FOURTH SUNDAY (A)
Mt. 5: 1-12
THE BEATITUDES
The Gospel today comes as a very big disappointment to ambitious-minded people that God does not look for success gauged and measured in human terms. Nowhere do we hear this message more clearly than in the gospel we have just read, which is the opening passage of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount – generally known as the beatitudes. In poetic language they tell us what a true Christian should be and spell out the CORRECT relationship of man to God. We might feel uncomfortable as we listen to Christ’s perspective on what brings happiness right now in this life and not just in the future. In a startling reversal of earthly standards he puts a high value on mercy, forgiveness and gentleness. He rejects out of hand wealth, rank and freedom to do what we choose, because they give us the impression that we can manage our affairs without taking God into consideration. Every thing the world values as a blessing is absent from what Jesus teaches in the beatitudes and everything the world counts a failure Jesus proposes as a blessing. Human success and power count for nothing in God’s eyes. Holiness and wealth do not fit comfortably together.
The beatitudes give us cause for reflection as they turn our normal value system upside down, forcing us to confront whether we are guided by the gospel or by the pattern set by society.
The life of a follower of Christ is not meant to be easy as it calls on us to do things that don’t come NATURALLY to us. Remember Jesus is still speaking to us today and wanting to know: “Are we kind, considerate and helpful, or are we selfish and lazy? He offers us a joy which shines trough sorrow and suffering and which nothing in life or death can take away.
What is the basis of our happiness? Are we in the same pattern with Jesus?
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Sto. Nino (A)
FEAST OF THE STO. NINO (A)
(Jan. 20, 2008)
Mt. 18: 1-5; 10
In a century that gave us computers and nuclear power, the SIMPLICITY of a child may be dismissed as human stupidity. But isn’t it that we have been acting like stupid grown-ups because we have lost the wisdom of a child?
Remember our childhood days and how we loved and believed those fairy tales- those “once upon a time… there was a kingdom…” – that our parents read for us. Perhaps, we had outgrown them; we thought we could now distinguish fiction from facts. That is logical. But are we moving from fact to belief, from what is logical to what is beyond reason, which believers call faith? Or are we walking towards unbelief of God to belief of ourselves as gods who can build our own kingdom on earth?
What we expediently accept are those truths that are rationally preached by humans- world leaders, media and business people. We may shrug off Gospel truths as invalidated truths or simply pink elephants resulting from a childish imagination. Like Pilate we ask, “What is truth?”. Yet truth is not at the mercy of verification; what is irrational does not always mean it is not true: it is true because it is true. And we thought we knew better!
Perhaps this is the reason for living amidst contradictions. We want to be secure but we submit ourselves to things that make us even more insecure; we want to be happy but we cannot consent that happiness has no price on it; we want to live in peace but every country is gearing for war to achieve it; we want to live in freedom but we relinquish the same to the opinions of the world; we want to act with reason but professionals and business people are knocking at the doors of fortune-tellers.
How can we capture again the ending in a child’s storybook, “And they lived happily ever after…?” Left with our own powers, can we honestly say that we can live in a peaceful and humane world? Can we have the ability to clean out the enormous emotional rubbish and pragmatic games we have played that clutter our lives? How can we not live in fear when we are told by media, experts, and zealots to fear everything?
The disciples asked Jesus, “Who, then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Jesus called a little child and made him stand in the middle of them…” The child is the greatest because he can believe, trust, and obey God while living with hope for the kingdom to come.
Albert Einstein once said, “Either everything is a miracle, or nothing is a miracle.” We can never entertain the possibility of a miracle unless we become children again. It is only then that even miracles are superfluous. Every day miracles are nothing more but facts of God’s love. VIVA SENOR SANTO NINO, teach us to believe, trust, and obey our Father in heaven as You did in all simplicity!
(Jan. 20, 2008)
Mt. 18: 1-5; 10
In a century that gave us computers and nuclear power, the SIMPLICITY of a child may be dismissed as human stupidity. But isn’t it that we have been acting like stupid grown-ups because we have lost the wisdom of a child?
Remember our childhood days and how we loved and believed those fairy tales- those “once upon a time… there was a kingdom…” – that our parents read for us. Perhaps, we had outgrown them; we thought we could now distinguish fiction from facts. That is logical. But are we moving from fact to belief, from what is logical to what is beyond reason, which believers call faith? Or are we walking towards unbelief of God to belief of ourselves as gods who can build our own kingdom on earth?
What we expediently accept are those truths that are rationally preached by humans- world leaders, media and business people. We may shrug off Gospel truths as invalidated truths or simply pink elephants resulting from a childish imagination. Like Pilate we ask, “What is truth?”. Yet truth is not at the mercy of verification; what is irrational does not always mean it is not true: it is true because it is true. And we thought we knew better!
Perhaps this is the reason for living amidst contradictions. We want to be secure but we submit ourselves to things that make us even more insecure; we want to be happy but we cannot consent that happiness has no price on it; we want to live in peace but every country is gearing for war to achieve it; we want to live in freedom but we relinquish the same to the opinions of the world; we want to act with reason but professionals and business people are knocking at the doors of fortune-tellers.
How can we capture again the ending in a child’s storybook, “And they lived happily ever after…?” Left with our own powers, can we honestly say that we can live in a peaceful and humane world? Can we have the ability to clean out the enormous emotional rubbish and pragmatic games we have played that clutter our lives? How can we not live in fear when we are told by media, experts, and zealots to fear everything?
The disciples asked Jesus, “Who, then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Jesus called a little child and made him stand in the middle of them…” The child is the greatest because he can believe, trust, and obey God while living with hope for the kingdom to come.
Albert Einstein once said, “Either everything is a miracle, or nothing is a miracle.” We can never entertain the possibility of a miracle unless we become children again. It is only then that even miracles are superfluous. Every day miracles are nothing more but facts of God’s love. VIVA SENOR SANTO NINO, teach us to believe, trust, and obey our Father in heaven as You did in all simplicity!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE
EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
January 6, 2008
Jn 1:1-18
The story of the Epiphany captures the imagination with its rich mixture of mystery and intrigue. Into the Holy Family’s impoverished and temporary shelter come three wise men from the East dressed in majestic robes and bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They had traveled from the unknown lands following a star and had experienced the deviousness of King Herod before they were filled with delight in finding the new-born child. After praying homage they left for home by a different route.
The story of the Magi is so colorful we may overlook its significance and fail to see its deeper meaning. The wise men represent ALL of us. They journey through desert and mountain following a STAR reflects our search for purpose and meaning in life, which is not possible unless we are guided by faith which enables us to see beneath the surface of appearances. At the center of it all is the innocence of the new-born child, surrounded by adoration, wonder and mystery, who is able to stir the emotions, imagination and wills of all those drawn into its presence. The story is always relevant because God sees to it that people who really search will find him. He will shed light into our darkness and make us new.
As the Christmas season draws to a close with faded holly and sagging decorations, the Epiphany reminds us of our journey into another year following the individual path which we alone are to tread. Life is a pilgrimage, along journey, but we need not necessarily travel alone, fumbling in darkness in search of our destination. The Epiphany story concerns the wider world and the may varying circumstances of joy and sorrow in which we encounter Christ. It calls for us to look around and search for the Lord who is in our midst, in situations where previously we were unaware of His presence. He comes in people and places we least expect and at times when we are most unprepared for His company. God stands in our midst revealing Himself and inviting us to enter His company. Nothing is ever the same again for those who have discovered His light. The responsibility we bear is to let the divine light within us shine through to others. The gospel of love, forgiveness and redemption is not something to keep quiet about, but Good News to announce to the world.
Let the LIGHT of Christ shine through YOU and let us defeat darkness and evil by not ceasing to do GOOD. Then and only then that Epiphany becomes real!
January 6, 2008
Jn 1:1-18
The story of the Epiphany captures the imagination with its rich mixture of mystery and intrigue. Into the Holy Family’s impoverished and temporary shelter come three wise men from the East dressed in majestic robes and bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They had traveled from the unknown lands following a star and had experienced the deviousness of King Herod before they were filled with delight in finding the new-born child. After praying homage they left for home by a different route.
The story of the Magi is so colorful we may overlook its significance and fail to see its deeper meaning. The wise men represent ALL of us. They journey through desert and mountain following a STAR reflects our search for purpose and meaning in life, which is not possible unless we are guided by faith which enables us to see beneath the surface of appearances. At the center of it all is the innocence of the new-born child, surrounded by adoration, wonder and mystery, who is able to stir the emotions, imagination and wills of all those drawn into its presence. The story is always relevant because God sees to it that people who really search will find him. He will shed light into our darkness and make us new.
As the Christmas season draws to a close with faded holly and sagging decorations, the Epiphany reminds us of our journey into another year following the individual path which we alone are to tread. Life is a pilgrimage, along journey, but we need not necessarily travel alone, fumbling in darkness in search of our destination. The Epiphany story concerns the wider world and the may varying circumstances of joy and sorrow in which we encounter Christ. It calls for us to look around and search for the Lord who is in our midst, in situations where previously we were unaware of His presence. He comes in people and places we least expect and at times when we are most unprepared for His company. God stands in our midst revealing Himself and inviting us to enter His company. Nothing is ever the same again for those who have discovered His light. The responsibility we bear is to let the divine light within us shine through to others. The gospel of love, forgiveness and redemption is not something to keep quiet about, but Good News to announce to the world.
Let the LIGHT of Christ shine through YOU and let us defeat darkness and evil by not ceasing to do GOOD. Then and only then that Epiphany becomes real!
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