Deuteronomy 10:12-22 >< }}}*> < *{{{>< Matthew 17:22-27
From Google.
Moses said to the people: “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and be no longer stiff-necked.”
Deuteronomy 10:16
Your words, O Lord, today are so shocking. Even funny. And difficult to relate with.
But that is exactly what we need to hear and learn these days: your words that shake and jolt our inner selves that cleanse and lead us to a more genuine and intimate relationship with you.
Like those Israelites wandering at the desert, rebelling against you, we have become stiff-necked. We have refused to look up to you as well as look inside our hearts to see you and follow you.
Help us to circumcise our hearts – not physically but spiritually – like what Marie Kondo has been advocating of decluttering our spaces to experience inner joy. So often we refuse to admit how our outer selves and homes look like indicate our inner selves.
It is you, Lord Jesus, who probes our hearts and guide us like Marie Kondo, step by step, to declutter our hearts.
May your light enable us to see and remove the many stacks of materialism, compartments of insecurities, and drawers of pretensions and other lies that clutter our inner selves, our hearts that keep us away from you and from others.
Like what you did today in the gospel when you taught Peter a beautiful lesson of being nice among our enemies and detractors who try to destroy us always, may we look more often inside our hearts to see YOU as the most essential in life than simply following the ways of the world.
May the example of St. Jane Frances Chantal whose feast we celebrate today, help us to keep that inner glow of your love within us when facing difficult situations in life like problems with in-laws and being widowed.
Fill us with the same charity you have given her in helping the poor as well as the forgotten people of the society.
We pray through her intercession for parents and children separated from one another due to many reasons, either by choice or circumstances.
Bless also the members of the congregation she had founded, the Sisters of Visitation that they may continue her wonderful works of charity among the poor. Amen.
People told me that is the “age of enlightenment”.
And I believe so.
After living half a century, I have realised so many things in life that I had Bill LaBounty’s 1982 hit as my theme song, “Livin’ It Up.”
Like the gospel today when Jesus tells us to “gird your loins” or be on guard because death could come so sudden, LaBounty’s “Livin’ It Up” is the perfect Sunday music.
Girding up one’s loins, being on guard means living it up… taking a new persona when we learn to let go of our past to accept and appreciate every present moment, believing deep inside our hearts of more better and more meaningful things to come in our lives.
Girding up on’e loins, being on guard means living it up as matured men and women disposed to more things that are more profound and meaningful than mere existence because we are so aware of our mortality, of our coming to something more lasting that is eternal.
I finally got my life together Scraped my heart up off the floor My attitude is so much better And I hardly ever cry the way I did before
I’ve been livin’ it up Having my self in time Livin’ it up Right from the women to the wine Livin’ out all those fantasies I never did get to Those Crazy things I never got to do
I got my self a new persona Took the service off my phone These days I live the way I wanna And I’d do just fine as long as I’m not left alone
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.
Saturday, Feast of St. Lawrence Deacon and Martyr, 10 August 2019
2 Corinthians 9:6-10 >< }}}*> <*{{{ >< John 12:24-26
“Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, with Two Benedictine Nuns” by Jacobello del Fiero (1425) who introduced “International Gothic” painting style in Venice using elegant and bright colors. The two Benedictine “witnesses” are nuns believed to belonged to the San Lorenzo convent in Venice who commissioned del Fiero to paint the scene. Photo from Rijksmuseum via useum.org.
Praise and glory to you, God our loving Father for the gift of humor.
Yes, Lord, thank you in giving us funny bones, for enabling us to laugh – and be holy!
Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7
Keep us cheerful always, Lord, like St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr, patron saint of chefs and comedians.
It was pure grace of love for Jesus Christ and his Church that St. Lawrence suffered so much with a lot of sense of humor and joy.
When Emperor Valerian asked your deacon St. Lawrence to bring him all the treasures of the Church of Rome he was tasked to safeguard, he asked permission to leave jail to gather them.
And he was so witty and courageous that when he returned, he came with the poor as “treasures of the Church” that made the emperor so furious and ordered St. Lawrence be roasted to death on a giant gridiron.
Again, in the midst of intense pain while being roasted alive, St. Lawrence never lost that spark of wit and humor when he told his tormentors to “turn me over, I am done on this side…have a bite.”
As a deacon, teach us, O Lord, to serve like St. Lawrence with a deep sense of dedication and passion plus a lot of smiles and joy!
Everybody is so stressed out these days, Lord, for so many reasons like traffic and lousy services everywhere, including in our parishes.
Thanks be to you, O God, we do not have to suffer so much like St. Lawrence.
Give us the grace of wearing always a warm smile and cheerful face to serve those in pain and suffering.
Let us laugh a lot, Lord, to share with others the real fruits of our work in you. Amen.
Deacon’s dalmatic and stole. Photo by Lorenzo Atienza, 12 June 2019, Malolos City.
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.
Thursday, Feast of St. Dominic de Guzman, 08 August 2019
Numbers 20:1-13 >< )))*> <*((( >< Matthew 16:13-23
From Google.
A blessed Thursday, O Lord, especially to the Dominicans spread across the globe proclaiming your good news of salvation in words and in deeds.
Thank you very much, Lord, for the gift of St. Dominic whose name – Domini canis – literally means “hound of the Lord” or “dog of the Lord” .
Teach us to be like St. Dominic who was faithful and true to you, Jesus.
May we be like him in that dog in his mother’s dream who brought the torch of truth to dispel the great darkness of sin and evil in the world.
Today, there is a great plague of darkness infecting the modern means of communications where trolls and cyberbullies spread lies and falsehoods like fake news and misinformation to manipulate and mislead the minds of some into taking violent and truncated views about life and persons.
Make us your modern St. Dominic – Domini canes – to bring that torch of reason and decency, charity and truth to dispel this darkness engulfing us and have actually led to many forms of violence and animosities among peoples here and abroad lately.
Help us contemplate your person, Lord Jesus Christ like St. Dominic so we would know you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more closely.
May we realise that whenever we fail to show who you really are, when we cannot personally confess like St. Peter that “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt.16: 16), troubles begin to happen not only in the Church but also in the world like racism, gender inequality, and many forms of injustice.
When we your followers do not truly know you as the Christ, then we cease to become Christians when we stop respecting others who are not like us in color, creed, and culture; when we disregard the value of life, and finally, when we stop seeing each other as brothers and sisters in you.
How sad that until now, many Christians say many different things about you, Jesus, because we have miserably failed in being your faithful witnesses.
Help us Lord to “think more as God does, not as human beings do” (Mt.16:23) by imitating St. Dominic who spent much time “at the foot of your Cross.”Amen.
According to tradition, when the mother of St. Dominic was pregnant with him, she dreamt of a dog running their dark streets at night with a torch in its mouth, foretelling his future mission of bringing the light of Christ through education by founding the Order of Preachers.
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.
Tinuturing siyang banal at makapangyarihan Tinutulad sa Panginoong kanyang pinaglilingkuran Kaya madalas kanyang nalilimutan Siya ma'y tao na mahina at makasalanan.
Pinili mula sa karamihan Hindi dahil sa pambihirang katangian Maliban sa kabutihan ng Panginoong sinusundan Siya ay pinag-uubra lamang.
Ikaw pari ay alagad ni Kristo Hindi ikaw ang Kristo Kaya huwag kang malilito Maski ika'y naka-abito, hindi ikaw ang sasambahin ng tao!
Dumapa, nagpapakumbaba, at sumumpa Buong buhay ilalaan, puso walang ibang laman Kungdi si Kristo ang tanging yaman Hindi tawag ng laman o ng sanlibutan.
Pangakong ipagdiriwang mga sakramento Tinatalikuran kung wala o maliit matatangap na istipendo; Umoo na ipapahayag at isasabuhay salita ng Diyos Ngunit sa pulpito parang loro Mga komentaryo sa radyo at peryodiko ang kabisado.
Hindi nag-aasawa upang mamuhay kaisa si Kristo Magiging masunurin, mamumuhay ng payak Ngunit sa kanyang mga gayak agad matitiyak Maraming layak: kungdi babae, lalake na kunwa'y palaki O dili kaya'y ampon na kamukha naman paglaki!
Mula sa Google.
Ano ang nangyari at tila kaluluwa'y ipinagbili Pari naging makasarili, puri sinasantabi Sinasanto lamang kanyang sarili Bawat utos hindi nababali, bawat naisin naikakatwiran?
Itong ating pintakasi ang nagsabi Ang pari ay paalala ng Krus na siya ring ating hugis; Alin lamang sa dalawa ang maaring mangyari: Ika'y buong-buo sa Diyos o ika'y buong-buo sa sanlibutan?
Huwag nating kalilimutan, higit sa "tawag" ng pagpapari Ay ang "tumatawag" sa ating Punong Pari: Ika'y pari ni Kristo, hindi artista na kailangan ng gluta; Sapat na ang maging pari ni Kristo, hindi kailangan ng monumento; Higit sa lahat, hindi tayo ang aalalahanin ni gagayahin Kungdi si Hesus na Panginoong natin.
Kayong mga madla, huwag ninyo kaming sambahin Sapat na kami'y bigyan ng malamig na inumin, Tanggapin, at higit sa lahat, ipanalangin; Sapagkat kung tutuusin, kaming mga pari ay katulad ninyo rin Mga aliping walang kabuluhan na tumutupad lamang sa tungkulin (Lukas 17:10)!
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, 06 August 2019
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 >< }}}*> 2 Peter 1:16-19 >< }}}*> Luke 9:28-36
Photo by Atty. Grace Polaris Rivas-Beron, top of Mt. Sinai, May 2019.
Lord Jesus Christ, two Sundays ago you have taught us how to pray, welcoming us into your inner self on having the right attitude in prayer, of being formed like you, obedient unto death to the will of the Father in heaven.
Today as we celebrate your feast of Transfiguration, once again through St. Luke, you welcome us into your prayer moment to be transformed like you on Mount Tabor.
Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray. While he was praying, his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.
Luke 9:28-31
Thank you for bringing us along like your three privileged apostles up on the mountain to pray. Thank you in enabling us to pray with you, in you, and like you. Indeed, every prayer is a moment of transfiguration and transformation.
Most of all, every prayer period is also an exodus, our passing over from darkness to light, from sinfulness to grace, from slavery to freedom.
On the evening of your Resurrection as St. Luke recorded, you walked with two disciples going home to Emmaus, explaining to them how the “Law and the Prophets” spoke about your own pasch or passover and exodus on the Cross.
There on top of the mountain during your transfiguration while you were praying, Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets, came to discuss with you your own exodus of Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
When we are so hard pressed with our life, with our pains and hurts, when nobody seem to care, when everybody seem to forget us, join us in our mountain of prayerful transfiguration.
When we feel giving up, when things are breaking apart in our life whether at home or office or school, when we feel hopeless even in the Church, in our Parish and among our parishioners, when we see you dear Jesus “dead” on the Cross, let us hold on to that revelation on Mt. Tabor that you are “the chosen Son” of the Father so we may listen to you always to deny our selves, take up our crosses and follow you.
May we stop seeking some “cleverly devised myths” (1Pt.1:16) towards Transfiguration for there is no other way but through your Cross that makes us your indwelling and presence. Let your face shine on us today to bring more light and hope in this world darkened by sin. Amen.
Happy 13th Anniversary to our Parish of St. John Evangelist, 06 August 2019.
Monday, Feast of the Dedication of St. Mary Major, 05 August 2019
Revelation 21:1-5 >< )))*> <*((( >< Luke 11:27-28
Mural painting of Mary and Child Jesus at Monte Sant’ Angelo, Citta Longobarda, Italy. Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago. 2018.
Praise and glory to you, our loving Father in heaven for this new day, Feast of the Dedication of St. Mary Major, the first Marian Shrine and one of the Mother Churches in our eternal city of Rome.
Indeed, you make all things new as St. John had seen in his vision at Patmos when he wrote the Book of Revelation.
And the best part of it is how you make all things new with Mary, the Mother of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Give us the grace to be like Mary intimately one with you and your will in Christ Jesus.
Help us to be open in receiving your word, bearing fruit in words and in deeds as we share it with others. Amen.
Dome of St. Mary Major in Rome. Photo by Arch. Philip Santiago, 2018.
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