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Fourth Stop: Keep up with Jesus

Posted by junix28 on March 18, 2012 in Homilies

Homily for 4th Sunday of Lent 2012        

I am not going to burden you with another story since we just have heard a narration of a very long story. It is a story of a blind man who has been touched personally (made a spittle, put this over the eyes of the man) by Jesus himself and whose life has changed forever. He has encountered the Lord and because of that superb experience, no one can persuade him that his experience is just an illusion. And because of his overwhelming experience- being born blind and now can see the light as clear as the day, he couldn’t deny the truth about Jesus. Instead he recalled it with courage and conviction to anyone, even to the Pharisees and to other Jewish authorities. He wasn’t afraid anymore. He wasn’t thinking anymore of his past life being a blind beggar on the streets and one who has no right to lecture to the Jewish authorities. Philip Yancey (a Protestant writer) is right ‘No one who meets Jesus remains the same.’ This is so true for this man in our story. This is also our story.

In more ways than one, we are blind in sin. But Jesus saw us. He came to touch us personally by becoming one like us. As he told the blind man to go and wash in the pool of Siloam (means ‘sent’; i.e. Christ himself), he also told us to be baptized so as to be able to see the light that he brings and the light that he is. Being sent therefore means to go and tell others about the love that God has for us. And like the blind man, we are invited to retell, to re-call it, to re-live it with courage and conviction.

This is what we are called to do as we continue our Lenten journey. It is only typically Christian, that we have this Lenten and Holy week observance. So let’s be proud of it. Let’s express this unique Christian experience to all people around us. We might just be having a hot cross buns with them but we are not to forget the reason behind this Lenten season- that we are friends of God, and that God has laid down his very life for us his friends.

Yes, like the blind man, we can also be driven out of the synagogue. If we claim and assert our Christianity in public especially in Australia, we can really expect a sort of rejection, exclusion, or even an attempt to be silenced. But we can find consolation in our gospel today: ‘Jesus heard they had driven him away, and when he found him he said to him…’Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ Apparently Jesus himself seeks the man and confirmed his faith in Him. So also if we feel being rejected, ridiculed, excluded by virtue of our Christian belief, let’s remember always, Christ seeks for us, affirms our faith and confirms it as well.

And it is also good to remember always that only Christ is the light to whom we must look up to. In our time and age, there are many different lights that persuade us to go through this way and that. The evil one is real and he can present like the angel of the light. Our first Reading today would help us to tackle with this: to turn to God who does not rely on appearances but on what is in the heart and to trust in him. If we have Christ as the light in our life, we then can savour the effects of this light: which is complete goodness, right living and (living in) the truth as St Paul writes in our Second Reading today. St Ambrose would add that ‘all who are blind are able to see, so long as [Jesus Christ] is the light [we] are looking for. This is a wonderful assurance if we just keep up with Jesus.

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Third stop: Catching up with Jesus by the well

Posted by junix28 on March 11, 2012 in Homilies

Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Lent 2012  (the Samaritan woman at the well)

On the occasion of the first Scrutiny for the elect and for the candidates for Easter ceremony.

Friends thank you all for coming again today and continuing this Lenten journey with me. Welcome to our third stop. Yes, as I’ve proposed at the beginning of lent to take this lent as a journey, so here we are now in our third stop. It is good to recall that in our first stop we saw Jesus exhausting the devil of all his tricks to tempt him by not giving in to temptation. In our Second stop which was last Sunday we saw Jesus being transfigured thus giving us a glimpse of heaven. And in our third stop, in this third Sunday of Lent, as we appropriate the readings for our elect and  candidates, we see Jesus in a journey, got tired, thirsty and resting by the well. Then a Samaritan woman also seemingly thirsty arrived at the well to fetch water.

I like the idea of Jesus on a journey meeting this woman who has come from another direction. This just goes to show that God, Jesus really meets us wherever we are at. According to Francis Moloney, this gospel is a ‘story of a possibility  of a journey from no faith, to partial faith and to full faith.

First journey, from no faith. In his approach, Jesus did not talk about religion or philosophy, or theology. He starts with the basic stuff of life. Our basic needs. In this case, he starts with the water as something that the woman really needs at that instant.

Second to partial faith. Jesus then introduces himself as the living water that can satisfy one’s thirst forever. The woman now has seen a tiny light of faith in him and his words. Thus, she dared to ask Jesus: ‘Sir, give me some of that water, so that I may never get thirsty and never have to come here agai to draw water.’

Third to full faith. She put down her jar of water and hurried to her fellow Samaritans and told them about Jesus. This is indeed a mark of a true faith- that we forget all about ourselves and be courageous not only to proclaim Jesus to others but also to bring others to Jesus. This is what this Samaritan woman did. She didn’t only tell them her experience on the well, but she invited the people: ‘COME and see the person who has told me everything.’ What a statement of faith, and a living faith indeed.

The journey of the Samaritan woman is also our journey. Before we were baptized we don’t know  the gift of  faith. When we were baptized we are partially in a journey of faith. And now that we are grown up, confirmed, and able to be involved in the Church and in witnessing Christ to the world, we now can grow mature into the faith until we achieve its fullness in God’s time.

This same journey is shared by the elect and the candidates that we have here among us today. They have lived life already. But they felt they need something more. So they undergo the journey of knowing more and understanding more of the faith. They started the journey and Jesus met them on the way, now despite what other people tell of them (including maybe some) of their relatives and friends, they would not turn back since they have found the real One who can guarantee us to give us the things that we really need in life.

For our elect and candidates, as well as for the team that prepared them in the journey of faith, our prayer as a community go with you. If somebody asks you why did you decide to  join the Church, answer them: ‘Why not?’

Let us just remember that it is God himself inviting you to him. He draws you to him. You are not driven. He calls you personally. Thank you for your personal response in making this big decision.

As you prepare for your big night on Easter Vigil, I just remind you with the message from the First Reading today: ‘Don’t put God to the test by saying ‘Is it really God who called me to this?’ No doubt he is. And from the Second Reading today from the letter of St Paul to the Corinthians: ‘I urge you to keep up your faith in Christ, because this is our only weapon to keep us strong, firm and courageous in every adversity we might be facing.

And also remember, the Samaritan woman did not keep silent. She not only told others about Jesus, but she also invited them, brought them to him. And so are you just as we all are. It’s a quite a task. It’s hard I know, but it is impossible.

 

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Jesus in love: Homily for 3rd Sunday of Lent 2012

Posted by junix28 on March 10, 2012 in Homilies

READINGS FOR THE DAY

Friends, welcome to our third stop in our Lenten journey. Today we see Jesus getting ‘upset’ over what he has seen happening in the temple where God is to be worshipped.

Yesterday, I visited one of the classes here at St Therese School, and a kid asked me: ‘Why did I want to become a priest.’ I said to this little girl: ‘That’s a very good question, but I don’t know really why?’ Then I pointed upwards and said to her: ‘Maybe, he can tell you why did he call me to become a priest.’ And I continued ‘I don’t know really, but I just love it. I just love being a priest and  I love being with the people.

We can also ask Jesus in our gospel today why was he upset in the temple. Why did he do that? Or we can ask with the Jews: ‘What sign can you show us to justify what you have done?’ Why did Jesus turn over the table of the money changers? Why did he drive all the sheep, the cattle, the pigeon-sellers, the traders away from the courtyard of the temple?

Jesus’ answer  was  blunt and  powerful one, a statement of authority: ‘Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father’s house into a market,’ he said.

This means, he did all that ‘nasty actions’ just because he just loves the things of his Father, and he loves to keep it intact as it is or as it is supposed to be. He’s just got the ‘zeal of the house of the Lord, that devours him’ according to the prophets. He just loved it that he is willing to risk his very life just to keep his message across.

Jesus knows that the temple is to represent the presence and the dwelling of God among his people. But there is a deeper reason than that. Francis Moloney, a NT scholar writes of the intimate relationship between Jesus and the Father, and that intimate union with him is now become the meeting point or the communication between heaven and earth. Jesus then is not just concerned on the temple itself but more on to his relationship with his Father. By expressing his anger, he is calling people to inner and personal conversion. He is inviting us to remove all  the stumbling blocks, the walls that we put, the artificial securities that we put  between us and God. He is reminding us of the purpose of the temple that is to  be the concrete point of communication between us and God. He is also telling us that aside from this, the temple is also the meeting point between us human beings as fellow worshippers of the one God.

But the temple authorities, the merchants, the buyers and the sellers distorted the whole point of the temple. Instead they took advantage of the opportunity by ripping off the innocent worshippers. They used the ritual to justify what they are doing. They think that by offering the perfect and unblemished sacrifice can really enhance one’s relationship with God. Yes it can, but it is never personal one. Yet God wants to have that personal and real communication and dealing with us. The temple ‘workers’ won’t promote this.  Instead they used the temple to promote their own self interests and personal gain by selling animals in a very high price and by buying foreign currencies in a very low price. In doing this, instead of establishing good and healthy relationship with one another, they destroyed it. They didn’t provide opportunities for relationship to grow.

Jesus’ act is a corrective for this. His is a reminder for us that what is more important is our relationship with God and with one another and we can celebrate and express this together in the Church.

Sometimes, we think we are so right that we don’t think others have opinions about something as well. Sometimes, we think we are so good that we don’t need others telling us what to do or what not to do. Sometimes we think that because we are involved so much in the Church, we can already be assured of eternal salvation. If we think in this way, if we believe in this way, we need Jesus all the more. We need him to drive away all the obstacles we’ve created that stop us from growing into a personal relationship with God.

What are the possible obstacles?

Our Second Reading today tells us that one obstacle is our expectation of Jesus, our expectation of God. This can be an obstacle mind you. The Greeks were expecting of a messiah who can tell them the wisdom behind all things in the universe, but Jesus failed them in that. They couldn’t ask all their inquiries to Jesus and get an answer they were expecting to hear. The Jews were expecting of a messiah who would do signs and wonders, with huge following and  strong and save them all, but Jesus was crucified and died on the cross. It was a scandal for them, they couldn’t take it because Jesus failed their expectation. Now, who is Jesus in our life?

Our First Reading today also implies that relationship with God could not just be made real and personal by following the letter of the ten commandments. In fact, by just following the letter or following the details of the rubrics without our heart in it, we can fall into an obstacle to a real encounter with our loving God.

It is important to note that God does not just give us the ten commandments as a rule or as a norm to live a good life, but that he gave them to us to love him (# 1-3) and to love our neigbours (# 4-10). Sometimes we stop on the letter, or on the rubrics, or on what is literally said, without discerning on the spirit behind it, to the extent that we become intolerant to one another.

Let’s pray then for two things as we continue our reflection on this Sunday: First, for courage like Jesus to get to the main reason behind things we do, and second, for the love of the things of God that motivated Jesus to face all odds and to cleanse the house of God, his Father from all worldly mess. If this prayer is answered, we no longer need to look for the answer of the question ‘why do we do this’ but instead we would ask ourselves: ‘Why not?’

 

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Listening to Jesus

Posted by junix28 on March 4, 2012 in Homilies

Second stop in our Lenten journey: 2nd sunday of Lent 2012

Last week I’ve mentioned that the first Sunday of Lent was our first stop in our Lenten journey with Jesus. In our first stop we saw Jesus being tempted by Satan, yet remained firm in his ground and didn’t give in to temptation. This Second Sunday of lent is our second stop, and here we saw Jesus being transfigured and called the ‘beloved Son’ of the Father to whom we are to listen to. To listen to Jesus is to confront the real thing and not to linger on the surreal or on the instantaneous experience of heaven.

My ordination to the priesthood back in the Philippines in September last year was one of those ‘transfiguration’ moments in my life. Among the five priests from my parish, I was the first one to be ordained  in my own home parish. Thus, perhaps out of curiosity, about three thousand people (more or less, not counting the little children) turned up to witness the event. Friends from all over (Foreigners and locals) came to be part of the event. The Logistics headed by the ever-supportive Parish priest and through the generous support of all the parishioners was just superb. The Town Mayor and the many local officials also expressed their wonderful and amazing support by providing the things that we put up for the occasion.

The Ordination event itself was also one of a kind. Local and some foreign priests came to be part of the event.  The seminarians headed by no less than Msgr. Rudy Villanueva himself, offered their wonderful voices in the singing for the Ordination Mass. The presence of many priests also added to the highlight of the event.  Another highlight was the fantastic banquet enjoyed by everyone after the Mass.

Everything that happened before and during the event  just fell into place. I can’t believe it’s all happening.  I was star struck. I said to myself: ‘Wow! This is extraordinary. I don’t want this experience to end. I don’t want this day to finish. I want to stay in here.’

Surely, all of us would have some ‘transfiguration’ moments as well – those experiences of heavenly touch that we don’t want to end or to forget- that we just want to remain in there. I wanted to prolong the experience of my ordination. But of course, I  have to realise that priesthood is not just about getting to ordination. I have to remind myself that ordination is just one of my major stops in my journey to following Jesus Christ through my ministry  as priest. I have to convince myself that I am called to become a priest not for my own sake but for the sake of God and for the sake of his people. And I can only materialize this by going out there and being with the people.

In a more or less similar experience, Peter in our gospel today, has also experienced such a foretaste of heaven with James and John, that he didn’t want to leave out of the experience.  It must have been a wonderful experience for him looking at the clothes of Jesus turning into a dazzling white that nothing in the world can compare with. It must have been an extraordinary sight to see Moses and Elijah (both Old testament figures) talking with Jesus. He was so caught up with what he had seen that he paid little attention to what the voice had told them. Peter would only want to hear the statement ‘This is my Son the beloved’, and paid little if no attention to the second part of the divine testimony that is ‘to listen to him’ (to Jesus). And although Peter would want to take the easy way out, he listened to Jesus, walked with him as he came to face his imminent death. By so doing, Peter was able to witness the suffering of Jesus in the hands of the Religious authorities as well as in the hands of the civil authorities in the time.

The three intimate friends of Jesus had experienced the highest point of his earthly life. They would have wanted to stay in that experience but  Jesus reminded them it was only a ‘taste’ of his glory. They listened to him. They climbed down from the mount with Him and then they would later on experience the lowest point of Jesus’ life, that is in his agony in the garden. It is only by listening to Jesus that the disciples would later on understand that suffering always precedes Glorification and that Cross always precedes Resurrection.

The message of God for us therefore as we reflect on this second stop of our Lenten journey is ‘to listen to his beloved Son’ Jesus.

To listen to him means following him, as he walks on the way to the cross. Francis Moloney, a Scripture Scholar wrote that  for us who claim to be followers of Jesus, ‘there can be no side stepping the cross’ and its invitation ‘to come to life through the loss of ourselves, for his sake and for the sake of the gospel’ (This is the Gospel of the Lord, year B [).

To listen to Jesus means willingness to sacrifice even the very ‘thing’ or ‘person’ that we hold dear and treasured. Our First Reading today is an example of this. Abraham must have been very proud and took the credit to himself when he got a Son at last even if he was already a hundred years old. He must have been so proud of his son ‘Isaac’ (which means God smiles) that he forgets it is actually God’s gift for him. So God tests his faith, to offer his own son back to God. His faith dictates him to listen to God’s voice and went to offer his son as a burnt offering. Of course, God doesn’t need more proof of his faithfulness than his gesture of leaving his own clan and going to the mountain where he should make the offering.  God finding his utter faithfulness by not holding his very own son, saw his great faith that he realized in him the promise of being the Father of many nations.

To listen to Jesus means believing in his word because He not only died for us as St Paul tells us in our Second Reading today, but also he rose from the dead and sits at God’s right hand to intercede or plead for us all the time. It is important to remember that he intercedes FOR us, not AGAINST us. This is indeed a wonderful assurance.

So as we continue reflecting on this second stop in our Lenten journey, let’s remember always that we can’t just remain on contemplating the ‘foretaste of heaven’ or the moments of transfiguration that we may have experienced. Just as I have to get over with my ‘ordination experience’ and start doing the priestly duties, it is also our invitation as Christians to get over with our glimpse of heaven and listen to the words of Jesus, i.e. to renounce ourselves, carry our cross  faithfully and follow him every day. In this way, we not only can experience the foretaste of heaven, but  also through this we can be assured of heaven itself and can even live with God forever. Listening to Jesus then would be our resolution as we go on with our trip towards Easter.

 

 

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