The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul, Friday, Easter Week VII, 29 May 2020
Acts of the Apostles 25:13-21 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> John 21:15-19
Photo by author, ancient ruins of Caesarea in Israel, May 2019.
Dearest Lord Jesus, give us the courage to truly follow you, the courage to forget our selves, and most of all, the courage to truly desire and seek you.
So often, we always desire you but we are not willing to set aside our own plans and agenda. We are afraid of starting all over again, afraid of what others would say to our great visions and dreams.
We ask for your directions but we are never willing to go with you because we are afraid of going to uncharted and untested situations and places. We are afraid of getting lost, of losing time and money for our endeavors and pursuits in life.
We ask for strength but we refuse to give up our attachments because we are afraid of not having any fall back just in case we fail. We are afraid of losing everything if we entrust everything to the Holy Spirit.
Lord, let us realize like Peter that to desire and follow you requires courage on our part because to have you, to follow you means losing our very selves in you so we can be with you wherever you may be.
Jesus said to Peter, “Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”
John 21:18
Even St. Paul in the first reading courageously followed you, Lord, from Miletus to Jerusalem to Caesarea and finally to Rome to fulfill the mission you have entrusted to him.
May we find courage in you Lord that like St. Peter and St. Paul, we may also answer and fulfill your call. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe, Memorial of St. Athanasius, 02 May 2020
Acts of the Apostles 9:31-42 <*(((>< ><)))*> <*(((>< ><)))*> John 6:60-69
Photo by author inside the Holy Sepulchre Church in Jerusalem near the tomb of Jesus, 2017.
Dearest Lord Jesus:
We are getting tired and weary.
This community quarantine is slowly taking its toll in us with its emotional and psychological stresses especially for those living alone, for the elderlies, those with debilitating diseases and condition, for those in the margins of the society.
Give us the gift of faith like that of St. Peter in the first reading and the gospel: in this time of the corona virus when many of us are wishing to give up and walk away, may the words of faith by St. Peter re-echo within us too…
“Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”
John 6:68-69
Let us be reminded that like St. Peter, there are moments of crisis in faith when we are so tempted to walk away from you or even deny you, Lord; yet, your grace is always there to encourage us, to strengthen us, and most of all, to inspire us to find those going through various tests of their faith.
In this time of the quarantine, help us to make that extra effort to learn and know you more like St. Athanasius who spent many hours praying and studying your teachings so more people may be enlightened, especially those who are misled by heresies and trappings of the modern world.
Keep us faithful and focused only on you, Jesus, so we may always follow you alone. Amen.
Friday, St. John Bosco, Priest, Patron of the Youth, 31 January 2020
2 Samuel 11:1-4, 5-10,13-17 ><)))*> 0 <*(((>< Mark 4:26-34
Pilgrims waiting for their turn into the Ascension Chapel at the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem in Israel. Photo by author, May 2019.
On this last day of January 2020, we thank you God our Father for the grace of being alive and safe, for not forsaking us in this most trying first month of the year where we have seen and experienced many calamities here and abroad, deaths and sickness even among our relatives and friends as well people we look up to for inspirations.
It was a very trying month, Lord, that have sent many of us down into our knees in prayer and reflection, making us realize the many moments you have talked to us “in private” – the same way you did to your Apostles to explain the parables you have narrated (Mk.4:34).
How lovely are those words indeed, evoking a sense of kinship and intimacy with you and the Twelve. You know very well everything in our hearts, our innermost thoughts and feelings that you talk to us personally, in private.
What a shame, O Lord, when we commit despicable sins, believing we do them “in private” like David who had relations with Bathsheba and caused the death of her husband Uriah to cover up his sins.
So many times, Lord, we act like David as if nobody would ever know our sins and evil ways except us alone in private – “walang makakaalam kungdi ako lang” -as if you are not all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient), and ever-present (omnipresent).
It is so foolish of us, Lord! And we are sorry.
Remind us that our most private moments are in fact the time you are most present with us, and in us. That there is no other path to follow in this life except your path, O Lord. Walk us through, Lord.
Like St. John Bosco, instill in our hearts this beautiful lesson he had taught us with:
From twitter.com
Like St. John Bosco, may we “always have fun in life, but never sin”, thinking only the glory of heaven as the ultimate end of everything we do in life! Amen.
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, 21 January 2020
1 Samuel 16:1-13 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Mark 2:23-28
Photo by Mr. Jim Marpa, 2019.
The Lord said to Samuel: “How long will you grieve for Saul, whom I have rejected as king of Israel? Fill yor horn with oil, and be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen my king from among is sons.” But Sameul replied: “How can I go? Saul will hear of it and kill me.” To this the Lord answered: “Take a heifer along and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I myself will tell you what to do; you are to anoint for me the one I point out to you.” Samuel did as the Lord had commanded him.
1 Samuel 16:1-4
How many times have I found myself, O God, in the same situation as Samuel? You know very well how I felt so afraid to do your work, so fearful for my reputation and most especially of other people who might harm me in doing your work.
But what really makes it so difficult in obeying you, O God, is when I doubt if you are the one truly speaking to me, when I doubt myself if I get it right from you to do something opposite the way and thoughts of most people.
Oh… how sweet it is to remember those days when I just threw myself to your will, when I just did and say whatever you willed!
It was very scary, Lord, but we did it!
You did it very well, every step of our way!
Thank you, so much, O God! Thank you!
Send us your Holy Spirit to center our lives in your Son Jesus Christ like the disciples “who began to make a path picking heads of grain one Sabbath day” (Mk.2:23) and the Pharisees lambasted them.
Surely, the disciples would have not done that without seeking permission from Jesus. And even if Jesus had allowed them to go and pick heads of grain, I am sure there were some who still doubted him giving the permission to do it!
So nice that they trusted Jesus, like the young and lovely St. Agnes who remained adamantly faithful to him in the face of death. May I be given that same faith and courage today, Lord, to find you in every step I take. Amen.
The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Recipe, Advent IV-A, 22 December 2019
Isaiah 7:10-14 ><}}}*> Romans 1:1-7 ><}}}*> Matthew 1:18-24
Dome of the Malolos Cathedral Basilica, Advent 2019. Photo by author.
We are now at the Fourth Sunday of Advent, the final week of preparations for Christmas happening in about three days. And we go back to the gospel of Matthew to reflect anew on the annunciation of Christ’s birth to Joseph.
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.
Matthew 1:18-21,24
As we look toward the coming Christmas Day, the story of the annunciation to Joseph invites us to examine ourselves, to look inside and look back through the years what have we done to bring Jesus Christ into the world like him.
Though Advent celebrates God’s fidelity and constancy in fulfilling his plan of salvation for us through Jesus Christ, this coming involves a human setting among us in the present time to realize its fulfillment.
Dream of St. Joseph (oil on canvas) by Spanish painter Francisco Goya via Google.
St. Joseph’s mission, our mission too
When the angel appeared to Joseph in his dream, it was not so much to explain to him about Mary’s virginal conception but to reveal to him his mission. Very clearly, Mary’s conception of Jesus is absolutely extraordinary, a mystery directly from God himself.
And that is how it is with life: there are certain things we simply have to let ourselves be wrapped by mystery than to unravel or explain it.
Like the Blessed Virgin Mary whom he loves so much, Joseph believed in God, agreeing to what was asked of him that upon waking up, he obediently did everything the angel had instructed him.
Joseph’s acceptance of Mary and of his role in giving name to Jesus brings to an end the genealogy of “Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham” because in the Jewish society, it is the father who bears much weight in recognizing one’s child.
Here we find the crucial and critical importance of Joseph’s mission in giving name to Jesus, in taking Mary as wife: it is through his “fatherhood” that Christ comes into the world as a person, and most of all, as fulfillment of God’s promise made to Abraham and David.
Last Tuesday we have reflected how through Jesus Christ’s coming we now trace our genealogy and roots with God in faith. As children of our loving Father, we too are now entrusted with the same mission like Joseph to bring Jesus Christ into the world in our own time and history.
Altar of the Chapel of St. Joseph beside the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Below the chapel are the ancient ruins of the home and shop of St. Joseph where he took care of Mary and Jesus. Photo by author May 2017.
Called to obedient faith
Salvation history continues and it is our duty to find our proper place in God’s plan like Joseph. The story of Christmas continues to our time that is why we have this Advent Season of preparation.
God has not diminished that great honor and privilege given to Joseph then and to us now of having an irreplaceable role in bringing Jesus into the world but this time, not through dream or voice of an angel. God continues to call us like Joseph to bring his plan of salvation in Jesus into fulfillment through our obedient faith through the Sacred Scriptures, the Church in her teachings and most of all, through the many situations and people we encounter in life.
We have to believe and accept this reality that “God needs us”, that the “baby Jesus” wants us to care for him, to give him a name so that “his glory would be eventually revealed for mankind to see the saving power of God” (communion antiphon of Christmas Eve).
St. Paul beautifully tells us in the second reading a very basic profession of faith affirming Jesus Christ as the Son of God descended from David through Joseph according to the flesh (Rom.1:1-4).
Through Jesus, we are called to “bring about obedience of faith” to spread this “good news to all Gentiles” or peoples of the world that they may honor and worship the Lord.
And the good news is this: despite or many flaws and weaknesses, all he needs is our complete faith and surrender to him like St. Joseph. It is Jesus Christ who shall provide us with the strength to fulfill this mission just like what he did to St. Joseph.
From Aleteia, 18 December 2019.
Hail to the fathers and men too
Last December 17 as the whole Church was proclaiming the gospel from Matthew on the genealogy of Jesus Christ, Pope Francis celebrated his 83rd birthday when he was presented with a unique Nativity scene called “Let Mum Rest” with St. Joseph taking care of the infant Jesus while Mary slept.
It went viral, and again, another unique imagery of the beloved St. Joseph courtesy of Pope Francis, a devotee of the Lord’s foster father. When he came to visit the Philippines in 2015, he narrated how he would pray to the sleeping St. Joseph and it became viral in the country.
And now this new image of St. Jospeh babysitting.
It is a very timely image at this time when there is a crisis in fatherhood, when many fathers have to make the difficult choice of leaving their families behind to work in distant places, often foreign countries just to earn decent living.
A crisis when fathers forget caring and loving their families because of the many demands of a high cost of living that along the way, they fall into many traps that sometimes make them forget their vows of marriage.
We need to pray hard for fathers and men. They too are blessed by God like St. Joseph.
We need to pray hard for fathers and men to help them remain upright like St. Joseph.
When Jesus began his ministry, he taught us the “Our Father” to show us that God is like a father because life comes from him. It is from the father that we receive the seeds of life with that genetic code called “DNA”. This is the reason why it is the father who gives name to the child at baptism like St. Joseph to Jesus.
Secondly, Jesus called God “our Father” because he is the one who protects and keeps life from dangers. He must have experienced this from St. Joseph who brought them to Egypt when Herod ordered the massacre of Holy Innocents after the visit by the Magi in Bethlehem. Fathers are often strict with children because he wants to ensure their safety.
Most of all, Jesus called God “our Father” because he is the one who brings back life to those who have lost it like the merciful father to his prodigal son (Lk.15).
How many times did our father saved us from scolding and punishment by our mother, from the simple misdemeanors to grave offenses like going wayward in life? It is often the father, ironically, despite his being strict and disciplinarian, who also has the softest heart for the prodigal child.
May St. Joseph help us men to be man enough to be faithful to God and loved ones to make everyone feel the love and mercy of the Father in heaven as revealed to us by Jesus Christ. Amen.
Malaci 3:19-20 ><}}}*> 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 ><}}}*> Luke 21:5-19
The Wailing Wall of Jerusalem Temple, May 2019.
We are now at the penultimate Sunday of the year as Jesus continues to summarize his teachings today at the Temple area in Jerusalem about his final coming at the end of time.
While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here — the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” Then they asked him, “Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” He answered, “See that you not be deceived… “
Luke 21:5-8
On the surface, Jesus seemed like to be a “kill joy” in making those bold assertions about the coming destruction of the Temple while everybody was admiring it. But notice how the people reacted: instead of being worried, they asked when it would happen and what would be the warning signs before it takes place as if it is just an ordinary thing!
“Wala lang…” as the young would say these days. Nothing, duh…?
View of Jerusalem from the Church of Dominus Flevit where Jesus wept upon seeing the city from the Mount of Olives.
St. Luke tells us that before Jesus entered Jerusalem, “he wept over it” at the thought that it would be destroyed and that its enemies would not “leave one stone upon another” (Lk.19: 41-44).
If there is anyone deeply hurt and saddened with the Temple’s destruction, it is not other than Jesus Christ our Lord. He certainly shared the people’s admiration for the Temple which he had also claimed as “my Father’s house” (Lk.2:49) when he was accidentally left behind there by Mary and Joseph when he was 12 years old.
Imagine what Jesus must have felt when he spoke of the destruction of the Temple which is the heart of Jerusalem, the jewel of the city, and most of all, the sign of God’s presence among his chosen people!
There must be something deeper with his warning words of the Temple’s destruction that pertains not only to his people at that time but also to us today.
Wailing Wall of Jerusalem, may 2019.
For the Jews at that time, the destruction of the Temple is the end of the world, the signal of the apocalypse. More than a catastrophe involving the destruction of buildings and almost everything including life, it is judgment day that must not be taken lightly.
It is a day calling for conversion as the prophet Malachi in the first reading reminds us that every coming of God is a day of judgment and salvation.
Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire… But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.
Malachi 3:19-20
Christ had already come and will come again.
This was his promise and this is what he meant at the cleansing of the temple, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” (Jn.2:19). At his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, Jesus Christ had replaced the old Temple worship with himself!
This is what we celebrate in every Holy Mass, God’s coming to us in Jesus Christ his Son.
Jesus comes in every here and now, and his every coming is a process of destroying our old temple of self to give rise to a new temple in Christ. Our concern need not be about a future date of his Second Coming or specific signs of its fulfillment.
Every day Jesus comes again and the challenge is for us to live authentically as Christians daily and not be bothered about the future. He warns us not to be deceived by all of these apocalyptic predictions and statements.
The key word is conversion, of living in the present. Jesus tells us so many things that can be very frightening and scary because what he wants us to do in preparation for his Second Coming is to love, love, and love.
And to love is to always suffer in Christ, with Christ.
He answered, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in in my name… Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky. Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you… You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair of on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
Luke 21:8-19
From I.REDD.IT.
Yes, Jesus will definitely come again at the end of time. Like last Sunday, definitely, there is a resurrection of the dead and life everlasting. But both must be seen in the context of the present time, of the here and now.
When Jesus comes again to judge us at the end of time, he won’t be asking us about the things we have been so preoccupied with in this life like how much money we earn, what car do you drive, or how big is your house?
When Jesus comes again, he will be asking us questions we have always refused to answer in our daily lives like how much have you loved, how much have you sacrificed and suffered for a loved one, or how much have you shared to a stranger?
These are the questions we must be asking ourselves as we near towards the end of the year: how close have I followed Jesus Christ in his Passion and Death so I may be with him in his Resurrection?
May we imitate St. Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians today to faithfully and calmly fulfill our daily tasks in this life, avoiding being idle for each day is the day of the Lord. Amen.
Friday, Memorial of St. Albert the Great, 15 November 2019
Wisdom 13:1-9 <*(((>< ><)))*> Luke 17:26-37
A street performer in Tamsui, Taiwan delights tourists and residents alike, January 2019.
How true are these words by Shakespeare and other men of letters: we have all to be careful because not all that is shiny and impressive is valuable.
Looks can always be deceiving that we must always probe deeper until we find the Ultimate Good, God.
For they search busily among his works, but are distracted by what they see, because the things seen are fair. But again, not even these are pardonable. For if they so far succeeded in knowledge that they could speculate about the world how did they not more quickly find its Lord?
Wisdom 13:7-9
From Google.
May the Universal Doctor, St. Albert the Great, guide us and enlighten our minds and our hearts to seek first Jesus Christ in the most Holy Eucharist “because it bestows the fullness of grace on us in this life” (Breviary, November 15, commentary by St. Albert the Great on the gospel of St. Luke).
I also thank you Most Sweet Jesus on this day as we celebrate our 22nd anniversary of ordination as Deacons. I still remember the great fear and fright I felt thinking of the immense responsibilities as a Deacon in preparation to our ordination to the Priesthood.
And yes, Lord Jesus, there were many occasions since then until now when we are blinded by so many shining things in the ministry that are not really you nor the Father.
Send us your Holy Spirit that we may seek you always and follow you by lovingly serving others in your name. Amen.
Monday, Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles, 28 October 2019
Ephesians 2:19-22 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 6:12-16
From Google
What a glorious Monday, O Lord, we have today with the Feast of your Apostles St. Simon and St. Jude!
Whenever I think of your Apostles, O sweet Jesus, I am always filled with hope and love because they show us how you are interested with people, not with social classes or labels.
Jesus went to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Luke 6:12-16
How amazing you have called and gathered these people of different backgrounds and temperament.
Like St. Simon described as “the Zealot” who must be so passionate with his Jewish identity advocating independence yet working with the former Roman collaborator, St. Matthew the tax collector.
How they were able to overcome their many differences is a wonderful lesson for us all who tend to highlight our polarities and contrasts, forgetting that in you, Lord Jesus, we are given the grace to overcome our many conflicts in life.
But, at the same time, you call us to be men and women of integrity like St. Jude Thaddeus who minced no words in his letter against some Christians who “pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (v.4) by sowing divisions through their erroneous teachings.
May we have the courage of St. Jude to defend your teachings Lord strongly especially in this age when we try to tolerate everything for the sake of pluralism and openness and acceptance.
May St. Simon the Zealot and St. Jude Thaddeus help us rediscover the beauty of Christian faith to live it without tiring, knowing how to bear a strong and yet peaceful witness to it in Christ our Good Shepherd. Amen.
Tuesday, Memorial of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, 01 October 2019
Zechariah 8:20-23 ><)))*> ><)))*> ><)))*> Luke 9:51-56
White roses for you, dearly beloved devotee of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Christ heard your prayers and had asked St. Therese to send you these white roses as the sign you have been asking regarding what you have been praying for through our daily prayer blog, The Lord Is My Chef Breakfast Recipe for the Soul. God bless you more today, my friend! (Photo by Ms. Jo Villafuerte at the Atok Blooms, Benguet, 01 September 2019.)
On behalf, O Lord, of the many people praying for a “little miracle” today through St. Therese of the Child Jesus, thank you very much for these beautiful white roses. And most especially for answering our prayers!
Thank you again for the gift of another saint today close to our modern time, a woman so young, and most of all, so simple in her faith and in her ways. Just like you, God, when she proclaimed…
“O Jesus, my love, at last I have found my calling: my call is love. Certainly I have found my proper place in the Church, and you gave me that very place, my God. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love, and thus I will be all things, as my desire finds its direction.”
St. Therese of the Child Jesus, from the Liturgy of the Hours
It is this simple yet profound truth of being love, of doing everything in love that we always forget or take for granted that elevated St. Therese to be the youngest and one of the only five women Doctors of the Church.
In her life you have showed us the need to find the points of convergence of doctrine and experience, of teaching and practice in order to truly be holy and filled with God that fulfilled the Lord’s own words spoken among the crowds more than 2000 years ago:
“I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to babes.”
Matthew 11:25
Born Marie-Francoise-Therese Martin at Alencon, France in 1873, St. Therese entered the Carmelite monastery of Lisieux at the age of 15 following a special permission from Church officials. She claimed no visions or extraordinary moments except that she followed a simple path to faith, especially after contracting TB that caused her death in 1897 at the young age of 24. Photo from Google.
Open our minds and our hearts, our very selves, Lord, like St. Therese to humbly embrace this simple truth of love by intensely and passionately living in love, doing ordinary things in the most extraordinary way of love. May we follow your Son Jesus as “he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem”(Lk.9:51) to face his passion, death, and resurrection out of love for you and for us. 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.
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