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!

STEPPING OUT FROM THE SHADES OF FIGS

Once we had a dog in our convent who found joy in chewing or destroying things. He would chew slippers of priests, tear upholsteries of couches, and know many ways to damage precious stuff. When we are away, he is in a search-and-destroy mission. When brothers confront him, he would bow and turn away his head from the brother scolding him. Often, he would run away and go in hiding to evade the sermon he is about to receive. He knew he sinned, but would not admit it, and would even deny it, and run away from the responsibility his sins incurred. Dogs reaction on the offenses they make is not far from our reaction on the sins we committed. Sin brings forth shame as it is something shameful. Remember how Adam and Eve hid from God in the garden of Eden?

In the gospel (Jn1:45-51), Nathaniel was under a fig tree. St. Augustine comments on the meaning of the fig tree: We read of one fig tree which was cursed because it had only leaves and no fruit. Again, at the creation, Adam and Eve, after sinning, made themselves aprons of fig leaves. Figleaves then signify sins; and Nathanael, when he was under the fig tree, was under the shadow of death. 

Under the fig tree, there was doubt and hesitation in Nathaniel. Sin hinders him from going to the Lord. So it is with our sinfulness. Sin puts us under the shade of darkness. Its darkness disables us to see ourselves as Christ sees us. Sin distance us from Christ; from the light. Sin fails us to realize our real worth. Under the shade of sin, we doubt whether God will forgive us. We question the immensity of God’s mercy for us. Sadly, sometimes, we enjoy being in darkness, thinking this is the best situation we can be. And we continue sinning in darkness. Notice, most sins are committing in darkness, in isolation, away from the presence of others who may admonish us in the first instance we attempt to sin. So, we sin, thinking no one sees us, but Christ says; I see you under the fig tree.

The words of Philip to Nathaniel can be the words of God to us too: Come and See. We can only see in the presence of light. Without light in our eyes, we cannot see. Without light around us, we cannot see. There is no light for a blind. Thus, being in the light is surely far better than in darkness replete with deceptions and make-beliefs. We can only truly see ourselves in the presence of the Light. In the light, out of the shade of sin, we can be true to ourselves; we can see ourselves without pretensions, devoid of fear and shame. We can be the way Christ sees us. More than becoming the object of our sight, God wants us to see Him, eye to eye, that we may be able to see our real worth through our reflection in the eyes of God. As we approach Jesus, we come to know our true value, as men and women of grace more than sin; as persons forgiven by God and beloved by God. This is our worth and value. This is how God sees us. 

Before we SEE, we have to step out of the shade of sin that keeps us in darkness. We have first to answer God’s invitation, COME, come into the light, come into God’s presence. And we shall see.

Can you SEE? If not, you might need to step out from the darkness and into the Light!