Category: jesus christ

First of all, be a child of God

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul

Feast of Sto. Niño, 19 January 2020

Isaiah 9:1-6 ><)))*> Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-18 ><)))*> Matthew 18:1-5, 10

The Cross and the Bell of our parish church. Photo by Gelo N. Carpio, 12 January 2020.

Looming high always at the center of our Christian faith is the Cross of Jesus Christ. Whether inside or outside any church, there is always the Cross reminding us of our salvation in Jesus and of the path we have to follow as his disciples.

But, so often we forget that the first call of the Cross is for us to be a child of God above all in order to follow his Son our Lord in his Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

Here we find the full meaning of our celebration of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord last Sunday, of how in our Baptism we have become the children of God in Jesus Christ who became like us so that we may become like him, blessed and divine as the eternal Son of the Father.

Such is the plan of God in the very beginning of his Creation.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.

Ephesians 1:3-6

It is only in our becoming first the sons and daughters of the Father in Jesus Christ that St. Paul declares how we are saved in this part of the second reading skipped by the liturgy today:

In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us.

Ephesians 1:7-8
A painting of Sto. Niño devotees by Bulakenyo artist Aris Bagtas, 2018.

Work of Christmas continues

We are already into the second week of Ordinary Time in our liturgy but, we in the Philippines are still celebrating an “extension” of the Christmas Season this third Sunday of January for the Feast of the Sto. Niño, the Holy Child Jesus.

And, for a very good reason! to remind us the story of Christmas continues even after the Feast of the Lord’s Baptism or when all decors have been kept.

The work of Christmas, of sharing Jesus Christ in our loving service with others continues the whole year through. In fact, it is during the 34 weeks of Ordinary Time where we are most challenged to continue Christ’s work he started at Christmas when he became a child among us.

And there lies the very core of his teachings, of his message to us: our being like a child!

At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.”

Matthew 18:1-5

Jesus remained the Child of God until the end

If we examine everything in the Gospel, from the Incarnation and Nativity of Jesus, his hidden and public lives, his miracles and preaching, into his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, everything is anchored in Christ’s being like a child, the eternal Son of God.

When he was lost and found in the temple at the age of 12, right away he told his Mother his being the Son of God: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk.2:49)

Painting by Aris Bagtas, 2018.

At Last Supper, Jesus explained his being the Child of the Father: “The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works” (Jn.14:10).

His being one with the Father is due to his being the Eternal Son that reached its highest point of expression at the crucifixion where Jesus repeatedly called God his “Father”.

Here we find as in our gospel today the essential requirement of first becoming a child of God to make it into the kingdom of heaven. It is impossible to follow Jesus to his Cross when we remain adults who know everything!

This is the problem with the Traslacion that has become rowdy, even crazy over the years which is completely the opposite of the Pit Señor de Sto. Niño in Cebu that remains solemn and orderly despite its vast crowd of devotees.

See how in Quiapo the devotees “fight” and insist on their own ways of doing the procession, of how things are now turned upside down with the hijos lording over (pun intended) everything every January 9 with the gall to call Christ “Padre Nuestro Jesus de Nazareno”?

Everybody wants to fulfill one’s panata of jumping into the revered image of the Nazareno, in total disregard of others.

Where is the spirit of being a child, of being generous and kind with others?

What we have been seeing these past years in the Traslacion is more of machismo, of who is the greatest to be able to reach the Nazareno. And included among them are the growing members of media suddenly becoming devotees with the panata to anchor Traslacion!

Being a child is a call to daily conversion in Christ Jesus

Becoming like a child a daily call to conversion to Jesus, a going back to the story of Christmas, of being humble and small. I like that word used by Jesus today – turn – when he declared, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children…”

To be able to carry our cross and follow Jesus, we have to turn first, that is, be transformed from world-wise, self-sufficient, all-knowing adults of the world into abiding children of the Father of Jesus Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Children always have that glow within them that can disarm us of our insecurities and fears. Below is a painting by the Danish-German Modern Artist Emil Nolde (1867-1956) portrayed children with Christ in bright colors while the adults were all dark and gloomy.

“Christ Among Children” (1910) by Emil Nolde.

Being like a child is letting go of our fears and insecurities to entrust ourselves to God’s care and providence. And to others dependability and reliability too!

Maybe that is why as we get older, we mellow: we realize after all that we remain children of God and of somebody else in the end. There is always somebody out there who would look after us especially when we are already old and weak. There is always somebody whose heart would always be moved to come to our rescue or simply to warm our hearts or make us smile.

If each of us can become like a child daily, simply loving and trusting others, then we can bring light into this world deeply plunged in the darkness of sin and pride, of rat race without any winner, or arms race without any war at all.

If we can become like the child, we can become like Jesus Christ, the great light in the land of gloom bringing joy and great rejoicing (Is.9:1-2) with his life of love flowing from the great sacrifice at the Cross. Amen.

Continuing the Christmas story

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul

Baptism of the Lord, 12 January 2020

Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7 ><}}}*> Acts 10:34-38 ><}}}*> Matthew 3:13-17

From Google.

Today is our “holy birthday” as children of God, the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus. That explains the sprinkling of Holy Water at the start of our Mass to remind us of continuing the Christmas story the whole year through as sons and daughters of God.

With this feast, we close the Christmas Season by celebrating the great mystery of Christ’s Nativity when he became human like us so that we can become divine like him as children of the Father in heaven.

Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him. After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:13-17

We are the children of God

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

Every morning when we wake up, the same thing happens with us with Jesus at Jordan: as we arise whether filled with joy or saddled with so many pains and worries from the previous day or night, Christ joins us in every brand new day as his brother and sister in the Father.

Despite all our anxieties and fears with every new day of work and school, the heavens open and the Holy Spirit comes down to us with our Father in heaven declaring to all his creation, “This is my beloved child, with whom I am well pleased.”

That is the mystery of Christmas we must celebrate daily when Jesus became human like us in everything except sin. In Baptism, we have become sons and daughters of the Father in his Son Jesus Christ our Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit.

That coming down of Jesus to John to be baptized in Jordan is the message of Christmas, of how God became human like us to be one with us in our dirt and stain so he may cleanse us in his Passion and Death in order to share in the glory of his Resurrection .

That is why Christmas is a continuing story we have to keep on telling and sharing with our life of holiness with others.

As children of God, we are called to holiness

Please don’t be scared with the call to “holiness”, my dear reader and follower.

Holiness is not being sinless.

Holiness is being filled with God.

Holiness is following Jesus who calls us to be holy like the Father in heaven with all of our imperfections and sinfulness.

Morning in our Parish. Photo by author, 2019.

So many times in our lives, as we strive to lead holy lives by being good individuals, we also feel so tired and exhausted that we question or wonder if we are still doing the right things in life especially when we try to be faithful to God and with others.

There are times we just cry and suffer in silence in order not to hurt with our words and actions those people dearest to us who are oblivious or even do not care at all to the pains and difficulties they cause us.

Like a slave driver boss, demanding and exacting parents, a perfectionist husband or wife or partner, a naive sibling.

It is very difficult to be holy, to be like Jesus who is so loving and merciful, kind and understanding.

And that is why he chose to come to us, to be with us, to help us, to assure us that “the Father is so well pleased with us”!

Flowers at our Altar, Epiphany Sunday 2020. Photo by author.

God is well pleased with us

Three things I wish to share with you this lovely Sunday, especially for some of us feeling tired and exhausted this early with our many tasks and responsibilities at home, the school, the office, and even the church and community.

First is get it done. We all have roles to play in life. Remain faithful and stay focused with the mission not with the person. Yes, it is easier said than done but like Jesus instructing John for his baptism, he said, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Mt.3:15). It must have been so difficult for John to baptize Jesus the Son of God but the Lord told him anyway, get it done! And just as John did his role, everything happened according to God’s plan.

Second is give others the chance to do the will of God. Sometimes many of us have that “messianic complex” as if we are the saviour of the world. No! That is Jesus alone and he has tasked all us with specific roles in doing his mission. Let others do their part. Stop monopolizing all good deeds because when there is a monopoly of holiness, certainly there is already a pervading evil. Jesus as the Christ is the definitely the holy one but he told John to baptize him and he in turn “allowed” the baptism to take place.

Third is do whatever is good. Always. That’s what Jesus told John, “Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Mt.3:15). Doing what is righteous is doing what is good, what is holy, what is just. But, it is not that easy. I know.

“Minsan nakakapikon na magpakabuti lalo na kapag tila walang pakialam yung mga ginagawan mo ng kabutihan.”

We have felt so many times that being good, doing what is right can take its toll. We always wonder “when is enough really enough” with people who have made it their way of life of hurting us, of stressing us, of being pain in the ass.

We want to scream, to spill the beans, to unmask them to reveal them as fakes and hypocrites!

But, don’t!

Do not be like them.

Be good like Jesus, the one prophesied by Isaiah in the first reading.

Thus says the Lord: Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench…

Isaiah 42:1-3
Baby Jesus on a bed of white roses in our Sanctuary area, Epiphany 2020. Photo by author.

In the second reading, we heard St. Peter preaching after the Pentecost of how “Jesus went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (Acts 10:38).

Whatever difficulty you are going through at this very moment, you are still God’s beloved child with whom he is well pleased. God is always with you. Continue the beautiful Christmas story with your life of loving service, even to people who hurt you.

A blessed Sunday to you!

Imitating Jesus, the Nazarene

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, 09 January 2020

Thursday after Epiphany, Traslacion of Black Nazarene at Quiapo

1 John 4:19-5:4 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 4:14-22

Photo from MyPilipinas.com

Praise and glory to you, O Lord Jesus Christ! Every year on this date as we continue to celebrate Christmastime, you bless us with a unique Epiphany at the Traslacion of the Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno in Quiapo, Manila.

Many cannot understand the immense power of your image as the “Nazarene” as the gospel today tells us how you came home to Nazareth, your origin.

More than indicating to us your origin at Nazareth, the only place in the New Testament never mentioned in the Old Testament, your being called a Nazarene according to Matthew and Isaiah reveals to us your very essence as the “nezer” or the “shoot from the stump of Jesse” (Is.11:1), the new beginning of life here on earth with your coming as our Saviour from sins. You O Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise in the Old, of the coming of the Emmanuel born by a Virgin.

The millions of people who flock to your annual Traslacion can never be wrong, Lord, in having experienced your manifestation or epiphany with them when they were so burdened with so much sufferings in life.

A debilitating disease maybe or serious sickness of loved ones.

Utter darkness and despair before hopeless situations.

Or a crushing defeat and failure in life.

You were there, Lord Jesus the Nazarene helping us all with our heavy crosses in life.

Help us to continue to love you, to love your Cross, and most of all, to love our neighbors so we may truly imitate you as Jesus the Nazarene by keeping your laws. Indeed, all these devotions are nothing without love that always entails pains and sufferings.

For the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.

1 John 5:3-4

Help us, Lord Jesus, to carry our Cross and follow you always faithfully and lovingly. Amen.

Nuestro Señor Padre Jesus Nazareno, have mercy on us!

Photo from Interaksyon.com

Love drives out fear

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Wednesday after Epiphany of the Lord, 08 January 2019

1 John 4:11-18 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Mark 6:45-52

Flowers at our Altar, 05 January 2020. Photo by author.

We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love.

1 John 4:16-18

How true are the words and reflection of your beloved disciple, Lord Jesus Christ! Indeed, when there is fear, that is when we refuse to love or at least fail to love.

When we are afraid of losing honor and losing possessions, when we are afraid of being disadvantaged and being out of the limelight, when we are afraid of being forgotten and unrecognized… those are the moments we fail to love because we cannot let go of our self, of our ego.

Teach us, Jesus, to take into our hearts your manifestations of your presence and power, of your love and concern for us so that our fears of being forsaken may be lessened.

Give us the grace to face our fears especially in moments of darkness and trials when we act like your disciples who cannot recognize your coming by walking on water at the middle of a storm at the sea.

Refresh our memories, Jesus, to recall those many moments you have come to our rescue to save us from so many problems and situations in the past so we may now completely trust you and give you our very selves in loving service.

Help us to let go and let God by dying to ourselves. Amen.

Jesus our light

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

Monday after Epiphany, 06 January 2020

1 John 3:22-4:6 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25

A blessed Monday morning, dear Lord Jesus Christ!

Thank you for the gift of this first day of work and school after a very long Christmas vacation – even if many of us did not spend time with you nor even remembered you on your birthday.

Bless us this first week of work and study in this new year of 2020.

Guide us in testing every spirit that try to lead us in the choices and decisions we make, the course of actions we take.

So many times, we have always been misled away from you, Lord, especially when we are lured into taking shortcuts in many aspects of life.

Most of all, very often we choose to be blind and deaf, speaking no more when the world denies your presence, your teachings, your truth. There are times we get carried away into believing that you have left us, that you are not involved in our affairs in the world.

This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist who, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world.

1 John 4:2-3

Let us always seek your light, Lord Jesus for you alone are the true light of the world.

Let us lead our lives in such a way that proves, that witnesses to your abiding love and presence among us especially in times of darkness.

Enlighten us Lord, our Light to be your light to guide others to you. Amen.

Keep Christmas Alive

The Lord Is My Chef Recipe for the Soul, 01 January 2020

Wednesday, Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God

Numbers 6:22-27 ><}}}*> Galatians 4:4-7 ><}}}*> Luke 2:16-21

Photo by Rev. Fr. Gerry Pascual, Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Washington DC, 2017.

Today marks the octave or eighth day of Christmas when we celebrate the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.

Octave means we extend the celebration of Christmas Day into eight days because one day – December 25 – is not enough to reflect on the meaning and mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God.

The eighth day also signifies eternity which comes next after the seven days of the week.

Hence, whenever people greet me on this day with a “Happy New Year”, I just say “thank you” and then greet them too with “a blessed Christmas to you” or the usual “Merry Christmas”!

I am not disturbing your peace this Christmas and it is more than my being a “language nerd” – but, if you really want to appreciate more and experience the depth and the joy of Jesus Christ’s birth, stop that happy new year greeting.

The more proper and perfect greeting this January 2020 is still “blessed Christmas” or “Merry Christmas” because it is another year in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And here we find the very important and deeper meaning of Christmas: do not ever forget it is about Jesus Christ. Christmas is not about gifts and bonus, it is not about food and merry making, it is not about vacation and long weekends.

Christmas is all about Jesus Christ, the Son of God who became human like us in everything except sin in order to save us and bring us back to the Father in heaven. In his coming, it is not only us who were made holy but even our time that became “his story”.

Indeed, Jesus Christ is the reason of the Season. Let us maximize in greeting “Merry Christmas” and stop its abrupt ending with the coming of the new year that after all, is based on his birth that is why we call it “Anno Domini” (AD) or “year of the Lord”.

Nativity Scene at the National Shrine of the Minor Basilica of the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Quezon City. Photo by author, 30 December 2019.

Why stop greeting everyone with a happy new year

Keep greeting everyone with “a blessed Christmas” or a “Merry Christmas” until January 12, last day of our Christmas Season with the Baptism of the Lord.

In the Philippines, you may continue greeting people with Merry Christmas until January 19, Feast of the Sto. Nino which is an extension of the Christmas Season in our country granted by Rome.

Furthermore, for the lazy among you, you can have the excuse of not removing your Christmas decors until February 02, Feast of the Presentation at the Temple because chronologically, that is the precise moment when Christmas Season ends. That is why, the giant Christmas Tree at the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square is traditionally removed only on this date.

Also, please stop announcing in churches about the Mass tonight and tomorrow as “New Year’s Mass” because there is no Mass for New Year.

Though our Sacramentary offers prayers for Mass at New Year, the same book stipulates that “this cannot be celebrated on January 1 because it is the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.”

Basic reason why we should not be greeting one another with a happy new year on January 1st is the fact that we celebrated our New Year in the Church during the First Sunday of Advent, that Season of four Sundays when we prepare for Christmas.

Remember, Advent has two aspects: from First Sunday of Advent until December 16, our focus is on the Second Coming of Christ or Parousia at the end of time. Nobody knows when it will be, not even Jesus Christ except the Father in Heaven. Then, from December 17 to 24, we enter the second aspect of Advent which is the focus on the first coming of Jesus when he was born in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago. All the readings on these days center on the events and stories leading to Christ’s birth.

So my dear reader and follower, we start each year in the Church preparing for the coming of the King of kings and we end the year with Solemnity of Christ the King.

To be exact, we start and end each year in Jesus Christ, not in numbers.

Every day of the year is a Christmas in essence, a coming of Jesus Christ.

And for us to continue this beautiful story of Christmas especially on these first 19 days of 2020, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ who is true God and true Man, teaches us the way to keep this spirit of bringing the Savior into the world even beyond December 25 and January 1.

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

Luke 2:16-19
Shepherds approaching the Nativity Scene at the National Shrine of the Basilica of Mt. Carmel, Quezon City. Photo by author, 30 December 2019.

Mary to guide us through another year closer to Jesus

A natural reason we have for cutting short our greetings of Merry Christmas to one another is the very close proximity of December 25 with the New Year. Though the civil calendar also came from the Church, in a sense the start of the year has been made holy by its closeness with Christmas.

Rightly then, all the more we find the reason to keep on greeting Merry Christmas than happy new year!

Notice the sudden shift from the holy and transcendent so evident in just a span of one week that personally, I feel we have to promote all the more a stop in this greeting of happy new year at Christmas Season.

How easily we can forget the wonder and awe of Christ’s birth!

See how from our rich liturgical celebrations of Advent and Christmas then suddenly this last seven days of the year, we turn to pagan practices to usher in the new year?

Have we become like the shepherds who came to Jesus only at his brith and never to be mentioned again in the entire account of St. Luke?

What happened?

A shepherd near the Nativity Scene at the National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Mat. Carmel in Quezon City. Photo by author, 30 December 2019.

Mary guides us to the true meaning of Christ’s birth and of the new year that closely comes after Christmas. See how St. Luke narrated the attitude and disposition of Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God:

And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

That’s the problem with our Christmas celebrations: after December 25, we go back to “normal lives” which is more of living without Jesus, of getting into the daily grind of life away from Jesus.

Like us, Mary did not know what was really ahead of her with the birth of Jesus: she had no idea about his being lost at the temple, of his being tempted by the devil, of his being rejected and killed by his own people despite his many healings and other miracles.

Mary simply believed in Jesus. And that is why she is blessed according to Elizabeth, because she believed the words spoken to her would be fulfilled.

Mary had nothing certain about her coming year, of her life except the name to be given to her Son, Jesus which means “God is my Savior”.

The same is true with us! We do not know if we will still be together until December or at least in January 2021. We do not know who would get married this year, who would be migrating to another country, who will hit it big time in business or whatever.

Stop consulting fortune tellers because they know nothing about the future! Only the Father of Jesus knows everything that is going to happen. And he had sent us his Son Jesus to make sure that through everything that is going to happen, none of us would ever be lost (Jn.6:39).

Like Mary, we have only one surety and security this 2020: Jesus Christ, our Lord and God living with us!

Let us focus this year in Jesus Christ and his words of salvation.

And that is the challenge of Christmas of the new year 2020: that every day, despite all the good news and bad news we hear and encounter in life, we make that conscious decision to trust in Jesus that good is coming to us for his name means God is my Savior.

Like Mary, let us lose ourselves every day in this wonderful moment of Christmas of looking at the child Jesus inviting us to be caught up in his joy of coming, to fear not of the new year ahead for he has come precisely to be one with us.

May we stay with him, keep his words in our hearts like Mary by reflecting on their meaning trusting and awaiting their fulfillment.

Let us not leave Jesus like the shepherds, though, they were the first to see the Lord at Christmas, they missed his full glory of resurrection because they never went back to him again.

Have a blessed and Merry Christmas!

From the inside of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the small doors that require pilgrims to humbly bow first to enter the church and find Jesus. Photo by author, May 2019.

The assurance of Advent

The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul

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.

Advent is “putting on Christ”

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul

First Sunday of Advent-A, 01 December 2019

Isaiah 2:1-5 ><}}}*> Romans 13:11-14 ><}}}*> Matthew 24:37-44

From Google.

A blessed first Sunday of Advent to you my dear reader and follower! Today we begin another new year in our Church calendar with this season of Advent. Both the word “Advent” and its concept were borrowed from ancient Rome when provinces prepared for the coming, or “adventus” of the emperor to visit the occupied territories of his empire.

But, Jesus is more than any emperor of the world for he is true God and King of kings, the one who had come, always comes, and will be coming again at the end of time to judge us, both the living and the dead. This Season of Advent gives us the opportunities to intensely prepare for the Lord’s adventus that always begins in our hearts.

Advent has a two-fold character: beginning today until December 16, the readings and prayers set our sights to the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time or the parousia. From December 17-24, focus shifts to the first Christmas when Jesus was born in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago.

According to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, between these two comings of Christ is his third coming that happens daily in our lives, so ordinary but very sudden like in the time of Noah.

Photo by author, sacristy of our Parish, Advent 2018.

Jesus said to his disciples: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.

Matthew 24:37-39

Staying awake, actively waiting for the Lord.

Jesus is definitely coming at the end of time. It is useless to be concerned when that would be because it will be sudden and unexpected. What matters most is our attitude of “staying awake, actively waiting” for the Lord’s coming again.

The Lord cites to us the example of Noah whom God had instructed to build an ark in the Old Testament for the coming great flood meant to cleanse the earth of sins and evil.

To actively wait for the Lord’s parousia means to be a sign of contradiction like Noah who faithfully obeyed God’s will in building an ark and later gathering into it all the animal species of earth.

Imagine the insults Noah had to endure from people laughing at him while building the ark. Yet, he never wavered and faithfully fulfilled his task before the Lord.

From Google.

Jesus cites three other instances of displaying the right attitude in actively waiting for his Second Coming: the two men out in the field, the two women grinding, and the master of the house.

One of the two men in the field was taken while one of the two women grinding was also taken because they were responsibly fulfilling their tasks when the parousia comes; their respective counterparts were most likely doing nothing or very lazy that they were left behind.

The mini parable Jesus inserted at the end shows us the imagery of the master of the house staying awake to keep the thief from breaking into the house in the middle of the night.

These are all about having the right attitude as disciples of Jesus actively awaiting his return. From Noah to the other man in the field, the other woman grinding, and the master of the house, we find from their attitudes of active waiting budding forth their hope in God.

Generally speaking, the way we live our lives determines also how we hope in the Lord.

And this we find in St.Paul’s exhortation to the Christians of Rome:

Brothers and sisters: you know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealous. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provisions for the desires of the flesh.

Romans 13:11-14
Altar table at the Parokya ng San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Bagbaguin, Santa Maria, Bulacan, Advent 2018.

Putting on Christ to show his light to dispel darkness.

St. Paul wrote the Christians in Rome more than 2000 years ago to remind them of the fierce spiritual warfare between good and evil, light and darkness while they were living in the midst of a pagan world and culture.

It was a very difficult time to be truly Christians but St. Paul felt the need to remind everyone of the ever-present reality of the parousia. Like in most of his letters, he captured by the grace of the Holy Spirit the beautiful imagery of disciples with the right attitude awaiting the Second Coming as “putting on the Lord Jesus Christ”.

Putting on our Lord Jesus Christ is not just a mere call to be morally perfect persons but for us to strive in making the light of Christ shine on us so that we may manifest Jesus more in us and in our lives.

Simply put, it is becoming “Christ-like”, a true Christian who is “dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11), one who lives differently by making Jesus more present especially in these difficult and troublesome times.

The time of St. Paul was no different with our present age with growing materialism and consumerism among peoples, including Christians afflicted with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s “dictatorship of relativism” that have removed God from every aspect of human life, including Christmas itself!

See how we are so focused on Christmas countdowns than with the very reason of the Season, Jesus Christ. See how the media equate Christmas with material things, sugarcoating it with sentimental feelings as most Christmas songs nowadays indicate.

Advent is seeing more of Jesus, than of time.

On this first Sunday of Advent, our sights are redirected anew into Christ’s Second Coming with our important task of making him present in our very selves.

As children of the light, we slowly discover and realize how our definitive salvation is slowly moving towards its fullness in Christ’s parousia when everything is totally changed by God with peace finally reigning supreme over all.

Violets on the pedestal of our Patron Saint, John the Evangelist.

This was the vision of Isaiah a long, long time ago.

It had been fulfilled in Christ’s first coming in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago and it is being fulfilled daily through people filled with hope in God’s justice and love.

In the days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills. All nations shall stream toward it; many people shall come and say: “Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain…” They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. O God of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!

Isaiah 2:2-3, 4-5

People who keep on wondering and asking when will Jesus come again are not really interested with the Lord’s Second Coming but only with themselves like the people during the time of Noah – oblivious to anything else and busy with their own pursuits.

The more we think of the WHEN, the less we think of the WHO of Advent. Let us put on the Lord Jesus Christ to be filled with his light until all darkness in life is dispelled. Amen.

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.

The throne of Christ the King

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, Solemnity of Christ the King-C, 24 November 2019

2 Samuel 5:1-3 ><}}}*> Colossians 1:12-20 ><}}}*> Luke 23:35-43

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The Cross is the throne of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. It is also a lesson in itself, the most profound Jesus has given us that continues to unfold and unravel the “depth and breath” of God’s love for each of us.

Through his Cross, Jesus did not only enter humanity but also allowed humanity to enter him by putting into his heart its very symbolism which is death we all deny and are afraid of. By dying on the Cross, Jesus turned it into a blessing to now become the symbol of life.

Let’s make an illustration.

Yes, it is Bruce Willis from a scene in one of his popular series, “Die Hard” which I continue to watch whenever possible.

What I like most with Bruce Willis in all of his movies is his being so “human” – very vulnerable physically, emotionally and even psychologically. His roles never hide his being a frail human being despite his muscular strength and tactical acumen. Bruce never hides his weaknesses that he can get shot and wounded, dumped and divorced or cheated by his wife like in “The Last Boy Scout”, making him more believable than the other action stars.

And that’s our point here: Jesus never hid his humanity from us. The all-powerful God on whose everything was created according to St. Paul in the second reading became human like us in every aspect except sin.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth… He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his cross through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.

Colossians 1:15-19
Carmelite Monastery, Guiguinto, Bulacan, 12 November 2019.

In becoming human like us, Jesus entered our humanity. He who is the Son of God became an infant and child so weak, entrusting himself to us humans.

And when he had grown into a man, he experienced leaving home and family to fulfill his mission like almost everybody. He had friends, some eventually became faithful while another had betrayed him.

Jesus went to almost every gathering like weddings and banquets, met everybody from the “who’s who” to the nobody like sinners and marginalized. He was manly enough to relate with every kind of people, be they children or women, rich and poor alike.

He had wept at the death of a good friend and the impending destruction of his beloved city of Jerusalem, felt hunger and thirst, got angry and was surprised in some occasions.

Jesus is truly human that we can also identify with him but in his dying on the cross, we were able to enter him to become like him when on his Resurrection, he took away the curse of death and turned it into pure grace in him.

Cross at the Dominican Hill in Baguio City, January 2019.

A very unique characteristic of Jesus as a human is his being a radical in its truest essence and meaning. From the Latin word “radix” that means roots, Jesus brought us back to our very roots, to our grounding of being who is God himself.

Too often, we think of radical people as rebels and revolutionaries leading movements and many changes in the society. They are the “game changers” because they radically change things to show us the more essential.

But in reality, radicals do not change things: they restore things to its original state and being. They get into the roots or “radix” of things to bring out its true meanings by doing away with the unimportant accidentals that have taken over the realities.

That is why Jesus is a radical: by dying on the Cross, he firmly reestablished his throne as King of the Universe because that is where evil ended and death is conquered.

It is on the Cross his throne where every new life begins because it is our very rootedness and “grounding of being” as beloved children of God in him.

Most of all, it is on the Cross his throne, our root and grounding from which comes our sole focus and attention in life – God in Christ Jesus.

The rulers sneered at Jesus… even the soldiers jeered at him. Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.” The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Luke 23:35, 36, 39-43

We have a beautiful expression in Filipino about a person described as “malalim” or deep. A radical is the truly deep person because he is rooted and grounded in his being who is God!

Anyone who truly recognizes Jesus Christ becomes a radical person too, a person of depth because he is rooted in God like the other thief hanging on the cross with Jesus.

See how the rulers or the elite like the priests and elders of Israel who sneered at Jesus: the more they poked fun on him as “the Christ of God”, the more they indict themselves of the grave crime of putting Jesus to death. Eventually at the death of Jesus, the Temple curtain would be torn from top to bottom to signal the end of temple worship and the start of worshipping God in “truth and spirit” in Christ.

The soldiers jeered Jesus too because they “know not what they were doing” because they were all pagans. But again, upon Christ’s death, we find one soldier there at the scene declaring “truly this is the Son of God.”

In any case, some members of Israel’s rulers and Roman soldiers eventually followed Jesus after the Resurrection to show us how the Cross is indeed the throne of Christ the King: it is also a door that opens anyone to conversion, to accept his reign and kingdom!

Most of all, the “good thief”, usually referred to as Dimas, shows us how at the cross any one can become radical like the Lord. While agonizing with Jesus on the cross, Dimas must have examined his life and got into his very core, his roots and realized that basic truth inside him was right there suffering also with him — Jesus whose name means “Yahweh saves”.

What is so surprising with his request from Jesus “to remember him he gets into his kingdom” is the fact that in the Old Testament, it is God who always remembers his people, remembers his promise, remembers his covenant.

Man always forgets God and his covenant that we always turn away from him to live in sin. But at the cross, the throne of Jesus our King, he enables us to remember our roots, our being children of God, our being loved and forgiven that we finally find our way back home.

And that home is God in eternity: “Today you shall be with me in Paradise.”

Every time we are at the cross, when we are getting through so many pains and sufferings, failures and disappointments, even darkness and sin, get into your roots – Jesus Christ – and you will never get lost.

Long before we got into all these crosses in life, remember Jesus was there first for us to suffer and die on his Cross. And that is why he is our King for he rose again so we can become like him in eternity. Amen.