Jesus, the Way (5th Sunday Easter A)

In the film Blood Diamond, Solomon Vandy, a fisherman, is captured by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels when they invade their small village. Separated from his family, Solomon is forced to work in the diamond fields.  He becomes a very significant character in the story when he finds a large diamond of rare pink coloring in the RUF diamond fields. He hides it in the field just as the government troops launch an attack. He is captured along with the captain of the rebels and taken to prison. In jail, the Captain, who has seen Solomon hide the precious diamond, rants about the hidden treasure and is overheard by Archer, a diamond smuggler who is in deep trouble. Archer becomes desperate to hunt down the stone for it can mean his redemption.  But he has not the slightest idea where the stone is. There is only one way to find the large hidden diamond: Solomon.  He is the only way. So he arranges for Solomon's release from prison and offers to help him find his family in exchange for the diamond. Then they set out on an arduous overnight trek back to the mining camp. And all along Archer cannot do anything but follow the lead of Solomon for he is the only way to the precious diamond, his redemption.

In the Gospel reading of today (Jn 14:1-12), Jesus is like Solomon who alone knows where the treasure is.  Jesus says to us, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (v. 6).  This gospel reading from John is a portion of the Farewell Discourse at the Last Supper. Jesus addresses the concerns of his disciples as He announces to them his departure, that is, his death. But in the liturgical context of the Easter Season, our gospel today, as well as the first and second readings, is an invitation for us to reflect on the eventual 'departure' of Jesus in the 'Ascension' and the future of his disciples as Easter people. What are we to do after his departure?  

Trusting and Following the Way.  The departure of someone very significant to us can be very unsettling. It can leave us insecure and afraid for what is to come. Jesus addresses this anxiety by these reassuring words:  “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” These words are clearly an invitation to trust in God as Jesus indeed continues: “Trust in God still, and trust in me” (v. 1).  Trusting in God means facing the realities of our life as Easter people believing that whatever happens, God will not allow us to crumble and be crushed. Trusting is giving our best and allowing God to take care of the rest.  

We are not to worry a lot too because we know our way to the Father. Jesus has shown us the way. He is the way to the Father because He is in himself the truth, i.e. the revelation of the Father, and the life, i.e. the full knowledge of the Father, and gives the life of the Father to those who come to him.

Our earthly existence is always characterized by a restless search for what is true and meaningful. It is a journey towards the fulfillment of our destiny. In this search for truth and this journey we call life, we need Jesus. Jesus is our way. In the midst of this arduous trek, which is filled with so much difficulties, sufferings, discouragements, and stress, we just have to follow Jesus.  Without Him, we do not have the slightest idea where we are heading to.

In short, we are taught by Jesus what living the Christian life is really all about-- it is living with Jesus in faith. It is to make the Truth and the Life - the Father Himself - really ours by following Jesus who is the Way.

Growing in Identity and Ministry as a People. As the Easter season progresses, our attention is drawn beyond the intimate encounters with the Risen Jesus to the activity and organizational growth of the early Christians. In the first reading (Acts 6:1-7), we see the early Christian community effectively addressing the changing needs of a growing community by expanding its leadership structure adding specialized ministries to that of the Twelve. The community chose seven reputable men filled with wisdom and the Holy Spirit and the Apostles prayed over them for a special Church ministry. The seven chosen ones would 'serve at table' and handle the charitable works especially for the Greek-speaking Jews who were complaining that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of goods.  Many say this is the beginning of the ministry of the diaconate in the Church.

We see here, therefore, the growth in the way the community in Jerusalem would serve one another while giving priority to the Apostles’ main mission of spreading the Word of God.  Also, we see here the gradual shaping of the spiritual edifice which the second reading from the 1st Letter of Peter 2:4-9 speaks of. Here, Peter depicts our identity as Easter people and encourages us to be aware of our responsibility as 'living stones,' with Christ as cornerstone, to form a 'spiritual building.' The rich images that we hear in this reading present our dignity as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own” who announces his praises.

It means that through our sacrament of Baptism, like the Israelite people of old, we become a holy nation, a people set apart. We become God’s own people called to proclaim the mighty acts of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.

We are an Easter people. As such, we face the realities and challenges of our personal and communal lives with fundamental trust in God’s victory. We need not allow our hearts to be troubled, for, as an Easter people, we have known the Way to the Father. With the Risen Lord as our companion in our search and journey in life, we will never be lost for He is our way. The trek may be arduous and dark but the Lord leads us by the hand. We only need to cling to him and never ever let go when the journey gets rough and tough.

Besides, we journey as a people, the people of God, or as the spiritual edifice whose cornerstone is Jesus.  How can we ever be lost? With all these assurances of our belonging to Jesus—the Way, the Truth, and the Life—how can our hearts ever be troubled?

The Good Shepherd (4th Sunday Easter C)

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday.  Our gospel reading (Jn 10:27-30) describes our relationship with Jesus in terms of a mutual intimate personal knowledge between the sheep and the Good Shepherd: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (v. 27).

There is a certain Amazonian tribe which has baffled researchers and anthropologists because of its unique trait—the members of the tribe don’t know how to count, neither can they learn it after being taught. They simply do not have the concept of numbers or numerals.  Intrigued by this information, a curious tourist once put this fact to a test by asking a member of the tribe who was tending his flock how many sheep he was taking care of. The shepherd just smiled, perplexed by the question; he couldn’t answer how many. The tourist continued asking: “If you cannot count your sheep, then how would you know that a sheep is lost?” The shepherd smiled again but this time he had an answer: “I just know because I know each of my sheep uniquely.  When the sheep with the thickest fur, for instance, is not around, I worry; I go and look for it.”

Sometimes when we are good at numbers, it is easier to deal with people as numerical data or as statistical variable.  And we stop right there and fail to have a personal knowledge of the people and hence, understanding of what they are going through in their lives.  

On the part of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, He knows his sheep beyond statistics, beyond the numerical description as “the 99 and the lost one.”   He knows his sheep even deeper than their external realities. He knows their hearts; he knows their joys and sorrows, their hopes and anxieties. Such knowledge is intimate and personal, one that inevitably forges a strong bond of love and loyalty. He knows us intimately because, as the Psalmist proclaims, “He made us, we belong to him, we are his people, the sheep of his flock” (Ps 99: 3). 

Only this depth of personal knowledge elicits on the part of the leader a totally selfless commitment for the well-being of the followers. So we hear Jesus declare, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand” (v. 28).

What a consoling statement from a leader! Jesus, the Good Shepherd gives us life. He takes care of us. He protects us. He does not allow anyone to snatch us from him. As the book of Isaiah has it: “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care” (Is 40:11).

Have I experienced the Lord as the Good Shepherd who knows me uniquely, loves me and takes care of me, making sure that nothing takes me out of his hand?

On our part, to be Jesus’ sheep to whom He offers life, we need to know his voice and follow him.  Knowing Jesus, the Good Shepherd, means hearing his voice in the depths of our conscience. It means recognizing His guiding and enabling presence in our daily lives, making his voice alive as we read and meditate on His words in the Scripture. It also means listening to him through the teachings of his Church. When we do this, when we truly listen to the voice of the Lord and follow him, we experience just what the Lord, the Good Shepherd, desires for us—life, a beautiful life, a blessed life, even eternal life.

But there are times we insist on doing things our own way.  We ignore the Lord and his voice by our decisions and lifestyle that are contrary to his precepts.  These acts of freely ignoring the voice of the Shepherd may eventually lead us to our own suffering and brokenness.  Time and again, we hear real stories of people in pain. Many times their stories end with a painful question directed towards God: “Where are you? Why do you make me suffer? Don’t you truly love me and care for me?”  

We tend to blame others and God for the consequences of our foolishness and hardness of heart. Our gospel today reminds us that God is always faithful to his goodness, to his loving nature, to his desire to bless us and protect us because He is the Good Shepherd.  He knows each of us uniquely and cares for us for we belong to Him. He is always true and faithful to the covenant, to our loving relationship with him. But He does not coerce us to follow him.  He invites. We need to hear his voice and follow him freely. Like Him, we have to be faithful.

Do I listen to the voice of the Shepherd and allow Him to be my guide in life? Were there times when I ignored Him and went my own way? Have I ever blamed the Lord for the misfortunes I brought to myself?

On this Good Shepherd Sunday, we thank the Lord for loving us in a personal and intimate way and for caring for us as a shepherd tends his sheep.  The Lord is the Good Shepherd who desires that we may have life.  

All we need to do is to be faithful to Him, always listening to His voice that we may follow Him to where He leads us—the pasture where we find fullness of life.

Do You Love Me? (3rd Sunday Easter C)

Have you been seriously asked this question: “Do you love me?” When you are aware of the full implication of the commitment to love, this question is truly a daunting one.  Many find it a lot easier to be non-committal by responding, “perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.”

When I was making up my mind about getting ordained as a priest, I had to grapple with this question. And of course the question, in my particular context, is thrown by God.  I had to face the Lord in my prayer and give my courageous answer.  After all, the authenticity of following the Lord essentially rests on the love that binds one with him.  Today’s gospel episode (Jn 21:1-19) helped me arrive at a decisive affirmation of my vocation. Allow me to share my personal insights that emboldened me to say yes.  Two related insights: First, with the Risen Lord, there’s life; without Him, there’s emptiness.  Second, the Risen Lord fills up the abyss of our inadequacy in loving him.

A Life of Bounty.  Any sane person desires to live a bountiful life—a fruitful and meaningful life. We are all in search of this life. The gospel today reveals to us the secret path to such a life: It is only with the Lord’s direction that one can truly attain a fruitful life.

The gospel begins with the scene where Peter and those with him decided to go fishing— actually to go back to fishing, a life they had already left behind when they followed the Lord. Fishing was their expertise; they were good at that.  But that night, the whole night, they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, the Risen Lord was standing on the shore and directed them to cast their net over the right side of the boat. “So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish” (v. 6).

This incident reminds all of Jesus’ disciples, starting from Peter himself, that we cannot boast of our expertise, skills, talents and know-how. These do not guarantee that we can be truly fruitful in what we do in life. A “large catch,” a bountiful and meaningful life, can be achieved only when we humbly submit our expertise to the Lord’s directions.  Apart from Him our abilities may be disoriented, our life fruitless.

I met a businessman, for instance, in Makati. Despite his seeming success in his trade, he admitted of his emptiness. Not only that, his intoxication with his success was leading him to destroy his family! His own brand of success gave him more occasions to cheat his wife and robbed him of his time to be with his children. Fortunately, before he totally destroyed what really mattered in his life he came to his senses: He could not continue to do it his own way lest he would certainly lose everything. 

Sometimes, it is good to hit the rock bottom of our folly because it shakes off our arrogance. And only in that posture of humility that we can listen to God’s directions and eventually enjoy a truly blessed bountiful life.

Do I allow the Risen Lord to give directions to my life? Or do I stubbornly and arrogantly insist on doing things my old way even after the Lord has shown me the way? 

Do You Love Me? Anyone who wants to follow the Lord has to face this question squarely. This is the question I had to face myself. Do I love the Lord enough to be his ordained priest? Do I love the Lord more than I love myself? More than I love the significant persons in life? More than his created things?

An honest evaluation of ourselves will most likely render us incapable of giving a categorical yes. We love the Lord, but we know full well that our human heart is fickle, forgetful, unfaithful, and many times coward. While it is a total dishonesty to say no, to say yes seems to be a form of arrogance.

Towards the end of today’s gospel episode, Jesus confronts Peter with this hard question: “Do you love me more than these?” Peter has to answer this three times! The same number of times he has denied the Lord just before the crucifixion! What a grilling moment this is for Peter! But this is a moment of grace too. The triple question of the Master is to allow Peter to undo his triple denial with a triple profession of love. Such is the Lord’s graciousness.

Peter’s profession of love is no longer arrogant. There is so much humility in his answer when he says “Yes Lord; YOU KNOW that I love you.” I love you as you know me and my imperfect heart.

I find so much consolation in this realization that the Lord knows our heart. He knows its inadequacies in loving him. Yet He finds ways for us to come to terms with every moment of our imperfection in loving him. He fills up the abyss of our inadequacy to love. Simply put, He enables our incompetent heart to love him!

It is this love—a graced love-- that any follower of Jesus will have to carry with him/her in the journey towards the path of discipleship.  “Feed my sheep” is Jesus’ charge to anyone who braves to embrace the challenge of loving him.

On this third Sunday of Easter, we are invited by the Lord to answer bravely but with humility his question, “Do you love me?” We may be well aware of our inadequacies in loving the Lord. This serves us well because it humbles us. But let us be equally aware of God’s enabling grace allowing us to love him. Like Peter may we then say, “Yes Lord; YOU KNOW that I love you.”  As we fulfill our charge to serve in whatever capacity we are called to, let God’s directions always be our cue; then, trust that we are in for a great catch.

Ocean of Mercy (Divine Mercy Sunday ABC)

I was walking leisurely along the beautiful stretch of the shore of Boracay, when my attention was caught by a jolly teenage boy masterfully working on the fine white sand building his awesome castle.  As he completed it, he allowed tourists to pose and take pictures with it as background.  Some were so pleased that they even tipped him.  I walked farther along the shore as the red sun was retiring hesitatingly behind the horizon; something within me nudged me to make my own castle.  Yes, I fumbled at first but built my sand castle anyhow. But no sooner had I completed my masterpiece than the ocean mockingly wiped it out!  Just like that. No pictures. No tourist tips for me.

But I experienced consolation.  As I looked at the great ocean reflecting the beautiful colors of the setting sun, it reminded me of the vast mercy of God capable of wiping out my ambitious but feeble castle of sins.

On Good Friday, the sinful world mocked Jesus who died on the cross; but on Easter morning, Jesus victoriously rose from the dead conquering the destructive power of sin. Henceforth, sin has fallen and remained as such—a pretentious castle made of sand. As often as it is built and rebuilt, the ocean of God’s mercy is there to wipe it out. Alleluia!

Today, the second Sunday of Easter is the Divine Mercy Sunday, a special day to rejoice because of the assurance of the infinite mercy of God for us who are sinners but who long for salvation. Pope John Paul II pronounced the second Sunday of Easter as the Divine Mercy Sunday on April 30, 2000 during the ceremony of the canonization of St. Mary Faustina Kowalska, the Polish nun who had received from Christ the revelations of the Divine Mercy in the early years of the twentieth century. One of Christ’s requests through these revelations was the reservation of the second Sunday of Easter for the entire Church to honor and commemorate God's infinite mercy.  Pope John Paul II fulfilled the request.

Hence, today, we discern in the gospel reading (Jn 20: 19-31) the revelation of the mercy of God as the Risen Lord confronted his fearful disciples.  Jesus appeared to his disciples who were hiding in a locked room out of fear. He appeared to them not to reproach them of their cowardly act of denying and abandoning him as He suffered in Calvary.  No. He passed through the locked doors and through their fears and guilt in order to bring peace into their troubled hearts. “Peace be with you!” And indeed their fears turned into rejoicing.

More significantly, the Risen Lord appeared to them to give them the power to bring into this sinful world the mercy of God: “’Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’  And when he has said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained’” (v.21-23).

This is the explicit institution of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In this sacrament we experience the mercy of God.  By this sacrament, the Church fulfills the mission for which she is sent—to proclaim to the world that the limitless ocean of God's mercy overcomes the pretentious sand castles of our sins. 

Hence, today we rejoice because of this assurance. But how can we partake of this tremendous gift of God’s mercy? Let us explore three things we can do to make the Divine Mercy truly integral to our Christian living:

Acknowledging our utter need for God’s mercy.  We have to be humble to accept that we are sinners. And we should be horrified that we are in sin and that we cannot save ourselves from its slavery.  We need God’s mercy to set us free. Our greatest tragedy, and this is already a plague in our contemporary society, is when we live in sin and are no longer disturbed by it. It is then very helpful that we examine our conscience regularly so that we may not be blind to the persistent influence of sin in our lives and that we may humbly acknowledge our utter need for God’s forgiveness.

Trusting in the mercy of God. The ocean of God’s mercy has been made available by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Risen Lord has entrusted to the Church the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation through which we experience the joy of being forgiven.  Here is what Jesus told St. Faustina about confession: When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy (Diary, 1602). As sinners, let us surrender to the merciful arms of our Lord as we pray in our hearts: “Jesus, I trust in you.”

Becoming merciful.  One of the many things Jesus demanded from St. Faustina is this: "I demand from you deeds of mercy... You are to show deeds of mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere." As we experience the mercy of God in our lives, we are invited to share to others that same mercy. Let us allow the ocean of God’s mercy to be channeled through us.  Mercy is Christianity’s distinctive virtue. To be a Christian is to be merciful. This means to be forgiving to those who are indebted to us in whatever way and to be kind and loving especially to those who cannot return the favor because of misery and poverty.

Through the death and resurrection of our Lord, the ocean of God’s mercy opened up for the whole world. This Sunday invites us to celebrate with joy the gift of God’s infinite mercy. Let us surrender to the Lord our sinfulness and that of the whole world and completely trust in his mercy as we pray: “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” Amen.

Empty Tomb (Easter Sunday ABC)

On the 26th of February, year 2010, the last Jesuit missionary who left the Prelature of Ipil (in the Province of Zamboanga Sibugay) after serving for 43 years in building up the Christian communities, passed away. Fr. Angel Antonio, SJ, was well loved by the people he had served because of his simplicity, self-giving, and his gentle and loving manner of shepherding the flock. He died in his new assignment as spiritual director and confessor at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Cagayan de Oro City. On his death, the people of the Prelature of Ipil expressed their ardent desire to have the remains of Fr. Angel buried in Ipil as he had been their pastor practically the whole of his life... 43 years! However, to their dismay, the decision to have his burial in Cagayan de Oro City prevailed.

At the funeral mass, the words of Archbishop Ledesma moved many of the people from Ipil almost to tears. He said something to this effect: “The people of the Prelature of Ipil loved Fr. Angel so much that they wanted him to be buried there. Since it is not going to happen, it will not be a surprise if the people of the Prelature of Ipil put up an empty tomb for their beloved pastor.”

An empty tomb for a beloved pastor! The idea moved me to tears of joy having in the back of my mind its hopeful Easter connotations. The empty tomb, once created, will be a powerful reminder to the people that their pastor lives. He continues to live in their hearts; he lives in the love of God.

In the eyes of Easter faith, the empty tomb brings home the message that death has not the last word. Life triumphs! The eyes of Easter faith see so much meaning in the emptiness of a grave because of two kinds of vision: The vision of love and the vision of hope.

The Vision of Love. The gospel reading (Jn 20:1-9) this Easter Sunday recounts how the disciples discovered the empty tomb. Mary Magdalene first sees the stone already removed from the tomb. Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved come next to witness after having been informed by her. While they share the same experience, the gospel writer highlights the fact that it is the beloved disciple who comes to believe: “He saw and believed” (v. 8). While the others do not understand as yet the meaning of the empty tomb, the beloved disciple, who has had a strong bond of love with the Lord, sees through the emptiness the truth that the beloved Master is alive. His heart is sensitized by the experience of Jesus’ love to grasp quite easily through the sign of the empty tomb the Easter truth that the beloved Master lives.

Love begets faith. Hence, I would like to believe that the depth of the joy of our Easter celebration depends so much on the quality of love we have shared with the Lord and with one another. A heart that has grown fonder to the Lord each day is one that will certainly rejoice in the proclamation of Jesus’ resurrection. The flock who shared among themselves and with their pastor so many years of loving will certainly see through the sign of the empty tomb that their pastor, Fr. Angel, lives.

The Vision of Hope. There is more to the empty tomb than just an historical or archaeological import. The empty tomb is a theological illumination of the anxious groping in the darkness of Good Friday which is disturbingly expressed by the dying Messiah himself: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Good Friday, with its impenetrable darkness, easily leads to despair. The empty tomb of Easter, however, opens up the eyes of hope and dispels the defeatist summon to despair. The empty tomb reveals that God does not abandon whom he loves even at times when he is frighteningly silent. It turns Easter into a season of hope, a season that heightens our awareness of God’s presence in spite of the evidence of his absence.

How many terrible stories of suffering and brokenness I’ve heard in my ministry! Oftentimes, I wonder how people manage to move on given the miserable and hapless situations they are in. But they do move on even if their unsettling questions remained unanswered, their burdens not lifted. It is in these people that I actually encounter existential hope. They are the Easter people who, while struggling in life, have seen the empty tomb as a guarantee that suffering and death have been vanquished; everlasting joy and life triumph. The Messiah lives and is victorious!

This season of Easter then is an invitation to cultivate love, to make our hearts sensitive to the presence of the Risen Lord among us. It is a summons too to see beyond our suffering and move on in life with hope.

If You Love Me (6th Sunday Easter A)

A Filipino-Chinese businessman was dying. On his deathbed he called for his wife. “I’m here, Honey.” He called for his eldest son. “I’m here, Dad.” He called for his daughter. “Hey, Dad, I’m right here.” He called for his youngest son. “Hi Dad.” The businessman’s face was flushed with anger.  “Why are you all here? You good for nothing! Who is taking care of our business?”

This scenario might force some chuckles out of us. This is not how we expect leave-taking to happen.  We expect tear-jerking farewell messages from someone who is about to leave us behind, or more so, someone who is about to die. A farewell message is expected to be made up of words of love and tenderness.  It is touching as it is essentially a reminder that, after everything had been said and done, life is measured by how much it has been shared in loving. Farewell messages are an appeal to cherish the love that has been shared among family and friends.  Also, a leave-taking message is about words of assurance, a promise that everything is going to be fine, an encouragement to those left behind to move on in life with confidence.

Today’s gospel reading (Jn 14:15-21) is still part of the farewell discourse of Jesus at the last supper. But as it is proclaimed in our liturgy at this point in time within the Easter season, it is preparing us for our commemoration of Jesus’ departure on his ‘Ascension’ and giving us assurance as we anticipate the celebration of Pentecost.  Indeed, Jesus’ farewell message is both words of love and assurance.

As words of love, Jesus’ farewell message reminds his disciples of the love they have experienced and shared among themselves and with Jesus. Jesus desires that they cherish the love they have shared together in his company by keeping his commandments. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” And what is the commandment of Jesus? Just a chapter before this gospel reading, Jesus is portrayed giving his commandment: “This is my commandment: Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34).

In his farewell message, Jesus is very clear about his desire for his disciples: that they may continue to be a community of friends or of brothers bound together by the bond of love they have shared among themselves and with Jesus.  The model of love they ought to have for one another is the love of Jesus. In the second reading (1 Pet 3:15-18), Peter exhorts the disciples of Jesus to remember how Jesus loved them: “Remember how Christ died, once, and for all, for our sins. He, the just one, died for the unjust, in order to lead us to God.” In a word, Jesus’ love is self-sacrificing.  This same self-sacrificing love is to be the kind of love the disciples ought to have for one another.

Do we see this kind of love among our Christian communities of today? To love as Jesus loved means to give our lives for the sake of others, leaving behind our comfort zones in order to help our neighbors in need; to build a better world committing our lives to the pursuit of justice and peace, to stand by the truth even when it feels like we're being crucified.  This is what Christian love means. Pope Francis has been very strong in reminding the whole Church of this essential vocation to love, to reach out to the peripheries and break free from her self-absorption: “I prefer a Church that is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security” (EG, 49).

As words of assurance, the farewell discourse of Jesus is also about boosting the disciples’ confidence.  Obeying the commandments of the Lord may not be that easy and simple for the sinful and easily discouraged followers of Jesus. Hence, Jesus assures them with these words: “I will not leave you orphans…” He promises them that the Father will give them another helper to be with them forever—the Spirit of truth who will dwell in them.

The same assurance is for us too today.  Our liturgy invites us to a humble acceptance of our limitation: If we rely only on our own strength, intelligence, and will, we will never be able to fulfill the commandment of Jesus, not always, not every day. Lest we end up as a frustrated people, we have to realize we are never meant to do it alone.  Jesus knows we need a helper. We need the empowering presence of the Spirit within us. That's why, through the Church, Jesus instituted the sacrament of confirmation, the sacrament of supernatural strengthening.

In the first reading from the Book of Acts 8:5-8, 14-17, Philip, the Deacon, preaches in Samaria and succeeds in baptizing a huge number of converts. In baptism, they have become Christ's followers. But when the news reaches the Apostles in Jerusalem, Peter and John went to Samaria in order to call down the Holy Spirit upon them by laying their hands on them.  This gesture is administering the sacrament of confirmation.

In confirmation, we receive the gift promised by Jesus, the Spirit. The Spirit indwelling in us is our inner source of supernatural light and strength to live out the great commandment of Christian charity. Do we tap

into this inner strength? Do we allow the Spirit within us to embolden us in carrying out our vocation to love in the same manner that Jesus loved?

Hence, this Sunday we are invited to seek the grace to live by the power of this Spirit dwelling in us so that, as we cherish the love of Jesus by showing him our loving obedience, we bravely fulfill his commandment of loving one another as he has loved us.

  

Easter Beatitude (2nd Sunday Easter C)

The gospel today (Jn 20:19-31) proclaims, as it were, the Easter beatitude: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (v. 29). Clearly this speaks of Christian believers who have not been eyewitnesses to the marvellous event of Jesus’ resurrection but have, nonetheless, demonstrated an unwavering faith in Him as Lord and God.  This speaks about us who, despite our many struggles in life and obstacles to the joy of believing in this increasingly secularized society, continue to live in faith and proclaim the goodness and mercy of God.

Today, the Divine Mercy Sunday is an invitation for us to put our trust in the infinite mercy of our loving God and experience the blessedness that the Lord has promised to those who believe in Him. Let us allow God’s mercy to lead us into the three significant interior movements that the disciples experienced as they encounter the Risen Lord in the gospel account today.

The movement from fear to joy.  The death of the Master on the cross on Good Friday sent the disciples to hiding. Out of fear, they holed up in a room afraid of a possible crack down on the followers of the crucified Messiah. Today’s gospel, however, recounts how Jesus dispels their fear by offering them his peace: “Peace be with you.” Jesus’ appearance throws away the paralysis caused by fear and, once again, enables them to rejoice in freedom. Then Jesus, after overcoming the obstacle of fear, sends them to the mission of proclaiming the gospel. The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 5:12-16) tells us that the apostles become the adhesive force of the community, gaining respect from people, and attracting a great number of converts.  

What are my fears? Is it fear of rejection? Or of pain? Suffering? Persecution? When we live in fear, we back off and hide in order to protect ourselves from harm.  But the price of maintaining this false security is high. We lose the joy of spontaneity, the freedom to be sent and proclaim the love and mercy of God.  Hence, let us allow the Risen Lord to allay our fears and to lead us to the joyful conviction that God is always on our side.

The movement from guilt to the peace of forgiveness.  Another very likely disposition of the disciples following the horror of Good Friday is guilt. Judas’ guilt has led him to despair; and we can just imagine the angst of Peter for having denied the Lord three times!  Yet, Jesus greets them with the Easter gift of peace.  No mention of their betrayal and cowardice. And not only has he forgiven them, He makes them instruments of God’s forgiveness.  He breathes on them and says: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (v. 22-23).  Jesus empowers the apostles to overcome the anguish of guilt by forgiveness. Hereafter, the apostles and their successors will be Jesus’ representatives in the world to impart his peace by absolving the sins of those who repent.

What have I done that continues to haunt me and imprisons me? Or what have I failed to do for people I love and for God? Our guilt imprisons us. It can rob us of our peace of mind and continue to torment us. To experience the Easter beatitude, we need to allow the Risen Lord to grant us peace and experience that deep sense of being forgiven. Only when we accept the boundless mercy of God that we can truly live with the Easter happiness.

The movement from doubt to faith.  Another obstacle to Easter faith is doubt. The encounter between Jesus and Thomas in today’s gospel demonstrates how Jesus overcomes doubt. Jesus yields to Thomas’ obstinacy showing the latter the evidence he is looking for as a requirement for his belief. Thomas goes down in history as the doubting apostle; yet when we come to think of it, his skepticism saves us from our own doubts. Thomas has disproved any theories that suggest the resurrection as mere hallucination on the part of the apostles. He has seen the Risen Lord in his own eyes in the very terms he demanded. Hence, his proclamation of faith, “My Lord and my God!” can also be ours.  

Does the joy of believing manifest in my life? The societies we find ourselves in are subscribing more and more to secular philosophies which belittle and ignore the truth of our Christian faith. Many times, unawares we allow this worldview to be our own too as we face life and make decisions. This slowly jeopardizes our joyful witnessing to our faith. Like Thomas, let us allow the Risen Lord to come to us and overcome our lack of faith.

On this Divine Mercy Sunday, let us come to Jesus, bringing with us our fears, our guilt, and our lack of faith but trusting in the transforming power of his mercy. Let us allow his infinite mercy to open the locked doors of our hiding place and invite us to come out into the open with joy instead of fear, with peace instead of guilt, with faith instead of unbelief. 

                                                           

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.  

The Good Shepherd’s Way (4th Sun Easter C)

In the tiny book, “The Way of the Shepherd,” Kevin Leman and William Pentak suggest seven ancient secrets to managing productive people. Couched in the imagery of shepherding, they propose the first secret: Know the condition of your flock. This means following the status of your people and the work; getting to know your flock, one sheep at a time; engaging your people on a regular basis; keeping your eyes and ears open, questioning and following through (Leman, 2004:15-28).

While Leman and Pentak use the biblical image of a shepherd to bring out certain effective leadership and management skills, I doubt if they have given effort to interpret it according to the paradigm of the leadership of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Nevertheless, the first of the seven secrets comes close to Jesus’ way: Know the condition of your flock.

Knowing the Sheep. In today’s gospel (Jn 10:27-30), Jesus declares intimate knowledge of his sheep: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (v. 27). Jesus’ knowledge of his sheep goes beyond knowing someone’s name or characteristics. He knows his sheep deeper than their external realities. He knows their hearts; he knows their joys and sorrows, their hopes and anxieties. Such knowledge is intimate and personal, one that inevitably forges a strong bond of love and loyalty. While Leman and Pentak’s suggestion offers a pragmatic approach in terms of managing people, the Good shepherd’s way of knowing goes beyond pragmatism as it is essentially aimed at fostering intimate and enriching relationship between the leader and the followers.

Caring for the Sheep. Only this depth of personal knowledge elicits on the part of the leader a totally selfless commitment for the well-being of the followers. So we hear Jesus declare, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand” (v. 28).

What a consoling statement from a leader! Jesus, the Good Shepherd gives us, his beloved sheep, life. He takes care of us. He protects us. He does not allow anyone to snatch us from him. As the book of Isaiah has it: “Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, and leading the ewes with care” (Is 40:11).

With Jesus as our shepherd, we experience total security. We are lovingly taken care of. No wonder we are attracted to him. We listen to his voice and we follow him.

Pastoral Implication: Charity over Policy. Is this how we feel now as a community of disciples in the church? In our parishes? In our religious organizations? Do we still experience that personal love and care in our communities? Or have we not become a rule-oriented community whose life revolves around policies instead of being animated by love and concern for one another?

Just as I was quietly reflecting on the implications of this gospel to our contemporary Christian communities, a member of a parish council informed me, being a guest priest in a parish, of a standing policy: There shall be no celebration of the Eucharist in the chapel communities on their fiesta when chapel leaders failed to attend the parish assembly. And next month, three chapel communities will not have Eucharistic celebrations on their feast day if I go by this policy! While I understand the importance of policies in any community or organization, I cringe at the idea of depriving the people of the grace of the sacraments as penalty for some organizational lapses. This turns us into a policy-driven community—a far cry from the community forged by the Good Shepherd out of intimate knowledge and pastoral love.

This Good Shepherd Sunday is an excellent reminder of the way of the Good Shepherd. We gather people not through the force of authority and policies; we gather people by the sheer power of attraction. When people are recognized, loved, and cared for, they come with joy.

Search for Public Leaders. Another relevant implication of this reflection on the way of the Good Shepherd is obviously on our search for our national and local leaders. Honestly, when I look at the list of those who are aspiring to become our leaders, my heart bleeds. As far as my own appraisal is concerned, very few are worthy of our trust and loyalty! Worse, these few trustworthy leaders are in danger of being out-manoeuvred by the crooks. What have become of us as a people? Why do we make it terribly difficult for good people to become our leaders and comfortably easy for the crooked to have their way?

We badly need a leader after the image of the Good Shepherd—one who goes out of his/her way to really know the condition of his flock, understand their world and empathize with them in their struggles and aspirations. We need a leader whose heart is for the interest of the people and not for himself or his selfish agenda. We need a leader who truly cares, who promises life and well-being, a leader whose voice we can trust and follow.

I believe this has to be an essential part of our constant prayers-- that the merciful God send us such a leader, one who will love and take care of his people the Good Shepherd’s way.

A Blessed Easter Life (2nd Sunday Easter B)

Travelling through the highways of Mountain Province in 2006 helped me appreciate the gift of sight and of faith; and discern their distinction.  A friend of mine, a priest from Baguio, invited me to do a little excursion to the northern region to have a breath of fresh air away from studies.  After a couple of days chilling in his place, the City of Pines, we decided to go to Sagada and Bontoc. Going up on an off-road jeep at mid-afternoon, we were soon passing through the highway known as the highest point of elevation. It was just before sundown. The altitude gave me the excellent vantage point from where to see the breath-taking grandeur of the mountains around me. Seen against the background of the retiring sun, the whole scenery filled my eyes with sheer delight of witnessing greatness, beauty and melancholy all at once.  A couple of days later, coming back at dawn, we were passing through the same place again, only this time, at sunrise. The sight was exhilarating. The colossal and expansive mass of mountains highlighted by the gentle rays of the morning sun held me spellbound.  Soon, I was misty-eyed and felt like exploding.

My eyes witnessed an awesome scenery. But there was something unseen that kept my heart pounding and burning with unexplainable sense of jubilation and admiration. It was something I believed in:  Beyond what met my eyes was a strong and undeniable presence. It was the presence of Him who is Himself Beauty, Grandeur, Might, Intelligence, Purpose, and Graciousness. The Creator.

The gift of sight is a delight. But most of what is essential in life are unseen. They are believed.

Today’s gospel (Jn 20:19-31) proclaims this truth: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (v. 29).  The blessedness of Easter is not so much the delight of seeing as it is the courage, the peace, and the faith of someone who believes!  This is discernible in John’s account of what happened in that closed room as the risen Lord appeared to his fearful disciples.

In the gospel reading, the risen Christ appeared to them and freed them from three obstacles to a blessed Easter life: The paralysis of fear, the alienation of guilt, the anxiety of doubt.

Freedom from Fear. The death of the Master on the cross on Good Friday sent the disciples to hiding. Out of fear, they holed up in a room afraid of a possible crack down on the followers of the crucified Messiah. Today’s gospel, however, recounts how Jesus dispelled their fear by offering them his peace: “Peace be with you.” Jesus’ appearance threw away the paralysis caused by fear and, once again, enabled them to rejoice in freedom and, more importantly, to possess the courage to embrace the mission of proclaiming the gospel.

We can always hide in fear; stay safe in our comfort zones; live with a non-committal attitude in life. But the Risen Lord invites us to believe in the blessedness of Easter life—a life characterized by courage. The courage to engage in the challenges of life.  The courage to move on after a door is closed, venturing into the newly opened windows. The courage to proclaim in whatever we do the greatness of God in our lives.

Freedom from Guilt.  The disciples were guilty of running for their own lives and abandoning their Master.  Aside from the paralysis of fear, they were also alienated by their guilt. So as Jesus dispelled the fear of the disciples, he proceeded in breathing into them the Holy Spirit, to become the source of forgiveness:  “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (v. 22-23).   Hereafter, the apostles and their successors would be Jesus’ representatives in the world to impart his peace by absolving the guilt of those who repent.

We can helplessly succumb to our weaknesses and live in the alienation of guilt, heightening each day our feeling of unworthiness.  But a blessed Easter life summons us to live in God’s “ocean of mercy.”  Today is the Feast of Divine Mercy. But the happiness of the one who believes in the Risen Lord is the joy of feasting in God's mercy not just today but all the days of one's life.

Freedom from Doubt.  The encounter between Jesus and Thomas demonstrated how Jesus overcame doubt. Jesus yielded to Thomas’ obstinacy showing the latter the evidence he was looking for as a requirement for his belief. Thomas went down in history as the doubting apostle; yet when we come to think of it, his scepticism saved us from our own doubts. Thomas had disproved any theories that suggest the resurrection as mere hallucination of the part of the apostles. He had seen the Risen Lord in his own eyes in the very terms he demanded. Hence, his proclamation of faith, “My Lord and my God!” can also be ours. Our only difference with him:  without seeing we believe. And blessed are we.

A blessed Easter life is living in faith and confidence that God is victorious. The risen Lord has conquered sin and death. He offers us grace and life. There is no use dwelling in our paranoia and the unsettling anxieties over the uncertainties in life.  We can let go of our compulsion to be in control of everything. We can be happy. Just believe.  Let God be God and let us have a blessed Easter life.

The Easter Beatitude (2nd Sun Easter C)

Today’s gospel (Jn 20:19-31) proclaims, as it were, the Easter beatitude: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (v. 29). Clearly this speaks to Christian believers who have not been eyewitnesses to the marvellous event of Jesus’ resurrection but have, nonetheless, demonstrated an unwavering faith in Him as Lord and God.

The recent Holy Week celebration I had opened my eyes to the truth that indeed there are communities even of today, with its ever strengthening trend of secularism, that continue to live up to the spirit of this “last beatitude.” The gospel today allows me to articulate in its light a very inspiring Easter experience as an invited priest in a chapel community in Upper Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City. I suggest that today’s gospel presents three significant elements of Easter faith through which I would like to appraise the community’s experience: First, the enthusiasm and zeal in spreading the good news; second, faith in the forgiveness of sins; third, unwavering faith in the Risen Lord.

Enthusiasm and Zeal in Spreading the Good News. The death of the Master on the cross on Good Friday sent the disciples to hiding. Out of fear, they holed up in a room afraid of a possible crack down on the followers of the crucified Messiah. Today’s gospel, however, recounts how Jesus dispels their fear by offering them his peace: “Peace be with you.” Jesus’ appearance throws away the paralysis caused by fear and, once again, enables them to rejoice in freedom. Then Jesus, after overcoming the obstacle of fear, sends them to for the mission of proclaiming the gospel. The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us that the apostles become the adhesive force of the community, gaining respect from people, and attracting a great number of converts. Their enthusiasm and zeal in proclaiming the gospel becomes a mark of their Easter faith as they form the early Christian communities.

This is the same mark I’ve recognized among the leaders and members of the chapel community that I had celebrated Holy Week with. I was amazed at how they organized themselves proving to their parish priest that they were worthy of a presence of a priest to celebrate holy week with them. They went out of their way to ensure that everyone participated in the many and varied activities of Holy Week, and to make sure that, despite short preparations, the chapel was always filled with people. What I’ve seen is a burning zeal to make the Easter proclamation reverberate in their community through the liturgical celebrations. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed!

Faith in the Forgiveness of Sins. As Jesus dispels the fear of the disciples, he breathes on them and says: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (v. 22-23). Another obstacle to faith is sin. Sin causes disharmony in our relationships. First, it disrupts our relationship with God, second, with others, and third, with ourselves. Hence, Jesus empowers the apostles to overcome the power of sin by forgiveness. Hereafter, the apostles and their successors will be Jesus’ representatives in the world to impart his peace by absolving the sins of those who repent.

When I offered to give some time for the sacrament of reconciliation, the people, starting from the leaders of the chapel community lined up and waited for their turn to confess. In that celebration of the sacrament of God’s mercy, I’ve witnessed the faith of people in the forgiveness of sin. They refused to allow sin to dominate them. They wept and repented. They emerged as a new creation. Truly, they have embraced the mercy of the Risen Lord and experienced how to rejoice and chant the hallelujahs because of the bliss brought by the mysteries of Easter. Blessed indeed are those who have not seen and have believed!

Unwavering Faith in the Risen Lord. The third obstacle to Easter faith is doubt. The encounter between Jesus and Thomas in today’s gospel demonstrates how Jesus overcomes doubt. Jesus yields to Thomas’ obstinacy showing the latter the evidence he is looking for as a requirement for his belief. Thomas goes down in history as the doubting apostle; yet when we come to think of it, his skepticism saves us from our own doubts. Thomas has disproved any theories that suggest the resurrection as mere hallucination of the part of the apostles. He has seen the Risen Lord in his own eyes in the very terms he demanded. Hence, his proclamation of faith, “My Lord and my God!” can also be ours. Our only difference with him: without seeing we believe. Blessed are we.

At the end of a well-attended “Sugat” and the early Easter Sunday Mass, I was invited by the chapel leaders to join them at breakfast. There they expressed gratitude to me for having accompanied them throughout the Holy Week celebrations. They were filled with energy and joy relishing that brief experience of God’s mercy and victory. Looking at them with a silent joy in my heart, I cannot but thank God too for showing me how happy indeed are those who have not seen but have believed.

This Easter season, we are invited to live up to the spirit of the “Easter beatitude,” allowing the Risen Lord to free us from the paralysis of our fears, to restore the harmony lost by our sins, and to cast away our doubts in the mystery of his resurrection. This season reminds us of our calling to become a community with a burning zeal to proclaim the Good News, a community who celebrates God’s mercy in forgiving one another, and a community with an unwavering faith in the victory of the Risen Lord. So as we chant with unconditional conviction the hallelujah, let it be our celebration of the happiness of a people who believe even without seeing.