Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte, Atok, Benguet, 01 September 2019.
Brothers and sisters: From the day we heard this, we do not cease praying for you and asking you that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, so as to be fully pleasing, in every good work bearing fruit and growing in the knowledge of God.
Colossians 1:9-10
Once again, you struck me today Lord through St. Paul’s letter to pray for another important grace we badly need these days — “knowledge”.
In this age of Google and Wikipedia, we have taken the gift of knowledge for granted, confusing it with information that often has no meaning and depth. As a result, we have “smart phones” and stupid people who justify everything without any qualms and sense of self-respect and decency!
Remind us, Lord, that knowledge is more than being reasonable and logical; knowledge is embracing the truths of faith, of seeing you in everything.
Like Simon Peter, bless us Lord with the gift of knowledge to enable us to make right judgments regarding earthly things and how they are related with eternal life and holiness.
Like Simon Peter, may we learn to set aside our human knowledge and expertise to take the leap of faith in casting the net into the deep upon your instructions after a night of catching nothing.
What a great gift of knowledge you have given Simon that day when he realised you are “Lord” and he is a “sinful man” (Lk. 5:8). Most of all, in obeying instructions from a carpenter like you, Lord!
Fill us with your knowledge, Lord, to realise the truth of Albert Einstein’s words that “everything in this life is a miracle”! Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe Week XXI-C, 25 August 2019
Isaiah 66:18-21 ><)))*> Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13 ><)))*> Luke 13:22-30
The small door leading to the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, symbolic of the need to be lowly, to bow to meet our Lord Jesus Christ who became human like us to save us. Photo by author, May 2019.
The Lord concludes his series of “shock preaching” today with a big bang by dousing us with a big disappointment…
Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.'”
Luke 13:23-25
It is very disappointing that after joining Jesus as he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem these past four Sundays in taking into our hearts his many earth-shaking lessons about the “end” only to find out that we could end up being locked out of the door to heaven. More shocking than the lessons last week is the disturbing revelation today that we have to be strong enough to enter through the narrow gate to eternal life.
How strong? We really do not know. But, we have learned from the Old Testament of the need to patiently obey and faithfully keep the commandments of God while the gospels remind us clearly to deny ourselves and carry our crosses even up to the point of dying with Christ.
Very difficult, huh…? And here’s more! Striving hard to enter the “banquet hall of heaven” is keeping in mind the important lessons we have heard these past three Sundays: life does not consist of possessions but of what matters to God (Lk.12:15,21; Aug. 04); that we must always gird our loins to be ready for death that comes like a thief at night (Lk.12:35,39; Aug.11); and, most of all, we have to go through our own passion and death like Jesus to be filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit to bring the peace of Christ into world (Lk.12:49-51; Aug. 18).
It is useless to count how many would be saved for there is enough room for us all in heaven. Through the Prophet Isaiah in the first reading, God wants us all to be with him in heaven despite his knowledge of our sins by sending us his Son Jesus Christ!
Thus says the Lord: I know their works and their thoughts, and I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory.
Isaiah 66:18
The small door to the Church of the Nativity from the inside.
See again in our gospel today an apparent contradiction in the teachings of our Lord like last Sunday with his bringing of fire and division among us. When Jesus refused to give that man a definitive answer to his question “if only a few people would be saved”, the Lord in fact revealed something deeper than the initial disappointment we have felt about the gate of heaven being narrow that would be closed when the time comes. Again, he mentions the Eucharist, our Sunday Mass as the wonderful opportunity to be strengthened in order to get inside the heavenly banquet.
“And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Luke 13:29-30
It is during the Sunday Mass when the Lord gathers us all together after a very difficult and disappointing week to refresh us, to strengthen us for another week of hurdling more problems, more trials in life. This is why before receiving him, we say, “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” The Father gave us his Son Jesus Christ so we may have that strength needed to enter the narrow gate to heaven by doing more loving service to others, being kind and forgiving, being honest and generous. Yes, these are easier said than done but doable in Christ.
What is so surprising in our many experiences are the many times when in our many disappointments Jesus comes to guide us to new doors, new routes and new openings that mysteriously lead to new life for us!
Grotto of our Lady of Lourdes, Baguio City, January 2019.
Brothers and sisters: You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children: “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.” Endure your trials as “discipline”; God treats you as sons. For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline?
Hebrews 12:5-7
That is the mystery of God’s universal plan of salvation for us: the path may be filled with so many hardships and obstacles, the gate may be so narrow and difficult to pass through but he has made it possible for us to make it through by sending us Jesus Christ our Lord in leading this way to the heavenly Jerusalem. Authentic faith always involves pains and sufferings. When we embrace death like Jesus Christ, we also ensure life.
In every setback in life, we only have two choices always: either to be better or bitter. Choose to be better and that can only be through the narrow door of Jesus Christ by letting go of our anger and hatred, resentment and bitterness to give way to joy and peace, love and forgiveness. That is when God begins to surprise us!
Tam-Awan, Baguio, January 2019.
The author of Amazing Grace, John Newton was once challenged by a man after he had delivered a homily about heaven. Remember that Newton, as he claimed in Amazing Grace, was a “wretch” being a former slave trader after being a slave himself.
Newton was asked by a man to give something that would surprise him when he gets to heaven.
The former wretch replied that there would be three great wonders in heaven: first, he would see many people he never expected to be there; second, he would not find many church-goers he expected to see there; and third – which is the biggest surprise of all – is to find himself there in heaven when he knows very well his sinfulness.
Yes, my dear brothers and sisters, we are all sinners, now feeling disappointed with so many things in life. Just strive to be good and better persons as we celebrate every Sunday the Lord’s Supper and he will do the rest. And be ready to be surprised even before going to heaven! Amen.
Thank you very much, dear God, for this weekend rest.
And as we rest from work or studies, let us also pray for the gift of remembering.
Like in the first reading when Joshua asked the Israelites to always remember the many wondrous things you have done to them so they may remain faithful to you, make us remember too that there is no other God except you who personally relates with us, blessing us with everything that we need even without our asking.
You have created us to always remember but we are also “beings of forgetfulness” who always forget everything and everyone, especially you and those dearest to us. We are easily distracted with so many other things and people that we always forget those who are truly good to us.
When life becomes nice and easy for us, when we have everything we need, that is when we forget. And sadly, when we forget, when we do not remember, that is when we also break away, we go apart.
Because, to “remember” literally means to make a member or part again, “re” + “member”.
When we remember you, O God, we affirm your presence in us and among us.
When we remember our loved ones, whether away or gone forever, we make them a part again of our lives here and now, the present moment. The same thing is true with events in the past, whether good or bad.
Thank you so much O God for this gift of remembering!
Make us like the children in today’s gospel who came to you, wanting to be one with you, wanting to be your member and part too! Amen.
“Assumption of the Virgin” by Domenico Piola (1627-1703) at the Church of St. John the Baptist, Chiavari, Genoa, Italy. Photo from Google.
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed; the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
Luke 1:46-49
Glory and praise to you, O God our loving Father in giving us Jesus Christ through Mary – for without the Mother, there can be no Son.
On this Solemnity of her glorious Assumption into heaven body and soul, you remind us also of our blessedness like her, of her being your Divine Presence that she was able to sing the Magnificat.
Fill us with your Holy Spirit, Father. Let your Son Jesus reign in our hearts so we can boldly proclaim “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord”!
Let our lives proclaim your greatness, O God!
We were wrong, O Lord, we were so wrong when we thought that without you life could be greater and better for us. We were wrong when we thought in this age that disregarding you, O Lord, and your precepts like morality life can be better for us.
We were wrong, O Lord, to think, to believe, and to assert that we are the master of our own fate and destiny when we set you aside, assuming you are dead.
Why, despite all the affluence and comforts of modern world and all those liberal ideas that have swamped us, we are still lost and empty?
Because our body and soul are nothing without you!
On this Solemnity of her Assumption, teach us to empty ourselves of our pride and bloated ego, let us be humble before you and welcome you anew into our hearts, into our very selves.
Let us sing anew your greatness, O God with our body and soul in loving service with one another.
We pray also in a special way for our brothers and sisters who are sick, the elderly, and those with disabilities that they may realise their worth is not in being strong or complete or young, but in being alive, in being persons created in the image and likeness of God. May they persevere in their sufferings with eyes focused on that great gift that await us all like the Blessed Mother at the end of time with the “resurrection of body and life everlasting.” Amen.
One of the series I am following at Netflix is “Money Heist”. It is very suspenseful because unlike other crime series, its plot is unpredictable and spiced with amusing conversations. Like one episode when the lead character called Professor repeatedly mentioned to the Police Inspector during their first date of how he is not a “Basic Instinct” material, referring to Michael Douglas who starred in the movie with Sharon Stone. I felt the line anachronistic because the Professor is so young in the series to make a point reference to the 1992 erotic thriller. But it was a very good line expressing fully what the scene was all about, of a man and a woman following their basic instinct in having sex without really knowing each other so well, especially the Inspector who is a battered wife newly divorced from her husband – also a police officer- and in a relationship with her sister!
Now you see what I have been telling you… but, what I really wish to share with you is an archaic term related with “basic instinct” that Jesus used in the gospel today:
Jesus said to his disciples: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have the servants recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.”
Luke 12:35-37
From Google.
Loins refer to that part of our body between the lowest ribs and hipbones, the pelvic area where the genitals are also located. It is believed to be the source of erotic or procreative powers we refer to as “basic instinct” or simply guts as in gut feeling.
During the time of our Lord, men wore long clothes and they have to “gird their loins” in order to move freely when walking and working. Eventually, men ceased wearing long clothes with no need to gird their loins but still have to tighten their pants, sometimes with a belt, to move freely as well. And even if there were no more loins to gird, the expression continued to be used to mean being on guard, being ready for any emergency and situation like a military attack.
This is the whole point of the Lord’s teaching this Sunday: we have to be on guard and ready always for his coming. In fact, anything can happen instantly that could also be life-changing. Girding one’s loins, being on guard and ready for the Lord’s coming requires active faith on our part, an inclination towards God already present in us.
There are actually three parables in our gospel this Sunday but we are given the option to use only the one we have heard which is the second set. In this parable, Jesus used the imagery of being on guard like the “faithful servants waiting for their master’s arrival from a wedding feast” to indicate his coming in the Eucharistic celebrations. Every Mass is our dress rehearsal for our entrance into heaven but we always take it for granted, finding all the reasons and excuses to skip especially the Sunday Mass.
Altar table of the Church of Dominus Flevit (the Lord Wept) with the old Jerusalem at the background. Photo by author, April 2017.
The Mass is our expression of our readiness to enter heaven as we joyfully proclaim after every consecration of the bread and wine that “Christ will come again.” But, even those who regularly come for the Sunday Mass do not take it seriously, not truly present with “full and conscious participation” enunciated by Vatican II 50 years ago.
Notice how in the third parable Jesus mentioned “faithful and prudent stewards” (Lk.12:42) to emphasize the need for servants and ministers at the altar to be more prepared than anyone else for his coming. So true! How can the people pay attention to the scriptures being proclaimed if the lector’s voice is very soft or incomprehensible? How can the congregation thank God for speaking to them anew if the lector’s face and disposition are so gloomy and even horrific?
And this refers more to the priest as presider of the Mass! Much is expected from us priests not only by the congregation but also by the Lord himself! How can the people feel Christ’s coming in every Mass when the priest himself does not meet the Lord, when he is not prepared physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually? What a shame when people complain that they hardly feel the Divine in every Eucharistic celebration! Always we find two extremes in many parishes where at one end are lethargic priests lacking the energy to lead their people into heaven during the Mass while at the other side are the showbiz priests so in love with themselves, with their voice and showmanship that the Eucharist has become a variety show.
Jesus reminds us in all his parables this Sunday that we priests and ministers at his altar of the Sacrifice of the Mass are his servants waiting for him, our Lord. We are never the focus but Jesus Christ alone! Let us not steal that honor from him.
Pyramids of Egypt, May 2019.
Speaking of stealing, Jesus added towards the end of his second parable on the need to gird one’s loins for his coming because it is like the coming of the thief at night. We must always be prepared because nobody knows when the thief strikes. And we find elucidations of this from the first and second readings we have earlier heard that speak about disposition for God.
From the Book of Wisdom, we are reminded how the liberation of the Israelites – their Exodus from Egypt – happened in the darkness of the night. Every celebration of the Mass is an active waiting for the Lord’s coming that also calls for an active faith wherein we are disposed or inclined towards God already with us. Such was the attitude of the Israelites leading to their Exodus from Egypt when Moses told them of God’s plan that every day, they were raring to go.
In the Letter to the Hebrews, the author beautifully expressed that “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen” (Heb.11:1). He gives us Abraham as the perfect example of a truly faithful one to the Lord, always ready for his coming. In three instances, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews showed how Abraham had the perfect disposition of actively waiting for God’s fulfillment of his promises to him: journeying from Ur to the Promised Land he did not know where; being the father of nations as numerous as the stars of the sky when he and Sarah were still childless at their age of 90; and, in obediently offering Isaac to God.
Girding our loins, being on guard also means having the discipline of waiting for God. It is not enough to wait; we need discipline, we need to follow certain things to stay focused. As we have mentioned earlier, the loins is the region of our basic instinct. So many opportunities have been missed by many men and women simply because of small mistakes, of being caught off-guard in simple instances when everything snaps in an instant when they followed the lower basic instinct, forgetting the higher ideals.
Abraham girded his loins so well that he never wavered in his faith in God until his promises were fulfilled because he always had that disposition for him. This Sunday, Jesus is reminding us to be patient in waiting for him, to have the discipline to stay focused with him and our dreams and aspirations in life for he will fulfill them in his time. It is very important that like Abraham and the faithful servants in his parable, we are always present when he comes to seize his blessings! A blessed week ahead with you! Amen.
Friday, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, 09 August 2019
Deuteronomy 4:32-40 >< )))*> <*((( >< Matthew 16:24-28
A 1970 stained-glass window of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross by German artist Alois Plum at the Herz Jesu Church in Kassel, Germany. She holds a book symbolising her learning, wears a Star of David as a sign of her Jewish roots, and is consumed by flames to refer to her martyrdom at the Nazi gas chambers of Auschwitz. Photo from Google.
Praise and glory to you O Lord our God! Indeed, there is no other God except you as Moses reminds us in today’s first reading:
“Ask now of the days of old, before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of? Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live? Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors, all of which the Lord, your God, did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? All this you were allowed to see that you might know the Lord is God and there is no other.”
Deuteronomy 4:32-35
And yet, O Lord, still many refuse to believe in you especially when hard times come upon us like wars and persecution.
This month of August, you gifted us with two great saints martyred at the gas chambers of Auschwitz: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as St. Edith Stein whose memorial we celebrate today, and, St. Maximilian Kolbe whose feast is on the 14th.
Both are modern saints whose lives and times are very close and similar with our generation. Both saints have made you present, O God, at a time when many people thought and believed you were absent.
“Those who seek the truth seek God, whether they realize it or not.” St. Edith Stein.
Born from a devout Jewish family, you showed your presence in the life of St. Teresa Benedicta with your gift of superior intellect. Although she had openly declared her being an atheist at the young age of 13, you never stopped “seducing” her in searching you in her studies of philosophy, giving her a rare chance to work closely with the leading thinkers at that time.
Slowly, she found you in her studies and in the Church that she converted to Catholicism!
And when you have caught her, O Lord, the more you inflamed her heart to seek you and be one with you by becoming a Carmelite nun through the writings of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.
You have revealed so much truths to her, O God, reaching its highest point in giving her the grace to join your Son Jesus Christ in losing her life as his witness in the gas chambers in 1942.
Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 16:24-25
In our present age, so many people are also thinking that you do not exist, Lord; some have already stopped believing in you, having themselves as the measure and standard of what is true, moral, and decent.
How sad that in this modern age when we are supposed to have advanced in our knowledge and thinking, we have remained so inhuman in our dealing with one another: wars and genocides of peoples continue while the weakest members of the human race, those old and sick and those helpless in their mother’s wombs, are murdered for the sake of economic well-being. How wonderful in having a woman saint so accomplished in life like St. Edith Stein when until now women are disrespected and regarded inferior to men.
Give us, Lord, the same clarity of mind and firmness of will and heart in standing for what is true like St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross so that we may also make you present in this world. Amen.
Thank you very much, O Lord, for this brand new day, for this breath of new hope at the middle of the week as I pray for those who make life difficult for me, for those who mess your plans like those spies Moses sent to reconnoiter the Promised Land.
Instead of building up the people to meet the challenges of settling in the Promised Land, “they spread discouraging reports among the children of Israel about the land they had scouted” (Num.13:32).
Forgive me Lord for doubting you, for thinking that you do not seem to care at all for me when I feel so alone with nobody on my side.
Increase my faith in you like that Canaanite woman who begged you to heal her daughter possessed by the devil. You did not say a word to her that prompted your disciples to intercede for her just to silence her, telling them you had come to search the lost sheep of Israel until….
He said to her in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”
Matthew 15:26-27
You praised that Canaanite woman, Lord, for her great faith; but, those children of Israel who trusted more the lies of those sent to scout the Promised Land were eventually punished, paying the very dear price of wandering for 40 years in the desert because they chose to mess your plans.
Vanish all anger and bitterness in me against these people who would surely soon “realize what it means to oppose you, O Lord” (Num.14:34) while I await your further plans and instructions. Amen.
Thank you very much, O Lord, for punctuating our days with your various festivals to remind us of your coming, of your presence, and your blessings upon us.
But please forgive us when so often, we are so focused with your festivals especially the rituals and the dates but always forget YOU!
So often, we forget to see your coming in your Son Jesus Christ to us not only during the festivals but most of all in the most ordinary days and events of our lives.
Like the people of Capernaum during his time, we rarely see Jesus, recognize Jesus and worst, refuse to believe in Jesus whenever he comes to us – “his native place” – our very selves as well as our places of work and study, even in our prayers.
Please open our eyes and our hearts, O God, to see you in the abundant blessings we always receive, no matter how little or great these may be.
Most of all, may we see you on the face of those next to us every time we look at your blessings and festivals for charity and justice are the best expressions of our celebrations in your honor through Christ. Amen.
Thursday, Feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, 01 August 2019
Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38 >< )))*> <*((( >< Matthew 13:47-53
Photo by Lorenzo Atienza, 12 June 2019, Malolos City.
You must have heard so many times, Lord, our many wishful thinking of being with you like in our bible readings today.
We always think – and believe – that if we were there with you in the wilderness with Moses or with Jesus in his time in Galilee, we would have obeyed and followed you.
So many times we waste our prayers with so many wishful thinking how you would just let your cloud appear like that in the wilderness so we would know if we must continue with our journey or stop for a rest.
We waste precious moments wishing we are face to face with Jesus inside the house, listening to him explain his parables as if we would understand it easily.
On this feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, we pray to you O God that we may imitate him to be like “every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old” (Mt. 13:52).
Give us the grace like what you have given St. Alphonsus to continually seek you and your will at all time, in sickness and in health, especially in the most trying moments of life when we are old and sick, when those we have trusted betray us, relying solely in your fidelity and mercy and love.
Instead of entertaining flights of fancies about you, may we be like St. Alphonsus who was so open to your presence and reality especially among the poor and the suffering, the confused and the lost.
May we rediscover not only you, Lord, but through the intercession of St. Alphonsus Liguori, may we also rediscover the beauty and practicality of your morals so we may truly follow your ways of holiness in life.
Likewise, on this feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, we pray in a special way those suffering various forms of arthritis that afflicted too our blessed saint today. Amen.
According to stories, St. Alphonsus Liguori’s arthritis was so severe that his head was bent down acutely that the pressure of his chin caused a wound on his chest.
Exodus 33:7-11; 34:5-9, 28 >< )))*> Matthew 13:36-43
Photo by Jim Marpa, 2018.
Dear God:
When I come to think about your dwelling place, your tent like in the first reading today where Moses used to enter and converse with you, there is always that peaceful feeling within me. There is that kind of serenity, of stillness and calmness that is very “homey”.
To enter your tent or your dwelling place, O Lord, is simply to be in you, to be one with you. You dwelling place is lovely because it is YOU – how lovely indeed to be in your dwelling place, to be in you, O Lord!
In the same manner, when Matthew told us in today’s gospel your Son Jesus Christ “entered the house”, it is you, O Lord, in turn who comes not only to us but “in” us, when you fill us with your warmth and joy.
Thank you for dwelling in us, Lord.
Indeed, you are kind because you chose to become “one of us”, your kin or kindred.
Help us today to be one like you in love and mercy, kindness and generosity where others especially the weak and the poor may dwell in you in us, Lord. Amen.
