Sunday August 14, 2005

When you find yourself unexpectedly among a group of people with whom you think you have little in common, you will realize that people will teach you something that is basically human: you’re not much different than they.

I had such an experience some years ago when I was sent as a missionary to East Argentina in 1993; my first time to leave my country. After I step foot on the parish, I realized that I was the only Filipino in that parish and I couldn’t speak Spanish. So, I said to myself that perhaps the people could teach me something about Argentina.

When I was able to communicate a little, I began to share with them some of my culture’s best values. I talked about the Filipinos’ strong family ties, the extended family and respect of elders. In the process of all this, I was surprised how interested they were in the Filipino culture. Then, more to my astonishment, I learned that they were also teaching me something about their own values: about family connectedness, respect of elders and other topics that we share in common. In short, we became interested in our cultures and traditions. We had so many things in common. And, as the months went by and as I listened to them, I became more convinced that people share a basic conviction about life. That is, there’s a sort of universalism that identifies the human community. Humanly speaking, we’re all the same. It’s mainly the traditions we have chosen over the centuries that make us think that we are so different.

It is safe to say then that universality has been God’s intention for humanity all along. The question is: can that same sense of inclusiveness be found in the Church?

In today’s first reading, Isaiah reminded his fellow Jews that there are lots of non-Jews living around them who are also sincere in their faith as they are. He said: “Let there be no exclusivism, no “looking down” on these people who are also struggling to figure out their relationship with God.

Today’s gospel presents us with an incident in the life of Jesus; well, he and his disciples met a woman who was a Canaanite, a foreigner, a non-Jew. She had a simple request from Jesus. She says: “My daughter is sick; have pity on her”. And, at this point Jesus seemed to reveal a bit of Jewish exclusivism. However, she was a tough lady.

So, here we have two indications that religious faith doesn’t allow for attitudes of arrogance. There’s no sense of saying, “I’m right and you’re wrong, my faith is better, more accurate and more precise than your faith.” There’s no sense in saying, “I’m saved but I’m not so sure about you!” It is this attitude that makes foreigners out of others.

And, this brings us to the question: Just how catholic are Catholics? Of course, the word means universal. In the words of an Irish writer, catholic means here comes everybody. Of course, it’s true! But when “everybody comes”, do we let them in or do we first consider them foreigners until they prove themselves truly Catholic?

In a real sense, there’s often a tendency to protect the Catholic borders, to make sure that if others want to join us, they need to prove themselves worthy of being part of this our group. Perhaps, one of the greatest problems we face as Catholics is that we have a tendency to make certain assumptions about people even before we know much about them; well, at least about their interior dispositions, their faith and their sincerity as Christians. Sometimes we coin words for those who live differently than we do.

We had such a situation in the last months before the general election of last year 2004: some individuals were refused Holy Communion because of their political position on abortion. They may well have been sincere and intelligent Catholics in every other way but on this one issue they were refused the nourishment of Christ in the Eucharist.

We may cite other examples of exclusivism: gay and lesbian Catholics do not always find acceptance in the Church even though our American bishops have publicly written that they’re also our brothers and sisters in the faith. Also, divorced and remarried Catholics find themselves isolated until they straighten their situation.

In short, Catholic means here comes everybody, may be true only to some point: everybody may come but not everybody gets in. Of course, there needs to be laws and guidelines for human and Christian conduct but the important question in the end is always a personal one: what is my personal conviction regarding those who are not like me? Do I make judgments about their character, about their personal or public lives?

I think we need to believe Isaiah the prophet in today’s first reading: Let there be no foreigners among you; my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.

In the end, it is God’s decision to say who’s in and who’s out. And, this should keep us happy because our own record has not always been that great.

Sunday August 21, 2005

We believe that God is everywhere. But, why is it that we still have to go to Mass? Well, we can communicate with God by simply going to a place of solitude out in nature; we can talk with God there! And, why do we have to go to a priest and confess our sins in order to receive God’s forgiveness? Why can’t we just go to Jesus directly? These are good questions because they go right to the foundation of the Church.

What’s wrong with these questions is their direction: their direction is towards what we want to do in order to get to God. Their presumption is that we want to construct the means by which we reach God. These questions presume that the Church is simply an organization of persons who have associated to form a religious institution known as the Catholic Church and who have chosen to assent to some religious doctrines that they have fashioned for themselves. But, the hard reality is that these questions are what we want and not what God wants.

In today’s 1st reading we hear how God chose Eliakim to exercise leadership over Israel. It is God who speaks; God who determines; God who sets the agenda. The thoughts of this reading are re-echoed in today’s gospel when Jesus said: And I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock I’ll build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I’ll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven what whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

We need to pay attention on the symbolism of the keys. In times past, when there were real kings who rule over people: whoever was given the keys by the king was the highest official under the king. He was the CEO, so to speak. The symbolism of the keys can’t escape the people in those days. The symbolism of the keys couldn’t have any other meaning. But its meaning today is being rationalized when people view the Church as merely a political institution or political movement of some sort. They think that the Church is something that is established by human beings and not by God. The keys to the kingdom come from God and from no one else. And, the conferral of this office didn’t come from popular election or from the will of human beings. The responsibility was given only by God.

So we ask: from where comes authority? The question is profound and basic. Does authority come from God or from human beings? Before we answer that question too quickly, let’s remind ourselves of the United States’ founding documents. Well, the documents first appealed to God in order to warrant rebellion against King George of England. It appealed to God for authority and to no one else, not even to our own human will.

So, the Church comes from God; it is constituted by God. From a human secular perspective, it is merely a voluntary association of individuals; from God’s perspective, it is something else: it is the BC, the dwelling place of the HS. It is that special and sacred entity that is cut off from ordinary human time and space in which we humbly receive blessings from God, that which God wants to give to us.

It is in this context that I can now suggest the direction for the answers to the question asked at the beginning: Why do I have to go to Mass, receive Holy Communion and communicate with God? I can communicate with him by simply going to a place of solitude and quiet. Why do I have to go to a priest and confess my sins in order to receive God’s forgiveness? What can’t I go to Jesus directly?

But these questions ask a more basic question: Why do we have a Church? Why do we have sacraments? Some people would say that we have them because we have decided to need them. Some people would say that we have fashioned them for our own tastes. Well, they’re wrong! If the Church was simply a human institution, it’d have been wiped off from the face of the earth many centuries ago. No human institution could survive the attacks against it, both from within and outside; were it not something given to us by God. So the promise of Jesus to Peter some 2000 years ago is still good, still working and still as strong as ever. And I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Sunday August 28, 2005

Why do the good and the innocent suffer? Why do good people suffer while the crooks enjoy the blessings and comforts of life? In times of tragedy, these are the complaints we often hear. Suffering is always a scandal and suffering is hard to understand in our technological society where we have all sorts of gadgets to make life more convenient, more comfortable and less painful. Just look at the variety of pain killers in the market. Today, we also emphasize the easy way: instant meals (we don’t have to cook), computer made easy, losing weight the easy way, etc.

But suffering is part of being human; as the familiar saying goes: No pain, no gain! There are no important achievements in life without effort, pain and sacrifice. This applies to sports, science and technology; this also applies to love and commitment, the cost of following Jesus.

There are 2 kinds of suffering in this world: the unnecessary suffering and the necessary suffering. The unnecessary suffering is the suffering that one inflicts on others by ones selfishness. For ex: one can cause disunity in a parish by focusing on ones personal agenda. This may also be the suffering you bring upon yourself through negligence & stupidity. For ex: abusing oneself with drugs & alcohol; the unnecessary suffering of sexual diseases brought about by sexual promiscuity. Much of the sufferings in the world are unnecessary: unwanted pregnancies, violence, injustice, exploitation of the poor & the powerless. And, these happen because of the sinful misuse of the gift of freedom & choices.

On the other hand, there’s the necessary suffering: suffering involved in growing-up, in facing your limitation, in admitting ones’ mistakes, in struggling with a problem, in sharing someone else’s suffering, in accepting reality, in giving up a harmful habit, etc. The 1st degree of wisdom is to understand the difference between the 2 kinds of suffering; the 2nd degree of wisdom is to avoid the 1st & to embrace the 2nd.

In the past, pain & suffering have been unhealthily glorified in Christian spirituality. There were heresies like: If it is enjoyable, it must be sinful. Some spirituality of the past centuries was often too pessimistic and negative, emphasizing on suffering for its own sake. And, this has influenced some of people’s spirituality. Artists would portray Jesus as a stern-looking person and seldom do you find the picture of a laughing Jesus. Even the pictures of the saints are all serious-looking people. Today’s generation, marked by the smiling figure of John Paul II and by Vatican II has turned its back to all that. We’re more influenced in education, theories that advocate self-affirmation, self-fulfillment and spontaneity.

But sometimes, modern psychology can go a bit far. For fear of repressed feelings, we think that any kind of suffering is bad. Our world promises pleasures and rejects all forms of suffering. But Jesus promises joy with suffering and sometimes joy through suffering. Not that suffering is to be cultivated. On the contrary, we will be judged on our fight against the suffering of others. But this cost of fighting against the suffering of others (such as hunger, injustice, loneliness) will itself bring us suffering and cross. But, it’ll be a positive and fulfilling kind of suffering: compatible with great peace and joy.

When it comes to the cross in our life, we have the choice either to accept it or reject it. We can either pick-up our cross or we can turn away from it and refuse to carry it. Whether you’re born with a handicap or whether you are suffering from a tragedy in life, you have the same choice, the same choice that Jesus had in the Garden of Gethsemane. Even Jesus recoiled at the thought of drinking the cup of suffering that had been poured out for him. He said: Father, if you’re willing, take this cup away from me. But he added: But not my will but your will be done.

If we refuse to accept the cross, we experience the unnecessary kind of suffering; if we accept the cross, we experience the necessary kind but we will know happiness because following Jesus makes all the difference in the world.

In today’s gospel, Jesus said that if we pick up our cross and follow in his footsteps, he’ll lead us to life. And the life that Jesus promises is not only eternal life in the next world but also life in this world right now. If we pick up the cross and follow in the footsteps of Jesus, our cross can become a blessing to greater things. Rather than serve as an agent of death, our cross can serve as an agent of life, just as the cross of Jesus that served as an agent of life for the world.

Here’s an inspiring prayer written in the form of a poem and was found in the pocket of a dead soldier: I asked for health that I might do greater things; I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy; I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of people; I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I got nothing I asked for but everything that I hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered and I am among all people most richly blessed. Amen.

Sunday September 4, 2005

There was a woman who got married to a man who didn’t really love her. This man was very demanding and controlling; and, to make sure that she fulfilled all her obligations as wife, he drew up a set of rules for her. His list of do’s and don’ts included things as when she should get up in the mornings, when to serve his breakfast and what household chores she should do before he came back from work.

Many years later, this man died. And, with time, the woman met another man who really loved her; soon they were married. Her new husband didn’t give her a list of do’s and don’ts. The new husband simply showered her with gestures of love, words of praise and compliment for everything she did.

One day, while she was cleaning the house, she finds the old list of do’s and don’ts that her former husband had made for her. Going through the list, she discovers that she had been doing all those things more for her new husband even though he didn’t given her any rules. More importantly, she had been doing them happily and without stress.

There are 2 ways of meeting our obligations to one another: one is by law, the other is by love. Law multiplies where love is thin; but where love reigns, laws are often unnecessary.

In today’s 2nd reading, St. Paul turns to the subject of Christian moral conduct. Well, we would think that the main Christian moral obligation is love but St. Paul thinks that it’s deeper than that. For St. Paul, the primary moral obligation for Christians is the same as that for non-Christians; it is the commitment to justice.

St. Paul starts by giving us a broad definition of justice. Justice means to “pay to what is due them-- taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due”. All our duties as human beings and as Christians are covered under justice so understood.

For example, take the 10 Commandments. The first 3 commandments are on giving back to God what is due to Him as our creator and life-giver. The last 7 commandments concern our relationship with one another.

In the opening verses of the 2nd reading, St. Paul mentioned our duties to support the state and the government. And, he speaks of it in terms of paying the debt we owe in justice.

When we realize that what’s required of us in dealing with God and with one another is that of justice, then the next question would be: how do we fulfill this justice? And, this is where Christianity has something new to say.

The Jewish religion (under Moses) thought that the best way to secure justice is by law; the Christian religion (under Jesus) gives us a different answer. The better way to fulfill justice is by love and not by law. That’s why, St. Paul says in today’s 2nd reading: “owe no one anything except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law”. Love is fulfilling the law of justice. The goal of moral life is to do justice and love comes in as the best means to achieve this goal.

But nowadays, we have some problem with this teaching. This is because we’re used to seeing love as an option; as something we may choose to do or not do. Are we not free to love anyone we choose? Yes! But the love that St. Paul speaks about is a debt that we owe in justice to God, to the Christian community, to one another and to our very selves.

Sometimes, we hear the expression: “Do I owe you?” For example, we hear this when a beggar or someone in dire need insistently asks for some help. Some people would dismiss them with the angry remark: “Stop bugging me. Do I owe you?” Of course, in the legal sense, we don’t owe them. But in the moral sense we do owe them. St. Paul said: “Owe no one anything except love.” If love demands that we help them out in their need, then we owe them.

Nowadays, as Christians, we suffer from a serious lack of awareness and sensitivity to our obligations to other people. When we hear that HIV-AIDS is wiping out generations of young people in certain countries, do we owe them? When we hear that some places are devastated by hurricane, do we owe them? The legally minded among us will say: “No, we don’t.” But today, St. Paul wants us to develop the awareness and moral sensitivity to say: “Yes, we do.” For as Christians, kindness isn’t something we may choose to do or not do; it is a debt that we owe to each and everyone.

Sunday September 11, 2005

I remember an incident when I was young and I got into a violent confrontation with my mother and I said some things that I shouldn’t have said. Later after that incident, I was overwhelmed with guilt that I went to my room and I cried. I also didn’t remember sleeping very much that night. The next morning, I had no idea what my mom would say at the breakfast table; I was expecting the worst. But at breakfast, my mom didn’t say a word about the incident. She didn’t formally ask me to apologize but she simply allowed me to struggle with my own guilt. I still struggle with the memory of that incident up to this very day. Forgiving others? It’s not a problem! Forgiving ourselves? That’s a tough job!

I think that the reason why violent offenders are in prison is because of anger. Today, most violent actions in the world have their roots in a personal anger, a sense of vengeance, the desire to get even, to convince the rest of the world that a hurt has been inflicted. This seems to be the motive of the terrorist bombings around the world. Whether justified or not, these individuals feel that a great injustice has been done; if not to them, then to the people they represent: politically, culturally or spiritually. Well, none of us here today would go for physical violence if we’ve been offended but that doesn’t mean that we are not angry. To get angry is part of our human nature and it seems that there’s a feeling that someone should pay attention and show respect for our feelings; and, when that doesn’t happen, anger sets in.

Today, there seems to be a lot of anger in the world. We seem to have a hard time believing in one another's goodness. It may not be true but that's often the way it appears to us. And, all of these thoughts are contained in the readings today; they speak about being forgiven and how hard it is to forgive. Sirach says: “Wrath and anger are hateful things; the vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance. Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor.” And, you’ll notice that all these statements are about us: our neighbors and God. Sirach makes an interesting comparison. He says: “If you can’t forgive your neighbor, how can you expect God to forgive you?” In other words, he makes the point that God operates on principles that are similar to our own. Forgiveness is the only answer; otherwise, life becomes a war zone. And, who wants to live in that condition?

In today’s gospel, Jesus tells a story about forgiveness: It's a story about a generous-minded king and a servant, who has seriously fallen into debt but the king forgave him. Sometime later, the forgiven servant met one of his own neighbors who was also in debt, in this case to himself. But did he follow the king’s example of forgiveness? Not at all; no forgiveness. The point is that God should be the model of forgiveness, tough as it may be.

As I pointed out earlier, I think one of our problems with forgiveness is that we also have a hard time forgiving ourselves; and, if we have a hard time with our own guilt, how difficult will it be for us to forgive others?

At any rate, the whole issue of forgiveness began with a question by Peter to Jesus about numbers. Seemingly, Peter likes to count and thinking about the times people hurt each other, he wondered how long one should forgive; well, there has to be a limit. So, he suggested the number 7, which is the perfect number in Jewish life. Nobody should go beyond that! But, Jesus offered him another solution, the super-perfect number: 70 X 7, 490 times. This shocked Peter but Jesus supported it with the story about the forgiving king and the unforgiving servant.

So, the significance of the 490 times is not about higher math; it's about attitude. In other words, forgiveness isn’t a matter of numbers but it’s about a way of life. Once you start counting up incidents of forgiveness, then it's all over. Jesus would say: “What you need to do is to live forgiveness rather than count forgiveness; it has to be part of your human nature.” We say: Well, that’s not easy. Of course, not! It’s because situations change from time to time and we’re never ready to meet a new challenge.

But my own personal feeling is that: if our attitude is positive, if we believe in our own goodness, even if we have fallen a few times, chances are we will not find it hard to forgive or be forgiven. Life is a process, it goes on and there’ll always be the opportunity to start over.

Thanks be to God that God can forgive and forget. Now it's our turn to forgive and there are endless opportunities to do that.

Sunday September 18, 2005

In a monastery, the head abbot asked the monks: “When do we know that the day has begun?” And, a monk said that the day begins when the sun rises; but the abbot said no. Another monk said that the day begins when you see people rushing to work; but the abbot said no. They said: Tell us. And, the abbot said: The day begins when you look into the faces of people and there you see your brothers and sisters.

Today’s parable is one of the most puzzling of the parables of Jesus. It is found only in Matthew and it teaches us much about God and us. It also tells those of us who have extra money how we should treat the poor. It tells us of people's right to a job and a family living wage.

The hired workers of the parable were the lowest class of Jewish working people. They and their families lived on the poverty level and it was said that if they were not employed for even a day, the family would go to bed hungry. Their situation was known to be so bad that when they were hired for a day's work, it was commanded that they be given salaries before sundown. Thus, they were able to shop and put bread and rice (the food of the poor) on the table.

A biblical writer said that there were seasons in Palestine, when this story could have occurred as described. This would be at the grape harvest in early fall. By mid-September, came the torrential rains; thus, began the always frantic effort to save the grapes and more workers are needed.

The Jewish farmer worked from sunrise to sunset. It was a 12-hour day work. The times when the workers would be hired were at 6AM, 9AM, 12 noon, 3PM and 5PM. And, with storm clouds visible, the owner would hustle to find men as late as 5 PM, one hour before closing time.

Obviously, Jesus had hands-on information of the Jewish employment style. He knew the system well because he was also a worker in Nazareth.

The vineyard owner represents God. However, this parable somehow upsets our image of God because it tells us that the most advanced scientific instruments are a waste in understanding God.

And, we ask: what is God up to? And, there’s an answer from the prophet Isaiah as God says: For my thoughts are not your thoughts; my ways not your ways.

Actually, God wants to witness generosity in us. Remember how Jesus praised the widow who gave her last coin at the temple? We could have told the widow to put her coin away because she needed the coin more than the temple. But not with Jesus! Why? Because he proposed to take care of her needs in His own way. Luke, also had Jesus saying: Give and it shall be given you.

Today, we also celebrate Catechetical Sunday 2005 and the readings challenge us to hear God’s call, to accept God’s call and turn away from our sins and selfishness. The purpose of catechesis is actually to bring about in all of us a more mature faith in Jesus, a deeper knowledge and love for him and the Church and a firm commitment to follow him. Today, we pray for our catechists and we pray for all those called by the church to teach in its name. We ask that through their efforts, God may draw us to new life as followers and disciples of Christ.

Let us be one with them as we also respond to this challenge in the light of our responsibility as witnesses of God’s love to everyone we meet. We will now have a special blessing for our catechists.

Sunday September 25, 2005

When I was taking homiletics as a course in the seminary, one of the first things that our class was taught was that homilies are meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Well, today’s parable about the 2 sons was certainly meant to afflict the comfortable. When Jesus told the religious leaders that the hated tax collectors and prostitutes would make their way into heaven before them, these so-called religious leaders were not pleased.

Today’s parable about the 2 sons is so simple that it is very relevant in our own times. It helps us to look into our own hearts and find the Pharisee in us. But, it’s also a parable of mercy, a parable about changing our minds in order to do what is right in God’s eyes, even if we have turned away from him for most of our lives.

There’s an old saying in sports which I think is appropriate to this parable: it’s not where you start that counts; it’s where you finish.

The religious leaders (because of their education, wealth, power and high social status) should be leading candidates for entry into God’s kingdom. But unfortunately, they’re the ones who were in danger of not getting into heaven at all. They knew the Law of Moses thoroughly and followed them strictly: the Sabbath and feast days, ritual purity, tithing and dietary rules. But, according to Jesus, they’ll be standing outside of heaven watching the lowliest of the low parading into God’s kingdom. They’ll scratch their heads, wondering what went wrong. So, what went wrong for these people who knew everything about what the Law of Moses commanded? Well, for one thing: they had no clue about what was most important to God.

Earlier, Jesus said: Go and learn what this means: I prefer mercy and not sacrifice. Well, temple sacrifices were important to God; after all, God himself commanded that they be done. But, for these religious leaders, temple sacrifices were more important over getting rid of injustice, over helping widows and orphans, over welcoming the stranger and over helping the poor, the sick and the elderly. And, that’s when their temple sacrifices became useless and an abomination to God.

There was a show on tv entitled, “Who wants to be a Millionaire”? It was so popular that it was aired in over 100 countries throughout the world. I’m sure many of us here have seen it. Contestants try to win 1 million dollars by answering questions. At the end of each round, they’re asked: “Is that your final answer”? If their answer is correct, they get the prize; if their answer is incorrect, their opportunity to be a millionaire is lost. After you’ve given your final answer, you can’t change your mind. Win or lose, well, that’s it!

But, thanks be to God; with God, we’re given the opportunity to change our minds with regard to following God. In the early years of our lives, we may have said no to God; but as our lives move on, we begin to see things differently and our no to God becomes a yes. You may have made terrible mistakes in the past but then you redeem yourself and (by the grace of God) you atone for those mistakes by making the rest of their life a grace-filled thing.

Many of the greatest saints of all time have done that; they were great sinners who initially said no to God and who later changed their minds and said a resounding yes to Him. St. Augustine is the most obvious example.

Let us remember this: a person won’t be judged on one single act in his or her life. He or she will be judged at the finish line, on their whole life. It’s not where we start that counts, it’s where we finish.

You see, Jesus doesn’t focus on what our profession in life is. He won’t say to us, Oh, I see you were a bishop or a priest or a deacon or a nun or whatever; enter into the joy of heaven. No! He will want to know what we did for him in the least of our brothers and sisters. Did we feed the hungry? Did we give aid to the poor and homeless? Did we visit him in prison? Did we help him when he was alone and sick?

Let’s say yes to God and then do it. Someone said that if we do that, well, we will never ever regret it and that is guaranteed.

Sunday October, 2 2005

During a year-off from the seminary, when I taught theology in college, I discovered how teachers and students often perceive life’s issues from different perspectives. One of the greatest challenges that I found in my work was the task of composing exams, exams that would test both the students’ retention of facts but also their interpretation of the question that I carefully thought out. Often, I spent hours composing questions in such a way that I thought there’d be no wiggle room. And still, some students would complain after the exam, saying that the question wasn’t clear or that they interpreted it in a different way than I had written it and that their grade should be adjusted; of course, always upward. Well, I decided that there were no absolutely clear answers to any question and that it was best to allow the students make whatever they could of it and let it go. In that case, some conversations can get interesting and the grading process is a little bit unpredictable: teaching and learning are not easy endeavors.

Most people who’ve read the stories that Jesus told would say that he was a great teacher, a great storyteller and his stories came down to us because they’re such good teaching stories. What many don’t always realize is that Jesus was also a teacher who knew how to ask interesting-provocative questions. His style was not the lecture and exam process but rather he tells a story and then he follows it with some great questions. In some rare occasions, he answered the question himself; in other cases, he revealed the answer to his friends (disciples). But usually, he left the question hanging and the listeners wondering. Perhaps, wonderment is the best answer to some questions. Obviously, not all questions have answers.

Another interesting teaching method that Jesus often used is the use of allegory. Allegory is simply a story-telling technique whereby certain fictional objects, persons or actions are represented as symbols for life in the real world. We have 2 beautiful examples of allegory in the 1st reading and gospel. We could call them stories of precious vineyards. Actually, these 2 stories are not vineyard stories at all but they’re lessons about what’s truly precious and worth taking care of in life. And, what is truly precious in life?

Both Isaiah and Jesus would say that it’s a vineyard that goes by the name community, God’s people living in harmony with one another. That’s the vineyard and that’s what is precious in this world that is worth taking care of; and if you don’t take care of it, you lose it. In Isaiah’s allegory, he says explicitly: The vineyard of the Lord is the House of Israel and the people of Judah are his cherished plant. In Jesus’ story: The vineyard is the KG, God’s people living and working together in the world, taking care of one another because they are precious to one another.

So you see, in allegories, one thing stands for another and we need to ask: which is the most important? In this case, it’s not about taking care of precious vineyards but taking care of precious people. Now, the question is: how can we transfer the vineyard allegory to our present times where it’ll have some meaning for us? Well, I’d think that there are 2 precious vineyards in the world: the secular community we live and work each day and the religious community or what we commonly call the church. In fact, they’re not 2 separate communities because they overlap in so many ways. So, what’s so precious about this vineyard we call the secular community we live in?

Well, obviously, what’s precious isn’t simply getting along on our own in the world, not simply making a living and making an income. What’s important is keeping this precious vineyard together: we depend on one another, support one another, making it a vineyard where all are cared for, particularly the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed, those who can’t take care of themselves.

You may have noticed that whenever the late Pope John Paul II went to any country, Christian or non-Christian, he didn’t immediately ask questions about the state of the church but rather he asked about the state of civil society in general. He asked about the poor, the victimized, the unborn children, prisoners, those on death row, immigrants turned away from the borders. He posed these questions particularly to the vineyard owners (the leaders of state and church) but also to the vineyard workers (we who love & care for this vineyard we call country & church.

Does the vineyard allegory have any particular application to the community we call the Catholic Church in the US? I think Jesus may tell the story and then ask questions like this of the vineyard owners (the bishops and priests): Do you care enough about the younger members of this precious vineyard that you will protect them from sexual predators? And to the vineyard workers, he may ask: Do you care enough about your vineyard that you’ll all work together with bishops and priests to make your church a holy church once more? If we say: Well, it’s none of my business; let others take care of it. Jesus may well say, as he did to the religious leaders of his time: I say to you, the KG will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. They’re hard words! Yes, and only an allegory like the vineyard could carry the full meaning.

So, in the end, what does it all mean? To me, it means that life in this world is never a private affair. Whether we like it or not, we belong to communities and gatherings of people.

Sunday October 9, 2005

At this time, I can remember some really wonderful meals that I have taken with parishioners, with people, individuals and groups. Not only were the food and wine delicious but also the conversation was uplifting and enlightening. Some of my best memories are about meals, meals not just eaten but celebrated; I never want to forget them.

There’s something about eating meals together that one could describe as transforming, taking us into a different world, at least for an hour or two. For example, when husbands and wives want to celebrate their 25th or 50th wedding anniversary, they go to the best restaurant in the city, ordering the highest-priced entrée and a bottle of the best wine. They do all this not simply because they are hungry but because there’s an event to think about, there’s an occasion to remember: years together, the ups and downs of their lives. This moment cannot be passed by without some celebration and evaluation. Of course, the food and drink are part of the ambiance, part of the celebration but they are only part of the experience. The best part of the celebration is simply being together and allowing the food and drink to enhance the experience.

The reason why I speak of meals is not simply because they are so much part of us but rather, more importantly, because they are signs of something else, something more significant than the meal itself; as a poet once wrote: “Many things in life are intimations of immortality.”

I am convinced that the taking of food, speaks to us of life, of life’s highest experiences. For instance, it is interesting to note that in Moslem countries, their sense of eternity (heaven) is a meal with the best foods and finest wines. And, the greatest reward a person could imagine, after this life is over, is to sit at an eternal banquet table. Strange as it may be, the Palestinian martyrs on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip say that they are willing to die at their own hands because they are convinced that Allah will reward them eternally at God’s own banquet table. Sounds a little extreme but it indicates how strong a value there are in meals, they are signs of physical sustenance but also of eternal life. Food sustains life and is a sign of the highest form of life we can imagine; simple as that!

That is why, Jesus spoke so eloquently on many occasions about banquets and immediately compares them to the Kingdom of God. For Jesus, the Kingdom of God was the highest way of life that anyone could imagine and hope for. We may remember the famous occasion when Jesus fed the 5000. The next day, many of them came back for more free food. Then, Jesus took the occasion to tell them that it was okay to look for food but also that they should hunger for more than ordinary food, the food that God offers. I’m not sure what those people thought that might be but at least, they now realized that when Jesus fed them with bread, it was only a sign of how God cares for everyone. Jesus would say that food is always more than food; food is always a sign of something greater and Jesus would call it the Kingdom of God.

So the question of the Kingdom of God often arises out of the experiences of ordinary people in this world. A few simple examples: the financial and investment people who were so much in the news a few years back (ENRON). What were they really searching for when they scandalously got those millions of dollars? Perhaps, it’s a larger home, a more expensive car and luxury vacations. But if you had the opportunity to sit with them and converse with them philosophically, they may tell you that their lives are basically empty and without meaning. They may also say that money is nice to have but ultimately it is not the only thing that matters in life; that life is more than just getting and having. And, there must be other reasons for living than just getting money.

And, if you have the opportunity to speak in an unthreatening way with a young person or any person “doing drugs” and you ask them why they do it, they may tell you that it gives them a great feeling but only for a while. And afterwards, they are still left longing for something else, something more that will last. And, could that be Jesus’ definition of the Kingdom of God, something deeper, something that will last?

Of course, these are simply 2 examples chosen randomly from life. But the question could be addressed to each of us: when we have food and drink in abundance, when life has gone well for us, what else do we really want? What kind of food can we imagine and desire that will nourish the whole body, the whole person, not just for today but the future? Whatever that turns out to be, Jesus would describe as discovering the Kingdom of God.

Well, this is something to think about as we push back from the dinner table and suddenly we discover that we are still hungry, hungry for something more. Could that be the Kingdom of God?

Sunday October 16, 2005

In today’s gospel, the Pharisees and the Herodians tried to trap Jesus. They asked: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar? For ourselves, we may pose a similar question and we ask: what obligation do we have to the state and what obligation do we have to God? And, Jesus would tell us: Yes, we have a civic duty to the country in which we live. For example, it's okay and right to pay taxes; of course it is. The street in front of our church (Leota Avenue) where our church is, is paid for by taxes. So are Interstate 101 and Highway 85. Tax money builds roads. Going to the supermarket or traveling across country, we benefit from road tax dollars. It's also okay and right to serve in the military. When our government calls us for the armed forces, it is our civic duty to serve. We have a right to defend ourselves and the military does that; it defends our country. It's okay and right to be responsible citizens. When chosen for jury duty, we disrupt our daily routine and hear the evidence and give a verdict on the guilt or innocence of a person charged with a crime. Some seek public office, serving on the city council or the board of education. Taking time from our personal lives to answer a public need. Everyone needs to exercise our rights as citizens by voting on Election Day. Part of our responsibility as citizens. Jesus said: Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. We have a civic duty to support our government. Jesus says so.

But, Jesus also said: Give to God what belongs to God. Well, what belongs to God? The answer: everything! God gave us life. He created this world and every person, everything belongs to God. And we give to God what belongs to God by building the kingdom of God. That means: we support our government when it follows the commandments of God and we protest when our government acts contrary to God's commandments. That's what the late Pope John Paul II did.

Remember when Poland was under Communism, where the late John Paul II grew up and became the Cardinal-Archbishop of Krakow. John Paul II said: Yes, Communism had good points; Communism shows concern for the poor and it tries to overcome unemployment. But, he also said that the tree of Communism is rotten. He gave Communism a good shake and the rotten apples fell to the ground. During his 2nd trip to Poland after being elected Pope (at that time, the government was suppressing the unions), he preached in his strong voice, shaking his finger saying: Workers have a right to strike. During a papal audience in Rome, some Polish pilgrims were introduced and he prayed: God, grant through the intercession of Mary, that there may be religious freedom in Poland. Pope John Paul II took Communism to task.

But, let’s not think John Paul II allowed capitalism off the hook. He called consumerism a virus and warned us against our culture of consumption. Capitalism runs crazy when it proclaims, Greed is good. The late Pope John Paul II was an international spokesman for Christian values. His goal: to bring people closer to God. His words and actions obeyed Jesus’ command to give to God what is God’s. And, we are to do as the late John Paul II did. As Christians, we are called to shape our society into a society pleasing to God. Let’s take one of the issues of social justice: respect for life. Well, as Christians, we value life. We believe that every human being is sacred and precious in God's sight. In a culture that legalizes abortion, we need to form human prayer chains on the streets; we stand across from abortion clinics and pray for the unborn. In a society that debates assisted suicide, we say all life is precious and we seek laws to defend all life.

And, speaking about our laws, we also rejoice that our Constitution guarantees freedom of religion in this country. But on the other hand, we point to restrictions on how we express our beliefs. We wonder why schools schedule soccer games on Sunday morning. Schools paid for by tax dollars causing conflict within families: it’s difficult to stay on the soccer team and to come to Sunday Mass.

Well, let’s also talk about economic issues. As Christians, we seek laws to protect the helpless and protect the environment. As Christians, we are called to shape the moral decisions made in our society, to criticize bad moral choices and to support good moral decisions. We owe to God the building up of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus said: Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God. Does this mean we act like Christians in church but outside church we do as we please? Does this mean we seek God in prayer but we do not follow God's commandments in daily life? Of course not! Jesus continues to challenge us to live our Christian faith in every sphere of life: in business, in our civic duty and in our personal lives. What belongs to God? Well, what belongs to God is a God-centered life, every day and all the days of our life.

Sunday October 23, 2005

When I was growing up as a kid in the Philippines, Sunday was always lived as a very special day. Our parish was always at full capacity and many stores were also closed. Nowadays, this common experience has changed. Sunday is just another day just like all of the other days of the week. Today’s liturgy speaks to us about something that is basic for our lives as a Catholic people: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. One of the ways in which we live out these words of Jesus is through our celebration of Sunday.

The 3rd Commandment says: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 6 days you shall labor and do all your work; but the 7th day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work; for in 6 days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the 7th day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

The late Pope John Paul II wrote an excellent document on how we must live each Sunday. Regarding the 3rd Commandment he wrote: In setting this commandment within the context of the basic structure of ethics, the Church declares that Sunday is not just a matter of community religious discipline but a defining expression of our relationship with God, announced and expounded by biblical revelation. But our relationship with God also demands times of prayer, in which the relationship becomes a dialogue and Sunday is the day of this relationship when we raise our song to God and become the voice of all creation.

The Sunday that I have lived as a kid is something of the past. However, I believe that as a Catholic people, we need to recover the real meaning of Sunday as the Lord’s Day and witness to all those around us the proper way to live out the weekly Sabbath. Secularism and materialism are trying to eradicate all sense of God and also eradicate true religious practices from our modern society. For us, Sunday is a day which is at the very heart of the Christian life. How then are we to live the Sabbath, the Lord’s Day?

There are 2 basic aspects to the Sabbath. First, we need to worship at our church; second, we refrain from all unnecessary physical work. Sunday worship must be at the very center of our lives; we need to go to church on Sunday unless we’re sick or the weather keeps us inside our homes. We come to worship at Mass with full and conscious participation.

The 2nd aspect of our Sabbath is the prohibition from all unnecessary physical work. Just as God rested on the 7th day from all his work which he had done, human life has a rhythm of work and rest. The institution of the Lord's Day helps everyone enjoy adequate rest and leisure to cultivate their familial, cultural, social and religious lives. On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, we refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship to God and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body. Family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse us from the obligation of Sunday rest; however, we should see to it also that legitimate excuses don’t lead to habits that would prejudice worship, family life and health. Although it is true that some people will have to work because they’re involved with service orientated professions (hospitals and restaurants), employers of these types of professions also have a moral obligation to provide employees time for worship and adequate rest.

Aside from the problems that secularism and materialism have caused in our culture, the bottom line is the fact that most of us simply just do not know how to rest. We are a very active people and we need to recover the true sense of leisure. Sunday rest isn’t simply baseball or football and a couple of 6 packs of beer, nor is the solution 8 hours of spiritual reading. We need to recapture the real meaning of leisure. Leonardo Da Vinci once said: Every now and then, go away and have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer, since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgment. Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance and lack of harmony or proportion is more readily seen.

The root of America’s extreme activity is a profound restlessness rooted in troubled consciences and lives that have lost the sense of what it means to be a creature of God. This pace of life is being put to sleep with sex, drugs, alcohol, excessive entertainment and hectic work schedules. Most people would even equate true leisure to laziness and irresponsibility. One time, the great storyteller Aesop was playing childish games with some little boys. A man laughed at Aesop and asked him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity. Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosen its string and place it on the ground. Then he said to the man: Now, if you can, answer the riddle; tell us what the unstrung bow implies. The man looked at it for several moments but he had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make. So Aesop explained: If you keep a bow always bent, it’ll break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it’ll be fit for use when you want it.

Sunday October 30, 2005

The days following the death of John Paul II, some cardinals were mentioned by the press to succeed him and there were speculations on who could be the next Pope. I guess that some of their first responses were: "Oh, I'm not holy enough” or "I wouldn't want to wear all those heavy clothes” or "I wouldn't want to meet all those people every day from all over the world” or "I wouldn't want to have to work with all those cardinals.”

Well, that in fact, is what the Pope does every day. If one becomes Pope, one becomes a very public person. He’d be the pastoral leader of the whole Catholic Church and he’d also be willing to wave his arms and hands a lot! And, if a cardinal did decide to accept the offer to be Pope, from the moment he puts that "pointy hat" (mitre) on his head, he’d need to get used to being a servant. His time would never be his own again. In fact, the Pope is called "the servant of the servants of God.” So, the office of Pope isn’t something that one would ordinarily look forward to.

However, being a servant isn’t confined to the office of the papacy. Everyone should do it but one has to learn how to do it because it doesn't come easily. It's all about attitude, being willing to be last and least. Well, in our modern world, servanthood doesn’t seem to be an easy thing to learn. Think about some of the elected officials who don't seem to serve us well once they’re elected. They often forget about the people who listened to them and thought it wise to put them in office. After they’re elected, these officials do pretty much what pleases them rather than their constituents. Servanthood doesn’t seem to come very easily or naturally also for church officials. Of course, we do have many good and selfless priests and bishops but often the so-called clerical system makes it difficult for us to be recognized publicly as servants. Without meaning to do so, the clerical system often seems to put bishops and priests on a level above lay people. Even the clerical clothes, the colors and the titles give a sense of self-importance. Of course, I realize that it’s not a personal matter for us but the ecclesiastical traditions themselves often don’t help us understand the nature and importance of servanthood.

Of course, it’s not a modern problem; in fact, even in the Hebrew Scriptures, the time in which Malachi wrote, well, they were having problems with their religious leaders. Malachi said: "You have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to falter by your instruction.” Bad news!

Notice also that things had not changed much during Jesus’ time. Jesus criticized the scribes and the Pharisees. He says: "You make life difficult for people, placing heavy burdens on their shoulders while not doing a thing to lighten them.” Then Jesus comments on the clerical garment because they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor at synagogues and greetings in the marketplace. So, we don't get the impression that they were interested in being servants; and Jesus had a real problem with that. In fact, he told his own disciples that they should plan to do the opposite. He says: Serve one another; I’ve given you an example, so must you also do. But, some good pastoral service was also being done in those early days. Listen to what St. Paul tells the Thessalonians: "Working day and night so as not to burden any of you, we proclaimed to you the Gospel of God.” In any age, I think that is what religious servants do: they bring God's word to people without pay.

But so far, I’ve been talking about people who work in the Church: bishops, priests and religious and I’ve said nothing about the rest of the people out there who are also servants doing holy service. Are there any examples today of people who do the work of Jesus without wearing special clothes or having special titles? And, I could immediately cite the example of Mother Teresa who left Yugoslavia to found another order of sisters who would do nothing but care for the poor and the dying on the streets of Calcutta and around the world. We won’t deny Mother Teresa sainthood for all that.

But forget about the big names. The question is: are there any undeclared saints out there who serve every day without phylacteries, tassels or titles. I can think of some who shall remain anonymous. And, I think of some neighbors who help elderly couples by picking up groceries for them. I think about the elderly man, himself on crutches, who faithfully visits his wife in a nursing home every day. I think of all the people in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast who tried to make sure their neighbors were safe during Hurricane Katrina. Surely, that is human service without pay, without acclaim, no titles and no special places for awards. And, how about all of us gathered here today? I think that everyone of us, young or old, shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to help someone if they needed it. Well, it's just the most human thing to do. You don't need fancy clothes with tassels, you don't need special titles and no one needs to notice you. You just do the right and good thing. Service with a smile, that's what they call it out there; and I think Jesus would be happy with that little piece of advertising too.

Sunday November 6, 2005

There was this part time Catholic, named Bubba, who loved to sneak away to the race track. One day, he was there betting on the horses when he noticed a priest step out into the race track and blest the forehead of one of the horses lining up for the 4th race. Lo and behold, this horse won the race. Then, he was interested to see what the priest would do in the next race. He watched the priest step again into the track as the horses lined up for the 5th race, the priest placed a blessing on the forehead of one of the horses.

Bubba went to the window and placed a small bet on the horse. Again, the horse that the priest blessed won the race. Bubba collected his winning and anxiously waited to see which horse the priest would bless for the 6th race. The priest showed up, blessed a horse, Bubba bet on it and it won again. Bubba was elated! As the day went on, the priest continued blessing one of the horses and it always came in first.

So he began to pull in some serious money and by the last race; he knew his wildest dreams were going to come true. He made a quick stop at the ATM, withdrew big money and awaited the priest’s blessing that would tell him which horse to bet on. True to his pattern, the priest stepped out into the track before the last race and blessed the forehead, eyes, ears and hooves of one of the horses. Bubba bet every cent and watched the horse come in last. He was dumbfounded. He made his way to the track and when he found the priest, he demanded: What happened, Father? All day you blessed horses and they won. The last race, you blessed a horse and he lost. Now I’ve lost my savings; thanks to you! The priest nodded wisely and said: That’s the problem with you. You can’t tell the difference between a simple blessing and the last rites.

Be prepared: this is the Boy Scouts’ motto which many people are familiar with. Be Prepared is also the motto that Jesus tells all of us that we must have. This is the point of the parable in today’s gospel reading. Being prepared is important no matter how old we are. Being prepared isn’t just for old people. Just read or listen to the news about people who die unexpectedly in car accidents every day. We don’t know when our end time will be. The question is not when is it? The question is: are we prepared to wait and be ready?

Let’s listen to what scriptures say about being prepared. In the gospel, we hear Jesus say: Stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour. In the previous chapter of the gospel, Jesus says: No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son but only the Father.

And, Paul says in the 2nd reading, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

Well, I think that we all get the message: we don’t know when our own end time will be; the only thing we can do is to be prepared for whenever it happens.

Today’s gospel is a parable. It’s an interesting way of telling a story so that people will remember it. It is important to remember 2 things about a parable. First, it makes a single point and that point is: we must be prepared no matter how long we have to wait. The parable isn’t about some of the virgins sharing with the others. What is required for the Kingdom of God cannot be loaned or given by another; it must be procured by oneself. The 2nd thing about a parable: it’s not about someone else; it’s about us. So, Jesus calls us to conversion and reform!

How do we reform? How do we prepare? The gospel tells us that the virgins with the extra oil were wise; wise means being prudent or sensible. The 1st reading tells us that we can find Wisdom if we seek her. Wisdom is more than knowledge; it is practical or useful knowledge. Therefore, if we understand the main point of the parable, we’re called to examine our lives. Real wisdom tells us that to prepare, we must order our lives; we must set priorities; and, God must be first! Once our priorities are in the right order, we have the opportunity to fine-tune them for the rest of our lives.

And, we must realize that God is also in control of our lives, not us. We must become less self-centered. We allow God to be more in control; but this isn’t easy and it’s a life-long process. But when God gives us the opportunity to serve him, we are receiving a blessing. And when we do that which we know in our hearts is the Christian way of acting, well, we’re not just doing a good deed; we are serving God. God’s presence in our lives transforms our actions to such an extent that the effects of our actions will have infinite value. The results of these actions continue forever. No opportunity we have to serve God is too little to have a major effect upon our lives and the lives of his people. Opportunities pass and sometimes when opportunities are not taken advantage of, well, they never appear again.

Mass of Enrollment

I’d imagine some of us may have said to ourselves occasionally: Oh, I wish I had been born with a genetically higher IQ. I could have gone to a really great university; had a couple Ph.D.’s, got the job I always wanted, made a million bucks and retired at 45. Sounds great! Few of us are actually ever satisfied with the brains we were born with. There’s always someone out there who is smarter than we are, someone with a better job, more money and a brighter future. But at the same time, most of us just struggle with what we were born with and we thank God that we’re able to get along even though we may not ever break any records. Well, intelligence is a great gift. It distinguishes us from others and it helps us discover where we fit in, how we can do things that may make a difference in the world. Of course, the temptation is always to compare ourselves with one who is more intelligent.

Of course, the fact is that we are not simply stamped out in the same pattern. In reality, some people are more intelligent, better looking, more insightful and more creative than others. There’s no absolute standard. For whatever reason, we’re all born differently from one another which is fortunate in the end. Sameness can be boring. Now, to say that someone is smart or intelligent is always nice and complimentary but intelligence isn’t the same as wisdom. Lots of people are smart but not all are wise. In fact, today’s readings commend people not for being smart but for being wise. Note the words of the 1st reading from the Book of Wisdom which presents wisdom as a person; a woman, Lady Wisdom. Paraphrasing the sentences: Brilliant and long-lasting is wisdom; the one who waits for her shall not be disappointed; whoever keeps vigil for her will not go unrewarded. What this means is that, it’s smart to search for wisdom; you’ll not be disappointed; something good will come of it.

Interestingly, the gospel also sees wisdom in the image of 2 sets of wedding attendants, 5 foolish and 5 wise, 5 who were ready for the wedding reception and 5 who were left out. The point is that God breaks in with opportunities when one least expects it; but they only come once. The wise person doesn’t allow them to slip by. So, what does wisdom look like in ordinary life? How would we know it if we met it in some human individual?

Well, I can think of a few examples. Often, I expect to find wisdom in the elderly because seniors have lived a lot of life and they know the false from the true, the lasting from the passing. So, I pay attention when they speak because I know that I’ll learn something of value. And, it may seem weird to say so but I’ve also learned something about wisdom from little kids. Pay attention to them. Ordinarily, they’ll tell you the truth when you ask them. Their minds haven’t yet been confused by conflicting theories. Simply, they observe life around them & tell you what it means to them. They can also ask some embarrassing questions, the shortest of which is why; why?

Also, I expect to find wisdom in people who think and speak slowly and deliberately; people who reflect on life before making decisions. If they don’t know the answer to some problem, they’ll tell you when they’ve thought about it more deeply. In short, wise people are able to see the differences between things in this world. And, here are a few thoughts that came to my mind: Wisdom means trying to discover the meaning of the day, this moment that’ll never be repeated, this moment filled with so many opportunities to understand the world and how we fit into it. Wisdom could mean taking a moment to discover God, to discover the sacred in the little things that individually we know best. Wisdom could mean paying attention to the little things in life, the seemingly insignificant that often end up meaning a lot if we reflect on them. Wisdom could mean trying to see the important from the less important things, the passing from the lasting. Wisdom could mean discovering beauty and loveliness wherever it appears.

Finally, the ancient Greek philosophers had a unique description of wisdom. It was simply the advice: Know thyself. That seems like an easy task. Who of us doesn’t know ourselves? But, when you think about it, we’re a mystery to ourselves throughout our life. We keep discovering things that surprise us that were never clear before. Finally, the question comes to this: why do these special readings on wisdom appear at this time of the year? Actually, it has a lot to do with end times. We’re coming to the end of the liturgical year. And, of course, the end of anything can get us thinking about the past, what we have done with the time that has just expired, what we hope to do with opportunities still open to us in the days and months ahead. The point is that God (like the groom in the gospel) breaks into our lives at unexpected times, at moments when we least expect it. Therefore, the wise person (like the 5 wise wedding attendants) is never surprised at God's coming. Of course, that coming happens every day and there’s no warning. God uses all sorts of experiences to let us know that something sacred is happening right now and if we’re wise we will capture the moment because it’ll probably never come around again, at least not like this.

Sunday November 13, 2005

In England, many of the ancient grave markers in Anglican churchyards contain some very humorous axioms. Many of them are short pieces of poetry that describes something significant in the life of the person buried under the marker. In many cases, the deceased person has chosen the little epigram so that he or she would never be forgotten. Here in the United States, most grave markers simply supply the person’s name, date of birth and death and perhaps some short loving remembrance. That’s it!

Sometimes, it has occurred to me to wonder what I would prefer to be chiseled on my grave marker; if that’s possible. What would I like to be remembered for? Have I done anything significant enough in my life that deserves to be placed on my grave marker? Well, I think most people would probably say: Well, I’ve never done anything significant enough that should be chiseled in stone. Of course, the fact is that most of us have accomplished something that deserves to be remembered. As we know, that’s what history is all about! However, many of us are just too humble to expect anything public to be said of us, so we simply allow history to pass us by.

This short introduction will describe what our readings for this Sunday are attempting to tell us. It is the question: What have you done in your life, with your God-given talents; anything that you could say, this is worth remembering? And, there are 2 stories of 4 individuals in the readings today that will help us answer that question.

The 1st story is from the 1st reading: the story of a lady who was very gifted and she used those gifts for her family, her community and the poor. It’s a pretty odd story because at that time, women did none of those things. Thus, this woman was presented as a model of what could be possible for women to achieve during their lives: she’s a housewife, a weaver, a public merchandiser and a trader. She has all sorts of skills, using her hands and her mind. So for all that, she is praised at the city gates.

The point of the story is not that she was so gifted but rather what she did with those talents for the good of the community. Then, at the end of the reading, we hear those wonderful lines: Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting; the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. So, here’s a lady who knew that she would be remembered for the things she did that praised God: it was her works that brought her praise at the city. And, that is something to think about when we ask ourselves what we’ll be remembered for. Surely not for our lovely features but for the talents we used for the good of others. That’s worth remembering: at the city gates or any place!

In the gospel, we heard the story about the 3 investors. To whom would we identify with? The 2 who were given the most to invest or the one who wanted to make sure he didn’t lose what little he had been given? Some may have identified with the last investor: he was prudent, careful and he wasn’t about to lose what was not his. Sometimes, we are that way when we deal with other people’s property. Well, we know the answer! Jesus turns answers upside down. And, in this case, that man lost everything. Why? It is because he did not risk his talent with the investment. He buried what little he had and he ended up with nothing. And, for that, Jesus criticized him heartlessly. However, today, I think many people particularly the elderly (given the unpredictability of life, especially the markets) are very careful before investing. Think about the people who once worked for ENRON or WORLDCOM and those other huge companies that went bankrupt. You can be sure that they will think twice about investing like that again.

However, when we switch from the world of stock markets and simply ask the question: what are we doing with our natural gifts, whatever they may be? Well, if there’s anything to be learned from the prudent woman and the 3 investors, it would seem to be this: all human gifts, talents, skills, intelligence, whatever, are exactly that: gifts of God at our conception. They are meant to be used, developed, not simply to call attention to ourselves but to be of some value for the world in which we live. It’s the same question again: is the world a better place because of us, more beautiful, creative, lovely, useful, beneficial, worthwhile, productive and fruitful? If we say: I don’t know, then we may turn out to be like the man with the one talent.

The world depends on each of us to become what God expects it to become. If we leave that up to the so-called talented people, the world will never be a better place for all that. So, now is the time for us to go out with our shovels and spades and recover what we may have buried all these years. I think that when we start digging, we will end up discovering riches we forgot ever existed; and that would be great!

Sunday November 20, 2005

One event that I think changed the face of the United States was the Civil War. From the Civil War, people learned about the disparity between black and white people: the sin of slavery. Another event is the 9/11. Suddenly, we learned how vulnerable we were as a nation, despite our wealth and power; we also learned that we need to depend on one another. And, the 3rd event that has also changed the history of the United States is one more recent: the hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In this case, nature itself taught us something about how life goes on in cities in the United States, large and small.

Well, we always know that there are poor people living alongside with the rich ones; this is the way it has always been. But when suddenly the waters and the winds overwhelm everyone, rich and poor alike, we suddenly realize that differences between us are only superficial. At base, we are all human beings; we all need food and clothing, housing and medicine, protection from the powers of nature. And, we also learn something about how we should live together as neighbors in a way that no other event could have taught us. In a sense, hurricanes Katrina and Rita leveled everything and divisions between lower and upper class neighborhoods are now gone.

The news commentators I have listened to in these past weeks have all said something like this: For the first time, Americans have learned the meaning and importance of serving one another, helping each other in times of great stress. There were many examples of people sharing homes, food, water, clothing, etc. In the Super Dome, no one asked what part of the city one came from. They said: We are all in this together; so, let's help one other.

Here is an example of a living homily on the love of Christ, Christ the shepherd, Christ the servant. Sad that it had to take a hurricane to teach us how to be servants to one another but so it was and so it is! And, it seems to me that the Feast of Christ the King which we celebrate today will have special meaning for us because we will ask ourselves again how Jesus chose to be remembered and what that could mean for us.

So today, we’re invited to think about what Christ means to us during these past 12 months. And, we want to say that Christ is the one who gave meaning to all we have done, all we have celebrated, all we have prayed for this year. We find a title that gives Christ the highest praise. So, we choose king even though that title does not mean much in our society today.

However, I’d think that Jesus wouldn’t be too comfortable with that title. Well, we know that when people wanted to make him king, he went off into hiding because people wanted to crown him king for the wrong reasons. They wanted someone to come and straighten out the injustices in the world but that’s not the reason the Father sent him. Well, the readings talk very clearly not about kingship but about shepherding, about servanthood, about taking care of people. And, Ezekiel has some tough words for the religious leaders of his time. He says: What God asks of a leader is someone who will seek out the stray, bring back the injured and heal the sick. This is exactly what God does and this is exactly what is expected of you.

Jesus must have read Ezekiel's prophecies because he used the same language of Ezekiel. Jesus said: “You will know that I am here with you when you feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, cloth the naked, visit the sick and those in prison. In short, when you take care of these little ones, my brothers and sisters, you are caring for me.”

Now, is this kind of shepherding going on at this time in history? I think it is. And, all we need to do is read the papers and watch the evening news of the reconstruction that is going on in the Gulf Coast. There have been hundreds of stories of people whose lives have been given a new start. For instance, I think about all the dedicated local officials, the mayor of New Orleans, the other federal officials, even the people working for FEMA. They may not have read today's gospel but the fact that these people are doing something to help others who are suffering and are trying to bring order out of chaos, it tells me that Christ is being recognized as having returned not as king but surely as shepherd of the flock.

The fact that parishes and dioceses around the United States have contributed to those parishes which were wiped out tells me that Christ is near, even at the door. Therefore, I would be the first to say that God doesn’t use nature to teach us a lesson. Nonetheless, when tragedy does strike the human community there’s a sense of compassion that spontaneously arises in the hearts of people. Whether they consider themselves religious or not, they instinctively know that in moments of tragedy, attention must be paid. We’re all sons and daughters of the one God, brothers and sisters of Jesus the good shepherd. It seems sad somehow that it should take a hurricane to remind us of all that. But now we know better who our neighbor is and that's what counts. In the mind of Christ, we are all his little ones, his flock.

Sunday November 27, 2005

A little quiz for you: you are sleeping and you are also dreaming. A big lion is chasing you and you try to run to the opposite direction and you see a tiger coming in front of you. You turn sideways but every side you turn to, you find a ferocious animal coming after you. How can you escape? The answer is: Wake up.

By waking up, you enter into a whole new world of reality, different from that of the dream world. What was a problem in the dream state becomes a non-issue in the waking state and dream state concerns lose their importance and new concerns take their place.

For example, you discover that your problem is no longer how to escape from wild beasts but how to beat the morning rush and arrive early for work. And, we can all relate to the change that occurs between a dream consciousness and a wake consciousness. And, a similar change occurs when we move from a state of being spiritually asleep to that of being spiritually awake, when the soul is awake and alert to spiritual reality.

In today’s gospel, Jesus encourages his followers to remain alert in the spirit. He was about to leave them for an indefinite length of time. And, by the time of Jesus’ absence, there would be a time of trial for their faith life when they’d be tempted to doze off. So he asked them to remain awake and watchful so that whenever he comes to them, he would find them not sleeping but watching in faith, ready to welcome him.

Today, we enter the season of advent: a time of special preparation for the Lord’s coming. The picture of the doorman in the gospel watching out to open for the Lord when he suddenly appears is an image of what we are expected to be doing all year long but especially during this season of advent. The doorman keeps awake in order to recognize and welcome the Lord at his coming.

In the same way, faith transforms us into people who are able to recognize the Lord and willing to receive him. Recognition is very important because the Lord doesn’t always come in easily recognizable ways.

At Bethlehem, he came in the form of a newborn child and people didn’t recognize him. Last Sunday, in the Parable of the Last Judgment, he came to people in the form of the most needy and disadvantaged of this world and many did not recognize him. But people of faith did recognize him and serve him in these people who live in the blind-spot of society. Thus, faith is first a way of seeing and then a way of living.

The wicked that were consigned to hell in the Last Judgment were probably waiting for the final coming of the Lord and failed to recognize him in his day-to-day coming. The shocker in that parable was that Jesus comes into our lives in the form of the ordinary people and events of our everyday lives. So we need to be awake in faith to recognize and serve Christ in these common and routine encounters because it will do us no good to recognize him on the Last Day, if we have not recognized and served him day by day.

Before I conclude, I’d like to say a word about Jesus’ saying, “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son but only the Father”. This saying can be understood literally to mean that Jesus didn’t know the date of the end of the world but it can also be understood as a strategy that is meant to discourage his followers from further inquiry into the matter. In either case, the implication for us is the same: Let us put an end to idle speculations regarding the Last Day.

So let us open our eyes in faith to see God present and active in our life and in our world. Let’s open our heart and our family to the Lord who comes to us daily in the form of the needy person. I think this is the best way to prepare to welcome the Lord when he comes on the Last Day.

Sunday December 4, 2005

There was a rich man who dreamt that if he went outside the city he would find a poor man under a tree who would give him a great treasure. So early the next morning he drove out in his car, he went to the countryside and sure enough he found a poor man sleeping under a tree. He roused him from sleep and told him of his dream. The poor man yawned and stretched in a very relaxed way. He then reached into his knapsack and said: "Maybe this is what you are looking for, I found it a few days ago walking in the forest.”

He presented the biggest diamond that the rich man had ever seen. The rich man asked excitedly: "How much? How much”?

The poor man said: "Oh, if you think it’ll make you happy just take it away.” And, he rolled over to go back to sleep.

The rich man sang his way back to town and laughed at the poor man who would give away a diamond worth millions without even asking for a cent. But that night he could not sleep and the next night he could not sleep.

On the third morning, he went back to the poor man who was still sleeping happily under the tree and he said: "Please, take back the diamond. But could you give me your real treasure?”

The poor man was surprised and asked: "And, what is that?”

The rich man answered: "Well, your real treasure is the freedom that enabled you to give away the diamond!”

If we are one of those who like to divide the world into 2 classes of people: there are people who live with grabbing fists and there are people who live with open palms; there are people who want to possess and there are people who believe in dispossession and detachment.

And, when it comes to prayer we find these 2 basic attitudes also. There are those who pray to control God and there are those who pray to submit to God’s will. The 1st kind of prayer, if indeed it can be called prayer at all, is actually an effort to seek power over God; indeed, to be God.

Adam and Eve, in the creation story, ate the fruit because they "wanted to be like God. When we want to control God and make him dance to our tune, well, we can also follow what Adam and Eve did.

Perhaps, one of the people who was most open to God in all of history was John the Baptist. In today's gospel, he announced to the people the good news that the long awaited day of salvation is about to arrive. He urged the people to prepare a way for the Lord. But he makes it clear by word and example that the Lord's coming does not depend on their efforts.

He ate and dressed simply and proclaimed clearly that he was only the messenger and forerunner of the Lord and not the Lord himself. John the Baptist is a great example of one who is secure in himself and is not dominated by his ego. He does not desire power, prestige or possessions; and for that reason, he is a really free man. Knowing that he is loved by God, he desires no other possession.

In the same way, we have to allow ourselves to be loved by God and having experienced that love we become a loving people. And, when we are aware of all that we have is a gift, then, we will feel that we have more than enough and will want to share that and ourselves with others.

It is very easy to get the gospel wrong, to turn it upside down and say that God loves us and saves us only because we have earned it. But the GN is that it is God who loves us first and all that is asked of us is to try to return that love.

When we understand that love, we will be as free as the beggar under the tree. We will not be prisoners to any possession. And, like John the Baptist we will not need to cling to anything.

In prayer and reflection, this is precisely what we try to do: to let go of all materialistic tendencies and clinging. Let us be creatures of love and knowing that we are loved by God, we are also free.

December 8, 2005

I am sure that you remember the story of the woman caught in adultery. Well, there was an added interesting slant to this story. The story goes: the Pharisees brought a woman before Jesus for judgment and Jesus says: Let the person who is without sin cast the first stone. They fell silent. And then, all of a sudden a stone came flying from the crowd. Jesus looks up, surprised and amused. And then he says: Hold it, mother. I am trying to make a point, here.

This joke likens the sinlessness of Mary as today we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Well, we have known many good men and women who think that their holiness of life is their personal achievement. As a result, they develop a certain “holier-than-thou attitude” toward others who have not attained their level of holiness. They become intolerant, angry and judgmental toward those they regard as sinners. People like that would not hesitate to throw the first stone at a sinner caught red-handed like the woman in our story.

That is why the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception which we celebrate today becomes a very important one. It reminds us that Mary's sinlessness is not something that Mary achieved by her own power. It is a gift of God, given to her right from the very moment of her conception. In the same way, those of us who happen to be holy, who sin less than the average sinner, should regard our holiness as basically a gift of God and not an achievement. Our attitude should then be characterized by 2 basic attitudes, thankfulness to God and humility before those who are naturally and spiritually less gifted than we are.

The teaching of the Immaculate Conception of Mary was defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854. It affirms the belief that the Blessed Virgin Mary was free from sin right from the very beginning of her life. That means: by the grace of God, she was shielded from original sin which all humanity inherit at the very moment they begin to live, i.e. at the moment we are conceived in our mother's womb.

That means: Mary was not burdened with a defective human nature with which we come into the world. She came into the world with a perfect human nature like that of Adam and Eve before they sinned and fell from grace. God gave her this perfect human nature not as a reward for anything she did, not on account of any merit on her part but in view of the singular role she was to play in life, that is, that of being the mother of God's Son. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception tells us something about who Mary is; but it tells us more about who God is and who we are in light of God's providential love.

Belief in the Immaculate Conception of Mary is belief in a provident God, that is, a God who provides for the future, who prepares His children for their assigned task in life even before they are born, a God who equips us with all the natural and supernatural qualities we need to play our assigned role in the drama of human salvation.

God anoints them already in the womb those men and women whom He created to be His prophets. As He told Jeremiah: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. God doesn’t just throw us into this world and then leave us to fight it out among ourselves. The theory of evolution with its doctrine of the survival of the fittest may describe human nature in its fallen state, in the state of original sin; it doesn’t describe life for the people of God redeemed by grace from the effects of the Fall.

Today, as we rejoice with Mary, God's most favored one on the Feast of her Immaculate Conception, let us thank God for His love and mercy which embraces us right from the moment of our own conception.

As Scripture says: For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

Everything is a gift and everything good in us is God's grace. For us, children of God, we are also favored ones and heirs of God's grace. Yet Mary remains the most favored one, the mother of all favored ones, the one that enjoys the fullness of grace.

Advent Reconciliation Service

Tonight, we are gathered here to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, a sacrament of forgiveness. What we will receive tonight is God’s forgiveness and we are made new every time we celebrate this sacrament. I have invited my brother priests to join us for tonight’s service and I am happy to see that we are also joined by many parishioners. I invite you to come hear Jesus’ vision of what we must do as we prepare for Christmas.

Well, we belong to different kinds of groups: ethnic groups, church groups, age groups, government agencies, non-government organizations. But when we gather here this evening, it’s not as representatives of these groups and it’s not simply with an agenda that we gather. Well, we gather in Christ! And because we gather in Christ, we try to see with particular eyes: the eyes of faith. We recognize that we’re bound together by Jesus despite all the forces within each community which would keep us apart, despite cultural differences and many un-reconciled hearts. And the power of Jesus to hold us together is greater than any other force in our society to tear us apart.

The power of Jesus to hold us together is more powerful than any weakness and foolishness in our hearts that would hinder our implementation of his great vision. The power of Jesus holding us together is greater than any conflict between different factions within the community itself, between different visions of what should happen in the parish, between the approaches of different programs and different projects. The power of Jesus to hold us together is greater than all those forces which would divide us even when we’re trying to do something positive for one another.

Maybe the weakness of the Church is not that we have not cared and not that we have not tried but that we have not believed enough in this power of Jesus and we have not stood firmly on him and with him and defied all those forces in ourselves and in our parish.

I invited my brother priests to come here tonight to join our St. Cyprian Community and to show that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Being brothers and sisters, friendship means justice in relationships and truthfulness in communication. Justice and truth are not easily achieved in our complex society. It’ll be hard for everyone to be sure that they’ve heard the full truth or adequately experienced justice. We must strive together to ensure that as many people as possible, each believe that they have heard the truth and seen justice done for everyone. Without this foundation, it is much more difficult to plan together for the future.

I am aware that our parish is not perfect, our programs and initiatives are not perfect but these must not stop us. The worst possible thing would be to give up trying because of it. No matter how imperfect our parish and how much we have to deal with and put up with and live with, no matter who we are, we must never give up. We have no right to give up because Jesus has set us free and Jesus has won the victory.

The birth of Jesus at Christmas, which we are about to celebrate, was the most extraordinary gesture of God to us. It tells us that God would always be part of everything that happened to us. And when Jesus rose from the dead, God showed us that no matter how dark the forces that surround us, no matter how difficult the problems we have to deal with, Jesus is victorious; and in him, we too can conquer every obstacle that stands in our way.

But the road is long and the journey could be difficult; and we saw that in Jesus. Jesus only rose from the dead after he had carried a cross to Calvary and was nailed upon it. Anyone who wishes to claim His victory must be prepared to climb his cross. Therefore, the way forward for us is to build a better future for us. If it’s only ourselves upon whom we rely, then there may well be no hope: it’s in God’s power, revealed in Jesus’ victory and born for us on Christmas day over 2000 years ago. With Him & in Him, we can achieve something better.

Our parish is committed to work with the people of this parish, through our school and through our church: to achieve a better future for the parishioners of St. Cyprian. A few years back, we began a Diocesan Pastoral Plan to focus on what more we could do to support the people and to fulfill some of their dreams for the Church. We are prepared to do more! Our school (at present) educates only 196 children and we are proud of what they achieve. We do not wish to intrude on what the other schools are doing but we are willing to play our part because, in Christ, we are one. We are brothers and sisters. We are all disciples of Jesus and He will work through this imperfect Church and us imperfect people. Together, we can start again every time we fail; we can try harder the next time; we can get it right the 2nd time around; we can find the resources we didn't know we had; we can seek God’s forgiveness and forgive in turn when we need to; what matters is that we try to do it together.

December 11: Finding Christ in Others

Advent is a time that we prepare for the coming of the Lord: his coming to us sacramentally at Christmas, his coming to us individually at the end of our lives and his coming to us collectively at the end of time.

Now, suppose we’re told that the Christ whom we are waiting for is already here in our midst as one of us, well, what difference would that make? Here is a story of the great difference that the awareness of Christ’s presence among us could make in our lives as individuals and as communities.

Once there was a certain monastery and the monks discovered that it was going through a crisis. Some of the monks left, no new candidates are joining them and people were no longer coming for prayer and consultation as they used to. The few monks that remained in the monastery were becoming old and depressed and bitter in their relationship with one another.

The abbot heard about a holy man, a hermit living alone in the woods and he decided to consult him. He went and told the hermit how the monastery had dwindled, diminished and now looks like a skeleton of what it used to be. Only 7 old monks remained. The hermit told the abbot that he has a secret for him. Actually, one of the monks living in the monastery is actually the Messiah but he is living in such a way that no one could recognize him.

With this revelation the abbot went back to the monastery. He called a community meeting and recounted what the holy hermit told him. The aging monks look at each other in unbelief, trying to discern who among them could be the Christ. Could it be Brother Mark who prays all the time? But he has this holier-than-thou attitude towards others. Could it be Bother Joseph who is always ready to help? But he is always eating and drinking and does not fast.

The abbot reminded them that the Messiah has adopted some bad habits as a way of camouflaging his real identity. This only made them more confused and they could not make a headway figuring out who was the Christ among them. At the end of the meeting, what each one of the monks knew for sure, was that any of the monks, except himself, could be the Christ.

So, from that day, the monks began to treat one another with greater respect and humility, knowing that the person they are speaking to could be the very Christ. They began to show more love for one another, their common life became more brotherly and their common prayer more fervent. Slowly, people began to notice of the new spirit in the monastery and began coming back for retreats and spiritual direction. Word began to spread and, before you know it, candidates began to show up and the monastery began to grow again in number as the monks grew in zeal and holiness. All this because the abbot drew their attention to the truth that Christ was living in their midst as one of them!

In today’s gospel John the Baptist tried to announce the same powerful message to the Jews of his time who were anxiously waiting for the coming of the Messiah. John tells them: “Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal”.

The reason that the Jews of Jesus’ time could not recognize him as the Messiah is that they had definite ideas on how the Messiah was going to come. The Messiah would suddenly descend from heaven in his divine power and majesty and establish his reign by destroying the enemies of Israel. Humanly speaking, no one would know where he came from because he came from God. So when finally Jesus came born of a woman like every other person, they could not recognize them. He was too ordinary, too unimpressive.

After 2000 years, we are now better able to recognize Christ in the persons of the ordinary men and women in our midst together with their unimpressive attitudes, habits and appearances.

The season of Advent is simply a short period in the liturgical year when we are reminded that time is always short and there are still lots of things to do to make the world a place where everyone is respected and treasured. Waiting may seem like a boring time for many of us, something we can't do much about. But I always think of waiting like a room in a house that is completely empty, ready to be filled with furniture for life. So, the question comes to this: what are we doing while waiting, how are we filling up the spaces of our day with good works? And, if we can say that we have an answer to that, then, there’ll never be another boring day. Everyday, we will be able to get up and say: Well, Lord, what do you have in mind for me today? And if we are willing to be quiet for a moment, God will have an answer. I can bet on that!

December 12: Our Lady of Guadalupe

Some years back, the late Pope John Paul II made a significant announcement regarding Our Lady of Guadalupe. He said that December 12 is to be celebrated liturgically as a feast not only in Mexico but throughout all of the nations of North and South America. This beautiful icon of Mary can provide us a helpful focus to appreciate the scripture lessons.

The prophet Isaiah says that God has anointed him to bring glad tidings to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted and to liberate prisoners. When Mary appeared to San Juan Diego, she asked that a church be built on Tepeyac hill where her children could bring their sorrows, grief and sickness. The words of Isaiah and of the Blessed Virgin have great significance 12 days before Christmas.

Well, one of the ways of starting fresh is by celebrating the Mass. At this time, our parish also offers several opportunities for confession before Christmas: Saturday afternoons from 4 till 5. As pastor, it is my hope that parishioners will be able to receive the mercy and blessings of the Lord.

A second way is found in the gospels: Make straight the way of the Lord. In his address after the synod some years ago, Pope John Paul II spoke about Our Lady of Guadalupe as the evangelizer of the Americas. In her case, she not only went before Jesus, she actually brought him with her.

Some may ask how it is possible for Jesus to return to the state of a fetus, an unborn child. Well, the answer brings us face to face with the mystery of time. The Incarnation began 2000 years ago and we are creatures of time. For example, I may be thinking about the future, say 11:00 PM tonight when I will be in bed. But in order to arrive at that evening, well, I have to first pass through 8:00 PM and when I get to 11:00 PM I cannot make time stop; it just keeps moving ahead. In the same way, we are so used to this experience of time as past, present and future that we somehow assume it must also apply to God. But it does not.

When we come to Mass, we enter into God's time. Even though the death and resurrection of Jesus happened in time, we are joined to those events because for God they are taking place now. The same can be said for all the occurrences of Jesus life: his baptism, his birth and his 9 months of gestation in Mary's womb. In God, these are not slices of time taken out of his overall existence. We view our lives as parcels of time, for example, the 2 years I spent in Argentina will remain in my mind as memories or impressions. I am a human being with a limited grasp on reality, even what I have personally experienced. But God is reality itself. He cannot lose even the tiniest moment of his human life in Jesus.

Some people have a strange experience of this when they visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. It happens as they look upon the tilma (the mantle of Juan Diego). Looking at the image of Our Lady, it seems that they are looking not at a painting but at a person; people had something of that sensation. It seemed like she was more looking at people than people looking at her. Well, somehow God has chosen to contain himself in that 2 dimensions of the image. It’s hard to explain this but people have a beautiful insight. For them, an icon isn’t just a picture or representation of Jesus. No! Before an artist paints an icon, he spends days in prayer and fasting because a true icon will actually contain the presence of the Blessed One.

It is interesting that Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared at a moment in history when people were questioning the use of images. For that reason devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe had a slow start officially. But the faith of the people was not stifled. They saw the Blessed Mother as their mother, the one who would bring them the Savior, her very Son.

We have already lit the 3rd candle of Advent. Its rose color signifies rejoicing. St. Paul tells us today: Rejoice always; give thanks in all circumstances. We have such a lovely motive for doing this before our eyes because we have the Blessed Virgin, the mother with child. She not only brings glad tidings; she bears within her womb the gladdest of all tidings.

December 18: The Birth of Jesus in our Hearts

There was a story about some nursery school kids who were preparing a Christmas play. And, there was this little girl who didn’t like the role that was assigned to her. She wanted to switch parts with her friend. When the teacher asked her why, she said: “Well, because it is easier to be an angel than to be the mother of Christ.”

I think the little girl is certainly right. And, for Mary, to be the mother of Christ is not an easy matter. Yet difficult as it sounds, that’s exactly what we are called to be. In fact, we could say that even though Jesus was born in Bethlehem, his real desire is to be born in the hearts of believers, in our hearts.

Mother of Christ is a title that we usually reserve for Mary but Mary is mother of Christ in 2 ways. She is mother of Christ in the physical sense that she carried Jesus in her womb and gave birth to him; this is an unrepeatable event and honor that no other human being could share with her.

But she is also mother of Christ in a spiritual sense. In a spiritual sense, her role of being the mother of Christ is available to all Christians, to all of us. All of us can and should become mothers of Christ.

Actually, this idea of Christians to be called mothers of Christ is very common among Christian mystics. The Dominican priest mystic (Meister Eckhart) said that God made the human soul for her to bear the divine Son and that when this birth happened it gave God greater pleasure than the creation of heaven and earth.

Now, what is this spiritual motherhood of Christ and how does it happen? For the answer, we need to go right back to Jesus himself.

In the gospels, while Jesus was still speaking to the people, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him: "Jesus, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you.” But Jesus said to that person: "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” And pointing to his disciples, he said: “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother”.

This shows that Jesus expects his followers to be not only his brothers and sisters but his mothers as well. And, the way to be the mother of Jesus is by doing the will of God.

Spiritual motherhood of Christ is attained by saying yes to God, even when God appears to demand from us what is humanly impossible, like asking Mary to be a virgin mother. To become mothers of Christ we need to make the prayer of Mary our own: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word”.

This prayer of Mary has been known as the world’s greatest prayer. It is the prayer that brought God down from heaven to dwell in the body and soul of a lowly young woman. It is the prayer that brought the greatest event in human history: God becoming human in Jesus. It is a prayer that changed forever the course of human history some 2000 years ago. This prayer is so very different from what has been called the world’s most common prayer, the prayer in which we try to get God to do our will. The world’s most common prayer says, “My will be done,” whereas the world greatest prayer says, “Thy will be done.”

Yes, the little girl was right. It’s not easy to be the mother of Christ. But in today’s gospel, Mary shows us how. It is in hearing the Word of God and saying yes to God even when God’s will seems to go against all our plans and hopes for the future.

As Christmas draws near, the Blessed Mother reminds us that the best Christmas (in fact, the only true Christmas) is that Jesus be born not in the little town of Bethlehem but in the inner sanctuary of our hearts.

Christmas Eve Mass: Our Tainted Humanity as Assets to Serve God

Finally, Christmas is here! For 4 weeks of Advent, we’ve been waiting and praying for the coming blessings of Christmas. And now Christmas is here! Tonight, we recognize the good news of great joy for all people, for to us is born in the city of David a Savior, who is Jesus the Lord. This good news of great joy is for all the People of God. As People of God, we have a claim to the joy and peace that the birth of Jesus brings to the world.

But, how do we personally enter into this great joy of Christmas? We sing joy to the world, yes; but how do we make this joy our own? This is an important question because even though God has declared joy to the world, there are still many of us who do not flow in this joy, many among us who don’t know how to claim this joy and make it their own personally.

And, how do we do that? Well, that is rather easy to explain but hard to practice; but look at the word JOY. JOY is made up of 3 letters. J stands for Jesus, O for Others and Y for You. Joy therefore is: Jesus, Others, before you. To know joy in our lives, we need to place Jesus 1st in everything. Then, we need to consider others first before trying to consider ourselves. That is the recipe for joy and that is how we can convert the Christmas joy to the world into a personal joy in my life now and always.

As we heard the Christmas story, maybe we can focus attention on the various people or groups of people that were mentioned and see whether they try to consider Jesus and others before themselves; or whether they seek their own interests first. You will discover that those who practice J-O-Y are the ones who enjoy peace and joy; and those who practice self first are always the unhappy and miserable ones. Here are a few examples.

On the negative side, we have the innkeeper who turned Joseph and Mary out in the cold night while he enjoyed the warmth of the inn. There's also Herod who wanted his job as king to the point that he was prepared to kill the baby Jesus; they never get to experience the joy of the good news.

On the positive side, consider the shepherds who left everything they own, their flock and went to adore Jesus first. Or the magi, the wise men from the East who left the security of their homeland, made a long and dangerous journey to Bethlehem just to worship the new-born Jesus and gave him gifts. These are the one's who receive God's favor, the ones who experience in their hearts the true peace and joy of Christmas. Today, let us consider to follow their good example by always placing Jesus and others first before self and then the joy of Christmas will always be ours. Let us also consider building a community always centered in Christ.

The most popular reindeer of Santa by far is Rudolf: Rudolf, the red-nosed reindeer. We all know the story of Rudolf, right? Well, here’s his story as told in music by Johnny Marks. Rudolf, the red-nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw him, you would even say it glows. All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolf play in any reindeer games. Then one foggy Christmas eve Santa came to say: Rudolf with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight? Then all the reindeer loved him as they shouted out with glee: Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer, you'll go down in history!

The story of Rudolf is the story of salvation. It is also our story both as individuals and as a parish family of St. Cyprian. But, in our own case it is not Santa who saves us but it is the Child Jesus who saves us.

Well, to begin with, Rudolf was a misfit. And, compared to the image of the ideal reindeer, we can say that something was wrong with Rudolf. And, he was not in any position to help himself too.

So are we! As the bible would say: We are all misfits! St. Paul says that in his letter to the Romans: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The prophet Isaiah also said: We are like sheep gone astray. And, like lost sheep we are not in a position to help ourselves and Rudolf could not help himself. All that his fellow reindeer did was to make things worse for him. Only one person could help him: Santa, the messenger from heaven.

Tonight, we celebrate the birth of the Messenger from heaven. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God; and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. He comes to liberate us from our sinfulness; it is sin that disfigures the beautiful image of God that we all are. Sin turns us into something like Rudolf, the red-nosed reindeer. But the heavenly Messenger comes, not to take away the red nose but to tell us the Good News that we are acceptable to God even with the red nose. Rudolf's red nose was a defect but Santa chose him on account of that. Jesus also, the heavenly Messenger has the ability to turn the defects and red noses of our tainted humanity into assets for the service of God.

Now, what makes the story of Rudolf so poignant was that Santa did not use his magic wand to heal Rudolf of his red nose defect. He allowed him to go on with the red nose even as his chosen reindeer. Certainly, Rudolf would have wanted so much to be a normal reindeer like all the rest.

Similarly, Jesus does not simply make us good men and women. Rather, he makes us into people who can use all our talents, our strengths and defects to the service and the glory of God. This is the proof to us that it is not by our own will power that we are able to become children of God. It is by God's power, by God's unconditional love of us.

As God tells St Paul in the letter to the Corinthians: My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

We can imagine how Rudolf felt when he heard the words of Santa, Rudolf with your nose so bright; won't you guide my sleigh tonight? That’s why, we call it the good news; that is liberating and empowering. It empowers us by changing our disposition of hopelessness into that of a new hope and enthusiasm in the Lord's service.

Like Rudolf before Santa, tonight let us listen to the message that the baby Jesus brings us. Let us commit ourselves into His service knowing one thing for sure: that God’s grace will supply the strength we need for the long journey of faith ahead; that God’s grace, through the intercession of St. Cyprian, will give us the inspiration to work together and build a united community. On this Christmas, allow me to end with the words of John: For to all who received Him, all who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God.