Category: Pastoral Team

Categories
Fr. Reu Galoy

“TRUST THE GRAND DESIGN”, SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION 4th Sunday of Advent by Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy, OFM

One of the most important questions we can ever ask ourselves is, “Does life have meaning over and above our own designs?” Does life have purpose beyond our making? How we answer this question has significant ramifications for our happiness and peace of mind. Is there a divine blueprint for how life unfolds or are we just random players in a blind universe where everything happens by chance?

Micah is clearly a prophet of the grand design. He announces that God has great plans for the little town of Bethlehem that will have wondrous implications even “to the ends of the earth.” The reading from Hebrews assumes that God has great designs for the world in Jesus Christ and encourages our participation in those designs by submission to God’s will. Elizabeth, in the reading from Luke, proclaims Mary as “blessed” because of her trust in the fulfilment of God’s plans for her.

Believing in a “grand design” or trusting in “the big picture” is not always easy to do. There are times when we are in love, or when everything is going our way, and we feel that all’s well in God’s world. We may look up into the clear skies on a romantic evening and the dazzle of stars reinforces our belief that, “there must be something behind all this.” But there are other times when this belief is severely challenged. Infants die of genetic disorders; children perish in floods or from famine. Innocent bystanders are gunned down by a madman, and calamities befall the most underserving. We get sick for no reason, lose a job without cause, watch a loved one pine away and die in the prime of life. Life can become so filled up with confusion and problems that all we see is chaos.

And yet we are assured by the readings today that there is a grand design. The problem is we don’t want to accept “the big picture” in its entirety. We don’t want to believe that God’s will embraces the bad with the good, that everything that happens is part of God’s design, whether we understand how that can be or not. If we accept God’s will, however, we need to accept it wholly, without breaking it into pieces according to our particular demands and expectations. We gain great peace of mind when we embrace the belief that there is a divine blueprint for the universe that is good, loving, true, and perfect. Effective living is empowered by a belief that we are part of a “big picture,” that there is a purpose and fulfilment for each of us in the grand scheme of things. With Mary we are “blessed” in our trust of the fulfilment. Our joy is increased the more we accept God’s will in its fullness. This means that we accept both the sweet and the sour of life as part of God’s plan, that even tragedy has its purpose even when it is not presently clear to us what that purpose might be.

As Christmas approaches and we celebrate God’s grand design unfolding in the birth of Jesus, trust that God has a grand design for your life too. God willed for you to be, and your life has a special part to play in God’s plan. Pray, as did Christ, “Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God.” Embrace God’s will as fully as you can. Say to yourself often: “Everything in my life has meaning.” Everything! You are never a “victim,” and nothing happens to you purely by chance. Accept your sorrows as well as your joys, your suffering as well as your successes, as all part of God’s will. Your life continues to unfold as a magnificent with God as Director.

(Kent, Micheal, R. Bringing the Word to Life. Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publication.)

About Fr. Reu and his other Reflections…..

Categories
Fr. Baltazar Obico

SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION Second Sunday of Advent (B): John the Baptist as Advent Companion, By Fr. Baltazar Obico, OFM

Introduction: There is something in the Christmas season that the church has difficulty dealing with: the preparatory character of Advent to Christmas. The ambiguity is seen here in the church as two contrasting colors signifying contrasting moods juxtaposed here. We have the bright colors of Christmas thus effectively glossing over Advent as a necessary prelude to Christmas. The market place has dictated the dizzying tempo of the season. John the Baptist was relegated to obscurity and Santa Claus was thrust into prominence as the symbol of the season – a symbol of abundance, fecundity and generosity, someone well fed (overeaten), well clothed (overdressed) and bubbling with joy.

Gospel: Today the gospel gives us the figure of John the Baptist to help us prepare toward a meaningful, fruitful celebration of Christmas, not only joy brought about by material abundance but the joy of being reconciled with God and with one another. What Santa Claus is, John the Baptist is not. John appears eccentric when you look at his wardrobe and diet. He wears a garment of camel hair with a leather belt. His food is locust and wild honey. It is not the “eat all you can” burst of buffet meals in fashion nowadays. His ascetic dress and wild diet is associated with the wilderness. He breaks its silence with his unsettling call to repentance. His own life is his message. It is in the desert that they become God’s people. It was in the desert that they intimately experience the providence and nearness of God, something they did not realize when they were enjoying the comforts of Egyptian civilization. Gradually it dawned on them that they are one people, not 12 tribes of Jacob.

Word:
(1) Call to repentance. The Greek word for repentance is metanoia. It carries a double connotation of changing your mind and behavior. It signals a need to go beyond your mindset and allow a new mindset to drive new action. Repentance begins by entering into the desert far from the madding crowd. Desert experience would lead us to the appreciation that if people survive it is not because of their own talents and efforts but because of God’s providence. Until we enter into solitude and do some inner work, we will always be a one-sided creation of other people. It is not a question of simple remorse but positive commitment to the way shown him by God. It does not mean simply going toconfession. It is asking why I transgressed God’s commandments at all.

(2) Bear fruits of repentance. One of the dangers of equating repentance or metanoia to simple confession and admission of guilt is the absence of change behavior. The same transgressions are repeated. True repentance means new behavior and a new way of living. If Christ were to come to us in a meaningful way, if Christ is to be more than “ho ho ho and a bottle of rum” we Christians have to change our minds with a corresponding change in behavior. The inner voice says we are children of Abraham and that is enough. No need for repentance for they claim physical descent. They are part of the 56 chosen people and the fact of their birth takes precedence over inner repentance.

(3) New life in Jesus. Metanoia or repentance literally means a 180-degree turn. It is turning back to God from a life centered on self. A life centered on oneself loses its spiritual character and is reduced simply to its material dimension. Without being conscious of it, the materialistic orientation of one’s life makes us consumeristic, greedy and selfish. This is the root of our transgressions of God’s commands. In our consuming desire to satiate our material satisfaction we alienate ourselves from our true selves. No amount of material things can fully satisfy us – not the 12,000 Burberry shirt nor a hundred thousand Hermes bag nor a thirty thousand iPhone. Not even your Maserati sports car which can get you into trouble with traffic enforcers. It can only lead to compulsive addiction to branded products.

Brothers and sisters, Santa Claus as a Christmas symbol of generosity, sharing and abundance becomes meaningful only as a result of our response to John the Baptist message of repentance. It is not abundance as such that makes this season joyful. Imagine you have all you wish for in your Christmas list from small gadgets and the latest accessories to more expensive amenities but you have no one to share it with. Imagine how pathetic it would be if you are alone for Noche Buena at Solaire or Resorts World. It is abundance shared with others that make this season joyful. We cannot luxuriate in the midst of want and misery. Santa Claus is no longer in the liturgical calendar.

About Fr. Tasang and his other reflections…..

Categories
Fr. Baltazar Obico Reflections

SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION: Solemnity of Christ the King By Fr. Baltazar Obico, OFM

Today’s feast of Christ the King was instituted in 1925 by Pius XI when all of Europe had nightmare memories of what they called then, “the threat of war,” a time of an explosion of hatred, blindness and a torrent of blood that wiped out most of Europe at that time. The swastika, a disfigurement of the cross, was ready to lurch across Germany. Piercing the sound of these ideology hate-filled speeches, the Pope’s message of justice, peace and love was lighting a new spark. In initiating this feast, the church wanted to take our worship of Jesus from the privacy of our hearts and to proudly proclaim his public sway as well.

II. GOSPEL: The gospel may sound inappropriate; the image of Jesus being indicted by Pilate does not evoke the image of a King. Yet in the course of Pilate’s interrogation of Jesus the latter was in majestic command of the interchange. Pilate was at loss everytime Jesus responded to the nature of his kingship.

At the crucifixion, the bystanders and one of the criminals executed with Jesus, know what it means to be a king and so they taunt Jesus with the demand that He use His power to save Himself. For Jesus, however, a king is not one who saves himself, but one who saves others. It is in the mocking words of the scoffers and in the inscription put over the cross, that we are faced with the true nature of Jesus’ kingship. Save yourself and us, is another temptation for Jesus. Just as Jesus had earlier challenged his vocational identity three times and offered him a less painful option, so is Jesus is being invited to save himself. But with His lack of response to the scoffers, Jesus clearly remains steadfast in fulfilling his divine will. He is resolutely committed to God’s plan which includes death.

Only in the powerlessness of the cross can he demonstrate that authority, ultimately rescuing criminals, scoffers and religious leaders. Refusing the voices of temptation, Jesus defines for us what sort of King he really is.

This means Christian faith is not a power game that follows the rules and logic of most power plays we know – retaliation, competition, self-protectiveness and the like.

III. WORD: The Kingdom of God here on Earth.
1. Power is service, not for dominion and domination. To be a king is to serve, not to be served. Stories of DAP and PDAF, of short projects and misappropriation, point to the misuse and abuse of power. One aspect of our life that need evangelizing is in the political. We observe that many of us would like to seal off our political life from influences of faith and allegation in the guise of church and state separation. Politics relates to the exercise of power in society. It is a new world here on earth, not in heaven as understood, “in the sky above,” that is why we don’t pray, “we go to heaven,” instead we pray that “God’s Kingdom come here on earth…” Salvation did not mean escaping earth, being indifferent to politics. It is rather living a meaningful life on earth.
2. The Kingdom as an end to power relationship. Relationships based on power are oppressive…they are dehumanizing for both oppressor and the oppressed. Sometimes we hear, “Ginagamit lang tayo” when someone uses somebody, when you treat him like a thing. When the powerful imposes his will on the powerless. The latter becomes less free, less responsible, less of a creature. The oppressor, likewise demeans, lording it over. I observed this paradigm operating within our parish setting; parish leaders sowing fear among parish workers as they find their servant-leaders more to be feared than love and respected.
3. The Kingdom is offered to all, it is not only for the friars but for all believers regardless of their church affiliation, membership and religious sentiments. Our understanding of our vocation is only within the parameters of the Church and hence we are preoccupied with dogmas and doctrines, rites and rituals that separates us from other people of goodwill. We need to situate His vocation within the universal context of the Kingdom of God. Hence we are willing to set aside doctrine and ritual differences in order to work with everyone in shaping the Kingdom of God where there is justice, peace and love.

About Fr. Tasang and his other reflections…..

Categories
Fr. Sergio Santos

“Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth – Heirs of Eternal Life in Heaven,” SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time by Fr. Serge Santos OFM

God in his mercy and compassion is calling everyone to be ready when he calls us to see him face to face. We must be always ready to face our judgment. We don’t know the day nor the hour when we will be called from this life.

But we have control about the state of relationship with God when death comes. “We cannot avoid a sudden death, but we can avoid an unprepared death.” With the aid of God’s grace we can ensure that our relationship is more or less ok. We can strive always to live in peace with God. This does not mean that we must be always on our knees praying to God and that we take no interest in the things and joys of this world. Far from it. God wants us to use the things of this world, but to use them so that they will not hinder us on our journey ‘as strangers and pilgrims’ on earth.

Today we can ask ourselves: “How would I fare if I were called to render an account of stewardship tonight?” If I find there are many things I need to put right before I face my judge Jesus Christ, I will start promptly to put them right. I will not dilly-dally. I may or may not get a second warning or chance. I value my eternal happiness, so I will put my books in order. I will make peace with Jesus Christ and my neighbors. Acknowledging His grace and compassion, I will be creative and wise to trek the right road to eternal life in heaven.

“When the Son of Man (Jesus Christ) took our human nature, he made us capable of becoming sharers in the eternal glory and happiness of the Infinite God.” We can not fathom that God raised us up to the status of adopted children. “He (God) had no need of us, he did not require our company or adoration, he is infinitely perfect and happy in himself.”

God gave us the gift of incarnation. Jesus Christ became our brother and through him we became adopted children of God and therefore heirs to heaven. “The sins of mankind which had corrupted the world brought about the death of Christ on the cross – a death he freely accepted.” “Christ’s offering himself on the cross was sufficient to obtain eternal sanctification for all humankind. Christ’s one act of self-sacrifice on the cross is sufficient for all time. It need not be repeated. Through that death and as our representative and senior brother, he made perfect atonement to God the Father for all our sins. His triumph over sin and death was our triumph; ever since his ascension, the incarnate Son of God is in the seat of glory in heaven interceding for us sinners; he is preparing a place for us, his brothers (and sisters), which will be ours when life on this earth ends.”

“The members of the Chosen People who did God’s will earned heaven through the merits of Christ and only after ascension. Because of God’s loving generosity these infinite merits of Christ were applied to all Jews and Gentiles, who, before Christ, lived according to their lights. They will be applied to all provided they act according to the revealed or the natural knowledge of God which is given them.”

We can resolve to be good and holy in the light of Christ. With God’s grace we will do in our power and creativity to pursue this resolution until we finish the race to eternal life. Not all of us would avail of this bounteous divine mercy but those who believe in and acknowledge and accept the merciful plan of God would certainly receive an eternal reward.

Knowing all these facts and truths, it is just right to offer God endless gratitude and thanks. I believe that God will let us live long enough to earn eternity. For those who are worried about their weaknesses, temptations and trials, are reminded that they are not left orphans…they are not on their own, they are not left to fend for themselves…they have Jesus Christ as brother, in heaven pleading with the Father of mercies on their behalf. We cannot lose our inheritance provided we do our very best to be true and loyal Christians. Being grateful we can gladly cooperate with God to earn the eternal merit already won by Christ.

Pilgrims and Strangers on Earth, we are Heirs to Eternal Life in Heaven. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

(Reference: The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O’Sullivan OFM)

About Fr. Serge and his reflections…..

Categories
Fr. Reu Galoy

SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time by Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy, OFM

Our Gospel reading this Sunday has two major divisions. Jesus provides warning on the first part and lessons on the second part. Let me share with you William Barclay’s thoughts and reflection as we try to collectively make the message of the Gospel alive in the midst of our community.

A warning against:

1. It warns against the desire for prominence. It is still true that a person accepts office in the church because he/she thinks he/she earns it, rather than because he/she desires to render selfless service to the house of the people of God. Many may still regard office in the church as a privilege rather than a responsibility and ministry.

2. It warns against the desire for deference. Almost everyone likes to be treated with respect. And yet a basic fact of Christianity is that it ought to make a person wish to obliterate self than to exalt it.

3. It warns against the attempt to make a traffic religion. It is possible to use religious connection for self-gain and self-advancement. But this is a warning to all who are in the church for what they can get out of it and not for what they can put into it.

A lesson to learn in giving:

1. Real giving must be sacrificial. The amount of the gift never matters so much as its cost to the giver, not the size of the gift, but the sacrifice. Real generosity gives until it hurts. For many of us it is a real question if ever our giving to God’s work is any sacrifice at all. Few people will do without their pleasures to give a little more to the work of God. It may well be a sign of the decadence of the church and the failure of our Christianity that gifts have to be coaxed out of church people, and that often they will not give at all unless they get something back in the way of entertainment or of goods. There can be few of us who read this story without shame.

2. Real Giving has a certain recklessness in it. The woman might have kept one coin. It would not have been much but it would have been something, yet she gave everything she had. There is a great symbolic truth here. It is our tragedy that there is so often some part of our lives, some part of our activities, some part of ourselves which we do not give to Christ. Somehow there is nearly always something we hold back. We rarely make the final sacrifice and the final surrender.

3. It is a strange and lovely thing that the person whom the New Testament and Jesus hand down to history as a pattern of generosity was a person who gave a gift of half a farthing or the least possible amount. We may feel that we have not much in the way of material gifts or personal gifts to Christ, but, if we put all that we have and are at his disposal, he can do things with it and with us that are beyond our imaginings.

About Fr. RJ and his other reflections…..

Categories
Fr. Baltazar Obico

SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time by Fr. Baltazar Obico, OFM

INTRODUCTION: The African hunters have a clever way of trapping monkeys. They slice the coconut in two and in one half of the shell cut a hole just big enough for a monkey’s hand to pass through. They place an orange in the other half and then fasten together the two halves. When the unsuspecting monkey swings by and smells the orange, it slips its hand through the small hole, grasps the orange and tries to pull it through the hole. The orange is too big for the hole. The persistent monkey continues to pull and pull never realizing the danger it is in. As long as the monkey keeps its fist wrapped around the orange, the monkey is trapped. The only way the monkey can save its life is to let go of the orange and flee.

GOSPEL: The Gospel narrative tells us about a rich man enthusiastically telling Jesus, the Good Teacher, that he has observed all the commandments from his youth. Jesus, looking at him, loved him. It is more than admiration, respect or sentimentality. It is a gut-wrenching concern one has for a loved one about to take his own life. All that is important in a moment like that is to get the gun out of his hands and help him discover a reason to live. (It is as if you tell the monkey to let go of the orange if you want to be free.) “You lack one thing; go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor and you will have treasures in heaven; then come and follow me.” Wholehearted discipleship cannot take place until the ties to the man’s possessions are broken, ties so intense and so enslaving that he can only hang his head and walk away. Possessions have a peculiar and insidious way of becoming our masters. Precisely because they hold the potential for good and evil, they easily seduce us and make us their slaves.

Jesus, in speaking to the disciples, is frank about the unusual difficulty facing a rich person who wants to live faithfully under the reign of God. The statement that it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eyes than for a rich man to enter the kingdom in fact expresses a total impossibility. The disciples, no doubt thinking that riches are material signs of God’s blessing (a notion occasionally expressed in Jewish literature and certainly alive and well in Western Christianity) are thoroughly perplexed by what they hear, and ask in exasperation, “Who can be saved?” Jesus replies, “In God all things are possible.”

WORD: Today we are facing the crisis of prosperity. Compared to most humans in this planet, most of us are comfortable, secure and quite healthy, amazingly so. The worldview that formed us in the last forty years is one where there is no limit to our growth, our achievements as well as the earth’s resources. (Unlimited calls and unlimited texts.) Things which have been luxuries for kings have become commonplace. In our globalized economy, every luxury is available locally, nearby. We can shop online. Easy availability soon becomes expectation, then eventually habituation and finally entitlement. Wasn’t life always this way? Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be? We created a prosperity gospel, a religion of limousine liberals who see no conflict between the Gospel and amassing huge personal fortunes for their private lifestyles. Splurge and indulge. Savor every second of your stay in this planet. In the last forty years, it has become easy to get rich easily. Whereas before, human history has connected money with actual work, effort and sacrifice or productivity; then for the first time in history money becomes associated with money – money earning money without any effort at all. A case of financial incest. The making of money is in itself the work and even the most admired and envied work.

The reason behind why spiritual traditions in general and the Gospel in particular are against owning material possessions is that because it gives a false sense of security, alienating us from our spiritual origins. When we accumulate wealth and possessions, we relieve our basic anxiety. When the barn is full, a sense of safety replaces fear. Storing up things in the present make us feel that the future is protected. The larger the accumulation, the greater the sense of safety. It won’t be long before our false sense of security is assured. We then alienate ourselves from our neighbors whom we consider a threat to this wealth. The need for feeling safe makes the idea of sharing ludicrous. The drive to assuage insecurity can be ruthless. It pushes people into self-centered behaviors that they in turn commit injustices. Even more, they tolerate any injustice as long as it benefits them.

Possessions make us self-sufficient and forgetful of our calling to live in community, sharing and solidarity. There is in each of us a streak of greed and covetousness. Our greed is intimately linked with our lack of love. We surround ourselves with all kinds of gadgets and accessories to compensate for our lack of self-esteem. We make sure our pendants are heavier than our necks, our earrings larger than our ears. We buy the affections of our loved ones and spend a fortune for pleasure. But the more we satisfy our material cravings, the more we are starved for love; the more alienated we become in a world of relationships.

About Fr. Tasang and his reflections.

Categories
Fr. Sergio Santos

RATED X (FOR ADULTS ONLY) – PG (PARENTAL GUIDANCE) SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION 27TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME by Fr. Sergio Santos, OFM

This reflection is rated X-PG: Parental guidance for children is required as heard in many teleseries dramas nowadays. Why do many people, even today’s Christians like to watch them? One reason is possibly because the so-called bed scenes excites/stirs up sexuality/sensual desire/libido – seeing two naked persons performing sex. Usually the characters are not married yet either civilly or in Church but because of their passion (strong feeling of romantic love for each other), they grab the opportunity/right to consummate the physical act reserved for married couples!

First of all, there is an alarming increase of divorce rate in Western countries (USA and Europe); there are also increasing numbers of legal separations here in the Philippines.

In a course on Marriage, Family, Sexual and Crisis Counseling at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, the professor states that DIVORCE IS NOT THE SOLUTION FOR MARRIAGE on the verge of failure. He further said that marriage of so short a term of three years is salvageable. Married couples could avail of marriage/psychological counseling and/or spiritual direction to save the marriage.

“Some psychologists are pointing out that divorce does not solve problems, but only opens up an avenue of temporary escape, an avenue with a dead end. They observe that after divorce, a trauma of failure remains, with loneliness and guilt as constant reminders of what might have been. Family counselors have long maintained that children need love and guidance of both parents, and they insist that divorce destroys a part of children’s birthright and jeopardizes their future happiness. There is growing awareness, among some at least, that the relaxation of divorce laws is a favor to no one.” (The Word Made Flesh by Fr. Charles Miller, CM) Jesus Christ in the Gospel takes a strong stand on marriage and divorce. “He clearly states that from the very beginning, God’s plan for marriage was that it should be a life-long unity of one man and one woman. Its purpose is the procreation of children and their education, as well as the mutual love and fulfillment of the husband and wife. These demand this life-long bond. Divorce, which tries to break this bond, breaks the law of the creator who decreed what was best for the temporal and spiritual welfare of the human race.” (The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O’Sullivan, OFM)

It is important to mention here about the children. Jesus Christ loves the children; he told the disciples: “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” Married couples have the choice to practice true Christianity by following Jesus’ teachings/commandments in a child-like way: Humble, Receptive, and Grateful. A child is unselfconscious, happy and content to be dependent on the elders.

Married couples have a choice to practice true faith by the total acceptance of commitment to each other and to the covenant with God. They could act like adults with no parental guidance required!

About Fr. Serge and his reflections…..

Categories
Fr. Laurian Janicki

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION By Fr. Laurian Janicki, OFM

At this time in September many of us are beginning to see changes that remind us Fall is near. The leaves are changing to glorious colors, but this bit of pleasure is merely a reminder of the dying that is happening in all of nature, a reminder of the bleakness and deadness of winter. Nature moves relentlessly in a rhythm in which the lushness of life gives way to the starkness of death. Today’s gospel is a pivotal one, not only in Mark’s account but also in the liturgical year. It marks a clear change in the unfolding story of Jesus.

Immediately in the very opening line of the gospel today clues us to a shift. Jesus sets out with his disciples to Caesarea Philippi…moving towards Jerusalem. We all know what happens in Jerusalem. For St. Mark, the disciples are still clueless. From now on Jesus openly begins to teach his disciples what is in store for him (he spoke this openly)…but also what is in store for those who follow him (the disciples).

Jesus turns the conversation – to begin informing his followers towards the real demands of discipleship. Jesus asks the question, “Who do people say I am?” He asks about his identity. Peter responds: “You are the Christ.” Peter indeed recognizes Jesus as more than the prophets: Jesus is the long awaited Messiah. Messiah means the anointed…Peter’s understanding of anointed…most likely was that of a king who would restore Israel as a great nation.

Jesus’ meaning of Messiah was quite different. He “warned them not to tell anyone about him” since he did not want the disciples to raise false expectations of what was to come. Jesus’ reign – his kingdom, would be something quite different from power and wealth.

And so he began to teach them: he would suffer, be rejected, killed and rise after three days. Jesus’ identity as the suffering servant (the First Reading) has implications for us as his disciples. We too must deny ourselves; we too must take up our cross and follow Jesus. This is telling us that the first image of the cross in Mark’s Gospel is not in relation to Jesus’ cross but to our cross – our own difficulties, our own commitments, our own choices, in following Jesus as the Messiah.

Our denying ourselves, our taking up our cross and following Jesus is not about a showy response. Rather it is about how we live every single day: dying and rising in our ordinary simple circumstances. In other words we must die to our way of thinking, and embrace how God thinks, meaning, carrying the cross of goodness, righteousness, justice, integrity, wholeness, fullness of life. It means as St. James puts it, in todays Second Reading, demonstrate your faith by your works. Faith of itself – if it does not have works – is dead.

About Fr. Laurian and his reflections…..

Categories
Fr. Baltazar Obico

Holiness as Wholeness, SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION By Fr. Baltazar Obico, OFM 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Introduction: Last month we have many cases of food poisoning in the various parts of the country; from Surigao,Caloocan, Calamba. The victims are mostly public school children. A television ad coming from the DOH (also doubling as media exposure of the department head) warns the public to be extra careful in their eating habits foremost of which is to maintain the cleanliness of hands as they are the conduits by which the bacteria enters into our system. We need to maintain our hygiene to prevent unnecessary disease. Of course no one can argue with that common sense reminder, because it is almost second nature for all of us to observe cleanliness. We have a saying cleanliness is next to Godliness.

GOSPEL: The Gospel today is the interchange of Jesus and the Pharisees regarding ritual purity which is an essential dimension of Pharisaic religion. It is an effort to claim Jewish identity in a world happier with polytheistic style. The Pharisees argued that the practice of eating with undefiled hands was an obligation imposed not only on the Temple only but also on all Jewish people who sought to be the holy people they are called to be. To heed the stipulation of the oral law like this was not to escape into trivialities but to demonstrate how seriously the law of God has to be taken. Since Jesus is obviously a religious teacher, why do his disciples not take seriously the tradition of the elders, which is intended as a fence around the law to protect it? Why do they avoid this concern, which is so characteristically Jewish?

1. Jesus’ first response was an attack on the notion that the laws of God needs to be protected
by the traditions of the elders. The Pharisees are making void the word of God through their tradition. The elevation of the oral law to a place of parity alongside the Torah ultimately undercuts.

2. The second response of Jesus,however is even more substantive. “There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but things that come out are what defile.” The whole notion of ritual purity or holiness based on food laws is undermined in one precise statement. What matters is the heart, the seat of the will where decisions are made about one’s neighbor. The condition of the heart, whether debased or pure, is far more critical that the food one eats or whether one attends to the washing of the hands.

3. The broader context in which this interchange occurs presentsan interesting backdrop. On the one hand, there are the two generous feedings of the multitude and an extravagant summary of Jesus healing in and around Gennesaret. On the other hand it is followed by the persistent faith of the gentile woman who asks only for crumbs and the restoration of hearing and speech of a deaf man living in a gentile area of Decapolis. These events pose a sharp contrast to the restrictive issue of the washing of hands before eating. (W.Brueggmann, et al.)

WORD: There is a need to distinguish between the will of God and his commandments and on the hands the oral traditions. We have many of them, especially in the matters of worship and liturgy. A concrete example would be the reception of the Eucharist. Should we receive it in our hands or through our mouth? How long should our exposition and benediction be? And yet these traditions can get into the way of loving relationships among parishioners.

The criticisms of Jesus against unnecessary emphasis on oral traditions liberates us from scrupulosity of conscience and the burden of guilty conscience. Many of what we considered sinful and therefore matters for confession are in fact non compliance with traditions. For example not observing fast before communion. Jesus wants us to forsake scrupulosity about good and evil and rediscover unity with the word of God.Instead of distinguishing between good and evil and passing judgments on man’s actions we should be trying to know God himself and be known by him. The tragedy of the Pharisees is that of all of uspretend to a knowledge outside its compass. We have it whenever people are judged on the basis of a knowledge of good and evil that ignores God. Living in conformity with God’s will setshim free from all casuistry about good and evil and made us closer to the sinner. We examine our conscience not so much to analyze the good and the evil but whether in our hearts we find the word of God. The cure of the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman and the restoration of the hearing and speech of the man from Decapolis depict the gracious way God operates. Neither character knows much about the ritual purity or tradition of the elders, but both know about the divine grace that made them whole. Jesus is not only patching up the old to make it more serviceable. He inaugurates something entirely new.

About Fr. Tasang and his other reflections…..

Categories
Fr. Sergio Santos Reflections

Jesus Christ has the Words of Eternal Life, SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time By Fr. Serge Santos, OFM

Around the year 90 A.D. when St. John wrote the Gospel, the doctrine and practice of the Eucharist was well established. The discourse on the Bread of Life given by Jesus Christ at Capernaum foretold the installation of the divine gift of the Eucharist. The Christians at that time accepted the Mass and Holy Communion as the essential act of Christian worship.

In today’s Gospel the “disciples” murmured because they could not accept that Jesus Christ came down from heaven and offered himself as the bread so that they would live forever. They must partake of his body – flesh and blood – if they want true life in them.

The “disciples” were a group different from the apostles. Their reason was the same as the multitude i.e. Jesus Christ was a mere human being. It seemed natural for them not to accept this teaching of Jesus Christ to eat his body and drink his blood.

Christ said that they lack faith due to the fact that he gave enough proof that he was more than a human being. These “disciples” closed their minds to the evidence; this is their guilt. Faith is a gift from the Father, as Christ said to them: “No one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father,” but the Father offered this gift and they refused to accept it; otherwise they would not have been guilty. The divine spirit which produces “faith” is alone capable of giving life and meaning to his words.

We in this day and age accept that Jesus Christ is both human and divine. It is easy for us to believe he left us himself in the Eucharist as a sacrifice and a sacrament. We may not understand this act of divine power in its fullness due to our limited comprehension. However, we do understand and believe in the words of Christ. JESUS CHRIST HAS THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE.

“In Galilee he promised to give his body and blood – in the Eucharist – Communion – and our means of offering an absolutely pleasing sacrifice to God every time his body and blood are made present by the words of the ordained minister. He fulfilled that promise at the Last Supper. He gave to his apostles and their successors the power to repeat this act of divine love when he said: “Do this in memory of me.”

When Jesus Christ asked the twelve apostles, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered, “Master, to whom shall we go?” You have the words of eternal life.” This statement of faith was not only for the apostles but also for all Christians who truly believe that CHRIST IS THE INCARNATE SON OF GOD. Peter was convinced that Christ was intimate with God and his words are TRUTH.

At this point in time for some of us it would be wise to examine ourselves how we appreciate this gift of the Blessed EUCHARIST. When we come to Mass, do we acknowledge that Christ offers himself to the Father for our SANCTIFICATION and for all humanity?

Do we know that through the priest at the altar we are also offering thanksgiving, adoration, petition, and atonement to our eternal Father in heaven through the sacrifice of his divine son in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Ask ourselves if we receive Holy Communion with a clear conscience.

We can APPRECIATE with gratitude and THANK always what Jesus Christ has done for us and still continues to shower blessings to us. Joyfully, we proclaim JESUS CHRIST HAS THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE.

(Ref. Kevin O’Sullivan, OFM, The Sunday Readings)

About Fr. Serge and his reflections>>>>>

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started