Category: faith

God is gracious

The Lord Is My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe, 23 December 2019

Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 1:57-66

Facade of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Eim Karen where the precursor of the Lord was born. Not to be confused with Church of the Visitation at its other side in the same town. Photo by author, May 2019

Two days before Christmas, St. Luke brings us back to the continuation of his first story about Christmas: the birth of John the Baptizer.

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.

Luke 1:57-64
Site where St. John the Baptist is believed to have been born. Photo by author, May 2019.

Where is God leading me?

Christmas is almost here. And it is not yet too late in these last two days of Advent that we try some “last ditch efforts” to spiritually prepare ourselves for this joyous season by asking just one question following the story of John’s birth:

“Where is God leading me?”

See the artistry of St. Luke, at how he began his Christmas story with the annunciation of the birth of John to his father Zechariah while incensing the Holy of Holies of the Temple in Jerusalem.

He doubted the good news and he was silenced by the angel until John was born.

Today, after three days, or nine months to be exact, St. Luke brings him back into the scene set free from his punishment. Zechariah was able to speak again when he concurred with his wife’s desire to name their child John by writing it on a tablet.

The name John in Hebrew is Jehohan which means “God is gracious” or “graciousness of God”.

Advent and Christmas are a story of how each one of us is a John, a graciousness of God, of us people so blessed by God to fulfill his promise of salvation in Jesus Christ.

But do we realize the many blessings we have from God?

The other night I saw an interesting post on Facebook from one of my former students in high school. It was from a woman sharing her experience while waiting in line at an ATM that has now gone viral.

She claimed that at first, she felt so bad at what was taking three people so long at the ATM to withdraw their cash. But when she got nearer, she overheard their conversations.

It turned out the three were given a bonus of Php 2000.00 each by their boss.

And they were extremely happy, so thankful, telling each other how they would prepare spaghetti and fruit salad on Christmas eve!

And the woman who posted the photo realized how those simple folks were so thankful for Php 2000.00 bonus when she and others like her who get more than that amount still complain?!

Very nice reflection!

Advent gives us four weeks to remember God’s graciousness to us this past year. The bountiful blessings we have had which we take for granted. Worst, we even complain with!

Altar of the Church of St. John the Baptist, Israel. When we came there last May, it was being closed for major restorations expected to last for years.

Whenever we see and count our blessings, do we ever thank God and ask him too where he is leading us to?

Zechariah was already old, had a great chance of incensing the Holy of Holies at their most important feast, doubted God’s grace but eventually still received it after nine months of silence.

By his action, Zechariah had shown how he had grown in faith during those nine months of “forced silence”, of how he had start to believe again in God, hope again, and practically live life anew!

Tremendous graces in just nine months being silent. Imagine that.

And we can have more grace today until tomorrow being silent, reflecting, praying as we count one by one the many blessings we have received this year.

Call it ageing gracefully, a grace in itself wherein as we grow old, we continue to find direction in life, we continue to find God leading us to him, for a specific mission to fulfill.

Dome of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Israel. Photo by author, May 2019.

Yesterday we have reflected that we are like St. Joseph entrusted with a special mission from God. That God “needs” us to bring Jesus, to care and protect Jesus here in the world. Each of us has a special part or role to play in God’s Divine plan in Jesus Christ.

Never lose hope in life. No matter what is our situation in life, God continues to work in us, working for us, inviting us to work with him.

It is interesting to know that the name Zechariah means “God remembers” while Elizabeth means “God has promised or vowed”.

If their names are brought together, we can see the complete picture why St. Luke started his Christmas story with Zechariah, Elizabeth, and John and not with Jospeh or Mary right away: they all mean “God is gracious because he remembers his promise always”!

May we always trust God and ask him where he is leading each of us this Christmas no matter what is our status in life. Amen.

Advent is finding our mission anew

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, Advent IV-A, 22 December 2019

Isaiah 7:10-14 ><}}}*> Romans 1:1-7 ><}}}*> Matthew 1:18-24

Dome of the Malolos Cathedral Basilica, Advent 2019. Photo by author.

We are now at the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the final week of preparations for Christmas happening in about three days. And we go back to the gospel of Matthew to reflect anew on the annunciation of Christ’s birth to Joseph.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

Matthew 1:18-21,24

As we look toward the coming Christmas Day, the story of the annunciation to Joseph invites us to examine ourselves, to look inside and look back through the years what have we done to bring Jesus Christ into the world like him.

Though Advent celebrates God’s fidelity and constancy in fulfilling his plan of salvation for us through Jesus Christ, this coming involves a human setting among us in the present time to realize its fulfillment.

Dream of St. Joseph (oil on canvas) by Spanish painter Francisco Goya via Google.

St. Joseph’s mission, our mission too

When the angel appeared to Joseph in his dream, it was not so much to explain to him about Mary’s virginal conception but to reveal to him his mission. Very clearly, Mary’s conception of Jesus is absolutely extraordinary, a mystery directly from God himself.

And that is how it is with life: there are certain things we simply have to let ourselves be wrapped by mystery than to unravel or explain it.

Like the Blessed Virgin Mary whom he loves so much, Joseph believed in God, agreeing to what was asked of him that upon waking up, he obediently did everything the angel had instructed him.

Joseph’s acceptance of Mary and of his role in giving name to Jesus brings to an end the genealogy of “Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham” because in the Jewish society, it is the father who bears much weight in recognizing one’s child.

Here we find the crucial and critical importance of Joseph’s mission in giving name to Jesus, in taking Mary as wife: it is through his “fatherhood” that Christ comes into the world as a person, and most of all, as fulfillment of God’s promise made to Abraham and David.

Last Tuesday we have reflected how through Jesus Christ’s coming we now trace our genealogy and roots with God in faith. As children of our loving Father, we too are now entrusted with the same mission like Joseph to bring Jesus Christ into the world in our own time and history.

Altar of the Chapel of St. Joseph beside the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Below the chapel are the ancient ruins of the home and shop of St. Joseph where he took care of Mary and Jesus. Photo by author May 2017.

Called to obedient faith

Salvation history continues and it is our duty to find our proper place in God’s plan like Joseph. The story of Christmas continues to our time that is why we have this Advent Season of preparation.

God has not diminished that great honor and privilege given to Joseph then and to us now of having an irreplaceable role in bringing Jesus into the world but this time, not through dream or voice of an angel. God continues to call us like Joseph to bring his plan of salvation in Jesus into fulfillment through our obedient faith through the Sacred Scriptures, the Church in her teachings and most of all, through the many situations and people we encounter in life.

We have to believe and accept this reality that “God needs us”, that the “baby Jesus” wants us to care for him, to give him a name so that “his glory would be eventually revealed for mankind to see the saving power of God” (communion antiphon of Christmas Eve).

St. Paul beautifully tells us in the second reading a very basic profession of faith affirming Jesus Christ as the Son of God descended from David through Joseph according to the flesh (Rom.1:1-4).

Through Jesus, we are called to “bring about obedience of faith” to spread this “good news to all Gentiles” or peoples of the world that they may honor and worship the Lord.

And the good news is this: despite or many flaws and weaknesses, all he needs is our complete faith and surrender to him like St. Joseph. It is Jesus Christ who shall provide us with the strength to fulfill this mission just like what he did to St. Joseph.

From Aleteia, 18 December 2019.

Hail to the fathers and men too

Last December 17 as the whole Church was proclaiming the gospel from Matthew on the genealogy of Jesus Christ, Pope Francis celebrated his 83rd birthday when he was presented with a unique Nativity scene called “Let Mum Rest” with St. Joseph taking care of the infant Jesus while Mary slept.

It went viral, and again, another unique imagery of the beloved St. Joseph courtesy of Pope Francis, a devotee of the Lord’s foster father. When he came to visit the Philippines in 2015, he narrated how he would pray to the sleeping St. Joseph and it became viral in the country.

And now this new image of St. Jospeh babysitting.

It is a very timely image at this time when there is a crisis in fatherhood, when many fathers have to make the difficult choice of leaving their families behind to work in distant places, often foreign countries just to earn decent living.

A crisis when fathers forget caring and loving their families because of the many demands of a high cost of living that along the way, they fall into many traps that sometimes make them forget their vows of marriage.

We need to pray hard for fathers and men. They too are blessed by God like St. Joseph.

We need to pray hard for fathers and men to help them remain upright like St. Joseph.

When Jesus began his ministry, he taught us the “Our Father” to show us that God is like a father because life comes from him. It is from the father that we receive the seeds of life with that genetic code called “DNA”. This is the reason why it is the father who gives name to the child at baptism like St. Joseph to Jesus.

Secondly, Jesus called God “our Father” because he is the one who protects and keeps life from dangers. He must have experienced this from St. Joseph who brought them to Egypt when Herod ordered the massacre of Holy Innocents after the visit by the Magi in Bethlehem. Fathers are often strict with children because he wants to ensure their safety.

Most of all, Jesus called God “our Father” because he is the one who brings back life to those who have lost it like the merciful father to his prodigal son (Lk.15).

How many times did our father saved us from scolding and punishment by our mother, from the simple misdemeanors to grave offenses like going wayward in life? It is often the father, ironically, despite his being strict and disciplinarian, who also has the softest heart for the prodigal child.

May St. Joseph help us men to be man enough to be faithful to God and loved ones to make everyone feel the love and mercy of the Father in heaven as revealed to us by Jesus Christ. Amen.

Transforming presence of God

The Lord Is My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe, 20 December 2019

Isaiah 7:10-14 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 1:26-38

Manor House, Camp John Hay, December 2017. Photo by author.

One reason Christmas is the most favorite time of the year is its colors. From houses to malls and almost every building, one can find a spectacular display of different colors and lights that brighten everyone.

But everything changes when one enters the church.

Advent is so different. Color is violet near the deep blue shade to signify the importance of conversion and penance that lead into transformation while the colors of the world found in malls are about money and material things.

Our parish sanctuary area, Advent 2019.

God takes initiative

We have seen yesterday in St. Luke’s first Christmas story how God entered through human activities and history for the coming of Jesus Christ by first announcing the birth of his precursor, St. John the Baptizer.

But today, in his second Christmas story which is the Annunciation of the birth of Jesus to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Lukes shows us how God is now acting on his own. Of course, God always takes the initiatives in life being the “prime mover”.

But in announcing the birth of Jesus, God went “out of his way” so to speak to bring us this tremendous grace of Christmas as he would always do in many instances in our lives.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with yo.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus .”

Luke 1:26-31
Mosaic of the Annunciation to Mary at the Shrine of St. Padre Pio at Rotondo, Italy. Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago, 2018.

So different from yesterday’s story of the annunciation of the birth of John the Baptizer to Zechariah, let us see how God took the initiative in the annunciation in the birth of Jesus to Mary.

  1. Zechariah was a priest while Mary was a commoner. It was natural for God to work through his ministers but in choosing Mary an ordinary woman was something else not because of any special quality she had but simply because God is good. The angel clearly told this to Mary, “you have found favor with God”. God does not call the qualified but he qualifies the call!
  2. God used the setting of the Temple of Jerusalem in yesterday’s account because that is where he is supposed to dwell but today, everything happened in a very simple house in Nazareth, the only place of significance and importance in the New Testament never mentioned in the Old Testament. It was a place looked down upon by many like St. Bartholomew asking Philip, “can anyone good come from Nazareth?”
  3. There was a major feast going on, the Yom Kippur, with a lot of people present when Zechariah was informed of the birth of John; Mary was alone in her house when the angel came to announce to her the birth of Jesus on the six months after going to Zechariah.

Intense Presence of God and of Mary

Usually, as we have seen yesterday in the annunciation of the birth of John, God always acted in silence and hiddenness. He blends and flows with world history as well as with our own personal histories.

But, there are times even in our own experiences when God really pulls something extraordinary, a miracle to bless us, to save us.

That was the case in the Annunciation to Mary. God “freely acted on his own” for the good news to happen, regardless of whoever was the king of Judea or emperor of Rome. He set the stage and everything for the fulfillment of his plan of salvation for us.

And the very good thing here is we find a perfect congruence or an equilibrium wherein, God was intensely present and so was Mary.

In the annunciation of John’s birth, God was very much present answering the prayers of his parents but Zechariah was miserably absent, doubting the good news!

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:38

God is always coming to us in many instances and persons who come to our lives. Are we present to him?

Notice how she entered into a dialogue with the angel Gabriel in explaining how things would happen. She was so open and so absorbed too as if the Holy Spirit must have had a perfect landing on her that she became pregnant with Jesus!

It sounds funny but that was how it happened because tomorrow, we would hear St. Luke telling us how Mary hurriedly went off to see her cousin Elizabeth, meaning there was a transforming change that occurred in Mary right away!

And that is how God truly works – if we can be truly open like Mary with God’s intense presence, we can experience overnight conversion and transformation that we have heard experienced by many unbelievers, sinners, addicts of all kinds. All they could say was there was a very brief moment when they felt God so intensely present and boom! everything changed for the best.

Mary believed

Mary was not only open to God but most of all, she has always believed in him. See how St. Luke tells us after the Annunciation, “then the angel departed from her”, never to come again to inform her of special messages from God unlike St. Joseph.

After the Annunciation, Mary was left on her own in the sense that all she had was her firm faith in God through Jesus Christ her Son.

Mary believed in everything that was spoken to her! It was all she had up to the foot of the Cross when Christ died, when she waited with the apostles in Jerusalem for the Pentecost and in all her other apparitions later. She has always believed in Jesus her Son.

Today, we complain a lot of people no longer believing in God, leaving the Church, refusing to pray and celebrate the sacraments.

Perhaps it is about time for us to ask our very selves too, especially us your priests and pastors as well as the parents: do we truly believe what we are doing, what we are practicing as Catholics?

It is always easy to say we believe in God like King Ahaz in the first reading who refused to ask God for signs that Israel would be delivered from the advancing Babylonians.

It was merely a “show” because Ahaz had already entered into alliance with small kingdoms to fight the Babylonian invaders. He had never believed God or his Prophet Isaiah; hence, Israel was conquered and crushed as a nation, thrown into exile in Babylon for a long time.

A Filipino painting of the Annunciation to Mary on a wall facing the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Photo by author May 2017.

God’s power and his intense presence can only work in proportion with the faith we have. This is what Jesus had told the apostles when they asked him to “increase their faith”: “If you have the faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to the mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and panted in the sea,’ and it would obey you” (Lk.17:5-6).

In another instance, the apostles failed to cast away the demon possessing the son of a certain man. After Jesus had driven away the evil spirit, his apostles came to him in private to ask, “Why could we not cast it out? And Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your little faith'” (Mt.17:19).

Like Mary, let us believe wholly to God by giving our whole selves to him. Let us create a room in ourselves for God so he can be present in us and transform us like Mary. Amen.

IQ, EQ, and AQ

The Lord Is My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe, 18 December 2019

Jeremiah 23:5-8 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 1:18-24

Mosaic at the Chapel of St. Jerome, underneath the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem where St. Jerome lived while studying and translating the Bible into Latin. It is believed to be the place where St. Joseph received in a dream the message of the angel for him to take Mary as his wife. Photo by the author, May 2017.

First, we were told for a very long time the importance of IQ or “Intelligence Quotient” for anyone’s success in life.

Then came the EQ or “Emotional Quotient” this past decade that experts claim has more impact in determining one’s success in life than the IQ.

Now, scientists are claiming that more important than the IQ and the EQ is “AQ” or “Adversarial Quotient”, our ability to respond to various adversarial situations in life.

According to the proponents of AQ, the better we are able to deal with life’s troublesome situations like handling crises involving our many forms of relationships, the better we are equipped in having a more fuller life.

Dream of St. Joseph (Oil on canvas) by Francisco Goya. From Google.

Today we hear the story of St. Joseph facing an extremely adversarial situation when Mary who was betrothed to him was found pregnant with a baby not his!

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.”

Matthew 1:18-20

IQ + EQ + AQ = HQ

St. Matthew describes St. Joseph a “righteous man” or, in Jewish thought, a holy man, a saint who lives his life according to the word of God. Also known as a zaddik in Hebrew, a righteous man delights in the Torah (Law), entrusting everything to God.

According to the Book of Psalms’ first chapter, a righteous man or a zaddik is like a tree planted near a river bank that symbolizes God’s words, growing into maturity with good fruits because he is filled with God, putting into practice the Sacred Scriptures and the Laws.

That is precisely what holiness is all about: being filled with God, not being sinless!

Though holiness means being perfect and whole as its Greek origin tells us, holiness as preached by Jesus Christ is an ongoing process when he commanded us to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt.5:48).

Holiness does not happen overnight; it takes time and a lot of cultivation on our part.

(One rule of thumb, though, that we must keep in mind: if you think or feel you are holy, definitely you are not. Saints do not know they are saints.)

IQ, EQ, and now AQ are in a sense, scientific expressions of holiness, of being filled with God to become better persons.

During the Solemnity of St. Joseph last year, Pope Francis issued “Gaudete et Exsultate” to reiterate Vatican II’s universal call to holiness by proposing practical ways in our modern time on how to be holy based on the beatitudes of Jesus Christ.

The Lord asks everything of us, and in return he offers us true life, the happiness for which we were created. He wants us to be saints and not to settle for a bland and mediocre existence. The call to holiness is present in various ways from the very first pages of the Bible. We see it expressed in the Lord’s words to Abraham: “Walk before me, and be blameless” (Gen 17:1).

Gaudete et Exsultate, 1

Very interesting in our Simbang Gabi is how the Pope mentions Abraham, the very beginning of Jesus Christ’s genealogy, as a model of holiness now being expressed in our gospel by the last person in that genealogy, St. Joseph!

St. Joseph bridged faith and practice

St. Joseph is exactly that kind of Jewish zaddik who lived in constant dialogue with God in praying the Scriptures, concretely living it minus the legalisms of the Pharisees and scribes of his time.

For him, the Torah was a good news meant to make life better, not bitter by applying it to daily living which is to love by preserving life.

In dealing with his extremely adversarial situation, St. Joseph did the most important step we have totally disregarded these days: silently pray to God for guidance and grace.

As a man, one can just imagine the many thoughts running through St. Joseph’s mind and heart when the woman he loves so much is found with a baby not his.

Sunrise at Atok, Benguet. Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, September 2019.

His decision to silently leave Mary was due to his great love for her, not in disregarding the letters of the Law that declares that any woman betrothed to a man who bears a child not his must be stoned to death.

Read again St. Matthew’s account we have quoted above and you will feel the solemnity of the scene, of “how the birth of Jesus Christ came about” according to St. Matthew.

There was no sense of agitation or any other negative vibes, purely positive.

Very clear, St. Joseph’s holiness was not merely due to his bloodline or genealogy but his decision to bridge his faith and religion with his life and daily practice.

St. Joseph must be so purely absorbed in prayer that even at his sleep, there was his continuing communing with God that when he woke up, “he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus” (Mt.1:24-25).

Finding holiness in adversarial situations

Almost every month we find in social media so many videos and reports of road rage and people freaking out everywhere.

Sometimes I think that with the presence of too many CCTV’s and prevalence of smart phones around, people should be more well behaved, more kind. But the exact opposite is happening!

Life has become one big, giant TV show with everybody grandstanding, artificially creating their own limelight of fame that usually turns into five minutes of shame and notoriety.

Everybody wants to be on TV or Youtube but unknown to many, television screens tend to bring out the worst in us.

Whenever I would see people with their smartphones taking pictures, “talking alone” and doing all those crazy scenes, I fear how most of us have drifted away from our real gounding in life, God.

The story of St. Joseph reminds us of the need to resolve every issues in our lives by going back to our roots and grounding, God. And this happens by being deeply in touch with life and its realities! He was truly grounded and knew what could happen to Mary.

The more we experience life in each other, the more we experience God.

And the more we look at God, the more we see others.

Such was the holiness of St. Joseph that in bridging his faith with his daily life, the deeper his love for God and Mary grew! In looking up to God, the more he saw Mary and so Jesus Christ came too!

Photo from Forbes.com via FB, June 2019.

This is the problem of our time: we keep on looking outside, somewhere else to find meaning and life, answers to our many questions.

We just have to look inside our hearts where God truly dwells like St. Joseph.

His being “whole” as a righteous man is the reason why he could sleep soundly in the midst of many crises in life as he completely trusted God. Indeed, St. Joseph’s silence is his most remarkable sign of holiness that even in his sleep, he is filled with God.

There are four instances in the gospel of St. Matthew when the angel spoke to St. Joseph to deliver messages from God. He can sleep soundly because he never dilly-dallied with important decisions in life like secretly divorcing Mary.

We cannot sleep not because we have big problems but because we refuse to make decisions about them.

The word crisis is from the Greek krisis that means “requiring decision”; hence, critical situations require decisions.

St. Joseph was decisive because he was always grounded in God, discerning always his holy will.

Photo by GMA News editor Ms. JJ Jimeno of a man losing his head in prayer at the UP Diliman Parish, June 2019.

In the first reading we heard the prophecy of the coming Christ who shall be called “the Lord our justice” (Jer.22:6). Again, in Jewish thought, justice is not merely giving what is due but also means holiness.

The coming Christ is the Holy One of God, one who would completely entrust himself to the Father on the Cross. Very much like his foster father, St. Joseph who trusted God completely.

Sleeping and dying are essentially the same in the closing of our eyes when we entrust ourselves to God completely without knowing what will happen next, if we would still wake up or, in the case of death, really rise again.

Christmas happens, Jesus comes to us when like St. Joseph we abandon everything to God, especially our “adversarial situations” and go to sleep to be ready and prepared for new, unexpected, and even incredible things in this life. Sleep tight, and be surprised by the Lord! Amen.

Pope Francis, Gaudete et Exsultate, paragraph 32.

What is in a name?

The Lord Is My Chef Simbang Gabi Recipe, 17 December 2019

Genesis 49:2.8-10 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 1:1-17

Parokya ng Banal na Mag-Anak, Violeta Village, Guiguinto, Bulacan. Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago.

Today we shift our focus in our Advent preparations to the first coming of Jesus Christ when he was born in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago. Strictly speaking, the Christmas countdown officially starts only today especially with our very long but beautiful gospel from Matthew.

Maybe you are wondering what’s good with our gospel today when it is all about names that mostly sound very funny.

Importance of names: origin and mission

In ancient time, giving name to children was a very serious matter among peoples, especially the Jews.

For them, a name indicates two very important things about a person: one’s origin and mission in life, something parents of today have entirely forgotten, even ignorant because they are more concerned with fad and being unique in naming their children that always end up as a joke as it is always bizarre and weird.

And their poor kid suffers for the rest of his/her life like that man named “Fantastic”. All his life he felt so sad being called Fantastic that he told his wife when he dies, never put his name on his tombstone.

Eventually Mr. Fantastic died and the wife kept her promise not to put his name on his marker. But she felt the need to honor her beloved husband who was so good and honest that in lieu of his name, she asked a tribute written to honor him.

It said, “Here lies a very gentle and loving husband and father who never looked at other women except his wife.”

Every time passersby see and read that tribute, they would always exclaim “Fantastic!”

From Google.

Going back to the importance of giving names….

Corporations are more serious than parents in choosing names and trademarks to their products and services. Every trademark and brand always evokes deeper meanings than just being a product or entity that some of them have entered the vocabulary of many languages like Google, Xerox, and Frigidaire.

And the sad thing about this is how many babies are now being named to follow things and products than the other way around, giving more value to things than human beings!

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.

Matthew 1:1-2
Detail of the ceiling of Parokya ng Banal na Mag-anak after the front or main door: the genealogy of Jesus Christ that starts with Abraham. Great concept by the Parish Priest, Fr. Ed Rodriguez. Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago.

Genealogy of Jesus as direction of Matthew’s Gospel

St. Matthew opens his gospel account with the genealogy of Jesus to settle right at the very start the question about the origin and mission of Jesus Christ.

Here we find the artistry and genius of St. Matthew, some 2000 years ahead of the late Stephen Covey’s third habit of highly effective people: “begin with an end in mind.”

By starting his genealogy with Abraham and David, St. Matthew gives us the whole gospel message in a glance because they are the two key figures in the beginning and realization of God’s promise to send Jesus Christ who would save us all.

Let us just focus on Abraham which means “he who is the father of many.”

It was to him that the story of God’s promise began after the dispersal of mankind following the collapse of the Tower of Babel.

From then on, Abraham points to what is ahead in God’s divine plan, not only for himself but also for the whole mankind for it is through him that blessings come to all. His journey from his birthplace of Ur into Canaan is symbolic of his journey from the present into the future, walking in faith following the Lord’s path and divine plan.

In Abraham we find God starting anew the history of mankind after the Fall that leads up to Jesus Christ who came to lead us all back into the Father.

With Abraham as the main header of Christ’s genealogy, we find not only the beginning but also the end of St. Matthew’s gospel which is the universality of God’s plan of salvation with Jesus telling his disciples to make disciples of all nations (Mt.28:19).

Detail of the ceiling near the sanctuary of Parokya ng Banal na Mag-Anak, the culmination of the genealogy of Jesus. Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago.

Imitating Abraham into our time

Last December 10 was a very important date for me and my parish: it was the ordination date of our first priest.

While waiting for the start of the Mass at the front door (which is actually the back of the Cathedral or any church), I just prayed in silence thinking about my role in the ordination of Fr. RA Valmadrid.

While I marveled at the beautiful renovations of our Cathedral, my sight was slowly moved towards the altar.

It was like an “Abraham experience” in Matthew’s genealogy for me: a wayfarer on a journey into the future, towards God, walking in faith.

In a quick glance, I kind of saw the future glory of every faithful coming to the altar to receive Jesus Christ in the sacraments especially the Holy Eucharist.

I just felt the beauty of entering the Cathedral, or any church which is more than stepping into a building but more of entering God himself, our point of origin and final destination.

Do we realize this tremendous blessing and grace of being baptized, of being a child of God, not only given with a name but most of all, of being counted into the family of God our Father?

In the first reading we have heard Jacob calling his 12 sons. What is so striking here is the blessing Jacob had bestowed upon Judah, instead of Joseph who was the best of all his sons, the holiest and most intelligent.

Like Abraham and Judah, or anyone in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, we can find our own selves too not as the vida or contravida but simply being called to be God’s instrument in fulfilling his plan in sending his Son Jesus Christ.

Truth is, God always comes in the most unexpected situations and peoples most of the time.

In Christ Jesus through our Baptism and faith, we find our genealogy – our origin and mission – as children of God.

If you want to get a feel of this reality, try reading aloud, very slowly, the genealogy of Jesus Christ. At the end, include your self, mention your name, your mother and father. Then close your eyes and let your life flash back in silence.

In the silence of your heart, do you find God coming more to you than you to God?

So amazing, is it not? We are all part of Christ’s genealogy. Let’s bring him forth into the world in our life of faithful witnessing like Abraham. Amen.

Malolos Cathedral. Photo by author.

Advent is seeking, seeing Jesus

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Friday, Advent Week-II, Memorial of St. Lucy, 13 December 2019

Isaiah 48:17-19 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 11:16-19

The eagle symbolizing our Parish Patron St. John Evangelist, Advent 2018.

Thank you very much Lord Jesus Christ for never giving up on us. You sound so exasperated in our gospel today at how so “slow” we have become in recognizing and believing you but you never lost your cool.

Please continue to open our minds and our hearts to realize you have come, you are coming and you are always with us.

Forgive us Lord when we are so concerned with the mundane things, the shallow concerns we are so preoccupied with forgetting the more crucial of recognizing your presence and your works among us.

Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.

Matthew 11:16-19

Grant us Lord Jesus Christ the gifts of silence and wisdom, of “masticating” always your words so we can be properly guided in answering your call and mission.

Give us the grace to see things as they are, to set aside our many biases and visions of things to come so we can be contented with what we are having, of what God has provided us with.

Let us heed your words and work faithfully for their fulfillment in us and through us.

Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go. If you hearken my to my commandments, your prosperity will be like a river, and your vindication like waves of the sea; your descendants would be like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, their name never cut off or blotted out from my presence.

Isaiah 48:17-19

Give us O Lord, the courage to be different, to make a difference for Jesus Christ by opening our eyes of faith so we may always seek you, see you, and follow you.

Saint Lucy, patroness of diseases of the eyes, heal our many blindness to be focused in Jesus alone. Amen.

Photo by Noelle Otto on Pexels.com

Advent calls us to believe again

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Thursday, Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 12 December 2019

Zechariah 2:14-17 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 1:39-47

From Catholic News Agency

Praise and glory to you, O God our loving Father in heaven who has given us along with your Son Jesus Christ our Savior his beloved Mother the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thank you in giving us Mother Mary as our guide in this Season of Advent, along with the Prophet Isaiah and St. John the Baptist.

And the most wonderful thing about Mary as our guide in Advent is the fact she lived Advent because she was the first to truly believe in Jesus!

Renew our faith in you, O God especially in this age when we tend to believe more to our selves, to science and technology.

Strengthen our faith also so that like Mary, we may be blessed as we believe your words O God will be fulfilled in us.

Detail of painting at the Basilica of St. Juan Diego receiving roses from the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

Luke 1:45

Let us firmly believe like Mary, your Mother, Lord Jesus!

Let us give you our daily “Amen” like Mary who gave her total self to your service, Lord.

Fill us with the Holy Spirit, Father, like Mary who has continued to share your Son Jesus Christ with others, not only to Elizabeth at that time but also to St. Juan Diego at Guadalupe, St. Bernadette at Lourdes, and to the children at Fatima. Amen.

The assurance of Advent

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Wednesday, Advent Week-II, 11 December 2019

Isaiah 40:25-31 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 11:28-30

Eagle, the symbol of our Patron Saint, John the Evangelist, Advent 2018.

What makes Advent so wonderful, Lord, is the fervent hope your words instill in us to persevere in believing and serving you.

Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, they that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles’ wings; they will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.

Isaiah 40:30-31

Teach us to trust you more, to always walk in firm faith in you because you always keep your promise.

Enlighten us, Lord, that you never promised to take away our cross; let us realize the great comfort you offer us in helping us carry our cross.

Enough to comfort us and assure us is your gentle mastery, Lord Jesus Christ.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

Thank you, dear Jesus, for these kind words today, enough for us to forge on in life’s many trials.

We pray for those having some form of crisis in life today, enlighten their minds and their hearts in making the right choices in life. We pray for those who are very sick and those taking care of them in this most trying time of their life. We also pray especially those who lost a loved one, feeling guilty in the process. Please assure them Lord of your gentle presence, that they are cared for, and most of all, loved. Amen.

Advent 2019 in our Parish.

Believing like Mary

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Monday, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, 09 December 2019

Genesis 3:9-15, 20 ><}}}*> Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12 ><}}}*> Luke 1:26-38

Every year, O Lord Jesus Christ, we celebrate on your birth month the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of your Most Blessed Mother Mary who was conceived without the stain of original sin.

Until now, many are still confused with this feast especially when our Gospel speaks about the annunciation of your birth, dear Jesus.

Nonetheless, it is the single most important part of your lives both that truly give us a valuable lesson about Mary’s blessedness – later to be expressed by Elizabeth at the visitation, “Blessed is she who believed that the words spoken to hear will be fulfilled”.

Her Immaculate Conception teaches us the importance of faith especially at this time when we face a great crisis in faith in the Church.

And so, we pray to you O Lord for the gift of faith like that of your Mother Mary, a faith that is deeply personal yet communal.

The first is subjective and the second is objective.

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:38
Malolos Cathedral, June 2019.

Unlike Eve in the first reading, Mary had always believed in God.

Her faith is a total entrusting of herself to God on a person-to-person relationship. It is subjective faith where emphasis is on believing itself than on what is believed.

However, Mary did not believe in a purely subjective manner as if God is a personal God detached from others and exclusively revealing only himself to her in secret.

Mary’s faith is also objective because when the angel explained everything to her, she believed the good news proclaimed to her is part of the bigger whole, of the coming new covenant, of the fulfillment of the promise of God made to Abraham and the fathers of Israel as she would later express in her Magnificat.

It is only in believing like Mary can we truly give ourselves to you, Jesus, to the Church so that what we believe may truly be fulfilled in us like Mary. Amen.

Malolos Cathedral, June 2019.

Fighting the “beasts” among us

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Friday, Week XXXIV, Year I, 29 November 2019

Daniel 7:2-14 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 21:29-33

Praise and glory to you, O God! Thank for this blessed Friday, the last working day of November 2019. Most of all, thank you for keeping us safe always in your protection despite our sins and being stubborn.

Like the vision of Prophet Daniel in the first reading, so many “beasts” have tried destroying us. In fact, these “beasts” are so “horrible” that so many people have come to believe them, accepting them and all their lies and malice.

Red Wednesday 2019, Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Bagbaguin, Santa Maria, Bulacan.

There are times that we lose hope, fearing that everything is going to nothing.

Sometimes, it is so difficult to find meaning in life at all amidst all the sufferings and miseries around us and even within us!

May we always trust in your Word, Jesus Christ who became flesh to be with us.

In the many trials and tribulations that come our way, may we always hold on to his assurance:

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

Luke 21:33

Keep our sights fixed always to you, Jesus.

To never lose hope, to always trust you.

Most of all, to always follow you.

Amen.