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This is the paradox of Jesus’s coming. While he brings peace and eternal life, those who refuse to receive the fire of purification, conversion and renewal that he offers bring upon themselves discord and death.

In the gospel passage today, Jesus describes his mission in terms of fire and baptism. By doing this, he makes it clear that there is no neutrality to his presence, his words and his deeds.

Early in Jesus’ public life, John the Baptist presents Jesus as one who is coming to baptize with Spirit and fire (Lk. 3:16). Patricia Datchuck Sanchez notes that fire, a familiar biblical symbol, “is a frequent metaphor for God Himself and for his intervention among his people.” For example, God communicates his presence to Abraham (Gen. 3:16), to Moses (Ex. 3:2), to Israel in the desert (Ex. 13:21-22) and on Mt. Sinai (Ex. 19:18) through the phenomenon of fire. The prophet Jeremiah compares God’s word to fire (Jer. 23:29). Fire is also a symbol of God’s holiness and protection (Zech. 2:5) and is considered as God’s servant (Psalm 194:4; Heb. 1:7).

Fire possesses destructive and purifying qualities. As such, it is also a fitting symbol for the action of God among his sinful, disobedient and wayward people. Zechariah associates the Day of the Lord with the cleansing fire of God’s intervention (Zech. 13:9). The Israelites’ exile in Babylon is described as a purification by fire (Is. 43;2; Psalm 66:12). Sanchez notes that “in his desire to ignite fire upon earth, Jesus is aware that he is to be the crucible wherein all humanity will be judged, purified, refined and enkindled in an eschatological conflagration.” Furthermore, he manifests “himself as filled with an ardent longing to illuminate the world by the fire of the Spirit, which is the ultimate goal of his work” (Days of the Lord, Vol. 6, 169).

Baptism, in the context of the gospel passage, does not refer to one
of the seven sacraments of the Church. From the Greek “baptizein” (Hebrew, “tabal”), baptism here means, “to be bathed, dipped or immersed.” Jesus is referring to the inevitable ordeal that he will suffer in the hands of those who will reject and oppose him and his message. The gospel of Mark renders this baptism as “a bath of pain,” referring clearly to Jesus’ passion and death (Mk 10:30). The biblical scholar C. Talbert, according to Sanchez, says that “Jesus’ baptism is the precondition for the release of fire upon the earth.” Through the baptism of passion and death of Jesus, the fire of divine judgment and purification is unleashed.

Jesus’ igniting of fire brings about inevitable discord and division because his presence of a blazing fire cannot be ignored or downplayed. No one can remain neutral in the presence of the Son of Man. Walter Brueggemann et al. declare that “the very presence of Jesus precipitates a crisis, a division among people in terms of how they respond to him.” By the radical nature of his presence, words and deeds, Jesus demands of a choice, a decision. Those who receive the fire of his purification and penetrating truth are converted and those who reject it perish. In other words, in Jesus’ coming, each person is presented with an ultimatum. Each must decide whether to accept him and his message or not and the terms of this decision are more binding and demanding than the blood ties that keep the family together.

Family members, because of the decision that each has to take in favor or against Jesus and his message, must be ready to face the possibility of division. This is the paradox of Jesus’ coming. While he brings peace and eternal life, those who refuse to receive the fire of purification, conversion and renewal that he offers bring upon themselves discord and death.

Actually, “the pivotal point,” as Joyce Ann Zimmerman et al. assert, “is that neither Jesus nor we choose division and strife.” These result from our being true and faithful to Jesus and his message. The gospel of Jesus can be jolting. Fidelity to the gospel of Jesus can bring about “a clash of values, of principles, of priorities.” As we try to receive the fire that Jesus brings into the world and as we do our best in helping set the world on fire with the Kingdom values of love, peace and justice, we must be ready, following the lead of Jesus, to be baptized into the waters of suffering and pain. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer puts it, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die” (The Cost of Discipleship).

as published on August 18, 2013, Parish Bulletin
About Fr. Robert and his reflections

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Last Saturday, I officiated the beautiful wedding of a wonderful couple named Christian and Chassie. One of the highlights of the ceremony was the couple’s touching personally written exchange of vows. This was done before the official and canonical exchange of vows prescribed by the Church, which can never be done away with to make the wedding valid.

In the said exchange of vows, one could clearly sense the strong commitment made for the present and the future. The bride and the groom pledged themselves to each other and to unconditional and faithful love in marriage and family life. They appeared, using the words in the gospel today, “resolutely determined” to make their marriage work or succeed and to keep their vows till death do them part. According to them, without using the words, there was no more turning back. They were, as if, burning their bridges.

The idiomatic expression “to burn one’s bridges” can mean “cutting the way back where you came from, making it impossible to retreat” or “making decisions that cannot be changed in the future.” Etymologically, it is based on the military action of burning a bridge you have just crossed to prevent the enemy from crossing it after you.

Nil Guillemette says that an equivalent expression of this idiom “to burn one’s bridge” is “to burn one’s boat.” This expression is an allusion to Julius Caesar and other military officers who burned their boats or ships when they invaded an enemy country to make their soldiers realize that retreat would be impossible and that they must either win the battle or die.

“To burn one’s bridges” or “to burn one’s boats” is to give everything to succeed, to make an unchangeable decision, to get rid of everything that can distract or deter one from pursuing what one has set oneself on.”

Burning one’s bridge or one’s boat is, I believe, the challenge of the readings today.

In the First Reading from the First Book of Kings, when God called Elisha to be a prophet through the prophet Elijah, we see Elisha burning his bridges and boats to respond resolutely to the prophetic call of God. He threw his cloak over Elijah. He left the oxen. He acceded that he could not even kiss his parents to bid goodbye. God’s call was urgent and Elisha responded promptly.

The Second Reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians tells us of freedom given to us by God so that we can stand firm and not succumb to the yoke of slavery. This freedom enables us to love and serve others and to be always guided by God. Indeed, one who can be truly be firm is free and one who is unfree will have a hard time being resolute.

The Gospel according to Luke tells us that Jesus was “resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.” Jesus was fully aware of what awaited him in Jerusalem – suffering and death. Twice in Luke he had predicted his passion and death before today’s gospel passage.

According to Guillimette, Jesus’ being resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem can be rendered in Greek as ‘he hardened his face” or “he stiffened his face.” Any of these is a metaphor that indicates “determination and courage in overcoming fear.” Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem was the beginning of his passion and death as God’s Suffering Servant. By showing resolute determination, he was burning his bridges and his boats. There was no more turning back for him.

While on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus passed through Samaria and was met with unwelcoming reactions of the Samaritans. The Jews and the Samaritans were enemies. The Jews considered the Samaritans inferiors and outsiders because of their association with foreigners. They refused their help to build the temple in Jerusalem. In return, the Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerizin as an alternative to the temple in Jerusalem.

The gospel passage clearly states that the Samaritans did not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. This led James and John to suggest to him to respond to the Samaritans’ inhospitality by sending a consuming fire upon them. Jesus rebuked James and John. In doing this Jesus, in effect, reminded them that his Gospel is not involved in wiping people out of vengeance and violence. They must never allow themselves to be dictated by the mean reactions of people against him. They must always act out of graciousness and compassion. And in this particularly incident, they must not allow the adverse reactions of the Samaritans to distract them from their journey to Jerusalem. So, Jesus instructed his disciples to be focused on their journey to Jerusalem and to move on.

Indeed, what can distract us from pursuing what we need to pursue are not only inviting alternatives but also difficulties and adverse reactions along the way. Thus, being resolutely determined is a quality that is most needed so that we can reach what we need to reach or achieve what we need to achieve. And these include giving up – things, relationships, attitudes, values, ways – that can make us out of focus.

In the gospel we find also three prospective disciples of Jesus. Fundamental in the exchange between Jesus and the prospective followers was the question: “How does one follow Jesus?” Jesus, in his individual responses to the prospective disciples, outlined a triple demand: anyone who follows the Lord must give up all security and put his security only in God; one must subordinate everything without delay to the following of Jesus and the duty of evangelizing; and, one must forget the past and face the future. In short, anyone who wants to follow the Lord must act decisively and burn one’s bridges or boats.

Indeed, following Jesus requires resolute, courageous, firm decision and action. There can never be discipleship if we do not want to pay the price. There is cost in following Jesus, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it in his book “The Cost of Discipleship.” We either follow the Lord faithfully or not.

This is also very true in the different forms of Christian life and commitment we embrace. One who decides to get married cannot remain a bachelor in his lifestyle. One who decides to be a priest or a religious cannot but be single-hearted in his commitment to the Lord and to God’s people. One who decides to change the direction of his life cannot keep on looking back to his former life. One who decides to turn to the Lord cannot but turn away from sin or from what is not of God. In short, one must burn his bridges or boats.

It seems this is one of the big problems regarding decisions and commitments. Many of them are not made and sustained with resolute determination by the grace of God. There is really no burning of bridges and boats as we often want to enjoy both worlds.

St. John of the Cross, the great Carmelite mystic, had a beautiful insight into this resolute determination and single-heartedness of purpose and action. He said: “The soul that is attached to anything however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really holds it fast; for, until the cord be broken the bird cannot fly.”

To put is simply, a bird cannot fly whether what binds it is a strong rope or a slender and delicate thread. The cord must be broken before it can be free to really fly.

What are those bridges and boats that we need to burn so that we can truly be true and faithful to the commitments that we have made in life?

About Fr. Robert and his reflections

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

As Christians, one of the transitions that we have to make is the transition from being a disciple to being an apostle. A disciple is one who is called to follow the Lord. An apostle is a disciple who is sent out to proclaim the Lord and his message of the Kingdom of God.

As Christians, we are called not only to be in intimacy with the Lord but also to proclaim the Lord and his message of love, peace and reconciliation to others. We are called to share and proclaim what we have experienced. By virtue of our baptism and confirmation, we are called to be missionaries. Indeed, it is not enough that we receive the Lord and the Christian faith, we are also mandated to share the Lord and our Christian faith with others.

When I was serving at the St. John’s Catholic Newman Center and St. John’s Catholic Chapel, the Catholic Chaplaincy at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, I worked with some American priests and the so-called FOCUS Missionaries. FOCUS stands for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students.

FOCUS Missionaries are college graduates who give at least a minimum of two years of their lives to serve as Catholic Lay Missionaries on university and college campuses across the United States. Some have been serving as FOCUS Missionaries for a good number of years.

After an intensive training, FOCUS Missionaries are sent to help spread the Gospel on campuses through one-on-one evangelization, Bible studies, personal and group accompaniment and other missionary activities. I personally witnessed the great and transforming impact of these modern day missionaries on university and college students.

One of the current FOCUS Missionaries serving at the University of Nebraska is Jessica Kunz. I first knew her when she was in college at the University of Illinois. She became actively involved in our Newman Chaplaincy Community and activities and was influenced a lot by other FOCUS Missionaries. I remember going with her and other college students on a mission trip to Mississippi to serve the victims of the Hurricane Katrina. After college, she volunteered to be a FOCUS Missionary.

Jessica Kunz recently shared: “I was raised in a Catholic family, was active in my home parish and attended 14 years of Catholic schools. Entering college, I knew a lot about God, but did not really know Him.

Then she narrated what led her to join the Newman Center and the impact it had on her. She said: “With some encouragement from my parents, I lived at the Newman Hall, a part of the Newman Center at the University of Illinois my freshman year. Little did I know that the people and community there were about to rock my life.”

Jessica continued: “I ignored the invitation to bible study my freshman year but could no longer resist the desire to attend, and eventually immersed myself in the Newman Community. Through FOCUS bible studies, conferences, retreats and one-on-one mentoring with student leaders and missionaries, I developed a relationship with Christ.” (Source: http://teams.focusonline.org/unl/missionaries/).

Jessica Kunz, in her own way, is now doing her share in the task of missionary evangelization. She has transitioned from being a disciple to being a missionary apostle. She has been truly evangelized; now she can help in evangelizing others. As she put it, the Newman Community rocked her life. She is now helping rock others’ lives by helping them become closer to the Lord.

Today’s Gospel periscope is about Jesus’ mission and the call to missionary discipleship. It is very clear from the beginning that the said mission of proclaiming Christ and Kingdom of God is intended for all peoples and for all places and that the Lord needs and calls collaborators in this task.

Jesus did not only send into the world his core group of 12 apostles. He called others to be sent. In the Book of Genesis, according to the Greek version (Septuagint), seventy-two is the number of people in the whole world (Gen 10). Therefore, the appointment of the seventy-two other disciples in the Gospel passage is symbolic. It is symbolic of the need to preach the good news to all peoples and it is symbolic of the many followers needed to help in this mission.

Christ’s mission, which is God’s mission (“Missio Dei”), is as wide as the world. There will always be a need for more workers in this huge field of the mission. In fact, even for the produce that is already ripe for harvest, there are not enough workers. Indeed, there will always be a need for disciples to be sent. There will always be a need for people like Jessica Kunz who are badly needed to help in the evangelization even on a full time basis. Yes, God needs you and He needs me to continue His mission in the world.

Some say that although the Philippines has been Christianized and sacramentalized, there is still a great need for it to be truly evangelized. The gospel values still need to permeate all areas of life. The task of evangelization continues to be great and may even be greater in the face of many values, ways and systems that contradict authentic Christian and gospel values. We find so much corruption, division and poverty in a country that used to pride itself as the only Catholic country in Asia before the separation of East Timor from Indonesia.

Jesus’ injunction to pray for more laborers in the vineyard must be understood not only in terms of praying hard so that God may send more laborers. While we need to do this, the injunction must also be taken as a reminder for us to be truly connected to and grounded in God especially within the context of prayerful and loving relationship. It is a call first to be disciples, followers and lovers of the Lord, for we can only share with others what we have and have experienced.

In her years at the Newman Center at the University of Illinois, Jessica Kunz really fell in love with the Lord. I witnessed the times she spent in personal prayer, in the daily celebration of the Eucharist and in retreats. I heard a good number of her confessions and had great conversations, interactions and collaborations with her. I witnessed how she allowed God to draw her closer unto Himself so that the time would come for her to be drawn to proclaim this Lord to others and to draw others to God. Indeed, there can never be a true disciple, a true apostle and a true missionary without a good life of prayer, without a deep relationship with God, the Master of the harvest.

The gospel also contains reminders on the behavior of God’s missionaries. As God’s disciples and apostles, we must expect difficulties and hardships along the way. We are to travel light and without attachments in any forms that can bog us down in their primary missionary pursuit. We must have a sense of urgency and should not allow any distractions by other concerns, including familial and social amenities. We must be heralds of God’s peace. We must accept with gratitude and joy any hospitality and acceptance accorded us. We must also be ready for any forms of rejection and be prepared to move to another place where the message of God’s Kingdom may be welcomed.

Our primary message as missionary disciples is the Lord’s own message: “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” Anthony Hoekema describes God’s Kingdom as “the reign of God dynamically active in human history through Jesus Christ, the purpose of which is the redemption of His people from sin and from demonic powers, and the final establishment of the new heavens and the new earth.” This Gospel message has to be proclaimed whether it is accepted or rejected.

Jessica Kunz has been deliberately and devotedly doing her share in the call to spreading the Gospel. How are we doing our share in embracing and proclaiming the mission of the Lord in our own ways – in the home, in the workplace, in the school, in the community, in the parish and in the society?

About Fr. Robert and his reflections

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Roy B. Zuck tells a story about a pastor who announced his topic for his sermon as “Ignorance and Indifference.” A person in the congregation saw that in the bulletin and asked his friend, “What does that mean?”

His friend answered, “I don’t know and I don’t care.”

Elie Wiesel said, “The opposite of love is not hate – it’s indifference.” To put it simply, the opposite of love is “I don’t care.”

While the priest and the Levite in Jesus’ parable in today’s Gospel passage exhibit “I don’t care” attitudes, the Good Samaritan is an example of “I care” practices.

One modern day Good Samaritan was William Booth. At the end of a fruitful life of caring and loving, he was buried with great honors. Members of the Royal Family attended his funeral. Next to the queen was a poor woman who placed a flower on the casket as it passed. The queen asked, “How did you know him?” The woman’s answer was simple but direct, “He cared for the likes of us.” William Booth was a good Samaritan to many poor people in need. (The story is also narrated by Roy B. Zuck).

Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan is found only in the Gospel according to Luke and is occasioned by the question of the scholar of the law, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” The intention of testing the Lord may not have been a good motive, yet the question is an existential question that must be asked by every person. This, I believe, is the first challenge of the Gospel passage today.

Everyone of us, at some point in our lives, the sooner the better, for it may become too late, must truly and sincerely ask and grapple with the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” This we must do in view of finding the right answer to the question so that we can live it and put it into practice.

The road to eternal life is given in the scholar’s answer: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” In short, eternal life consists in the practice of the love of God and neighbors. Jesus himself affirms this: “You have answered correctly; do this and your will live.”

However, knowing that the combined love of God and neighbors, as found in Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 respectively, leads to eternal life is just the beginning. It is not enough to know and give the right answer; one must live the right answer. One must live and practice the love of God and neighbors to attain eternal life.

Eugene H. Peterson, commenting beautifully on the parable in his book “Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading,” says “there was nothing wrong with the scholar’s knowledge of Scripture. But there was something terribly wrong in the way he read it, the how of the reading” (Peterson, Eat This Book, 83).

This point is made clear when Jesus, according to Peterson, asks, “How do you read this, and not what have you just read?”

This becomes even more evident when the scholar, wanting to justify himself, asks, “And who is my neighbor?” He asks for a definition of a neighbor. Peterson says that the scholar wants to talk about the text, treat the text as a thing, dissect it, analyze it, discuss it endlessly… The scholar has just rightly quoted the words of the Scripture. But these words must be listened to, submitted to, obeyed and lived.” Indeed, we listen to and read the Word of God in order to live it.

Jesus does not give the scholar a definition of the neighbor, which, in the context of the time of Jesus, was expected to be in terms of one’s fellow countrymen (Leviticus 19:18). Instead, he gives a story of practical love, compassion and care.

The “I do not care” attitude and behavior of the priest and the Levite in the parable are expected. Not to allow oneself to be defiled by not touching what they probably perceived to be a dead body was actually observing the law found in the books of Numbers and Leviticus (Numbers 9:11-13; 14-19; Leviticus 21:1-3, 10-11).

What is shocking in the story, at least to the Jewish people in that time, is that the person who cared for the dying neighbor was a Samaritan. The Jews and the Samaritans were enemies. The Jews harbored resentments against the Samaritans, who were considered heretics and schismatics for being descendants of a mixed population resulting from the Assyrian defeat of the northern kingdom in 722 BCE. Of all people, it was a Samaritan, an enemy, who helped the dying Jew.

In concluding the story of the Good Samaritan with the question, “Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man?” Jesus introduces a transition in the understanding of a neighbor – from being someone in need to someone who shows benevolence and practical love and compassion.

The scholar of the law again gives the right answer. The one who treated the dying man with mercy is the one who proved neighbor to the dying man. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said: “Neighborliness is not a quality in other people; it is simply their claim on ourselves. We have literally no time to sit down and ask ourselves whether so-and-so is our neighbor or not. We must get into action and obey; we must behave like a neighbor to him.”

Once again, Jesus recognizes the right answer of the scholar, but utters the challenge, “Go and do likewise.” This is the second time Jesus is challenging him to live and do what he rightly knows. In effect, Jesus is telling the scholar to transition from knowing and understanding to living, practicing and doing. This is the only way for him to gain eternal life. “Do and practice the Word of God and His commands of love of God and neighbors and you will have eternal life.”

The Good Samaritan’s compassionate love is practical and concrete. The gospel passage tells us that he approached the Jewish victim, he poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them, he lifted him up on his own animal, he took him to an inn and cared for him. And he did many more. This is love and compassion in action and in the concrete. This is what God through the gospel parable today is asking us to do. We show our love for our families, relatives and friends and other neighbors, especially those in need, through concrete acts of love and compassion.

Someone commented, “Love is never in the abstract. The good ‘feeling’ is nice but isn’t love. Love is concrete.”

St. John of the Cross said, “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.”

Blessed Mother Teresa also said, “At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by ‘I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.’”

Indeed, in the end, we will be judged on concrete and practical love. The outsider and despised Samaritan has become for us a model of practical love and of entry into eternal life. To gain eternal life, we must be Good Samaritans or be like the Good Samaritan.

About Fr. Robert and his reflections