012 brings global destruction. An end to everything humanity has known and built throughout its history.

Similarly, today’s gospel employs this apocalyptic literary genre describing the great tribulation that will befall the face of the earth: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright…for the power of heavens will be shaken” (v. 25-26).

Are we afraid of the end? A spontaneous unreflected initial thought would right away say “yes.” But a second look might reveal our true desire. Aren’t we tired of the endless forms of suffering of humanity because of our own foolishness? Don’t we desire an end to the social injustices inflicted upon the poor and the weak? Don’t we long for a stop to the violence we wreak upon one another?  

Our world’s suffering on account of sin is unspeakable. Creation is groaning for an end of this senseless domination of the power of evil and sin.

The promise of a new beginning: The end though is just one side of the coin. The other side is the promise of a new beginning. 2012 depicts a horrible process of end only to usher in a fresh beginning for humanity and planet earth. The movie’s suggestion is nothing but a hi-tech rendition of Noah’s ark. Today’s gospel too is really not so much about the end as about the dawning of the new creation in Christ. “And they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because redemption is at hand” (v 27-28).

The apocalyptic accounts in scriptures are meant to strengthen our faith in the ultimate victory of God over the power of sin that has thwarted the beautiful plan of God for his creation. Sin has marred the beauty of his creation. It has dominated the world and is leading it to its destruction. But God will re-create through the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. On that day when the Son of Man comes in glory and power, redemption is at hand. A new creation! A fresh beginning!

The transformative anticipation: The impending end propels every significant character in the movie to respond actively to the advent of the cataclysmic end. Huge modern hi-tech ships (Noah’s ark) have been constructed. Scientists have been monitoring the earth’s movements; world leaders have been meeting and planning. Broken families have tried to truly communicate once again. Similarly, today’s gospel sounds its call for vigilance and prayer. “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap” (v 34-35).

Anticipation is not sitting back and hopelessly waiting for the end to come. The apocalyptic genre certainly evokes urgency. We need to anticipate the end and the new beginning responsibly. To put an end to our greed, hatred, injustices, and all forms of our collective sinfulness, we need to be transformed. To start anew means to leave behind all these and put on the grace of Christ who enables us to love, to care, to be just, to forgive…

A scene in the movie expresses this well. When the elite of this world had embarked onto the ships, the acting captain ordered for an early locking up; hence, barring thousands of people from entering. This was a decisive moment for humanity’s transformation. The thoughtful scientist challenged the captain’s decision with these similar words, “If up to this moment we continue to be uncaring to one another, if we allow thousands to die when we can actually do something about it, with what will we begin? What kind of humanity will we start with?”

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. A fresh start in our liturgical life. A season that reminds us of the urgency of conversion. No. Not so much because of the impending end. We need to change because it is the only way to the promise of a new beginning.

Am I ready to shed off my boring, ugly, unfruitful, unforgiving, hateful old self? In this advent season, will I embark into the promise of a fresh start? Will I allow myself the joy of living in the newness of life in Christ?

Pray Always (29th Sunday Ordinary C)

During the “Zamboanga Siege” which lasted for more than three weeks, it was very easy to lose heart when day after day what woke you up in the early morning were the exchanges of gunshots and the hovering of helicopters. Already in the second week, people were impatient asking the same question: “When will this end?” For the situation was making the suffering of people more and more unbearable each day. A priest from Bohol, who is a good friend of mine, sent me an assurance that he was always praying for me and for the City of Zamboanga.

Few weeks after the siege, we were all shocked by the extent of the damage wrought by the 7.2 intensity earthquake that rocked the exotic island of Bohol. Most of the centuries-old churches which had been Bohol’s contribution to our national cultural heritage were destroyed. When I got the shocking news, I found myself sending a message of assurance to that priest friend of mine. I assured him that I was praying constantly for him and the people of Bohol.

We are not in control of many things in life. “Ang buhay ay weather weather lang,” according to Kuya Kim. Hence, we need to pray always and not to lose heart as Jesus teaches his disciples in today’s gospel reading (Lk 18:1-8).

(grabbed from http://www.village-missions.org)

Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow illustrates very clearly that just as the unkind judge finally grants, out of his selfish motives, the widow’s persistent request for justice, so God, who is infinitely better than that wicked judge, listens to the plea of those who persevere in prayer. In short, God certainly listens to our cries; but our pleas must be constant and unceasing. We must persevere in prayer.

Why? Is God playing hard to get? Does He take pleasure in watching us struggle in begging for what we need? No. God is not the unjust judge in the parable. God is a good God. His infinite goodness wills only that which brings out the best in us and nothing less. Hence, God challenges us to persist in prayer because He wants to bring out in us the following: Humility, purity, and intimacy. A word for each:

Humility. Modernity has expected us to be autonomous and responsible for our lives and destiny. So, we tend to act independently trying to gain total control of our lives. We keep God at bay. We become very busy and praying becomes a waste of time. But life has a way of exposing our helplessness: Zamboanga Siege? Bohol Earthquake? Unending supertyphoons? Flashfloods?

It is only in accepting our existential helplessness that we assume a posture of total dependence in God. The widow in the parable is our representative. Like her, we are many times powerless and dependent on the kindness of others and God. Like her, pleading unceasingly is sometimes our only recourse. In Filipino, we say “pagmamakaawa.” Everyone knows it takes a lot of humility to beg for mercy. The good God does not like conceited people. He invites us to be humble as we pray with constancy.

Purity.  Many times what we desire for needs purification. Even if it seems that what we are pleading for is good, God still sees through our selfish motives. Oftentimes, we ask for what we want and not for what we truly need. We want to have more wealth but this may lead us to greed and materialistic attitude. What we need sometimes to become a compassionate and loving person is the experience of solidarity with the poor.

God requires our persistence in prayer because we need to purify our desires. And the process requires some time. As we persevere in prayer, the grace of God helps us, in time, to see our own self-centeredness and to distinguish our whims and caprices from our real needs. Hence, we need to persevere in prayer not because God is not listening closely to our cries but because He is helping us to grow in the purity of our desires.

Intimacy.  When we persevere in prayer, we gradually understand that prayer is not just a one-shot deal. We begin to see meaningfully what spiritual writers tell us: that prayer is relationship. God requires persistence and constancy in our prayer because, above all else, He is inviting us to grow in intimacy with Him. To be in constant prayer means to spend more and more of one’s time with God. As we grow in the purity of our desires, we begin to see with joy that what our hearts truly long for is not just any gift that God gives. Our heart’s greatest desire is God.

With much gratitude, we discover as we persist in prayer how good and generous God is. God requires our perseverance not because He enjoys keeping us on our knees but because He wants to give us much more than we are asking for; He wants to give Himself.

Praying is not a waste of time. The more time we spend in prayer, the more that God brings out the best in us. Praying persistently melts our conceit and brings out humility; praying with patience and perseverance purifies our selfish desires and leads us to our real needs; praying with constancy trains our hearts to long for God and enjoy intimacy with Him. So, as Jesus wisely advises us, “Pray always without losing heart.”

Stewardship (25th Sunday Ordinary C)

In 2013, On National Heroes’ Day, Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle joined a protest march that called for the abolition of the Pork Barrel fund as it had been the source of scandalous corruption in the government. He exhorted all Filipinos to act collectively with heroism and with honor anywhere they are.  Few days earlier in a press conference, the Cardinal had addressed his challenge to those involved in the “intricate web” of corruption to visit the poor and slum areas in order to get a real feel of the suffering of the poor. The Cardinal said: “On my own, I just think those that are doing such things are capable because the poor is absent in their lives. Maybe they cannot see them or they don’t want to see them. But once they see them and even feel their suffering, maybe, they will at least be disheartened and moved by it.”

Indeed, the corruption of the country’s resources perpetuates the suffering of the poor.  The multibillion pork barrel scam, for instance, has been a great injustice to the Filipino people who, for long, have been struggling with poverty while those who are entrusted with power continue to enrich themselves at the poor’s expense.

Today’s readings lend themselves to a reflection on material stewardship. The readings allow us to focus on three aspects of stewardship: It is at the service of the poor, at the service of one’s legitimate needs, and at the service of God.

At the service of the poor.  Cardinal Tagle’s challenge to the politicians to be sensitive to the suffering of the poor echoes the message of the Prophet Amos in the first reading (Am 8:4-7) to those “who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land.” Amos decries the unjust practices of the rich, particularly the merchants who exploit the poor people in buying and selling—the scales were adjusted to the advantage of the agent, while the poor paid more or received less.  Amos warns them of the Lord’s justice. They will be held accountable for everything they have done against the poor.

A responsible stewardship is sensitive to the needs of the poor. Those who have been entrusted with power and with the resources ought to see that all these must be at the service of the suffering poor.  Hence, stewardship implies the commitment to put up socio-economic and political systems, policies, and practices which assure the material security of the needy and the empowerment of the poor.

In our present clamor for a clean government, we pray that the justice of God prevails, that the exploitative and corrupt systems be abolished, and that we all take seriously the invitation to address the cry of the suffering poor.   

At the service of one’s legitimate needs. Material goods are entrusted to us as our means of meeting our basic needs and those of our dependents.  Christian stewardship does not scorn material things but calls for detachment from them lest they might take the place of God in our lives.  Material things are means and not end in themselves.  They have to be utilized with prudence in order to serve our end. 

The parable of the fired steward in the gospel reading (Lk 16: 1-13) illustrates that in the moment of crisis, the steward prudently used the material things at his disposal to secure his future.  He instructed his master’s debtors to write a discounted amount on their promissory notes.  These reduced the charges owed by eliminating the “service charge” which is normally due to him as an agent. By deciding to let go of his share, he gained friends from whom he could ask help in the future.

Stewardship calls for prudence and a degree of freedom from material goods in order to serve rightfully our basic needs without falling into the trap of greed and inordinate love for created things.

At the service of God.  The gospel reading ends with this reminder: “You cannot serve God and mammon” (v. 13). The inordinate love for created things compels us to sacrifice our health, family, friendship, moral principles, and faith convictions in favor of material gains. This is serving mammon and not God. When we close our eyes to the suffering of the poor and enrich ourselves at the expense of the poor, we are serving mammon and not God.  

Christian stewardship is serving God, not mammon. A faithful steward knows that God is the master; God is the source of bounty; God is the ultimate owner of everything. It is God he serves not money; His will he follows.

If only we can manage our material goods and other human affairs according to His will as the Prophet Amos reminds us, we would see justice, peace, and true development flourish in our land. 

Hence, today we ask the Master to forgive us of our dishonesty and mismanagement as stewards.  We ask for forgiveness for causing the suffering of the poor, for our greed and selfishness, for worshipping and serving mammon. And we ask the grace of prudence and freedom to dispose of our material goods at the service of the poor, of our own legitimate needs, and of God.

The Face of God’s Mercy (24th Sunday Ordinary C)

 

About six years ago, an appalling P10-billion pork barrel scam was exposed. It was said to be masterminded by Janet Napoles involving a number of our “honorable” lawmakers and other high-profile officials.  Everyone then was understandably dissociating from her.  A mere photograph in the past that showed posing with her all smiles at a party or any function became regrettable as it would raise public suspicions of complicity with the revolting corruption she was tied with. Nobody wanted to be seen hanging around with her anymore.

Our keen hypocritical sense nudges us to keep a distance from those we consider sinners because it is shameful and detrimental to our already damaged “reputation.”

In the light of today’s readings, particularly the gospel (Lk 15: 1-32), it’s possible to imagine Jesus doing what everybody else is avoiding—dining and probably enjoying the picture taking with the scam mastermind in front of all the raised eyebrows around. 

The gospel reading today depicts Jesus hanging around with the public sinners of his time who were drawing near to listen to him. A complaint from the observing religious sectors goes this way: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them” (v.2). This passage may be approached from two vantage points, that of the self-righteous and that of the sinner.

In fact, this statement comes from the self-righteous religious groups of Jesus’ time. As such, it is a criticism of Jesus’ act. The Pharisees and Scribes are scandalized by Jesus’ association with the sinners. For them, it is important to maintain a distance from sinners as purity is their most important vow and brushing elbows with the sinful is risking contamination. From where they stand, the act of Jesus is unbecoming of a holy man. They expect Jesus to act like them, i.e., to shoo away the sinners as one drives away a leper.

From the stand point of the sinners, however, their experience of Jesus mingling and dining with them is an experience of profound hope, the experience of the Good News. When the institution of their religion has virtually closed the door of salvation for them, they experience in Jesus the God who seeks them out when they are lost. They experience a God who does not condemn but saves.  Jesus’ act of spending time with the sinners is their invitation to conversion and their assurance that God’s mercy is available for them.

The three parables, that of the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son, have a common message: God rejoices over a sinner who repents and turns back to Him. In the parables, Jesus probably intends to depict unrealistic reasons for the joyful celebration, like inviting the neighborhood for a feast because a coin is found.  Jesus’ message could be that God’s mercy, in human reckoning, is unrealistic and illogical. The ways of God in dealing with the sinners is far beyond our ways.

Especially the self-righteous, represented by the elder brother in the parable of the lost son, cannot understand the father’s merciful and unquestioning acceptance of the wasteful and irresponsible sibling. And it’s much harder to find any rhyme and reason in the joyful celebration of a banquet with his return. The self-righteous has his own logical standards and moral parameters; and the problem with this is that God’s mercy does not work in accordance with this standard or parameter. Hence, the self-righteous, while trying to maintain an exacting and high sense of justice in life, is in great danger of missing out on the abundance of God’s mercy.

On the other hand, the sinners receive God’s mercy as a welcome surprise like the experience of the prodigal son being embraced by the father and unquestioningly reinstated as a son after having turned away from him. The sinners real sense of unworthiness may find God’s forgiveness incredible but the same experience of humility makes sinners recognized their thirst for forgiveness and their absolute dependence on God’s graciousness.

Let us avoid self-righteousness. It is the surest way not to experience the mercy of God, not because there is lack of it, but because our conceit doesn’t allow the ocean of God’s mercy to flow into our hearts.

Our invitation is clear: Let us celebrate hope in spite of our helplessness as sinners. We may be naturally incredulous of the vast mercy of God revealed by Jesus but let us embrace it anyway or, more correctly, let us allow the God of mercy to embrace us as a father embraces his child with love.

We are in many ways like J. Napoles, only with different forms and degrees of sinfulness perhaps. It is consoling to remember that Jesus would always love to dine with us and allow us to take pictures with him in spite of our horrible reputations. He does not dissociate from us because we are sinners. On the contrary, he invites us to be in fellowship with him, to trust in God’s mercy, confessing with total surrender our sins that we may regain the newness of life that we have wasted and lost. Indeed, Jesus is “the face of the Father’s mercy” (Misericordiae Vultus, 1).

The Way of the Cross (Exaltation of the Holy Cross)

I was blessed to have had the opportunity to do a pilgrimage to the Holy Land last year with some friends.  The last day of the pilgrimage brought us to the site where our Lord was crucified and buried. The whole site is enclosed by a magnificent Church known now as the Church of the Sepulcher. I had a good exchange with our guide who informed me that the church was built through the wishes of St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine.  St. Helena had it built out of her joy because of the discovery of the Holy Cross on which Jesus was crucified.  For more information, I consulted Mr. Google and I was rewarded with the story surrounding the finding of the true cross in the early 300s.  This tradition is directly relevant to our celebration today, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.

Tradition has it, as told by St. John Chrysostom, that St. Helena had a burning pious desire to find the real cross of Christ.  So she did a pilgrimage to Palestine. In Jerusalem, she commissioned an excavation on the hill of Calvary.  The site of Jesus’ sepulcher had been buried by the heathens out of an aversion to Christianity. They had heaped upon his sepulcher a great quantity of rubbish and stones.  Hence, the excavation had to go deep.  The holy sepulcher was eventually discovered.  Nearby were three crosses, the nails, and the title which had been affixed to Jesus’ cross.

Which was the cross of Jesus? St. Macarius, then the bishop of Jerusalem, had an inspired idea. To determine which was the true cross of Jesus, he had all three crosses touched an ailing and dying woman as he prayed for God to reveal which cross was the one that saved the world. The two crosses had no effect on the woman.  The third, however, brought complete healing!  The cross of our Lord was finally found!  The good news of the discovery spread like wild fire; and, once again, Christians gathered to venerate it as had been done before.  Out of joy, St. Helena then commissioned a church to be built over the site.  On September 13, 335, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was consecrated. And the following day, September 14, was designated to be the celebration of the feast of the finding and exaltation of the Cross.  The basilica of the Holy Sepulcher had been destroyed and rebuilt over and over again.  Until today it is regarded by Christians as the holiest site on earth. 

Our liturgy has kept until today the celebration of the ancient feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.  This gives us the opportunity to continue to meditate on the meaning of the cross of Jesus in our Christian living. Allow me to reflect on two important points: The cross as the symbol of a love that saves and the cross as constant reminder of a way of life conformed to that of Jesus.

Symbol of a Love that Saves.  A thousand and hundreds of years before Jesus embraced his cross, already God had manifested his saving love for his people through Moses.  The first reading (Nm 21:4b-9) recounts the event of Israel’s liberation from Egypt. The difficult journey in the desert was to purify the Israelites’ self-centered inclinations. In this reading we see them grumbling and rebelling against God and Moses because of the inconveniences they had to undergo in the desert. They had easily forgotten God’s promises. The result of this sin was a plague of serpents that poisoned them to death. This consequence brought them back to their senses and humbled them so as to plead to be saved from the serpents.  Moses prayed; and as God instructed him, he made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole.  Anyone bitten recovered as he looked at the bronze serpent.

This event prefigured the ultimate salvation of all people from the poison of sin through Christ.  As today’s gospel (Jn 3:13-17) has it: “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (v. 14-15).  The Son of Man being lifted up points to the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. And this one sacrifice on the cross is a revelation of the depth, the width and the height of God’s love for his people. The cross of Jesus reminds us of God's act of love in Christ's sacrifice at Calvary, where he gave his life for us as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

When we look at the cross, we see the symbol of a love that saves. As we contemplate the cross, let us allow these words of the gospel to reverberate in our hearts: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him may not perish, but may have everlasting life” (v. 16).

Reminder of a Way of Life.  The cross is indeed a very significant symbol of Christianity. But it must not be reduced into ornaments that we place in our Churches, chapels, oratories, and rooms. The cross is not just a Christian accessory.  It is a Christian way of life.

In the second reading (Phil 2:6-10), St. Paul explains how Jesus emptied himself by becoming like us, human.  Jesus’ humility and obedience finds its ultimate expression in his acceptance of his death on the cross.  Somewhere else in the gospels, the Lord Jesus reminds his disciples thus:  "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mt 16:24).

Just as our Lord emptied himself, we have to take up our own crosses by our acts of self-denial. Just as our Lord humbled himself, we have to take up our own crosses by learning the virtue of humility. Just as our Lord manifested his obedience to the Father even to death on the cross, we are asked to take up our crosses by making the will of God our priority.

Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me (Mt 10:38). There is no Christianity without the cross then. St. Helena did everything in order to find the cross of Christ.  Our own search does not require digging into rubble and stones anymore. Maybe our invitation is really to have the courage to carry our crosses every day. It is to live out the meaning of the cross in our lives—humility, obedience to God, and self-sacrificing love. This is a way of life conformed to that of Jesus. This is the way of the cross.

The Joy in Mission (14th Sunday Ordinary C)

“New Evangelization” has, perhaps, become the catchword in Church circles over these past years when we have acknowledged this generation’s crisis of faith in many Christian countries due to the inroads of secularist and materialist way of thinking.  We recall during the Year of Faith (2012), we were exhorted by Pope Benedict XVI “to rediscover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the faith” [PF, no. 6]. We were invited to engage in the task of evangelization with renewed joy and enthusiasm.

In one of the anniversary celebrations of the Couples for Christ held in Manila I brushed elbows with thousands of lay people swarming the Quirino Grandstand to thank God for the blessings and fruits of their mission worldwide.  I met many of the lay leaders whose all-out commitment to the work of evangelization puts me to shame. And their sense of mission to spread the gospel to “the ends of the earth” is characterized by obvious and contagious joy and enthusiasm.  Deep inside me was a growing confidence that God is, indeed, listening to the prayer of His Church for more labourers in his Kingdom. This time, God is calling and sending more from the “rank” of the laity.

Era of the Laity. Today’s gospel (Lk 10:1-12, 17-20) recounts the appointment of the seventy two disciples whom the Lord sent for the mission of proclaiming the reign of God.  Clearly the Lord sees the need, apart from the twelve apostles, for more collaborators in the mission. The work of evangelization, if it is to make a dent in today’s crisis of faith among Christian countries, cannot remain an exclusive task of the ordained ministers. In the spirit of the 2^nd Vatican Council and ensuing papal exhortations, lay apostolate ought to flourish and be propelled to rejuvenate the life of the Church. The Church, dominantly controlled by the ordained ministers, has to pave the way for lay empowerment and participation in her mission.  It must be, for the ordained, a joy to behold that the lay who have been evangelized are now themselves effective and joyful evangelizers!

Clericalism, which assigns the sole authority over almost all the aspects of ecclesial life to the rank of the ordained and sees the role of the laity in terms of the submissive stance of “paying, praying and obeying,” has to become a thing of the past. The life and mission of the Church will be blessed with abundant fruits and great harvests as we empower the lay and send them as collaborators in the work of proclaiming the reign of God.

As we pray for more workers for God’s abundant harvest (v. 2), we implore for more vocations not only for the religious and priestly ministry. This prayer should also be an ardent appeal for more committed lay collaborators who, by their joyful witnessing of God’s love and mercy, proclaim to the world that God’s reign is at hand.

The Joy of Discipleship-in-mission.  So much for the difficult and hard demands of discipleship, today’s gospel points out the joy inherent in the fulfilment of the mission of a disciple. Discipleship, even if often described as costly, difficult, not-a-walk-in-the-park commitment, is nonetheless characterized by joy.  It is not a surprise, for instance, that the list of the ten happiest jobs (according to the General Social Survey by the National Organization for Research at the University of Chicago) is topped by the clergy and followed by other service-oriented professions.  Among these professions, the least worldly are reported to be the happiest of all. The happiness is observed to be directly proportionate to the ability and opportunity to be of service—a distinctive mark of Christian discipleship.

The gospel recounts that the seventy two returned rejoicing, and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name” (v. 17).

The meaning of discipleship does not rest only in the act of following and in the painful learning of the discipline and teachings. It finds its fulfillment in being sent. What brings so much joy and evokes enthusiasm is the dynamic life brought about by discipleship-in-mission.  A disciple who stays in one’s comfort zone may bask in one’s security but will eventually suffer emptiness. But the one who embraces the risk in giving himself/herself to the mission will find Christian life an exciting adventure.

There is joy in being sent by the Lord. This is the joy of participating in and witnessing firsthand the fulfillment of the reign of God in our midst. This is the joy of victory, as the Lord assures a missionary that, whenever the name of Jesus is proclaimed and embraced in faith, Satan “falls like lightning from the sky” (v. 18). This is the joy of belonging to God as ultimate reward, as Jesus promises that the names of the disciples sent are written in heaven (v. 20).

In today’s context of crisis of faith, where are we sent by the Lord that we may proclaim with joy and enthusiasm the beauty of our faith? In our parochial ministries and apostolate, can we move along the direction of a joyful and enthusiastic collaboration between the pastor and the lay?

The Miracle of Pentecost (Pentecost Sunday C)

When God closes a door, He opens up another.  Just as the ascension of our Lord practically put a closure to the mission of the historical Jesus, the Pentecost event opened up a new era—the era of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit, of course, has always been active in the life and work of Jesus; but the powerful event of Pentecost announces quite dramatically and distinctively the unique and empowering role of the Holy Spirit in elevating to a new level the same mission of Jesus Christ, this time, through the ministry of the Church.

Pentecost Sunday reminds us of two significant events that transpired as the work of the Holy Spirit: One is the “universalization” of the message of Jesus and, another is the launching of the Church on mission.

The Universalization of Jesus’ Message. Jesus lived and preached in a particular place and time. His message was necessarily couched in the symbolisms and literary styles of a particular culture. Needless to say, his message could have been meaningful only to the locality where he was situated. At Pentecost, however, the Holy Spirit universalized his otherwise localized message.  The power of the Holy Spirit overcame the “limits” of the human condition through which Jesus revealed his Father’s love.

Pentecost was originally one of the greatest feasts in Jewish calendar commemorating the giving of the Law of Moses in Mt. Sinai. Jews and foreigners coming from different countries did their pilgrimage to Jerusalem on this great feast.  So that on Pentecost day, as we have it in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11, the Spirit moved the apostles to proclaim “the mighty acts of God.”  They spoke in a foreign tongue; but to the astonishment of the hearers who were from different nations, they heard and understood the message in their own language!  As recounted in Acts:  “Full of amazement and wonder, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that we hear them in our own native language?” (Acts 2:7-8).

Such is the miracle of Pentecost.  Christ’s disciples were understood by people from different nations. Indeed, as promised by Jesus, we should not let our hearts be troubled. The Holy Spirit, sent by the Father as the Paraclete, brings understanding. The Holy Spirit sees to it that Jesus’ message will be understood by many.  The Good News is now actually preached to all the ends of the earth. The Good News of God’s love is for everyone regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status. Thanks to the Holy Spirit.

The Launching of the Church on Mission. The era of the Holy Spirit is also the era of the Church. Jesus Christ has passed on to his followers the baton of responsibility to preach the Good News to all peoples. Pentecost is the moment when the Holy Spirit gave birth to the Church. It is through this community of believers that repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed. The Church is on mission.

Pentecost Sunday reminds us that the Church’s being and mission is essentially dependent on the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that guides the Church to proclaim the truth of God’s love; it is the Holy Spirit that empowers her to forgive sins; it is the Holy Spirit that animates the Church with manifold gifts for various ministries. It is the Holy Spirit that draws together people of diverse cultures and it is the Holy Spirit that incorporates them into the one body of Christ.

Understanding the indispensable role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church brings a sigh of relief to pastoral agents facing great challenges in continuing the mission of the Church.  Pastoral work, after all, is not about the work of the pastor. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. Those who are working in the Church should not commit the mistake of believing that the Church’s work is their own personal project. If they do, they’ll be impoverishing the community, reducing the ministry to a pathetic display of their self-proclaimed expertise, oblivious of the manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit present in all the members of the community.

Today is Pentecost Sunday.  Let us pray for the miracle of Pentecost:  May the Holy Spirit once again embolden and inspire the Church  to preach the gospel of Christ with a renewed conviction and enthusiasm; and may through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Church proclaim effectively the grace of repentance and forgiveness of sins and welcome into her warm embrace those who enter the Holy Door of God's mercy. 

Through the Eyes of Mary (Easter Sunday ABC)

One beautiful expression of popular piety on Easter Sunday is the holding of the Encuentro.  It is held at early dawn to commemorate the meeting between Mary and her risen Son.  The image of Mary veiled in black symbolizing her sorrow is accompanied by the procession of women while the image of the Risen Christ is accompanied by men.  The meeting of the images is then dramatized to portray the joy that dispels the sorrow of Mary as she meets her risen son.  

This joyous encounter is not mentioned in the Gospels.  But for St. Ignatius of Loyola the meeting between Mary and the Risen Lord is considered to be common sense.   In his book, The Spiritual Exercises, one of the contemplations on the Resurrection deals with what for him would have been Jesus' very first appearance after rising from the dead.  Common sense tells us that such an appearance would have been to his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary who had been actively present in all of his life, from womb to tomb. Indeed, this might be the reason why Mary’s name is not mentioned in the list of women who went to the tomb on Easter dawn.  Mary had no need of visiting the tomb, for Jesus had appeared to her.

Easter joy through the eyes of Mary. During my 30-day Ignatian retreat, I did this contemplation and realized that the best way to experience the joy of Easter is to see the mystery of the resurrection through the eyes of Mary.  If there was one person who suffered most the excruciating pain of watching Jesus being humiliated and violently slaughtered on the cross,  it was certainly no other than his mother, Mary.  It is not difficult to see Mary’s heart to have been torn into pieces as she witnessed the passion and death of her son.  The darkness of Good Friday was most oppressive to Mary as a mother who watched his son died violently. Yet Mary had always been a woman of faith.  She had always kept everything about Jesus in her heart and pondered on them.  She had always believed that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled. Hence, while reeling from her deepest sorrow for Jesus’ death, Mary had been strengthened by hope and anticipation.  On Easter dawn, the sorrow of Mary turned into rejoicing and joy.  Any mother can empathize with this indescribable joy of embracing once again a son who had victoriously overcome death with a glorious eternal life.

In my own contemplation of the meeting between Mary and the Risen Lord, I shed a river of tears--tears of tremendous joy—and sang along with the rejoicing Mother: “Ang puso ko’y nagpupuri, nagpupuri sa Panginoon. Nagagalak ang aking espiritu sa ‘king tagapagligtas!” Indeed, as the psalmist chants, today we all rejoice, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad” (Ps 118). Alleluia!

As we participate in the Encuentro, we are invited to experience the joy of Easter through the eyes of Mary. Pray for the gift of that joy.  Unlike any fleeting ecstatic emotion, this gift of joy stays in our heart as disposition and shapes the way we live as followers of the Risen Christ.  This joy is to be our character as Easter people.  But how do we nurture this precious Easter gift of joy? Let me suggest three ways:

First, Sunday Renewal.  The Lord’s Day, the day of his resurrection, is our day of gathering as an Easter community.  Let this weekly anniversary enkindle the joy in our hearts as we celebrate the Eucharist. We are a community of witnesses.  According to Peter in our first reading (Acts 10: 34a, 37-43): “This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.” The Eucharist is a privilege event for us whom God has invited to be witnesses of the living Lord. We encounter the risen Lord as a community when we break bread in his memory.

Second, Heralding Forgiveness.  We are called not just to the joyful fellowship among us but also to reach out to those whose lives have been deprived of joy.  There’s just so much suffering around us because of sin and its unfortunate consequences.  Only forgiveness in the name of the risen Lord can overcome the power of sin.  Peter continued to speak in our first reading about our commissioning to testify about Jesus Christ. We are to be heralds of forgiveness in the name of Jesus. And experience tells us that one of our deepest joys is the experience of being forgiven and of having forgiven. Forgiveness sets us free from the chain of sin. Such is an Easter event.

Third, Cultivating Humor.  A sign of resurrection faith is humor.  Humor rests on the confidence that even if things do not seem to go well, everything will be alright. We do not have to control everything in life.  As Richard Gula puts it, “…humor is about perceiving discrepancies and incongruities in daily life, about embracing absurdities in human experience without granting them the last word. Humor enables us to let go of control and to sit more lightly on life by not taking ourselves too seriously.”  Our gift of Easter joy can be nurtured as we cultivate our sense humor, as we develop our capacity to laugh at our imperfections and even at our miseries for we know they do not define our destiny.

Mary of Magdala, Peter, and John saw the empty tomb of Jesus on Easter morning.  Later and gradually, they would understand its meaning.  The tomb is empty because the Lord lives! The risen Lord will soon appear to the disciples. On that Sunday morning though, the beloved Son had to console his sorrowing mother who had always been there for him. If we could only witness such a moving encounter, we would have a real taste of the tremendous and indescribable joy of Easter.  

Freedom and New Life (Lord’s Baptism C)

Christian Duguay's Golden Globe-nominated film, Human Trafficking, depicts the horrible world of sex slavery where abducted girls are reduced into sex commodities to be sold and resold over and over to insatiable patrons of this sex industry. The film unfolds the story of four girls who have been kidnapped from across the world and consigned into the hellish prison of international sex trade without hope of escape. Only a specialized team of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are determined to bring down the global network that sponsors such heinous crimes.

One of the four victims is Nadia, a 16-year old girl from Kiev.  She winds up in the brothel after signing up, without her father’s knowledge, for what she believed to be an opportunity for modelling.  Desperate to find her, Nadia’s father sets out to save her and risks his own life by joining the syndicate that runs the dangerous world of sex trade. He has no hope of saving her unless he enters the evil world of sex industry where she is held as a slave. In the end, the risk he has taken pays off. Nadia is reunited with his father.

What has this to do with the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism?  Allow me to spell out two things.  But already at the outset, we can maintain that the film’s motif of slavery and liberation lends itself to a deeper appreciation of our Lord’s baptism which has to be understood within the similar biblical motif of slavery of sin and the promise of salvation.

First point, the Saviour’s solidarity with the sinners. Was there a need for Jesus to be baptized by John? John’s baptism was a summons to repentance and conversion.  It was directed then to the sinners.  Jesus was everything like us except sin. Hence, as far as Jesus’ personal spiritual life was concerned, He did not need John’s baptism.

But why did He submit to John as recalled now by our gospel reading (Lk 3:15-16, 21-22)? Some biblical scholars suggest that Jesus’ submission to baptism is his act of fully identifying himself with the sinful people whom He is called to save.  His public calling as a saviour demands that He be in solidarity with those whom John has called to conversion.  Very similar to the decision of Nadia’s father to bravely enter the world of sex trade to save her, for only this, risky as it may be, gives a glimmer of hope for Nadia’s liberation.

The baptism of our Lord then marks Jesus’ resolve to embrace us even more in our sinful condition in order to save us. He enters our world of slavery that He may liberate us. No wonder that He finds time to laugh and dine with the sinners.  This commitment to be in solidarity with the sinful people culminates in his passion and death on the cross. He pays the price of our sins; and in his resurrection, wins for us our freedom, our new life, and our salvation.

This gives profound meaning to our own baptism.  When we are “immersed” into the water of baptism, we experience ritually our burial into Christ’s death, from which we rise up by resurrection with him, as new creatures (CCC 1214). Our baptism incorporates us into the death and resurrection of our Lord, hence, bringing about new life in Christ.

Nadia cannot help but weep for joy as she realizes her freedom, safety, and new life with her loving father who has risked everything for her.  On this feast of the Lord’s baptism, let us relish the freedom and new life that Jesus has won for us over the slavery of sin and death.

Second point, the Saviour’s true identity.  It’s too risky to plunge into the world of sin. One can easily lose oneself.  But Nadia’s father survives in the sneaky world of sex industry because He knows who he is.  During a raid in one of the brothels, he is cornered by a police officer to whom he appeals, “I am Nadia’s father. I must go and find her.” And he runs away to continue his search. 

Jesus needs to know his true identity as He decides, in his baptism, to be fully identified with the sinful people.  The gospel of Luke reports that after Jesus’ baptism and in his prayer, the Father’s assurance comes as a voice from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with whom I am well pleased” (Lk 3:22). This certainly gives Jesus a shot in the arm in fulfilling his mission. With clarity, He brings with him his true identity as he embarks into the sinful world of the people He is called to save. He is to walk not in the ways of sin but always in the ways that please God, His Father.

In our baptism, we become adopted sons and daughters of God in Christ. And this identity is indelible.  In this sinful world where we move and live, we need to be always reminded about who we really are, lest we easily lose ourselves.  We are the children of God.  Amid the growing Godlessness of our societies and cultures, do we have the conviction to stand as God’s children whose only resolve is to do what pleases the Father?

The world as it is now is beset with terrifying structures of sin.  One of these is the impenetrable structures of human trafficking and sex industry as an example. Lest we succumb to despair, let us allow the Feast of the Lord’s baptism to bring us hope—one that springs from our conviction that we have a God who journeys with us through the road of salvation  and that He calls us his children, hence, empowering us to create structures of grace where freedom and new life is celebrated.