Tag: reflections

All of us are in need of continuous homecoming to God who is unconditional in his love and who alone can lead us to proper relationships with him and with one another.

Today’s gospel pericope (Luke 15:1-32) is considered by many Biblical scholars as the heart of the gospel of Luke. If one gets the message of this passage, he gets not only the entire message of the Lukan gospel but also the entire message of Jesus Christ. The message is that God does not only love sinners or the lost unconditionally; he persistently seeks after them and welcomes them with joy.

Consisting of a trio of parables (the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin and the parable of the lost son), the pericope is regarded as Jesus’ response to the criticism of the scribes and the Pharisees that those who are considered worthless and lost are actually the predilect of the Kingdom of God. The lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son would have been judged not worth searching for by the scribes and the Pharisees. Patricia Datchuck Sanchez comments: “After all, what logical person would leave a herd of 99 sheep to search for a stray? And who would actually sweep clean a house to find one coin when they had nine others? And who would open him/herself to greater misery by seeking out a prodigal child who had disgraced the family name and disassociated himself from the sacred heritage when you have another fine and upright son at home?”

While the first two parables are given to set the stage for the increase of the pathos of the message of the pericope, all the three of them are actually intended to show the “illogical” ways of God and to challenge the readers to similarly open themselves to an unconditional and forgiving acceptance of and care for others, especially those considered the lost as well as the last and the least by the society.

The third parable has been traditionally called the parable of the prodigal son. This may not be a very appropriate title. The lost son in the story is only recklessly extravagant in wasting his inheritance, but the father is actually the one who shows limitless prodigality in his love for, forgiveness of and patience with both sons. Thus, the story, as some commentators say, may be better renamed as the parable of the prodigal father.

In this reflection, we prefer to call the third story the parable of the prodigal father and the two lost sons. The father’s unconditional love is never diminished by the faults of both sons. His love for his younger son remains despite his going wayward. It is a love that waits for, seeks, welcomes and rejoices at the homecoming of his lost son. His love for his elder son is appreciative and patient. While he recognizes his elder son’s fidelity for always being with him, he tries to lead him to a relationship with him that goes beyond the sense of filial duties and to a relationship with his younger brother that is more embracing, welcoming, forgiving and unconditional. “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”

An in-depth reflection on the story reveals that both sons are actually lost and in need of conversion and that both need to return to their father and to one another. The younger son’s faults include leaving his father and brother and their home, asking for his inheritance prematurely as his father is still alive, squandering his inheritance and living a disrepute life away from home. The elder son’s faults include seeing himself more as a servant of his father rather than as a son, not truly recognizing his younger brother as his brother (“When this son of yours…”), harboring resentment against his younger brother and his return, and failing to rejoice with his father at the return of his brother.

In the story, the homecoming of the younger son to the welcoming embrace of his prodigal father is accomplished. He gets reconciled with his father who unconditionally and lavishly forgives, welcomes and reinstates him to his status as one of his two sons. We do not really know what happens to the elder son in relation to his father and to his younger brother. The parable is open-ended and is still being told. It continues to be a reminder of the need for everyone to always return to the compassionate God, as represented by the father, and to our brothers and sisters, as represented by the younger son. All of us are in need of continuous homecoming to God who is unconditional in his love and who alone can lead us to proper relationships with him and with one another.

as published on September 15, 2013, Parish Bulletin
About Fr. Robert and his reflections

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