Tag: reflections by Fr. Jesus

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“Stay awake… Be prepared” by Fr. Jesus Galindo, OFM

“Prepare the way of the Lord.” The way of the Lord is none other than our way of life.

As early as September 1, there were Christmas carols being played on radio. The department stores began to display Christmas cards, trees, lights, and all sorts of Christmas décor. Now comes the Church liturgy and announces the beginning of Advent. “What Advent,” you might say. “Father, huli ka sa balita. We have already been celebrating Christmas for over two months now! Our Christmas cards are out; our Christmas trees and lights are up; our Christmas shopping is almost done. Our homes are fully decorated. What Advent are you talking about?”

Kawawang Adbiyento! It is practically non-existent for most people in the Philippines. We plunge right away into the Christmas frills and trappings. We are pushed into this by business interests who use this season as an opportunity, not to bring us closer to Christ, but to rake in fabulous earnings. Big business rules even our spiritual life. That is, if we allow it to do so. Shall we?

It is for this reason that the Church comes now to remind us to “be vigilant” and to “stay awake.” Not to be like the people in Noah’s time who were eating, drinking and having fun; which is exactly what many of us do during the Christmas and pre-Christmas season—going by the number of Christmas parties which are held these days. Hopefully this year, after so many calamities have left millions of our countrymen hungry and homeless, we will.

Advent is meant to be like a fourweek retreat to help us prepare for a meaningful and rewarding celebration of the birthday of Christ. Advent reminds us that it is Christ who is coming, not Santa Claus or the reindeers. Christ, not Santa Claus, is the reason for the season.

Our retreat masters for Advent will be mainly prophet Isaiah and John the Baptist, with their resounding invitation: “Prepare the way of the Lord.” The way of the Lord is none other than our way of life. In today’s passage (First Reading), prophet Isaiah describes the messianic time as a time of peace among nations: “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another.” It is clear that Isaiah’s vision has not yet been fulfilled, as violence and war wrack many parts of the world. This should help us understand why we need the season of Advent and Christmas to come around year after year: To remind us of the unfinished task of building up peace among the nations.

The symbol of this Advent season is the Advent Wreath–which should be displayed well ahead of the Christmas tree. It consists of four candles, one for each week. It can be made into a powerful means of personal and family reflection and renewal. How? By giving a name or theme to each candle, for instance, Patience, Forgiveness, Unity, Peace (or any other theme of relevance to or lacking in the family). Then, each week, as the family members gather for meals or for prayer, they can have a short reflection and sharing on the theme for the week, and end with a prayer, asking the Lord to bestow on the family the value or virtue meditated upon.

In this way, the Advent Wreath will not be a mere piece of décor but a useful aid for spiritual renewal in the family, by far more meaningful and spiritually rewarding than the mere sight of the twinkling lights around the Christmas tree. A fruitful Advent to one and all!

As published on December 1, 2013, Parish Bulletin
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“Your Faith Has Saved You” by Fr. Jesus

What the gospel wants to tell us is that Jesus loves the sinner’s humility and repentance, while he detests the pride of the self-righteous.

During this Year of Faith, which is well into its second half, it might have been a good spiritual exercise to take up, on Sundays, gospel passages in which faith is mentioned and rewarded. Many of the cures performed by Jesus were the result of an act of faith on the part of the sick persons. On the other hand, lack of faith “paralyzed” the Lord’s hands and heart, and prevented him from working miracles-as it happened in Nazareth at the start of his public ministry (Mt. 13:58). The woman in today’s gospel professed her faith in Jesus, not in words but with her actions; and Jesus rewarded her for that.

The Gospel of St. Luke is called by different names. Among others, the “Gospel of Mercy,” if only for the three parables found in chapter 15 about the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son. It is also called the “Gospel of Women,” because of the many passages dealing with Jesus’ respect and concern for women including the last two verses of today’s gospel about the women-disciples, and last Sunday’s gospel about tbe widow of Nain.

Thus, we can say that today’s passage is like a showcase of Luke’s gospel, as it combines both themes: Jesus’ mercy and his defense of the sinful woman against the accusing mutterings of Simon, the self-righteous Pharisee. A good number of gospel passages find fulfillment in this story. The passage about the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple (Lk. 18: 10ft) and that of the Good Samaritan (Lk. 10:30ft) bear a striking similarity to today’s gospel. They all express Jesus’ predilection for the little ones, in fulfillment of the gospel’s oft-repeated paradox: “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk. 14:11).

By accepting the invitation of a Pharisee to have dinner with him in his house, Jesus was displaying great courage and also taking a great risk. The Pharisees were not precisely his best friends. On the contrary, they were always harassing him and scrutinizing his every word and action in order to have something to accuse him of. Simon was probably delighted when Jesus accepted his invitation, so he and his fellow-Pharisees could observe him closely. And sure enough, he soon began to vent his bias against Jesus: “If this man were a prophet … ” Even though Simon said that “to himself,” Jesus was able to read his mind-a proof that he indeed was a prophet, endowed with divine knowledge.

Jesus did not care much about etiquette, when truth and justice were at stake. He masterfully turned the tables on the self-righteous Pharisee and lectured him, right there in his own house, about his “sins of omission,” all the practical demands of hospitality which he had failed to accord Jesus– while extolling the gestures of affection accorded him by the “sinful” woman. Simon learned the hard way Jesus’ teaching: “Do not judge, that you may not be judged. Do not condemn, that you may not be condemned … s s (Luke 6:37).

Jesus explains the behavior of the sinful woman with the parable of the two debtors. Her acts of kindness and affection toward Jesus were an expression of gratitude, knowing that her sins, her many sins, had been forgiven or were about to be forgiven. She could sense forgiveness in Jesus’ welcoming attitude-just as she could sense rejection in Simon’s judgmental attitude.

We must not conclude from today’s gospel that Jesus loves sinners more than he does the just. Of course not. What the gospel wants to tell us is that Jesus loves the sinner’s humility and repentance, while he detests the pride of the self-righteous. That is a constant found in all four gospels: “1have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners” (Lk. 5:32).

as published in the Parish Bulletin, June 16, 2013

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Parish Bulletin Pastoral Team

“ Child, your sins are forgiven” by Fr. Jesus

Today’s gospel discloses something more about Jesus: he is not only a healer of bodies; he is the “Son of Man, “with power to heal the soul.

If a person who knows nothing about Jesus Christ read the gospels of the last four Sundays, he would most probably think that Jesus was a doctor or a faith healer by profession. For the fourth consecutive Sunday now, we read a gospel story about Jesus’ healing activity. First, it was a possessed man in the synagogue of Capernaum; then, it was Simon’s mother-in-law and many others that he cured; last Sunday it was a leper whom Jesus touched and healed; and today, it is a paralytic that he cures. Today’s gospel discloses something more about Jesus: he is not only a healer of bodies; he is the “SON of Man,” with power to heal the soul.

The Church does not tire telling us that healing was the most important part of Jesus’ ministry, by which he not only showed his love and compassion, but also revealed that God’s kingdom had come and that Satan’s kingdom was on the way out: “The kingdom of God is at hand.”

At first, today’s gospel story elicits a smile of amusement. Try to visualize the scene: Four men carry a paralyzed man on a stretcher. Unable to get near Jesus due to the crowd, but determined to do so, they dismantle the roof and lower the stretcher right in front of Jesus. But then, amusement gives way to admiration for the paralytic and his four friends. We admire, above all, their faith. In fact, that’s the first thing Jesus saw-not the hole on the roof: “When Jesus saw their faith … “ They were fully convinced that Jesus could, and would, do something about their plight, that he would not let them down. And he did not.

Then comes the big surprise. After all the trouble they went through to bring the paralytic right before Jesus, hoping for a cure, Jesus, instead of telling the man, “Take your mat and walk,” he tells him, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” We can imagine the expression of surprise and disappointment written on the face of the paralytic and his friends, as if they wanted to say, “Sir, that’s not what we came here for. We want this man to walk again!”

Now, here is a good point for our reflection. Like the paralytic, we very often ask the wrong favors from the Lord: a safe trip, good health, success in business or in exams, and the like–all material concerns. We fail to see our deeper needs, our spiritual paralysis, and our need for spiritual healing. Jesus knows our needs better than we do ourselves. And he offers more than we ask for– complete healing of body and soul.

The Church carries on the healing ministry of Jesus–of both body and soul. Jesus endowed the Church with two sacraments of healing, namely, reconciliation and anointing of the sick. Through the sacrament of reconciliation, the wounds of our soul, inflicted by sin, are cured. Like the paralytic, we hear Jesus telling us, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” Through the sacrament of anointing we are strengthened both in body and spirit.

Unfortunately, these two sacraments are now in crisis and are not duly appreciated. As for the sacrament of reconciliation, many Catholics, influenced by fundamentalists or born-again Christians, prefer to confess directly to God, rather than to a priest. Thus they deprive themselves of the great joy of hearing Jesus’ words, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” As for the sacrament of anointing, many Catholics believe that it is meant only for those who are on the brink of death–like a gentle push into eternity; hence they postpone its reception until the sick person slips into unconsciousness, thus rendering the sacrament next to useless.

This coming Wednesday, February 22, the Lenten season will start; it is a time to renew our faith and to strengthen our relationship with the Lord. Hopefully we will come to rediscover and to experience his presence and healing power in these sacraments.

published February 19, 2012 Parish Bulletin

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