Romans 1:1-7 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 11:29-32
Crucifix at the side of the chapel of St. John Evangelist in Cana, Galilee.
Dearest Lord Jesus:
Forgive us when we forget that you are our only credential in life.
So many times, we get carried away by the world to always look into the scholastic and other credentials of people we wish to listen to and follow.
And the sad part of that is how we also tend to work for ourselves for so many achievements and titles just to have credentials so that people would believe us, people would look up to us.
Teach us to be like St. Paul in having you alone as the sole reason for whatever we do and pursue in life. Teach us to be simple like St. Paul in defending himself against detractors and critics, and in convincing others of his mission, he only had you as his credential.
Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an Apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God… Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to belong Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome called to be holy. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:1,5-7
Make us proud of you, Lord Jesus Christ!
Make us stop looking for more signs from you and from others.
Let us accept you as our Lord and Master who called us to follow you, to be like you. And sent to share your love and mercy, kindness and salvation. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe Week XXVIII-C, 13 October 2019
2 Kings 5:14-17 ><}}}*> 2 Timothy 2:8-13 ><}}}*> Luke 17:11-19
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, September 2019.
This Sunday readings tell us about the skin, the healing of people afflicted with the dreaded “Hansen’s disease” or leprosy. Since ancient time, it has always been seen with deeper implications than mere wounds on the skin that scars not only the leper but also the community. At its worst, it is regarded as a divine punishment that lepers have to be separated from others to live in designated areas for their treatment.
Skin plays a major role in our social status and mobility. Being the largest organ of the human body, the skin is always the first to be seen and noticed that whatever its condition would always have a big impact on the person, for better or for worst.
This is specially true for us Filipinos who are so concerned with our skin color that we still regard being white or maputi is maganda (beautiful) and having dark skin or maitim is pangit (ugly). No wonder everybody is going crazy to get whiter skin with all those soaps and creams and medicines advertised on billboards everywhere!
In a very funny twist unknown to most Filipinos who idolise white skin, many of our popular devotions in the Catholic faith actually have dark skin like Quiapo’s Black Nazarene and Our Lady of Antipolo?!
But, that’s another story of how skin-deep we can be…..
Going back to our reflection of today’s readings, Jesus is inviting us to go deeper than the skin to realize the richer meaning of having faith in him.
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.
Luke 17:11-16
View from the walled city of ancient Jerusalem, May 2019.
Since June 30 of this year, the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, we have been following Jesus when “he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem” (Lk.9:51). More than a destination to reach, Christ’s journey to Jerusalem is about directions in life because it is spiritual and theological in nature than spatial or geographical.
It is the same truth every pilgrim to the Holy Land realizes too!
And now that Jesus is nearing Jerusalem to fulfill his mission, his teachings are getting clearer and closer to home, indicating also our own “passing over” or pasch with him with the many verbs and movements found in our gospel scene today.
Let’s try reflecting on them one by one. Please bear with me…
“As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem” …. Jesus never stops in his journey to Jerusalem to suffer with us, to cry with us, to die with us. He is committed in being one with us in our many struggles and battles in this life until we make it with him to heaven.
“he travelled through Samaria and Galilee.” This is beautiful. Samaria and Galilee are the regions where the poor and marginalized lived, where sinners abound. But, that is where Jesus would always come. When we are in our darkest moments in life due to sickness, failures and disappointments, especially sin – that is when Jesus comes closest to us! In the first reading, we have heard how God’s Prophet Elisha told the Syrian Army General Naaman to bath in the Jordan River to be healed of his leprosy even if he were a pagan and an enemy of Israel! God loves us all.
“As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.” Keep in mind that Jesus came for the lost like us. Be open and ready for him for he is always passing by. Jesus surely comes to those who patiently wait for him.
“They stood at a distance from him, and raised their voice, saying, ‘Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!’ and when he saw them, he said, ‘Go show yourselves to the priests.’ As they were going they were cleansed.” This episode of the healing of ten lepers can only be found in St. Luke’s gospel filled with many meaningful expressions. First is how “the lepers stood at a distance from Jesus.” This is our usual stance with the Lord when we are full of sin, so ashamed to look at him. But, it does not really matter with the Lord who looks more into is our hearts full of contrition than into our ego full of pride as we shall hear three weeks from now in the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector (Lk. 18:9-14).
The lepers cried to him, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” and when Jesus saw them, he told them to see the priests and they were cleansed. This is an extraordinary profession of faith in Christ by the ten lepers who were crying out not only for pity but also mercy. There are only three instances in the gospels when Jesus is addressed in his name, once in Matthew and twice in Luke. This is the first and the second is when Dimas the thief called on him saying, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” To say his name “Jesus” in itself is a prayer, an admission of guilt and sin. That is why, as the ten lepers went their way to the priests, they were “cleansed” like Dimas on the cross was instantly promised with paradise.
“And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.”
Here we find every encounter with Jesus in prayer and the sacraments as well as in various events in our life is a passage to salvation and new life. See the transition from being cleansed into being healed: that is something deeper than the skin, so to speak. The Samaritan was not merely cleansed of his skin blemishes but most of all, his soul and inner being that Jesus later told him to “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”
Sometimes in life, we stop at being cleansed by the Lord; after obtaining our prayers and wishes, we never go back to him until we face another problem again. Are we willing to keep on going back to Jesus to kneel before him and to thank him?
Last Sunday we prayed to Jesus to increase our faith and today like the ten lepers from a distance, we cry out to him as our Master to have pity on us. We always have that gift of faith in us but we have to deepen and cultivate it daily in our prayer life and most especially in the Sunday Eucharist, the highest expression of giving thanks to God.
Let us live in our faith and trust in God’s gift freely given to everyone regardless of who we are. Let us rely in the words of St. Paul that
“if we have died with him we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him he will deny us. If we are unfaithful he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.”
Friday, Memorial of St. Pope John XXIII, 11 October 2019
Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2 ><}}}*> <*{{{>< Luke 11:15-26
Photo by author, Holy Family Chapel, Sacred Heart Novitiate in Novaliches, 2016.
Dearest Lord Jesus Christ:
Today I thank you for consoling those persecuted when in the gospel episode after you have driven out a demon, some of the crowd said:
“By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.”
Luke 11:15
Very consoling, Lord, because despite your exercise of divine power, some people still maligned you, accusing you of working with the devil?!
How could we not feel consoled when we have done nothing that can be compared close to your exorcism and yet we are also falsely accused of so many things?
I really wonder, Lord Jesus, what evil had possessed so many among us that they can fabricate so many lies, insist on their myopic views of things and events, and totally disregard the truth without any qualms at all?
From cbcpnews.net
From the ordinary verbal rumours spread by backstabbers daily everywhere to cyberbullying by trolls to spurious whistleblowers and state officials silencing those standing for what is true and just, more and more people are persecuted like you.
It is very disheartening, Lord, and we have no one to turn to except you whom the psalmist describes as the one who “would judge the world with justice”.
“Gird our loins, Lord, as we weep” (Joel 1:13), trying to bear these persecutions in your name. Help us to persevere for we know “the day of the Lord is coming” (Joel 2:1).
Through the intercession of St. John XXIII who helped so many Jews persecuted during World War II and called for world peace (Pacem in Terris) when he became the Pope in 1958, we pray in the most special way for those persecuted in our country especially our Bishops and priests, as well as professionals like doctors and teachers silently serving your flock.
Keep them close to your heart, Jesus, because you told us
“Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.”
I was a newly ordained priest assigned to an all-boys’ high school in 1998.
People were looking up to me as a priest or a “man of the cloth” but my students and the younger generation counted me in as “one of them” when they learned my favorite bands at that time were the Eraserheads, Sugar Ray, and New Radicals. And like this blog, I would spice up my homilies in the Mass and reflections in class and recollections with modern music so our students could make “sakay” (ride) with God’s words and lessons from the Bible.
Just like our featured song on this lovely Sunday by the New Radicals released in 1999 from the only album they have released a year earlier called “Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too”, “Someday We’ll Know” is a song about love at the beginning was thought to be so perfect that later ended up in separation.
Two years after their split, the man was still wondering what happened to their seemingly perfect love, at why he was dumped for another guy by his beloved.
And the bittersweet part is the that the man in the song is wondering not out of desperation but because he still loved the woman, believing and hoping that…
Someday we’ll know Why Sampson loved Delilah One day I’ll go Dancing on the moon Someday you’ll know That I was the one for you I bought a ticket to the end of the rainbow I watched the stars crash into the sea If I could ask God just one question Why aren’t you here with me
Faith and love always go together. People who truly love are the most faithful!
In the gospel today, the Apostles asked Jesus Chris to increase their faith upon learning from him the many trials they have to go through in fulfilling their mission from him.
Sometimes in life when things do not go according to our plans, when bad things happen to us despite our efforts to become better persons, we cry out to God in pain, even complain at all the destruction and disorder we go through in life.
And every time we pray to cry out to God in pain or complain, it is a sign of grace that he is within us. Prayer is an ability we can only do with grace from God; that is why, when we pray, our prayers are already half answered because prayer is definite sign of God being with us.
When things are not going well with you now, have faith in God.
Keep praying, keep believing, keep trusting God because someday we’ll know….
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 04 Oktubre 2019
Mula sa Be Like Francis Page sa Facebook.
Minsan daw ay nagimbal kaibigang Kardinal ni San Francicso na banal nang kanyang malaman dukha nilang pamumuhay na sa kanyang palagay labis na kahirapan hindi naman dapat nilang pagdaanan.
Katuwirang ipinaliwanag ni San Francisco kay Kardinal Hugolino kay gandang pagnilayan sa malalim nitong kahulugan: "kung tayo'y maraming kayamanan," aniya ng ating banal "kakailangan din natin mga sandata upang mga ito'y ipaglaban at pangalagaan."
Sa kanyang isipan at banal na kalooban, ang pag-ibig ay namamatay kapag tao'y nagkamal maraming ari-arian; hanapin kanyang paliwanag kung masasagot kanyang mga katanungan na tila bugtong di lamang sa isipan kungdi pati na rin sa puso at kalooban:
"Mapagnanakawan mo ba na tao na walang ano man? Maari mo bang gutumin ang nag-aayuno? Mayroon ka bang sisirain sa taong namumuhi sa parangal at pagkilala? Ano nga ba magagawa sa taong aba at dukha?"
Para kay San Francisco ang mga dukha ang tunay na malaya kayang ipaubaya lahat pati sarili sa Bathala upang makagawa ng kabutihan sa kapwa na siyang simula ng ating kapatiran at ugnayan pati sa kalikasan.
Mula sa Reuters.
Sa ating panahon ngayon karukhaan ay pinag-uusapan batay sa kawalan ng ari-arian na kabaligtaran ng kung ano mayroon ang mayayaman na kadalasan mga bagay nabibilang at nabibili gaya ng kapangyarihan.
Ngunit kung ating pagninilayan ano mang mayroon ang mayaman ay wala pa rin o "NOTHING" kung Inglesin natin dahil ang higit na mahahalaga ay hindi nakikita ni nabibili o nabibilang gaya ng pera at iba pang kayamanan.
Gayun din naman hindi masasabi ng sino man na siya ay dukha at "walang wala" ika nga dahil kung tutuusin natin ang lahat ay palaging mayroon pa rin o "SOMETHING" kung Inglesin din natin.
Harinawa'y mapagtanto natin sa pagdiriwang ng kapistahan ni San Francisco na butihin ito mismong buhay natin ay dakilang kayamanan na dapat ipagpasalamat natin sa karukhaan ng loobing maialay gaya ng Panginoon Hesus natin.
Ang Krus ng kapilya ng San Damiano na isinaayos ni San Francisco batay sa tinig na kanyang narinig habang nananalangin doon.
Friday, Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, 04 October 2019
Baruch 1:15-22 ><)))*> 0 <*(((>< Luke 10:13-16
One of the scenes from Benozzo Gozzoli’s series of frescoes from the life of St. Francis (1450) that captures the saint’s “Sermon to the Birds” and the dedication of his basilica at Assisi. Photo from Google.
Praise and glory to you, Lord God our loving Father for this week about to close with the celebration of another great saint, Francis of Assisi.
Two things I wish to thank you in giving us St. Francis of Assisi.
First is his total dedication in listening to you alone.
St. Francis accomplished so much for you and had so much impact not only to the Church but for the whole world until now because he intently listened to your voice, to your calls, and to your instructions.
It does not really matter if he got your words literally or figuratively speaking like when he was praying inside San Damiano chapel and heard your voice saying, “Go, Francis, and repair my house, which you see, is falling into ruins.”
Or, when St. Francis finally found his vocation in life after listening to Matthew 10:9 in the Mass and felt you Jesus speaking directly to him to go preach the kingdom of God without extra clothes and money that right after that, he threw everything away to preach penance, brotherly love, and peace.
How ironic that in this world of modern means of communications, the more we have become fragmented than ever because we have lost the values of silence, prayer and listening to self, others, and you, O Lord.
Jesus said to them, “Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
Luke 10:16
Teach us, dear Jesus to be poor and empty like St. Francis so we may always open our ears and our hearts to seek your voice, to listen to your words, and most of all, to follow your will.
From Be Like Francis at Facebook.
Second thing I am so grateful with you Lord in giving us St. Francis is his deep sense of gratitude to you that he was able to see our universal brotherhood in you God our Father.
Did he really preach to hundreds of birds and told them to be thankful to you dear God for their freedom and for your care to them? I believe it must be true because where there is gratitude, there comes peace and serenity that attract than dispel people and animals alike.
Teach us to be grateful with whatever we have, Lord because the moment we learn to thank you and anyone here on earth, then we we realize our being one. In his gratitude for your wonderful gifts to him, St. Francis not only embraced you Jesus on the Cross but also saw everyone as family with brother Sun and sister Moon, brother Wind and sister Water. And even cousin Death.
Again, O Lord, in this age of affluence, the more we feel empty and lacking as we tend to acquire more of material things. Teach us to repent for our sins like St. Francis and Baruch in the first reading, to acknowledge everything we have including our sins.
It is only in being thankful that we are able to realize who truly reigns in us like St. Francis. Amen.
Our loving Father, today I pray to you for more understanding of your words like the first reading.
Twice successively Nehemiah told us how
Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly which consisted of men, women, and those children old enough to understand.
Nehemiah 8:2, 3
Then, a few more verses, your prophet tells us
Ezra reads plainly from the book of the law of God, interpreting it so that all could understand what was read.
Nehemiah 8:8
Until, finally, Nehemiah concludes today’s reading with a solemn pronouncement:
Then all the people went to eat and drink, to distribute portions, and to celebrate with great joy, for they understood the words that had been expounded to them.
Nehemiah 8:12
Dearest God, I pray for all who read and pray our blog each day. I pray that they may understand your words.
Most especially, I pray for us priests and lay preachers to always read, study, and pray your words.
Let us be the first to understand your words by praying that you, being the “harvest-master”, to send more laborers for your harvest.
Most of all, to truly understand your words, O God, let us be emptied of ourselves so we may only be focused on Jesus Christ, the word who became flesh. He alone is the one we must preach and share in word and in deed. Amen.
Feast of St. Andrew Kim Taegon and Companion Martyrs, 20 September 2019
1 Timothy 6:2-12 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 8:1-3
St. Andrew Kim Taegon, first Korean priest with his lay associate St. Paul Chong Hasan with 113 other Koreans died as martyrs between 1839 and 1867.
Thank you very much Lord Jesus for this wonderful Friday… not because it is the end of another week of work and studies but most of all, to remind us in this modern time how we must still confess our faith in you with the feast of the first Korean martyrs led by their first native-born priest St. Andrew Kim Taegon and his lay associate St. Paul Chong Hasan.
Every time we think of Korea, first things that come to our minds are their modern technologies and their very hip K-Pop culture.
How beautiful to reflect that deep in their modernity are the blood spilled and values instilled by their early Christians who have truly followed St. Paul’s admonition to St. Timothy.
But you, man of God, avoid all this. Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:11-12
Amid the modern life we now have, remind us always Lord like St. Paul that our fulfillment lies in you alone who is coming back again at the end of time. As we await for your return, may we live out our faith in you amid the changing times, always holding on to things of the above and eternal that never change and shall remain the same.
Like your women companion in your ministry, teach us Jesus to remain simple in following you without much fanfare and pomp pageantry. Amen.
1 Timothy 3:14-16 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 7:31-35
Cross atop Dominican Hills overlooking Baguio City, January 2019.
Lord Jesus Christ, how I wish we have a very reassuring and powerful St. Paul by our side these days when your Church comes under attacks from the outside and even from the inside.
Beloved: I am writing you, although I hope to visit you soon. But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.
1 Timothy 3:14-15
How unfortunate that our leaders in the Church and other institutions seem to be so silent these days amid the ongoing attacks against your “household” by SOGIE Bill and the Divorce and Dissolution of Marriage Bill.
How unfortunate also is the growing indifference within your “household” with these raging issues today that we are like what you have described in the gospel:
“To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge , but you did not weep.”
Luke 7:31-32
Give us the strength and courage to stand for what is true in keeping our faith alive amid the rising tides of progressivism and modernity not only in the society but even within your household, Lord.
Let us follow more your voice, taking into our hearts the seriousness of these attacks on faith and morals that totally disregard your existence and plans. Amen.
Colossians 3:12-17 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 6:27-38
Sacred Heat Novitiate (Novaliches), July 2016.
It is only Thursday, Lord Jesus Christ, but suddenly your Most Sacred Heart came to mind, especially this beautiful hymn:
Heart of Jesus, meek and mild Hear, O hear, Thy feeble child, When the tempest’s most severe, Heart of Jesus, hear!
Sweetly we’ll rest on Thy Sacred Heart, Never from Thee, oh let us part, Hear then Thy loving children’s pray’r, O Heart of Jesus, Heart of Jesus, hear!
Everyday, Lord, we think of the clothes we would wear and too often, our choices seem endless, taking so much of our time so we would always look good to others.
Today, O Lord, I pray, you clothe me with your person: through your “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, may everything I do be done in your most holy name, O Jesus”, (Col. 3:12, 17).
From Google.
To be clothed in you, O Lord Jesus, means to see the good in others than to see myself as the only one good.
To be clothed in you, O Jesus, is to get into the very heart of your gospel message of “loving our enemies” (Lk.6:27). It is the most radical words in your preaching that seems so impossibly hard for us to follow – unless we are clothed in you, O Christ.
That is why it is very important for us to be clothed in you, Jesus, because loving our enemies is the clearest expression we are your disciples, that is, Christians in the truest sense.
Help us to take off our clothes of pride and selfishness, our clothes of greed and insecurities that make us want more than what we have and what we need, and thus lead to our making enemies because we try to possess and defend.
Instead, let us be clothed in you, Jesus, so that we become poor like you with nothing to keep except everything to give and share.
In that manner, we become open and hospitable instead of being hostile with others. Amen.
