Category: Reflections

Categories
Fr. Laurian Janicki Reflections

PALM SUNDAY, A Sunday Gospel Reflection By Fr. Laurian Janicki, OFM

When I was a kid, this was always a busy week, clean-up week. There was planning for the big meal next Sunday – Easter. Would it be ham or lamb? Some years, I’d have a new suit – usually a couple sizes too big, so I could grow into it. My mother would be cleaning our home for company. There were eggs to dye and chocolate to look forward to, and lamb cake – pound cake shaped as a lamb.

For a lot of us, it can still be time for planning. But before we get too caught up in next Sunday, we need this Sunday. We need to remember.

Remember that the crowd that cheered Jesus also condemned him. Remember that the voices praising him, also called for his death. Remember that those who love him and promised loyalty also abandoned him, denied him and betrayed him.

And if you want to know who did that, just look at the palm branches in our hands. We are guilty.

While we may not want to admit it, Christ’s passion goes on today. Our betrayal of him continues in ways large and small.

How often do we praise God on Sunday…and damn him on Monday. How often do we shrug him off when things become too difficult or the rules too hard or the demands of the Christian life too taxing? How often do we treat love as just sentiment for greeting cards, and not a command for living?

Jesus continues to bleed and weep and cry out: “Why have you abandoned me?” He cries out today to us. Whatever you do to the least, he said, you do to me.

What do we do? We encounter Jesus on the MRT, step over him on the sidewalk, and go out of our way to avoid him when we feel like he might make demands on our time. At the office, we make jokes of someone, spread gossip about someone at the water cooler. We suck up to people who are more popular, or attractive, or influential at work – and barely give the unimportant person who answers the phone the time of day.

Whether we realize it or not, we see Jesus every day, read about him in the newspapers, hear about him in the news. He is everywhere where there is someone who is small, or neglected, or disrespected, or discarded. He is with the unwanted and unloved, the bullied and abused. Why have youabandoned me?

Do we hear him?

We find ways to justify our choices. But it can’t be denied. Whenever we choose death over life, sin over the gospel, popularity over integrity, indifference or disdain over love – in short, whenever we have turned away from Christ – we who claim to believe in him have, instead, betrayed him.

We have said, “Give us Barabbas.” We have said, in effect, “Crucify him.” And we have done it with palm branches in our hands and the echoes of “Hosanna” in the air.

We need this Sunday to remember that. And we need these branches as a reminder – and a challenge.

They remind us that we re called to be heralds of Christ – to celebrate him the way they did that day in Jerusalem. And these palms challenges us to keep crying “Hosanna,” to keep proclaiming the Good News – even when the world attempts us to do otherwise, even when it seems like it would be easier to go with the crowd and simply choose Barabbas.

These palms challenge us not to turn our back and walk away. They challenge us to not step over Christ or ignore him. And they challenge us not only to remember what we have done to him, but what he has done for us.

This is what this Holy Week is about.

Before we look ahead to next Sunday, Easter, and the big plans and a big meal, look back. And look within your heart… And look to these palms. Look at what we are called to do…and who we are called to be.

About Fr. Laurian and his other reflections…

Categories
Fr. Jesus Galindo Reflections

“It Is In Dying That We Are Born To Eternal Life”, A SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION for the 5th Sunday of Lent B By Fr. Jesus Galindo, OFM

Those words from the Peace Prayer of St. Francis very aptly express the message of today’s gospel. The incident in today’s gospel took place right after Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem (which we will recall next Sunday). The authorities were greatly disturbed by the event. “We are getting nowhere; the whole world has gone after him,” bemoaned the Pharisees (Jn 12:19). As if to prove them right, today’s gospel tells us that some Greeks, pagans at that, showed interest in seeing Jesus. They did it in a way very familiar to us: They approached somebody who could help them.

We don’t know whether they actually got to see and talk to Jesus or not; the gospel does not satisfy our curiosity. We don’t know either whether Jesus’ words are addressed to them or not. But we do know that Jesus’ words are valid and relevant for all – including ourselves: “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat.” What a simple image, yet so rich and profound.

Jesus was speaking for himself. He was just a few days away from his passion and death, and he understood fully well that he had to give up his own life in order to give life to the whole world. It was not easy. The gospel describes the inner crisis Jesus went through, and how he struggled with the specter of death: “I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour.’ But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.”This inner struggle is John’s equivalent of Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane recorded in the Synoptic Gospels. It was not easy for him, but he submitted to the Father’s will.

The words of Jesus (“unless the grain of wheat…”) remind us, first of all, that we are the fruit and the harvest of other people’s toil and death, both as a nation and as individuals. We are what we are because of the death of the many unknown soldiers and unsung heroes;because of the sweat and toil of our ancestors. They died so that we might live. (See story of the bamboo.)

In the same manner, our toil and self-denial will bring about new and better life for others. Dying does not have to be taken literally, in the sense of losing one’s life. It can also mean dying to pride, selfishness, hatred, drinking, drugs, gambling etc. People “die” to different things for different reasons: Some people “die”to excessive eating and drinking for a better health. Students “die” to leisure and recreation for the sake of honors. Athletes “die” to comfort and pleasure for the sake of honors. And so on.

There was a married young man who had a drinking habit. He spent more time with his drinking buddies than with his family. Eventually, his marriage broke up and he lost his job. As life without his wife and children was unbearable for him, he sought to reconcile, but his wife would agree only if he stopped drinking and got a job. Swallowing his pride, he set on the path of recovery. He took all sorts of odd jobs to earn some money. Little by little he was able to rebuild his life and his marriage. It was by dying to his pride and to his vice that he brought new life to himself and his family.

The only way for us to make our life meaningful and fruitful is to spend it at the service of others. It takes great faith and courage to understand this – and even greater courage to put it into practice. But that is the way it is. That is the way the Lord Jesus did it. And that is the way he wants us to do it! This is what he meant when he said: “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.”

About Fr. Jesus and his other reflections…

Categories
Fr. Baltazar Obico Reflections

The Cross as Symbol of God’s Love and our Sinfulness, Gospel Reflection for the 4th Sunday of Lent (B) John 3:14-21 By Fr. Baltazar Obico, OFM

Introduction: In Greek mythology, the rod of Asclepius is a serpent-entwined rod wielded by Greek god Asclepius, a deity associated with healing and medicine. In modern times the symbol has continued to be used as the symbol of the medical profession. The significance of the serpent has been interpreted in various ways; sometimes the shedding of the skin as symbolizing rejuvenation while others see the serpent as a symbol that unites the dual nature of the work of physicians; life and death, sickness and health. The ambiguity of the serpent as a symbol and the contradictions it is thought to represent and reflect the ambiguity of the use of drugs which can help or harm (drugs as in medicine and drugs as in addiction). Even the ancient meaning of the term “pharmacon” has that ambiguity attached to it; it can be medicinal or poisonous at the same time. Products from bodies of snakes have some medicinal properties and can be prescribed as therapy just as venom can be fatal if it enters the bloodstream.

Gospel: Today’s gospel from John is Jesus’ encounter with a pharisee in Nicodemus. Jesus immediately connects the lifting up of the Son of Man with the story of Moses raising up the serpent in Num. 21. The bronze serpent saves those who look on it after having been bitten by a poisonous serpent; Jesus likewise saves human beings by virtue of being lifted up. Being lifted up refers to the human act of crucifying Jesus. The serpent which caused the death of many became also the source of life for those who believe. To the unbelievers, the cross is foolishness to the Greeks as it is humiliation for the Jews. With the eyes of faith, it is the cause of our salvation. The gospel reminds us of the life giving serpent to demonstrate to us that the cross is the sign not of suffering, not defeat, not humiliation but the depth and breadth of God’s unconditional love. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” Try gazing at the cross and linger for a while. Imagine Jesus on the cross. With all the taunting and insults being heaped upon his person, when all the possible cruelty was being thrown at him. Jesus took all of them not in stoic indifference, neither by revengeful spirit but by dignified silence and royal acceptance. He does not elicit sympathy nor exhibit anger. There is serenity and inner strength that can come only from a heart in full communion with a compassionate God. Hang on the cross he has nothing but words of forgiveness, and nothing else. There is something beyond human capacity not only to endure but to exude graciousness in the midst of pain and isolation. In the cross Jesus reveals fully his divinity. God as love reaches its apex when he freely lays down his life to ransom us from death.

If the cross is the fullness of God’s revelation as love, the cross is also symbolic of our refusal to obey God’s command of loving others through self-denial. We refuse to carry our own crosses. It is a chilling reminder of our selfishness, therefore our sinfulness, our rebellion against the will of God. It is humanity’s sin that nailed Jesus on the cross. We likewise continue to nail other people on the cross as we aggressively pursue our selfish interests. The cross reminds us that we have not really loved enough; that we have not really loved like God, ever willing to take the pain that love entails, willing to sacrifice for the sake of the beloved.

This season we are not only reflecting on who Jesus was, the Jesus of history, but who Jesus is, the Jesus of mystery. Jesus at this very moment across the universe.Jesus deep in the hearts if believers. Today we are invited to see the cross being replayed a thousand times in the lives of the outcasts, the marginalized and the excluded, all because the self is the overriding value in our lives…are we timidly silent, nonchalantly watching from the sidelines as we witness suffering being perpetuated by unjust structures and vested interests of the few? The gruesome truth of the crucifixion of Jesus is well known in history. Most evil in the world is done by people thinking they are doing good and doing their best. Today the cross is being reenacted in he stomachs of the children swollen by hunger, in the faces, not so much by soldier combatants in wars, but in the faces of the women and children torn in those war zones, in the indigenous peoples displaced by excessive exploitation of their ancestral lands, in the informal settlers whose makeshift dwellings were demolished by unscrupulous developers, in the underpaid workers and the thousands of able unemployed. To them Jesus of mystery is continuously being crucified because of our love of self.

Brothers and sisters, the cross is not an amulet to ward off evil spirits, not as a sign of resignation to suffering as part of God’s plan, not a mysterious object that can be relied upon in moments of danger. The cross is a sign of our willingness to die to self that others may live.

About Fr. Tasang and his other reflections.

Categories
Fr. Sergio Santos Reflections

GO FOR IT!, Sunday Gospel Reflection 3rd Sunday of Lent by Fr. Sergio Santos, OFM

Our Lord Jesus Christ in his public ministry had spent time preaching in Galilee and its neighborhood, as well as Jerusalem. He gave the “leaders of the people” in Jerusalem lots of chances of hearing his message and mission. He performed miracles in and near the city.

His miracles: The man crippled for 38 years (Jn 5); the man born blind (Jn 19); the raising of his friend Lazarus from the tomb for 4 days (Jn 9).

The Gospel writer St. John emphasized that the leaders (priests and Pharisees) in Jerusalem were given the opportunities to know who Jesus Christ is and to believe in him. However, they did not listen to him and therefore lost due to their fault.

In the Gospel scenario, it is clear that he is extraordinarily unique; he is very intimate with God and the Son of God. This was the first time that Jesus Christ got angry with those in the temple area selling oxen, sheep, and doves as well as with the money changers. He “spilled the coins of the moneychangers” and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he shouted, “Take these out of here and stop making my Father’s house a market place.”

In a mysterious language, Jesus Christ revealed to them that he would be put to death but would rise again. Some of the leaders seemingly remembered this saying after he was put to death at Calvary; they requested Pontius Pilate to post a guard by his tomb lest his disciples might remove his body and pretend he had risen.

This event of Jesus Christ’s RESURRECTION did not make the majority believe he is the Son of God. They had closed their minds and thought he was supernaturally gifted and believed he was juts a miracle worker. Whatever their reasons for not believing in Jesus Christ as the Son of God could be the same for the millions of this present day and age who refuse to believe and live the Christian faith. Like those leaders in the year 28, they are engrossed in worldly affairs, ambitions, and desire for wealth, fame, and power that they neglect their own spiritual life. They literally sold their souls to the devil.

The priests and the Pharisees were hoping for a Messiah who could build a world empire, including limitless wealth, fame and power. They wanted more than political freedom from Rome. Worldly ambitions and allurements are the priority in life, thus forgetting the spiritual realm of life.

In our present day and age, there are many little or big events in life, things, nature, and people that should tell us of the power and grandeur of God, as well as the LOVE of God shown in his MERCY and COMPASSION. There are many beautiful temples and churches in the whole world that could remind one of spiritual life.

In the Roman Catholic Church, the agnostics and the scientists of this digital age would one day realize that Jesus Christ was sent by God the Father out of LOVE to save humanity from sin and death. The saving events of the INCARNATION of Christ, PASSION, DEATH on Calvary, RESURRECTION and ASCENSION into heaven are the fulfillment of our SALVATION. Jesus Christ did not leave us orphans because he made us the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit and thereby we have GOD WITH US eternally. As Roman Catholic Christians we admit that Jesus Christ is the center of our life and the CONTROLLER o the world and the universe.

We are greatly blessed with our spiritual heritage from the Old Testament to the New Testament down to the present digital generation. If we could only be always thankful and grateful to God by living our lives according to his will, with expectant HOPE for his grace of MERCY and COMPASSION, so that on the Last Day (Final Judgement), we would be allowed to enjoy the dwelling place reserved for each of God’s children who are FAITHFUL to him. This is the CHALLENGE for everyone. “Do not be afraid” and GO FOR IT!

About Fr. Serge and his other reflections.

Categories
Fr. Reu Galoy Reflections

“TRANSFIGURATION: A MOMENT OF GRACE TO LISTEN, LEARN, LIVE LIKE JESUS” SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION By Fr. Reu Jose C. Galoy

“No One Lives ‘on Tabor’ While on Earth”

Pope Emeritus Benedict the XVI said – When one has the grace to sense a strong experience of God, it is as though seeing something similar to what the disciples experienced during the Transfiguration: For a moment they experienced ahead of time something that will constitute the happiness of paradise. In general, it is brief experiences that God grants on occasions, especially in anticipation of harsh trials. However, no one lives “on Tabor” while on earth.

Human existence is a journey of faith and, as such, goes forward more in darkness than in full light, with moments of obscurity and even profound darkness. While we are here, our relationship with God develops more with listening than with seeing; and even contemplation takes place, so to speak, with closed eyes, thanks to the interior light lit in us by the word of God.

This is, therefore, the gift and commitment for each one of us in the Lenten season: To listen to Christ, like Mary. To listen to him in the word, preserved in sacred Scripture. To listen to him in the very events of our lives, trying to read in them the messages of providence. To listen to him, finally, in our brothers, especially in the little ones and the poor, for whom Jesus himself asked our concrete love. To listen to Christ and to obey his voice. This is the only way that leads to joy and love. (Vatican City, March 13, 2006 – Zenit)

“We Need to Climb the Mountain, But We Cannot Stay There”

Pope Francis spoke on the importance of listening, of being attuned and attentive to the Word of God; and the movement of ascent and descent that characterizes the Gospel episode (Mt. 17:1-9), in which the Lord takes Peter, James and John to the top of Mt Tabor, reveals Himself in His glorified form, and returns down the mountain with them, with grave warnings to the disciples who accompanied Him not to speak of what they had seen.

“The mountain is the site of the encounter intimate closeness with God – the place of prayer, in which to stand in the presence of the Lord,” said Pope Francis. “We, the disciples of Jesus, are called to be people who listen to His voice and take his words seriously.” He added, “To listen to Jesus, we must follow Him.”

The Holy Father went on: “We need to go to a place of retreat, to climb the mountain and go to a place of silence, to find ourselves and better perceive the voice of the Lord.” We cannot stay there, however. “The encounter with God in prayer again pushes us to ‘come down from the mountain’ and back down into the plain,” he said, “where we meet many brothers and sisters weighed down by fatigue, injustice, and both material and spiritual poverty.”

Pope Francis said that we are called to carry the fruits of the experience we have with God to our troubled brothers and sisters, sharing with them the treasures of grace received. (Vatican City, March 16, 2014 – VIS)

About Fr. Reu and his other reflections.

Categories
Fr. EJ Reflections

“LENT” A SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION By Fr. Efren Jimenez, OFM

Lent is the period of 40 days which comes before Easter in the Christian calendar. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, Lent is a season of reflection and preparation before the celebration of Easter. By observing the 40 days of Lent, Christians replicate Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and withdrawal into the desert for 40 days. Lent is marked by fasting, both food and festivities, and other illegitimate pleasures.

Whereas Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus after his death on the cross, Lent recalls the events leading up to and including Jesus’ crucifixion by Rome in Jerusalem.

40 is a significant number in Jewish-Christian scripture:
• In Genesis, the flood which destroyed the earth was brought about by 40 days and nights of rain.
• The Hebrews spent 40 years in the wilderness before reaching the land promised to them by God.
• Moses fasted for 40 days before receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.
• Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness in preparation for his ministry. Most Christians regard Jesus’ time in the wilderness as the key event for the duration of Lent. In the Philippines, the observance of the 40th day after the death of a loved one is a devotion patterned after the sacred meaning of the biblical “forty” days.

Thus the 40 days of Lent include a period of fasting and abstinence. In the spirit of renewal initiated by recent Popes (Pope Paul VI) strict rules were relaxed. The emphasis was not so much on fasting as on spiritual renewal that the preparation for Easter demanded. Thus according to apostolic constitution Poenitemini (Pope Paul VI, Feb. 17, 1996). “Abstinence is to be observed on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent that do not fall on Holidays of Obligation, and fasting as well as abstinence is to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.”

More important is that Lent is used for fasting from sin and from vice, forsaking sinful ways. It is a propitious season for penance and conversion to God, and renewal of his heart.

GOSPEL

A very good Lenten symbol which we do not pay as much attention is the rainbow! It is the covenant of Noah. It speaks of moral life, respecting the sovereignty of God, and the natural order of creation. The covenant of the rainbow contains the call of Jesus. As Christians we are baptized into the death of Christ, emerging from the water into his risen life. The New Testament writers saw Noah’s ark emerging from the flood as a prototype of salvation.

Mark presents this truth in stark simplicity. Jesus, coming newly from the desert where the voice of John has been silenced, utters a declaration, a promise and a call.

The declaration is that the time is now, a life of fulfillment, of vindication, of power. The promise is that God’s own rule in human society is at hand. It is the same promise in the covenant of the rainbow – God is faithful, God can work in harmony by the Creator’s laws. But there is a call – Jesus asks for repentance. It means a life in a harmonious relationship with God and with others, a willingness to change one’s mind and perception and behavior. He also asks for faith in the Good News, and live a gospel life – everyday!

About Fr. EJ and his other reflections…

Categories
Fr. Laurian Janicki Reflections

SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION By Fr. Laurian Janicki, OFM

“ Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight: wish I may, wish I might have the first wish I see tonight.” How many countless children have chanted this over the years? Some even take it quite seriously; even though they know that the wish probably won’t come true. The same might be said for making a wish before blowing our birthday candles out. Wishes don’t usually come true. Yet, all of us, young and old alike – make wishes our whole life long. Maybe it’s just a fun game. But, maybe, just maybe, once in a while a wish comes true. Some people wish for simple things of no consequence, maybe like a new toy and others wish for huge things of grave consequences perhaps like a tumor will be benign. In today’s gospel, the leper’s, “If you wish” to Jesus was more than a childhood chant.

When the leper in the gospel says “If you wish,” we can imagine that he is implying more than that Jesus has a choice to heal or not. He is hoping against hope that his own wish to be clean would be fulfilled. Jesus has proven his power.

Jesus was moved with pity. What moved Jesus to make the leper clean? Perhaps the leper’s sorry condition.
Perhaps the leper’s isolation in being an outcast.
Perhaps Jesus, inspite of Jesus’ command to “tell no one anything.”

Jesus knew that the leper would not be able to keep the good news of his healing quiet. And yes, the leper publicizes the whole matter. In our terms, the leper proclaims the gospel. Perhaps Jesus healed the leper because he recognized one who would be a disciple and spread the good news.

Jesus wished that the leper be made clean. And so it was. He had the power to heal. But more important, he had the mercy and Jesus was announced to all by this leper outcast, who now had become a disciple.
Jesus commands the leper to tell no one. The leper tells everyone. Jesus’ commissions to us is tell everyone the good news – do we tell no one? The message of good news in “believing who we are and what we do.”

“A World larger than your heart.”
In John Drinkwater’s play Abraham Lincoln, this exchange takes place between President Lincoln and a northern woman, an anti-confederate zealot. Lincoln tells her about the latest victory by northern forces – the confederate army lost 2700 men while union forces lost 800. The woman is ecstatic, “How splendid, Mr. President!”
Lincoln is stunned at her reaction. “But madam, 3500 human lives were lost!”

“Oh, you must not talk like that, Mr. President. There were only 800 that mattered.” Lincoln’s shoulders drop as he sways slowly and emotionally,” Madam, the world is larger than your heart.”
Connection: Our attitudes and perceptions, our view of the world often reduces others to “lepers” – those we fear, those who don’t fit our image of sophistication and culture, those whose religion or race or identity or belief seem to threaten our own. We exile these lepers to the margins of society outside our gates. We reduce these lepers to simple labels and stereotypes. We reject these lepers as to be “unclean” to be part of our lives and our world.

The Christ who heals lepers comes to perform a much greater miracle – to heal us of our debilitating sense of self that fails to realize the sacredness and dignity of those we demean as “lepers” at our own gates.

We can make them clean by transforming our own attitudes and perspective. We can make them “clean” by reaching out to them as God reaches out to us. We can make them “clean” by the simplest acts of kindness and respect.

About Fr. Laurian and his reflections.

Categories
Fr. Jesus Galindo Fr. Jesus Galindo Reflections

Why Do People Suffer?, A SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time by Fr. Jesús Galindo, OFM

In an indirect way, today’s gospel gives us a precious little piece of information about Peter’s marital status. By mentioning his mother-in-law, we come to know that Peter was a married man (no other way to have a mother-in-law!). This is the only reference recorded in the gospels about the marital status of any of the twelve apostles. Too bad her name is not given; she could be the much needed patron saint of all mothers-in-law.

Now, let’s go to the core and message of today’s readings. In the first reading, we heard the loud lament of Job: “I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me… I shall not see happiness again.” Job is just voicing out what millions of people all over the world are going through: hunger, pain, sickness, suffering, starvation, violence. They keep asking: Where is God? Why does he allow this to happen? Why does this happen to me?

The story of Job was written in order to challenge the Old Testament people’s belief that pain, sickness and suffering are punishment for sin. Job is a righteous and holy man; yet he loses all his properties one after the other, his fields, his cattle, and even his children; besides, he is stricken with leprosy. Job professes his innocence, against the accusations of his wife and friends who insist that he must have done something wrong. The book of Job proves that sickness and suffering are not punishment for sin—not always, anyway. But it leaves unanswered the basic question: Why then do people suffer? Above all, why do innocent people suffer? Like in the Old Testament so also today many among us blame God, if not for inflicting pain at least for not doing enough to alleviate it.

Today’s gospel belies such stand. Jesus, the God-made-man spent most of his time healing the sick and alleviating suffering. On this particular day, he cured a possessed man inside the synagogue; then he cured Simon’s mother-in-law; and then, “when it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons.” All in a day’s time! Jesus is like a walking hospital; he cannot stand seeing people suffer. What a beautiful gospel to read at the threshold of the World Day of the Sick, three days from now!

We may not know why people suffer, or where suffering comes from. But this much we know: It does not come from God. A lot of suffering is man-made and even self-inflicted, brought about by our own excesses in eating, drinking, smoking, drugs, careless driving, etc. We do know why the Palestinians and the Israelis–and people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Nigeria, and other war-torn places, are suffering. We do know why the victims of terrorism, corruption and injustice are suffering. Definitely, not God’s doing.

Where did Jesus get the strength needed to carry on his relentless healing and preaching activity? In prayer, that’s where. “Rising very early before dawn, he left and went to a deserted place, where he prayed.” Now we have the complete picture of Jesus’ life and his two points of reference: prayer and action: the Father and the sick. Communion with Father in prayer gave him the strength to remain faithful to his calling. Simon and the others came to him with a tempting proposition: “Everybody is looking for you!” Wow, what a chance to be popular. Jesus could have said: “Now we are in business! Our strategy is working!” But he didn’t go for it: “Let us go on to the neighboring towns…” Prayer kept him focused on and faithful to the Father’s will.

Prayer will do for us what it did for Jesus. It will help us remain faithful to the Father’s will and to overcome the temptations of pride and selfishness. It will give meaning and a sense of direction to our life.

About Fr. Jesús and his reflections.

Categories
Fr. EJ Reflections

Sunday Gospel Reflection for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time by Fr. Efren Jimenez, OFM

2
This column features some messages of Pope Francis taken from his Apostolic Letter, Gaudium Evangelii (2013) from where his messages are taken during his pastoral visit here in the country.

Participation in political life is a moral obligation.
(Paragraph 220) People in every nation enhance the social dimension of their lives by acting as committed and responsible citizens, not as a mob swayed by the powers that be. Let us not forget that responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation. Yet becoming a people demands something more. It is an ongoing process in which every new generation must take part: a slow and arduous effort calling for a desire for integration and a willingness to achieve this through the growth of a peaceful and multifaceted culture of encounter.

(Paragraph 224) Sometimes I wonder if there are people in today’s world who are really concerned about generating processes of people-building, as opposed to obtaining immediate results which yield easy, quick short-term political gains, but do not enhance human fullness. History will perhaps judge the latter with the criterion set forth by Romano Guardini: “The only measure for properly evaluating an age is to ask to what extent it fosters the development and attainment of a full and authentically meaningful human existence, in accordance with the peculiar character and the capacities of that age.”

A mother with an open heart.
(Paragraph 46) A Church which “goes forth” is a Church whose doors are open. Going out to others in order to reach the fringes of humanity does not mean rushing out aimlessly into the world. Often it is better simply to slow down, to put aside our eagerness in order to see and listen to others, to stop rushing from one thing to another and to remain with someone who has faltered along the way. At times we have to be like the father of the prodigal son, who always keeps his door open so that when the son returns, he can readily pass through it.

(Paragraph 49) Let us go forth, then, let us go forth to offer everyone the life of Jesus Christ. Here I repeat for the entire Church what I have often said to the priests and laity of Buenos Aires: I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security. I do not want a Church concerned with being at the center and which then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures. If something should rightly disturb us and trouble our consciences, it is the fact that so many of our brothers and sisters are living without the strength, light and consolation born of friendship with Jesus Christ, without a community of faith to support them, without meaning and a goal in life. More than by fear of going astray, my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security, within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which make us feel safe, while at our door people are starving and Jesus does not tire of saying to us: “Give them something to eat.” (Mk 6:37)

No to the new idolatry of money.
(Paragraph 55) One cause of this situation is found in our relationship with money, since we calmly accept its dominion over ourselves and our societies. The current financial crisis can make us overlook the fact that it originated in a profound human crisis: the denial of the primacy of the human person! We have created new idols. The worship o the ancient golden calf (cf. Ex. 32:1-35) has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings; man is reduced to one of his needs alone: consumption.

No to the inequality which spawns violence.
(Paragraph 59) Today in many places we hear a call for greater security. But until exclusion and inequality in society and between peoples are reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence. The poor and the poorer peoples are accused of violence, yet without equal opportunities the different forms of aggression and conflict will find a fertile terrain for growth and eventually explode. When a society – whether local. National or global – is willing to leave a part of itself on the fringes, no political programs or resources spent on law enforcement or surveillance systems can indefinitely guarantee tranquility. This is not the case simply because inequality provokes a violent reaction from those excluded from the system, but because the socioeconomic system is unjust at its root. Just as goodness tends to spread, the toleration of evil, which is injustice, tends to expand its baneful influence and quietly to undermine any political and social system, no matter how solid it may appear. If every action has its consequences, an evil embedded in the structures of a society has a constant potential for disintegration and death. It is evil crystallized in unjust social structures, which cannot be the basis of hope for a better future. We are far from the so-called “end of history,” since the conditions for a sustainable and peaceful development have not yet been adequately articulated and realized.

On the Homily.

Words which set hearts on fire.
(Paragraph 142) Dialogue is much more than the communication of a truth. It arises from the enjoyment of speaking and it enriches those who express their love for one another through the medium of words. This is an enrichment which does not consist in objects but in persons who share themselves in dialogue. A preaching which would be purely moralistic or doctrinaire, or one which turns into a lecture on biblical exegesis, detracts from this heart-to-heart communication which takes place in the homily and possesses a quasi-sacramental character: “Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes from the preaching of Christ.” (Rom 10:17) In the homily, truth goes hand in hand with beauty and goodness. Far from dealing with abstract truths or cold syllogisms, it communicates the beauty of the images used by the Lord to encourage the practice of good. The memory of the faithful, like that of Mary, should overflow with the wondrous things done by God. Their hearts, growing in hope from the joyful and practical exercise of the love which they have received will sense that each word of Scripture is a gift before it is a demand.

(Paragraph 144) To speak from the heart means that our hearts must not just be on fire, but also enlightened by the fullness of revelation and by the path travelled by God’s word in the heart of the Church and our faithful people throughout history. This Christian identity, as the baptismal embrace which the Father gave us when we were little ones, makes us desire, as prodigal children – and favorite children of Mary – yet another embrace, that of the merciful Father who awaits us in glory. Helping our people to feel that they live in the midst of these two embraces is the difficult but beautiful task of one who preaches the Gospel.

About Fr. EJ and his other reflections.

Categories
Fr. Sergio Santos Reflections

“THE TIME IS NOW! REPENT AND BE FAITHFUL TO JESUS CHRIST!” Sunday Gospel Reflection 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) by Fr. Serge Santos, OFM

What a fitting theme after the visit of our Pope Francis to the Philippines, particularly for the victims of the Yolanda (Haiyan) storm in Tacloban and Palo, Leyte. Pope Francis said, among many things, that we have to use “the languages of the mind, the heart, and the hands” to effect a change in our Christian life.

The time is now to do this as we hear Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Mark: This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

The first important element for becoming members of the messianic kingdom on earth is CONVERSION – a change of life from one of darkness (SIN) to one of light (GRACE). It requires one to be holy, a true return to God. Secondly, anyone in the kingdom of God BELIEVES IN and PRACTICES the message of Jesus Christ. This is the message of SALVATION which tells us how we were given ETERNAL LIFE in heaven which the coming of Christ on earth brought to us.

At the very beginning of Christ’s ministry, we know that he first disciples of Christ and later became apostles were Peter, Andrew, John and James. They were fishermen and they became “fishers of men.” The first disciples preached the good news of Jesus Christ about the eternal plan of God for the salvation of humanity. This was attained through the birth (INCARNATION), suffering (PASSION), DEATH, RESURRECTION, and ASCENSION of Jesus Christ.

If we accept the divine message of SALVATION and live by it, then we too are assured of our own resurrection. However, we know that as human beings, we are weak and mortal. This is when we need Divine Mercy and Compassion.

We know at times we fail and sin…we stray from the LIGHT and go to DARKNESS.

What Jesus Christ said to the people of Galilee applies also to us in this day and age. We need to repent.

What do we need to be truly repentant, thereby deserve the MERCY and COMPASSION of God!
1. Firstly, we accept we are sinners, no exception no matter what. Acknowledge our individual responsibility in our state of sin. We need to REGRET – be sorry for our commission of these sins. Honestly accept we failed Jesus Christ; that we need his MERCY ad COMPASSION.

2. We are responsible for the sins and/or wrongs we have done. There is a need for REPARATION or RESTORATION. This means we are willing and capable to make up for the damages or harm we have caused to others. Avoid RATIONALIZATION, JUSTIFICATION, and projection of GUILT to others.

3. RECONCILIATION. The estranged or broken relationships are mended or made whole again. This requires the humility of a little child – begging for FORGIVENESS from the wronged person/s and/or restoring the material thing or resources taken from the aggrieved person/s to the fullest extent possible. Our reconciliation with each other is a RECONCILIATION with God, the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

4. RENEWAL. Once we follow the above-mentioned three steps, we will then be led to a RENEWAL – there is a change within us that is reflected in a change of behavior. This means a new way of feeling things. Result? PEACE and JOY in our spiritual life. This then will to conversion.

5. CONVERSION. This is a change of direction – turning away from SIN (Darkness) and turning towards GRACE (Light). Many saints shared in personal stories that this is a continuing struggle in spiritual life. Even St. Francis of Assisi, from the moment he received a message from the Crucified Jesus in the San Damiano chapel “to rebuild his church,” continued on the process of conversion in the events of life till his deathbed. Conversion is a process that starts with the acknowledgement of SIN or WEAKNESS and then moving on with prayer, patience, and perseverance to overcome the SIN or WEAKNESS, not only through one’s effort but also with the help of Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We need CONVERSION to become faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. Hear the insight of St. Paul: “Time is running out.” The time is NOW! REPENT and BE FAITHFUL TO JESUS CHRIST.

About Fr. Serge and his reflections.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started