Resurrection of Jesus- a call to be Easter People

Homily for Easter Vigil year C 2013

Tonight is the night of all nights. Tonight we celebrate our salvation. Tonight we remember and re-live that momentous event in our salvation history when our God has shown us that there is an end to sin and to death through the resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ from the dead. This calls for our celebration because this shows us that God has given us not only another chance to live but really he has given us a new life. So to celebrate this, we have taken parts in all the rituals for this Easter vigil. We have done this by making ourselves available to become symbols and concrete expressions of being saved by Christ. We lit the Easter candle, the light of Christ, which points out to us that through Christ the darkness (of our sins and of our world) has come to an end. From that light of Christ we also lit our own candles and that tells us that we allow Christ to be our source of light and nothing or no one else. We would express this in a more concrete way later when we renew our baptismal promises. We have also heard the series of readings (both from Old and New Testaments) which are particularly organized for this Easter Night, recalling the history of our salvation, and our journey with God from creation to our redemption. We have also with us tonight, people who are going to be baptised, confirmed and receive the Holy Eucharist for the first time. These new members of our Church tell us that indeed tonight we are celebrating a new chapter in our life, a life with Christ. So we have all this fuzz if you like, because Christ, our Saviour, our Messiah, our God has risen from the dead. It is worth celebrating and rejoicing because Christ’s rising from the dead gives us strength and gives us hope that Good Friday is not the end of it all, but only a necessary component for the day of Resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus tells us that suffering is not and should not be what characterizes our being a Christian, but our being an Easter people.

We therefore are called Easter people. And we are called to live this out in our lives. We have to take the challenge to show it in our faces that we are worth dying for as to what Jesus has done for us.

Being Easter people, we need to put an end to our search for the living among the dead. This means that we stop looking for Jesus Christ among the dead. He is not there anymore, he is risen. He can now be found among the living, in each one of us. And to see the risen and the living Jesus we need to stop searching him from among the dead and/or deadly things such as atheism, materialism, greed, envy, pride, self-righteousness, selfishness, etc. This means we need to see Christ in others by looking at one another through the eyes of Christ whose eyes looked beyond the physical features, who sees the sinner over the sins, who looks at the person over what he/she has done or has failed to do, and loves the person no matter how much it cost him and no matter what it takes, even death.

Being Easter people also means we need to bring the good news to others, like the women in our gospel for tonight. How can we do this? We need only look at how Jesus Christ did it. He stood on his principle of love, forgiveness, justice, compassion, and mercy. He came to serve, not to be served. He taught and spoke of the truth even if it was a big risk to take for him. He was constantly in touch with his Father in prayer and in solitude thus making him for firm and strong in obeying the will of his Father. He dined with sinners and didn’t discriminate. He loved the unlovable. He touched the untouchables. Lastly, he lay down his life for his friends.

So tonight as we receive the Lord in the Eucharist, let us thank him in the silence of our hearts for loving us, for making us feel special and worth dying for, for allowing us to experience a new life again, and for showing us that if we persevere till the end even if we have to suffer for the sake of truth, justice, love and peace, there is resurrection awaiting for us after all.

May this Easter season be a happy, holy and a wonderful celebration for each one of us. May Christ be truly alive in our hearts.

Happy Easter.

Getting to know Jesus in faith and in love

Homily for the 4^th Sunday in Ordinary time year C 2013

In my college years in the seminary, we had this music director who is quite a person to put up with in terms of music. Among his special skills and genius is writing and playing music. We couldn’t get away with him because going to singing lessons was part of our seminary training. So three times a week we had to go to a music practice for an hour with him. Personally, I thought he’s just motivating all of us to learn how to read music or sing at least, which is not a bad idea. So no matter how tone deaf some of us might be, or how coarsed our voice would be like, we had to go to the singing lesson three times a week. I remember during the singing practice that he’d always make sarcastic comments about how badly some of us sang. But we had to put up with him. Despite his comments though, which were not always good ones, I have learned many things from him. One thing I learned was the way he told us not to get so familiar with the music because ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ as he would say. By this, he meant that even if we already know the song very well, by heart, we still have to hold our hymnbooks and follow the notes as we sang. He explained even more that if we get too familiar with the music, we could easily take the meaning, the beauty and the solemnity of the music for granted.

It is true indeed, too much familiarity breeds contempt. Too much familiarity leads to taking things for granted. And this is what happened in our gospel today. Jesus declared to his neighbours- those who knew him as he was growing up, those who knew his family relatively well- that the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled in him now as they could see. By doing this, Jesus has identified himself as the content, the fulfillment of the prophecies of the prophets. Yet, they couldn’t take him and his words. They couldn’t believe in him. He was just one of them. He was just ‘a son of a carpenter.’ He was just an ordinary guy like most of them. And because of this familiarity with him, Jesus’ neighbours, those whose house he might have built, those whom he might have dinner with, those whose children’s cribs he might have made, couldn’t take him. Because they knew him personally so they thought, they have taken him for granted. They have missed the opportunity of being his close friends and associates. They have failed to recognize him as their promised messiah, as the Good News for the poor. For them, he is too good to be true. Because of their familiarity with him, they missed the beauty of the God of Jesus Christ. They have taken for granted the abundant blessings that Jesus has brought to them. They couldn’t have faith in him. But as a prophet, Jesus was just being true to himself and to his mission. So no matter what other people say or think of him, he went on. As a prophet, he not only sees and observes his surroundings, he also speaks out what he has seen and has witnessed. He is a true prophet indeed even if his own folks wouldn’t recognize him.

But Jesus Christ is more than just a prophet. He not only proclaims God or tell God’s message to his people, he also reveals the beauty of our God to us, creatures. This is why it is so important for us to have faith in Christ, because only He is our way to God, the truth of God and the life for us. Apart from him, we can do nothing.

So what can we get from this?

This calls us to re-assess our lives, our Christian life in particular. Who or what is God for us? What place does Christ take in our day to day living?

To answer these questions, we need to review three important aspects of our being a son or a daughter of God.

First, how obedient are we to the will of God? Jesus was obedient to his Father’s will, no matter what awaits him, no matter what people say or think of him, no matter if it means giving up his own life. He is obedient even unto death. And so are we. We might tremble at this task. But let us always remember, God is behind us always. He has called us for this even before we were born. Let us only be trusting in Him as we carry out our prophetic role that we have shared with Christ in our baptism. Let us be consoled though by the words of God speaking to Jeremiah (Jer 1:4-5, 27-19) in our First Reading, that we may “not be dismayed’ as we stood up for our faith and as we carry out our vocation as the bearer of good news to the nations, for God is always here with us to help us and to protect us.

Second, how faithful are we in living out our particular vocation in life? This calls us to re-assess our own faith in Christ. What does faith mean for us? I like the definition of faith in the Catechism for Filipino Catholics and I share this with you. “[Faith] is not some ‘answer box’- it is not some ‘thing’ we have, keep and own. Rather, real FAITH IS A FORCE WITHIN US that by the power of Christ’s Holy Spirit gradually works a transformation in our daily thoughts, hopes, attitudes and values.” (CFC# 137). And this faith would only be our real power when we live in a true and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Because as Fr Pat O’Sullivan says: “When our relationship with Jesus is running truly, it influences the way we see things…” (Prayer and Relationships: Staying Connected- An Ignatian Perspective). So we then need to ask ourselves: How does this faith translate into our particular task as a father, or a mother to a family; as a friend; as the boss in a company; as the leader in the community; as the head of an organization; as a member of the Church?

Third, how deep, how true and how genuine our love is, as member of the family of God? St Paul, in our Second Reading would help us to answer this. For St Paul, real love is always patient and kind, it is never jealous, never boastful, never rude or selfish, takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth, always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes. (1Cor 13:4-13) We can only love this kind of love though if we make room for God in our lives. This is crucial. Pope Benedict XVI in his Message for Lent (#2) for this year wrote: “When we make room for the love of God, then we become like him, sharing in his own charity. If we open ourselves to his love, we allow him to live in us and to bring us to love with him, in him and like him; only then, does our faith ‘active through love’ (Gal 5:6); only then does he abide in us (cf 1 Jn 4:12).”

So as we continue our Eucharistic celebration, let us pray that we may recognize the beauty, the blessings and the gifts of God for us and not take God for granted. Let us also pray that we may grow in faith and in love with God and with one another, because it is only through maturation in our faith, that our prejudices, our familiarity with God and with others may be purified and be transformed into a blessing for all of us. Amen.

Christian Hope: Power over trials and tribulations

Homily for 33^rd Sunday in Ordinary time year B 2012

Many of us here might have heard of the story of Helen Keller. If you do, please bear with me if I have to repeat it to you because her story is such an inspiration that I can’t help but go back to it every now and again. Helen Adams Keller was born on the 27^th of June 1880. Two years later she fell ill due to the then unknown illness which doctors now might call meningitis or something like that. Her illness cost her sense of sight, her sense of hearing and her sense of speech. She became blind, deaf and mute. After few years of trying to help her by going to the specialists including Alexander Graham Bell [the inventor of the telephone who was specialising in working with the deaf children then], the family asked the help of a teacher who had helped Helen progress tremendously with her ability to communicate. In 1887, Miss Anne Sullivan came to teach Helen Keller and Beginning in 1887, Keller’s teacher, Anne Sullivan, helped her make tremendous progress with her ability to communicate, And so began a 49-year relationship between teacher and pupil. Because of Anne Sullivan’s courage and determination, she helped Helen Keller overcome her limitations and even went far beyond them. She went to college and graduated in 1904. During her lifetime, she received many honors in recognition of her accomplishments. She also became a humanitarian, a social activist, a renowned speaker and lecturer, a popular icon for the people with disabilities, and wrote poems and essays about her life and her cause. One of the things she wrote was about her exposition of the things she would do and the places she would go to and see if she would be only given three days to see. [See: http://junjunfaithbook.com/2011/03/20/three-days-to-see-an-excerpt-by-helen-keller/]

“The first day I devoted to my friends, animate and inanimate. The second revealed to me the history of man and Nature. (Third day) I shall spend in the workaday world of the present, amid the haunts of men going about the business of life. And where can one find so many activities and conditions of men as in New York? So the city becomes my destination.” She described in here in great details the things she really wanted to do and to see during those three days.

Friends I am telling you this story because this speaks of our typical human longing which is to know. For Helen Keller she wants to know what things are really like. I want to watch news on TV because I want to know what’s going on in the world. The Royal commission is being announced because apparently Australia needs to know the truth of the abuses or misdeeds of any organizations and institutions in the country. The disciples in our gospel today were also curious to know.

Our gospel today is a part of the Apocalyptic discourse of Jesus or the end of days and for his second coming. Earlier in the gospel, Jesus told his closest disciples about the imminent destruction of the temple, the coming persecutions, the coming of the Son of Man. Peter, James, John and Andrew was curious of this, so they asked Jesus: ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished? [Mk 13:3-4). In today’s gospel Jesus told them of some signs: ‘The sun will be darkened… the stars will be falling from heaven, etc…It is quite scary really. But this gospel is not meant to scare us. If we read on, there is a good news following: ‘Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.’ [Mk 13:26]. And the good News is that we have hope that after so much distress, turmoil or unrest, Jesus would come in all his glory. This same message of hope is what St Mark wanted to convey to his audience when he wrote the gospel. We are to recall that during this time, the early Christian church was under persecution. So we can imagine how distressful it might have been for many of them. Everyday they had to face the possibility of being killed, being thrown into the arena to be devoured by beasts, or to burnt at stake.

This same message of hope is what Jesus tells all of us today. He is not playing blind and deaf of what happened in the world today. They might be frustrating for us Christians. They might be disappointing for so many of us but thank God we are here still celebrating this Eucharist. Because here, we are renewing our sense of hope and trust that even in the midst of distress we still can find God in there. With this hope of Christ’s glory, we need not know when really is Jesus coming, or when really is the end of the world. For Jesus, as in the gospels, what matters most is not when but how prepared are we for his Second coming.

So how are we preparing for his Second Coming then?

The First reading can be our point of reflection here. Prophet Daniel prophesied: “The learned will shine as brightly as the vault of heaven, and those who have instructed many in virtue, as bright as the stars for all eternity. [Dan.12:3]” This calls us to continue living in hope, in active and in living faith and in selfless love. This also urges us to look forward to that day with joyful hope and faithfully doing our Christian duties while waiting for Christ’ coming in glory.

Our Second Reading also tells us to keep focus on Christ as the one who offered his very life to save us from sin and eternal death. This gives us an assurance that with Christ always before us, within us and working through us, we would be able to stand firm on the faith. With Christ as our ground and foundation, though our knees might be shaking but we know we are standing on the right ground to borrow the words of Archbishop Romero of El Salvador.

The third way to prepare for second coming is to trust God that he’ll fulfil his promises and that he will never fail us. God is our hope, our portion and cup, our prize, says the psalmist. God keeps us safe. He will show us the path of life, the fullness of joy and happiness forever [Ps 15:5. 8-11].

With hope, Helen Keller was able to transcend her disabilities. The gospel today also tells us that with hope, we can overcome distress and turmoil. Today, as Christians, as a Church we are challenged in many ways. So we are called to make this hope of Christ’s glory always before us, because it is by knowing and believing that Christ rose from the dead and will come again that we can withstand all trials and tribulations we might be facing right now.

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