God's Blessing (2nd Sunday Lent A)

(grabbed from filipinofunfacts.wordpress.com)

One distinctly Filipino cultural practice that is really close to my heart is the “Mano po” tradition. The gesture is performed as a sign of respect to elders and as a way of asking the elders’ blessing. Similar to hand-kissing, the person asking the blessing bows towards the offered hand of the elder and presses his or her forehead on the hand as the elder gives his blessing by saying, “God bless you.” I have enjoyed doing this as a child and still does to my superiors. As a priest, one of my little joys is when children run to me, often after mass, to get my hand that they may have my blessing. It makes me deeply happy to bless each of them, to wish them, as they grow, a life filled with the grace of God and away from the curse of sin.

I hope every Filipino family continues to practice this beautiful tradition. This allows us to participate in God’s desire to bless all of his children. Today’s readings reveal to us the heart of God who only wants to bless all of us; the readings too offer us the opportunity to see God’s blessing both as a gift and a task. How do we attain the blessing of God? Can we be a blessing to others?

God’s blessing as a gift. The blessing of God is freely offered to us. In the history of this fallen world, we have known only of sin and its curse. But God cannot allow us to remain in the darkness and slavery of sin. He has reached out to us starting with the covenant with his chosen people, Israel, from whom the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, will come.

Hence, the first reading (Gn 12:1-4a) recounts the call of Abraham, the beginning of God’s covenant. In this reading, God commands Abraham to leave his homeland and go where the Lord leads him. God explains his plan:  "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you... All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you."

In the second reading (2 Tm 1: 8b-10), we have the fulfillment of the blessing promised to Abraham.  St. Paul recognizes the great blessing of salvation and the vocation to holiness as a favor given to us through Christ. This favor is pure gift. St. Paul explains that it is not by our works that we merited God’s blessing of new life.  God offered it as a gift. Christ obtained it for us.

Gratitude, then, must be our constant disposition as we live out the blessing of new life in Christ. Am I grateful for my blessings--meaningful life, abundance, fulfillment and happiness, wisdom, maturity, loving relationships, family?

God’s blessing as a task.  While the blessing of God is a gift, freely offered to us and obtained for us by Christ, today’s readings remind us that it is also a task.  First, this means a blessed life is a journey marked by obedience to the commands of God.  We are assured of the gift of God’s blessing when we follow God’s commands because his commandments are the pathways to blessedness.  Disobedience has led humanity to the slavery of sin and the insecurity of death; only the love of God can take away the curse of sin. Abraham was blessed and his descendants through him because he trusted and obeyed God’s command for him to set off to a land which God would show him. Jesus Christ won for all of humanity and creation the ultimate blessing of salvation and life because he has undone Adam’s disobedience by his own obedience to the Father even to the cross and unto death.

In today’s gospel reading (Mt 17: 1-9), Jesus is transfigured before Peter, James, and John.  In this vision, the voice of the Father is heard saying: “This is my beloved Son, on whom my favor rests; listen to him.” Jesus, the beloved Son, is our way to a truly blessed life; hence, the Father reminds us to listen to him.

Our generation needs this reminder. We have turned into an arrogant people who listen only to our own whims and caprices. We don’t want to obey. We assert what we want.  We need to realize that this arrogance is leading us to destruction. We need to rediscover our trust in God’s commandments which lead us to a blessed life. We need to be reminded to listen to Jesus.

Becoming a blessing to others. The second meaning of God’s blessing being a task is the invitation to become God’s instrument of blessing to others.  Not only did Abraham receive the blessing of God, he was designated to be a blessing to “all the communities of the earth.”  Jesus is identified as the favored Son of God that He may bring salvation to all.

We cannot have the gift of God’s blessing and be selfish.  When we are blessed, we are invited, too, to share the blessing to others. To be a blessing to others can be demanding. This can mean moving out of our comfort zones as Abraham left behind his homeland to a yet unknown destination set by God. This can mean self-denial and self-giving like what Jesus had done for us. This can mean what St. Paul has written to Timothy to “bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God” (2 Tm 1: 8). We can be a blessing to others as we selflessly do the works of mercy.

The Filipino practice of pagmamano is beautiful because it invites the parents and elders to participate in God’s desire to bless his children.  We can all impart blessing to one another. We can be a blessing to others.

Lent is a season of blessing. Let us heed these three invitations as we continue our journey into this grace-filled season: Be grateful for God’s blessing; seek always the will of God by listening to Jesus in humble obedience; be a blessing to others by your self-denial and self-giving. God bless us all!

Sin and Grace (1st Sunday Lent A)

Satan summoned three demons to be sent for a mission with this instruction: "Go to the ends of the earth and deceive as many people as you possibly can, causing them to be lost.”  Before they set off Satan asked them about their plans.  The first demon stepped forward and said, "I’ll tell them there is no God."  Satan disagreed saying, "That would work on a few people, but most wouldn't buy it. There is too much evidence that a Creator God exists.” The second demon confidently laid out his plan: "I will teach everybody that there is no hell." Satan just laughed. "No, that would not work either. People know better than that! They have clear concepts of punishment.”  The third demon rose and said, "I will tell them that there is no sin, they can relax, enjoy and do whatever they feel like doing.” Satan said, "Hmm… I like that. Many people would like that. Go then and deceive them!” 

Our contemporary societies are increasingly losing the sense of sin. What used to be clearly evil and immoral can now become normative and even claimed as rights. People demand respect for doing what feels good and true to them ignoring objective norms that have guided societies for centuries.  The individual person becomes now the reference of what is good and true as manifested in this assertion, “My mind, my body, my choice!”

The season of Lent is a grace-filled opportunity for all of us to face this moral crisis squarely and see the realities of our lives through the perspective of our faith. The light of faith can expose the deception of the evil one just as Christ laid bare the emptiness of Satan’s lure in the desert.

As we enter the first week of Lent, our liturgical readings right away reminds us about what people of today seem to deny—the reality of sin. Yet these same readings point us more importantly to God’s grace overcoming sin and its effect in and through Christ.

The first reading (Gn 2:7-9, 3:1-7), by way of the story of the fall of Adam and Eve, reminds us that sin is a reality.  It is not part of God’s design but finds its source in the human’s disobedience to God. For St. Paul, in the second reading (Rom 5:12-19), the sin of the first parents has become a universal condition which has brought death to all. “Through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all inasmuch as all sinned” (v. 13).

We need not deny, then, the reality of sin. It has entered the world and has become like an ambience around us which our weakened will ratifies by our personal sinfulness. But the season of Lent does not stop at this reminder of the reality of sin. This season is not just about our sinfulness. It is more about our need for forgiveness and the liberating truth of our redemption through Christ.  As St. Paul continues to say, “For if, by the transgression of one person, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one person Jesus Christ” (v. 17).

Hence, we enter the season of Lent with humility.  We enter with the awareness of being sinners in need of God’s love and mercy.  We enter with hope. And that hope is offered by Jesus Christ.

In the gospel reading (Mt 4:1-11), we find our hope of overcoming the temptation of sin through Christ who has overcome it.  Three lessons we can discern from the narrative of Christ’s temptation:

Proper Ordering of our Values.  We must always value God’s will over and above the natural demands of our physical and sensual appetite. The world insists to “obey your thirst.” Satan tempts Jesus in the gospel reading to “gratify his hunger” by turning stones to bread. Both are invitation to live according to the natural desire of the flesh.  Jesus points out that there is a higher invitation to live a life in the spirit whose source is not the bread but the will of God.  To overcome the temptation of sin, we have to put order to our values. When God is always our top priority, nothing can go wrong.

Acting with Responsibility.  This means doing things with good reasons. Satan tempts Jesus to jump off the cliff. What for? What is good in jumping off the cliff? Nothing.  Perhaps, for the heck of it or just to show off.  This is akin to the just-do-it advertisement.  Jesus, of course, does not jump for there is no good reason to do it. We cannot live by the popular slogan, “Just do it.” We have to live and do things with purpose. To overcome the temptation of sin, we have to act always with responsibility.

Not Justifying Evil Means to a Good End. Just like my reminder to my students during exams: Do not cheat in order to earn more points; it’s not worth it. Jesus, in the gospel reading, is tempted by the devil to possess all the kingdoms of the world by worshiping the devil.  What an empty proposal!  Many times we are tempted to justify evil means to achieve something good.  For instance, we want a good life for our family but we engage in dishonesty and corruption in order to achieve it. The Lord is reminding us not to succumb to this temptation for we will end up with nothing. Never justify evil means to a good end and you’ll be doing fine.

Again, we enter the season of Lent with humility. We are sinners. We participate in the sinful condition of the world.  But, at the same time, we enter this season with hope because we also possess the grace of Christ. And his grace is far more encompassing and penetrating than sin. This season invites us to cooperate more intimately with the grace of Christ who restores whatever sin has destroyed.

What’s in Your Heart? (6th Sunday Ordinary A)

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” St. Teresa of Calcutta, in saying this, was giving us the key to the potential greatness of our human endeavor whatever that is.  The key lies in the interior disposition of the heart. When the heart is totally involved in what you do, no matter what it is, how important or insignificant it is, it naturally acquires meaning.  One of the saddest human predicaments is when one finds his life given to things without one’s heart in them. It is sad as it is meaningless.

The heart is important in whatever we do.  External gestures and actions may be impeccably correct and meticulously perfected but without the heart they are but mechanical or even morally hypocritical. Jesus is sensitively aware of this fact.  His recurring criticism of the scribes and Pharisees is directed towards their splendid following of the letter of the law (the Torah) while missing out on the crucially important interior disposition of a heart that truly loves God.  Jesus sees the bottom line of such form of righteousness:  There may be an admirable external appearance of love of God but beneath what meets the eye is a damning emptiness or, most probably, self-love.

Hence, in today’s gospel (Mt 5:17-37), we hear once again Jesus’ warning:  “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (v. 20).    

Christ looks to the heart. The different lessons that he teaches in the gospel reading are all pointing to the essential place of the heart in Christian morality. Certainly, our exterior behavior must follow God's will. But Jesus is trying to tell us that exterior behavior and appearances are not enough. To truly fulfill the law, the interior motives and the desires of the heart must first be in harmony with what God wills.

It is therefore crucial that as followers of Christ we make sure that our hearts beat for God.  It is important, as Jesus points out, that we safeguard our hearts from corruption.  Jesus identifies in the gospel reading three interior dispositions of which our hearts need to be purified: anger, lust, and dishonesty.

Anger.  The law of Moses clearly forbids killing; and violation to this commandment deserves judgment. But Jesus looks to the heart and warns us of the first instance of the desire for murder—anger:  “But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.”  Jesus is telling us not to allow anger to consume our hearts and to destroy our relationship with our brothers and sisters in the faith.  Instead of harboring grudges in our hearts, Jesus teaches us to desire and seek reconciliation so that before we offer gifts to the altar, we make it a point that we first settle peaceably with anyone whom we had some form of conflict.  

Lust.  The law commands thus, “You shall not commit adultery.” Again Jesus perfects the law by looking into our hearts and warning us of lust as the first instance of adultery: “But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Lust destroys our love and respect for others as we begin to desire in our hearts to use them as objects of our pleasure and self-indulgence. Jesus commands us to do what is necessary to avoid succumbing into this temptation as he instructs, “Cut your eyes off if this lead you to sin…” Instead of allowing lust to corrupt our hearts, our invitation is to exercise the virtue of purity of mind and heart and cultivate fidelity in marriage in order to strengthen all the more its unbreakable bond which is presently being challenged by a growing divorce mentality.

Dishonesty.  The law forbids taking a false oath.  Some Jews of Jesus' time had developed the habit of swearing oaths in the name of God if they meant to keep them, and swearing on something else if they meant to break them. Jesus again looks to the heart and warns us of dishonesty.  Jesus instructs us not to swear at all but to be truthful with what we say: Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Simple but clear. In our present social context of rampant corruption, our challenge is to be credible witnesses of truth and models of integrity.

Again, in whatever we do, the interior disposition of the heart matters most. It is incumbent in us then as disciples of Christ to always purify our hearts of sinful desires and malicious motives. Let us beg the grace of God always to fill our hearts with nothing but love of Him. With love in our hearts, we can surpass the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. We may be incapable of doing grandiose things but we can certainly do small things but with great meaning.