Category: Reflections

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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.

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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)

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Fr. Reu Galoy Reflections

POPE FRANCIS: JESUS IS THE BREAD OF LIFE, SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION By Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy, OFM

(Pope Francis has urged the faithful to look beyond material needs and turn to Jesus who is “the bread of life.” The Pope’s words came as he addressed the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus.)

Taking his cue from the Gospel reading which tells of the crowd that went looking for Jesus, not because they saw the signs but because they had eaten the loaves of bread and were filled, Pope Francis pointed out that those people gave more value to the bread than to He who gave them the bread.

He explained that before this spiritual blindness, Jesus highlights the need to look beyond the gift and discover the giver. God himself – the Pope said – is the gift and is also the giver.

Jesus invites us – the Pope continued – to be open to a perspective which is not only that of daily preoccupation and material needs; Jesus speaks to us of a different kind of food, food which is not corruptible and that we must search for and welcome into our lives.

He exhorts us not to work for food that perishes but “for the food that endures for eternal life which the Son of Man will give us,” he said.

With these words – Pope Francis continued – He wants us to understand that beyond a physical hunger, man has a different kind of hunger – “we all have this hunger” – a more important kind of hunger that cannot be satisfied with ordinary food.

“It is the hunger for life – the hunger for eternity – that only He can satisfy because He is the bread of life,” he said.

And pointing out that the true meaning of our earthly existence is to be found at the end, in eternity, Pope Francis said that to be open to meeting Jesus every day of our lives will illuminate our lives and give meaning to small gifts, sufferings and preoccupations.

And quoting from the Gospel of John, the Pope said “Jesus said to them: I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

“This – he said – refers to the Eucharist, the greatest gift that fulfills body and soul.”

To meet and to welcome Jesus, “the bread of life” – Pope Francis concluded – gives meaning and hope to our lives that are sometimes tortuous; but this “bread of life” – he said – also gives us the duty to satisfy the spiritual and material needs of our brothers.

To do this – he said- we must announce the Gospel everywhere, and with the witness of a fraternal attitude of solidarity towards our neighbor, we can make Christ and his love present amongst men.

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Fr. EJ Reflections

SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION, 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) By Fr. Efren Jimenez, OFM

For about three Sundays now, the liturgical readings from the gospel of St. John are about the theme of the “Bread of Life.” Jesus points to Himself as the Bread of life. This is one of the great passages of the New Testament , and one of the most difficult text to understand, just as the Jews have difficulty in understanding Jesus’ saying of the Bread of Life because it is so allusive and use of symbolism is not familiar to us.

But this is why the liturgy has carefully matched these excerpts with stories from Hebrew scriptures that shed light on the sayings of Jesus, and later its special relation to the Eucharist will be quite obvious.

For most Christians this narrative of John brings us to the gradual understanding of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the center of their religious observance. It is a special moment in the week, perhaps in the day, perhaps less often, but nevertheless in the Eucharist they find their faith and hope engendered. It is not just a time set aside but it is an action that sets them apart in the whole of their lives.

To take pat in the Eucharistic celebration is always an act of allegiance, of self-identification and commitment, however slight.

For many decades now, many liturgical reforms and changes have taken place, and has made possible a simpler yet classic, accessible ritual for the faithful to participate. The Vatican II Constitution on the Liturgy has guided the believing community to make the Eucharistic celebration the peak or summit of their daily Christian experience of Jesus, to which everything was directed and from which everything flowed. Some of the changes in liturgical matters have often been distressing or disruptive, yet if the liturgical changes were theologically and pastorally well based, the faithful will no doubt integrate their faith towards a meaningful celebration.

Some question maybe pertinent – has the Christian gospel anything to say in response to the social questions of our day? (That is, the questions that arise out of urgent and widespread human suffering today, like the world problem of hunger.)

The Bread of Life is full of implications beyond immediate physical nourishment. But the message that man does not live by bread alone really only acquires a human experiential meaning when seen as the complement to the message that man does not live without bread. There is an obvious, though not literal sense in which we claim to be bread of another, and beyond the strictly physical sense, one person in fact is the sustenance of another whenever one rescues another from despair, hopelessness and after something to which to live.

Our encounter with Jesus, the Bread of Life, is our encounter with hope, light, and salvation.

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Fr. Baltazar Obico Reflections

The Lord is my Shepherd, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION By Fr. Baltazar Obico, OFM

The English language uses the word herd mentality; it comes from the pastoral setting of tending the sheep. It means a mindless grouping/congregation of people very similar to our phenomenon of the so called HAKOT SYSTEM, where people are grouped together in a place not knowing why they are there in the first place, except that everybody is there. The basic disability of the sheep is its lack of vision, hence it is almost half blind. Therefore their security is in being together. Their sense of smell is their source of action. No other reason except vulnerability and survival instinct put them together.

Readings: Today the 16th Sunday in ordinary time, the responsorial psalm sums up the theme of our reflection. The first reading from Jeremiah speaks about the false shepherd who doesn’t care about the sheep; hence God will send a shepherd, who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear or tremble. Someone who will govern wisely and do what is right and just in the land. Mark’s gospel speaks about Jesus moved with pity for the people and saw the pastoral situation as being like “sheep without a shepherd.” And Jesus, despite their need for rest & nourishment, attended to their needs, teaching them many things. Shepherding is not an 8-5 job, but a 24/7 ministry. The need of the sheep is paramount more than the Shepherd’s. When the crowds seek Jesus at a time when Jesus is seeking privacy, there is no question that which need priority. It is the crowds. Tending the flock is not just a job to keep the groceries on the table; it is his reason for being, and for dying. It is a vocation given by the Father, which there can be no greater. The Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

For us to admit that we are sheep is to put our trust completely, unreservedly in Jesus, the Good Shepherd. The relationship between this kind of shepherd and his sheep is a power of connectedness, of empathy. The relationship between the Good Shepherd & his sheep intimate that it is an extension of the relationship between the Father and the Son. The Father’s omnipotence is the guarantee of Jesus’ promises; his promise of eternal life, that we shall not perish, that no one can take us out of his hands are promises to his flock that can be fulfilled by the Father. With him we shall not only “never perish”, not only protected from danger and harm, but will be led to eternal life, where we would not want anything, for God is the only necessity in our life.

1. Like sheep, we are almost half blind. We would not be able to see what lies beyond the horizon that awaits us. Neither can we see the dangers around us trying to exploit and mislead us. It is Jesus alone who can lead us to the eternal pasture. The grind of the daily life can lull us to contentment and we lose sight of the beyond. We can get so engrossed with daily cares and concerns that we are not able to see the marvelous future ahead of us.
2. Jesus is not only content in giving us the vision. Aside from the images of security of giving us the basic necessities, he leads us to the right paths, to mean all danger is averted. At the moment of greatest danger, God still provides, thus the Psalmist can say, “fear no evil.” God’s scepter/rod connotes royal authority hence his guidance and provision are reliable because God is sovereign. Jesus as Good Shepherd will put his life at risk in face of danger.
3. The caring and tending of the sheep includes knowing the sheep personally, each by name. An intimate relationship between Good Shepherd and the sheep binds them in an inexplicable way. The shepherd knows each one. Who is missing; who is sick; who has no appetite. There is no stranger in the clock. We are all known. None should feel she/he is unrecognized. But more than recognition, knowing means involvement in our lives.

In this age where many communities, neighbors are strangers to one another, whose neighbors scarcely know the name of those living next door and when many in fact seek anonymity, let us put away out isolation and alienation . Let us start hearing the voice of and follow the Good Shepherd that we may become one flock, where one knows and is known in the process.

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Fr. Baltazar Obico Reflections

SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION By Fr. Baltazar Obico, OFM

FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI: Corpus Christi celebrates the gifts we received, identifies who we are, and renews our commitment to which we are called.

Background: Today’s feast is in a sense an unexpected feast for several reasons. It duplicates Holy Thursday; we are repeating the Last Supper celebration without the sadness of Good Friday. Secondly, because every Eucharistic celebration is a feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus. Unexpected, because of the origin of its feast. An Augustinian nun, Juliana of Liege reported a vision. She had seen a full moon in splendor, save for the dark area on one side. As she understood it, the moon was the Church, the area that was dark because the Church has no feast of Blessed Sacrament. Fifty five years later, Corpus Christi became a universal feast of the Church.

GOSPEL: Today we have Mark’s account of the Last Supper. The 1st two readings (Ex. 24:3-8; Heb. 9:11-15), together with the gospel speak of sacrifice, blood and covenant. What we call Last Supper, Jesus (and the rest of the Jews) called it the Passover meal. This meal meant a great deal to Jesus and that he himself carefully organized its celebration to the last detail. While the beginning is full of vivid touches, the rest of the narrative is extremely simple. The gestures made by Jesus are those of any head of the household at a paschal meal. But the words pronounced by Jesus when accomplishing these familiar gestures are extra ordinary.

…”This is my body…this is my blood…the evocation of his death, close at hand is obvious. Still more, his blood is the blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.” Jesus did not merely make a prophetic gesture in order to announce that he was about to die. He proclaimed that he was giving his life to seal the covenant so that all might drink at the source of this life.

WORD:

1. Corpus Christi means first of all the physical body of Christ. It is this body that suffered torture, bloodied by whipping. It is the same body that took all the cruelty thrown at him, the same body that was nailed and hung on the cross. Jesus took all of them not in stoic indifference neither by vengeful spirit but by dignified silence. His body took all of these without eliciting sympathy and exhibiting anger; there is serenity and strength that can only spring from a heart in communion with God; his words are only forgiveness. When Jesus took upon his physical body all the injuries inflicted on him and breathed his last on the cross, he acted out and fulfilled the words he said on the Last Supper when he said “This is my body which will be given up for you.” Therefore when we receive the Body of Christ, we want to conform ourselves to the depth of Christ’s love. We should be able to bear the suffering for the sake of others. We too are willing to give up our bodies for others. When Jesus asks us to “to do this in memory of me” he was referring to that kind of love for others.

2. Corpus Christi also means the Eucharistic body of Christ in the Eucharistic species. In the Eucharist we have Jesus himself, body and blood, soul and divinity. When we receive Holy Communion, we have a closer contact with Jesus than was possible to anybody during his earthly life. In the Eucharist the actual distance between ourselves and Christ vanishes. The God-man out of sheer love gives the lowly bread and wine his flesh to eat and his blood or drink. We can only respond with awe and wonder because something marvelous and enrapturing has broken into our common place world. As we grow older, most of us have lost our sense of wonder. We get blasé, we become worldly-wise and sophisticated. We have grown up. Heschel saw it as modern man’s trap, believing that everything can be explained, that all of reality is simply an affair which has only to be organized in order to be mastered. All enigma can be solved and all wonder is nothing but effect of novelty upon ignorance. The enemy of wonder is to take things for granted. We need to recover this sense of wonder. We have nothing to rely on except the words of Jesus, when he said “this is my body.” He did not say this is the symbol of his body. His words are trustworthy. When we come to mass to receive the Eucharist we are making a number of statements. We are acknowledging Jesus as the Bread of life, the one who alone can satisfy our hunger. In that sense we cannot take it lightly. Our familiarity with the mass and the frequency with which we celebrate it can dull our senses to the full significance of what we are doing.

3. Corpus Christi means above all the mystical body of Christ, the community of believers. The Eucharist is essential a meal. It intends to bring together not only us with God but with one another. When we receive the body of Christ in communion, we are also accepting the presence of Christ in one another. We can’t share fruitfully in the first if we are unmindful of the second. When we as family have a meal at home together, we are drawn closer by that sharing more than anything else. When we provide hospitality to friends by way of meal – or they for us – we have the opportunity for closeness with them that nothing else has. The Last Supper had a powerfully unifying effect on the disciples. In the Last Supper together, they became conscious in a new way that they belonged not only to the Lord but also to each other. In the Eucharist, God is providing us the same opportunity, with the addition that the closeness, intimacy and union are provided for by God in abundance. The more we eat together, the more we become his mystical body. Those words, Corpus Christi, express who we are in this parish. In this year of faith, we commit ourselves again to being Corpus Christi, one body of Christ.

Brothers and sisters, we are what we receive, Corpus Christi.

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Fr. Sergio Santos Reflections

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION By Fr. Serge Santos, OFM

Our brother and friend, Jesus Christ, obeyed totally his father and our father in his life acknowledging his mission as Son of God, undergoing his passion, crucifixion, and death on the cross in Calvary.  Our Lord Jesus Christ is faithful to God the Father in the Holy Spirit from the beginning of his life as Son of God, teaching in the synagogues of Nazareth and Capernaum.

Jesus Christ’s saving mission benefits the disciples, including us, because he promised for those who believe him and are baptized that none will be lost of those given to him by God the Father. Our pursuit of this so-called Salvation depends upon our intimate and loving relationship with our God.

As finite human beings, we have choices and priorities in life.  Because of the freedom of choice, we practice what we believe is right and good.  At times, usually we do not care about something that we do not understand; therefore it is hard to believe and practice.

The Holy Trinity (Blessed Trinity) is a doctrine of the church.  This doctrine teaches that there are three persons in one God.  The one God (Yahweh or Lord) in the Old Testament is the God that the Israelites (Jews) believe in and no other.  However, we the New Testament people are blessed with stories in Jesus’ life which help us understand the mystery.  For example, during the baptism of Jesus Christ by his cousin John the Baptist, we recall, “Jesus too was baptized.  Then while he was praying, the heavens opened.  The Holy Spirit came down upon him in the bodily form of a dove and a voice from heaven was heard, “You are my Son, this day I have begotten you.”  (Luke 3:21-23)

It is known that the relationship of the Most Holy Trinity is personal and intimate.  Christ invites the disciples including us to be friends – no longer servants – with him.  Praise the Lord, we could have Jesus Christ as best friend.  We stay united with Jesus Christ by obeying his commandments in loving God and neighbor (everyone is our neighbor).

Jesus Christ is very personal and intimate with us.  He revealed his secrets in the Holy Scriptures (secrets of his Father) to us as we always have God with us (Emmanuel – Incarnation).  We are all spiritually blessed.  What more can we ask for from God? Paul in the second reading today reminds us: (Rom 8:15-17)  “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”  As we share with Jesus Christ in the cup of passion (suffering and death), we also share in the cup of glory (Resurrection and Ascension). Jesus Christ is present with us in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist (Holy Mass).  That is why the priest who represents Jesus Christ in the Holy Mass intones the doxology of the Blessed Trinity.

We must come to appreciate the value of praying to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.  After all, when Jesus taught us to pray he said, “When you pray, say “Our Father…”  It has been observed that Christianity is not much looking at Jesus as it is looking in the same direction with him.,. that is, to the Father.  And so the Trinity is indeed a very important mystery for us, not just something to believe and then we forget.  This great truth should shape our attitude toward the three persons in God and influence our prayer.  Indeed the mystery of the Trinity is a very personal matter.

Because we have joined a pilgrimage towards a loving, compassionate and merciful God, we could always be grateful and thankful to God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit for an intimate and friendly relationship with them (hopefully and peacefully).

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Fr. EJ Reflections

Ascension Sunday (B) SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION by Fr. Efren Jimenez, OFM

There is much pathos and longing in the story of the ascension which these readings give us twice. The story contains on the one hand the theme of the exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of the Father, as we have preserved it in the creeds – the theme of the indication of Jesus and of all he stood for and all he taught. But the story contains, on the other hand, the sending of the followers of Jesus to continue his mission, to be his presence in the world. That is why there is a gentle irony in the question raised by the assembled disciples in Acts I. Is this the time at which Jesus will establish his Kingdom, restore sovereignty to Israel? It seems that they who are sent have by no means grasped even now what is the nature of Christ’s kingdom and what is the nature of the hope that is offered to them.

The Ascension story really raises all the important questions about the nature of that hope not only for the disciples of those five years, but or all of us even in our own times. The Ascension means that there is no magic answer to the troubles of the world – no answer that can bypass or dispense with true conversion and transformation of our human society with all its distorted values and inauthentic relationships. The Ascension challenges us to realize that the grace of God does not work above or alongside of our own freedom but within it, and to know that what is accomplished within the human freedom of Jesus cannot substitute for our own conversion but must yet come to include it.

Even the apparently simple imagery of the Ascension story is important. Jesus has gathered his disciples about him one last time, giving final instructions and encouragement. Then he was “lifted up” and enveloped in a cloud. It is an image that recalls the presence of God with Israel in the form of a cloud. It also recalls the passing of Elijah (who was expected to return at the end-time) in a fiery chariot. And the two white clad figures are like those at the tomb, exhorting the disciples not to look here into the past, but out to the community and the future, knowing what is the hope in which they live and reach out to others.

The mission of the apostles was a simple one. It was to teach others all that he had taught them. Just as he asked his disciples to obey him, they were to ask that others obey his directions and instructions also. This is like when a doctor puts you on a course of antibiotics. The original sin was a lie. The Spirit is a spirit of truth. One of the rules connected with taking antibiotics is that it is essential to complete the course. Some people begin to feel well after a few days, and they discontinue taking the medicine and, of course, their condition gets worse. The program of redemption and salvation must continue from generation to generation, until the end of time. With all the changes in the church and in society, the two things that have not changed are Jesus himself, and every word of his message. The Message and the Messenger have never, and never will change. People who are bothered about changes in the church today should be reminded that the only two things that matter have not changed at all.

“You write a new page of the gospel each day, through the things that you do and the words that you say. People will read what you write, whether faithful or true. What is the gospel according to you?” Even sharing with another something you heard here today that you find helpful is to give witness. It must seem obvious to anyone who wishes to see, that the evidence of someone who is trying to live the sort of life that Jesus has taught us to live, must be a powerful witness, indeed.

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Fr. Baltazar Obico Reflections

Good Shepherd, SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION 4th Sunday of Easter By Fr. Baltazar Obico, OFM

The English language uses the word “herd mentality” – it comes from the pastoral setting of tending the sheep. It means a mindless grouping/congregation of people very similar to our political phenomenon called HAKOT system, where people are grouped together in a place not knowing why they are there in the first place, except that everybody is there. The basic disability of the sheep is its lack of vision, hence it is almost half blind. Therefore their security is being together. Their sense of smell is their source of action. No other reason except vulnerability and survival instinct put them together.

Today the fourth Sunday of Easter, the image of the shepherd and the sheep dominate the readings from Psalm 100 to the second reading: Revelation 7 from the gospel acclamation as well as the very short gospel proclamation John 10:27-30. The early church has no symbol including the cross more prominent than the Good Shepherd. There is no better image to illustrate the intimate nature of our relationship with God than the image of shepherding.

When the image of the sheep is applied to us it signifies dependence, that we are weak and in need of help. Sheep are not endemic to us except those who get to eat roast lamb in fine dining places. It may not occur to us that the sheep are the dumbest of all animals. They go to the gullies, become entangled in brambles, fall into ditches and wander into predators’ territory. It is because they do not know any better, they could hardly see. No domesticated animal is as defenseless. A dog has enough intelligence to find his way home. (Remember Japan’s Hachiko.) It has some acute sense of smell and hearing to find food; it can defend itself against other animals or run away from one if need be. A cat is a loner with enough cunning to take care of the worst situations. It has been said that cats have nine lives (Harold Buetow).

It is neither of those ways with the sheep. It is so trusting that he mistakes anybody as his shepherd including the marauders. It can be beaten black and blue, bloodied without giving a fight or signs of pleas for help. Hence we hear the expression “like a lamb led to the slaughter.” No groan, no sigh, only tears in its eyes when it is being slaughtered. This is how vulnerable the sheep is with out a shepherd to guide him to the grazing lands and protect him from the predators.

For us to admit that we are sheep is to put our trust completely, unreservedly in Jesus, the Good Shepherd. The relationship between this kind of shepherd and his sheep is a power of connectedness, of empathy. The relationship between the Good Shepherd and his sheep is so intimate that it is an extension of the relationship between the Father and the Son. The Father’s omnipotence is the guarantee of Jesus’ promises; his promise of eternal life, that we shall not perish, that no one can take us out of his hands as promises to his flock that can be fulfilled by the Father. With him we shall not only “never perish,” not only protected from danger and harm, but will be led to eternal life where we would not want anything for God is the only necessity in our life.

1. Like sheep, we are almost half blind. We would not be able to see what lies beyond the horizon that awaits us. Neither can we see the dangers around us trying to exploit and mislead us. It is Jesus alone who can lead us to the eternal pasture. The grind of daily life can lull us to contentment and we lose sight of the beyond. We can get so engrossed with daily cares and concerns that we are not able to see the marvelous future ahead of us.
2. Jesus is not only content in giving us the vision. Aside from images of security of giving us the basic necessities, he leads us to the right paths, to mean all danger averted. At the moment of greatest danger, God still provides, thus the Psalmist can say “fear no evil.” God’s scepter/rod connotes royal authority hence his guidance and provision are reliable because God is sovereign. Jesus as Good Shepherd will put his life at risk in the face of danger.
3. The caring and tending of the sheep includes knowing the sheep personally, each by name. An intimate relationship between the Good Shepherd and the sheep binds them in an inexplicable way, The shepherd knows each one. Who is missing, who is sick, who has no appetite. There is no stranger in the flock. We are all known. None should feel she/he is unrecognized. But more than recognition, knowing means involvement in our lives.

In this age where many communities, neighbors are strangers to one another, whose neighbors scarcely know the name of those living next door and when many in fact seek anonymity, let us put away our isolation and alienation. Let us start hearing the voice and follow the Good Shepherd that we may become one flock where one knows and is known in the process.

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Fr. EJ Reflections

“Christ is Risen! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia”, Easter Sunday Gospel Reflection By Fr. Efren Jimnez, OFM

Once again, we hear this beautiful and most solemn strain! Like an outburst, it lifts us up to the realm where God reigns triumphantly. It is a victory song of the great assembly in heaven before the throne of the exalted Lord (Rev. 19).

We are truly an Easter people!

Easter is, however, a momentous experience beyond human words! Even those who were first witnesses did not manage too well to explain in words what that event was, that so completely changed their lives and their perceptions.

We, too, in Holy Eucharist and community also eat and drink with the risen Christ are hard pressed to give an account of the hope that is in us, and the basis of that blissful hope.

The rich symbolism of the Easter Vigil (Creation Stories, Liberation, hope of the covenanted people) speaks powerfully enough with their symbolism. Thus, the kindling of new fire, blessing of water, the lighting of candles, the radiance of new garment (for those to be baptized), the haunting melody of the Exultet, the midnight timing – are all themselves so elegant, so powerful, we can pause and feel that Christ’ victory is indeed multivalent.

Easter symbolism is so rich that our Christian worship attains its highest form of recognizing God’s absolute transcendence as Creator-Redeemer savior.

Easter message is summed up in one word-life! Life, this profound, sacred, joyful, gracious, divine, peaceful, tender gift is nonetheless vulnerable. It is the law of life that life is poured out, unfinished, disrupted. Easter then becomes a promise of hope for everyone, who seek eternal life.

1. Easter is Jesus’ faithfulness to the Father.
Jesus was an impressive witness to God because he would not allow his heart to be put to death. It was not the torment of the body of Jesus but the aliveness of his heart which is the sign of his faithfulness. The sacrifice of Jesus thus becomes the bread and wine by which the spirit of man is nourished.

2. What is this life which Jesus gives in his Resurrection?
It is the life that comes from his blood. When the soldier pierced his heart with a lance, St. John wrote: “blood and water flows from his side.” The blood of Christ poured out to give us spiritual birth. We receive this at the fountain of the Church and Sacraments. There God pours out his substance. We are enlivened to seek out such grace in his life-giving word. Jesus poured out to us “a last supper of infinite sharing together with the empty loneliness of the cross and tomb”.

Happy Easter to all!
Maligayang Pasko ng Pagkabuhay!

About Fr. EJ and his reflections…