Categories
Reflections

Bodies and Souls

Wis 3:1–9; Ps 23:1–6; Rom 6:3–9; Jn 6:37–40

What happens when we die? This is a question most people ask at some point, perhaps especially Christians, who look forward to the resurrection at the end of time. But in the interim, prior to the general resurrection, what happens to those who have died? Where do they go? This is a confusing issue for more people than is often acknowledged. As a boy, I pondered the resurrection and assumed that when I died I would be “resurrected” straightaway into heaven to live with all the other people who had been raised. This is not the Christian view, but many Christians share in another confusion, believing that incorporeal life in heaven, achieved immediately upon death, when the soul is freed from its bodily confines, is the final state for which all human life is intended. The so-called last things are difficult to understand because the evidence in Scripture is scattered and partial, and what little there is about life after death shows evidence of development.

The ancient Israelites focused not on the world to come but on the rewards and blessings bestowed by God, like a long life, numerous children and abundant crops and flocks. The deceased went to Sheol, which was not a place of reward or punishment but the place where the shades of the dead rested.

Resurrection, mentioned rarely in the Old Testament, became a more pronounced hope in later Second Temple Jewish texts. In the centuries before Jesus there had been a development in the understanding of the final destiny of the dead. Later Jewish thought, while not systematic, stressed that the whole person, body and soul, would be raised up at the end of time.

While less thought was expended upon what happened to the dead who awaited the resurrection, the author of the Wisdom of Solomon, a text written in the Greek-speaking city of Alexandria sometime between 30 B.C. and A.D. 40, did reflect on the “souls of the righteous” dead. The author writes that “the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace.” This is no longer Sheol but a place free of torment and filled with peace. The whole passage points to a process of judgment after death and a continuing existence in God’s presence, but it also foresees a future kingdom of God when these righteous souls “will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them forever.”

For Christians, this “future” kingdom is embodied in the return of Jesus Christ, when all, both living and dead, will participate in the resurrection of the body. Because Jesus Christ conquered sin and death through his own resurrection, the Apostle Paul says that all of us who have been baptized into Christ’s death will also share in the new life: “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” The conquering of sin and death, says Jesus, was the purpose of his earthly mission: “This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.”

For those who are still alive in the earthly body, we await either death or the coming of God’s kingdom. But our brothers and sisters, those righteous souls who now exist in the presence of God, also await the fullness of God’s kingdom, when the body and soul are reunited eternally. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, at No. 1005, a section grounded in the teachings of the Apostle Paul, clarifies the Christian hope: “to rise with Christ, we must die with Christ: we must ‘be away from the body and at home with the Lord.’ In that ‘departure’ which is death the soul is separated from the body. It will be reunited with the body on the day of the resurrection of the dead.” And so we, with all the righteous souls who have died before us, await that kingdom in which all is made whole and God is all in all.

John W. Martens is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn.

Categories
Reflections

Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls) – A

Job 19:1, 23-27 1 Cor 15:20-23 Jn 12:23-26
Saved, But As Through Fire

Native American tribes are known for their elaborate and colorful quilts. Often the memories of the tribes are woven into large quilts used in religious ceremonies. Native American peoples are believed to be among the best quilt makers in the world. What many people do not know is that they have an unwritten law governing the art of quilting: every quilt must have some flaw. Even when they could easily produce the perfect quilt, they go out of their way to introduce a flaw into it. Since the quilt for them is basically a representation of human life and the human condition, the symbolism is clear: no human life is perfect. In a way, the feast of All Souls which we celebrate today echoes the same message: no human life is perfect, not even the Christian life. The Good News we celebrate today is that God loves us even when we are not perfect, and that the love of God does not abandon the souls of our departed brothers and sisters in the faith even when they did not measure up to the ideals of Christian perfection.

In the feast of All Saints which we had yesterday, we, the saints who are still struggling on earth (the church militant), celebrate fellowship with the saints who have already arrived in heavenly glory (the church triumphant). Today we celebrate our fellowship with the saints in purgatory, a state of temporary suffering for departed souls who are not yet fully ready for full fellowship with God in the glory of heaven (the church suffering).

All Christians believe in the Four Last Things: death, judgment, heaven and hell. Purgatory is not mentioned as one of the “last things” because, strictly speaking, purgatory is a part of heaven.

Purgatory is the remedial class for heaven-bound souls. Souls who go to purgatory are those who have been judged worthy of heaven, but not straightaway. They still need some purification (purgation) before they are ready for heaven because, according to Revelation 21:27, “nothing unclean shall enter it.”

Some Christians have a problem with the teaching on purgatory because purgatory is not mentioned by name in the Bible. Yet the same Christians believe in the Trinity even though the “Trinity” is not mentioned by name in the Bible. We arrive at the doctrine on purgatory the same way we arrive at the doctrine on the Trinity, by making a logical inference from what God has explicitly revealed. We shall take three examples:
(1) The Parable of the Unfaithful Servant, which teaches the need for disciples to be faithful to their tasks till the coming of Christ on judgment day, concludes with these words: “That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating” (Luke 12:47-48). This shows that in the last judgment, even though the results will basically be either pass or fail, go to heaven or go to hell, there may be those who are not bad enough to be thrown into hell and not good enough to be admitted right away to heaven. These then will receive some remedial purification to make up for what is lacking in their faith and good works before being admitted to heavenly bliss. That period of interim punishment before being admitted to eternity with God is what we call purgatory.

(2) Paul compares the different ways in which Christians live their lives to different builders all building on the one foundation which is Christ. They build with different materials: gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw. On judgment day what each person has built will be tested with fire. “If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:14-15). How can the soul after judgment “suffer loss” and still get saved “but only as through fire?” The answer is what we call purgatory.

(3) The Apostle John reminds us that a Christian can commit two types of sin: mortal sin which kills one’s relationship with God and venial sins which does not. “If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you will ask, and God will give life to such a one – to those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not mortal” (1 John 5:16-17). Believers who die without sin go to heaven. Believers who die in mortal sin go to hell. Where do believers who die in a state of venial sin go? The answer is purgatory, where they can make up for their imperfection before being admitted to the company of the saints in heaven.

Even though officially Catholics believe in purgatory and Protestants do not, unofficially almost everyone seems to believe in an interim state of purification before heaven. When we lose loved ones, Catholics and Protestants alike pray for the dead. We all say, “May their souls rest in peace.” Wait a minute. If the souls of are in hell, why pray for them? Our prayers cannot help souls in hell. And if they are in heaven, why pray for them? Our prayers cannot help those in heaven either. They are already in heaven. Any sort of prayer for the dead has meaning insofar as the souls of the dead are in an interim state where they have not yet reached perfect union and peace with God, and where our prayers can help them get there. That is purgatory.

In the feast of All Souls we pray for the souls of the faithful departed who are being purified in purgatory. In this we pro-fess our belief that, just as God has not stopped loving these poor souls because of their imperfections, neither have we. For us the belief in purgatory is Good News: even though we may not in this life be perfect as our heaven father is perfect (Matthew 5:48) we can still hold fast to the hope that there are mansions for us in the kingdom of heaven.

Fr Munachi Ezeogu, cssp

Categories
Articles

Eternal Life, Christian Style

Wis 3:1-9; Ps 23:1-6; Rom 6:3-9; Jn 6:37-40
“If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” (Rom 6:8)

This year the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (traditionally known as All Souls Day) interrupts the cycle of Sundays in Ordinary Time. The choice of Scripture readings is quite extensive and even confusing, as a glance at the Lectionary Nos. 668 and 1011-15 will show. I have chosen texts that are among those most often selected in liturgies for this day.

Our secular culture has a hard time confronting the reality of death. Many of us try not to think about death, use euphem-isms in talking about it and seek every natural and unnatural means to avoid it or put it off. For some, physical death is the absolute end of life. Therefore we should either “eat, drink and be merry” (hedonism) or use all our resources and efforts to make this world into a better place, because it is the only world we have (exclusive humanism). In certain late Old Testament books and in the New Testament, however, a different perspective on life and death emerges. While recognizing the natural character of physical death, these texts hold out hope for an eternal life with God and the avoidance of what can be called “ultimate death.”

Today’s Old Testament reading from the book of Wisdom (sometimes called the Wisdom of Solomon) is often used as the Old Testament reading at Catholic funerals. It comes from a Jewish book written in Greek in Alexandria in the first century B.C. The author was trying to bring together the best insights of the biblical and Greek philosophical traditions. While recognizing the reality of physical death, he offers the hope that wise and righteous persons may nevertheless enjoy eternal happiness with God and the blessed faithful. Even though skeptics (there were many in the writer’s time) regarded physical death as the absolute end of life, this biblical writer insists that the wise and righteous may and should hope for immortality, so they can regard the sufferings of the present and even their physical death as moments along the way to their future fullness of eternal life with God.

While the New Testament writers shared this belief in life after physical death, they based it not on the ancient Hebrew concept of Sheol as the abode of the dead (as the early Old Testament writers did), nor on the Greek philosophical idea of the immortality of the soul nor on the Jewish (especially Pharisaic) concept of the general resurrection of the dead. Rather, they based their hope for eternal life first and foremost on the resurrection of Jesus Christ as “the firstborn from the dead” (Col 1:18).

In today’s selection from John 6, Jesus proclaims that it is his Father’s will that “everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.” This statement implies that for those who believe in Jesus, eternal life has already begun. It does not begin at the moment of physical death. Instead, it begins in the act of faith in Jesus as the revealer and revelation of God. He becomes the point of “crisis” or decision for all. And Jesus promises that on the last day, at the general resurrection, those who believe in him will be raised, vindicated and richly rewarded. Thus John combines present and future eschatology. The pivot in all this is the resurrection of Jesus as the preview and guarantee of our future resurrection. In him and through him we have already begun to experience eternal life, and we can expect it to be even better.

In today’s selection from Romans 6 (the earliest theological reflection on Christian baptism), Paul focuses on the link be-tween Christ’s death and resurrection and our baptism. Through baptism we have entered into both the death of Je-sus and the eternal life of the risen Christ. Baptism involves dying with Christ in order to live with Christ. The water of baptism at once symbolizes death (by drowning) and life (without water life is impossible for humans). Baptism in-volves receiving the Holy Spirit, which is the power of God to live a virtuous and fruitful life in the present and to enjoy eternal life in the age to come.

What John and Paul hoped for was eternal life with Christ. The hope for eternal life is a desire planted deep in the hu-man psyche. Yet we need some good reason on which to base our hope. John, Paul and other early Christians were convinced that they had found a good reason in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. If resurrection and eternal life can happen in the case of Jesus, they can happen in our case too, provided that we remain “in Christ,” that is, we share in the power of his life, death and resurrection, which we have experienced in faith and baptism.

Prayer:
• Do you believe in life after death? Why?
• What does faith in the risen Christ have to do with hope for eternal life?
• Do you ever reflect on the significance of baptism in your life? What might it have to do with enjoying eternal life in the present?
Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., is professor of New Testament at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

© 2008 – America Magazine

Categories
The ABC’s of Catholic Doctrine

“Pain and Joy in Purgatory”, The ABC’s of Catholic Doctrine By Lianne Tiu

1

Souls in purgatory experience two forms of punishment: the pain of loss and the pain of sense.

The pain of loss is a delay in the vision of God. As the souls in purgatory are interested in God and not in created goods anymore, their desire to possess God is extremely intense. But they cannot enjoy Him until they have totally expiated their faults and the punishment of their sins.

The pain of sense, on the other hand, is referred to in several documents of the Magisterium as fire. This fire’s way of operating is mysterious though. Also, St. Augustine wrote that purgatory’s pain of sense is more severe than anything man can suffer here on earth.

The purpose of the punishment in purgatory is to cleanse the soul so that it can reach the total purity required to enjoy the Beatific Vision.

untitled

It is hard to imagine that there is joy in purgatory. But it’s true – purgatory is not a sad “place.” It is rather the opposite, in spite of the pains. Although the souls suffer greatly, their joys and consolations are beyond description. This is because they know that they are sure to enter heaven; they are comforted and they enjoyed the spiritual help of the Blessed Virgin, the angels and the saints. Moreover, their pains can be reduced through our help, most importantly through the Holy Mass. We can also offer sacrifices and penances on their behalf, gain indulgences for them, pray for them, and give alms in their memory.

(Reference: “The Last Things” by Carlos Escartin in “Faith Seeking Understanding Vol. II”)

Categories
Special Events

EXORCISM AND THE MINISTRY OF LIBERATION

2Archdiocese of Manila’s Chief Exorcist, Fr. Jose Francisco Syquia

The Archdiocese of Manila Office of Exorcism (AMOE) was established in 2006 in order to address the growing number of cases who need liberation from extraordinary demonic attacks/bondages.

Exorcism and Deliverance falls under the Ministry of the Sick. The whole thrust of this ministry is to guide the afflicted person to grow in holiness by bringing him to an intimate relationship with Jesus. This may entail exorcism prayers, guidance and counseling, evangelization of the person and his family, introduction to a community where the patient can find support and regular evaluation of progress in both his spiritual life and liberation.

The major focus of the ministry of liberation is to help the person make the proper response to the Lord’s call for a personal relationship. We aid others in taking responsibility for their lives. Prayer is the overall context of liberation.

To contact the ministry or to read more on types of extraordinary demonic attacks, sacraments, sacramentals and prayers, check out the AMOE website: exorcismphilippines.org

Categories
Letty Jacinto-Lopez

Soul and Sacrifice By Letty Jacinto-Lopez (Originally published by Lifestyle Philippine Star)

Serenity in White

All her life, my friend competed to prove to her father that she was her father’s daughter. When her father died, she still felt that she didn’t do enough to make her father take pride in her.

She asked me once, “Do you think my father loved me?”
I replied, “Of course! He just didn’t know how to express it.”

One day, I got up at the usual hour to bring my grandson to school. Returning to the house, I felt unusually sluggish and drowsy so I decided to go back to bed and take a catnap.

There before me stood the father of my friend dressed in an intricately embroidered barong tagalog talking on the phone to my friend. At that moment, I caught a whiff of fresh cologne, his favorite scent. The eerie part was that I saw my friend holding the phone while she carried on a conversation with her father. It was like watching a movie. She asked, “Daddy, did I make you proud? I always felt that you never loved me as much as my other siblings.” Her father laughed and replied, “You made my heart swell with pride. You always did the right thing and made decisions that I would have chosen myself. Stop worrying. You will be fine, you will do well.”

I got up from bed and dialed my friend’s number. When I heard her speak, I exclaimed, “Don’t say anything. I need to tell you something before my memory escapes me.” I related my dream to her and she was dumbfounded. “What time did this happen?” she asked. “Must have been about 15 minutes ago,” I replied. “Oh, my goodness!” she screamed. “I was just praying to my father, feeling very insecure about whether I was a good daughter and he gave me his answer through you!”

Oh, well. I was glad there was a reason for my sluggishness.

Our dearly departed have a way of staying close to us. My friend’s father did not ask for prayers but that didn’t stop her from continuing to pray for him. Once, I received an article about a privileged person, Maria Simma, who had a personal encounter with several souls in purgatory (check the website http://www.michaeljournal.org/simma.htm for the complete article with photos of Maria Simma).

Purgatory is similar to the last leg of a journey with Heaven as the final destination. Although the souls in Purgatory experience pain, it is more a pain of longing. But take note: the pain is real and can get very intense although there is this assurance, a certainty, that someday, these souls will finally reach Heaven. The soul in this article asked for prayers (the Rosary, and the Stations of the Cross) with the Holy Mass as the most effective offerings. The souls in Purgatory are totally helpless and can no longer do anything for themselves. If the living do not attend Masses or pray or offer sacrifices for them, they are totally abandoned.

This soul spoke about the opportunity that is given to each of us here on earth. “For as long as we are living on earth, we can repair the evil we have done…” We can earn merits. But this stops the moment we die.

The soul spoke further.

“We must not judge on appearances. Sins against charity, against the love of one’s neighbor, hardness of heart, all these will bring us to purgatory.” (Other sins against charity are our rejection of certain people we do not like, our refusal to make peace, to forgive, and the bitterness we store inside).

Funeral flowers

When I shared this article with some more friends, they all had the same reaction.

Bitterness can take a lot of forms (resentment, bad temper, irritability, tantrums, sullenness, anger, and hostility). It is a heavy burden that wears down the soul and eventually breaks the spirit.

What’s the greatest weapon against evil? Humility. Those who have a good heart towards everyone drives the evil away. Another interesting point was that a soul in Purgatory sees very clearly on the day of his funeral if we really prayed for him, or if we simply went there to see and be seen. Tears and flowers won’t do any good for them, only holy mass, rosary and daily prayers.

The article also mentioned that our Lady comes often to console the souls and to tell them they have done many good things. She encourages them. On particular days – Christmas Day, All Saints Day, Good Friday, the Feast of the Assumption, and the Ascension of Jesus – our Lady comes to deliver the souls from Purgatory.

All Saints Day? Christmas Day? Those dates are marked on our calendar as occasions still to come. Let’s get down on our knees and PUSH (pray until something happens) for our dearly departed. When our time comes, we know that a great army of prayer warriors will do the same on our behalf.

About Letty and her other articles…

Categories
Random Thoughts by Peachy Maramba

RANDOM THOUGHTS Voices from yesterday and today… By: Peachy Maramba

6

BLESSED JOHN DUNS SCOTUS:
Franciscan Theologian & Philosopher
1226-1308
Nov. 8

Father John Duns of Scotland – the Blessed John Duns Scotus – was a great Franciscan theologian and philosopher of the Middle Ages who has been one of the most influential Franciscans through the centuries.

He was identified as John Duns Scotus to indicate where he was born – at Duns in the county of Roxborough, Scotland (Scotia being the Latin name for Scotland). Born in 1226 of a wealthy Irish farming family who had settled in Scotland, John was educated by the Franciscans.

He entered the order at the age of fifteen and in 1280 received his habit of the Friars Minor at Dumfries where his uncle Elias Duns was superior. Because he possessed one of the keenest and most penetrating minds, even before his ordination he already taught theology to his brethren.

After novitiate John studied at Oxford and Paris and was ordained a priest on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1291. It was only after some eight years of continuing his studies at Paris and Oxford that he began to lecture first at Cambridge in 1301 and a year later at the Sorbonne, Paris.

However at that time in 1303, French King Philip IV (the Fair) tried to enlist the University of Paris on his side in a disgraceful quarrel with Pope Boniface VIII. When he fearlessly refused to sign the petition of King Philip, he was banished-forced to flee from the country thus interrupting his teaching at Paris continuing it at Oxford.

In 1305 he finally obtained his doctorate at the University of Paris by using his dialectical skill in contention with the Dominican upholders of the teaching of Thomas Aquinas. He continued teaching in Paris. Wherever he taught, students came in droves to learn from him, having heard of his genius and learning. He became the most famous teacher during the first decade of the 14th century.

4

The Subtle Doctor
He was given the title of the Subtle Doctor (Doctor Subtilis) because “there was nothing so recondite; nothing so abstruse that his keen mind could not fathom and clarify; nothing so knotty that he, like another Oedepies, could not unravel; nothing so fraught with difficulty or enveloped in darkness that his genius could not expand.” John Duns Scotus, considered the greatest medieval British philosopher and theologian, was indeed sharp and subtle of the intellect.

Doctor of Mary
In a sense it is to Father John that the Catholic Church owes its dogma on the Immaculate Conception because Pius IX who solemnly defined the Immaculate Conception of Mary in 1854 drew heavily on his work. Up to this time the dogma had always been accepted as an article of the faith by the faithful. They believed that “ at the first moment of her conception, Mary was preserved free from the stain of original sin in view of the merits of Christ.” It was when Father John returned to Paris in 1306 that he refuted all the objections of the scholars at that time to this prerogative of Our Lady. Because he championed Mary so he came to be known as the Doctor of Mary. In 1307, even the University of Paris officially adapted his position, which was once called a “Scotish opinion.”

Scotism
Because Father John had so many admirers of his doctrine and they began to teach it, even during his lifetime he became and has remained the leader of the Franciscan school of philosophy and theology called “Scotist” after him and his philosophy known as Scotism.

5

The Scotist views were followed by the Jesuits.
The Thomists, followers of Thomas Aquinas, were opposed to the Scotists. They coined the word “dunce” as a term of contempt against a Dun’s man.

However because of the depth of his thought and the sharpness of his mind, Scotus remains among the highest place as philosopher and theologian.

Philosophy
Duns Scotus belonged to the school of philosophy called Scholastic Realism which maintains that there is a world outside the human mind which man is able to perceive directly without recourse to the senses.

Like Anselm, he tried to present a philosophical “proof” for the existence of God.

The proper object of the human intellect is not essence of material things as Aquinas teaches but being as being.
Scotism sees creation as primarily an act of the will of God so that things exist and are true and good because God wills them. However, God wills always “in a most rational and orderly way.”

Ethics and Theology
Scotus’ ethics maintains that goodness and duty are meaningful only inasmuch as they are related to supreme goodness and duty.

However the theology of Scotus centers on the definition of God as infinite Love. Creation is the effect of God’s love. He communicates His goodness to creatures so that they will love Him freely. Man’s heavenly happiness will consist primarily in the love of God.

Divine love shines particularly in the Incarnation of the Word. This would have taken place even if Adam had not sinned.

Several of Scotus’ doctrines have gained wide recognition even among theologians outside his school.

An Ideal Franciscan Student
Though Father John was brilliant, sharp and subtle of intellect he was amazingly a very humble, prayerful and religious man who was a close follower of St. Francis of Assisi.Since he followed the Franciscan school, which gave the primacy to love and to Christ, therefore he had the exact combination St. Francis wanted in any friar who studied.

His Death
Toward the end of 1307 he became professor at the Franciscan school in Cologne where he died prematurely at the age of 42 on November 8, 1308.

He lies buried in the church of the Franciscans near the famous Cathedral of Cologne. Though his name is included in the Franciscan martyrology and he is venerated in many places, Father John remains “blessed” awaiting canonization.

However he is honored as a saint to a large number of the faithful who have visited his tomb for centuries.

SOURCES OF REFERENCE:
The Book of Saints – p. 279
All Saints – pp. 487 – 488
Butler’s Saint for the Day – pp. 525 – 527

Categories
Fr. Robert Manansala Reflections

“WE WILL BE JUDGED ON LOVE”, A Reflection for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, By Fr. Robert B. Manansala, OFM

Ex 22:20-26; Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51; 1 Thess 1:5-10; Mt 22:34-40

In January 2011, a picture of Dr. Richard Teo circulated in the internet. Together with it, a transcript of his talk on his life experiences went viral as well. He was a general medical practitioner turned cosmetic surgeon and he died of lung cancer on October 18, 2012, nine months after his talk.

Already suffering from cancer in January, he shared his life experiences with a class of students. In the beginning, just like many people, he thought of happiness in terms of success, and success was about wealth. As a young doctor, he saw that becoming a cosmetic surgeon was the fastest way to success and wealth. So instead of healing the sick and the ill, he shifted to glorifying aesthetic looks. True enough, after a year, he was raking in millions and could very well afford the luxuries of life. Then in March 2011, at the pinnacle of life according to the world’s standards, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He got very depressed and realized that his success and everything that he had acquired could not give him genuine happiness and joy.

Dr. Teo recalled a college friend named Jennifer. Whenever she saw a snail on the pathway, she would pick it up and put it along the grass path. At that time, he could not understand what Jennifer was doing, getting her hands dirty for the sake of a snail. It was just a snail. Besides, it deserved to be crushed if it went the pathway of humans.

Dr. Teo said that as a doctor, he should have been steeped in compassion even for non-human creatures, but he was not and could not. In fact, his exposure to sufferings and deaths in the cancer department as a young doctor deadened his feelings and capacity to empathize. Everything became simply a job for him. While he knew all the medical terms to describe the sufferings of people, how they felt and what they were struggling through, in truth, he did not really know how they felt – until he became a cancer patient himself. He said that if he could only relive his life, he would have been a different doctor – a truly compassionate one. A cancer patient himself, he began to understand how other patients felt, something that he learned the hard and irrevocable way.

Dr. Teo reminded his listeners never to lose their moral compass along the way of life and in the practice of their professions, something that he lost as he got obsessed with wealth, viewing his patients as merely sources of income. As doctors, they should serve people and have compassion on the sufferings of their patients. Society and media should not dictate on them how they should live.

True happiness does not come from serving oneself but from serving others. And it comes from knowing God, not simply knowing God but knowing God personally, and having a genuine relationship with God. He said that is the most important thing he learned: to set our priorities at an earlier stage of our lives – to trust in the Lord and to love and serve others, not just ourselves.

Dr. Richard Teo ended his talk with a quote from the book Tuesdays with Morrie. It says: “Everyone knows that they are going to die; every one of us knows that. The truth is none of us believe it because if we did, we will do things differently. When I faced death, when I had to, I stripped myself of all stuff totally and I focused only on what is essential. The irony is that a lot of times, only when we learn how to die then we learn how to live.”

On this 30th Sunday in the Ordinary Time, Jesus reminds us that love of God and neighbors is the summary of all the laws, commandments and teachings of the prophets, the summary of religion itself. It is very significant that we are hearing these two greatest commandments right after All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. The saints are known for the holiness of their lives. As Christians, this is our fundamental calling – this universal call to holiness, which consists in the practice of the love of God and neighbors.

Lumen Gentium, one of the Vatican II documents, tells us that all of us are called to holiness by virtue of baptism. Holiness consists in the perfection of charity – in other words, in the growth and practice of the love of God and neighbors according to our states and circumstances of life. Leon Bloy, a French writer, declares, “The only tragedy in life is not to be a saint.” We may not all become canonized saints, so All Saints’ Day is also for the countless holy men and women who are not officially declared saints of the Church.

A parishioner once remarked that All Souls’ Day is a good reminder to pray for our dead relatives and friends and also of our own mortality. Indeed, all of us will come to the point of our final surrender to the Lord, the final offering of our last breath, of our entire life, of all our deeds and personal history.

St. Francis of Assisi desired to die naked to dramatically show that, like Job of the Old Testament, he came into this world with nothing. He wanted to go back to the Lord in utter nakedness and complete dependence on Him and on His mercy. Everything is grace. Everything and everyone is a gift and there is nothing and nobody that we can really appropriate for ourselves. In Pilipino, “Hiram sa Diyos ang ating buhay.” In fact, “Hiram sa Diyos ang lahat-lahat.” We must be ready to make that final surrender of everything. It is in this light, that we can appreciate the reminders of Dr. Richard Teo, Jim Castle and of all the saints, especially that of St. John of the Cross who said: “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love.”

The scribe in the Gospel was sincere in his questioning of Jesus. He was really searching for the truth that would guide him in living his life and in practicing religion. A total of 613 commandments had accumulated and developed through the years of interpretation of the Ten Commandments and other precepts of the Law and the Prophets. Jesus’ response to the scribe was an invitation to see what was already there in the Scriptures. All they needed to do was to practice them truthfully.

The love of God with all one’s heart, soul and strength is found in the Book of Deuteronomy, and constitutes the Shema, the most important prayer of the Israelite religion (cf. Dt 46:4-5). The love of neighbor as oneself is found in the Book of Leviticus (cf. Lv 19:18). What we find separated in the Old Testament has been put together by Jesus in the New Testament (cf. Mk 12:28-34; Mt 22:34-40; Lk 10:25-28).

Indeed, the love of God and the love of neighbors, though distinct, are interrelated and inseparable. The love of God takes priority over everything else, but it must flow into the love of neighbors, especially the needy, and those suffering and in pain.

When Blessed Mother Teresa accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo in 1979, a part of her acceptance speech went like this: “It is not enough for us to say: ‘I love God, but I do not love my neighbor.’ St. John says that you are a liar if you say you love God and you don’t love your neighbor (1 Jn 4:20). How can you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love your neighbor whom you see, whom you touch, with whom you live? And so this is very important for us to realize that love, to be true, has to hurt.”

For Blessed Mother Teresa, love is something that is very concrete, something that begins where we are, without ending there. In this regard, she said: “Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor… Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.”

We end with some revealed insights of St. Catherine of Genoa on purgatory. Purgatory, according to the saint, has something to do with the cleaning and purifying love of God upon souls wherein stains of sin still remains. Only a soul purified from all sinfulness can be completely united with God who is Divine Love.

About Fr. Robert and his other reflections.

Categories
Prison Ministry

“Makati City Jail – Master Chef Season 3” by Alli Raval

Last February 22, 2014, Prison Ministry held an event MASTER CHEF SEASON 3 in Makati City Jail. This event is the most anticipated activity by the residents and the Single Young Adults (SYA) as well. We have been doing this for three years now and the residents want another one next year. This activity give the residents a sense of freedom . . . choosing their own ingredients, cooking their specialty dishes and sharing it with their cell mates. They are very competitive with the choice of dish and even the presentation. The top 3 winners were given cash prizes and all of the participants – 5 residents per cell representing the 12 cells were given food and toiletry items as well. It was one fun and exciting Saturday for all of us. Tiring yet fulfilling.

The Prison Ministry has many activities lined up for MCJ residents such as Lenten Recollection, Santa Cruzan, Barrio Fiesta, Film Showing, Sportsfest, Medical and Dental Mission and Christmas gift giving. We also have Catechism classes for them every Monday. It has been a challenge for us earlier on looking for Catechists and “Biyaya” to give them after every lesson and after every activity, but God provides. In behalf of the Prison Ministry, we would like to thank you, our dear Parishioners for your donations that support this program. We look forward to be with you in our activities.

Categories
JPIC

Kristiyanong Mamamayan

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The SSAP JPIC Scholarship Program is most appreciative and thankful to Jolly Gomez, Alli Raval, SYA member and Chair, JPIC Prison Ministry, and the Single Young Adults, for partnering with us and helping to deepen the faith of our JPIC scholars, thus enabling them to become better Kristiyanong Mamamayan.

Their youthful presence and energetic participation during the 3rd Saturday Monthly Catechism sessions, the Annual Recollection in November, and the JPIC Scholars’ Christmas Party truly enhance this wonderful blessing of a Ministry!

God bless you all for your efforts and for sharing your talents!

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started