Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd always taking care of us all his little sheep, especially the lost and wounded. Photo from Google.
Lately I’ve been winning battles left and right But even winners can get wounded in the fight People say that I’m amazing I’m strong beyond my years But they don’t see inside of me I’m hiding all the tears
They don’t know that I come running home when I fall down.They don’t know who picks me up when no one is around I drop my sword and cry for just a while ‘Coz deep inside this armor The warrior is a child
Some of you must have sang the lyrics above from Gary Valenciano’s 2000 hit “Warrior Is A Child”, our Lord My Chef Music this 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Gary’s song speaks so well of our reflections for today that the only bragging rights we have as disciples of Jesus Christ is to be one with him in his Cross, to be weak and wounded to manifest the power and greatness of God in us.
Almost everybody can identify with this song who seem to be so strong on the outside when in fact inside, we are all hurting in pain – a sick loved one, a broken relationship, a failure in an important exam, a lost family member.
That is discipleship in Christ for only those who truly love are willing to sacrifice and even offer their lives for their beloved. It is from this great love like Jesus Christ we his disciples are gifted with his peace, the only possession we are all allowed to have in order to share with others.
May we persevere in our struggles in life, may we keep on loving and forgiving in the name of Jesus Christ, continue to wage his war against evil and darkness for he is fighting with us, fighting for us.
Photo by Lorenzo Atienza, Malolos Cathedral, 12 June 2019.
Please forgive me for my curiosity: lately I have noticed the sudden sprouting of many “breastfeeding stations” and “lactation sections” in many public places that I feel so tempted getting inside them just to see how the mothers would react.
One of the joys of prayer is how God would communicate with us even with the most crazy ideas we have like that thought of entering a breastfeeding station. I recalled this thought as I dwelt deeply into Isaiah’s prophecy in our first reading today presenting God like a mother comforting her children the Israelites who were exiled to Babylon.
It was one of the lowest points in the history of the Jewish people when they lost everything – family and friends, country and nation, and most of all, their Temple in Jerusalem that they felt they were forsaken by God. As exiles, they were slaves without any freedom at all.
Thus says the Lord: “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her, all you who love her, exult, exult with her, all you who were mourning over her! Oh, that you may suck fully of the milk of her comfort, that you may nurse with delight at her abundant breasts! As nurslings, you shall be carried in her arms, and fondled in her lap; as a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.”
Isaiah 66:10-11, 12b-13
Sometimes, God allows us to experience several blows and beatings in life not because he punishes us or he takes delight in seeing us suffer; sometimes, we need to be like infants and children again to trust God more, to rely to his goodness. It is the surest way to remind us who we really are. That we are not god.
In our second reading, St. Paul bolstered this imagery of our being children of God by reminding us that the only bragging rights we have as disciples of Jesus is to be one with him in his Cross.
Brothers and sisters: May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
As children of the Father and disciples of Jesus, our mark of distinction is not found in our greatness, achievements and success but in our being weak, in our being wounded and bruised, always needing the comfort by God like a mother to her children. This is very clear with St. Paul not only in our second reading today but most especially in his second letter to the Corinthians:
“I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
It is in our weakness when God is most manifested.
Try listening to anyone bragging about his or her achievements and talents: for a time, we get impressed, we admire them but in the long run, it becomes both convulsing and convoluting. But when we come to learn or hear the sacrifices and sufferings of people even those we do not personally know, we feel uplifted. We remember God and his goodness, his mercy and love.
Crucifix at the side wall of the chapel of St. John Evangelist at Cana, Galilee. Photo by author, 06 May 2019.
Only the disciples of Christ who join him in his Cross can be filled with the gift of peace, the only possession of every disciple. See how how when Jesus sent out the 72 other disciples, he asked them not to bring anything at all. The only thing they must have is the peace of Jesus Christ that they have to share with everyone they visit.
“Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.'”
Luke 10:3-5
Remember that when Jesus visited his Apostles in the locked upper room on the evening of Easter Sunday, he also greeted them with “peace” or “shalom” which is God’s greatest gift to anyone. Shalom in Hebrew means having a good relationship with one’s self, with others, and with God. Peace is always borne out of love and only those willing to sacrifice, suffer and even die for someone are the ones who truly love.
Mt. St. Paul Retreat House, June 2017.
There can be no peace in our hearts when we are filled with pride and ego. We need to be like children again, relying solely in the powers of our parents.
Last Thursday we brought our niece to her doctor at UST Hospital. While waiting for my sister when she left to get the lab results, I saw my niece feeling sleepy. I asked her to sleep on my lap as I gently rubbed her shoulder until she fell asleep soundly and peacefully.
What an attitude of not being bothered by her sickness because she must have great trust in me her uncle, my sister her mom, and also her doctor!
When we embrace our crosses in life and rely solely in Christ, we can also experience peace within. That is when we can rejoice as Jesus assured us, “your names are written in heaven” (Lk. 10:20).
A blessed week ahead to everyone! Jesus loves you, entrust to him all your worries and woes. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Recipe for Weddingof Matt Namuco and Marian Joson
29 June 2019, Minor Basilica of the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, Malolos City,
Lovely bride is my former student from ICSM-Malolos, from elementary to high school.
Congratulations to you, my dearest Marian and Matt!
In God’s infinite wisdom, he had planned in all eternity that you get married on this date – not yesterday or last year, not tomorrow or next week or next month.
God willed that you get married today on the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, the two pillars of the Church established by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Like you, Marian and Matt, St. Peter and St. Paul are two people of opposite personalities, of different social and cultural backgrounds but were able to overcome these to work together for Jesus Christ. We celebrate their feast together because despite their many differences, they were united in their love for Jesus Christ. It was Christ who brought them together and kept them together so his Church would grow and be what it is today.
The same is true with you, Marian and Matt: Jesus Christ brought you together in spite of your many differences to be united in his love. Most of all, Marian and Matt, Jesus wants you to be his ICONS or images in the world today that has become individualistic.
Sacred Heart Novitiate, July 2018.
An icon or image of Jesus like St. Peter and St. Paul is to be one in the Lord. A man and woman get married to become disciples of Christ, to become one in Christ, to look like Christ. That is the meaning of the word sacrament, visible sign of the saving presence of Jesus in the world.
And that is why the gospel you have chosen for your wedding day is so perfect, the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus gave us his Beatitudes that are actually directions for discipleship. The Beatitudes show us the mystery of Christ himself, calling us into a communion in him to become his icons in the world that has been trying to negate him.
For your wedding, Marian and Matt, let us reflect on the sixth Beatitude of Jesus:
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Matthew 5:8
Remember the Little Prince where the fox told him that “What is essential is invisible to the eye; it is only with the heart one can truly see”?
We can only see God with our hearts. The intellect alone is never enough.
And so it is too with any person.
We can learn and know so many things about another person with our intellect but nothing will be enough for us to truly love him or her unless we let our hearts see the real him or her.
The heart is the wholeness of the person. Yesterday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Sometimes, when we use our minds, we see the world as so dark and so evil. But, if we have hearts that can see, we will be more surprised that there are more goodness, more beauty in this world than what we hear and see in the news and around us.
Marian and Matt, always have a clean heart to see each one’s goodness and beauty.
Always go back to those early days when you first saw each other with your hearts. Aside from the kilig factor, you felt and realized something deeper with each other. The beloved disciple, St. John, wrote in our first reading, “No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us” (1 Jn. 4:11-12).
And that is how we see God and others: always with our hearts when we love.
Mt. St. Paul Retreat House in Baguio, June 2017.
To have a clean heart, Marian and Matt, is to enter into the mind of Jesus Christ and that is to embrace his Cross. Having a clean heart is becoming one with Jesus Christ, especially in his love and fidelity.
A clean heart is a loving heart that always gives life, other-centered, veritable and enduring. Always in communion with Jesus Christ who gave us the new commandment to love like him by being rooted in the Father.
The love of Christ is the fire that purifies and cleanses our hearts, unifying our intellect, will and emotion that enables us to see oneness in ourselves before God. We see not only the good and the bad sides in ourselves but also among those around us, especially those we love.
Look back at your many experiences, Marian and Matt. Look at your past lives, your struggles, your mistakes and sins. Despite all these, you have also seen and experienced God’s loving presence in you in spite of your many darkness and divisions within.
That is why you are so “blessed”, Marian and Matt, because today on your wedding day, you enter God himself and you are able to “see” him with your loving hearts despite your pains and hurt, failures and shortcomings.
Remember Marian and Matt, you are both not only one in a million but most of all, you are both once in a lifetime made by God for each other. Keep your hearts clean in Jesus Christ so you may always see God in each other. Amen.
All wedding photos by Mindstream Project headed by Patrick Paragoso.
Genesis 23:1-4, 19; 24:1-8, 62-67 >< )))*> Matthew 9:9-13
From Google.
O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, thank you for this first Friday of the month of July. Like yesterday, it is another “picturesque speechless” in our readings today.
From the first reading, twice did Abraham told his senior servant never to take back his son Isaac to his land of origin in Ur no matter what happens.
“Never take my son back there for any reason,” Abraham told him. The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my kin, and who confirmed by oath the promise he then made to me, ‘I will give this land to your descendants’ — he will send his messenger before you, and you will obtain a wife for my son there. If the woman is unwilling to follow you, you will be released from this oath. But never take my son back there!”
Genesis 24:6-8
Help us, O Lord, to never return to our old ways of sins and vices, of broken promises and emptiness in the world. Give us the strength to persevere to bloom where you have planted us. Let us trust in your wisdom. Like Matthew in your gospel today. Let us rise, leave everything behind to follow you.
As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
Matthew 9:9
It is now the seventh month of 2019, Lord Jesus Christ. Time really flies so fast.
Help us in our struggles, in our efforts to follow you, to never go back to our old ways of sinful life.
Help us regain our moral compass in you. Help us stop our backslides. Most of all, help us in keeping our promises and commitments especially those made to you. Amen.
Going back in time to 300 BC to the ancient city of Petra in Jordan, 30 April 2019.
Waiting for the Mass to start, ready to light the candles. Photo by Lorenzo Atienza, 12 June 2019.
Our loving Father, your words today are so picturesque that I feel so speechless before you with the meanings they convey.
In the first reading when you tested Abraham to offer to you his son Isaac, he at once obeyed you without any question at all so that the following morning, he left for Moriah with his son, two servants, and some wood for the burnt offering.
On the third day, Abraham got sight of the place from afar. Then he said to his servants, “Both of you stay here with the donkey, while the boy and I go on over yonder. We will worship and then come back to you.” Thereupon, Abraham took the wood for the burn offering and laid it on his son Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife.
Genesis 22:4-6
I really wonder O Lord what was in the mind of Abraham? Did he ever doubt you or at least entertain some other thoughts about your mood, of why you made him wait for so long to have a son then suddenly you would ask for him to be offered?
How great indeed is Abraham’s faith in you, O God! He was so composed in speaking to his servants and most especially to his son Isaac on whose shoulders he laid the wood for burnt offering. Not a hint did Abraham spill of your actual command that could have made Isaac fled in fear!
But what I like most is when Abraham carried the fire and the knife. Beautiful images of faith in you God: Abraham kept the warmth and illumination of his faith within him symbolized by the fire he carried and his generosity in offering Isaac symbolized by his knife.
I love that scene, Lord as I ask myself if I could truly offer you like Abraham who or what is most dearest to me?
That scene in the wilderness is complemented by Matthew’s story in the gospel that shows us how Jesus, like Abraham, continued to travel and reach out to you his Father to bring your mercy upon your people.
Jesus entered a boat, made the crossing, and came into his own town. And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”
Matthew 9:1-2
Jesus himself is the fire of love who purified our hearts, our desires and most especially, our evil thoughts like some of the scribes there who accused him of blasphemy.
So many times Lord Jesus, we cannot keep the fire of faith burning within us that we keep on harboring evil thoughts in our minds, casting doubts not only on you but most especially with those around us. Like Abraham, teach us to be silent in your love. And like Jesus, teach us how to enter into our brothers and sisters that we may spare them of our evil thoughts. Teach us to speak words of wisdom and power of God to heal those sick among us, most especially us with our many anxieties and mistrust of others.
Teach us to be pure like Abraham in our faith in you and most especially, in our trust in your great mercy. Like Jesus, teach us to keep on crossing the street, of reaching out to others especially those trying so hard to find you.
Let us keep the fire of your faith, hope, and love burning within us, sharing it with others to find the fulfillment of your promises to us all. Amen.
Wednesday, Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, 03 July 2019
Ephesians 2:19-22 >< )))*> >< )))*> John 20:24-29
Thomas touching the wound of the Risen Jesus. Painting by Caravaggio from Google.
Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ! As we celebrate today the feast of St. Thomas your Apostle, we recall the unique grace you have given him in encountering you personally despite his weaknesses.
During the Last Supper, he dared to ask you because of his willingness to follow you:
Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:5-6
In asking you with that question Lord, St. Thomas led us to realize that “the way and the truth and the life” is a Person, not a doctrine, nor a rule, nor a plan nor a program but YOU alone, Jesus Christ.
Eventually, when you rose again from the dead and he could not believe his fellow Apostles that you have appeared to them that Easter evening, you appeared anew to them with him on the eight day.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked and stood in their midst and said “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God.”
John 20:26-28
What a grace you have bestowed on Thomas, Lord Jesus who addressed you in the most personal manner as “My Lord and my God.”
Teach us O Lord to be like St. Thomas that despite our insecurity, we dare to ask you for clarifications to realize how you would want us to encounter you personally. Most of all, to have his courage in admitting our doubts in life that lead us to brighter outcome than any uncertainty.
St. Thomas, pray for us to be strengthened in faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God! Amen.
Genesis 19:15-29 >< }}}*> <*{{{ >< Matthew 8:23-27
Chapel of the Fr. Al Schwartz Retreat Center at Girlstown, Cavite. Photo by author, 22 May 2009.
Our dearest loving Father: Until now I am still dwelling in our reflection yesterday of prayer as you entering into a dialogue with us.
Prayer is your very presence, O God. And the problem is not only we have refused to pray to be in your presence but worst of all, when those of us who pray so often, those of us so religious always “present” with you doubt and refuse to believe that you are present.
We are always guilty of this feeling when the presence of another person is still not enough for us. We keep on looking for proofs and others things to believe of their love and care, of everything despite their being present with us.
How unfortunate when your very presence – or anyone’s – be never enough for us!
When we fail or refuse to see and experience your presence, Lord, nothing would be enough to convince us about you being present.
In the first reading, Lot at the start was very hesitant with your presence Lord despite the angels coming to rescue him and his family. He could not follow your instructions, seeming to disbelieve your very saving presence through your angels. Good thing that he eventually obeyed your angels unlike his wife who looked back to Sodom and Gomorrah perhaps more convinced with their presence than with you. And she turned into a pillar of salt.
In the gospel, the presence of your Son Jesus among the Apostles in their boat being tossed by giant waves due to a storm was not enough for them to trust in him that they have to awaken him.
Garden at the back of the chapel of the Fr. Al Schwartz Retreat Center in Girlstown, Cavite. Photo by author, 22 May 2009.
Teach us, O loving Father, to accept your good news, your grace, your very presence in our lives. Your very presence with us is more than enough, Lord.
Like Abraham when he conversed with you in Mamre until he bargained with you to spare Lot of your wrath over Sodom and Gomorrah, let us be silent and contented with your very presence.
Most of all, like Abraham, after your burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, let us see you even in the ruins of our lives, that you never failed to warn us with your presence of your abiding justice, and of your coming judgment. Amen.
Genesis 18:16-33 >< )))*> <*((( >< Matthew 8:18-22
Man loses head in prayer before God. Photo by JJ Jimeno of GMA-7 News, 27 May 2019.
Thank you very much, our dearest loving Father for the grace to pray to you always. Thank you very much in entering into a dialogue with us, Lord, when you make us feel your presence with us.
We pray because you come. Most of all, whatever we say when we pray is completely because of you!
You perfectly know well our needs long before we call on you. And that is why, even our basic prayer the Our Father were the words of your Son Jesus Christ. Our second most frequently recited prayer, the Hail Mary were the words of the Angel Gabriel you have sent to Mary and of the Holy Spirit speaking through Elizabeth during the Visitation.
Abraham also prayed to you for the just people of Sodom and Gomorrah because you made the first move of coming to visit him at Mamre. You were the first to make the move to enter into a dialogue with him.
And this is what makes prayer so wonderful and beautiful: you always reveal yourself to us as well as your plans.
The Lord reflected: “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, now that he is to become a great and populous nation, and all the nations of the earth are to find blessing in him? Indeed, I have singled him out that he may direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord may carry into effect for Abraham the promises he made about him.”
Genesis 18:17-19
Like Abraham, teach us to listen to your words, O Lord, that we may perceive your Divine Will so that eventually we may find the best possible way to respond to you and your words.
Abraham interceded for the remaining just people of Sodom and Gomorrah which you eventually destroyed but after giving a chance for Lot and his family to flee to safety.
Abraham’s example shows us that in our dialogue with you in prayer, O God, any one of us can turn to you as toward a friend of whom we can ask anything, toward a father whose love and complete generosity is so well known.
Teach us to be hospitable like Abraham, always open to welcome you into ourselves especially Jesus Christ “the Son of Man who has nowhere to rest his head” (Mt.8:20).
Our almighty Father, help us find in prayer the place where we discern good and evil, where we become aware of what you ask of us and most of all, what we await from you our dearest God. Amen.
Walking back to 300 BC on the streets leading to ancient city of Petra in Jordan. Photo by author, 30 April 2019.
It’s a lazy, rainy Sunday.
And today’s gospel speaks of Jesus “resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem” to face his death in fulfillment of his mission from the Father for our salvation.
Jesus is inviting us today to see death in his perspective as something beautiful and even glorious. Coming to terms with death is coming to terms with life. The moment we start accepting the certainty and reality of death like Jesus, the more we lead authentic lives filled with love and celebrations, not with bitterness and resentment.
We are all pilgrims, aliens and sojourners here on earth whose true home is heaven. And the only way to get there is death. It is a journey we all have to take.
Pauline Wilson’s “Follow the Road” captures this so well while her lovely voice assures us of the beauty and joy in taking all the risks in following this road of life. Very interesting is the second stanza where Pauline sings of “this one road that journeys far out of sight” that seems to imply of fullness and fulfillment in God considering her Filipino roots and strong Christian grounding in faith.
Jesus followed the road to Jerusalem over 2000 years ago and conquered death with his glorious Resurrection. Let us follow him more closely each day as we follow the road of life, trusting him, loving him.
Jerusalem as seen from the Mount of Olives with a Jewish cemetery at the foreground facing its eastern wall where the Messiah is believed would pass through when he comes. It is the very route Jesus had taken more than 2000 years ago on Palm Sunday before his Passion, Death and Resurrection. Photo by author, 04 May 2019.
After all the solemnities we have celebrated since the closing of Easter Season last Pentecost Sunday, we now get into the very heart of the Ordinary Time of our liturgy with St. Luke as our guide. Feel the sobriety and hint of solemnity at the start of the second part of his gospel we have heard today which is about discipleship and facing death like Jesus.
When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.
Luke 9:51
I love the way St. Luke wrote this part about Jesus “resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.” In some translations, they have retained its literal equivalent from the original Greek text that says “Jesus set his face to Jerusalem”. For Jesus, Jerusalem is where he fulfills his mission from the Father by dying on the Cross. So, if we are going to be more literal with this opening sentence by St. Luke, it would be “Jesus set his face to death.”
In fact, I have been very hesitant to write about death as a topic for my homily this Sunday because Sundays are supposed to be joyful! And that is perhaps our problem with death: we always see it as something dark and negative. (Is it not?)
Today Jesus is teaching us to see death in his perspective as something beautiful and even glorious. St. Luke saw it and is now leading us in this new approach to death as he tells us the story when “Jesus resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.”
One thing that strikes me during sick visitations in my parish and in Metro Manila is how we see death as an escape or an ending. Patients and relatives alike always tell me to pray for death to end all sufferings and pains.
When “Jesus resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,” he was not sick, physically and emotionally. He was very well and able. When he was hanging on the Cross, he did not wish death to end his pains. On the contrary, he actually faced death head on. And this is one of the very important lessons Jesus had taught and shown us: facing death, even embracing death. Recall how during his Last Supper on Holy Thursday Jesus was never caught surprised by death. He was in total control of everything.
This is the reason why Jesus accomplished so much in just three years of his ministry because he was very aware of his coming death. In coming to terms with death, Jesus lived fully even if he died at 33 years old. The same is very true with some of our saints who have died young and have accomplished so much because they have all lived to the fullest that death did not surprise them at all in their works and mission.
The “sleeping Jesus” on a bench at the entrance to Capernaum. See the wounds on his feet, markings from his crucifixion. Photo by author, 02 May 2019.
One of the new attractions at Capernaum today when you come to visit the ruins of the synagogue Jesus used to visit there during his lifetime is a park where one finds his statue sleeping on a bench at the entrance across the Franciscans’ quarters. The statue is executed artistically and realistically that passersby would drop some coins for alms in a pot near the image! The sleeping Christ on a bench depicts exactly the second part of the gospel we have heard today: there is nothing certain in this life except Jesus Christ. The sooner we come to accept and embrace this reality vis-a-vis death, the better for us.
As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nest, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
Luke 9:57-58
Discipleship is coming to terms with death, accepting its reality so that we stop wasting our lives with bitterness and resentments to start living joyfully and meaningfully in Christ. I have heard countless of times how most patients including relatives and friends would bargain for more time, for more life because they felt they have not lived fully. As they come face to face with death during sickness or an accident, they beg even for a little time to live fully, proving that “in the end, it is not the years in your life that count but the life in your years.”
Facing death like Jesus Christ is having God as our top priority. Unlike the second and third people Jesus had invited to follow him and asked his permission “to first bury his dead father” and “to first say goodbye to his family.” Jesus is not teaching us to turn away from our family and loved ones; he wants us to always have God and eternal life as our top priorities in life. Like Elisha in the first reading who slaughtered his oxen and cooked them using the yoke and plow as firewood to show he was foregoing everything to follow Elijah as a prophet.
Every disciple is a nomad following Christ, a pilgrim and sojourner whose true home is in heaven with the Father; hence, the importance of thinking always of things of the above, of heaven and of eternal life. St. Ignatius of Loyola calls it the “principle and foundation” in life wherein we do the things that would lead us to salvation and avoid things that would bring us to eternal damnation.
Of course, such a vision about life is not only contrary to the values of the world but even a folly. See how the world tells us to “just do it” and to “obey your thirst” so that we can have easy and comfortable lives, enjoying everything to the fullest by ensuring our security with material wealth. On the other hand, discipleship in Christ as St. Paul reminds us in the second reading is allowing the Holy Spirit to direct our lives because it is the spiritual things that truly fulfill us. What a tragedy especially among affluent nations we hear reports of increasing number of people committing suicides, feeling empty and lost despite their material wealth?!
Jesus alone is our joy and security. In him, trials and sufferings become blessings because they make us stronger and better persons. Most of all, death is neither an end nor an escape in Jesus but a passage to life in the fullest. This is not a simplification of the complex reality of death but an assurance that Jesus had conquered it and had made it into a blessing that we can now discuss and reflect about it.
I know that speaking about death is easier said than done. It may even be Quixotic. But, death is a reality of life we have to face and deal with, even befriend little by little as we age. Reflecting about death is a kind of death itself and at the same time a grace from God who enabled us to face it even in our limited abilities. Let us put our complete faith in Christ, following him resolutely to Jerusalem as his disciples so that when death finally comes to us, we find Jesus by our side. A blessed week to you!Amen.
