RELIGION OF INCARNATION

Once there were a Franciscan, a Dominican, and a Jesuit in a room when the lights went out. The Franciscan said, “My brothers, let us take this opportunity to consider the debt we owe to our sister, the light.” The Jesuit said, “Yes, but let us also take this opportunity to discern the difference between light and dark.” Meanwhile, the Dominican went to the basement, found the fuse box, and reset the breaker. In life, we can be too theoretical, so much so that we neglect the practicality of life. Such is true in our way of dealing with laws that God gives to us. 

We are to listen and heed the commandments of the Lord. Moses urges us: "heed the voice of the LORD, your God, and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law, with all your heart and all your soul." It is short of saying "with all your being;" to give our undivided attention to God. These commandments and statutes are not to remain in our heads alone, for they are meant to be lived out. We have to carry them out. We know the ten commandments of the Lord. Jesus summarized them into great laws of love: love God and love your neighbor.

These precepts are not difficult to comprehend, for an example had been set before us by no less than the Son of God Himself, Jesus Christ. Through Christ’s incarnation, He showed us how to become children of God by means of obeying the will of the Father even if it meant laying down one’s life for a friend. He made visible what used to be unseen so that sensible beings as we are, we may understand what it means to be children of God. Jesus put into practice what He preaches. God is not a distant god instructing us how we can obey His commandments that can bring forth life to us.

This is the best way to illustrate the commandments of God. More than words it is by action that we can distinctly manifest our understanding of the commandments of God. Jesus showed that to us as He is our God incarnate: the Word made flesh. 

In the gospel (Lk 10:25-37) we heard of the story of the Good Samaritan. We can learn that there are two ways of approaching the laws.

The priest and Levite, who simply passed by the wounded person, have become prisoners of the texts of the laws by rigidly following them. In their desire to remain pure, as prescribed by the law, they did not dare to touch the wounded person on the road, as probably they were on their way to Jerusalem to worship and observe the law. Probably they too were moved with pity. "Naawa rin sila." But their pity was not genuine since it remains an intention alone; only a theory; only in their mind. Sometimes, we can also be the priest and Levite who simply passed by those in need. We say "Kawawa naman sila." After that emotion tripping, we move on and go our way. We like or love a post in social media but do no substantial thing to remove the suffering of our neighbor. "Dinaanan lang nila."

The law liberated the Samaritan. He was freed to do the spirit of the law, to make the lives of fellow human beings, especially those who are suffering better. As he saw the wounded person, he drew closer to him. He was moved with compassion and did something. He poured wine and oil to comfort the wounded. He placed the wounded on his beast and carry him to an inn. The laws did not impede the Samaritan to be compassionate and free the suffering of others. The laws enabled him to do so through the acceptance of the spirit of the law. We may be well versed with the law, but true knowledge of it lies on the fulfillment of the spirit of the law. We must receive the laws not by knowledge alone but by doing them, by avoiding sin and the suffering it inflicts us.

The Good Samaritan can be a figure of Christ who descended from heaven that He may bind our wounds inflicted by our sins. He binds our wounds through his divine justice (wine) and mercy (oil). "Hinaplos tayo ng awa at habag ng Dios nang mapanumbalik ang ating lakas." As if that is not enough, He entrusts us to an inn, the Church that serves a field hospital for us who are spiritually wounded; to the innkeepers, the apostles, and with twopences (coins) that is the two-fold commandment of love.  

From the parable of the Good Samaritan, we realize that ours is a religion of incarnation; not of thoughts, of feelings or emotions but of action too. Our faith and knowledge of the laws move us to act; to alleviate the suffering of others that in the process they cease to be others but persons whom we know as we touch their lives, or better yet, as they touch our lives.

As we listen and heed the voice of God we are moved closer to Him, closer to becoming like Him, who heard the cry of His people and was moved with compassion to alleviate the suffering of His friends.

Nawa’y di lang natin malaman ang paghihirap ng kapwa!

Nawa’y di lang natin sila kaawaan!

Nawa’y matupad natin ang ibig ng utos na itinakda ng Diyos, na ibsan ang paghihirap ng kapwa.

May we treat our suffering neighbors with mercy and compassion. This is what Jesus did. This is what He urges us to do as he says: Go forth, and do likewise!

FEED THEM YOURSELVES

Have you been blessed by the Lord?

One of the indicators that the Lord blesses us is the food we have on our tables. If you eat your meals three times a day, you can consider yourself blessed. If you eat your meals six times a day, you are truly blessed. Others may yearn more, while about ten percent of our population is already thankful having even just one meal in a day (AlTangHap). Indeed, the Lord blesses most of us but unfortunately millions are left in hunger. Does this mean that the Lord does not bless them, or have we been negligent in our responsibility in sharing our blessings?

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ or Corpus Christi Sunday. Pope Urban IV instituted it in 1264. It is a great occasion for us to celebrate and reflect upon the Eucharist we receive in the mass. It is an occasion for us to rejoice for the gift of the Eucharist that nourishes us; that reminds us of Christ's abiding presence among us; His great blessing to us. 

The greatest joy we can ever experience is to be in the presence of our beloved or that our beloved is present with us. This is what Jesus does in the Eucharist where we experience His real presence. In the mass, particularly in the consecration and communion, we receive the real presence of God in the appearance of bread and wine. The bread and wine cease to be bread and wine alone but rather transubstantiated into the body and blood of Christ. In faith in Jesus's words, we hold those that appear to be bread and wine as His body and blood. Thus, when the priest offers them to us as he says, "The Body of Christ" we reply "Amen" meaning, "I believe." We believe because Jesus says "This is my Body, this is my Blood." Only a believer can receive the body and blood of Christ in the appearance of bread and wine.

The Body and Blood of Christ; the Eucharist, is the source and summit of our life us Catholics (CCC 1324). It is the source of our life as it nourishes and strengthens us in our spiritual journey. It inspires us. It is the summit of our journey as it is the end goal of our life; to be like Christ the Eucharistic Lord who shared Himself to those who are in need. In the Eucharist, we hold in our hands the creative and liberating presence of God. Creative, since it directs us to the image of Jesus; the image we all desire to be transformed to. Liberating as it frees us from worries and weaknesses we may encounter in our journey, and prepares us to imitate Jesus, the Eucharistic Lord who served others. the Eucharist changes us internally (making us renewed creatures) and externally (as we become the witness of our faith and of Christ). In the creative and liberating presence of God in the Eucharist, we are reminded of the extent of the generosity of God to us; He gave His own flesh and blood for our sustenance, just like a pelican who feeds her children with her own flesh and blood, just so they may live (in the hope later they too will do the same to their offspring). Truly in the Eucharist, we realize how blessed are we with the creative and liberating presence of God. 

We regularly receive the Eucharist in the masses we celebrate. Millions of Filipino Catholics receive the communion on Sundays. By this time, our society should have been a Eucharistic society where hunger is unknown and charity have become the norm. But on the contrary, if we look around us, a lot of people are still hungry, whether physical or spiritual. Why is that so? It is probably because we haven't received the Eucharist properly and attentively in our lives. We haven't yet appropriated the message of the Eucharistic Lord in our own lives. Just like the apostles, we may have Jesus in our presence but never learned to be like Jesus (cf Lk 9:11B-17), who desires to feed the hungry by ourselves and not to send them away.

How are we to receive and appropriate the Eucharist in our lives?

When the priest offers the body of Christ during the communion, others will not respond "Amen." They will say "Thank you" instead. Others do not even fast, with food crumbs in their mouths as evidence. Other communicants open their mouth without extending their tongue, expecting the minister to make a good flick of the Body of Christ into their mouth. Some communicants are like Venus-fly traps that at the very moment they had a sight of the host they immediately close their mouth, clutching the fingers of the minister in their mouth. Others receive Jesus with seemingly sad faces. Worse is that others are not in the state of grace. How we receive the sacred host reflects our reception of Jesus in our life. Have we sufficiently prepared our selves in receiving Jesus? And consequently, this too speaks of the effects of the Eucharist in our lives. We fail to like our Eucharistic Lord as we fail to receive Him properly in our lives. 

In receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, embracing the Eucharistic spirituality can be our guide; that is of offering, being blessed, broken and shared.

We are to offer to God in the service of others and especially those in need whatever God has entrusted to us. We can offer our time, resources and talents to our community and even to strangers in need.  Do not say you have nothing to give. Christ gave everything for us His beloved, even his very own flesh and blood. His very own life, that we may be fully configured in His image: I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord; whoever eats this bread will live forever.

Believe that whatever we offer, though how small it may be (five loaves and two fish) will be blessed by the Lord, and in turn will be a blessing to multitudes of people in need. Who would have thought that five loaves and two fish can feed five thousand men! Your few minutes spent with a friend in grief can mean a lot to him. A simple smile to a stranger can make his rough day a pleasing one.

The blessings we receive are meant to be broken and shared. They can only be shared if they are broken. We cannot share them if we keep them wholly for ourselves. (A seminarian once received dinaguan (blood stew) from his parents. In his greediness, he kept the stew in his cabinet in the seminary, not wanting to share it to his brothers. A day after, the stew was spoilt and wasted). Sharing may be difficult for others since it entails being broken of our selfishness and personal dreams in exchange of the will of God for us. But it is in being broken and shared that our identity as Eucharistic people is realized. It is in His suffering and death (being broken) that Jesus realized the mission entrusted to Him by the Father (to free us from sin and share eternal life with us). 

Through the Eucharistic spirituality of offering, being blessed, broken to be shared, we realize our identity just like that of Jesus.  

Feed them yourselves! Give them something to eat; Jesus admonished his apostles. As we are blessed by the presence of Jesus, we are to be blessings to others; to feed the hungry, attend to the needy. Our generosity can be God's way of making Himself present to those who could not feel His hands. We too can be the bread of life that can feed those who are hungry! By the bread of life which we receive, we are transformed to become food ourselves for others; inspired by the generosity of Jesus, and through which we shall give.

We are blessed by our Eucharistic Lord!

Be a blessing in turn by a life of witnessing through the Eucharistic spirituality: offering, being blessed, broken and shared!

FREEDOM TO FOLLOW JESUS

Once, a friend of mine and I planned to go out for a walk in Intramuros to see the old Spanish buildings and churches in the walled city. We prepared our itinerary and marked the places we are to visit. We printed maps and did some research on the obscure things we are to look for in our tour. I googled for must-do things and places to visit. When the day came for our scheduled walking tour, it rained hard. Streets in Manila were flooded. We ended up canceling our tour because the heavy downpour prevented us from going outside. We satisfied ourselves browsing the net and taking a virtual tour of the walled city on that rainy day. Truly, some things in life limit us from doing what we desire. In our case, the rain stopped us from going outdoors.  

As Christians, we desire one thing: to follow Christ. Along our journey, some things hinder us from pursuing our goal. But it is consoling to know that Christ enables us to overcome any obstacles on our way to obey Him and the Father's will. Christ has set us free! 

As God invites us to serve Him, He gifted us with freedom and liberation. It is a freedom that directs our attention not from the things we have left behind; from which we have been liberated, but rather to the things that await us as we exercise this freedom. It is a freedom for, more than freedom from. This gift of freedom allows us to generously and unreservedly respond to God's invitation to follow Him. Have we truly embraced this freedom for, or have we continued holding on to the things that keep from responding to the call of God? 

There is no turning back in following the Lord. We have to burn bridges that would enable us to go back to our former ways of life so that we may fully live to the new realities God gave to us. When God called Elisha through the prophet Elijah, Elisha slaughtered his oxen and used his plow to cook the meat. When he met Elijah and came to know God's desire for him to be His prophet, it was a point of no return. Killing his oxen and destroying the yoke that he had been using as a farmer meant a total change of way of life. From then on, Elisha ceased to be a farmer and began to be God's prophet. He was set free to follow the mission God gave to him. 

St. Paul warns us in his letter to the Galatians (5:1, 13-18): For freedom, Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. We are not to take once again the yoke of slavery we call sin for such disables us to assume the yoke of service and love that Christ offers to us. The yoke of sin and death stops us from taking the yoke He offers to us; yoke that is easy, a burden that is light (for it is a yoke we shall carry together with Christ). The Lord freed us from the yoke of slavery of sin. Would we not be fools to take it again in exchange for the yoke of freedom and love Christ offered to us?

What shall we do with the freedom God confers upon us? Are we to use this freedom to serve God and others or to exercise it for our own selfish-interest; for self-service? We are set free from sin to love! More than a FREEDOM FROM, it is a FREEDOM FOR. The Spirit of the Lord shall be our guide as we enjoy the gift of freedom for (to love) others; freedom for us to do God's will. We can only be truly free because of God's love, we are to be, like God who loves and serves others more than ourselves. When we use that freedom to serve ourselves, we destroy others and ourselves due to our selfishness. We submit again to the yoke of slavery and of selfishness instead of using this freedom to love selflessly. The gift of freedom, genuinely lived, brings forth creativity and not destruction to one who had been set free and to whom a true free disciple serves. God's gift of freedom recreates us and helps us to recreate our relationship with one another, governed not by selfish love but of selfless love in imitation of the Patron of this freedom who freely offered Himself for our sake. In the mission given to us, there is no destruction where love overflows, reaching love’s perfection in mercy.

From his ministries, Jesus headed to Jerusalem. That was a point of no return to His ministries and mission. He when straight to Jerusalem. He did not zigzag from one town to another. Such manifests His resolute and undaunted mind to fulfill the mission given to Him by the Father. Others like the Samarians could not accept Jesus going to Jerusalem. They do not welcome Jesus, the One eager to fulfill the will of the Father (to suffer and be offered as the sacrificial lamb in Jerusalem). Samaritans did not want anything to do with Jerusalem. In our journey, in following Jesus, we also meet the same unwelcoming things and people. they may discourage us from pursuing our mission. But like Jesus, we continue on our journey nevertheless, free from any reluctance and doubts but confident in God's providence.                            

Following Jesus is not a comfortable journey. Jesus himself did not live a comfortable life, nor must his followers. He is always on the way, on the road, on a journey: "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head." He is in a mission moving around, at home in others’ home. He had set himself free from anything that may prevent Him from doing the Father's will. And so, as we follow Jesus, we busy ourselves with the affairs proper to Christian discipleship. The gift of freedom and discipleship is anchored on the love of God, more than the love of this world and even of others. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Mt 6:33). Following Jesus may entail difficulties in exercising the gift of freedom, but with God who is with us, it will be bearable and meaningful. He will sustain us in our mission. 

We might be tempted to look on the things we have left behind, and in the process fail to excitedly look forward to the things to come. They say in Filipino: Ang di marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay di makakarating sa paroroonan. But I would like to add: Ngunit ang lingon ng lingon sa pinanggalingan ay walang mararating sa buhay.  When we set our sight on the past (on the things we left behind) we manifest a kind of doubt and hesitation to the things and fate we have assumed. We fail to see the opportunities in front of us for we do not give our 100% attention on what is in front of us. Move on. Burn the bridges, slaughter the cows (idolatrous acts, things not in accordance to God's plan), burn the yoke. Move on. Move forward! God has set us free. Respond with your whole heart, and give undivided attention to the mission He entrusted to you for which you have been set free and called for

JESUS' INVITATION

Sino na ang nagmahal? Sino na ang nasaktan? Kapag nagmahal ka humanda kang masaktan, sapagkat sa pagmamahal lumalabas ang puso mo para sa iyong minamahal, papalayo sa iyong mga makasariling hangarin, patungo sa kapakanan ng minamahal mo.

Christ invites us to follow Him. "Come follow me" is an invitation of Jesus towards discipleship. He invites us to love like Him. It entails, like in Jesus’ case, walking towards Calvary and ultimately rising in Easter morn. Suffering and difficulties are inevitable in following Jesus; in loving like Jesus up to the point of dying. To follow Jesus is to die with Him. Are you ready to die? To die of your selfishness? To die of your sinfulness? Are you ready to die in the name of love?

Being misinterpreted is one of the pains in following Jesus. The Pharisees misinterpreted Him as He dined with sinners and tax collectors. But Jesus continued to do His mission by following the will of the Father. He rectified such error about Him and His mission. It is easier to simply go with the flow; to agree to what is socially acceptable. Our desire to please this world should not compromise our proclamation of the truth. Truth is our priority more than anything else. Truth is the fertile ground on which genuine love grows.                              

With all these difficulties and challenges of following Jesus, our consolation is the love of God for us, which becomes more and more evident to us as we follow Him. Upon the death of his mother, the grieving Isaac found consolation in the love of his wife. In our sorrows and seeming failures, we find consolation in our families, to mothers and fathers, and ultimately in our experience of God's love. In our struggle to be faithful to God's will and to the mission He entrusts to us, we find consolation in the heart of Jesus that had been pierced out of His love for us. Minamahal tayo ng Dios. Ang kanyang pagmamahal ay sapat na upang ibsan ang ating lumbay.

For the call we have received (to be holy like our heavenly Father) and His love that consoles us in our trials, we give thanks to the Lord!