May Araw Ka Rin! (6th Sunday Ordinary C)

Today's gospel has two inter-related elements: A message of hope for the poor and those who are suffering and a strong warning to the powerful who cause the miseries of the people.

The message of hope. “Blessed are the poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours!” This is today’s good news (Lk 6:17, 20-26). But many find this statement perplexing and contradictory. How can the poor be fortunate? How can the hungry be happy? How can those who are weeping be joyful? How can the hated, insulted, and persecuted rejoice?

How can we who are mired into different forms of misery known to this broken world truly find meaning? How can we be called blessed?

The contradiction ceases ONLY when we who are suffering acknowledge the power of the love of God. The loving God never leaves his suffering people orphan.

This is what Jesus announces in the gospel reading. He announces the message of hope to those whose lives have become seemingly hopeless because of injustices, persecution, exploitation and sheer powerlessness. He is saying, “Hold on. God is here. God reigns. God triumphs over sin and evil. The Kingdom of God is yours! Hence, your suffering will be reversed. Remember this. Do not despair!”

When we are right there in the heart of suffering, we, short-sighted and faithless as we are, tend to despair. We tend to loose grip of the beauty of life. And if the world such as what we have continues to build structures of suffering so much so that it makes sure that more and more people stumble and fall, how can we ever conceive of true happiness as a people?

We need to realize that we cannot stand alone. We cannot depend only on our human strength. In the darkest hour of the night, we have to believe that daylight awaits us. It may be fearful while we are there. But we need to hold on. May bukas pa. We have to cling to our faith in God who never abandons us even in his seeming absence. He is our strength. He is our hope. And God never fails those who hope in him!

The message of warning. I’m tempted to end this reflection here with this pleasant note. But the latter part of the Gospel reading, while not very pleasant, is equally significant. Jesus addresses too those who cause the suffering of people while they themselves enjoy the bounty of life, oftentimes at the expense of those who are suffering.

In Jesus’ time, the rich, the powerful, and the holy were so conceited to think that God was on their side which explained their bounty. Their self-righteousness systematically marginalized the poor from society and even exploited them. They looked down on the poor as sinners and deserving to suffer!

So, as the prophets before him has done, Jesus pronounces in the gospel today his denunciation of this kind of attitude. “Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep…” (v 25).

This is a precaution, a warning to those who maintain an I-don’t-care attitude to the suffering of God’s people and more so for those who are the cause of the pain and unhappiness of God’s children. The warning consists in the reversal of situation: Should the rich and powerful continue their insensitivity and abuses, they will end up in misery.

Jesus' message, hence, assures the poor of God’s love and bounty. They have all the reason to be hopeful. To them Jesus is saying, “may bukas pa.” But to the conceited and exploitative rich, he is expressing his stern warning that, should they not repent, “may araw ka rin!”

Lord, heal our land
Father, heal our land
Hear our cry and turn our nation back to You
Lord, heal our land
Hear us oh, Lord, and heal our land
Forgive our sin and heal our broken land

Man of Faith (5th Sunday Ordinary C)

Many have stood by their I-did-it-my-way philosophy in life. They have tried to appear to have lived “a life that’s full” solely relying on their own human capacity.  At the heart of their conviction is that man is self-sufficient; he is intelligent and free; he is capable of doing what he wants in life and giving meaning to it; he may struggle but he does not need help; asking for it, especially when kneeling, is weakness. With pride, he has to face the final curtain of life as he intones:

For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught;
To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels;
The record shows I took the blows and did it my way! (Sounds familiar, huh!)

Quite opposite to this self-made man’s confidence or perhaps, more appropriately, conceit, is the total wretchedness with which other people view life and human existence. There are those who see only the brokenness of man and live as such—miserable people. They see only human frailty, imperfections, sinfulness, defeat, and absurdity of life. So they make life miserable—thanks to alcohol and drugs, to their insecurities and self-pity, their anger and violence—not only for themselves but for people who care for them.

But still another way of approaching life is the way of the man of faith.  He shares some likeness with the first two in that he believes in his worth and dignity, on the one hand, and he acknowledges his imperfections and inadequacies on the other hand.  He is different from them though in that he opens his heart to the grace of God.  In his moments of inadequacies, he has the courage to bend his knees because he has no problem accepting he is weak. But precisely in this humility before God, he finds his strength to overcome not only his imperfections but even the most crushing of trials that the human spirit is made to endure.

All three readings of today’s liturgy herald the way of the man of faith by featuring three models: Isaiah, Paul, and Peter. 

In the first reading (Is 6:1-2a, 3-8), we hear of Isaiah’s calling. Isaiah acknowledges his unworthiness as he says, “Woe is me. I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips…” (v.5). Isaiah’s imperfection and sinfulness is identified with his lips since his is to be a preaching ministry. Yet the Lord purified his mouth; his wickedness is removed. So that, as the Lord asks who to send, Isaiah responded firmly, “Here I am, send me!”

Paul, in the second reading (1 Cor 15:1-11), testifies to the same enabling grace of God in his ministry.  He used to persecute the church of God due to his unenlightened religious convictions, yet he turned out to become the zealous preacher of the Kerygma, the good news of the saving death and resurrection of Christ. Here, Paul testifies that this dramatic change in his life is only made possible by the grace of God: “For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle… But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective” (v. 9-10).

Finally, Peter. In the gospel reading (Lk 5:1-11), Peter is humbled by the fact that he and his fellow fishermen had worked hard all night and had not caught anything; yet at Jesus’ command, Peter, probably going against the wisdom of his years of fishing experience, lowered their nets just the same. And to the astonishment of all, they caught so great a number of fish that their nets were tearing and their boats were in danger of sinking (v.  5-7)!

Peter, the expert fisherman, fell at the knees of Jesus as he exclaimed: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man” (v. 8). This is Peter’s realization of his inadequacy in front of the Lord. How consoling for us to be reminded of this humbling experience of the first pope of the Church of Christ.  And how reassuring that the Lord dispels every fear in our otherwise feeble commitment to take on his task as He says to Peter: “Fear not; from now on you will be catching men” (v. 10).

Isaiah, Paul, and Peter all illustrated for us the way of the man of faith and how we surely live life to the full when we allow the grace of God to work in us.

The man of faith does not have to prove to the world his greatness and strength. After having done everything that his life is meant to accomplish, he does not have to proclaim at the top of his lungs that he did it his way. Humility, which gives him deep serenity, is his path, not pride. He knows that conceit brings him false glory and honor. Of course, he believes in his giftedness—his intellect, freedom, abilities—and sees them as such, as gifts. Hence, the man of faith glorifies not himself but the Giver of every gift in his life.

Moreover, the man of faith acknowledges quite truthfully his inadequacies. He sees his brokenness, feels his unworthiness. But he needs not fear his weaknesses for they are the very occasion of God’s grace to work in his life. It is in the instance of his humble acceptance of weakness that God’s power makes him strong; God’s power shines mightily unhampered by the person’s foolish pride. The man of faith believes that despite his glaring imperfections, he is not destined to a miserable life; for he is called to a beautiful life, a meaningful life, a life with purpose and mission.

Clearly our invitation is to stop wasting our time exploring different ways of living our lives. No use living in either conceit or defeat. God invites us to live life in the way that brings out the best in us. God calls us to trudge the path of the man of faith.

In the Father's House (Santo Niño C)

This year's celebration of the Feast of Santo Niño brings hope to our communities as we journey
together through this holy year of the jubilee. As "Pilgrims of Hope," we are invited to carry on with both the spirit of joy and the courage to face the challenges of our time-- including the lingering effects of natural disasters due to climate change, the on-going battle against poverty , political uncertainty, and the impact of health crises. These struggles certainly weigh heavily on our hearts. But we should not be disheartened. In the face of these adversities, we are called to embody the childlike faith that Santo Niño represents, urging us to reflect on our journey as "pilgrims of hope" in the light of the gospel reading (Lk 2:41-52). We are invited to seek the Lord, to be in the Father's house, and to grow in faith. 

Seeking the Lord. In the Gospel, Mary and Joseph travel to Jerusalem for the Passover festival and realize that Jesus is missing. They searched diligently for three days before finding Him in the temple, engaging in deep discussions. This narrative emphasizes the importance of seeking the Lord, especially in times of uncertainty. If we do not have the Lord in our midst, it can be disconcerting. If the Lord is missing in our daily lives, in our family and community life, we can all end up fragmented. If the Lord is not in the consciousness of our political leaders, governance is all about their vested interest and nothing more. If the Lord is not seen in the sanctity of creation, we continue to abuse it. 

As pilgrims of hope, we must ask ourselves: How diligently do we seek the Lord? Our devotion to Santo Niño inspires us to pursue a deeper relationship with God, just as Mary and Joseph sought their Son. As we face all the challenges of our time, we are reminded that our true refuge lies in the Lord. Jesus is our anchor of hope amidst the storms and rough waves we are facing. Allow the devotion to the Santo Niño to encourage each one of us to turn to prayer, to seek God's guidance, and dwell in His presence amid our struggles.

Being in the Father's House. When Mary and Joseph find Jesus, He is in the temple, astonishing everyone with His wisdom. Jesus asks them, "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:49). This statement reveals that even as a child, Jesus understood His mission and purpose. To be in the Father's house means to be concerned about the Father's business.

As pilgrims, we journey towards the Father's house. This means that we are called to align our lives with God's business, His divine plan. For us now, being in the Father's house means living in accordance with our God-given purpose and mission, filled with hope. Our devotion to the Santo Niño invites us to discern God's will in our lives, to act in obedience, and to engage actively in the work of the Kingdom.

What is my mission in life? What does the Father send me for? This is an essential question for a meaningful life. May our journey here on earth lead to the house of the Father. And may we always  strive to be faithful stewards of our calling, embodying the obedience and commitment that the Santo Niño represents. 

Growing in Faith, Hope, and Love. The Gospel concludes with, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52). The child Jesus grew. This growth reminds us that our journey as pilgrims of hope is also one of continual growth in faith.  It invites us to consider our own faith journeys—growing not only in our personal needs but also expanding beyond ourselves to embrace a broader view of our calling as Christians.

Like the child Jesus, we are called to mature in our faith. In the early stages, our faith often centers on personal concerns—our needs, our struggles, and our desires. However, as we continue to grow, we are encouraged to shift our focus from self to service. This transformation leads us to a missionary faith that reaches out into the world, responding to the social challenges that beset our communities.

As we grow in faith, we may transform our personal struggles into motivations for service, extending our hands and hearts to those who face hardships. Our devotion to Santo Niño calls us to be active witnesses of hope, bridging the gap between our faith and the pressing social issues of our time. In doing so, we become true instruments of God's love in our communities, carrying forward the message of Santo Niño as servants of compassion and agents of change.

With so much hope in our hearts, we celebrate the Feast of Santo Niño today. Let us renew our commitment in our journey to seek the Lord, our anchor of hope, to be in the Father's house doing what He has commanded us to do, and to grow in faith, hope, and love as we all face the struggles of our communities. May our devotion to the Holy Child inspire us to be pilgrims of hope, transforming our struggles into stories of resilience and triumph.

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.

Gifts of the Magi (Epiphany C)

Christmas gift-giving in the early centuries was originally done on the Feast of Epiphany understandably on account of the Magi’s presentation of gifts to the infant Jesus as we hear in the Gospel reading today.  With our present practice though, all the exchanging of gifts have been done by now and what’s left probably are the piles and litters of gift wrappers and boxes in our rooms (or in my room particularly).

But we can still take this Feast of Epiphany as an opportunity to make sense of our experience of gift-giving on Christmas.  Is there still sense to it?

The Lettermen’s “What Can I Give You this Christmas?” is one of my favourite Christmas songs. Some lines stand out for me as meaningful:

What can I give you this Christmas?
Not a thing that I’ve seen will do
So I’ll give you my heart and my own true love
That will last the whole year through.

I resonate not so much with the Lettermen’s genre as with the song’s expression of the existential ache common to us all to give no less our heart when we love.  Love compels us to give. One cannot love without giving. Giving is an act of love. Gifts then are signs of love, symbols of our hearts.  Oftentimes, however, we find the Christmas exchange of gifts a mere routine for merry-making, an activity to fill in the Christmas parties we have organized.  So that after all the parties, the real gift-giving happens in a less conspicuous way when we approach the people we truly care for and hand them what represents our love for them or when we quietly reach out  in charity to those who are less fortunate.

In today’s gospel (Mt. 2:1-12), the wise men from the east inspire our practice of gift-giving.  After travelling far and wide in search of the Lord, the Magi, led by a brightly shining star, found the infant Jesus with Mary his mother. “They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then, they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (v. 11).

Again, gifts are symbols of love.  In this particular event, the gifts of the Magi highlighted the great irony in the history of salvation:  The pagan people, represented by the wise men from the east, had come to express their love to Jesus and to receive the Messiah while the chosen people of Israel who had been waiting for their promised saviour would eventually hate and reject him.

Gold is a gift befitting a king for gold stands as the king of metals. With this gift the Magi expressed their love and acceptance of Jesus as King. This was in stark contrast to the evil intent of Herod, Israel’s King, against the child whom he saw as threat to his kingship. The frankincense, moreover, is high quality incense, the aroma and smoke of which goes up heavenward and exudes divinity.  With this gift, the magi expressed their love and worship of Jesus as God.  The God of Israel became then the God of all nations.  The third gift, myrrh, is used as a perfume in the preparation of the dead for burial. This gift foreshadowed the passion and death of our Lord as human being. With this gift, the magi expressed their love and acceptance of the humanity of Jesus and his obedience unto death.

On this Feast of Epiphany then, we may do well to pose some reflective questions pertaining to our experience of gift-giving this Christmas:

What gift did I receive that I am most grateful for? Right now my place is still in shambles as I come back from Christmas break.  As I start to get rid of the litters of gift wrappers, ribbons, boxes and what not, I realize it is not for a particular gift which has come with the wrappings that I am most thankful.  It is the gift of friendship, of love and of family that has made the Christmas season not just merry but truly happy for me. For others, there may be some outstanding gifts that they can easily be grateful for.  In whatever case, this Feast of Epiphany invites us to relish our sense of gratitude and just be thankful.

What gift have I given that bears the sign of my heart? How have I given this Christmas? Have I given with love? Have I reached out to those who are in need? Our honest answer to this will allow us either to appreciate our own capacity to share and to be selfless or to be aware of our tendency to be close to ourselves and to our own needs.  Let Epiphany be a manifestation for us of our own capacity to give love or our need to grow more in it.

What gift have I given to Jesus who is the be-all-and-end-all of this season? Despite the widespread annual celebration of Christmas, our societies have given way to secularism. God and His precepts have been increasingly brushed aside from public affairs. There is even talk of renaming the Christmas tree into holiday tree to avoid the religious connotation of Christmas! While the present day Herods reject God, can we continue to stand by Jesus as our King, worship Him as our God, love Him and suffer with Him as one among us?

We may have crooned and belted out Christmas songs this season including my favorite, promising to give even our hearts as gift, but the real challenge is that on this Feast of the Epiphany we are called to offer to the Lord once more the gifts of the Magi.