We were in Grade Six when the American progressive rock band Kansas released “Dust In the Wind” in 1978. Immediately upon hearing it on radio with its signature guitar plucking, everybody was talking about its spiritual meaning, especially its music that sounded so mystical.
According to its composer and band guitarist Kerry Livgren, the song was inspired by a line from the Book of Ecclesiastes which we have heard proclaimed in today’s Sunday Mass with some references also from Genesis 3:19 “…for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shall return.”
I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a chase after wind.
Ecclesiastes 1:14
Like the author of the Ecclesiastes who called himself Qoheleth, Dust in the Wind is no “kill joy” but a beautiful and timely reminder to us all that indeed, we are all dust in the wind, that we must seek things that truly last even after death.
And that is God alone.
What I like most in Dust in the Wind is its haunting melody that elicits a kind of fear that does not make you cower or tremble. It is a positive kind of fear that according to experts motivates man to further his knowledge and abilities. Like this fear of death that has enabled man to achieve so many breakthroughs in medicine and the sciences to cure and prevent many diseases that have greatly improved our quality of life. It was also the fear of death, of going hungry that enabled many explorers to discover many new lands and territories that now push advanced nations to explore the universe for future human colonies.
Sometimes in life, we have to be shocked and shaken because fear can be a good motivator for us to strive for the best. But more than a motivator, the fear of death can also be a path to holiness and communion in God as the Book of Ecclesiastes shows us: the more we realize our nothingness like dust in the wind, that everything is vanity, the more we also desire and hold on to God who is the only One permanent and absolutely good after death.
The French author and film director Georges Bernanos (Diary of a Country Priest) wrote in one of his novels that,
In a sense, you see, Fear is the daughter of God, redeemed on the night of Good Friday. It is not pretty to see— of course not!— sometimes mocked, sometimes cursed, renounced by everyone… And yet, do not deceive yourself: it is at the bedside of each agony, it intercedes for man.
Joy (La Joie)
May this music by Kansas remind us that only Jesus Christ can fulfill us. Not money or wealth, power or fame for “one’s life does not consist of possessions” (Lk. 12:15). May it also remind us of Christ’s parable of the rich man who died after storing treasures for himself, forgetting to be rich in what matters to God (cf. Lk.12:21).
Outside Jerusalem is the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery. It is one of the world’s oldest, existing for over 3000 years. It is also one of the most expensive cemetery in the world for having the choicest spot to be buried in the planet as it faces the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem where the bible tells us the Messiah would be coming through. Hence, all tombs at the Mount of Olives Cemetery point to that direction so that all those buried there would be the first to rise again to life and welcome the Messiah when he comes.
Of course, we Christians believe Jesus is the Messiah or the Christ who in fact came through that Eastern Gate on Palm Sunday when he entered Jerusalem over 2000 years ago to offer his life for our salvation on Good Friday, resurrecting on Easter Sunday!
And while the Jews await the Messiah and we Christians affirm he has come in Jesus, our Moslem brothers and sisters sealed the Eastern Gate during the Middle Ages that since then, no one could pass through it except literally face a blank wall.
I love telling this amusing story to fellow pilgrims to the Holy Land but find it today as a beautiful springboard for reflection to balance our Sunday gospel that sounds like a “shock preaching” by Jesus Christ.
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” He replied to him, “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” Then he said to the crowd, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Then he told them a parable… “Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.”
Luke 12:13-16, 21
Beginning this Sunday until the next three weeks, we’ll hear Jesus Christ “shock preaching” us the plain truth we always forget or even disregard: that we all die and what really matters most in life are the good deeds we have done. All our cherished possessions, everything we have labored so hard in this life we shall leave behind when we die because as the Lord had said, “life does not consist of possessions”.
We have known this all along but we rarely realize its full impact until we come face to face with death due to an illness, retirement, or situations when we existentially feel we are mortals after all, contrary to what we have felt and held when we were younger.
So, why wait until it is too late? Start considering now in everything of what will remain after our death.
And if you find this shocking, see also how Jesus coldly refused the man’s plea for his intervention to have his share of inheritance that is rightly his: “Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” What had happened to his teachings last week about prayer, of God giving what is best for us like our sinful parents?
Here we find the value of Christ’s shock preaching: his response was not only directed to the man but to us all who always pray to him, asking him for so many things when we forget the more essential, God. As we have reflected last Sunday, we pray to have God because when we have him, we have everything! Jesus is redirecting our attention and focus on things that last even after our death, on “being rich in what matters to God.”
After my father had retired, he was diagnosed with glaucoma. While driving for him on our way home from the hospital, he told me how he had realized that God is not really so concerned about our temporal affairs like wealth. He claimed that everything he had prayed for was granted by God except only that one thing of being rich.
I totally agree with my Dad and that is why I do not pray for any material thing for myself since 1995 while a seminarian until now that I am a priest for 21 years. I do pray for the material well-being of my family, relatives and friends because when they are financially stable, I know they would take care of me and of my needs just like last week when a relative gave me a brand new laptop (a Mac, in fact). I do not pray for things because I am so convinced that whatever I need, God will give me. The only thing I pray for myself is that when I die, God brings me to heaven.
When we try to pray deeper, we also realize that in whatever problem we find ourselves confronted with especially with those pertaining to material things like money, cars, house, and gadgets, Jesus always responds in the same manner he did with that man who requested him on his way to Jerusalem. That is because Jesus came not to be a judge and arbitrator of our inheritance and assets. Jesus came for the salvation of our souls, for the fulfillment of our lives that can never be achieved with money and wealth or power and fame.
Jesus came for us, for you and me. Personally. He wants us to focus more on “what matters to God” like love and mercy, kindness and generosity with others which he lavishly gives us. When we are rich with these gifts that matter to God, we also find ourselves desiring less material things, being more fair and just in our dealing with others. No stealing, no cheating, no character assassination. When we have more of spiritual goods, we have more joy within, more peace and contentment. But when we have more of material goods, we feel more uneasy and most prone to sin.
Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities. All things are vanity! For what profit comes to a man from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which he labored under the sun? All his days sorrow and grief is his occupation; even at night his mind is not at rest. This is also vanity.
Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:22-23
Women pose for photos near a homeless man during the New York Fashion Week , October 2012. Photo by Reuters via The Economist Magazine.
Qoheleth is no “killjoy” but merely telling us that everything on earth vanishes like thin air. Only God lasts for all eternity. And that is also the whole point of St. Paul in the second reading.
Brothers and sisters: If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:1-3
Sometimes in life, we need to be shocked and shaken of the simple facts we take for granted like our relationships with God and with others. Here we find that fear can sometimes be good. In fact, it was our fear of death that led mankind to many medical and scientific breakthroughs in history that have made life today better and safer, and yes, easier. It was also this fear of death that had enabled man to discover new lands to inhabit and is now pushing us to explore the universe.
But most of all, this fear of death can also be holy and blessed too because when we become conscious of our own end in life, that is when we start living authentically in the hope of eternal life in God. A blessed Sunday to you! 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.
Wednesday, Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, 31 July 2019
Exodus 34:29-35 >< )))*> <*((( >< Matthew 13:44-46
Lake Tiberias in Galilee, May 2017.
Dearest Lord:
Please teach us to be generous like your servant St. Ignatius of Loyola whose feast we celebrate today.
Teach us to be generous in examining our conscience so we may readily confess our sins to you each day.
Likewise, teach us Lord to be generous in examining our consciousness too so that we may gratefully acknowledge the good things we have done each day through you.
Most of all, teach us to be generous in being with you in prayers, in seeking your holy will so that like Moses in the first reading, your light may shine on us as we proclaim your greater glory with our words and works.
Let us zealously seek your kingdom like a buried treasure or a precious pearl that once found we may joyfully and lovingly share with others.
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.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, ika-29 ng Hulyo 2019
Minsan sa aking pananalangin Sa Panginoon ako'y dumaing Ngunit ang sumagi sa akin Yaring tagpo nang kanyang sabihin:
"Marta, Marta naliligalig ka At abalang-abala sa maraming bagay Ngunit iisa lamang ang talagang mahalaga."
Kaya naman naglaro sa aking isipan Paano mangatwiran si Marta kung tayo sinabihan At marahil ganito kanyang tinuran: "Ako pa ba ngayon ang naliligalig Gayong batid ninyo Panginoon Pandarambong at kasakiman ng karamihan Pagkagahaman sa kayamanan ng ilan Habang kaming maliliit ang labis nahihirapan?"
At waring sumagi sa akin wika ng Panginoon, "Marta, Marta iisa lang ang mahalaga: Sa akin ay manalig ka sapagkat sinabi ko na, Mapapalad ang mga aba at dukha Na walang inaasahan kungdi ang Diyos."
Napahupa aking kalooban samandali Ngunit muli nag-alimpuyo aking galit at ngitngit Aking naisip isa pang hirit ni Marta Nang sa kanya'y nasambit: "Ako pa ba ngayon Panginoon ang nababahala At tila hindi mo alintana mga ginagawa ng masasama Na parang sila pa yata ang pinagpapala Pinapalakpakan, hinahangaan ng karamihan?"
At yaring sumagi muli ang wika ng Panginoon, "Marta, Marta isa lang ang kailangan kaya matuwa ka Kung dahil sa akin ika'y inaalimura, inuusig Pinagwiwikaan ng mga kasinungalingan: walang natatago Na di malalantad, walang lihim na hindi malalaman at mabubunyag."
Sa iyo ginigiliw kong kaibigan Nabibigatan sa maraming pinapasan Nahihirapan sa mga pinagdaraanan Laging tandaan si Kristo lamang ating kailangan.
Katulad ni Santa Martang uliran Tanging si Hesus ang asahan at abangan Ipagpatuloy gawang kabutihan Iyong pangarap tiyak makakamtan!
Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34 >< }}}*> <*{{{ >< John 11:19-27
Raising of Lazarus by Jesus with Martha and Mary from Hunterian Psalter via Google.
Praise and glory to you, O God our loving Father!
Thank you for the gift of St. Martha whose memorial we celebrate today.
St. Martha is a most beautiful image of somebody busy for the Lord, believing in him as the Christ, always waiting on him, waiting for him. She believed in you as the Christ that is why she waited on you during your visit to her home at Bethany. She also believed in you as the Christ when she awaited your coming on the death of her brother Lazarus, welcoming you on the road to express her grief and sadness.
There was no guile in St. Martha, Lord, as her feelings and words matched her actions.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
John 11:20-27
Grant us, O Lord, the same faith St. Martha had in you as the Christ, the “resurrection and the life” of every believer.
In this fast-paced world, faith in you has greatly eroded as most of us can no longer wait.
We have become impatient, believing less in you like the Israelites who turned to a golden calf because they could no longer wait for Moses who had stayed on top of Mt. Sinai conversing with you, God (Ex. 32:23).
Awaiting Christ’s coming and life eternal like St. Martha who actively waited and served on the Lord in her lifetime is faith in action.
Like St. Martha, help us to believe in you so we would wait on you, wait for you.
Like St. Martha, may we live in every here and now in your presence. Amen.
I always tell people that prayer does not necessarily change situations like preventing a calamity from happening like typhoons and earthquakes. Prayer primarily changes people, of how we cope and respond to bad things happening to us and to others. Prayer is more of becoming like Jesus Christ, loving and compassionate, merciful and forgiving. Prayer is the expression of our love that is why it is always transformative.
That is essentially the meaning of our Sunday music today by the great Boz Scaggs, “Look What You’ve Done to Me” from the 1980 movie Urban Cowboy starring John Travolta and Debra Winger. Never saw that movie but I have always been a follower of Scaggs since 1976 when I was only in grade four and hopelessly in love with a classmate singing his poignant ballad We’re All Alone.
In this 1980 hit he had reportedly written hurriedly with David Foster, we also find the right attitude in praying taught by Jesus in the Our Father which is primarily to lose one’s self with God or with one’s beloved. That is exactly what Scaggs is saying in “Look What You’ve Done to Me” – of how love had formed and transformed him into a better person despite all the pains and sufferings.
Hope you enjoy our music today.
And yes, do not forget to pray for it is our expression of our love to God who makes us better persons by being more loving like him.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, Wk. XVII-C, 28 July 2019
Genesis 18:20-32 >< }}}*> Colossians 2:12-14 >< }}}*> Luke 11:1-13
I have always loved this photo by Ms. Jaileen Jimeno or “JJ”, a former colleague at GMA-7 News. JJ told me how on the evening of May 28 she dropped by the Adoration Chapel of the UP Parish of the Holy Sacrifice for a very special intention when she was stunned by this sight of the “headless man” praying in one of the pews. Always a journalist, JJ took this shot with her camera phone and after praying, posted it on her FB with the caption, “losing one’s head in prayer.” I have not talked with her since then but perhaps, her special intention that evening must have been heard by God because her photo itself is essentially a prayer too!
This is what prayer is all about – losing one’s self in God.
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
Luke 11:1
The Our Father Church outside Jerusalem where Jesus taught his disciples to pray the Our Father, 04 May 2019.
This is the third Sunday in a series of “things to do to gain eternal life” following that conversation by Jesus with a scholar of the law on his way to Jerusalem when he taught us to “love God and love others” by showing compassion to the suffering like the Good Samaritan. Last Sunday during his stopover at the home of Martha and Mary, he taught us that the more we are busy, the more we must pray; and the more we pray, the more we realize of the need to be active. This Sunday, Jesus deepens this lesson about prayer which is also the more essential – “the better part” – as he told Martha that we must do to gain eternal life.
For St. Luke, this episode of Jesus teaching his disciples the Our Father is more than the teaching of a prayer to recite but the attitude itself they must possess in praying.
Of the four evangelists, St. Luke is the one who always present to us Jesus at prayer like at this scene today. Unlike with St. Matthew’s version when Jesus taught the Our Father during his sermon on the mount so that his disciples would know what to pray for instead of multiplying words like the Pharisees and scribes at that time, St. Luke set this teaching in the context of the Lord at prayer to teach us how to pray.
He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.”
Luke 11:2-4
Jesus came to make known to everyone God is our Father whose name we must always revere and never take in vain. By dying on the Cross, he revealed the glory of the Father who loves us so much that “he gave us his only Son so that we may not perish but gain eternal life”.
This is the first lesson of the Our Father. By teaching us the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus involves us in his own prayer to form our inner being to be like him in total obedience to the Father so that his kingdom may come. Remember the acronym ACTS in praying: “A” for adoration, “C” for confession of sins, “T” for thanksgiving, and “S” for supplications. So often, we only pray the “S” that we no longer merely ask but even demand from God so many things without even praising and thanking him for all his kindness, without realizing how we have turned out to be gods and the Lord our servant!
Wailing Wall of Jerusalem, May 2019.
“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
Luke 11:9-13
Another unique feature of St. Luke’s version of the teaching of the Lord’s prayer is the parable that follows about an insistent neighbor asking for bread followed by a series of valuable sayings about prayer. Contrary to common interpretations, Jesus is not telling us to ask God for anything we want like money and gadgets. Prayer is essentially asking for God. It is God whom we must desire in prayer because when we have God, we have everything!
In St. Luke’s second book, the Acts of the Apostles, we find the Holy Spirit animating the early Church as a community as well as every individual. Every decision, every plan, and every prayer is always powered and guided by the Holy Spirit. When Jesus told his disciples to ask, to seek, and to knock, he was referring to always pray for the Holy Spirit for we really do not know how to pray. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to speak rightly to God for things we need to tell him.
See how the two basic prayers we have, the Our Father and the Hail Mary are actually the words of God, not by men. The Our Father is by Jesus Christ himself that is why we call it the Lord’s prayer. The Hail Mary are the words of God through Archangel Gabriel when he greeted Mary to deliver the good news she would be the Mother of Christ. Even its second part are also the words of God when the Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth to praise Mary and the fruit of her womb, Jesus!
We need to ask for the Holy Spirit so that we can truly pray and enter that wonderful dialogue with God. When we pray like Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit, we realize what God wants from us and we are able to respond properly as he gives us the necessary grace to accomplish them. Praying like Jesus is entering a dialogue with God, searching him and acting on his words.
Deacons prostrating before God in earnest prayer before their ordination.
That dialogue between God and Abraham at Mamre before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in our first reading shows us that prayer helps us discern good and evil. Abraham did not bargain with God to save Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of up to at least ten good people. In fact, only two good people remained there, Abraham’s nephew Lot and his wife who eventually perished after disobeying the angels’ instructions. What really matters in that episode is how Abraham recognized not only the good people but most of all, the prevailing evil at Sodom and Gomorrah.
Chapel of the Assumption Sabbath in Baguio, January 2019.
When we pray like Jesus, we also realize our giftedness of being saved from sin, of being “buried with him in baptism and brought to life along with him” (Col. 2:12,13) and thus becoming children of God. As children of the Father and brothers and sisters of Christ, prayer is where we enter into that deep relationship with God, learning his plans for us and how we can accomplish them by staying out of sin.
The example of Abraham and the teaching of Jesus show us that prayer is not a flight from the realities of this life and of this world. Far from being an escape, real prayer brings us closer to life, to following Christ our Savior for the glory of the Father by bringing his kingdom in this imperfect world marred by sins.
When we pray like Jesus, we get in touch with our true selves as well as with the many pains and hurts we share with others in this life journey, making us realize that we cannot do it alone. And more than the love and support we can get from our family and friends, there is God who loves us so much, giving himself to us to make it through eternal life. Have a blessed Sunday! Amen.
lordmychef.com 