MARY, OUR STAR OF HOPE

The assumption of Mary is the fulfillment of the plan of God for her; from her conception to the end of her earthly life; salvation from the sting of death. Her assumption becomes our sure hope of man’s participation in Christ resurrection on the last day (Jn 6:54).  

The plan of God for Mary is his plan too for all of us; to be with Him body and soul in heaven. God has a plan for us. He fulfills His plan until the end. Mary is our assurance of this. Time and again Mary’s life assures us that God will fulfill his promise to us. In the book of Genesis (Gen 3:15) we were promised of a Savior who will crush the head of the serpent. Mary gave birth to our Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus promised us resurrection (Jn 6:54). Mary was taken body and soul to heaven, an anticipation of the glorious resurrection that is due to all faithful Christians.  

God’s plan to man was fulfilled in Mary because of Mary’s cheerful cooperation with God’s plan. God’s plan for you can be fulfilled too if like Mary we give our Fiat to God; if we like Mary learn to sing Magnificat for God’s blessings and graces, if we like Mary will keep God’s commandment by heart; and if like Mary standing by her Son on the foot of the cross, standing for her Son, we too will stand against sin. With Mary as our model Christian, we will surely be led to Christ. We too will be assumed in Heaven, body, and soul, on the last day. God promised a plan. He fulfilled it in Mary. He will fulfill it to us, with our Fiat, Magnificat, Conservabat, and Stabat. Her assumption is our goal and our assurance, if only we cheerfully cooperate in God’s plan.  

Who can help us to go to heaven? Who can help us as we tread our way to God? Who can help us fulfill God’s will and commandment? Mary, being in Heaven with God, can be our help. In her, we find a mother who will intercede for us before the throne of her Son. Pope Benedict XVI wrote that “precisely because Mary is with God and in God, she is very close to each one of us. While she lived on this earth she could only be close to a few people. Being in God, who is actually ‘within’ all of us, Mary shares in this closeness of God.” Our Lady “knows our hearts, can hear our prayers, can help us with her motherly kindness. She always listens to us and, being Mother of the Son, participates in the power of the Son and in his goodness. We can always entrust the whole of our lives to this Mother.” Being with God, and God being in each one of us, Mary is in us, very close to us. She can hear the beat of our hearts. Next to Christ, Mary is our mediator of divine grace (Leo XIII, Iucunda Semper Expectatione), our Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix (Lumen Gentium, 62). Pope John Paul II explained, "As maternal Mediatrix, Mary presents our desires and petitions to Christ, and transmits the divine gifts to us, interceding continually on our behalf" (General Audience, Sept. 24, 1997). Pope Benedict XVI said: “For over a thousand years, the Church has greeted Mary, the Mother of God, as ‘Star of the Sea’: Ave maris stella! Human life is a journey. Life is like a voyage on the sea of history, often dark and stormy, a voyage in which we watch for the stars that indicate the route. They are lights of hope. Who more than Mary could be a star of hope for us?” (Spe Salvi, 49). 

With this, we can only say, “Hail Mary, assumed into heaven, our Star of Hope, assure us, inspire us, pray for us.” 

Clara nomine, vita clarior, clarissima moribus

In our baptism we have received our Christian faith, a great gift that entails a new identity; as adopted sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ. We have to own this gift from God with faith. “Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not (Hb 11:1).” In other words as St. Thomas Aquinas says, “Faith is a habit of the mind whereby eternal life is begun in us making the intellect assent to what is non-apparent.” Through our repeated actions of the mind directed to God, we are united with Him in this life, though we may not fully understand His will for us. And our faith has an origin from God. “For by grace you are saved through faith: and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God (Eph: 2:8).” This is the first phase of an act of faith. The second pertains to the manner by which we appropriate this gift of faith in our lives; how we put into action the faith we receive from Christ. 

How do we respond to the gift of faith? 

In the gospel (Mt 17:19-21), the apostles were not able to expel demons because of their unbelief. How can that be, when these apostles just experienced or may have heard from the other apostles the transfiguration of Christ (Mt 17:1-9)? Why such unbelief? The apostles may have responded to that faith experience in ways that distanced them from God. They felt privileged to witness such foretaste of what is to come; the glory of Christ in heaven. That sense of being the chosen ones made them conceited. Instead of strengthening their faith in God, they began to falter in relaying in His immense power. They began to believe in themselves. They still believe, not in God anymore, but in themselves, in their own capacity. They missed that point that faith with all the graces it entails primarily comes from God and ought to be directed towards God and not to one’s self. Thus by praying and fasting, Christ admonished them to remain fervent in their belief not in themselves but in God who is the origin and end of their faith. 

Are we not like also the apostles sometimes? We too receive our faith in God. Through it graces abound in our life. But how many times we have become proud of these graces and blessing in our life, thinking we have them becomes of our own doing? We thought we have limitless power to that point that we reject Divine grace. How many times have we relayed more to our own strength believing we can save ourselves? And how many times we have failed because of our belief in ourselves? Christ reminds us, only faith in Him that would enable us to do what seems to be impossible, even moving a mountain. 

Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Clare. She is the chief rival of St. Francis in imitating Christ the poor. With the help of St. Francis, she found the Order of Poor Clares, a community of woman who lives as contemplative nuns spending their life in prayer and silence. St. Clare and her companion relayed solely on alms, having complete faith in God to care for their needs. When many thought her practice of poverty was too austere she replied: “They say we are too poor, but can a heart which possesses the infinite God to be truly called poor?” Her faith in Christ enables St. Clare to do great deeds, such us driving away invaders of Assisi by rising a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament and saying “O Lord, do not deliver over to beasts the souls that praise You! (Ps. 73). Protect Your servants, for You have redeemed them by Your precious Blood.” As she was praying, a voice was heard saying “Always will I protect you.” And the invaders of Assisi took flight in no time. Such marvelous faith in Christ transformed St. Clare that she described as Clara nomine, vita clarior, clarissima moribus. (bright in name, more brilliant in life, most brilliant in character, Thomas of Celano). St. Clare was brilliant not because of her own strength but because of God’s presence in her life made possible through her faith in Christ. 

May we be like St Clare; bright in our name as Christians, more brilliant in our life, and most brilliant in our character as adopted sons and daughters of God. All these through the gift of faith of God appropriately received in our life. 

How many times have I relayed and believe more in my own strength, more than believing in God and allowing Him to direct my life?

DIE CHEERFULLY

It is not easy to be a Christian, not only nowadays in the era of trolls and bashers but since the time of early Christians when persecution and martyrdom was the name of the game. As we pattern our lives with that of Christ’s, we experience difficulties and suffering. In observing His teachings, we struggle against our “fat ego” alluring us towards disobedience and selfishness, not to mention the glamour this world offers. Christ never promised a smooth sailing towards the port of heaven, only a safe landing.

As Christians, we are like seeds sow in the field of this world. Seeds only grow to plants by dying in their being seeds, by breaking from their shells, and so it is with us Christians. If we are to grow as Christians, we have to break out from our selfishness so that the seed of goodness God implanted in us may grow; that Christ may grow in us. And breaking is very tormenting. We abhor discomfort. No one wants to experience excruciating pain, save the masochists. But there is no other way to Easter Sunday, but the Good Friday. The cross is indispensable in the Christian discipleship. When Christ invites us to follow Him, He said, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. (Mt 16:24).” And so let us die. Let us die to our selfishness. Let us die to our worldliness.

Dying is an act of giving. A lady dies so that a mother may be born from her, who will buy nutritious food for her children more a fancy bag for herself. A bachelor dies that he may become a provider for his family. The sufferings we endure can become our means in following Christ. They can make us prayerful, patient, kind, forgiving, understanding, etc. In this way, suffering becomes bearable as it becomes meaningful. In giving by dying, we are transformed into a new creation, into a better person. We become faithful Christians. Be become saints!

But have we become a joyful giver of our life? Are we happy in struggling to be faithful Christian, faithfully dying to our sinfulness that we may be faithful to Christ? Have we remained cheerful as we long to be saints? No saint wears long faces. Saints are always cheerful even in the midst of suffering. St Lawrence was able to sport to those who roast him alive. “I'm well done on this side. Turn me over!" There are no sad saints.

The sadness in our struggle to be Christian points to the fact of our resistance to die to die to selfishness and worldliness. On one hand, we could not give-up lifestyles, desires, and ambitions incoherent with our vocation. We are torn apart between others and self; becoming holy or worldly. Worse we live a double life.  On the other hand, the wrong reasons aggravate our suffering. It might be the case that we are carrying crosses that Christ never wanted us to carry. Have we embraced the sacrifices that Christ gives to us or have we assumed different cross? Have we tried to solve problems that Christ never gave to us, that we ourselves have problematized? If we have to suffer, make sure it is for the right reason. And what could be a nobler reason than to die in the name of love, in the name of Christ?!?

In dying, we have nothing to lose but our selfishness and worldliness. And we have everything to gain in embracing Christ even if it meant suffering. With Christ in our suffering, our struggles gain new perspective and understanding. Our longing to be with Him empowers as to persevere in our struggles and sufferings. His love enables us to bear any sacrifice. Christ showed how much he loved us, on the cross. Christ crucified embodies the extent of God’s love for us. He died for us. How about us?

Die in the name of Love. Die in the name of Christ.

But please die cheerfully!

IT'S A MIRACLE

When was the last time you took notice of the air you breathe? How often do you appreciate the beauty of the sun rising from the east? Have you ever thanked a jeepney driver who labors hard to provide a functioning transport system in our community? Have you ever thought of the farmers and factory workers sweat their brow to deliver the food on your table? Probably seldom if not at all. There are hundreds of things and persons in our life whom we have taken for granted for they have always been there. We miss their importance in our lives for we have grown too familiar with them. Worse is, we have belittled the valuable role they play that enable us to live our life with ease. 

More than the constancy of these things and persons in our life, our belief on what is significant allows us to identify those that matter in life and those that are worthy of our attention and praise. Only the grand and pompous often qualify to our category of significant and important; the superstar who has millions of followers, an event that captured the eyes and ears of people all over the world. They who have changed the world in an impressive manner matters for most of us, not the simple, not the silent. We appropriate great value to the sublime and take little notice of the mundane. But truth be told, in many ways than one, the ordinary contains an extraordinary beauty when carefully discern.  

Someone once asked me, “Why don't miracles happen today; miracles like those in the Bible when the sea is parted into two, five loaves of bread are multiplied, when one can walk on water; miracles like levitation, stigmata, dead brought back to life?” In the post-modern era, when all knowledge needs to be verified by tangible evidence, a man long for Biblical miracles, healing miracles, apparitions, Eucharistic miracles etc. that can bridge his knowledge with that of the God. Why then these miracles cease when they are most needed by some to verify their belief in God? But do miracles really not happen today?

The word “miracle” comes from the Latin word “miraculum” meaning an object of wonder. Miracles leave us astounded, amazed as they unfold before us. They make us wonder. Miracles do happen today as our world is replete with wonderful things and persons. What is lost is our capacity to wonder through the unassuming and modest way. We dismiss a lot of wonderful things and persons God has gifted us with, as ordinary and simple, not wonderful. We long for the magnificent, the grandiose spectacle. That is how we expect a miracle to be. Miracles are not extraordinary in the first instance. They are first and foremost work of God. And that makes them extraordinary. This should be enough reason to leave us in awe and wonderment; miracles as works of God. Unfortunately, we have given God the responsibility to show us miracles the way we want them to be, more than us taking the responsibility of discerning the thousands of miracles he performs in our life, even in the simple and ordinary.

God fills our world, our life, and our very own body, with miracles; miracles that often occur through unpretentious ways. Our familiarity with these may prevent us from recognizing them as gifts from God. The recovery of our capacity to wonder, even just for the air we breathe, will enable to experience miracles in this modern world. 

Wonder His marvelous work. It’s a miracle!

BE THE BEST WITHOUT BECOMING THE BEAST

During a mass I attended, as the consecration part proceeded, I noticed a collectora continued to collect offerings from the faithful who were already kneeling. As the priest elevated the host, she continued to collect, and I too continued to stare at her praying she would stop whatever she was doing and adore Christ raised by the priest. As the priest continued to consecrate the wine, to my great relief, she ended up walking around for offerings and kneeled down. As I adored Christ in the consecrated wine, I realized how much I was distracted by the collectora. In my desire for orderliness, I missed the great mystery unfolding before me.

In our desire to be the best, we forget to be good and we become the beast. In our desire to see the best, we miss the simple and good things before us. The standard of this world demands only for excellence and never settles for good. In the process, even the best others give may always fall short of our expectations, and may still be at fault. So indeed, blessed are the faultfinders, for they will never be frustrated. We will always find a reason for annoyance and distress for others' failure to achieve what we expect from them. That is how this world sees man. That is how Pharisees saw the actions of the apostles, who in their hunger pulled off the heads of grain and ate them on a Sabbath (Mt 12:1-8). That is how we become pharisaical sometime when we choose to see the worse in others more than the good they intend. That is how we become the beast!

Christ desires mercy more than sacrifice. He wants the realization of the spirit of the Law, more than the outward and strict observance of the laws. And what is the realization of the sense of the Law if not the return of man to God through God and of man's mercy toward his fellow man. When we begin to see others actions through the eyes of mercy, the way God sees our very own efforts, we begin to look at the goodness embedded in them. When we begin to be merciful as our Father, we begin to see the goodness in everything, in everyone, though how little that goodness maybe. We begin to be tolerant and charitable towards the mistakes of others and of ourselves. And we cease these shortcomings as opportunities to fill-in whatever is lacking.    

Let not our desire to see the best; to be the best, blinds us from seeing the good, though how little it may be, in every action of our fellow men. Let not our desire to see the best make the beast out of us. Can we see each other, the way Jesus sees us; the way God sees us through His eyes filled with mercy?!?

Aspire to be the Best without becoming the Beast!