Photo by Atty. Polaris Grace Rivas-Beron atop Mt. Sinai, Egypt, May 2019.
The husband and wife duo of Billy Davis, Jr. and Marilyn McCoo enlivens our Sunday with their signature tune “You Don’t Have To Be a Star (To Be In My Show)” released in September 1976 from their album I Hope We Get To Love In Time. It stayed on top of the music charts for six months until 1977 becoming a crossover success that also gave the duo a Grammy that same year.
Billy and Marilyn are former members of The 5th Dimension where they first met where their friendship blossomed into a love that has kept them together as married couple for more than 40 years until today.
It is a fitting song to our readings this Sunday wherein God healed even pagans afflicted with leprosy: General Naaman of Syria in the first reading from the Old Testament and the Samaritan, the only one of the ten lepers healed who came back to thank Jesus.
Jesus assures us in the gospel that the gift of faith is always freely given to us by God regardless of who we are. We just have to cultivate and grow deeper in that faith to fully experience his blessings and salvation.
It is like Jesus singing this song to you, telling you don’t have to be somebody or so perfect to be loved by him. God’s love is so immeasurable that even the most sinful, the most unloveable Naaman and the ten lepers can always be given a chance to new life if he/she simply believes.
Baby come as you are with just your heart And I’ll take you in You’re rejected and hurt To me you’re worth what you have within
Now I don’t need no superstar Cause I’ll accept you as you are You won’t be denied cause I’m satisfied With the love that you can inspire
You don’t have to be a star, baby, to be in my show (2x)
Somebody nobody knows could steal the tune That you want to hear So stop your running around cause now you’ve found What was cloudy is clear, oh honey
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe Week XXVIII-C, 13 October 2019
2 Kings 5:14-17 ><}}}*> 2 Timothy 2:8-13 ><}}}*> Luke 17:11-19
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, September 2019.
This Sunday readings tell us about the skin, the healing of people afflicted with the dreaded “Hansen’s disease” or leprosy. Since ancient time, it has always been seen with deeper implications than mere wounds on the skin that scars not only the leper but also the community. At its worst, it is regarded as a divine punishment that lepers have to be separated from others to live in designated areas for their treatment.
Skin plays a major role in our social status and mobility. Being the largest organ of the human body, the skin is always the first to be seen and noticed that whatever its condition would always have a big impact on the person, for better or for worst.
This is specially true for us Filipinos who are so concerned with our skin color that we still regard being white or maputi is maganda (beautiful) and having dark skin or maitim is pangit (ugly). No wonder everybody is going crazy to get whiter skin with all those soaps and creams and medicines advertised on billboards everywhere!
In a very funny twist unknown to most Filipinos who idolise white skin, many of our popular devotions in the Catholic faith actually have dark skin like Quiapo’s Black Nazarene and Our Lady of Antipolo?!
But, that’s another story of how skin-deep we can be…..
Going back to our reflection of today’s readings, Jesus is inviting us to go deeper than the skin to realize the richer meaning of having faith in him.
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.
Luke 17:11-16
View from the walled city of ancient Jerusalem, May 2019.
Since June 30 of this year, the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, we have been following Jesus when “he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem” (Lk.9:51). More than a destination to reach, Christ’s journey to Jerusalem is about directions in life because it is spiritual and theological in nature than spatial or geographical.
It is the same truth every pilgrim to the Holy Land realizes too!
And now that Jesus is nearing Jerusalem to fulfill his mission, his teachings are getting clearer and closer to home, indicating also our own “passing over” or pasch with him with the many verbs and movements found in our gospel scene today.
Let’s try reflecting on them one by one. Please bear with me…
“As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem” …. Jesus never stops in his journey to Jerusalem to suffer with us, to cry with us, to die with us. He is committed in being one with us in our many struggles and battles in this life until we make it with him to heaven.
“he travelled through Samaria and Galilee.” This is beautiful. Samaria and Galilee are the regions where the poor and marginalized lived, where sinners abound. But, that is where Jesus would always come. When we are in our darkest moments in life due to sickness, failures and disappointments, especially sin – that is when Jesus comes closest to us! In the first reading, we have heard how God’s Prophet Elisha told the Syrian Army General Naaman to bath in the Jordan River to be healed of his leprosy even if he were a pagan and an enemy of Israel! God loves us all.
“As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.” Keep in mind that Jesus came for the lost like us. Be open and ready for him for he is always passing by. Jesus surely comes to those who patiently wait for him.
“They stood at a distance from him, and raised their voice, saying, ‘Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!’ and when he saw them, he said, ‘Go show yourselves to the priests.’ As they were going they were cleansed.” This episode of the healing of ten lepers can only be found in St. Luke’s gospel filled with many meaningful expressions. First is how “the lepers stood at a distance from Jesus.” This is our usual stance with the Lord when we are full of sin, so ashamed to look at him. But, it does not really matter with the Lord who looks more into is our hearts full of contrition than into our ego full of pride as we shall hear three weeks from now in the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector (Lk. 18:9-14).
The lepers cried to him, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” and when Jesus saw them, he told them to see the priests and they were cleansed. This is an extraordinary profession of faith in Christ by the ten lepers who were crying out not only for pity but also mercy. There are only three instances in the gospels when Jesus is addressed in his name, once in Matthew and twice in Luke. This is the first and the second is when Dimas the thief called on him saying, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” To say his name “Jesus” in itself is a prayer, an admission of guilt and sin. That is why, as the ten lepers went their way to the priests, they were “cleansed” like Dimas on the cross was instantly promised with paradise.
“And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.”
Here we find every encounter with Jesus in prayer and the sacraments as well as in various events in our life is a passage to salvation and new life. See the transition from being cleansed into being healed: that is something deeper than the skin, so to speak. The Samaritan was not merely cleansed of his skin blemishes but most of all, his soul and inner being that Jesus later told him to “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”
Sometimes in life, we stop at being cleansed by the Lord; after obtaining our prayers and wishes, we never go back to him until we face another problem again. Are we willing to keep on going back to Jesus to kneel before him and to thank him?
Last Sunday we prayed to Jesus to increase our faith and today like the ten lepers from a distance, we cry out to him as our Master to have pity on us. We always have that gift of faith in us but we have to deepen and cultivate it daily in our prayer life and most especially in the Sunday Eucharist, the highest expression of giving thanks to God.
Let us live in our faith and trust in God’s gift freely given to everyone regardless of who we are. Let us rely in the words of St. Paul that
“if we have died with him we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him he will deny us. If we are unfaithful he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.”
Joel 4:12-21 ><}}}*> ><}}}*> ><}}}*> Luke 11:27-28
Mosses have always amused me since childhood. This photo taken at the St. Paul Spirituality Center in Alfonso, Cavite last month during our annual clergy retreat.
Today I join the psalmist’s call to “Rejoice in the Lord, you just!” We have not yet won our battles, many of us are still struggling with illness and many other problems and issues in life while our nation is not getting any better with leaders so far from us who simply want to amuse us like clowns.
Still, we have to rejoice because you are with us, Lord.
Keep us steadfast in our struggles to follow your will, to be patient and persevering.
Enlighten our minds and our hearts with your Holy Spirit to always listen and obey your will revealed in the Sacred Scriptures.
Despite all the heat and mess we are into, life thrives under your loving shade that may sometimes be dark and damp. Just like the moss, take care of us and dwell in us, Lord, and let us live in you. Amen.
Friday, Memorial of St. Pope John XXIII, 11 October 2019
Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2 ><}}}*> <*{{{>< Luke 11:15-26
Photo by author, Holy Family Chapel, Sacred Heart Novitiate in Novaliches, 2016.
Dearest Lord Jesus Christ:
Today I thank you for consoling those persecuted when in the gospel episode after you have driven out a demon, some of the crowd said:
“By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.”
Luke 11:15
Very consoling, Lord, because despite your exercise of divine power, some people still maligned you, accusing you of working with the devil?!
How could we not feel consoled when we have done nothing that can be compared close to your exorcism and yet we are also falsely accused of so many things?
I really wonder, Lord Jesus, what evil had possessed so many among us that they can fabricate so many lies, insist on their myopic views of things and events, and totally disregard the truth without any qualms at all?
From cbcpnews.net
From the ordinary verbal rumours spread by backstabbers daily everywhere to cyberbullying by trolls to spurious whistleblowers and state officials silencing those standing for what is true and just, more and more people are persecuted like you.
It is very disheartening, Lord, and we have no one to turn to except you whom the psalmist describes as the one who “would judge the world with justice”.
“Gird our loins, Lord, as we weep” (Joel 1:13), trying to bear these persecutions in your name. Help us to persevere for we know “the day of the Lord is coming” (Joel 2:1).
Through the intercession of St. John XXIII who helped so many Jews persecuted during World War II and called for world peace (Pacem in Terris) when he became the Pope in 1958, we pray in the most special way for those persecuted in our country especially our Bishops and priests, as well as professionals like doctors and teachers silently serving your flock.
Keep them close to your heart, Jesus, because you told us
“Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.”
Malachi 3:13-20 ><}}}*> ><}}}*> ><}}}*> Luke 11:5-13
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, September 2019.
Nothing and nobody escapes you, O God. You know very well not only what is in our hearts and in our thoughts but you can also hear what we talk and discuss. Most of all, you know what we need.
Give us the grace to persevere in your words, Lord; to remain faithful in your precepts and promises.
Let us strive to bear pains, ready to sacrifice comforts because there are no shortcuts in this life.
Let us keep in our minds and our hearts that basic truth that “life is difficult”. In this world where everything seems readily available that many have disregarded your presence and even existence, teach us Lord to persevere, to be patient in waiting for your coming to fulfill us, to grant our prayers.
Teach us to value silence more than noise.
To surrender everything to you than be manipulative.
Let us find time to be alone with you and for you than be preoccupied with people and things.
Grant us the Holy Spirit, Lord, to fill us with your love and wisdom to always persevere in life for we hold on to your promise that
“…there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.”
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa at Otap, Carigara, Leyte. September 2019.
O dear God…
How could some people be like Jonah in our first reading today — prayerful and a man of God and yet be so mean not to see the value of every person?
Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry that God did not carry out the evil he threatened against Nineveh. The the Lord said to Jonah, “You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor and which you did not raise; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left, not to mention the many cattle?”
Jonah 4:1, 10-11
Forgive us, Lord, when things like money and gadgets, whims and desires blind our eyes not to see and recognize every person who must be loved and cherished.
Forgive us when there are times we forget all about respect, even civility especially when all we see are the sins and mistakes, weaknesses and shortcomings of people that make us speak ill them, judging them harshly with our words that we forget we never lose dignity and honor because we are all created in your image and likeness, Lord.
Please teach us, Jesus, like your disciples in the gospel today the right attitude of praying which is recognizing the value of every person so we can truly pray and say
“Father, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come.”
Luke 11:2
It is only when we value persons more than anything else can we truly mean our prayers to you, O Lord and God. Amen.
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa in Carigara, Leyte, September 2019.
Thank you very much, O Lord our God, for this wonderful Tuesday! Thank you for the changing of season with the coming of Amihan’s cool northeasterly winds replacing the warm and humid winds of Habagat.
Please do change also our perception of people around us, especially those we have boxed and stereotyped simply because they are not like us in beliefs, ways, and color.
Help us to believe in everyone’s ability to become better persons, receptive to your words and mercy like the people of Niniveh during the time of Jonas and of Mary, the sister of Martha whom Jesus visited in a village on his way to Jerusalem.
So often, we are like Jonas and Martha, so focused with our very selves that we are the only ones worthy of your love and mercy as if we have been endowed with special blessings and privileges from you.
How sad that we always feel so exclusive instead of being inclusive like you, sending rains to sinners and non-sinners alike.
May we let go of any hint of “self-entitlement” that have kept us apart from each other and worst of all, prevented us from truly being one in you whom we call “Our Father”. Amen.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 07 Oktubre 2019
Larawan ay kuha ni Rdo. P. Gerry Pascual sa Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC, 09 Setyembre 2017 .
Maraming salamat, mahal naming Ina, Birheng Maria sa iyong pagsama sa amin tuwina ngayong inaala-ala iyong himala sa pakikipag-digma ng mga Kastila sa Look ng Lepanto dinarasal iyong Santo Rosario.
Kay sarap namnamin damang-dama namin sa bawat butil ng Rosario pakikiisa mo sa amin upang higit naming sundin butihin mong anak at Panginoon namin na siyang kapanatilihan ng Diyos sa piling amin.
Dahil kay Kristo Hesus na isinilang mo sa amin, Panginoong Diyos naging kapiling namin palaging dumarating maging sa gitna ng mga unos at sigwa nitong karagatan ng buhay namin tumatawag para kami ay sagipin.
Mula sa panganib ng karagatan at latian hanggang sa katihan kailanman ay hindi kami iniwan ni Kristo Hesus na iyong isinilang upang kami ay pangunahan pabalik sa aming tahanan doon sa kalangitan ikaw ngayon nakapisan.
Maraming salamat Mahal naming Ina Birheng Maria nawa amin kang matularan si Hesus ay masundan sa nakakatakot na karagatan at kapanatagan ng kapatagan kanyang mukha sa ami'y mabanaagan kami rin mismo maging misteryo ng iyong Santo Rosario.
Monday, Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, 07 October 2019
Jonah 1:1-2:1-2.11 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 10:25-37
Part of a painting in a church in Seville, Spain depicting the Battle of Lepanto Bay won through the intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary. From Google.
O God our loving Father, as we celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, you have assured us again through the readings of today of your abiding love and presence among us.
In the first reading, you remind us how you continue to call us and send us to many missions and tasks in life even if we often doubt and refuse to follow you like Jonas.
Sometimes, we have to wait for the storms to hit us in this sea of life before we can realize that indeed, you are calling us, that you do believe in us to entrust us with specific tasks and mission in life.
Photo by Mr. Raffy Tima, Batanes, 2018.
And yet, in the many turbulence in this sea of life we are into, you never fail to save us and assure us of your love and mercy like at the Battle of Lepanto Bay in 1571 when the Holy League of Christians crushed the much feared and powerful navy of the Ottoman Turks.
Thank you in giving us the Blessed Virgin Mary as our Mother too to calm our many fears while in the high seas of life.
On the other hand, you dare to challenge us dear God to find you and share you among the most needy of this long and perilous road of life in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
From Google.
So often, we refuse to leave the security and comfort of our lives than cross the road to reach out to those in the margins left to die in sickness, hunger, and pain- alone.
Through the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ, may our eyes be opened, our faith be deepened to find and serve you Lord and Master in the storms of the high seas and in the security of the roads ahead us. Amen.
I was a newly ordained priest assigned to an all-boys’ high school in 1998.
People were looking up to me as a priest or a “man of the cloth” but my students and the younger generation counted me in as “one of them” when they learned my favorite bands at that time were the Eraserheads, Sugar Ray, and New Radicals. And like this blog, I would spice up my homilies in the Mass and reflections in class and recollections with modern music so our students could make “sakay” (ride) with God’s words and lessons from the Bible.
Just like our featured song on this lovely Sunday by the New Radicals released in 1999 from the only album they have released a year earlier called “Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too”, “Someday We’ll Know” is a song about love at the beginning was thought to be so perfect that later ended up in separation.
Two years after their split, the man was still wondering what happened to their seemingly perfect love, at why he was dumped for another guy by his beloved.
And the bittersweet part is the that the man in the song is wondering not out of desperation but because he still loved the woman, believing and hoping that…
Someday we’ll know Why Sampson loved Delilah One day I’ll go Dancing on the moon Someday you’ll know That I was the one for you I bought a ticket to the end of the rainbow I watched the stars crash into the sea If I could ask God just one question Why aren’t you here with me
Faith and love always go together. People who truly love are the most faithful!
In the gospel today, the Apostles asked Jesus Chris to increase their faith upon learning from him the many trials they have to go through in fulfilling their mission from him.
Sometimes in life when things do not go according to our plans, when bad things happen to us despite our efforts to become better persons, we cry out to God in pain, even complain at all the destruction and disorder we go through in life.
And every time we pray to cry out to God in pain or complain, it is a sign of grace that he is within us. Prayer is an ability we can only do with grace from God; that is why, when we pray, our prayers are already half answered because prayer is definite sign of God being with us.
When things are not going well with you now, have faith in God.
Keep praying, keep believing, keep trusting God because someday we’ll know….
