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Epiphany: Encounter with Jesus in faith and good works

Posted by junix28 on January 5, 2013 in Homilies, Homilies and Reflections

Homily for the Solemnity of the Epiphany year C

(January 6,2013)

Introduction: The First Reading, Isaiah tells us: The light has come.

          The Second Reading, Paul notes: This light is Jesus Christ, the revealer of the mystery of God.

          The Gospel, Matthew tells us: This light is for everyone. It is shining for all the world.

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Epiphany which is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world. (CCC 528). So in our gospel today we  hear of the visit and the adoration of Jesus by the wise men from the east. They saw the star as it rose. They studied it and found that it points to something deeper and important in fact it is directing them to someone special. So they followed it until it ‘halted over the place where the child was.’ Matthew wrote this gospel to instruct the people then and for us now, that Jesus is not just the Messiah that the Jews were waiting for, but that He is at the same time the Messiah of all peoples, the saviour of the world. St Paul in our Second Reading today would affirm this when he wrote of the revelation of the mystery of God given to him. In his letter to Ephesians, Paul notes that this ‘mystery’ “means pagans now share the same inheritance…parts of the same body…and that the same promise has been made to them, in Christ Jesus…(Eph 3:2-3, 5-6).

The visit of the wise men speaks so much of this universal mission of Jesus to save. It is part of God’s plan that everyone hears of his saving plan for the world in Jesus Christ. The wise men had this inner longing in their hearts to search for God, so they set out to search the child until they found him. Not only that, they  also gave him gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh. (Mt:2:1-12). According to some scriptural interpretation and tradition, the gifts of the Magi signify the humanity, the divinity and the kingship of Jesus. Mark Link, Jesuit has an interesting summary of the meaning of these gifts of the magi to the newborn child. Link noted that the “three gifts of the magi can be interpreted to reveal three truths about Jesus. First, the myrrh symbolizes the humanity of Jesus [for Myrrh later on would be used for his burial]. Second, the frankincense symbolizes the divinity of Jesus [for incense is usually used in the temple rituals, worship and adoration to God]. Third, the gold symbolizes the kingship of Jesus. Jesus came among us to lead us, to inspire us, to invite us to join him in bringing about God’s Kingdom on earth- a kingdom of love, and kingdom of peace, a kingdom of hope.”[1]

But what does the Solemnity of the Epiphany teach us?

It teaches us three things: First, it tells us about the importance of upholding our faith. The faith (i.e. God’s initial invitation) of the wise men empowers them to search out for the God-became-man, despite the uncertainty of their journey. Their faith gives them courage not to do what Herod wants them to do but rather to go back to their own country via another route. In other words, their visit to the child Jesus  became their turning point and the confirmation of their faith, their point of conversion.

Like the magi, let’s keep up with our faith despite the uncertainty of our situations, despite the apparent trials, challenges, the problems that we as a Church are facing at the moment. The magi might have lost track of the star at times but they went on. So also are we. There might be times in our life that we feel so dry, so drained, so empty, just nothing, or even at times we feel faith doesn’t make sense anymore. But despite all these we are to keep up walking in faith and with faith in God. We remind ourselves always that over and above the thick clouds of doubt and uncertainties, there is always a clear blue sky.

The second thing that epiphany teaches us is that no matter who we are, what tribe  do we come from, what language do we speak, how little we think we might be and can do, we are all one and important in God. We are all gifts to one another. Henry Ward Beecher had a nice way of putting this. He wrote: ‎”God appoints our graces to be nurses to other men’s [and women’s] weaknesses.”

I liked this quote very much that I posted it on my Facebook wall and added my own comment. In there I wrote:  “No wonder I haven’t got everything. But I have got something that others don’t. And others have something that I don’t have…so to get the best of everything, let’s share our blessings...”

Let us take care of one another then because even though we might have different skin colour, different language, different cultural upbringing, or different in many ways, yet we are all called and invited by the same God. We are all coming from one source of life, that is God. And this same God is the one who came into the world to lead us into the way of Life. This God is calling us to share and celebrate life with one another. And we must not take this for granted. See, this same God in Jesus invites Herod and the scribes yet they didn’t let go of their securities. Herod considered him as a threat to his security, power and political influence. Herod missed the call to be one with God, because he was too preoccupied with his own self-interest. This feast of Epiphany is therefore calling us to be like God in reaching out to different individuals and valuing each other regardless of skin, intellect, talent and years (Diversity).

The third thing that the feast of the Epiphany reminds us about is that this is also our encounter with Jesus – an encounter that calls us to faith. It is the  faith of the wise men that empowered them and made them courageous to go back on a different route. It is  their faith that encourages them to walk on the way of conversion. Conversion here means an ongoing process, not a one-off thing, or an overnight project. Conversion means walking with God and having a real, personal and living relationship with our Jesus our God. Everyday we are all invited to walk on this path of conversion. How? Here are few practical tips: Daily reflection on the word of God in the Scriptures, regular attendance of the Holy Mass, Praying constantly (devotional and personal), doing works for the good of others, doing works that we love doing for our good, talking with someone who is living alone, going out with good friends, etc. Conversion is allowing God to be part and parcel of our life in all aspects.

So as we continue our celebration of the Epiphany, let’s thank God for creating this encounter with him. At the same time, let us resolve to keep up with our faith by walking on the way of conversion through the little things, yet heartfelt and motivated by love, we can do for ourselves, for others and for God. Let this be our resolution, our prayer and our reflection.

[1] Mark Link, S.J., Experiencing Jesus: His Story (Texas: Argus Communications, 1984), 81-82.

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Going back to the Family of Nazareth

Posted by junix28 on December 30, 2012 in Homilies, Homilies and Reflections

Homily for the feast of the Holy Family (year C 2012)

Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth. This is no coincidence that it is put right after  the feast of Christmas. This is so because it tells  us that God has not just come to be born into the world but born within a human family to stress all the more his identification with our humanity . This is part of the Christmas story. The late Pope John Paul II would also have something to say about this. In his letter to  Families written in 1994- the year of the family, the Pope wrote:  “The divine mystery of the Incarnation of the Word thus has an intimate connection with the human family. Not only with one family, that of Nazareth, but in some way with every family, analogously to what the Second Vatican Council says about the Son of God, who in the Incarnation “united himself in some sense with every man“(#2). This then calls us for a celebration. This also calls us for  a reflection on the family.

It is true that the family still is and remains to be the very cell of the society. It still is the nucleus of every society. However, we are also aware of the fact that the family right now is facing a great challenge to keep up. Just an example. In the Philippines, I’ve just heard recently that the Reproductive health bill is now passed into a law. The Church in the Philippines is so strong against it. The Church did her best but her best wasn’t good enough to borrow a line from a song. The Church has tried her  best to remind the Filipino people of the repercussions of the bill once it becomes a law. The Church understands that this can lead not only to denigrating the value of women but also to motherhood because it offers artificial contraception. This can also lead to seeing children not only as surplus but unnecessary baggage, atscommodities in the family, to seeing women as a thing to be manipulated, to encouraging young people to be irresponsible and careless in their bodies. This can lead to many unlikely things that are completely up and against the law of God. I might be talking baloney here. I will not be surprised if married  people come to me and tell me: ‘It would  be right for you to say that father because you don’t have to pay your mortgage, you don’t have to wake up at night to change your baby’s nappy, you don’t have to pay rent, you don’t have to make ends meet as the month is ending.’ And so on.

Yes, I humbly admit that. I don’t have to worry much about it. But this is not an excuse for us not to strive for the best and  the ideal of family. This is not an excuse for us to go back to Nazareth and reflect the type of family where our God has been nourished and  nurtured. This is not an excuse for us to go back to the School of Nazareth and learn how it is to be a truly human family pleasing to God.

We heard in our gospel from Luke that Jesus ‘increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and (people)’ [Lk 2:41-52].Like any other families on earth this growth wouldn’t happen overnight. Jesus has come to learn  this from the examples of his earthly parents, Mary and Joseph. So this is then an invitation to parents to live by example to your children. When you enter married life you have made this commitment not only to welcome children as part of your life but to nurture them as good Christians, as good citizens.

This feast also calls for the children to be responsive, responsible and respectful to their parents. I once read or heard somewhere of a child telling his parents: ‘It is not me who is looking for parents. It’s you (his parents) are  looking for a child.’ It’s true but it’s not an excuse to be naughty. It is  not an excuse to be disrespectful because a child is God’s gift to a parent. As a  gift comes responsibility to be a good gift and that can give happiness to the recipient. This is the kind of life that God wants us to live if we take it from the St John in our Second reading today: obeying God’s commandments, living a life with an examined and informed conscience, be comfortable with God in our life even if at times we feel and think he is not to comforting for us.

Our First reading today would also offer us a way to become an ideal family, a reflection of the Holy family in Nazareth and that is to offer the children to God. This means putting God as an important member of the family. This means allowing God to help you make decisions for the whole family. This means making the family a venue wherein God’s love, care, support, compassion are truly evident and alive. This means constant feeding with and reflection on the Word of God, constant nourishment in the Eucharist, and constant prayer as a family.

Today’s feast then is a time for each family to reflect and go back to the Holy family of Nazareth, to unlearn, to learn and re-learn the things that God has designed and willed for each of the human family through which he came into the world. Amen .

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Christmas: A celebration of God’s love, God’s humility and God’s faithfulness

Posted by junix28 on December 24, 2012 in Homilies, Homilies and Reflections

Homily for Christmas mass December 25 2012 

What a night of joy it is! It is a joy to see so many   people here tonight making this night a truly special one for families and friends. It is a joy to see so many people of different nationalities here tonight coming to celebrate together the birthday of our saviour. It is a joy because we who are here today are expressing that Christmas is more than just a family gathering over meals, or being involved in a Christmas frenzy, or taking holidays from work. I believed you are all here tonight because you understand Christmas as a celebration of faith. Christmas is indeed and it should be a faith-inspired, a faith-motivated and faith-filled celebration. Thank you for showing that tonight.

It is fitting that we keep this night as a special night for us- a night of Christmas, we may say because of three things: God’s great love for us, God’s humility and God’s faithfulness.

God loved us so much that he gave his only Son (Jn 3:16). This is what Christmas is basically about. However we can only understand the whole meaning of Christmas as God choosing to be born into the world and become human like us except sin, if we are enlightened by our faith. It is only with faith that we can see Christ, the Lord, the God-Incarnate who comes to be our joy, our hope, our happiness and our peace. Only with faith that we see Christ, our Messiah as one who comes to build bridges not walls and to make us one despite our differences in skin-colour, language or tongue. It is only with faith that we appreciate all the more the truth that we are all members in the one family of God. With faith, we are assured that because of  love God didn’t only come to tell us  what to do, but  really he came and chose to be human like us in order to show how to be truly human. Thank God for the gift of faith and thank God for loving us so much.

At Christmas, God humbles himself and becomes the sweet message for the poor, the lowly, the ignorant, and the poor shepherds. As the angel declares “today in the town of David, a saviour has been born to us- Christ the Lord.” God makes himself little and poor to make us precious, loved and rich in his mercy and grace. He chose to be born in a lowly manger to identify with us in our poverty and need for comfort and salvation. This is how beautiful our God is.

Christmas is also a time  to remind us that God is always faithful to his promises. It might take time, even a very long time for the promise to be fulfilled but it will come. The prophet Isaiah in our First Reading today can testify this. Many centuries ago, he prophesied that the Messiah, who is to come would be called Wonder-counselor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince of Peace, and he would serve as the light for the people who are walking in the dark. And tonight, Isaiah would be rejoicing with the saints in heaven that his words came to its fulfilment in the birth of Jesus Christ. This just tells us that God really fulfils our wishes. In the time of the Old Testament as well as in the time of Isaiah, the people wished for a messiah. Now, in the New Testament, God has fulfilled this wish.

What is your wish for this Christmas?

Tell the baby Jesus in the manger. He definitely would make that real for you.

Here’s a concrete example.

When Pope Benedict was 7 years old, like any kids he also had wishes. In fact he wrote a letter addressed not to Santa but to Baby Jesus. The letter which was just being unearthed recently contained the little Joseph Ratzinger’s Christmas wish. This is what he wrote: Dear Baby Jesus,

Quickly come down to earth. You will bring joy to children. Also bring me joy. I would like a Volks-Schott (one of the first prayer books in German), green clothing for Mass (as children, he and his brothers used to play games as priests)  and a heart of Jesus (because his family was devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus). I will always be good. Greetings from Joseph Ratzinger

(Source: http://www.ucatholic.com/catholic-articles/7-year-old-joseph-ratzingers-christmas-letter-to-baby-jesus/)

It’s hard to tell if Pope Benedict got all his wishes. What can  be certain though is that if at a young age, he had already desired to become a priest, then he has definitely received it. In fact, he received more. He became a brilliant theologian, a beautiful priest, a bishop, a Cardinal and then now a Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

So if this is how faithful our God is, we who have received this Good News are also called to be faithful. We are invited for a renewal of our faith, a rediscovery of the beauty of our faith. And this Christmas is one opportune time for this.

How can we really make this Christmas a time for renewal of our faith?

One way is from St Paul in our Second Reading today. He  would urge us ‘to give up everything that does not lead to God, [and to give up] all our worldly ambitions.’ (Tit 2:11-14).

Another way I would propose to renew and rediscover our faith is this: As you go out of this Church tonight, look up  the roof of the Church. There’s a Bethlehem star attached to the Cross. Like that Bethlehem star that led the magi to the place where Jesus was born, be a light to your family and friends and bring them to Jesus as well.

Let us make this resolution bearing in mind that it is God who has done this first to us. Because of his great love he humbles himself by fulfilling the promise of saviour he has promised to us through the prophets.  

Merry Christmas to one and all. May the spirit of Christmas- that is the great of love of God for us- be kept alive in our hearts and to be shared by everyone in our gift-giving and in our Christmas gatherings. May you all have a holy, happy and a meaningful Christmas celebrations and worship.  Be generous towards one another, especially on the roads. Be mindful of the other road users. Drive safely because it’s Christmas and the baby Jesus is on board.  

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Mary’s faith: Entry point for God to touch on our humanity

Posted by junix28 on December 22, 2012 in Homilies, Homilies and Reflections

Homily for 4th Sunday of Advent 2012 (year C)

  1. Until now I am still pre-occupied with the effect of the typhoon that hit the Philippines  few weeks ago. Many people have lost their homes, properties, possessions and even lives. Interestingly,  the typhoon did not only cause destruction, but also it brings out the best in the faith of the people. This is what the Parish priest in one of the badly-hit towns has realized. “They may have lost their homes, everything, but they don’t have to lose their faith,” said Fr. Clark, the parish priest who decided to celebrate the 9 dawn masses in preparation for Christmas despite the fact that there’s not much left at the Church building. One beautiful expression of this faith of the people could be seen during the offertory. According to Fr Clark, they still gave their share in the collection. “I did not expect them to give anything since there was nothing to give but they still did,” the parish priest said.  “Somebody had found the sibot (collection bag) among the debris and passed it around.” Another amazing expression of faith is in the words of one of the parishioners who commented: “Wala na ang simbahan (building) pero naandyan ang tao, naandyan ang pari, naandyan ang Diyos (The church may be gone but the people are there, the priest is there, God is there).”(Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net)

  2. Friends I am sharing this with you because this tells us how amazing faith is. Thank God we are here today to express freely this faith. The experience of the Filipino speaks of  a faith that is simple yet alive and even serves at the motivation of the many to keep up with life no matter how hard and how impossible things seem to be. This kind of faith, simple as it may seem always helps uplifts people, encourage people to face life and move on if necessary. This kind of faith is what empowers people to trust God all the more, to hope and long for him more often and to endeavour to love him as best as one can be.

  3.  I’m sharing this with you too, because this also speaks of Mary’s faith as we can deduce from our gospel today. She only had a simple faith. She was a humble maiden, maybe trying to be faithful to God in her daily tasks assigned by her parents. Yet, it is in this simplicity of faith that God designs her to be the mother of God-Incarnate. We can speculate the simplicity of her faith when she can only question the angel how can things be happening to her. We can only assess the simplicity of her faith when she continued to believe and trust in the messenger’s words even if things are not really that clear and easy for her. It was Mary’s simple faith that enabled her to declare: ‘I am  the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to your word.’ This simple faith then made her available for God to be not only living in her but to be born into the world as human like us, through her.

  4. But Mary did something that calls all of us to imitate. She didn’t keep the faith to herself. She didn’t keep the good news to herself. Our gospel today would tell us she set out quickly to visit her cousin Elizabeth, not basically to assure if the angel’s news of Elizabeth’s pregnancy is true or not, but because she believed that everything the angel said to her is true. She went to share the good news that God has made her a living tabernacle, to share the joys, the anxieties, the things that are happening in them, and to express support and care for her cousin. Mary then exemplifies for us how to put faith into action. Faith without action is dead, said St James. Faith expressed in action gives life, joy and wonder. We can see the beauty of this when Mary arrived at Elizabeth’s house, the child in Elizabeth’s womb leapt up  and she was filled with the Holy Spirit because she received as her guest the mother of the Saviour. This just goes to show that when faith works together (as in the case of Mary and Elizabeth), the Holy Spirit fills us to the brim, and even gives joy to the innermost part of our being, as well as it radiates joy to the people around us.

  5. We are now in the fourth Sunday of Advent and in a few days, we will be celebrating the feast of Christmas. It is time now to re-assess our faith. It is time now to examine ourselves how simple or how strong our Christian faith is. If something happens to us, like those people in the Philippines, will we keep up our faith?

  6. I drove passed the city this morning and I can see how busy the streets are. I can see Christmas signs and symbols everywhere, but it made me wonder, is Christmas in everyone’s hearts. It made me wonder what really is our motivation of celebrating Christmas? Is it because it is a holiday? Is it because of the time catching up with  friends and relatives? Is it because of the presents we give and we receive? Or is it because of our faith in God-Incarnate, the God who chooses to be personally identified with our humanity in order to save us and lift us up from our fallen humanity?

  7. As we continue our celebration of Advent,  while getting close to Christmas, we who are here today, have heard the good News that God loves us and cares for us so much, no matter how little or how insignificant  we might think we are. So like Mary who put her faith into action and like the people in the Philippines who have kept up their faith despite the  tragedy, let us share our faith to others by sharing in their joys, in their sorrows, and by bringing the Good News to them, the good News of Jesus Christ that brings hope for all. Amen.

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