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Bartimaeus: A model of Christian discipleship

Posted by junix28 on October 27, 2012 in Homilies, Homilies and Reflections

Homily for 30th Sunday in Ordinary time  year B 2012

  1. Everytime I read something, a news article or write-ups against the Catholic Church, I always felt something deep inside of me being pricked by a sharp needle. I cringed. I felt I’m betrayed. I felt I’m being the one being discriminated against. I come to realize I’m now with one heart with  the Church. However, upon further reflection, I come to understand that I feel like this way not because of the Church itself but because of what she is standing for- Christ, who is the Truth, the Way and the Life. In moments like these, I would just console myself with the words of Jesus: ‘Whatever you did to the least of my brethren, you did it to me.’ I noticed that when the Church makes a stand for the truth and the gospel values, there are always people out there ready to discredit her claim by throwing ‘dirt and mud’ unto her. It is as if the Church is the worst of all, and all other acts of violence, injustice,  discrimination, etc. done by people who are not associated with the Church, would pale in comparison.

  2. Friends, this is a modern persecution. Yet this must not stop us for witnessing our faith in Christ more concretely. In fact, this is a time when we are to stand up for Christ with courage and fidelity. And thank God, for your presence here in this celebration of the Holy Mass. By being here today in union with the Universal Church celebrating the Holy Mass in all places in the world, re-living the one sacrifice of Christ, we are concretely standing up for Christ. We who are here today serving as a sign of hope for Christ and for his Church.

  3. So then, we are to assess our way of discipleship. We are to examine our Christian life. Where is Christ in our journey? Is he at the forefront leading us or we rather prefer to stay away with him because we feel uncomfortable in his presence? How are we as a disciple of Jesus Christ?

  4. Our gospel today provides us a ‘model’ of discipleship. Bartimeaus (the son of Timaeus- so he has no name himself) was blind and begging on the road. We can assume, he must have experienced the worst bullying possible. He must have experienced discrimination everyday. ‘Dirt and mud’ might always be his lot every now and then from the people whose help he relied on. But he has got something that many people around him didn’t have. He has faith in Jesus. He believes that he is the Messiah. ‘Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.’ We are to remember that that the promised Messiah of God is a descendant of David. And Bartimaeus has recognized this. He didn’t say, ‘Jesus, son of Joseph, the carpenter.’ He believes in him, and then he puts his trust in Jesus, that the latter can cure him of his  blindness.

  5. So how can Bartimaeus be a model of discipleship? Four things: First, he keeps up his faith in him and expressed it publicly. Even if he was scolded or stopped by people for calling out loud  to Jesus, he persisted. This is also our challenge today. There are many people who are trying to persuade us today, some even do it  in a very subtle way, to stay away from him, or to criticise his body the Church. But like Bartimaeus, if we don’t let these things stand on our way to Jesus, something good will happen. We will acquire a new vision, a new life even.

  6. Second, He listened to Jesus’ call amidst the noise of the crowd. We can just imagine how noisy it might have been. But his ears are all for Jesus. So he heard him saying: What do you want me to do for you?’ What a beautiful word we  can hear from no less than our God himself. We can only hear these words though if we tune in to Jesus’ words frequently. It takes time and we have to make time for it because there are many things that always try distract us from reading the Scriptures, or praying, or just sitting down  for thirty-minutes a day before the Blessed Sacrament or before our altars at home. Listening to Jesus reflectively also helps us to sort out what we need and what we want. Bartimeaus needs to see, so he didn’t beat around the bush. He told him directly: ‘Master, let me see again.’ This is a direct, simple and humble example of prayer. And we know, when Jesus heard this simple expression of his faith, he answered his prayer. This stands in contrast with the request of the sons of Zebedee, James and John, two of the close disciples of Jesus, as we have heard in last Sunday’s gospel. Unlike Bartimaeus, they didn’t need a thing. They just wanted to have an assurance that they would be in the privileged position when Jesus reigns. But Jesus knew they only wanted it, so Jesus had to remind them it is not his job to allocate them, but his Father’s.

  7. Third, when he heard the call of Jesus, he let go of his cloak. As a beggar, his cloak might be his only security. It had helped him cover from rain, from colds, from the heat of the sun, and even perhaps  used it as his blanket as he slept at night. Jesus is also calling us now. If we hear his voice, we then are to let go of our false security. We know, we are hoarding many things that made us believe our security lies in them. I am just amazed of the many thing people have given to us for our Philippine outreach project. We are  filling a room now. And to think that these things are given because they are no longer needed or even wanted, is a real and move to listen to Jesus’ call to let go of our false security.

  8. Fourth, when Bartimeaus regained his sight, he followed Jesus. He didn’t leave and ran to tell the good news to his blind friends. He stayed with him on the road.

  9. If like Bartimaeus, we keep following Jesus  and listening to him speaking to us in our daily experiences and in our particular situations, we come to know him more intimately, more personally, more concretely. And if we do this as often as we breathe, then time will come when we feel we are in the  same heart with him, when we feel hurt if people say negative things about him and about the Church. Only by following him faithfully that we recognize him as our High Priest who not only understands our weaknesses and knows our sinfulness but also helping us to overcome it and even getting us out of the misery of sin and death.  Let’s keep him on our sight as we continue to be a sign of hope, a salt of the earth and the light of the world even if we are discriminated against or even persecuted. Let this be our hope and our prayer. Amen.

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Mission and action: Concrete expression of Faith

Posted by junix28 on October 20, 2012 in Homilies, Homilies and Reflections

World Mission Sunday 21 October 2012 

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time year B

  1. On the 11th of  October this year, Pope Benedict declared this year as the year of faith for the whole Church. This is to celebrate the 50th year of the Second Vatican Council. According to the Pope in his Apostolic Letter Porta fidei (The Door of Faith), one of the main focus of this year’s celebration is “the need to rediscover the journey of faith so as to shed ever clearer light on the joy and renewed enthusiasm of the encounter with Christ”(2). In the light of this we are called to grow more and go deeper into the faith by the witness of our lives in our own particular situations and circumstances. The Pope said: “Faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it is communicated as an experience of grace and joy.” (7) Another focus of this year of faith is the new evangelization or proclaiming anew, or reclaiming the original message of the gospel through new ways and renewal. And again the Pope also appeals here to all of us believers as the witnesses and the proponents of this renewal. ‘The renewal of the Church’ the Pope taught, ‘is also achieved through the witness offered by the lives of believers: by their very existence in the world, Christians are called to radiate the word of truth that the Lord Jesus has left us.’ (6)

  2. It is a big call for us. It is a big challenge for us because we are in the world when being the number one or being on the top of everything is the name of the game. We are in the world that being who we are is often identified with or even confused of what we have and what we do. We are in the world when the fullness of life is misunderstood as being the best in everything, or being the one on top, or getting the best in everything to the extent that we would never settle for being the next or the second.

  3. And of course, the first thing to suffer from this current trend is our faith. For many in this day and age, faith is not just something private or personal. For many today faith doesn’t make sense anymore. It is so because  faith tells us to be live humbly, simply and sincerely. Yet, everyday the opposite of humility, of simplicity and of sincerity are being laid out before us. Unnecessary pride, complexity of lifestyles, and lies are selling fast in the market of our global world.

  4. We need Jesus Christ to re-direct us in our faith. We need to renew our belief in him as our Saviour. We need to rediscover the beauty of faith that is being given to us as gift by the Father. We need Jesus to remind us now as he reminded the two sons of Zebedee in our gospel today, that faith in him means following him in his acts of service, in his being a servant of all, and even in his death. We need Jesus to change our hearts into a heart like his- a heart the sympathizes with us in our weaknesses and limitations as we heard from the Letter to the Hebrews read today. We need Jesus who suffers with us and for us. We need him so much so that we would grow in our faith.

  5. We therefore need to personally challenge our faith in Jesus. By this I mean we need to ask ourselves where is Christ in our lives. It means assessing our  Christian life where are we now in our Christian journey. It means asking ourselves if we are still following the real Christ, the Son of God who is sent to us because of his love for us. It means asking Jesus what we can do for him, rather than daring him to do something for us whatever we ask of him as the brothers James and John did in our gospel today. Challenging our faith in Christ means re-thinking or to stop thinking  that to be great is to be on top. It means following him in his obedience to the Father’s will  rather than demanding so much from God to do some personal and selfish favour for us. Challenging our faith means making it more concrete and real in us by putting it into action.

  6. Today the Church observes this day as World Mission Sunday. This is an opportunity for us to put some substance in our faith by sharing the wonderful gifts, resources and means we have to those who have less and to those who have none in other part of the world. Why do we have to do this as a Church? Why do we have to sacrifice a part of our life or a part of our selves for the sake of others? Why do we have to do this when it seems that we don’t get anything out of it?

  7. The answer is why not? If we claim to be people of faith and proud of it, then we are to look through our windows. We  are to look beyond our immediate surroundings. And we should do this in good faith. Triggered by the spirit of commercialism today we might ask: What assurance I have if I give in good faith?

  8. Well today’s celebration in Rome is just one of those wonderful return that God would give us if we stand up for him till the end. Today the Church through the Pope is recognizing once again the heroic witness of some members in the Church of their faith in Christ. Pope Benedict is canonizing this very day seven new saints in the Church declaring them definitely as the new citizens of heaven and thus worthy of our veneration. These are people who were faithfully carrying out in their lives their faith in Christ, no matter what the odds were, no matter how difficult and risky it would have been for them, and no matter if it meant death for them. In 1883, Mother Marianne headed a group of sisters from New York to the Hawaiian Islands to put up a system of nursing care for people suffering from leprosy. Kateri Tekakwitha, daughter of a Christian Algonquin mother and a Mohawk father in upstate New York, will become the first Native American to be canonized. She was baptized by a Jesuit missionary in 1676 when she was 20, and she died in Canada four years later. Jesuit Father Jacques Berthieu, who was born in Polminhac, France, and was martyred June 8, 1896, in Ambiatibe, Madagascar. Peter Calungsod, a lay catechist born in Cebu, Philippines, and martyred April 2, 1672, in Guam. Father Giovanni Battista Piamarta, an Italian priest and founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth for men and the Humble Servants of the Lord for women. He died in 1913. Carmen Salles y Barangueras, the Spanish founder of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. She worked with disadvantaged girls and prostitutes and saw that early education was essential for helping young women. She died in 1911. Anna Schaffer, a lay German woman who wanted to be a missionary, but could not because of a succession of physical accidents and diseases. She accepted her infirmity as a way of sanctification. Her grave has been a pilgrimage site since her death in 1925. (Source: CNS- Catholic News Service)

9. These are the witnesses of our faith. They might be living in a distant past but their example of living out the faith in their own ways, means and capacities are still relevant and still our call today. So if we say, we are people of faith, let’s show it in our actions. Let’s resolve to follow Jesus Christ faithfully as the aforementioned saints did, and resolve to share our resources to our neighbours in our global village. Let this be our resolution and our prayer. Amen. 

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Let go and let God

Posted by junix28 on October 14, 2012 in Homilies, Homilies and Reflections

Homily for 28th Sunday in Ordinary time  year B 2012

  1. Many of us would have heard so much publicity of the Church especially in our time. Though there is no doubt that the Church has done so much good in and for the world over the centuries,  there have been instances as well that the Church herself fell short from the ideals. Thus, we can understand the people who gave comments, criticised, or even stand against the Church because   they wanted to know the truth. So at times, when I heard people putting the Church into a bad light through negative and even sometimes unfounded, unconfirmed and an exaggerated report, I just pray and hope in silence. My prayer is that hopefully these people who attacked the Church are really motivated by the desire to know the truth, rather than distorting the truth. Because if truth becomes the motivation, the foundation and the ground of doing things, then most things would have been put into real perspective. The Church being divine and human institution, fall short from the ideals because some of her children turned away from the truth, turned their gaze away from the Lord and shifted their focus to themselves.

  2. But what really is the truth? Pontius Pilate was caught up with this question himself. This same quest occupies the mind and heart of the rich young man in our gospel today. He also wanted to know the truth of real security. He wanted to invest for eternal life. And rightly so, his desire to know the truth led him to Jesus. It is just right that he ended up in Jesus because the truth is not something, but someone. The truth is not ‘what’ but ‘who’. ‘I am the way,’ Jesus declared, ‘the truth and the life.’ (Jn 14:6).

  3. If Jesus then is the truth, then we must focus on him, we must not lose sight of him because in and through him we can see the truth of things, we can see the truth of our loving God revealed in Creation. In him we can see the truth of ourselves.

  4. However, sometimes we find it hard to accept the truth that Jesus brings about. As G.K. Chesterton wrote: ‘He not only comforts the afflicted, but he also afflicts the comfortable. We  find it hard to accept him because he can be a ‘threat’ to our security. He can be limiting our freedom. Our friend the rich young man in our gospel today can attest to this. He had definitely found the truth in Jesus. Jesus offered him eternal life. He had certainly heard from him how to invest for eternal life. And he has realized his vast wealth can’t guarantee him of heaven. Jesus understands this, so he told him to invest it, by selling it and giving the proceeds to the poor, then to follow him. And only after then that Jesus assured him that he’ll have treasure in heaven.

  5. Jesus has revealed to this man the truth of himself- that he can have heaven  but he has to let go of his earthly security and baggages. But he refused the offer because he can’t let go of his false security. He declined the invitation. If only he had realized what he had missed. If only he had realized what a great exchange he would have got if he listened to Jesus.

  6. Jesus is also calling us now to let go of our earthly securities and let him help us to invest for eternal life. Only through following him, with him and in him that our eternal life’s security is assured and guaranteed. This is not day dreaming. This is not wishful thinking. This is a true promise as Jesus himself would respond to Peter in our gospel. When Peter bluntly asked Jesus ‘What about us? We have left everything and followed you,’ he declared: ‘There is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, father…for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not be repaid a hundred times over…not without persecutions (though: as a concrete sign of his cross in us) now, in this present time, and in the world to come, eternal  life.’

  7. Yet, Jesus is not only inviting us to let go our false securities. He also asked us to give up of everything for him. What does it mean? Among millions of other ways of giving up for Jesus, this can point to us three initiatives.

  8. First: Devotion to the truth. This means living out the truth of our Christian identity, thus witnessing for Christ in the world in our own ways, means, capacities and capabilities. This also means devotion to the Word of God that ‘is alive and active…[that] can judge the secret emotions and thoughts’ according to the Letter to the Hebrews, the Word, that testifies the truth of who really God is.

  9. Second is Devotion to the good. This means acknowledging the good in ourselves and in one another, no matter what other people say. This also means upholding and promoting the good for all, not just for the privileged few. This is a crucial call for us today because of the many apparent negativity, injustices, and bad things happening around us and even in us today.

  10. Third is devotion to the beautiful. This means upholding the dignity of each one and respecting the inherent beauty of creation. This is also another important call for us because there is a growing trend now for  many that ‘you are only someone if somebody sees you’, or ‘you are what other people say of you’ mentality. There is also this growing trend to destroy creation and claim it as property of someone or a subject in science, or under control by someone.

  11. To realize all these initiatives however, we need to pray for the spirit of Wisdom. Only the wisdom of God can teach us and make us see and understand the ‘truth, the good and the beautiful’ in our God,  in one another, in our world. ‘In [the] company of the Spirit of Wisdom,’ the author of the Book of Wisdom declared, ‘all good things came to me.’

  12. So as we continue today, let’s endeavour to keep our eyes on Jesus all the time. Let’s make this our prayer that we may love the truth all the more. Let us pray too that we may be always faithful in our following of Jesus by letting go of our earthly securities and by giving up everything for him and for the kingdom. Amen.

 

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Marriage is looking after each other and looking at the same direction together

Posted by junix28 on October 7, 2012 in Homilies, Homilies and Reflections

Homily for 27th Sunday in Ordinary time year B 2012

  1. It is not uncommon in the Philippines to have mass weddings. By this I mean one nuptial mass with a number of couples being married at the same ceremony. Being there at this type of wedding ceremony is always a thing to  remember. I remember when  I went to my cousin’s wedding. There were ten couples then being married together. So to save time and for practical reasons, the officiating priest asked the couples to simultaneously put the ring on to their spouse’s finger and at the same time utter the  words: ‘Name, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity’.  However, the priest noticed that as some of the bridegrooms didn’t even look at their brides as they put the ring on. Instead they were looking at the priest. So the witty priest, with his dry sense of humour said to them. ‘Don’t look at me. Look at your partner. I’m not getting married with you.’

  2. Friends, it might sound funny but the word of the priest remained in me. When he said ‘look at your brides’ that speaks so much of being married. Being married is about looking after each other and looking at the  same direction together.  This is one of the ideals of marriage. And we know if the couple stopped looking after each other or one goes on his/her way, the relationship slowly breaks down and marriage will eventually suffer.

  3. Jesus in our gospel today is telling us the utmost ground of marriage- the most ideal of marriage if you like. To respond to the Pharisees’ question on divorce, Jesus led them to realize that marriage is more than just a union between man and woman. Marriage is willed and designed by God since the beginning of creation. Jesus is in a way telling them that divorce should not be happening because in and through marriage the spouses are now inseparably and intimately linked with each other as they are designed by God to become one body. (Gen. 2:24)

  4. This therefore shows us that it is not enough for the couple to just look after each other or having the same vision together. Rather, the marriage must always be grounded in God and is an expression of obedience of God’s will. It has to be grounded in God because the Creator has made this ancient of human institution to be part of his divine plan to ‘form an intimate communion of life and love’, to quote  the Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1660. Pope John Paul II, in his Apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio  would also note that this communion of life and love between two persons (i.e. man and woman), have to ‘rooted in the personal and total self-giving of the couple’ (FC #20), and to be celebrated through consummation and procreation.

  5. However, we know that no matter how much we try to live out the ideals of things, we always fall short of it as we face the reality. Couples on their wedding day might be so certain in declaring they would live together forever, for better or for worse, till death put them apart, but as they go along and live out the reality of married life, they also have to bear the fact that being human is subject to falling short from the ideals. We know in fact, that not a few marriages have disintegrated. There are quite a number of marital vows being taken lightly or being neglected altogether. We have to note though that falling short in marriage commitment that would end up in divorce or separation is not only an issue in our time. It had always been an issue since the time of Moses. It has also been an issue in Jesus’ time.

  6. So what can we do then?

  7. For those who are married, live by example. Show to everyone that you are happy with your decision on your wedding day. I personally know of a wonderful couple who had just celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary. I go to see them regularly for communion, and everytime I asked them to express their prayers loudly, the husband (who is on dialysis few times a week ) would just thank God for his loving wife and for her sacrifices for him. The wife in turn would pray to God for the well- being of her husband. Such a wonderful expression of love, commitment, dedication, loyalty, and care for one another.

  8. For the young couple and young families here, keep looking after each other and keep looking at the same direction together- that is, make your vision in harmony and do your mission together to be messengers of God’s love.

  9. For those who are contemplating to get married, discern and pray for guidance of the Holy Spirit that you will be strengthened, empowered and would be faithful to your partner for life.

  10. For those who have separated and are struggling with your marriage vows and commitment, don’t lose hope and keep up the faith. The Church has a special place for you in her heart because you are one of the reasons why Jesus came here for. Yes, He came to show compassion to everyone but he is closer to all who struggle and suffer in many ways. Listen to the Samaritan woman in the gospel of John (Jn. 4:3-42). She can tell you more about Jesus’ compassion and care for those who are struggling in this particular state of life. For those who are called to another state of life besides marriage, be faithful to your calling, live out your commitment daily and renew your ‘yes’ to God everyday.

  11. I know I’m not the right person to give you advice regarding the way to have a successful marriage. I’m not married myself and I am happy as I am now- a priest of God. Yet, there are four things I can leave you since marriage and Holy Orders are both sacraments of commitment. I myself am trying to have this vision for myself as I continue to serve  God and his people in the priestly ministry. I am sure  you can relate with this.  First, pray always that you may be more loving, faithful and committed to one another. Always make space for God in your married life. Imagine, from among billions of people, He made the two you to be compatible with each other and to be concrete witnesses of his love.  Second, keep the line of communication open. This is the secret of staying in love according to a Jesuit writer John Powell. Assess your lives and your relationship regularly. See what works and what doesn’t. Third, keep appreciating each other’s gifts and strengths. Fourth, pass on your love with each other to your children and to other people as well.

  12. So as we continue our celebration today, let us make two resolutions: First, let’s pray that  we would be keen listener to the will of God in our lives, wherever we may be, whatever it is that we are called to be, and whatever circumstances we are in now at this particular time in our lives. Second, like Jesus, let us be compassionate, forgiving, understanding, non-judgmental and loving to those people whose marriage is broken and to all those who are struggling in their married life. Amen.

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